Daniel (@dungeondive) opens the first big-box expansion for Arkham Horror 2e and gives a thorough, opinionated breakdown. He does not love the expansion board itself—travelling via train to Bishop’s Brook Bridge adds footprint without matching fun, and three-investigator games can’t maintain pressure on both maps—but the expansion contains so much that does get mixed into his base game that it remains worthwhile.
Keepers: eight new investigators (Jim Culver the musician and Diana Stanley the redeemed cultist are thematic standouts), four new ancient ones (Abhoth, Tsathoggua, Glaaki, Shudde M’ell), optional physical-injury and madness decks for roleplay flavour, seven new encounter cards per Arkham neighbourhood, new other-world encounters, new allies, spells, common items, and a glorious new unique item deck. Skippers: the gate-burst rule (which nullifies hard-won elder sign seals) and the expansion Mythos deck he finds punishing for little narrative payoff. Stalkers and spawn monsters introduce fresh threat patterns; tasks and missions add distraction-based side-quests to common items, including the brilliant “For the Greater Good” that sacrifices your investigator to win the game.
Appendix M recommends Lovecraft’s original Dunwich novella, plus Brian Lumley’s Cement Surroundings and The Thing from the Blasted Heath, Clark Ashton Smith’s The Door to Saturn, Michael Shea’s Tsathoggua, John Langan’s Mirror-Fishing, and Richard Tierney’s The Emerald Tablet.
Do the Arkham 2e big-box boards earn their table space, or is the expansion ecosystem best mined for its cards alone?