Ancestral Fear

Used in: The Doom of Eztli, Heart of the Elders Part 2, The Depths of Yoth

The Doom of Eztli: Basically reads "Add Ancestral Fear to the victory display," adding doom to locations in this scenario causes a lot of problems (, , and become worse, Final Mistake gets more difficult).

~~The Doom of Eztli Part 2~~ Heart of the Elders Part 2: Just like in The Doom of Eztli, you'll usually want to add this to the victory display to avoid losing too many turns (remember, doom on locations sticks around when The Lonely Caverns advances).

The Depths of Yoth: Here, the first "choice" actually becomes a viable option, as you can clear doom by advancing to the next depth level. In addition (for some reason), Forgotten Ruins isn't paired up with Deadly Traps in this scenario, so there isn't as much punishment for ending up with doom on locations.

Strategy: In standalone, Ancestral Fear becomes very interesting, forcing you to be very thoughtful about what other cards with Vengeance you add to the victory display lest you cross the 3 Vengeance threshold for Serpent from Yoth and The Depths of Yoth's . In campaign mode... I'm not going to lie, I hate this thing's design when it comes to campaign mode. Vengeance, ideally, should provide the players a choice a la Offer of Power, forcing them to weigh long-term costs against short-term gains. Boa Constrictor does so by forcing the players to either deal with an annoying hunter or use up 4 damage worth of resources and make things worse later, Serpent of Tenochtitlán tempts the players with that victory point, while Descent to Yoth doubles the temptation and cost. With Ancestral Fear, though, the first "choice" is usually so untenable that it doesn't feel like a choice at all until you reach Depths, making Vengeance less of a choice and more a simple "do bad things" mechanic. And its other keywords (Peril and Surge) mean that your friends can't help you with your "choice" and you'll get another encounter card for your pleasure. If you're playing Campaign Mode, understand that, even if you're a complete pacifist towards all snakes (though not non-snakes, like this jerk), you'll still probably end up with around 4 Vengeance due to Ancestral Fear. If only Yig was willing to talk it out...

6/29/23

NightgauntTaxiService · 391

That's interesting, because my group almost ALWAYS places doom, and we've played TFA at least a dozen times. I don't think I need to convince you for The Depths of Yoth so that much is clear. For Hearth of the Elders Part 2, that scenario is insanely generous with the doomtreshold, so it only really affects Final Mistake, and the extra difficulty doesn't really effect most characters; either they are so good at Agility they still pass or they weren't going to pass anyway. I can see an argument for The Doom of Eztli because doom defintely can become tight there. However, in the Return to (which we pretty much always play) there is a location that allows you to flip doom to clues. We usually camp our group there and once we've gathered most of the necessary clues and did our setup, we race through the rest of the scenario. All in all, buffing Brood of Yig, Wrath of Yig, and the lasting campaign effects tend to be MUCH worse. — Nenananas · 251 6/30/23

I agree with Nenananas. Usually the goal is to find room to allow for the doom option, so basically the challenge is to just clear the scenario slightly faster. I think it’s something that feels bad on a blind run, but on repeats you can plan around it. — StyxTBeuford · 12985 6/30/23

Yeah, on second thought I think I was a bit too harsh on this. Managed to do a run of Doom of Eztli yesterday, and the doom option actually proved palatable a few times. I hesitate to say it only feels bad on a blind run, though, Styx: it might not be as harsh as I first thought, but surging Ancient Evils is never good. — NightgauntTaxiService · 391 6/30/23

I guess what I mean by that is you just sort of go in subtracting 1 from the agenda, kinda how you do with ancient evils. — StyxTBeuford · 12985 6/30/23

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