In the Heart of Darkness

[Old Dwarf]

This was another KS I completely missed & found only later BGG
& it rings a lot of my bells:

- Great Horror Theme 1-4 players

-The Game Board(s) & bits are well done & reinforce the Dark theme.
The Game uses standees which I usually hate but these are well
done ,realistic & you don't need to paint them (my backlog needs no
more additions).

-Game play is rather standard-Explore a deserted Island,find items needed
for the Victory conditions ,manage curses, conduct Missions & leave before the
Darkness Level shuts the Game down.

-Besides the Base Game 2 Campaigns are included each with 7 or 5 Chapters

The KS Game was a reasonable cost $44 USA & was to be a KS Exclusive but
is now released to the public with same content as the KS.I ordered
mine from Miniature Market for $42 & change which included the Game,
NJ taxes & Shipping. Here's a Link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...escription

I was surprised the Game had such a skimpy back story, it's like 1 sentence
at the start of the KS. Nothing explains why the creatures are roaming
the Island nor why certain locations on the island function as they do.

The Base Game victory conditions require that a # of random missions
(based on the # of Protagonist(Investigators) in the game plus finding
3 radio parts to summon a rescue ship. The set up states the Protagonist
upon the arriving on the Island disassemble their long-range radio
& distribute the parts among themselves to make sure everyone leaves at once.
Then they go out & have to find radio Parts on the island-it makes no sense?
The mechanic works but I feel it could have been implemented better
as to what needs to be collected for winning the Game.

The Standee Creatures are very Lovecraftian looking like Dark Young
& Haster minions who took the Unspeakable Oath. But nothing of the Mythos
is developed.

I can't comment on the Campaigns as no information is given so I'll
need to wait a few days to my Game is delivered,Here are the Rules:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xCio0M3...uD8sE/view

Looking forward to getting this on the Table but before I do I'm going to
write up my own background for the Game & cover why the Creatures
are on the island, why its deserted & why Investigators are being sent
to the island. I will also convert the Radio Parts objectives to something
that makes more sense& Lovecraft the Game up.

OD

PS I just found a link to the 2 Campaigns:

https://tabletopia.com/games/in-the-heart-of-darkness
The Campaign Link is halfway down under Rules.

They change the Base Game & use backstories for the chapters.

The blurb indicates that Mona is island off the S.Coast of France! With all due respect
I can't really picture this location as a setting for a Horror game. For my Games I'm
changing it to a godforsaken island in Lake Superior just off the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.

[Old Dwarf]

Noting my comments on the above post I've worked out an alternative
Game Background & Lovecraft up the game theme. Nothing changes
the Game's rules but the radio parts tokens now represent Stone
Fragments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1809 George Cragin was expelled from the Andover Theological Seminary for his rejection of the Trinity &
returned to his hometown of Worchester in Western Massachusetts. He apprenticed to his uncle to learn the monumental masonry trade.
His uncle died in 1814 & his son took over the business. George & his cousin never got along so George quit to seek his fortune elsewhere.
The next 20 years saw George drifting West plying his trade as tombstone maker & engraver.

In 1834 George had reached upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula which was experiencing a copper boom & set up shop in Eagle Harbor.In
1835 George was commissioned by a Perfectionist Sect which had a Community on Mona Island just offshore of Eagle Harbor to replace
their graveyards wooden markers with marble tombstones. The Island was home to around 75 individuals who made a living by collecting
Copper Nuggets which were found all over the Island & selling to the Pittsburg & Boston Mining Company at Copper Harbor.

George moved to the Island & started on the project by compiling an inventory of the graves with their names & dates & ordering
the necessary Tombstone Blanks & site markers from Detroit. By this time winter had set in & the shipping lanes on Lake Superior were
shut down by ice. George spent his time getting to know the islanders & upon discovering that one of the graves was that of the Sects preacher
joined the Community as a lay preacher.

Finally when the Spring of 1846 arrived & his order was delivered George began to transport the marble in batches in his wagon. Late in
the day on his last load he was carrying 6 Tombstone blanks & 4 site markers when his wagon got stuck going through the swamp forcing him
to spend the night.The next morning when George hadn't returned a few men went out to look for him. Finding the wagon in the swamp with
George raving about the Tarus Constellation & the revealed true Gods.Later after the wagon had been freed he explained he had camped overnight
on the wagon & had receive a revelation while meditating upon the star Aldebaran that these Old Ones were the true Gods that had been exiled from earth.
His mission now was to gather followers to help prepare the way & share in the glory & rewards when these Olds Ones returned. The men agreed
their Preacher had been helped through the night with a tad too much liquor.

George then departed for his workshop & for the next 3 months he could be seen working furiously on what the Islanders assumed were the
Tombstones. The 1st Sunday in August George returned to the pulpit & displayed 6 marble slabs & 4 smaller markers inscribed with praises
for Hastur & Shub-Niggurath & various enchantments to call forth & control their minions.So forceful & chiasmatic was Cragin that
the congregation was carried away & joined in what Cragin called "The True Path "

In the coming weeks Cragin proclaimed Mora was the New Carcosa & installed the 5 white marble slabs upon the Church Alter now called
the Aldebaran Tablets. A 6th. tablet of black marble was placed in a carved-out section of the western shore cliffs which was called the
Templer Temple. A Ritual Site was prepared for the common rituals of the cult & a special Ritual Cavern was created for the Cults 7
elders George's most loyal disciples. In late November when Aldebaran was at its brightest a grove of trees was concentrated & the
2 marble tablets honoring Hastur & Shub-Niggurath were installed therein & proclaimed the Heart of Darkness witnessed by the Cult
members & the summoned minions of the Old Ones. Cragin final task was burying the 4 marker stones at the cardinal points of the
Island creating blocking Gates to keep the summoned minions from leaving Mona.

The True Path Community prospered for nearly a decade financed by the collection of the Copper Nuggets but the Cults practices of communal marriage,
outré naked religious rituals,rumors of summoned Demons & the yearly occurrence of missing children in late Fall caused suspicion to fall
on secretive Mona Community. In November of 1855 the Dalton twins were found half frozen on the ice between Mona & Eagle Harbor, upon
their recovery they reported they had been kidnapped by members of True Path & were held, in some sort of temple being prepared for sacrifice.
They had managed to undo their bonds & escape off the western shore of the island onto the pack ice that had formed early that year.

Word spread quickly in the taverns of Eagle harbor & the neighboring community of Copper Harbor & liquor talk demanded vengeance soon a mob
of nearly 100 men armed with pistols, Rifles & clubs stormed over the pack ice to Mona. The True Path Community was
overwhelmed as the mob set fire to the small settlement & shooting, beating any cultist they came across. Some Cultist rushed to the church
to save the 4 Aldebaran Tablets but they were hunted down shot & the blasphemous marbles were broken up their pieces scattered.
Aron Hunter a 17 year old Cultist seeing the carnage rushed to the Heart of Darkness Grove to save the 2 sacred tablets grabbed the Hastur
Glory Tablet but can't get the Shub-Niggurath Tablet loose from the ground. Hearing the mob close by he runs to hide in the Swamp but slams
into a tree with such force the Hastur marble shatters & he's stunned.

Meanwhile George Cragin & his Chosen Elders also head to The heart of Darkness intending to summon the wrath the Old Ones on the invaders.
They find the Hastur Stone missing but in desperation begin the Ritual to bring down Shub-Niggurath in the stress of the moment the ritual
words are garbled & portal opens striking down Cragin & the Elders & creating a one-way nexus for the minions of Shub- Niggurath to Aldebaran.
The portal creates a cursed area around the Heart of Darkness.

Later when the carnage of the raid has run its course & the mob departs Aron Hunter recovers & finds the Hastur Tablet in pieces he secures the
largest piece & escapes the island & finds refuge with an aunt in Copper Harbor who keeps his secret. When the sun rises a pall of smoke is
seen over Mona. The sheriff from Eagle Harbor takes some men & investigates finding the islands settlement a smoldering ruin & some 22
bodies. He reports it as civil strife among the residents of Mona & the island remains deserted for the next 45 years.

1898 the Spanish American War has created a demand for copper & Cornelius Rasslear president of the Pittsburg & Boston Mining Company
remembers the high-grade Copper nuggets he use to get from Mona Island. Sending Surveyors out to explore the island he is excited to learn
that an Island promised a rich vein of Copper right on the shipping lanes of Lake Superior. Discovering the Island has a tax lien
he quickly secures the property. The copper nuggets won't be near enough for any real profit, so Rasslear invest in heavy mining
equipment & prepares the Mona for heavy exploitation. A village for the miners is constructed along with a proper harbor & he convinces
the United States Lighthouse Board to authorize a Lighthouse at the Harbor. A large mansion is also built to house the mine manager.

By the late Summer of 1899 preparations are complete & 200 Miners with their families arrive on Mona & the Tunnel digging to reach the
copper vein begun. The high grade copper the mine produced insured a healthy profit for Rasslear's company & WWI sent demand sky rocking.
In 1917 Rasslear donated part of Mona as a training facility for the Michigan National guard. In 1921 the Guard decommissioned
the base & returned the facility to Pittsburg & Boston company. As part of the decommission excess munitions stored in a ruined temple like
structure on the islands Western Shore was blown up the blast shattered the Black Tablet hidden there, thus destroying the last of
the Aldebaran Tablets to malevolent effect. A heavy smothering silence descended over Mona the sounds of birds & insects were muted,
the atmosphere grew oppressive & at the cardinal points the barrier gate stones began to slowly leech their power.

Within a couple of months people began to report grotesque creatures roaming the Island. In late November the disappearances began
& panic set in among the miners & their families. The exodus followed first the miner's families & when no explanations or solutions
presented themselves the miners themselves · The Pittsburg & Boston Mining company offered bonuses to keep miners on the job & recruit
replacements but to no avail & the workforce continue to dwindle as the evil reputation of the "Hoodo" Island spread. Finally in May
of 1923 Rasslear was no longer to keep enough miners to operate the mine & closed down production evacuating the few remaining workers
along with the Lighthouse keeper. Mona was abandoned to the brooding evil that radiated from the island.

The above are excerpts from The History of the True Path & Moan Island a Master Thesis submitted by Joseph Hunter to the Miskatonic
University Occult Studies Department in 1925. Included in its Appendix is a sworn Affidavit from Aron Hunter a former member of the
True Path & Uncle to Joseph Hunter to authenticate his research & to further vouch for the Thesis accuracy the piece of the Hastur
Tablet which Aron had secreted in his escape from the raid on Mona was submitted.

The following sections of Aron's Affidavit excited the Occult Studies Professors:

The Aldebaran Tablets consisted of 5 White Marble 3'by 2' slabs. 2 were Praise Tablets 1 dedicated to Hastur & the other to Shub-Niggurath.
3 others were the Ritual Tablets that contained the spells to summon the Minions of the Old Ones to partake of the worship rituals. The
6th Tablet was the Black Ward Tablet which establish control of the Minions & disbursed them back to the Void once the Worship Rituals
were completed.

The Gate Barrier stones were 4 2"x2" marble s that served to limit the Minions to certain sections of the island during the Worship Rituals.

The True Paths organization consisted of an Outer Circle which included the regular members who worshiped at the Ritual Site & secret
Ritual Cavern where the 7 elders & Preacher Cragin of the Inner Circle held the Grand Ritual in late November when Aldebaran was brightest.

The True Path Rituals:

Weekly Sabbath was a hold over from the Cults Perfectionist Community roots. Preacher Cragin or one of the Elders would hold forth on the
Glory of the Old Ones & the rewards to be received with the return of Hastur & Shub-Niggurath.

Monthly Meeting was held on the first day of each month at the Ritual Site the 3 Ritual Tablets were brought from the Church by the elders
& the participants shed their clothing as Preacher Cragin recited the Rituals to summon the minions of the Old Ones.The participants shouted
praise to Hastur & Shub-Niggurath & started frenzied dancing mingling with the minion creatures. When exhaustion set in Preacher Cragin called
on the Black Tablet & dismissed the minions.

The Grand Ritual was held annually the last day of November where Preacher & the 7 elders sacrifice 2 children 1 to Hastur & 1 to Shub Niggurath
at the Ritual Cavern. At first children of the True Path were offered up but that caused dissent within the Cult. Cragin then switched to
abducting children from neighboring communities which eventually led to the true Path downfall.

The Professors of the Occult Studies Department realized the revelations revealed by the Thesis could provide tangible proof of the Old Ones & their minions existed if the remnants of the Aldebaran Tablets could be found & reassembled.

In August of 1925 the Miskatonic University began funding a series of Expeditions to explore Mona Island to recover the Aldebaran Tablet fragments
& investigate the minion creatures which were reported to occupy the Island.

OD

[Old Dwarf]

The Game arrived today & the Board & bits (Cards, Standees, Dice)
are well done & enhances the dark theme. The 2 Rule Books, Base &
Campaign ,got some criticism on BGG for their organization but
I didn't see any problems.

The Backstory I was bitching about in the Base game is
present fully in the Campaign Games as each Chapter has a
a detailed story to start them off.

The Campaigns have a point system for each Chapter based on
what objectives are accomplished & include optional objectives
for extra points. At the end of the Campaign based on the points
you can have a happy ending or a Somber ending.

The 2 Campaigns revolve around a search for a missing Sister
& gets very Lovecraftian. They tie in nicely as a prelude to the Backstory
I created for the Base Game.

OD