Introduction and Spoiler Warning
This is a full, in depth-guide to The Matter of Britain, a custom Arkham Horror Card Game campaign by Frying Tonight. This article discusses potential XP, story paths, secrets, and FULL SPOILERS, so be warned!
As a quick note, scenarios are referred to by the number given to them - so although "The Ill-Made Knight" is always played as the 7th scenario, it is referred to as scenario 6.
Experience
Available XP per scenario/Interlude:
Scenario 1: Cave of the Fruit Trees: 1 (boggart enemy in the encounter deck) + 3 (successful scenario resolution) +2 (on resolution, no matter what) = 6 XP
Interlude 1: Meeting Sir Arthur: 1 XP
Scenario 2: London Calling: 5 (locations) + 1 (knight preceptor in the encounter deck) +1 (charles hershaw) +1 inspector harris) +1 (if you get the relic crate and lose it) = 9 XP
Scenario 3: Lac Diane: 3 (locations) + 6 (rituals) +2 (sealing the knight 6 times, instead of just 3) + 1 (lady of the lake, exclusive with sealing the knight) = 11 or 10 XP
Scenario 4-1: A Most Magnificent Court (done as 4th scenario): 1 (locations) +1 (campaign knights in the encounter deck) +5 (no knight losses) +2 (all camelot locations in play with no knight losses) + 12 (killed knights of the roundtable) = 9 or 14 XP
Scenario 4-1: A Most Magnificent Court (done as 6th scenario): 1 (locations) + 1 (campaign knights in the encounter deck) + 11 (knights of the round table) + 1 (Pellinore) = 14 XP
Scenario 4-2: The Queen of Air and Darkness: 2 (locations) +1 (campaign knights in the encounter deck) + 1 (morgause) + 1 (pellinore, if done as 4th scenario) = 4/5 XP
Scenario 5: Prophetiae Merlini: 3 (locations) + 2 (gathering information cards with victory) + 1 (knight perceptor in the encounter deck) + 1 (inspector harris) + 2 (merlin) + 1 (8 gather information cards) = 9 XP
Scenario 6: The Ill-Made Knight: 2 (locations) +1 (campaign knight in the encounter deck) +1 (knight perceptor in the encounter deck) +1 (final enemy) +1 (cultist elite), +1 (inspect harris), +1 (armored car) +1 (supernatural storm, if doing the "learned of supernatural origins" path) = 8/9 XP
Scenario 7: The Once and Future King: 2 (locations) + 1 (arthur) +1 (morded) + 1 (morgan le fey) +2 (the once and future king, can't be gained with morgan) = 6 XP
In addition, every time an investigator is defeated by the black knight before scenario 6, they gain 1 XP (and an additional weakness!)
This gives a possibility of 62 experience before entering the final scenario, with an additional 6 posible from being defeated by the black knight. More realistically, players can expect a little under 40 XP going into the final scenario.
Campaign Breakdown
Meeting Sir Arthur
After Scenario 1, you're given a chance to talk to Sir Arthur, and ask him about one of four characters. There's some different text based on what you choose, and some minor mechanical changes. Overall, none of these are a particularly big deal.
King Arthur: This gives you 1 extra damage token to add to a battlefield in scenario 7, as well as +1 damage to The Once and Future King if you make it to Avalon.
Morgan Le Fey: After scenario 1, you need to choose if Morgan is the King's Bane or King's Protector - which means her effect counts as a curse or bless, respectively, and might be shifted to her Lady of the Lake version depending on how scenario 3 goes. Choosing this instead adds in weakness (that draws a card to replace it) that switches her between her available forms.
Black Knight: This unlocks a path you can take in scenario 6
Merlin: Merlin will lose his "Arthurian" trait in scenario 5 and 6, which slightly weakens the tablet effect. However, if you disrupt the ritual in scenario 5 and choose this option, Merlin becomes a "shadow of his former self" in scenario 6 and is greatly weakened.
Arthur or the Relics
In scenario 2, the investigators can choose to either immediately start looking for Sir Arthur, or instead try to beat the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table to the relic.
If they don't investigate Arthur's office, they can end up with him as a story ally - A 3 cost, 1/3 ally who gives +1 intellect and can exhaust a successful skill test that reveals a tablet to give the owner 2 resources.
If the investigators instead clear out Sir Arthur's office and succeed on the scenario, they get their pick of relics from the following:
Excalibur: 4 cost, 2h melee weapon that can fight at +2 combat for 2 damage, or +3 combat for 1 damage or 4 damage if a tablet is revealed
The Holy Grail (Divine Vessel): A 3 cost accessory with four horror soak, that heals you damage equal to the horror it takes.
The Holy Grail (Carpenter's Cup): A 1 cost fast accessory that soaks 1 horror
Taking Excalibur causes the investigators to fight the Lady of the Lake in scenario 3, instead of allying with her.
In scenario 5, if there is more doom on the cultist ritual than there are clues on the act, Merlin will steal Excalibur or the Divine Vessel back. If you chose the Carpenter's Cup, you instead get to put it into play. Overall, the Carpenter's Cup is more of a red herring - this isn't that kind of story.
Chaos Tokens
The chaos bag begins with no cultist tokens, but slowly gains them over time - with one being "optional":
A cultist token is added to the bag at the beginning of scenarios 2
A cultist token is added to the bag at the beginning of scenario 5
In scenario 5, completing the "Straight to the Point" goal with horror primarily replaces a 0 token with a cultist token in the chaos bag
The tablet tokens are more optional, and are of more interest. Two begin in the bag, and many of the campaign's story assets benefit from drawing them.
Recovering a relic in scenario 2 adds one tablet token to the bag
Defeating Morgause in Scenario 4-2 adds one tablet token to the bag
Merlin completing the ritual in Scenario 5 adds one tablet token to the bag
Inspector Harris
Appearing in scenarios 2, 5, and 7, Inspector Harris can be defeated each time. Every time he's defeated, he starts with a damage on him in all his future encounters. Not a huge thing, but it's a fun little detail.
The Knights of the Round Table
Scenario 4-A gives you a chance to meet the Knights of the Round Table… and get them killed. That can change things later in the following ways, mostly as certain knights can spawn at later parts in the campaign:
In Scenario 6:
If you're down the "Dark Truth" path, you'll have to defeat all of the Knights of the Round Table you haven't already - and they aren't worth victory this time.
If you're down the "Learnt of the Black Knight's Supernatural Origins" path, Sir Oswain shows up to help, and he can tank 5 damage for you.
If you're down the "Queen's Champion" path, Sir Bors and Sir Hector enemies spawn to aid the Black Knight, and Sir Gawain spawns to aid you and can exhaust enemies for you.
In Scenario 7:
Sir Gawain begins in play - although he's neither particularly helpful or harmful here.
If you make it to Avalon, Sir Bedivere shows up to help, reducing the difficulty against tests on Arthurian cards, as well as take Excalibur from Arthur if you don't already have it in your decks.
The Black Knight
After completing 6 scenarios, the investigators find the truth of the black knight, depending on the choices they make, and this impacts scenario 6: The Ill Made Knight. The possibilities are:
The Dark Truth: In order to go down this path, one investigator must have been defeated by the black knight at least 3 times in the campaign. See the final, super spoiler filled section below. In this version, you need to spend clues to find the encounter cards that power up the black knight, and then kill Lancelot and all knights of the round table who remain alive.
Learned of his supernatural origin: This is achieved by asking Sir Arthur about the Black Knight in the first interlude. In this, you'll have to defeat the Black Knight by first stripping his magical storm attachment from it, and then just brawl with him.
Laid the Lady Low Once More: A tricky goal, the investigators need to recover Excalibur in scenario 2. Then, when they fight the Lady of the Lake in scenario 3, they need to leave her at 1 health and the same location as the black knight. To finish off this scenario, you'll have to "mediate" a fight between Sir Balin and Sir Balan - two tough enemies who share a health pool, and when you hit one by enough, you automatically evade the other.
The Queen's Champion: Scenario 4-B: The Queen of Air and Darkness needs to be chosen first. Then, in Scenario 4-A: A Most Magnificent Court, the Black Knight must be allowed to reach Guinevere. Here, you need to get a number of Knight enemies into play, and can spend clues to exhaust them or find more in the deck or discard pile. Sir Bors and Sir Hector here spawn to fight you, and Sir Gawain to aid you.
Fought against King Arthur and King Lot's forces: This is achieved automatically by going to Scenario 4-A: A Most Magnificent Court first. In this scenario, a staggeringly impossible to kill "King with a Hundred Knights" is put into play - but you can weaken it by attacking his Knight Contingent at each location, which can be done using a difficulty 0 combat test (with over success counting as progress) which can be boosted by clues.
Nothing more than a villain of your own creation: This can be chosen no matter what else occurs - and is the default if no other path was reached. For this scenario, the black knight is a low health enemy - but you'll have to defeat him five times to progress, each time at a different location.- you'll have to be careful, though, as all horror is direct horror at his location, and he deals horror automatically even is exhausted.
Dark Truths
In order to achieve this, before scenario 6, at least one investigator must have been defeated by the Black Knight 3 times. This unlocks the "Dark Truth" path for scenario 6, and turns the investigator who's been defeated by the Black Knight the most times into the Black Knight - an investigator with 4 in all days, 8 health and sanity, and who treats all those Vision of the Black Knight weaknesses as an unexpected courage that heal you a damage or sanity when drawn.
This alters scenario 6, which already has multiple paths. It also radically altars scenario 7 - instead of winning the battle for Arthur or Mordred, you need to defeat both of them - twice, once alone, and once together alongside Morgan Le Fey.
Avalon
In order to unlock the final part of the final scenario, investigators must successfully complete scenario 1, and then defeat Morgause during scenario 4-B - it turns out, she's the real goal of that scenario! If they do, when the finish scenario 7, they can continue on to the Avalon act and agenda part of it.
In this, the investigators have a 7 round doom clock with which they need to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and then defeat King Arthur as "The Once and Future King". Sir Bedivere will show up, and he'll be a big help - especially if the investigators don't already have Excalibur.
More on Matter of Britain:
The Matter of Britain: Spoiler-Light Review