by Pete_R
[microbadge=54574] Hi Redgard!I am a member of 3 totally different groups of game players. Amongst the 3 groups there are various viewpoints, echoing most of the discussion above. Both David above and Max further above have indeed made some good points.
George the Dog wrote:
[Microbadge=54559] No!! Not Max! Disregard Max! He has delusions of grandeur and is only out to conquer the world! [Microbadge=56060]
RePete wrote:
George! Shush! That's only his avatar! Which is some sort of iconic power gamer image, it's not really him! He only sounds like that because he favors a highly analytical approach towards gaming.
Max, I hereby apologize for my rather excitable dog. I just tossed him a mouseover and so he should be quiet for a while now, whilst we discuss and analyze this here situation.
So, Redgard, at this point I should introduce both George and RePete. They are my alter egos, who help me play multiple characters whenever I am alone and resort to a solitaire game session. Don't worry, these multiple personalities are just leftover symptoms from my career as a mad scientist. See my profile page. They constitute one of my 3 player groups. The other 2 groups are my dentist and his 2 teenage sons, plus my brother and sister-in-law. All 3 groups are enthusiastic about C:DMD. It is a really great cooperative game; everybody wins or loses togehter against the game itself. It has an exactly mid-range BGG weight (difficulty, not kilograms) of 2.5, so it is in a sweet spot design wise, and achieves replayability to multiple expansions instead of an incredibly thick rule book. Which does meet George's approval [Microbadge=54560]. He has not played Catan since his one truly dreadful experience [Microbadge=54558].
The dental group enjoys the variety of monsters and the fact that the episodes have their own specific thematic monsters whilst each Elder Ones has their own specific henchmen monsters. So, the flavor of each episode changes greatly depending upon which elder one you are fighting in any particular game session.
My brother, his wife, and I (coming from a D&D background) enjoy role playing different characters during each game to add even more variety in flavor! George fully approves (when flavor is added) BTW, and so he, RePete and myself enjoy mixing and matching characters into teams just to see whatever synergies evolve. This is more than just picking amongst the 6 basic skills (sometimes you want Marksman, sometimes Brawling, occasionally Stealth and/or Swiftness works better than either of the first two, and Arcane Mastery almost always kicks up any of those!) but each Investigator's unique skill morphs their utility and value beyond the mere 15 possible combos of the 6 basic skills.
So, our recommendation is to get plenty of Investigators so that you can try totally new combos (of both individual Investigators and also as teams) to see how they work out synergistically even after you have finally found some combo of basic skills that solves a particular episode of a particular Elder One. Give some thought about picking up both the Cthulhu: Death May Die – Unspeakable Box and the Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Unknowable Box if your budget can afford their prices, which may and/or may not be reasonable after Seasons 3 and 4 are finally released to retail. those boxes are full of Investigators, include an Elder One or two, and do have a few more episodes. And also try to grab the Cthulhu: Death May Die – CMON Comics: Vol. 2 Promos then, too!
And do remember, the number one rule in gaming is "If you are having fun, you are doing it right!"
Best Regards, and I hope you had a fun gaming spree during 2023! And here's wishes for more in 2024!
Pete Roullard