Beware of Ax-Wielding Maniacs!

We're well into our first game of Mansions of Madness, and the intrepid investigators are hot on the trail of a man who was driven insane by the death of his son and may well have murdered his wife. The clues suggest that he's out in the garden, but first the investigators are going to have to get past the ax-wielding maniac in the laboratory.

Kate the scientist (played by Amy) was able to use her flux stabilizer (yes, that's a thing!) to hold off the maniac for a while, but now he's coming after her. Fortunately, gruff detective Joe Diamond (Matthew) and gun-toting socialite Jenny Barnes (Nathaniel) are on their way. Let's hope they reach Kate in time!

The game has some interesting combat mechanics, including long-lasting physical and mental traumas (poor Joe, for example, is now seriously claustrophobic, and I have a "broken leg" card that I'm itching to play against the next hero who gets hurt). In addition to conventional hit point damage, characters can take horror damage that reduces their sanity; an insane character can be a major threat to his fellow adventurers -- possibly turning against them at the worst-possible moment. There's a magic spell that can restore sanity, but the most readily available "cure" for horror damage is our old friend alcohol. So, after Jenny took some horror damage, I heard a sentence I never expected a five-year-old to say: "Well, at least I have a bottle of whiskey!"