The Dream-Eaters Blind Run #3A: Dark Side of the Moon

No delays! That means I can publish my blind run the exact day it was played. Let's get right to it, shall we?

Dark Side of the Moon

Jenny begins the scenario at Moon-Forest with alarm level 1 and 1 Mental Trauma.

Pre-Mulligan Hand: Lone Wolf, Intel Report, Perception, Randolph Carter, Unexpected Courage

Opening Hand: Lone Wolf, Switchblade, Switchblade, Enchanted Blade, Intel Report

#1

• PLAY Lone Wolf
• PLAY Intel Report (1 clue from Moon-Forest)
  • This location's image is gorgeous. But... weren't the interwar guys well aware that there were no forests on the moon? Doesn't matter, the picture still looks great. I won't have Jenny moving from the location just in case the free evade becomes relevant.
• Moon-Forest ( Streetwise, , lower alarm level)
  • Jenny plays in the forest. Yes, strictly speaking she's hiding from the various moon creatures, but hide-and-seek counts as playing.
• Upkeep: draw Lockpicks, 2 resources total, alarm level 0.

#2

• Mythos: 1/5 doom, Close Watch (commit Switchblade, 0)
  • It's a blind run, so ideally I want to keep the alarm level at zero. It's an interesting case study for tempo. Do you use Streetwise and deny yourself Lockpicks in the short term or do you risk losing your Lone Wolf?
• Lone Wolf
• PLAY Lockpicks
• MOVE to Temple of the Moon Lizard
• INVESTIGATE with Lockpicks (, 1 clue from Temple of the Moon Lizard, discard Enchanted Blade)
• Upkeep: draw Lone Wolf, 2 resources total, alarm level 0.

#3

• Mythos: 2/5 doom, Hunted by Corsairs
• Lone Wolf
• MOVE to City of the Moon-Beasts
• Hunted by Corsairs ( Streetwise, , discard Hunted by Corsairs)
• INVESTIGATE (, , 1 clue from City of the Moon-Beasts)
• advance act (take Virgil Gray, Exploring the Moon)
  • Hmmm... There are no visible clues and that means going to the Crater and then backtracking to be the Temple.
• Upkeep: draw Arcane Studies, 3 resources total, alarm level 0, × City of the Moon-Beasts (commit Lone Wolf, -1).

#4

• Mythos: 3/5 doom, Somniphobia (commit Arcane Studies, 0)
  • The chaos bag has overall low modifiers in this scenario so I feel that testing at plus one acceptable. Not at zero though, given the effects of the tablet tokens.
• Lone Wolf
• MOVE to The Dark Crater
• INVESTIGATE with Lockpicks (-1, 1 clue from The Dark Crater)
  • The clue is never to put ladders over the door to your spacecraft. *Wink*
• MOVE to Moon-Forest
• Upkeep: draw Drawn to the Flame, 6 resources total, alarm level 0.

#5

• Mythos: 4/5 doom, Dreamer's Curse ()
  • Well... Contrary to my own advice from a round ago I haven't committed Drawn to the Flame. Jenny's still unscratched due to an unexpected Elder Sign!
• Lone Wolf
• MOVE to Temple of the Moon Lizard
• advance act (The Moon's Core)
• MOVE to Moon-Forest
• MOVE to Caverns Beneath the Moon
  • We're wasting so much time on movement, but hey Jenny gets to visit her favorite forest on the way.
• Enemy: Moon Lizard readies
• Upkeep: draw Elusive, 8 resources total, alarm level 0.

Board State Reminder: 8 health, 6 sanity, 8 resources, 0 clues

In Play: Virgil Gray, Lockpicks (3 supplies)

In Hand: Switchblade, Drawn to the Flame, Elusive

#6

• Mythos: 5/5 doom, advance agenda (raise alarm level, Virgil Gray, draw Unexpected Courage, The Alarm is Raised), Deeper Slumber
  • That's ignorable. About the only cards Jenny needs to keep around in her hand are Elusives and the hand size of five is enough to accommodate them.
• Lone Wolf
• INVESTIGATE with Lockpicks (commit Unexpected Courage, , 0, 1 clue from Caverns Beneath the Moon)
• PLAY Switchblade
• MOVE to The Black Core (6 depth tokens)
• FIGHT with Switchblade (-4, 1 damage to Moon Lizard)
  • OK. That's not the end of the world, but it still means we'll need an extra action to kill it.
• Enemy: Moon Lizard attacks (2 horror to Virgil Gray, 2 damage)
• Upkeep: draw "I'm outta here!", 10 resources total, alarm level 1.

#7

• Mythos: 1/5 doom, Somniphobia (, raise alarm level, Virgil Gray, draw Lockpicks, 3 horror)
  • The game finally punishes me for hogging onto the cards in my hand, but "I'm outta here!" could be useful at the very end of the scenario.
• Lone Wolf
• FIGHT with Switchblade (-1, 2 damage to Moon Lizard)
• FIGHT with Switchblade (, defeat Moon Lizard)
• INVESTIGATE with Lockpicks ( Streetwise, commit Lockpicks, . 1 clue from The Black Core)
  • Jenny dreamed up a fishing pole and attached some picks as bait. These were dangly and very thus very enticing to a golden crow-fish that lived in the depths. Jenny then flapped her mouth soundlessly and convinced her new fish friend to bring him the actual clue. The two of them still exchange letters from time to time.
• advance act (Unexpected Rescue)
• Upkeep: draw Easy Mark, 11 resources total, alarm level 2.

#8

• Mythos: 2/5 doom, Lunar Patrol
  • Turns out these guys patrol the core of the moon where the giant lizard has its lair? That's diligent of them, but no more than a speed bump for an experienced non-taboo Rogue.
• Lone Wolf
• Lunar Patrol ( Streetwise, commit Easy Mark, 0, discard Lunar Patrol)
• MOVE to Caverns Beneath the Moon
  • Symmetric!
• INVESTIGATE with Lockpicks ( Streetwise, , 1 clue from Caverns Beneath the Moon)
• Upkeep: draw Jenny's Twin .45s, 10 resources total, alarm level 2.

#9

• Mythos: 3/5 doom, Corsair of Leng (at Light Side of the Moon)
• Lone Wolf
• MOVE to Light Side of the Moon
  • Well... It's two XPs, so even with Corsairs around I feel tempted to grab those. On the other hand there is no reason to try for lowering the alarm level. Two is comfortably less than five.
• EVADE ( Streetwise, commit Jenny's Twin .45s, , exhaust Corsair of Leng)
• INVESTIGATE with Lockpicks (commit Drawn to the Flame, -2, 2 supplies left, 1 clue from Light Side of the Moon
• Enemy: Corsair of Leng readies
• Upkeep: draw Easy Mark, 11 resources total, alarm level 2.

#10

• Mythos: 4/5 doom, Hunted by Corsairs
  • Jenny has a reasonable health buffer, so let's make her entrance to the ship appropriately spectacular.
• MOVE to The White Ship (Corsair of Leng attack, 1 damage)
• PARLEY with The Captain ( Streetwise, -3, × Hunted by Corsairs, 2 damage), R1.

Already? Granted, I was playing without taboo, but Dark Side of the Moon felt too easy. Perhaps the designers were going for that carefree feeling? I haven't drawn them in the game, but such silliness as Cats from Saturn were still lurking in the encounter deck. Still, that clashes with the overall theme of the scenario. In my opinion the two main issues were the alarm level being relatively straightforward to control and the lack of detail in the City of the Moon-Beasts. The backside of an agenda gives us exactly one sentence to describe what should be a pivotal moment of the scenario. "You create a distraction loud enough to separate the pair, then sneak by in order to free the captives." Elaborate! Needless to say, from Jenny's perspective it all went well and there's just one scenario left.

Campaign Log:

Beyond the Gates of Sleep: Jenny parleyed with the Zoogs. The black cat shared knowledge of the Dreamlands. The black cat has a hunch. 0 XP, 1 Mental Trauma.

The Search for Kadath: Jenny forced her way into the temple. Virgil was captured. Randolph eluded capture. The black cat is searching for the truth. 12 XP (Horde of Night, Ilek-Vad, Zulan-Thek, Mt. Ngranek, Nameless Ruins, Celephaïs, Serannian, Temple of Unattainable Desires, City-Which-Appears-On-No-Map, 2 bonus XP), Evidence of Kadath: 10.

Dark Side of the Moon: Jenny travelled to the Cold Wastes. Randolph survived the voyage. 8 XP (Moon Lizard, Light Side of the Moon, City of the Moon-Beasts, The Dark Crater, Temple of the Moon Lizard, Moon-Forest), Evidence of Kadath: 13.