The Beyond

My take on this set: This set is part of the deck discard engine that runs throughout the Dunwich Legacy. As a result, it’s dependent on the interaction with the rest of the encounter deck and has to be evaluated on a case by case base. Generally speaking, if it’s the only set that deals in discarding from the deck, then those parts of the card effects can almost be ignored. Once paired with the Sorcery set, its stock goes up drastically, though. Terror from Beyond is a swingy card, but an experienced player should be able to keep its impact minimal. Push into the Beyond is a card to always respect.

What it does: Arcane Barrier comes with a somewhat difficult Willpower test. Failing these tests will either waste actions or discard cards from the player deck. Instead of just doing its effect once, it attaches to the location and can hit multiple times, potentially causing a lot of cards to be discarded.

Discarding cards in itself doesn’t do a whole lot to the board state, the horror penalty for eventually reshuffling the deck isn’t all that threatening either. It can become a problem once other cards care about the cards in your discard or of course if the encounter deck also uses The Dunwich Legacy’s public enemy number one: Beyond the Veil from the Sorcery encounter set.

My take: This is a very swingy card and its power is almost completely dependent on the presence of Beyond the Veil. There are some investigators who are bothered by this card a bit more than others, for example Mandy Thompson really doesn’t appreciate having one of her Segments of Onyx being dumped in the discard. Also, it can be an annoyance if it attaches to a very central location that players plan on crossing multiple times. Those are all situations that require burning an action or three on passing the Willpower test. But many times, the actual impact of the card itself is fairly low.

Threat level: Low. Medium when the Sorcery set is also used. It has no immediate board impact, allowing investigators to catch up to whatever else is happening. Negative repercussions, if any, are pushed back to a later point when either the deck runs out or some other encounter card triggers off of the discard piles contents.

Dealing with it: A Willpower test of 4 is a notable test even for Mystics. Still, if Beyond the Veil (or similar circumstances) is in play, then it is worth to burn a card or two from the hand to make sure this card is dealt with permanently.

What it does: One of the early Peril cards in the game’s life cycle, Terror from Beyond puts the player that draws it into a position that can potentially cost everyone else a lot of cards. Having to decide on either asset, event or skill, every player will have to discard all cards of that type. Obviously this can lead to a whole lot of cards being discarded and this encounter card scales particularly well with 3 or 4 players.

My take: I really like the tension this card creates as everyone clutches their hand of cards and starts praying that it won’t get too bad. Look, just don’t say “Asset” in the first couple turns, okay? I’ve seen this card devastate player hands as we were discarding our Leo de Lucas and .45 Thompsons with a tear in our eye. Of course, there rarely is a good choice here. My suggestion would be deciding between Event and Skill by what of the two hurts yourself the least. Unless its already late game, in which case events and skills may just be more valuable than assets.

Threat level: Medium to High. The ceiling for this card is very high, but can usually be mitigated a lot if the player makes their choice carefully.

Dealing with it: Not much you can do except thinking hard about what is likely still relevant. Early in the game, people will have assets in their hand that they still need to get into play. The characters being played are relevant, too. If someone is playing Diana Stanley, calling “Event” should be off the table, for example.

What it does: This card does a whole lot and attacks from three angles at the same time. First, it wipes one of your assets of the board. Then, it discards three cards from the top of the deck, adding to the deck discard already present from the Arcane Barrier. Finally, it can conditionally deal horror to the player.

My take: Unlike Arcane Barrier which wildly fluctuates in powerlevel depending on the context, Pushed into the Beyond is always relevant because it costs you an asset. While the asset goes back into the deck to (probably) be drawn again, it still wastes the draw, the action and all of the resources that were spent on it. Getting hit for 2 horror is a sizeable chunk considering its tacked on to an already strong main effect. I found i would often pick the card to reshuffle based on which ones are still left in the deck, trying to minimize the chance of discarding a copy of the card.

Threat level: High. This is one of the cards to actively play around on the first turns to avoid losing something valuable to it. It’s relevant at all stages of the game and even contributes to the deck discard theme that is running through the Dunwich campaign.

Dealing with it: Play around this card while setting up by making sure you can feed one of your permanents into this card if it comes to it. Don’t be the guy that spends the first turn generating a resource, playing Leo de Luca and no other asset to accompany him.

Return to The Dunwich Legacy: Beyond the Threshold

My take on this set: All things considered, i think Beyond the Threshold is a bit easier on the players than The Beyond, which it is intended to replace. The exception is Infinite Doorways which can conditionally turn out to be ridiculously punishing. This set of cards is interesting and synergize well with the original cards from The Beyond. I usually swap out a Barrier and a Terror for a Doorway and Welcome now when constructing an encounter deck that has The Beyond. I keep both of the Pushed into Beyonds because the two instances of asset hate are something that i’d want to keep around.

What it does: Replacing Arcane Barrier, Infinite Doorways attaches to the location in a similar manner and also deals with discarding cards from the deck. Instead of discarding a chunk of 5 cards with each trigger, Infinite Doorways only discards one. However, weaknesses discarded by this will go into play. And if something is discarded that the player already has in hand it also attacks those hand cards, making the player choose to either take a horror or discard the card in hand as well. Unlike Arcane Barrier, this doesn’t offer any kind of saving throw to avoid the effect or discard the attachment.

My take: This card can really screw you over if it attaches to a very central location like for example the Museum Halls in The Miscatonic Museum. If everyone only has to cross this card once, it’s perfectly fine but repeated triggers quickly add up. Not being able to defuse it with a Willpower check is quite annoying and personally i really wish it had such a clause…

Threat level: Medium to High. It’s much less dependent on context from other encounter cards thanks to the secondary effects attached. If it attaches to a particularly inconvenient location, it can warp the game around it as players will have to minimize it’s impact.

Dealing with it: There’s not a whole lot to be done about this card specifically. If it gets drawn on a bad spot, it can be very much worth a cancel effect or an Alter Fate.

What it does: The Peril card that replaces Terror from Beyond. It works similar in that the player has to choose something without input from the others and then the effect is applied to everyone. Where Terror from Beyond made everyone discard, this one blocks two chosen types of actions instead.

My take: I feel like this card is a lot tamer than Terror from Beyond. While the effect is certainly impactful, it doesn’t have the high ceiling that TfB has and it is also a lot easier to predict for the player that drew it. As an interesting twist, while often the order in which the encounter cards are revealed during the Mythos phase is irrelevant, this becomes a lot more predictable if its drawn last.

Threat level: Low. It’s rare that pressure on the board is high enough that there aren’t two types of actions to chose that don’t completely screw everyone over. After all, this card doesn’t actually cost actions, it only limits them in what they can do.

Dealing with it: Usually, the board state should make the correct picks fairly obvious. If no enemies are around, fight and evade are easy to pass on. Even with enemies around, evasion can often be called. And if the board is really calling for some enemy management, then stopping everyone from moving and investigating for one turn isn’t the end of the world.

What it does: Replacing Pushed into the Beyond, Haunting Recollections removes the asset hate completely. It’s primarily a card that deals horror, based on how many cards in hand and discard pile are matching. Thankfully, it’s capped at 3 horror dealt. Should no horror be dealt, 3 cards are instead discarded from the deck.

My take: This card also seems weaker to me than the card it replaces. 3 horror without a check to defend against it is certainly harsh, but the whole package of effects from Pushed into the Beyond just has a bigger overall impact. Something to note here is that PitB is particularly strong in the early game while this card gets stronger as the game goes on.

Threat level: Low. There is some danger presented by a card that can just deal 3 horror, but by the time the discard pile is full enough for this to happen, investigators should be able to buffer this hit with some soak from an ally or just by having enough sanity left. If drawn early, this only discards 3 cards from the deck, which is about as much as a breather as it gets in the Arkham LCG.

Dealing with it: Keep in mind that there are two cards in the deck that can potentially deal 3 horror and be prepared for that, either by keeping a sanity buffer or by having allies or assets around that can soak the damage. If you are particularly worried about this card ending you near the end of the game, consider getting rid of cards in your hand that are also already in your discard, for example by pitching them to a test for their icons.