by jgsugden
Other things you can do to make the game harder and balance it for your skill level:Make a skull token. It starts on the final insanity spot for investigators you play. When you win a game, it starts that next game one space to the left on the insanity track of where it was during that prior game. If you lose, the token gets to move one to the right for the next game. If you would advance to the skull token, your investigator dies.
Similarly: Increase the hp total of the Elder one stages when you win and decrease them when you lose. If you win 5 games in a row, the elder one stages are each +5 (17, generally).
Add more wandering monster cards to the Mythos deck. You get 4 with Season 3 and 4 with Season 4. Use them all. Also, when the monster is not on the board when you draw one: summon 1 to a random gate.
Have you ever tried 2 Elder Ones at once? Some of these combos are better than others.
When an investigator dies, all other investigators advance to the next stage of insanity immediately. When an investigator reaches a new plateau of insanity, all investigators within 1 take stress.
All monsters (but not cultists) reduce damage taken by 1. Elder Ones reduce damage taken by their stage number.
Hidden Psychosis. Each player plays with their insanity card face down until they reach the first level of insanity.
Draw one additional wandering monster card for each monster in the game (Elder one Minion, Episode, and normal Wandering monsters). As you do, add that wandering monster ability to the corresponding "in game" monster. This gives each monster two abilities.
Resting cures 2 instead of 3.
You must perform a roll to discover rather than it being automatic when not threatened. You need a number of successes equal to your current insanity level to find something. Instead of advancing your insanity, the insanity symbol counts as -1 successes for these rolls. (Hey, losing your mind makes it harder to focus).
Add an additional player. This player runs the monsters, cultists and Elder One. They alone read the Mythos cards and track the effects for many Mythos cards. They do this because a lot of information becomes hidden information because the investigators have to worry about being able to see the threats. The additional player uses pen and paper to track where monsters are on the board as the monsters are not put on the board unless an investigator is in the room, or there is a light in the room. Fire creates light and characters can use an action to add light to a space they are in. However, cultists extinguish lights (but not fires) within 1 space of their location when the Elder One advances. The players do not know how many Elder Signs have been found until the Elder One advances. They do not know what monsters have come on the board unless their was light where they appeared. When you get one of those "if X then advance the Elder one as if three Mythos had been drawn" the investigators do not know the criteria - or necessarily why the Elder Sign advanced.