This is a personal, largely spoiler free (or spoiler-vague) review of The Symphony of Erich Zann custom scenario by Axolotl for Arkham Horror the Card Game.
In the Symphony of Erich Zann the investigators head to a Paris theatre in search of the missing violinist Erich Zann, only to find the mesmerizing effects of his music have taken over the minds of many.
The Symphony of Erich Zann is a tough, "do the most you can" style scenario that pushes players hard. The scenario's primary trick are Music treacheries that come into play and effect all investigators, forcing you to dance around different effects - these treacheries come and go as the scenario progresses, and shift much faster at higher player counts. As the agenda advances, more and more of these treacheries are out at once, ramping up the complexity and the pressure as the scenario reaches its crescendo. On its own, it's the perfect level of ramping intensity for the type of scenario it is. However, the problem comes with the first two acts - the scenario doesn't express it well, but the first two acts must be rushed out to have any chance of victory. It's an extremely short time limit before things get much, much harder - nearly impossibly so - and there's a level of uncontrollable swinginess if players can't burst them down. This hurdle hides the rest of the "do all you can" mechanics, with nothing else to fulfill if it can't be overcome, and no initial indication of just how fast or what will be required.
The scenario oozes flavor, although some of it is a bit weird - certainly, the different rhtyhms that you have to play around feel like a great dance, but most of the enemies you'll be fighting are dancing mice. Still, the requirements in the second half feel great, and the scenario does well for tying the different musical instruments to the effects in play.
With a 19 XP party, I found The Symphony of Erich Zann quite difficult. In particular, dealing with the first two acts is the hardest part, and a bad opening can lead to a full disaster for the rest of the scenario. At higher player counts, this issue is made much, much worse.
For mechanical complexity, the Symphony of Erich Zann gives a lot to keep track of - there will be multiple encounter cards in play that modify every test you take, and each enemy will have text on it that changes its behavior from turn to turn. All of this complexity is offloaded into the encounter cards, and the locations remain fairly simple, which is good - but it's still something that needs to be watched. The scenario also sturggles with communicating what kind of scenario it is - both that it needs rushed early on, and that it's a "do the most you can" type that's perfectly happy to let you resign midway through.
The Symphony of Erich Zann is a tricky scenario that has a lot to enjoy, but demands it be earned - and is very unforgiving.
The Symphony of Erich Zann also was designed with the custom investigator Isabel La Fratta.
Rewards
Scenario Cost: 2 XP for each non-Performer investigator, and each Performer instead gains the Stuck in Your Head weakness added to their deck, which is removed if they are not defeated in the scenario
Potential XP Gain: 1 (locations) +1 (Young Nightingale) +4 (Musicians)= 6 XP, or 4 XP after its cost
There are five musicians to rescue in the scenario, as well as the conductor. For each musician you rescue (by either defeating them or parleying with them) a player may add their relevant instrument to their deck. If all four are rescued, a player may add the conductor to their deck.
