# Arkham Horror as a PbP RPG?



## rushlight (Aug 12, 2008)

So, I love playing Arkham Horror - but I find that it's hard to bring everyone together for a few hours of playing.  I've given some thought as to how I might play online with people, but I wasn't sure that would be as satisfying.  To add some dimension, I think it might be fun to play the game as a PbP RPG!

To that end, I've been thinking of rules tweaks to smooth things out.  To bring it closer to an RPG, I think some of the more obvious elements around the board will need to be less obvious, in order to increase drama.  Perhaps "activity locations" will be known, but not specifcally that there's a Cthuloid lurking in the South End Streets.  Also, current health and sanity will be generally known, not specifically known.  Last, current skill ratings won't be able to work as a set the way they do in the game - instead each skill will be independent.

With all of that, the difficulty is significantly increased.  In order to compensate, as you adventure around the board, fighting monsters and finding 'clue' tokens should reward some XP, which in turn increases your skills (therefore, it's possible to be very good at both aspects of each set).  

With the removal of all of the "numbers" part of playing the game, the fun will hinge on the descriptive nature of each player's turn.  I think it would be nice to add bonuses to that player's actions based on the quality of the descriptions provided, since that furthers the game.  Severe penalties (like losing all your health, or going insane) will need to be dialed way down, since players will have a harder time avoiding those.  In turn, those events should be quite descriptive, and perhaps will become fun in their own right.

Issues I've yet figured out is how to deal with Clue tokens, and generally providing a direction so that the players feel like part of a whole.  Also, I want the players to have interesting decisions to make, or things to think about beyond "go here and fight".  

Anyway, I was wondering what folks thought about an idea like this.  The basic idea is to make the game more of a story-focused event, while relying on the mechanics to provide the randomness and challenge.  I'd love any input or alternate ideas which can achive the goal!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Aug 12, 2008)

An obvious place to start for source materials & ideas would be Call of Cthulhu and Beyond the Supernatural RPGs.  I'm not saying you need to play those, but they could give you some guidance.


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## Dayspire (Mar 16, 2009)

I thought I'd post this, even though the thread is a bit old.

RPGnet Forums

I'm in a thus-far successful PBP game of Arkham Horror, utilizing all the rules and a shortened board, plus roleplaying!  It's great.  (You may need to register for rpg.net if you haven't already).


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## CapnZapp (May 30, 2010)

The "Games Master" (witamous) made references to a map. 

Alas, the links go to GeoCities, which is closed down by now.

Any chance of finding the maps elsewhere?


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## MortalPlague (May 31, 2010)

This is relevant to my interests!

Seriously, I love playing Arkham Horror.  My friends and I play once a week, on average.  I'd be quite interested in a PbP Arkham Horror game.


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## John Crichton (Jun 2, 2010)

MortalPlague said:


> This is relevant to my interests!
> 
> Seriously, I love playing Arkham Horror.  My friends and I play once a week, on average.  I'd be quite interested in a PbP Arkham Horror game.



You can also play solo which can be very fun.


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