Spells and Casting | Arkham Horror

Warrick P

I've played two solo games now and one game with my wife to get a handle on the rules before hosting my first group game this weekend. I think I have a good handle on everything except magic. Since pretty much all spells cost sanity and there are no easy ways to regain sanity why cast spells instead of going to the shops and trying to find magic weapons or regular weapons?

I know some of the magic effects are great but based on the cost and inherently unpredictable nature of casting spells it seems I'd be visiting the Asylum every third turn to renew my sanity.

Am I missing something here?

Thoughts on spells and how you use casters are appreciated.

Posted Thu Feb 9, 2012 12:32 am
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Warrick P

(Warrick)

Apologies. I found this over on the strategies board.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/287293/magic-in-arkham

Posted Thu Feb 9, 2012 12:38 am
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Jim Kiefer

(mageith)

United States
Fremont
California

It's all about the theme!

In the basic game, spell casting was considered to be a last ditch effort. In later expansions, the spells got cheaper to use and some investigators were able to use spells without paying Sanity cost.

The game is based off of a role-playing game, where, I understand, spells were generally used by evil or weak characters or mostly by the game-master. It's not really for mere mortals.

Ironically the best equipped spellcaster in the basic game is the psychologist because she can heal sanity but she starts with zero spells.

Posted Thu Feb 9, 2012 12:41 am
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Jason Sherlock

(jackalope)

United States
Anaheim Hills
California

Sometimes sanity is easier to come by than money.

Posted Thu Feb 9, 2012 5:32 am
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Christian Demers

(Docdemers)

Canada
Montréal south shore
Québec

Weapons are only useful during combats against monsters. Which, most of the time, we try to avoid because they make you loose your precious time. Spells on the other hand, can change the pace of the game in a way nothing else can do. here a list of some spells that can do that.

From base game:

- Find gate (save a lot of troubles and time. Probably the most useful spell).

From Dark Pharaoh:

- Astral travel (another time saver. combined with Find gate it can win you a game.)

- Revelation of script (at 0 sanity cost, you have nothing to lose and clues drive the game).

From KiY:

- The Yellow mist (can prevent terror to rise and it's not too expensive).

- Arcane insight (can be hard to cast but can be very useful when you're about to win and don't wanna be screwed by a nasty Mythos).

From Lurker:

- Sigil of Hermes Trismegistus ( a team oriented spell very useful against the most hard to close gates).

From Dunwich:

- Vision quest (another time saver since gathering clues are very time consuming).

- Greater banishment (very useful to clear the way from the most dangerous monster and again prevent they delays. Also prevent the Terror track to go up).

And there is many others not in this list that can also help you dealing with situations you wouldn't be be able to get out without them. Yes you have to pay with your sanity, but sometimes it's the less expensive way to do it. If we draw a Find Gate early, I know our chances to win are much better now.

Posted Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:39 pm
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Jim Kiefer

(mageith)

United States
Fremont
California

It's all about the theme!

Warrick wrote:

Am I missing something here?

I think from the above list you can see that what you are missing are the expansions, that actually make some spells very useful.

Posted Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:45 pm
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Subject: Spells and Casting