An Investigator's Guide to Kingsport Horror, vol. 4

Guardians

By Daniel Clark

My father died in the war. This is not in itself unusual; many soldiers died in that conflict on both sides. But my father was not a soldier, and he never left the country. He was a cook, assigned to a naval base in Annapolis, Maryland. He drowned. In his soup.

My grandfather was struck by lightning twice in the same day, although this is not what killed him (that honor was reserved for an ocean-going shark some few hundred miles too far up the Mississippi). His father was lost at sea on the only ocean voyage he ever made.

When the woman in Lithuania told me I was cursed, I was inclined to believe her. My luck has never been good, as evidenced by my repeated failures to reveal the awful truth and the alarming number of suits ruined each time it rains (including the one I wear now, as it happens). Acceptance of my fate has inspired in me a numbness not at all proof against the mounting horror of what I see ahead, but rather created an additional layer of hopelessness that I struggle daily to overcome.

So the dreams I have been having since my arrival in Kingsport are, despite their unreservedly useful nature, met with some suspicion. Is it possible that, in addition to the terrible and unspeakable forces whose existence I intend to prove, there exists some benevolent power, some guardian of mortal man?

- from the Journal of Rex Murphy

At its core, Arkham Horror is a game that pits the Investigators against the Ancient One. In The King in Yellow, the Ancient One gained a powerful ally with the addition of Heralds. While there are new Heralds in Kingsport Horror, the equation returns to balance with the addition of Guardians. Functioning in a very similar fashion to the Heralds, Guardians are a powerful new aid for Investigators and can make the game significantly easier in a variety of fun and interesting ways. (Of course, like Heralds, Guardians are completely optional; if you find Arkham Horror already too easy, feel free to pass on this game option…and good luck with the new Ancient Ones without their help!)

There are three Guardians in Kingsport Horror, each of them a powerful supernatural force opposed to the Ancient Ones and benevolent (or at least neutral) towards humans. We’ll explore Hypnos, the Lord of Sleep.

Hypnos has two effects on your game of Arkham Horror, one relatively minor and one deceptively important. We’ll start with the simpler effect, his “Lord of Dreams” power. Hypnos has power over all the realms of sleep, and his benevolence grants Investigators who might find themselves in strange and unlikely places an unexpected boon. His other power might not seem like much at first. Each of the Vision of Hypnos cards look something like this:

The dreams shared by the Investigators while Hypnos serves as their Guardian gently guide them to the information they need to combat the Ancient One. Not only do they point the direction to important clues, the uncanny prescience of the dreams allows their recipients to more easily navigate the potentially dangerous locations to which they must travel.

The effect seems tame: an extra clue every round. But the effect over the course of the game compounds enormously. Put it another way: an extra clue every round! Since clue tokens are critical to closing and sealing gates, not to mention their myriad other uses, even a slight increase in the rate at which they come into Arkham is enormously useful for the Investigators.

Furthermore, don’t overlook the benefit offered by the other half of the card. Some locations can be very dangerous–and this effect makes them half as dangerous. Some locations can have very useful encounters–and this effect makes them twice as likely to come up.

The effect of Hypnos is subtle, as befits the Lord of Sleep, but when taken over the long term it can be potent indeed. Guardians, like Heralds before them, can be added to your game to subtly tweak the difficulty and overall game experience of any Arkham Horror game. You can even use Guardians and Heralds side by side, and depending on your combination of Ancient One, Guardian, and Herald, the game could change in a variety of interesting ways…

Dreams becoming more vivid and more terrifying. Time grows short; I fear I am pursued. Will write again soon, unless…

- final lines from the journal of Rex Murphy

Find the rest of the Articles from this series on the Design Notes page.