Arkham Horror

Well after the game of Arkham Horror I played last week, I must confess to becoming a little addicted. I desperately want to pick up the card expansions, however these are being frustratingly elusive (not helped by the fact that most are now OOP). I have also thought about the big box expansions however I feel that the main problem with the game is the limited number of location cards rather than extra areas and the like so the card expansions remain my focus. Inspite of this I have decided to set up a solo game to play over the next few evenings. The idea is to record the session in detail and adapt it to a dramatic session report similar to this.


I am a big fan of HP Lovecraft's writings and although in many instances his style is a little repetitive, there are some truly disturbed imaginings behind them. This particular game will look to run alongside The Call of Cthulhu's events that run between 28th February and 2nd April 1925. However instead of following the original characters, this will record the actions of Dr Carolyn Fern, Psychiatrist from Sharon Sanitorium, Boston as she tries to understand what is occuring. The aim is for the final vanquish / end of Carolyn to coincide with the end of  the episodes as recorded in the original story, as such some of the dates will prob have to change (I am working on 1turn/day) but I have a sneak preview of the report:

This game is a solo play that I wanted to occur during the events of ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ however from a different person’s perspective. I have re-written the ‘Story So Far..’ accordingly to better fit with the source material.

Journal of Dr Carolyn Fern

Extracts dated: February 28^th to April 2^nd 1925

Saturday, February 28^th:

As part of my ongoing investigation into the dreams of the mentally disturbed I have had several patients today who have exhibited signs of severely disturbed nocturnal visions. These ‘dreams’ have been unusually vivid and all depict similar landscapes of what they describe during hypnosis as ‘eldritch horror’. On waking these patients often have little or no recollection of these hallucinations. I will have to check with my colleagues in the morning, in case there has been a change in medication that I was not made aware of.

Sunday, March 1^st:

I came in, despite this being my day off, and conferred with the medicating nurses today and they confirmed that there has been no change in the medication of any of the patients I worked with yesterday, there was a sense that the patients were all more unsettled than usual, however this did not exhibit in any definable way except the vaguest of impressions not only of myself, but also of the duty staff I spoke to today.

Monday, March 2^nd:

I have continued my researches using hypnotic techniques and the results are marked. The vast majority of my studies are exhibiting similar visions of what appears to be the same twisted dreamscape. I don’t know how to explain this apparent mass hysteria within the community of Sharon Sanatorium. It is possible that some of the inmates have made a concerted effort to undermine my researches, however given how widespread the effects have become and how similar the episodes are, I find this conclusion as unlikely.

Tuesday, March 3^rd:

I came in this morning to discover that two of the patients had killed themselves, apparently to stop the dreams. I would say that this is, sadly, not unheard of but the manner in this instance was very similar in both patients despite being held in separate wards. The manner of their deaths, which I won’t elaborate in this journal, was also exceptionally violent, especially for one to have done to themself. As a result of these latest occurrences, I will be travelling to Arkham Asylum to consult with my colleague Dr WALTERS and see if he is able to provide any insight into these strange occurances.

[Game start]

Wednesday, March 4^th:

I would be interested to hear how closely tied the session should be to the game? Should I include info of how my description relates to rolls etc. Should I provide details of what happens in the Mythos Phase that the character may not be aware of narritively? Let me know!

- Raggy, signing out