Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

CTHULHU WARS
Components:
Rulebook Player Hints & Tips Mapboard of Earth (in two pieces, printed on both sides) 4 Faction Cards 4 Power markers (faction-specific) 4 Doom track markers (faction-specific) 1 Ritual of Annihilation Marker Starting player tile (circular) 24 Spellbooks (6 per Faction) ~12 Desecration markers (yellow sign) 16 Gates (cardboard, large) 30 Elder Sign chits (two-sided: one side has the Elder Sign, the other has a number either , 1, or 1)] Thus, a third of the Elder Sign chits say A third read 1 A third read 1 20 six-sided dice Plastic: 24 cultists, six each in four colors; BLUE, GREEN, RED, YELLOW 5 Great Old Ones; Cthulhu (GREEN), Nyarlathotep (BLUE), Shub-Niggurath (RED), Hastur (YELLOW), The King in Yellow (YELLOW) 4 Deep Ones, 2 Shoggoths, 2 Starspawn (all GREEN) 3 Nightgaunts, 3 Flying Polyp, 2 Hunting Horror (all BLUE) 2 Ghouls, 4 Fungi, 3 Dark Young (all RED) 6 Undead, 4 Byakhee (all YELLOW) Total types of figures: 18 Small figures = 39 (cultists, deep ones, nightgaunts, ghouls, undead) Medium figures = 14 (shoggoths, flying polyps, fungi, byakhee, King in Yellow) Large figures = 7 (starspawn, hunting horror, dark young) Huge figures = 4 (Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur) Total figures: 63 + 16 Gates

Turn Structure
1. 2. 3. 4. Gather Power Determine First Player Action Rounds Cleanup

I.

A. Setup

Game Basics

1. The mapboard The map is printed on both sides, and is in two parts. Both sides show identical continental shapes, but the Minor side of the board has fewer Areas.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

Take the dice, and Gates and place them within easy reach of the players. Turn all of the Elder Sign chits face down (with the Sign on top), and mix them up. THREE-PLAYER GAME place the gameboard so that the two Minor sides are face-up on your table. You will have 13 total Areas on your map. If it is your very first game, we recommend that you play the three factions of Black Goat, Crawling Chaos, and Great Cthulhu. On later games, you can add Yellow Sign. (Yellow Sign is the most unusual of the factions, with the most special rules.) <insert image of 3-player map) FOUR-PLAYER GAME place the gameboard so that one Minor side is face-up, and one Major side is face up. You will have 17 total Areas on your map. For your first game, we recommend that you use a setup in which the Eastern Hemisphere is Major, and the Western Hemisphere is Minor. <insert images of 4 player map> You have two options for a 4-player game you can choose to have either the Western Hemisphere (the Americas & New Zealand) or the Eastern Hemisphere (Eurasia & Africa) be the Major side. These result in different game experiences. Do NOT place both Major sides face-up unless you are playing a 5-player game (only possible if you have one of the expansion sets). 2. Ritual track Place the appropriate Ritual track at one end of the map board (i.e., if you have 3 players, use the 3player track.) Place the Ritual of Annihilation marker on the lowest box on the Ritual of Annihilation track. (The one labeled 3.) Stack all players Doom markers on the 0 box on the Doom track. 3. Factions Each player must now pick a Faction. You can do so randomly simply by shuffling the Faction cards and holding them face-down for players to pick, but it will not violate the spirit of the game to simply select a favorite Faction. In the latter case, we recommend settling disputes by permitting the younger player to have his or her choice first. Next, each player takes his Faction card, his six Spellbooks, and the plastic figures for his Cultists, Monsters, and Great Old One(s). Each player places his Faction Card in front of him, and places a Power marker on the 0 space of the Power track. Place your not-yet-in-play Spellbooks and plastic figures within easy reach, near your Faction Card. This is your pool. 4. Starting placement Next, each player sets up his starting units and tokens as follows: Black Goat 6 Cultists and a controlled Gate in Gharne (located in western Africa) Crawling Chaos 6 Cultists and a controlled gate in Leng (located in south Asia) Great Cthulhu 6 Cultists and a controlled gate in Rlyeh (located in the South Pacific) Yellow Sign 6 Cultists and a controlled gate in Dreieich (located in Europe). Yellow Sign also takes the Desecration markers and places them within reach. To show that you control a Gate, simply put one of your Cultists on top of it.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

<image of game set up and ready for play, with various areas labeled> 5. Unit Limits You are limited to the number of figures which you have in your pool. For instance, you cannot have more than 6 cultists. If you have summoned all the monsters of a particular type, you cannot summon more. However, there is no limit to the number of Gates that can be on the map (so long as no more than one Gate exists per Area). If you run out of pre-molded plastic Gates, you can make more out of paper or use whatever you wish for the extra. B. Ending and Winning the Game Important: you can ONLY win the game if you have all 6 of your spellbooks on your faction card! (See the Earning Spellbooks section later on.) 1. Doom Tokens When a player advances his Doom marker past 19 on the Doom track, the game immediately ends. Normally, this player is the winner. However, if he does not have all 6 spellbooks, then whoever is furthest along the track (and has 6 spellbooks), is the victor instead. If it is a tie, victory is shared. Advancement on this track is achieved via revealing Elder Signs or performing the Ritual of Annihilation (q.v.). If no one has 6 spellbooks, then the game ends and no one wins. 2. Instant Death If the Ritual of Annihilation marker is on the 10 spot, and a Ritual is performed, the game immediately ends, and all players without 6 spellbooks lose. Of those remaining, the player whose marker is furthest advanced along the Doom track wins. In case of a tie, victory is shared. If no one has 6 spellbooks, the game ends and no one wins. 3. Gate Collapse If Gates are opened in all Areas on the map, the game immediately ends, and all players without 6 spellbooks lose. Of those remaining, the player whose marker is furthest advanced along the Doom track wins. In case of a tie, victory is shared. If no one has 6 spellbooks, the game ends and no one wins. C. Faction Descriptions Each Faction contains units consisting of a governing Great Old One, its Cultists, and some Monsters. Your Faction also includes six Spellbooks and a Faction card. The spellbooks and Monsters are unique for each Faction, and as you bring your spellbooks into play, your Faction will grow in strength and your options will multiply. The Factions play very differently from one another. Strategies which are effective for Cthulhu may not work for Yellow Sign. D. The Map The map is divided into Areas. Each area represents a coherent part of the world. Each Area is either Ocean or Land. Each Area has its name prominently printed on it. To clarify Antarctica is Land, and the Arctic Ocean is Ocean.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

E. Glossary AREA one of the map regions, either ocean or land. ATTACKER a Faction which just declared a Battle. CULTIST a human who serves the Great Old Ones. BATTLE ABILITY/EFFECT these are all earned through spellbooks. They may take place Pre-Battle, Battle, or Post-Battle. In any dispute, the Attacker uses his spellbooks first in each phase, then the Defender. DEFENDER a Faction involved in a Battle which it did not declare. ELIMINATED units can be destroyed in many ways. When a unit is removed from the board, it is always returned to your pool, and can be awakened, summoned, or recruited again. No unit is ever permanently eliminated from the game. ENEMY a unit or faction controlled by another player, i.e., not you. ALL factions are enemy except for the one you control. FRIENDLY a unit or faction controlled by you. GATE a construct of alien science, constructed by Cultists. Gates channel Power to a Faction, plus permit the summoning of Monsters and (sometimes) Great Old Ones MONSTER non-human entities who serve the Great Old Ones. They arrive through Gates. GREAT OLD ONE otherworldly alien sovereigns who are conquering the Earth. Most Factions have only one Great Old One (exception: Yellow Sign). Many abilities and spellbooks refer to Monsters and Cultists. Such abilities have NO effect on a Great Old One. ONGOING an ongoing spellbook is permanently in effect, so long as you have satisfied its conditions. For instance, Black Goats Thousand Young Spellbook causes all of her Monsters to cost 1 less Power while Shub-Niggurath is in play. Some ongoing effects permit the user to make a choice, for instance, Crawling Chaoss Invisibility spellbook. But all ongoing effects are free of cost and can be repeated as often as necessary. POOL the pile of units and tokens which you have not yet managed to place on the map. POST-BATTLE an effect that happens after dice are rolled in a battle. For instance, ShubNigguraths Necrophagy ability. PRE-BATTLE an effect that happens after a Battle has been declared, but before dice are rolled. For instance, Cthulhus Devour ability. UNIT a Cultist, Monster, or Great Old One

II.

Gather Power phase

This is the first part of the turn. Once you are experienced with the game, all players can perform this task simultaneously. If this is the first game for any player, it is best to go through it player by player. During this step, the players earn the Power which they will spend during the Action Rounds. No other actions happen at this time. To record Power earned, move the Power token to the right on your Faction cards Power Track, up 1 point for each Power. Devotion for each Cultist a player controls, he gains 1 Power. Otherworldly Energy for each Gate a player controls, he gains 2 Power Planar Energy for each uncontrolled Gate on the map, EACH player gains 1 Power Sacrifice all captured enemy Cultists which the player has on his faction sheet MUST now be sacrificed. For each such Cultist, he gets 1 Power. Once sacrificed, return the Cultist to the owners pool. Example: Rich has 2 controlled Gates and 3 Cultists. He also has one captured Cultist. He gets 3 Power from his Cultists, and 4 Power for his Gates. One Gate on the map is currently uncontrolled, so he gets 1 Power from that source (as do the other players). He must sacrifice his 1. 2. 3. 4.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013 captured Cultist, which gets him an additional 1 Power. His total Power going into the Action Round Phase is set at 9. Note: the Power track only goes to 20. If a player somehow reaches 21 or more Power, you will have to keep track of it by other means. Important: Monsters and Great Old Ones do NOT normally produce Power! Only Cultists! A. Wiped off the map? At the end of Gather Power, if your Power is less than half that of the player with the most Power, set your Power to be half of his (round fractions up). Example: after a disastrous turn, Rich finds himself with only 4 Power at the end of Gather Power. Fortunately, Angela has 13 Power, which is also the most, so Rich sets his Power to 7 (half of 13, fractions rounded up).

III.

Determine First Player phase

On the first turn of the game, Cthulhu is the First Player. If you are in a game without the Cthulhu faction, select one of these methods to choose the first turns First Player and stick to it. 1. The person who most recently saw a movie based on a Lovecraft tale takes the First Player marker. 2. The games owner takes the First Player marker. 3. The youngest player takes the First Player marker. 4. The fattest player takes the First Player marker. 5. All players roll 3 dice. The highest total takes the First Player marker. On all subsequent turns, after the first, the First Player marker is given to the player who has the most Power after the Gather Power phase. If two (or more) players are tied for most Power, then the player who had the First Player token last round decides which of the tied players receives the First Player marker. After the First Player is determined, he takes the First Player token and sets it in front of him. He chooses whether to have the Clockwise side face-up, or the Counterclockwise side. Whichever side he selects determines the order of play for the rest of that turn, including all Action Rounds. For instance, if the first player puts the First Player token Clockwise side up, then the player to take an Action after him will be the person sitting on his left. The direction of the First Player token can be switched on each Determine First Player phase.

IV.

Action Rounds phase

During the Action rounds, each player in turn can move units, cast spells, engage in battle, and otherwise interact. Each Action has a Power cost (sometimes 0). Each player will take a single action. This is termed his or her action round. then the next player in turn will take an action. This continues until all players are out of Power and cannot take any more Actions. At this point the Action Rounds phase ends. In other words, the Action Rounds keep repeating until everyone is out of Power. If you run out of Power, you must sit helplessly while the other players complete their turns, skipping you. If you have 0 Power at the start of your Action Round, you MUST Pass. You cannot even perform actions which cost 0 Power. Three types of Actions exist: Common Actions, Unique Actions, and Unlimited Actions. You must do at least one Common or Unique Action each Action Round. On rare occasions, a player may have 1 or more Power, yet not wish to do any Action. In this case, the player is allowed to voluntarily drop his Power to 0, and end his turn.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

Common Actions just spend the appropriate amount of Power and perform the Action. You can usually perform only 1 Common Action in an Action Round, though some Common Actions (such as Move) permit you to do more than one thing with that Action. Unique Actions really, these are just like Common Actions. The only difference is that they are unique to a particular Faction. For instance, only Black Goat can take the unique Ghroth Action. Unique Actions are usually tied to a Spellbook or a Great Old One. If you do not yet have the appropriate Spellbook or Great Old One, you cannot perform that unique Action. Unlimited Actions you can perform Unlimited Actions in addition to your single Common or Unique Action. Some Unlimited Actions have special requirements.

A. Actions To repeat: a player can only perform ONE Common or unique action during an Action round. He may, additionally, perform one or more Unlimited actions. For instance, if you choose to take the Recruit Cultist action, you only get 1 Cultist, and that ends your Action round (unless you have Unlimited Actions you wish to take). If you choose to take the Create Gate action, you create one (1) Gate, and your Action round ends. One notable exception is the Move action, which permits you to move multiple units. 1. Common and Unique Actions (one per action round) Recruit Cultist Cost 1 (requires Unit) You must have a Unit in the Area where you recruit a Cultist. You may only recruit 1 Cultist per Action round. This does not require a Gate or anything beyond a Units presence. If you currently have no (0) units on the map, you do not need a Unit in the Area where a Cultist is recruited. In this manner, you can return to play even if wiped off the map. You may never have more than 6 Cultists on the map. The figure count you are provided with is a hard limit. Build Gate 3 (requires Cultist) To build a gate you must have a Cultist in an Area without a Gate. Pay 3 Power, and place the Gate. Your Cultist can immediately move atop the Gate (using the unlimited Control Gate action). You can only build ONE Gate per Action round. Only one Gate can exist per Area. If a Gate is already there, you cannot build one. Move Cost 1 per unit moved To Move, spend as much Power as you wish, then move one unit into an adjacent area for each Power spent. Example: Rich spends 3 Power. He can now move 3 units. All Factions have special abilities which modify or affect movement. You cannot move a unit more than once in a single Move. I.e., you cannot spend 2 Power to move a unit 2 Areas. Movement is the only Common Action which permit you to do more than one thing during an Action Round (and then all it permits is more Movement). Battle Cost 1 (with fewer than 6 spellbooks) If you have fewer than 6 Spellbooks, Battle is a Common Action. Choose any area in which both you and an enemy faction have at least one unit. If more than one enemy faction has forces present, you must choose only one to fight. (Note: with 6 Spellbooks, Battle becomes Unlimited!)

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013 Simply moving into an Area containing enemy units does not trigger a Battle! Units can co-exist in an Area for many rounds without a Battle ensuing. Only two factions ever fight at a time. Any other factions present are merely idle onlookers.

Capture Cultist Cost 1 If you have a Monster in an area, and an enemy has Cultists, but NO monsters or Great Old Ones, you can capture one of his Cultists with this Action. The captured Cultist is taken off the map and placed on your Faction Card. Your opponent chooses which Cultist is captured. Alternatively, if you have a Great Old One in an area, and an enemy has Cultists, but no Great Old Ones, you can capture a Cultist by taking this Action, even if he has Monsters present. Example A: Rich has a monster in Europe, and Guy has two cultists there, but no monsters. On Richs turn he spends 1 Power on the Capture Cultist action to grab one of Guys cultists. Guys turn is next, and he summons a Monster to protect his remaining Cultist. Example B: Rich has monsters and a Cultist in Europe. Angela moves Cthulhu into Europe. On the next turn, Rich must evacuate his Cultist, move his own Great Old One into the area, or defeat Cthulhu in battle. Otherwise Cthulhu can Capture the cultist. To protect against Capture by a Monster, you need your own Monster in the Area. To protect against Capture by a Great Old One, you will need your own Great Old One. A monster with a Combat of 0 can still Capture Cultists. This is not considered combat. Summon Monster varies with Monster You can summon ONE monster per Action Round (exception: Black Goats Thousand Young ability). A monster can only be Summoned to an Area in which you have a controlled Gate. Pay the monsters cost (printed on your Faction Card), and place it in the Area. You may NOT summon more monsters than are in your pool the number of monsters included with the game is a hard limit. Thus, Crawling Chaos cannot (for instance) have more than 3 Nightgaunts in play. Ritual of Annihilation Cost 3-10; requires 6 spellbooks or Great Old One. The cost of the Ritual of Annihilation is equal to the current location of the Ritual marker on the track. The first Ritual performed in a game costs 3 Power. The second costs 4, and so forth. Important: You cannot perform a Ritual of Annihilation unless you have all 6 spellbooks or a Great Old One on the map. (Since you cant get all 6 spellbooks without your Great Old One awakened, usually this means the latter.) How to do a Ritual 1) Spend the appropriate Power, as indicated by the position of the Ritual marker. 2) Advance your Doom marker (on the Doom track) 1 point for each of your controlled Gates and Great Old Ones on the map. 3) Finally, advance the Ritual marker one step on the Ritual track. (Hence the cost goes up over time.) Example: Rich performs the first Ritual of the game, spending 3 Power. He has 2 Gates plus Cthulhu (his Great Old One) on the map, which gives him 3 points, so he moves his Doom marker from 0 to 3. He then moves the Ritual marker up one box, from 3 to 4. On her turn, Angela spends the now-needed 4 Power to perform a Ritual. She only has 1 Gate plus the King in Yellow, so her Doom marker only advances to 2, but the Ritual marker advances one step. The next Ritual will cost 5 Power.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

Awaken Great Old One varies with Great Old one Certain requirements must usually be fulfilled to summon your Great Old One. For instance, to summon Shub-Niggurath you need a controlled Gate, plus when she appears, you eliminate one of your Cultists. Great Old Ones usually are very expensive. Each Great Old One is unique and you can only have one of him (or it) in play. Unique Actions varies with spell As the game continues, you will unlock Spellbooks which give you access to new Actions. Also, some Great Old Ones have special Actions attached to them (such as Shub-Nigguraths Avatar Action). 2. Unlimited (perform as many as you wish during an Action Round in addition to a Common or Unique action) Unlimited is not the same as anytime. For instance, you cannot Control an empty Gate with a Cultist except during your own Action round. Control Gate Cost 0 If you have a Cultist in an Area with an abandoned Gate, this Action moves your Cultist onto the Gate to take possession. You can also use this Action to move a Cultist off a Gate, abandoning it. Battle Cost 1 (with 6 spellbooks) The Battle Action becomes Unlimited if you have 6 spellbooks. Note that the Unlimited Battle Action still costs 1 Power. Even when unlimited you can still only initiate one Battle per Area per Action phase. 3. Ongoing and Battle abilities Ongoing and Battle effects are obtained via spellbooks or special abilities. Battle effects include Pre-Battle and Post-Battle effects. For instance. Crawling Chaoss Harbinger ability means he immediately receives Power when Nyarlathotep is involved in a Battle in which an enemy Great Old One is Killed or Pained. He does not need to perform an action to do this function he just pushes his Power marker up the track during Post-Battle. B. Movement further described Most units can only move into a single adjacent area. Simply pick up the designated units from their current Area and place them in their destination. They cannot be prevented from moving by the presence of enemy units. If you move away a Cultist which is currently occupying a Gate, you lose control of that Gate. Yes, units, even Cultists, can move into ocean areas. (Commandeering ships.) Though you can move multiple units in an Action Phase, any given unit can only move ONCE per phase. C. Battle further described Remember: all Pre-Battle, Battle, and Post-Battle effects are not actions and they are free of cost. Thus Cthulhus Devour ability costs no Power. In general, the Attacker performs his abilities first in each part of the Battle sequence, followed by the Defender.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013 1. Pre-Battle Effects All such effects happen before the dice for the Battle are rolled, but after the Battle is announced (and paid for in Power). For instance, this is when Crawling Chaoss Seek & Destroy ability triggers. Normally, only the two factions who are fighting can use their Pre-Battle abilities, unless an ability specifically states otherwise. The Attacker (the faction which initiated the Battle) does any Pre-Battle effects first, followed by the Defender. (For instance, if Cthulhu is the Attacker, and Crawling Chaos chooses a Nightgaunt to be devoured, that Nightgaunt cannot use Abduct.)

2. Battle & Battle Effects All participants in a battle now determine their total Combat rating. All Cultists and Monsters have a Combat, typically a number ranging from 0 to 3. Some spellbooks have effects during this part of the battle. These spellbooks always happen simultaneously. Most Great Old Ones have Combat ratings which require a slight bit of calculation. Its worth the effort, because it generally results in an extremely high Combat. Each player then rolls a number of six-sided dice equal to the total Combat of all his units in the area. Combat is simultaneous! Even if you have to take turns rolling the dice because of an inadequacy of dice, do not inflict results until after your opponent has rolled his dice as well. Example: Rich has Cthulhu (6), two Deep Ones (1 each), and three Cultists (0) in an area, totaling 8 dice in Battle. For each 6 rolled, score one Kill result. For each 4 or 5, score a Pain result. (Rolls of 1-3 do nothing.) If you are using the special Deluxe dice, then the blank sides are nothing, the Pain sides score a Pain, and the Kill scores a kill. The chance of scoring a Pain or a Kill are the same on the special dice their only function is to look cool and add game flavor. <image dice results and their meanings> 3. Results and Post-Battle Effects Losses are inflicted simultaneously. Tell (or show) your opponent your results, and then suffer your opponents results. Each player determines how to apply the results inflicted on him, as follows: 1) First, for each Kill you have received, remove one Unit (your choice). Attacker chooses first if there is a dispute. 2) If you still have units left after all Kills are satisfied, then for each Pain you suffer, you must retreat one Monster or Cultist into an adjacent area of your choice. Attacker retreats first, unless Crawling Chaos Madness spellbook is in play, in which case Crawling Chaos chooses where units retreat, and in which order. He still does not choose which particular Units are to be retreated. NOTE: Pained units cannot retreat into an Area containing units belonging to the faction they just Battled (they CAN retreat into an Area containing units of a third faction). If one or more units cannot retreat, Kill one of the Pained units, and the rest may remain in the area with no further penalty. <image showing retreat possibilities>

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013

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3) Remember that some spellbooks and abilities may worsen or ease Battle results. Dont forget to apply them! Post-Battle effects, like Pre-battle, are done in the order of Attacker first, then Defender. Complex Battle Example: Rich attacks Angela. He has Cthulhu, a Shoggoth, two Deep Ones, and three Cultists. She has a cultist and four Undead. In the Pre-Battle phase Richs Shoggoth Absorbs one of his own Deep Ones, and Cthulhu Devours one of Angelas Units. She chooses her Cultist to be Devoured. Rich then rolls 12 dice (6 for Cthulhu, 5 for the Absorb-fat Shoggoth, and 1 for the remaining Deep One), and Angela rolls her 3 dice (the amount she gets for having 4 Undead present). Rich scores 1 Kill and 5 Pain. Angela gets 1 Kill and 1 Pain. Rich kills one of his Cultists, and retreats his Deep One to an adjacent area. Angela eliminates one Undead, and the remaining three are forced to retreat. Richs extra 2 Pain results are ignored. In Post-Battle, Black Goat moves two Ghouls into the Area via Necrophagy. Rich must retreat two more units out of the Area. He chooses one of his remaining Cultists and his Shoggoth. D. Spellbooks As your Faction gains in power, you will acquire access to more and more powerful otherworldly abilities, found in your Spellbooks. Each individual Spellbook enhances your faction significantly, plus when you finally achieve all 6 spellbooks, a number of game effects are triggered. (Notably, Battle becomes Unlimited, you can perform the Ritual of Annihilation without a Great Old One in play, and you can now win the game.) At the start of the game, all your Spellbooks are set aside in your Pool. You do not have access to their amazing powers. Yet. On your Faction Sheet are six spellbook-shaped slots, each of which lists a requirement. When you fulfill a Spellbook requirement, IMMEDIATELY select a Spellbook, and place it in the slot, atop your sheet. Once you earn a Spellbook, you keep it for the rest of the game. Example: Rich is playing Cthulhu and successfully controls 3 Gates unit in Ocean Areas. He immediately gets a spellbook. The next Action Round Angela pushes him out of one of his Areas. Rich doesnt care much his spellbook cant be taken away. Some spellbooks might give you a new Action. Other spellbooks have effects that are ongoing. An ongoing effect is always available for free, once you have gained that spellbook. Many ongoing spellbooks have an effect during an opponents round. Example: when Crawling Chaoss Madness spellbook is in play, he uses it during enemy actions, not just his own. Some spellbooks are tied to your units. For instance, Cthulhus Absorb spellbook is useless without a Shoggoth (and a Cultist or Deep One to absorb!). Absorb is also ongoing, so Cthulhu can do it even during an enemys Action round. 1. Spellbook Requirement Actions Some spellbook requirements state As your sole Action, do [X]. In these cases, your ONLY action is to perform the Spellbooks requirement. For instance, Crawling Chaos has the requirement of As an Action, spend 4 Power. This does not mean spend 4 Power on a single Action (such as a large Move). It means that Crawling Chaos must spend 4 Power and do nothing else for that Action round. He immediately receives the spellbook. Similarly, Black Goat has the requirement of As your sole Action, eliminate two of your Cultists. This does not mean you must lose two Cultists in Battle (or whatever). It just means that Black Goat, as her only Action for the round, picks up two of her Cultists (from anywhere) and places them back in her pool. This does not cost her any Power. Cthulhu, uniquely, has two Spellbook requirements that do not require him to do anything, and are fulfilled during the Cleanup phase. (Non-Euclidean Geometry and The Stars are Right.) For these, Cthulhu must simply wait till the right moment is fulfilled.

Copyright Sandy Petersen 2013 E. Awakening Your Great Old One Each Great Old One has a high cost, plus specific requirements which must be fulfilled in order to bring it onto the map. In combat, a Great Old One is treated as any other unit. They usually have special rules for how many dice they roll in combat.

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F. Doom Track and the Ritual of Annihilation You must have either 6 spellbooks or a Great Old One in play to perform the Ritual. First pay Power equal to the position of the Ritual marker on the Ritual of Annihilation track (this ranges from 3 to 10). Then advance your Doom marker on the Doom track 1 step for each Gate you control. In addition, for each Great Old One you have on the map, gain an Elder Sign. Then advance the Ritual marker one step on the Ritual of Annihilation track. If you move your Doom marker past 19 on the Doom track, you immediately win, if you have all 6 of your spellbooks. (See Victory Conditions) If the Ritual marker is at 10 on the Ritual of Annihilation track, and a new Ritual is performed, the game immediately ends (see Victory Conditions: Instant Death). G. The Elder Sign Elder Signs are gathered in one of two ways. First, you earn an Elder Sign if you have a Great Old One in play when doing a Ritual of Annihilation (Yellow Sign can earn two Elder Signs if he has both the King in Yellow and Hastur out). Second, each faction has its own unique method of earning Elder Signs. See the faction sheet and spellbooks for specifics. When you successfully earn an Elder Sign, take a face-down Elder Sign chits from the pool and (without revealing what it says), place it face down by your pool of units. All Elder Signs have the number , 1 , or 1 written on them. Whenever you wish (even during an enemys turn, you may turn any or all of your Elder Signs face up at this point, total the points on them, and add that many Doom points to your Doom track. If you have a fraction left over, you lose it. Example Rich is playing Black Goat, and has performed two Blood Sacrifice rituals, earning two Elder Signs. One reads 1 the other 1 . If he reveals them both at the same time, they total 2 Doom points, so he would add +2 Doom points to his track. The extra point would be lost. Many players prefer to keep their Elder Signs secret till the moment they are able to win by revealing them.

V.

Clean Up

Usually, nothing happens during Clean Up, and you can skip it to go to the next Gather Power. Some spells or other powers activate during Clean Up. Notably Cthulhu may earn spellbooks at this time.

VI.

FAQ

Q. Help! I have so many units in a single Area that they dont fit! What can I do? A. We have tried to make the map Areas large enough to prevent this. Unfortunately, it is still possible to have units slop over the sides of one of the smaller Areas. If you have trouble keeping track of which units are in which Area, we suggest you take a 5x7 notecard, and label it with the name of the Area in question. For instance Europe or West Africa or whatever. Leave one unit behind in the Area, and put the rest on the notecard.

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Q. On the map, why does the North Atlantic have a little section seeping over to the Pacific side of central America? A. It is our way of indicating that the North Atlantic and the North Pacific are considered adjacent Areas. Q. If players dispute over who wishes to reveal his Elder Sign totals first, what happens? A. It occurs simultaneously. If this brings both players to 20+ Doom Points at once, then they share the victory. Q. If I have 6 spellbooks (so Battle is unlimited), can I Battle and then do another action (such as Moving out of the Battle Area)? A. Yes. Unlimited Actions can be done in any order, unless they are from a spellbook and their description says otherwise. Q. What does it mean when a Cultist is protected by a Great Old One or a Monster? A. it means the protected Cultist is in the same Area as the Great Old One (or Monster), and thus is safe from the Capture action. A Monster protects Cultists against other Monsters only. A Great Old One protects Cultists against both Monsters & Great Old Ones. Q. Why is the Elder Sign good for the Great Old Ones? Shouldnt it be something to be avoided? A. If it makes you happier, you can consider that these are Elder Signs which the Great Old Ones have destroyed! Trophies, if you will. Q. What if we run out of Elder Sign chits? A. In the unlikely event of this occurring, from then on, each time an Elder Sign would be earned, just take a Doom point instead. Q. What happens if all units on a side are exempted via Invisibility or eliminated by effects such as Abduct or Devour before a battle? A. the battle is cancelled, but the Power to start the Battle is still spent. Q. Re: Gate Collapse or Instant Death. What if one of these happens, but no players have 6 spellbooks? A. in the unlikely event of this occurring, humanity is victorious and all players lose equally. The gates implode, sucking all the minions and Great Old Ones back into the void. Hurrah for Homo sapiens! Q. Two of Cthulhus spellbooks require you to kill or Devour an enemy in a Battle. But doesnt Devour take place before the Battle? A. Pre- and Post- Battle effects count as happening during a battle. Q. Can Cthulhus Dreams spellbook or the Yellow Signs Zingaya be used to simply remove an enemy cultist if you lack units to make the replacement? A. No. If you cannot make the replacement, you cannot perform the Action. Q. What happens when Cthulhu (with Devour) faces a Nightgaunt (with Abduct)? Or a Flying Polyp (with Invisibility)? In general what happens with such warring abilities? A. As per the rules description, the player who declares the Battle uses his abilities first. In this case, if Cthulhu is the attacker, he Devours first. If Crawling Chaos is the attacker, he can use Abduct or Invisibility before Cthulhus Devour. Remember that Cthulhu is not a Monster or a Cultist, and so cannot be Abducted or Exempted.

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Q. Cthulhu has Immortality. How much Power does the Crawling Chaos get for Killing or Paining him? A. He receives 2 Power, since that is how much it now costs to Awaken Cthulhu. Of course he could just take 2 Elder Signs instead. Q. If Cthulhu is off-Map via the Submerge spellbook, does he still count as being in play for Rituals of Annihilation and other, similar, actions and abilities? A. Yes. Q. When the Crawling Chaos exempts a unit with his Invisibility spellbook, does he pick the unit? Can he pick an enemy? Can he exempt his Flying Polyp? A. Yes, yes, and yes. Remember he cannot exempt a Great Old One. Q. In Crawling Chaoss Madness Spellbook, does he have to obey the restrictions on retreating units (I.e., not into an area containing units of the faction just battled)? A. Yes, he must obey normal retreat rules. He also does not get to choose WHICH units retreat, only their destination. Also note that during Madness Crawling Chaos can retreat the players in either order, i.e., retreating the Defender first. Q. When invoking the Thousand Forms Action, when do you check to see if an enemy faction has more Power than the Crawling Chaos? Before or after the 2 Power is spent on the Action? A. You cannot even initiate the action unless an enemy has more Power, so obviously this is before you spend the 2 Power. Q. What happens if Crawling Chaos uses his Thousand Forms Action, and all enemies are immune (because their Power was lower than the die roll)? A. The action is wasted. Crawling Chaos pays for the Action and gets no benefit. Try to avoid this. Q. When Crawling Chaoss Thousand Forms or Black Goats Ghroth abilities are used, can a player insist on taking part of the loss, even if the other players dont want him to? What if a player is immune to the effects (for instance, if the Thousand Forms roll is higher than his Power), then must he agree? A. No, to the first question. All non-immune enemy players must agree. However, if a player is immune to the effect, he does not participate in the negotiations, and his agreement is immaterial. Q. What happens if Nyarlathotep, using Emissary of the Outer Gods, is in combat and only a Kill is rolled against him? A. if he has any other units in the Battle, they must be selected to receive the Kill. If only he is present, the Kill is ignored, since he cannot be chosen to take it. Q. When is Shub-Nigguraths Combat total figured? For instance, if Cthulhu Devours a Cultist just before the battle, does this decrease Shub-Nigguraths total for the battle itself? A. All abilities and spellbooks that occur in Pre-Battle happen BEFORE the dice are rolled. Combat dice are figured at the instant of battle. In the example given, Cthulhus Devour would indeed decrease ShubNigguraths combat if one of her Cultists was removed. Q. Is a Black Goat Cultist with Frenzy still vulnerable to being Captured by a Monster? A. Certainly. Even by a monster with a Combat of 0. You could, of course, declare Battle first, in an attempt to chase off the Monster.

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Q. If the enemy fails to agree vis-a-vis Ghroth, does the Black Goat select which Cultists are removed? A. No. The Black Goat only selects WHO loses how many Cultists, the victims select which Cultists are lost, and from which Areas. For example, if she had rolled a 3 (as a success), then she might say, Yellow Sign loses 2 Cultists, and Cthulhu loses 1. She could pick one faction to take all the losses. Q. If the Black Goat Faction is in a Battle, and uses Necrophagy does she also suffer extra Pain? A. Yes, both sides in the battle suffer additional Pain equal to the Ghouls summoned. The newlysummoned Ghouls CANNOT be chosen to take the extra pain for her, however. Q. If a Ghoul is already in the target Area, can it be summoned there via Necrophagy? A. Only if it was not involved in the Battle. Q. If a factions units cannot retreat (because they are surrounded), and lose a unit as a result, and then Necrophagy occurs, do they lose a second unit as a result of the extra Pain? A. No. Only one unit is ever lost due to inability to retreat . Q. The King in Yellow can perform Desecration, but what does it do, exactly? A. In theory, the inhabitants of the region are now shrieking in terror, fleeing their cities, or performing desperate obeisance to the King, but the main practical game effect is that it gives Yellow Sign a unit, and a spellbook when performed in the right Areas. Also, if it is successfully performed after the Third Eye spellbook is in effect, it can give Yellow Sign an Elder Sign. Q. If Yellow Sign has the Passion spellbook, does he gain Power when a Cultist is Devoured by Cthulhu or Dreamed away? A. No. He only gains Power when he loses a Cultist to the Capture Action, or when a Kill is generated in a Battle. Thus, he doesnt gain Power from being Abducted by Nightgaunts, Devoured by Cthulhu, destroyed by Ghroth., or any similar effects. Q.What happens if Yellow Sign runs out of Desecration markers? A. First he should mock his opponents for letting him run rampant. Then use anything you wish to substitute for the additional Desecration markers. There is no limit to how many can be on the board, except the number of Areas. PLAYING TIPS (to be scattered along the margins and in text boxes) In the early game, focus on increasing your Power base. High Power gives you more options and creates opportunities. If you are not sure what to do, look at your spellbook requirements. You cannot go far wrong if you strive to gain new spellbooks. Each Monster type has at least one dedicated spellbook, as does your Great Old One. Since a Great Old One can be killed (after which he must be re-Awakened), do not bring it out before you can protect it with other units. Two exceptions might be the King in Yellow and Cthulhu, since they are cheap to replace. Never leave a Cultist alone on a Gate in a critical area once Cthulhu has the Dreams spellbook! Place a second Cultist in the Area if possible. While this wont prevent Dreams, since you pick which Cultist is affected, Cthulhu would have to pay a total of 6 Power in order to steal the Gate.

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Monsters with Combat 0 are surprisingly useful. They can protect Cultists from being Captured by other Monsters, they can Capture Cultists themselves, and they can be taken as casualties in Battle, sparing more expensive units. This last is particularly handy when facing an enemy with an auto-kill such as Cthulhus Devour or a nightgaunts Abduct. Beware Yellow Signs Screaming Dead spellbook. He can use it to move, then immediately use Zingaya, Blasphemy, or recruit (or take an action elsewhere). This is also true of the He Who is Not to be Named spellbook which comes into play later. It is tempting to spread your units out thin as Black Goat to earn early spellbooks fast, but beware! Enemy monsters may prey on your cultists once you are immobilized by lack of Power.