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{{trope}}
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]] in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
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== Board Games ==
* The [[Cthulhu Mythos]] board game ''[[Arkham Horror]]'' is extremely difficult. The randomly drawnly opponent [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Big Bad]] changes a number of rules, monsters, and often has instant-kill conditions should the game end in a final battle. Strategy and teamwork is mandatory, random events and blind luck will usually ruin your plans, and it's all a [[Race Against the Clock]]. Expansions for the game generally exist to make the game ever ''harder'', such as adding [[The Dragon]] or [[The Corruption]] to the mix. In general, you don't expect to ''win'' a given game, completely appropriate to the [[Cosmic Horror Story|setting]].▼
** This intense difficulty can be avoided by using custom characters. Even if they themselves are not unbalanced, putting them together, each designed for a certain task (i.e. one is made to close and explore gates, another is combat, another is movement, etc), makes the game from something incredibly difficult to relatively easy - even beating the end abominations becomes a fairly simple task.▼
* ''[[Betrayal at House on the Hill]]'' has many scenarios which are won or lost based on victory conditions. However, before the endgame begins, players have found items, gained and lost stats, and explored the house. End-games range from fair challenges to virtually impossible.▼
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' the board game is extremely hard for a traitor game. Often favoring the Cylon rather than the Humans. More often than not the Cylons win.▼
== Gamebooks ==
* The ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' [[Gamebook]] series got progressively more difficult around book eight or so, but never really reached this level of madness...except for ''The Prisoners Of Time.'' In addition to the usual death traps and [[Random Number God]] bullshit, there were three extremely difficult fights right at the end. In the first, if you brought the [[Infinity+1 Sword]] from an earlier book, the boss' stats were nearly impossible to overcome. The second featured similar issues, regardless of equipment. And the third was on ''the next entry,'' giving you no chance to heal, '''and''' you started by taking unavoidable damage.▼
== Tabletop RPG ==
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{{quote|'''E. Gary Gygax''': [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html Heh, heh. Oh, man. The Sphere of Annihilation in the statue's mouth. That never gets old.]}}
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*** A lot of it - especially the latest (as of early 2011) Monster Manual - actually isn't that hard, so long as you have proper pacing and a well balanced team. Which leads to conversations like "What, you wiped with that? The tank shouldn't have been touched, and the healer should have been able to keep the AOE mitigated!" "Yeah except we have three melee damage-dealing guys in hide armor or less, and our 'healer' focused all his skills in attacks with a little control and heals himself first and foremost." ".... Ouch."
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** The Skinsaw Murders, a ''[[Pathfinder]]'' adventure path installment, is infamous for TPKs. Lots of ghouls, who's paralysis attack can be very cheap and very nasty, a haunted house full of unavoidable "Haunts", one of which forces you to jump out a window, possibly hitting the water some 50 ft below, or run outside into a flock of undead crows. And the final boss encounter...no. Just no.
* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'', the RPG, is usually murderously difficult to survive. Characters are at risk of death from a single rifle round, and many monsters deal enough damage that player characters who are hit have almost no chance to survive. [[The Corruption]] is killing you, your [[Sanity Meter]] is killing you, the [[McGuffin]] is killing you, the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] is killing you... [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You|They're not trying.]] They're succeeding.▼
▲* The [[Cthulhu Mythos]] board game ''[[Arkham Horror]]'' is extremely difficult. The randomly drawnly opponent [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Big Bad]] changes a number of rules, monsters, and often has instant-kill conditions should the game end in a final battle. Strategy and teamwork is mandatory, random events and blind luck will usually ruin your plans, and it's all a [[Race Against the Clock]]. Expansions for the game generally exist to make the game ever ''harder'', such as adding [[The Dragon]] or [[The Corruption]] to the mix. In general, you don't expect to ''win'' a given game, completely appropriate to the [[Cosmic Horror Story|setting]].
* ''[[Paranoia
▲** This intense difficulty can be avoided by using custom characters. Even if they themselves are not unbalanced, putting them together, each designed for a certain task (i.e. one is made to close and explore gates, another is combat, another is movement, etc), makes the game from something incredibly difficult to relatively easy - even beating the end abominations becomes a fairly simple task.
▲* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'', the RPG, is usually murderously difficult to survive. Characters are at risk of death from a single rifle round, and many monsters deal enough damage that player characters who are hit have almost no chance to survive. [[The Corruption]] is killing you, your [[Sanity Meter]] is killing you, the [[McGuffin]] is killing you, the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] is killing you... [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You|They're not trying.]] They're succeeding.
▲* The ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' [[Gamebook]] series got progressively more difficult around book eight or so, but never really reached this level of madness...except for ''The Prisoners Of Time.'' In addition to the usual death traps and [[Random Number God]] bullshit, there were three extremely difficult fights right at the end. In the first, if you brought the [[Infinity+1 Sword]] from an earlier book, the boss' stats were nearly impossible to overcome. The second featured similar issues, regardless of equipment. And the third was on ''the next entry,'' giving you no chance to heal, '''and''' you started by taking unavoidable damage.
▲* [[Paranoia|Friend Computer]] would like to remind you that only Commie Mutant Traitors would say the Troubleshooters in Paranoia are given six clones because of the stunningly high death rate in Alpha Complex. Complaining about a 2% survival rate at one week is treason. This information is above your clearance level, Citizen; please report to your nearest termination center immediately or wait for your local extermination team. Have a wonderful daycycle!
* ''[[Hunter: The Reckoning]]'' stresses its brutal difficulty in its fluff. The rules are not on the same level as [[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]. However, if the [[Game Master]] decides to use the rules in the game lines for other supernaturals in the [[Old World of Darkness]], the [[Player Characters]] are mayflies.
▲* ''[[Betrayal at House on the Hill]]'' has many scenarios which are won or lost based on victory conditions. However, before the endgame begins, players have found items, gained and lost stats, and explored the house. End-games range from fair challenges to virtually impossible.
* The ''[[Deadlands]]'' dime novel adventure ''Night Train'' is alternately referred to as PC Death Train. A locomotive carrying thirty nosferatu and a zombie conductor (and not one of those relatively easy to beat head shot zombies) will do that. Rumors that its writer John Goff gets a royalty every time running it ends in a [[Total Party Kill]] are officially denied, however.
▲* ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' the board game is extremely hard for a traitor game. Often favoring the Cylon rather than the Humans. More often than not the Cylons win.
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