The year is 1926, and it is the height of the Roaring Twenties. Flappers dance till dawn in smoke-filled speakeasies drinking alcohol supplied by rum runners and the mob. It's a celebration to end all celebrations in the aftermath of the War to end all Wars.
Yet a dark shadow grows in the city of Arkham. Alien entities known as Ancient Ones lurk in the emptiness beyond space and time, writhing at the gates between worlds. These gates have begun to open and must be closed before the Ancient Ones make our world their ruined dominion.
Only a handful of investigators stand against the Arkham Horror. Will they prevail?
Arkham Horror is a game for 1 to 8 players (3 to 5 recommended), playable in 2 to 4 hours. The game is set in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, made famous by H.P. Lovecraft in his writings about the Cthulhu mythos.
This copy of Arkham Horror is from Fantasy Flight's second printing of the game. This rulebook has been revised from the first printing to incorporate the errata listed in both version 1.1 of the Arkham Horror FAQ (available at www.fantasyflight games.com) and in the Dunwich Horror expansion rulebook. Three cards (Flesh Ward, Healing Stone, and Lantern) and the starting possessions of two investigators (Bob Jenkins and Jenny Barnes) and have also been revised according to the FAQ v1.1 errata. Otherwise, there are no changes to this version that affect gameplay.
In Arkham Horror, a terrible creature from beyond time and space is waking, roused by the dimensional gates that are opening all over the city. The players must join forces to close all of the gates before this Ancient One awakens. If the Ancient One defeats the players, all of Arkham is doomed.
The players must work together as a team of investiga- tors to close all of the dimensional gates, seal them per- manently, or if that fails, defeat the Ancient One when it awakens from its slumber.
In Arkham Horror, the investigators explore the city, encountering places, people, and creatures both normal and mundane. Through these adventures, the investiga- tors hope to gain the clues and resources needed to con- front and ultimately thwart the mythos threat.
Early in the game, investigators seek to avoid more pow- erful monsters while moving around the city to gather weapons, spells, clues, and other items they will need.
Later, the investigators attempt to close a few gates and seal some of the most active gates.
Finally, once several gates have been sealed and the investigators have acquired valuable weapons, spells, clues, and allies, they make one last, desperate assault on the mythos, attempting to close or seal the final gates. Either they succeed and the world survives, or they fail and the Ancient One awakens for the climactic battle.
Be warned: If the Ancient One awakens, the investiga- tors are in for the fight of their lives!
Enclosed in your Arkham Horror box, you will find the following game components:
Before you play your first game of Arkham Horror, carefully punch out the cardboard pieces so that they do not tear. Next, slide the 16 plastic stands onto the bases of the 16 investigator markers. Be sure to keep all com- ponents out of the reach of small children and animals.
The following is an introductory summary of the various components included in Arkham Horror. This summary should help you identify the components and understand the ways they are used as you read through these rules.
The small cards included in Arkham Horror are called investigator cards. They represent useful allies the inves- tigators may meet and items they may acquire during the course of the game. There are six types of investigator cards:
Common Items are ordinary but useful items that can aid an investigator.
Unique Items are unusual, sometimes bizarre, and pos- sibly magical items that can greatly assist an investiga- tor. Elder signs, which can permanently seal gates, are found in this deck.
Skill cards represent an investigator's abilities. Skill cards typically either give a bonus to a certain skill or allow you to roll the dice again when you fail a certain kind of dice roll. Skill cards are rare and expensive to acquire.
Spells are magical rituals that an investigator can per- form using the Lore skill.
Allies are people that offer to assist the investigators in their adventures. Allies are the most powerful investiga- tor cards and can be found either at Ma's Boarding House (a location on the game board) or through encounters at some of the more dangerous and unstable locations in Arkham.
Special cards represent unique privileges or obligations. These include Retainers, Silver Twilight Memberships, Bank Loans, Blessings, Curses, and Deputy of Arkham cards. Special cards have a wide variety of effects.
Doom tokens are placed on the doom track on the Ancient One sheet as new gates open in Arkham. When the doom track is filled up with doom tokens, the Ancient One awakens!
On the back of each doom token is an elder sign icon. When an investigator successfully plays an elder sign to permanently seal a gate, a doom token is removed from the Ancient One's doom track, flipped over to its elder sign side, and placed on the sealed location. Sealing a gate using Clue tokens does not reduce the number of doom tokens on the Ancient One's doom track in this manner. For more information on sealing gates with both elder signs and Clue tokens, see page 17.
The larger cards included with Arkham Horror are called Ancient One cards. These represent events that take place within Arkham or the Other Worlds. These events can include confrontations with monsters, beneficial encounters, etc. There are three types of Ancient One cards: Location cards, Gate cards, and Mythos cards.
Location cards represent the encounters that take place at the various locations in Arkham. Each of the nine neigh- borhoods on the game board has a deck of seven cards dedicated to it, and each card has one encounter for each of the locations in that neighborhood. For more informa- tion on locations and neighborhoods, see page 21.
Gate cards represent the encounters that take place in the Other Worlds. Unlike the Location cards, which are divided into separate decks for each neighborhood, the Gate cards are all shuffled together into one deck. For more information on Other Worlds, see pages 8–9, 21.
Mythos cards depict major events in Arkham. One is drawn each turn during the Mythos Phase. When a mythos card is drawn, it has several effects. It identifies a location where a gate opens, it determines monster movement in Arkham, and it presents an event that may affect the investigators. Most mythos cards also list a location where a Clue token appears.
Follow the steps below to prepare for a game of Arkham Horror.
Alternatively, the players may choose which Ancient One they face. This is often helpful if there are time constraints or other considerations involved. (Yig makes for a shorter game, for instance, while Cthulhu makes for a particularly challenging game.)
Note: Abilities that affect drawing cards from the card decks, such as Monterey Jack's Archaeology ability, do work when drawing random possessions at the start of the game.
Each player also receives three skill sliders and places one skill slider on each of his three skill tracks. Each skill slider may be placed on any one of the four "stops" of each skill track. See "Adjusting Skills" on page 6 for more information on skill sliders and skill tracks.
Exception: Do not place the five "Mask" monsters in the container unless Nyarlathotep is the Ancient One. If any other Ancient One has been revealed, remove the Mask monsters from the game (simply return the markers to the box). Mask monsters are identified by the word "Mask" printed on the combat side of their markers.
Important: Remember to place a doom token on the Ancient One's doom track after the first gate opens.
After the mythos card has been completely resolved, the first turn begins, starting with the first player.
A turn in Arkham Horror is divided into five phases. During each phase, every player, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, performs the actions that take place during that phase. Once all players have completed a phase, the next phase begins. At the end of the last phase in each turn, the first player marker is passed to the player on the left and a new turn begins.
The phases of each turn are:
Phase I: Upkeep
Phase II: Movement
Phase III: Arkham Encounters
Phase IV: Other World Encounters
Phase V: Mythos
During each phase, every player, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, performs the actions that take place during that phase.
During the Upkeep Phase, each player takes the follow- ing actions, in order.
Example: Richard (playing Harvey Walters) cast his Wither spell last turn, forcing him to exhaust the card by turning it face down. During the Upkeep Phase, Richard turns the Wither spell face up once more. The spell is now ready for him to cast again.
Example: Looking over his cards, Richard finds that he has a Retainer card, which requires an Upkeep action. First, Richard receives $2 for the Retainer. He takes two money tokens from the pile of money tokens in the play area. Richard must then roll a die to see if he keeps or loses the Retainer. Richard is fortunate and keeps the Retainer card for another turn.
Exception: During game setup, players may set their three skill sliders on any of the four stops on their three skill tracks. This initial setup does not adhere to the nor- mal rules that restrict the number of stops a slider may be moved each turn.
During the Movement Phase, each player takes one of the following two movement actions, depending on whether his investigator is in Arkham or an Other World (see "Game Board Breakdown," page 21):
Arkham movementThe two types of investigator movement are described below.
Locations are indicated by circular illustrations on the Arkham portion of the game board. Street areas are rep- resented by rectangular boxes on the game board, one for each neighborhood in Arkham (for example, Miskatonic U. and Rivertown).
If the investigator fails to evade a monster, the monster immediately deals its combat damage to him (see "Combat" on page 14) and he immediately enters com- bat with it.
Once an investigator begins combat with a monster for any reason, his movement is over. Regardless of whether or not he wins the battle, the investigator loses the rest of his movement points and must remain where he is.
Note that each circular space representing an Other World is bisected by a prominent line: The areas to the left and right of this line are the two areas of the Other World.
If an investigator is in an Other World at the beginning of the Movement Phase, he receives no movement points. Instead, his movement depends on whether he is in the first (left) or second (right) area of the Other World.
During the Arkham Encounters Phase, each player whose investigator is in a location (not a street area or Other World area) must take one of the following actions. The action the investigator must take depends on whether his location contains an open gate or not.
Monsters and gates cannot appear in sealed locations, even if this is directed by the text of a card. Monsters that appear as the result of a location or gate encounter never remain on the board after the encounter is resolved. If an investigator evades such a monster, return it to the monster cup (see "Monsters in Encounters," page 22).
Exception: Once an investigator has entered a gate and returned to Arkham, the player places an explored mark- er underneath his investigator marker. While he remains in the gate's location, he is no longer drawn through the gate, but may instead try to close or seal the gate (see "Closing and Sealing Gates," pages 16-17). If the inves- tigator leaves the location before the gate is closed or sealed, discard the explored marker. If the investigator returns to the location later in the game, he will again be drawn through the gate. He must resolve the Other World Encounters Phase again before he can return to the location and attempt to close or seal the gate.
Important: If an investigator is drawn through a gate that appears as a result of an encounter (such as "A gate appears!" or "A gate and a monster appear!"), then he is delayed, just as if he had been drawn through a gate in the Mythos Phase.
During the Other World Encounters Phase, investigators in Other World spaces have encounters there. The Other World spaces on the board are marked with circular icons of different colors. These colored circles are called encounter symbols. When an investigator has an Other World encounter, the player draws cards from the gate deck, one at a time, until he draws a card whose color matches one of these encounter symbols. Gate cards that do not match a color of the encounter symbols are placed face down on the bottom of the gate deck.
Once the player has drawn a gate card that matches an encounter symbol's color, he examines it to see if there is a specific encounter for the Other World his investigator is currently in. If a specific encounter is listed, the player reads that entry aloud and performs any actions indicated by the card text. If there is no specific encounter listed, the player reads the "Other" entry aloud and performs any actions indicated by the card text.
The card text of an Other World encounter may result in a monster appearing, in which case the investigator must either evade the monster (see "Evading Monsters," page 14) or fight it (see "Combat," page 14). Once the encounter is resolved, the player then discards the card face down to the bottom of the gate deck.
Monsters that appear as the result of location or gate encounters never remain on the board after the encounter is resolved. If an investigator evades such a monster, return it to the monster cup (see "Monsters in Encounters," page 22).
During the Mythos Phase, the first player draws a mythos card and performs the following actions:
Each of these actions is performed as follows.
This is called a monster surge. When a monster surge occurs, the number of monsters drawn and placed is equal to the number of open gates or the number of players, whichever is greater. The first player draws monster markers from the cup at random and places them on each location with an open gate. When placing monsters, they should be divided as evenly as possible among the open gates, with no gate having more monsters placed on it than the gate where the monster surge occurred this turn. If there are more monsters to be placed than allowed by the monster limit (see "Monster Limits and the Outskirts," page 18), the players should decide where monsters will be placed. The players must make this decision before monsters have been drawn from the cup. If the players cannot agree where the monsters are to be placed, the first player decides the placement.
Example: There are 3 open gates (at the Black Cave, Science Building, and Unvisited Isle), 7 players, and no monsters in play when a mythos card is drawn that opens a gate at the Black Cave. This causes a monster surge: 7 monsters are drawn from the cup and placed on the open gates. They must be distributed as evenly as possible, so each of the 3 gates gets 2 monsters placed on it, and the 7th monster is placed on the Black Cave, where the monster surge occurred. The Black Cave now has 3 monsters, while the other 2 open gates each have 2 monsters on them.
Note that it is also possible for the Ancient One to awak- en because there are too many gates open in Arkham at once (see "The Ancient One Awakens!," page 20).
3. A Monster Appears The first player draws a monster marker from the cup at random and places it on the location. If this would bring the number of monsters over the monster limit, the first player places the monster in the Outskirts instead (see "Monster Limits and the Outskirts," page 18).
Exception: If there are five or more investigators play- ing, then draw and place two monsters instead of one.
Important: Unlike investigators, monsters are never drawn through gates.
Example: Wade is the first player and draws the mythos card shown in an earlier example. The lower-left corner of the card shows Black Cave, which has neither an open gate nor an elder sign marker. First, Wade adds a doom token to the Ancient One's doom track. There are still open spaces on the track, so Wade draws the top gate marker from the stack and places it on top of Black Cave. The revealed gate is one that leads to Yuggoth. Finally, Wade draws a monster from the cup (a Dark Young) and places it on Black Cave as well.
Each mythos card has two movement areas on it, repre- sented by black and white boxes. Each location and street area on the board likewise features a black or white arrow (sometimes both, see below).
Each movement box on a mythos card also has one or more dimension symbols printed in it. Each monster marker likewise features such a dimension symbol on its movement side.
Monsters currently on the board whose dimension sym- bols are listed in either movement box on the mythos card move to a connected location or street area, as follows:
Important: The arrows leading out of some locations are black on one side and white on the other. These arrows count as both a black arrow and a white arrow, so monsters listed in either the black or the white move- ment box of the mythos card follow that arrow.
Example: A Star Spawn moves into Uptown, where Joe Diamond and Ashcan Pete are currently located. During their next Movement Phase, one or possibly both of these investigators will need to deal with the Star Spawn.
Normal (Black Border): Normal monsters move as described above.
Stationary (Yellow Border): Stationary monsters never move. They always remain at the location where they entered play.
Fast (Red Border): Fast monsters move twice, follow- ing the appropriate arrows for both steps of their move- ment. Fast monsters stop moving immediately if they encounter an investigator.
Unique (Green Border): Monsters with unique move- ment (such as the Hound of Tindalos) have special movement abilities listed on the combat side of their monster markers. Turn such a monster marker over and follow the instructions there.
Flying (Blue Border): Flying monsters generally move directly towards the nearest investigator in a street area, or move to the "Sky" holding area if they can't reach any investigators this turn. Flying monsters are explained in more detail in the "Flying Monsters" diagram.
Headline: The first player immediately resolves the special text of a Headline mythos card. He then dis- cards the mythos card face down to the bottom of the mythos deck.
Environment: The special text of an Environment mythos card remains in play for several turns, possibly even until the end of the game. The first player places the card face up next to the game board, discarding any previous Environment mythos card face down to the bottom of the mythos deck. This means that only one Environment mythos card can be in play at a time.
Rumor: The special text of a Rumor mythos card remains in effect until either the Pass or Fail condition on the card is met, at which point the card is resolved and is discarded face down to the bottom of the mythos deck.
Only one Rumor can be in play at once. If there is already a Rumor mythos card in play, ignore the special text of the newly drawn Rumor and discard it face down to the bottom of the mythos deck after resolving its other effects for the turn (such as gate opening and mon- ster movement).
Other Effects: Additionally, the mythos card may call for one or more "activity" or "closed" markers to be placed on specific locations. Simply place the respective markers on the locations indicated by the card. If the card leaves play, remove the markers from the locations as well.
Once the first player has resolved all steps of the Mythos Phase, the first player marker is passed to the left. The turn is now over and a new one begins with the Upkeep Phase. Play continues in this way until the end of the game.
The game ends in one of two ways: The investigators either overcome the mythos threat, or they are defeated by it.
If these two conditions are met, the players immediately win. Stability is restored to Arkham as the Ancient One slips back into a deep slumber for a few more millennia.
You can rate your victory by using the following scoring system. Start with the highest printed number on the doom track of the Ancient One. Subtract the terror level at the end of the game from this number. Now apply the following modifiers
–1 per unpaid/defaulted Bank Loan
–1 per elder sign played during the game
+1 per unspent gate trophy at the end of the game
+1 for every three unspent monster trophies held at the
end of the game.
+1 per sane, surviving investigator at the end of the
game
Example: The courageous investigators close the final gate, returning Azathoth to his fitful slumber just as the terror level climbs to 6. Subtracting the terror level (6) from the highest printed number on Azathoth's doom track (14) gives a base score of 8. The group had two defaulted Bank Loans (–2), played three elder signs dur- ing the game (–3), had eight unspent gate trophies (+8), had 17 unspent monster trophies (+5), and had 5 sane, surviving investigators at the end of the game (+5) for a total of 21 points.
After reading the rules up to this point, you should be familiar with the overall flow of the game, including what you must accomplish to win. The remaining sec- tions of this rulebook offer everything you'll need to know to meet those objectives: how to make skill checks for your investigator, how to evade and fight monsters, how to cast spells, how to close or seal gates, and more.
These are the basic abilities investigators use to accom- plish things in the game. Every investigator has six skills, listed below. Investigators also have a value for each of these skills, depending on how they have posi- tioned their skill sliders (see page 6). A skill value rep- resents the number of dice the investigator rolls for a check based on that skill.
Fight: Used for physical feats of strength and
endurance. Also used in combat.
Lore: Used for tests of mystic knowledge and ability.
Also used in casting spells.
Luck: Used to determine the whims of chance. It is the
most common skill used in encounters.
Sneak: Used for feats of stealth and thievery. Also used
when evading monsters.
Speed: Used for tests of quickness and agility. Also used
to determine an investigator's movement.
Will: Used to test an investigator's force of personality
and willpower. Also used for Horror checks at the start
of combat.
Example 1: Make a Sneak (–1) check. In this example, Sneak is the skill the investigator must use for the check. The modifier is –1, a penalty in this case. Since it is not specifically listed, the difficulty is 1.
Example 2: Make a Luck (+2) [2] check. In this exam- ple, Luck is the skill the investigator must use for the check. The modifier is +2, a bonus. The difficulty is 2.
When making a skill check, a player always rolls a num- ber of dice equal to his investigator's value in the appro- priate skill.
Modifiers and difficulties are discussed in more detail below.
Example: Michael McGlen is asked to make the two skill checks listed in the example above. His current Sneak is 3 and his current Luck is 2. In the first exam- ple, he subtracts one from his Sneak of 3 (for the –1 modifier) and therefore rolls two dice. In the second, he adds two to his Luck of 2 (for the +2 modifier) and therefore rolls four dice.
Important: If the modifier reduces an investigator to 0 or fewer dice, he automatically fails the check. The player may still spend Clue tokens to make the check (see "Spending Clue Tokens on Skill Checks," below).
Example 1: Michael McGlen rolls two dice for the Sneak check described above. He gets a 2 and a 5. The 5 is a suc- cess, giving him a total of one success. Since the Sneak check had no listed difficulty, it is assumed to be 1. Michael has enough successes to pass the check.
Example 2: Michael next rolls four dice for the Luck check described above. He gets 2, 5, 3, and 6, for a total of 2 suc- cesses (the 5 and 6 were both successes). Since the check's difficulty was 2, Michael passes the Luck check.
There are four types of special skill checks that players should be aware of: Evade checks, Horror checks, Combat checks, and Spell checks. Each of these spe- cial skill checks are based on one of the six skills listed above and are described later in this rulebook. If an investigator receives a bonus to a skill, any special checks based on that skill also receive this bonus. However, if an investigator receives a bonus only to a special check, that bonus does not apply to any other checks based on the same skill.
For example, Evade checks are a special type of Sneak check. A Skill card that gives +1 Sneak is useful both for Sneak and Evade checks. However, an item that gives +2 to Evade checks is only useful when making Evade checks. That bonus cannot be used on a normal Sneak check.
Example: Joe Diamond fails a Lore (–1) [3] check, but gets two successes. Deciding that he really needs to pass this check, he discards one Clue token and rolls another die, getting a 3. Still no success, so Joe spends a second Clue token and rolls a second die, this time getting a 6. This extra success increases his total number of success- es for the check to 3, enough to pass the check.
Important: Spending a Clue token always gives you the bonus dice that you are entitled to, even if the modifier has dropped the number of dice you can roll below 0.
When an investigator attempts to move out of an area containing a monster, or ends his movement in such an area, he must either fight the monster or evade it. An investigator may attempt to evade a monster by mak- ing an Evade check. An Evade check is a skill check using the investigator's Sneak value. The check is modi- fied by the monster's Awareness value, which is printed in the upper-right corner of the monster marker's movement side. The difficulty of the Evade check is always 1 unless the monster has a special ability that states otherwise. If the investigator passes the Evade check, he evades the monster and the player may continue his turn as normal, whether continuing movement or interacting with the area. If the investigator fails the check, the monster immediately deals its combat damage to him and combat with the monster begins (see "Combat," later in these rules). Example: Ashcan Pete moves from the Merchant District into Northside, where a Star Spawn is waiting for him. Pete wants to continue moving to the Curiositie Shoppe, so he must evade the Star Spawn. Pete's current Sneak is 4 and the Star Spawn's Awareness is –1, so he rolls three dice, hoping for at least one success. If he passes the check, he has evaded the Star Spawn and may continue moving. If he fails, the Star Spawn damages him for 3 Stamina and he enters combat with it. An investigator may remain in the same area as a monster after evading it. He simply remains where he is and does not have to enter combat with the monster this phase. This allows an investigator to enter a gate in the same location as evaded monsters. Such an investigator could (if able) evade the monsters during the Movement Phase, and enter the gate during the Arkham Encounters Phase. Example: In the example above, if Pete successfully evades the Star Spawn, he could choose to remain in the Northside area without fighting it for now. However, once the next Movement Phase takes place, he'll have to deal with the Star Spawn once more (by either evading it again or fighting it). If there is more than one monster in an area, the investi- gator must evade each monster in turn, in any order he chooses. If he fails to evade a monster, the monster deals its combat damage to him and combat with the monster begins. If he defeats the monster, he must still fight or evade any monsters in the area that he has not yet either fought or evaded. Regardless of whether or not any fur- ther evade attempts succeed, the investigator's move- ment is finished as soon as he fails even one evade check. Example: If the Star Spawn in the example above was also accompanied by a Shoggoth, Pete would need to evade both of them to keep moving to the Curiositie Shoppe. If Pete decides to evade the Star Spawn first and fails the check, he can no longer move. Assuming he wins the ensuing combat with the Star Spawn, he must still either fight or evade the Shoggoth. Sometimes monsters appear as the result of a location or gate encounter. An investigator can evade these mon- sters just like any others. However, these monsters never remain on the board after the encounter is resolved. If an investigator evades such a monster, immediately return the marker to the monster cup.
Eventually, all investigators have to face their fears and do battle with the mythos. Whenever an investigator enters combat with a monster, resolve the following steps, in order. 1. Horror Check First, the alien nature of the mythos threatens to over- whelm the investigator's mind. This is represented by a Horror check. A Horror check is a skill check using the investigator's Will value. This value is modified by the monster's horror rating (found in the lower-left corner of its combat side). The difficulty of this check is always 1 unless the monster has a special ability that states otherwise. If the investigator passes the check, nothing happens. If he fails the check, the investigator loses the amount of Sanity shown underneath the monster's horror rating. The player discards the appropriate number of Sanity tokens from his investigator sheet. An investigator reduced to zero Sanity tokens is driven insane (see page 16). Example: Ashcan Pete failed to evade the Star Spawn, so now he must make a Horror check. Pete's Will is cur- rently 3, but the Star Spawn's horror rating is –3, so Pete doesn't get to roll any dice for the check and auto- matically fails. Pete loses 2 Sanity, as shown underneath the Star Spawn's horror rating. Pete removes two Sanity tokens from his sheet. If he had somehow managed to succeed, nothing would have happened to him. Whether he passes the check or not, an investigator only needs to make one Horror check each time he does bat- tle with a monster. If the investigator successfully evades the monster in the first place, he never needs to make a Horror check at all. 2. Fight or Flee Next, the investigator must choose: He may either attempt to flee or fight the monster. A. Flee The investigator tries to evade the monster, using an Evade check just as described under "Evading Monsters" earlier in these rules. If he passes the check, he eludes the monster and the battle immediately ends. If he fails the check, the monster deals its combat dam- age to the investigator and the battle continues (see "Monster Damage," below). B. Fight If the investigator fights the monster, he makes a Combat check. A Combat check is a skill check using the investigator's Fight value. This value is modified by the monster's combat rating (printed in the lower-right corner of its combat side). The difficulty of this check is equal to the monster's toughness, which is represented by the number of "blood drop" icons that appear in the lower center of the monster's combat side. If the investigator passes the Combat check, he defeats the monster. The investigator's player removes the marker from the board and places it in front of him as a monster trophy. If the investigator fails the check, the monster deals its combat damage to him (see "Monster Damage," below). Example: After failing his Horror check, Ashcan Pete decides to fight the Star Spawn rather than attempt to flee. Pete's Fight is 6 and the Star Spawn's combat rat- ing is –3, so Pete rolls three dice. The Star Spawn's toughness is 3 (the difficulty for the check), so Pete must succeed on all three dice to defeat the monster. If Pete succeeds, he takes the Star Spawn marker and places it in front of him as a monster trophy. If he fails, the Star Spawn deals its combat damage to Pete. Important: If a monster's toughness is greater than 1, partial success has no effect on it. A monster must be completely defeated in one Combat check or it ignores all successes the investigator rolled. 3. Monster Damage Each time an investigator fails to evade or defeat a mon- ster, the monster deals its combat damage to the investi- gator. The amount of combat damage a monster deals is printed below its combat rating. The investigator loses Stamina equal to this number. The player discards the appropriate number of Stamina tokens from his investi- gator sheet. An investigator reduced to zero Stamina tokens is knocked unconscious (see page 16). Note that some monsters have abilities that add some special effect to their combat damage. For example, the Nightgaunt drops the investigator through the nearest open gate instead of causing the investigator to lose Stamina tokens. If the investigator remains conscious, sane, and in the same space as the monster after this step is resolved, the combat continues. Return to step 2, Fight or Flee, and continue the combat until it is resolved. Example: Pete fails the Combat check, so the Star Spawn deals its combat damage to him. The Star Spawn's combat damage is 3, so Pete loses three Stamina. Battered, bruised, and more than a little crazy, Pete prepares for another round of combat. U SING W EAPONS AND S PELLS IN C OMBAT Investigators can gain a valuable edge in combat by using weapons and spells. The biggest advantage of weapons is that they automatically grant bonuses on Combat checks⎯no additional skill checks are required to use them. However, most weapons grant Physical Combat bonuses, which have no effect at all against many mythos monsters. Spells, on the other hand, grant Magical Combat bonuses. These are effective against almost every mon- ster in Arkham Horror. An investigator must success- fully cast a spell to gain its benefits (see "Casting Spells" below). If an investigator fails to cast a spell, it provides no bonuses for the combat at all. In other words, spells are more powerful and versatile than weapons, but they are not always a sure thing. Weapon and Spell Limits There is a limitation on the number of weapons and spells an investigator may use at once. This limitation is represented by "hand" icons printed in the lower-left corner of each weapon and spell card. Each investigator may use any combination of weapons and spells and add their skill bonuses together, as long as their combined number of hand icons does not exceed two. Note that a spell requires the number of hands printed on the card, even if the investigator fails to cast it. A spell or weapon that gives you a bonus (even one that says it lasts until the end of combat) only continues to give you the bonus while you devote the required num- ber of hands to it. You can choose to switch weapons/spells in later combat rounds, but as soon as you "release" a spell or weapon, it stops working for you. Similarly, spells that are refreshed (such as at the beginning of each combat round in the final battle) cease to work and must be re-cast. Example: Ashcan Pete has acquired some equipment and a spell before he faces a Star Spawn. He decides to use his .45 Automatic (a weapon that gives him a +4 Physical Combat bonus and uses one hand) and Shrivelling (a spell that gives him a +6 Magical Combat bonus if successfully cast and uses one hand). Pete suc- cessfully casts Shrivelling. With the .45 Automatic and the successful spell casting, he gains a total bonus of +10 (+4 from the weapon, +6 from the spell). Adding his Fight value of 6, Pete's total skill for the Combat check is 16. He then accounts for the Star Spawn's com- bat rating (–3), leaving him with 13 dice with which to roll 3 successes (as the Star Spawn's toughness is 3).
An investigator must successfully cast a spell in order to gain its benefits. Every spell has a casting modifier, and most have a Sanity cost. To cast a spell, an investigator must pay its Sanity cost and then pass a Spell check. To pay the Sanity cost of a spell, the player simply removes a number of Sanity tokens from his total equal to the cost of the spell. Players must always pay the Sanity cost of a spell, whether or not the investigator subsequently passes the Spell check. A Spell check is a skill check that uses the investigator's Lore value, adjusted by the spell's casting modifier. If the Spell check fails, the spell has no effect. If the check succeeds, the spell takes effect. Example: Harvey Walters attempts to cast Heal, a spell with a casting modifier of +1 and a Sanity cost of 1. First, Harvey pays the Sanity cost , then he makes a Lore (+1) check. His Lore is 4 at the moment, so he rolls 5 dice and gets 2 successes. The Heal spell is successful. The spell's effect allows Harvey to recover Stamina equal to the number of successes he rolled on the Spell check, so Harvey recovers two Stamina.
This section of the rules describes the various condi- tions that may affect an investigator during the course of the game. S ANITY AND S TAMINA An investigator begins the game with a number of Sanity and Stamina tokens equal to the values listed on the investigator's sheet. These two values are the inves- tigator's maximum Sanity and maximum Stamina. While an investigator may gain and lose Sanity or Stamina over the course of the game, the investigator's current Sanity or Stamina may never exceed the investi- gator's maximum Sanity or Stamina. Insane in Arkham If an investigator is ever reduced to 0 Sanity while in Arkham, the investigator is driven temporarily insane. He must immediately choose and discard half of his items and half of his Clue tokens (rounded down), along with all retainers (if any). The player then immediately moves his investigator to Arkham Asylum. The investi- gator is restored to 1 Sanity, returning 1 Sanity token to his investigator sheet, and has no further encounters this turn. The investigator may take his next turn as normal. Unconscious in Arkham If an investigator is ever reduced to 0 Stamina while in Arkham, the investigator is knocked unconscious. He must immediately choose and discard half of his items and half of his Clue tokens (rounded down), along with all retainers (if any). The player then immediately moves his investigator to St. Mary's Hospital. The investigator is restored to 1 Stamina and has no further encounters this turn. The investigator may take his next turn as normal. Insane or Unconscious in an Other World If an investigator is reduced to 0 Stamina or 0 Sanity while in an Other World, the investigator is lost in time and space. He must immediately choose and discard half of his items and half of his Clue tokens (rounded down), along with all retainers (if any). His Stamina and Sanity are restored to a minimum of 1. The player immediately moves his investigator to the Lost in Time and Space area of the board and places the investigator marker on its side to indicate that the investigator is delayed (see "Lost in Time and Space," later in these rules). Important: When adding up items before discarding them, count all Common Items, Unique Items, and Spells. In addition, the Deputy's Revolver and the Patrol Wagon both count as items. Allies, Skills, and other cards do not count towards this total. D ELAYED I NVESTIGATORS An investigator whose marker is placed on its side has been delayed. Delayed investigators do not move during the Movement Phase, and they receive no movement points. Instead, when the player of the delayed investi- gator takes his turn in the Movement Phase, he should stand the investigator marker back up to show that the investigator is no longer delayed. A RRESTED I NVESTIGATORS Some encounters may result in an investigator being arrested and taken to the Police Station. When this occurs, the player should place the investigator in the Jail Cell (rather than the main Police Station area). Arrested investigators lose half of their money (round down) and are delayed. The player completely skips the next turn, simply standing his investigator marker and placing it in the main area of the Police Station during the Movement Phase. The player may act in the follow- ing turn as normal. L OST IN T IME AND S PACE Any investigator who is lost in time and space is imme- diately moved to the Lost in Time and Space area of the board. The investigator is now delayed, and the player should place the investigator marker on its side. The investigator loses his next turn, remaining in the Lost in Time and Space area. The player may only stand his investigator marker back up during the Movement Phase. On the following turn, at the start of the Upkeep Phase, the player may move his investigator to any loca- tion or street area of his choice in Arkham. D EVOURED I NVESTIGATORS In rare cases, investigators may be devoured. The player immediately discards all of his cards (except unspent trophies) and shuffles his investigator sheet in with the unused investigator sheets. The player then draws a new investigator at random and sets up the investigator as if he were starting a new game (as described in "Game Setup" earlier in these rules). If an investigator is reduced to both 0 Sanity and 0 Stamina at the same time, that investigator is devoured. If an investigator's maximum sanity or maximum stamina is reduced to 0, that investigator is devoured. B LESSED AND C URSED I NVESTIGATORS Blessings and curses represent aid or interference from greater powers, and investigators may gain these cards through encounters or rumors. • While an investigator is Blessed, every die result of 4 or better counts as a success. • While an investigator is Cursed, only die results of 6 count as successes. An investigator may never be Blessed and Cursed at the same time. If a Blessed investigator is Cursed, simply discard the Blessing. If a Cursed investigator is Blessed, simply discard the Curse. Likewise, a player may never have more than one Bless or Curse card at a time.
As dimensional gates open in locations all over Arkham, the investigators must work to close or seal them. C LOSING G ATES Before he can close a gate, an investigator must enter the gate, explore the Other World it leads to, and then return to Arkham. When an investigator returns from an Other World, as described earlier, the player should place an explored marker under his investigator marker. This gives the investigator an opportunity to destroy and close the gate during the next Arkham Encounters Phase. If the investi- gator leaves the gate's location for any reason, the player must discard the explored marker – the investigator has missed his opportunity and must explore the gate again if he wishes to close it. If, during the Arkham Encounters Phase, an investigator is on a location that contains an open gate and that investigator has acquired the explored marker, he may now attempt to close the gate. To do so, the investigator must choose whether to make a Lore check or a Fight check, using the number printed on the gate marker as the modifier. If the investigator succeeds at this check, he closes the gate and takes the gate marker as a gate trophy. If the investigator fails, the gate remains open. The investigator can try to close it during the Arkham Encounters Phase next turn (and in subsequent turns, as long as he does not leave the gate location). S EALING G ATES If an investigator successfully closes a gate, he may immediately spend five Clue tokens to permanently seal it. The player takes a doom token from the pile of unused doom tokens, turns it over to its elder sign side, and places the token on the gate location. The player still claims the gate marker as a trophy. The gate is now sealed: No further gates can open and no monsters can appear at the location of the sealed gate for the remain- der of the game. M ONSTERS AND C LOSING G ATES When a gate is closed, all monsters in Arkham, the Sky, and the Outskirts that have the same dimension symbol (see "Monster Movement," page 10) as the closed or sealed gate are removed from the board and returned to the cup. A monster's dimension symbol is printed in the lower-right corner of the marker's movement side. E LDER S IGNS Elder signs are a specific type of Unique Item that investigators can use to seal gates. There are several elder sign cards in the Unique Item deck. To use an elder sign, the investigator must be at the location of the gate and must have acquired an explored marker, just as if he were attempting to close the gate. The investigator does not need to make a Lore or Fight check or spend any Clue tokens to use the elder sign. To use an elder sign, do the following: • The player removes 1 Sanity and 1 Stamina from his investigator sheet. This may knock the investigator unconscious or drive him insane, but the elder sign still takes effect. • The player takes a doom token from the Ancient One's doom track (not the pile of unused doom tokens), turns it to its elder sign side, and places it on the location to be sealed. This effectively lowers the current doom level of the game by 1, and this is one of the only ways to do so. • The player then returns the elder sign card to the box. This specific card cannot be drawn or used again this game. Once these actions have been taken, the gate is now sealed: No further gates can open and no monsters can appear at the location of the sealed gate for the remain- der of the game. M ONSTERS G UARDING G ATES During the turn he returns to Arkham from an Other World, an investigator does not have to evade or fight any monsters in the gate's location. This rule only applies during the turn he returns to Arkham; in subse- quent turns, if the investigator remains in the location, he must evade or fight any monsters there as normal.
There is a limit on the number of monsters that may be in Arkham at one time. The limit is equal to the number of players in the game, plus three. This monster limit only applies to those monsters actual- ly moving around on the Arkham city portion of the board or located in the "Sky" area. Monsters that appear at a location and are then removed from the board do not count, nor do monsters located in the Outskirts. Important: If the terror level reaches 10, Arkham is overrun and the monster limit is removed for the rest of the game. See "The Terror Track," below. If adding a monster to the board would bring the number of monsters in Arkham above the monster limit, the monster is placed in the Outskirts area instead. Monsters in the Outskirts remain there until the Outskirts become too full. Number of Players Maximum Monsters in Outskirts 1 7 2 6 3 5 4 4 5 3 6 2 7 1 8 0 When the number of monsters in the Outskirts exceeds this limit, return all of the monsters in the Outskirts to the monster cup and increase the terror level by 1. The terror level is described below.
The terror track shows the current terror level in Arkham – the current mental state of the city's inhabitants. Various things can raise the terror level, such as too many mon- sters entering the Outskirts or the effects of some mythos cards. The terror level can never go down, so players should be very cautious about allowing it to increase. When the terror level rises, move the terror track marker up the terror track as indicated. The terror track marker cannot leave the track, so the terror level cannot go above 10. Once the terror level has reached 10, if it ever increases again (via a mythos card special ability, for example), instead of moving the terror track marker, add one doom token to the Ancient One's doom track for each point the terror level should have increased. "Margie, pack your bags!" The most obvious effect of the terror level is that people pack up and leave town. For every point the terror level goes up, select one Ally card at random from the Ally deck and return it to the box. That Ally is no longer available for the rest of the game. Once all Allies have been returned to the box or claimed by investiga- tors, this specific result has no effect for the remainder of the game. "That's it. I'm Moving the Shop to Boston." If the terror level reaches a sufficiently high level, the Curiositie Shoppe, the General Store, and Ye Olde Magick Shoppe close for the rest of the game. If the terror level reaches 3, place a closed marker on the General Store. It is closed for the rest of the game and no one may enter that location. Immediately move any investigators and monsters currently at the General Store to the Rivertown street area. If the terror level reaches 6, place a closed marker on the Curiositie Shoppe. It is closed for the rest of the game and no one may enter that location. Immediately move any investigator or monster currently at The Curiositie Shoppe to the Northside street area. If the terror level reaches 9, place a closed marker on Ye Olde Magick Shoppe. It is closed for the rest of the game and no one may enter that location. Immediately move any investigator or monster currently at Ye Olde Magick Shoppe to the Uptown street area. "Look at All the Monsters." If the terror level reaches 10, the town of Arkham is overrun by monsters and the monster limit is completely removed from the game. There is no longer any limit on the number of monsters that can rampage through town.
No matter how valiantly the investigators struggle, they are facing incredible odds. Despite their best efforts, the Ancient One may awaken and enter Arkham. If this comes to pass, the only thing the investigators can do is try to drive it back using the weapons and magic they've accumulated throughout the game. There are five conditions under which the Ancient One may awaken. 1. Doom Track is Full If enough gates open, eventually the Ancient One's doom track will fill up with doom tokens, even if the investigators use all of the elder signs. When a doom token is placed on the last open space on the doom track, the Ancient One awakens immediately. 2. Too Many Gates Open If the investigators allow too many gates to be open at the same time, this can awaken the Ancient One. The number of open gates that will immediately awaken the Ancient One depends on the number of players. Number of Players Number of Open Gates 1−2 8 3−4 7 5−6 6 7−8 5 3. No Gate Markers Finally, the Ancient One awakens immediately when a new gate opens and there are no unused gate markers left in the pile. Thus, if gate markers run low, players should spend one or more gate trophies to replenish the supply. 4. No Monsters in the Cup The Ancient One also awakens if a monster should be drawn from the monster cup, but there are no monsters in the cup. 5. Terror Level 10 and Too Many Monsters The Ancient One also awakens if the terror level has reached 10 and there are monsters in play equal to twice the normal monster limit (for example, 16` monsters in a five-player game). Very Important: If the Ancient One awakens and its doom track is not full, fill its doom track with doom tokens before proceeding to the final battle. T HE F INAL B ATTLE When the Ancient One awakens, any investigators that are lost in time and space are immediately devoured and eliminated from the game. The surviving investiga- tors must face the Ancient One in the final battle! Before the final battle begins, discard any active Environment or Rumor cards. Additionally, once the final battle begins, investigators should no longer collect money or roll for Retainers or Bank Loans. Combat with the Ancient One is divided into rounds. During a round, players first have an opportunity to adjust their investigators. Then, each player attacks the Ancient One. Finally, the Ancient One attacks the inves- tigators. Once these steps have been resolved, a new round begins. The structure of each round in a battle with an Ancient One is as follows: 1. Investigators Refresh At the beginning of a round of combat with an Ancient One, the investigators may refresh their cards, use any character abilities, and adjust their skill sliders as though it were the Upkeep Phase. Next, the first player marker should be passed to the left. Finally, they may trade items among themselves as if they were in the same location (see "Trading Equipment" later in these rules). 2. Investigators Attack Next, starting with the first player and continuing clock- wise around the table, every player whose investigator is still participating in the battle may make a Combat check against the Ancient One using its combat rating as the modifier. Unlike a normal battle, the Ancient One cannot be defeated in a single attack. Instead, keep track of every success an investigator scores against the Ancient One (see "Skill Checks," page 13). These successes are cumulative, and each successive player adds to them with his own attack. When the players accumulate a total number of successes equal to the number of players (including any players that were eliminated from the game), remove one doom token from the Ancient One's doom track and reset their cumulative successes to zero. If the last doom token is removed from the Ancient One, the investigators have defeated it! See "Ending the Game" on page 12. 3. Ancient One Attacks After all of the players (except eliminated players) have made one Combat check against the Ancient One, the Ancient One unleashes its attack on each of the investi- gators. This attack varies by Ancient One, but they are all extremely deadly. For example, Hastur forces all the investigators to make an increasingly difficult Will check or lose Sanity. Any investigator reduced to 0 Sanity or Stamina by the Ancient One's attack is devoured. If an investigator is devoured during the final battle with the Ancient One, that player is eliminated from the game (i.e., the player does not draw a new character). If all investigators are devoured, the Ancient One is unleashed on the world and the players lose the game. After the Ancient One's attack is resolved for each investigator, a new round begins. This continues until either the investigators defeat the Ancient One or all have been devoured.
The following are some additional rules topics that should help to clarify play of Arkham Horror. D ISCARDING C ARDS When you discard a card, return it face down to the bot- tom of the appropriate deck. Players only shuffle most decks when they draw a card that instructs them to do so. Location decks, however, are shuffled before a play- er draws from them. A player who draws multiple cards from a Location deck draws them all, one after the other, without shuffling between draws. L OCATION S PECIAL A BILITIES Some locations on the board have special abilities. When an investigator enters such a location, the player may resolve the special ability of the location instead of having an encounter there. If there is an open gate at the location, investigators cannot use the location's special ability. Example: The Science Building has the Dissection abili- ty. This ability allows an investigator to spend monster trophies or gate trophies in exchange for Clue tokens. An investigator at the Science Building may use this ability instead of having an encounter there, and investi- gators cannot use the ability if there is an open gate in the location. M ONSTERS IN E NCOUNTERS Many location and Other World encounters indicate that a monster appears. To resolve such an encounter, the player must draw a monster from the monster cup and resolve the encounter as normal (i.e., the investigator may attempt to evade the monster or fight it). No matter how the encounter is resolved, the monster is never left on the board. The monster is returned to the monster cup, regardless of whether the investigator evades or defeats the monster, or is knocked unconscious or driven insane by it. Many encounters state that "A gate and a monster appear!" For these encounters, both the monster and the gate stay on the board. However, many other encounters state that just a monster appears. For example, one of the Black Cave encounters states "A monster appears!" and one of the Hibb's Roadhouse encounters states "A horrible monster appears!" When a monster but not a gate appears in an encounter, the monster does not stay on the board. If such a monster is defeated, players may take it as a trophy (unless its special ability says other- wise). If the monster is not defeated, it is returned to the monster cup, regardless of whether the investigator evades the monster or is knocked unconscious or driven insane by it. S PECIAL C ARD L IMITATIONS In most cases, a player may never have more than one copy of each special card at the same time. This rule applies to Retainers, Bank Loans, Silver Twilight Memberships, and Bless/Curse cards. S PENDING M ONEY Often, investigators will be told that they can purchase items "for list price" or "for $1 over list price." An item's list price is always found in the card's lower-right corner. Items are purchased by simply discarding money tokens equal to the price listed. S PENDING T ROPHIES There are several locations on the game board where players can spend the monster and gate trophies they have collected. For example, a player can spend monster or gate trophies at the River Docks to gain $5. All mon- ster trophies spent in this manner are returned to the monster cup, while all gate trophies are placed face down on the bottom of the pile of gate markers. T IMING C ONFLICTS If two or more game effects happen simultaneously, the players choose the order in which they occur. If the players cannot agree, the first player decides. T RADING E QUIPMENT An investigator in the same street area, Other World area, or location as another investigator may trade money, Common Items, Unique Items, and Spells. This may be done before, during, or after movement, but not during combat.
allies: leaving town, 20 Ambush: 24 Ancient One: awakening, 20; final battle with, 22; sheet breakdown, 19 Arkham Encounters Phase: 8-9 Arkham movement: 6-8 arrested: 16 Awareness: 21 Blessed: 17 closing gates: and winning the game, 12; how to 17-18 Clue tokens: picking up, 8; placing , 10; spending, 13-14 combat: 14-16; example of, 15 combat rating (of monsters): 15, 21 Cursed: 17 damage (from monsters): 15, 21 delayed: 8, 16 devoured: 17; during Final Battle, 22 doom track: 9, 19, 20, 22 elder signs: 18 encounters: in Other Worlds, 8, 9; monsters appearing because of: 22; resolving 8-9 ending the game: 12 Endless: 24 Environment: 12 evading monsters: 6, 8 14; example of, 14 exhaust: 6 explored markers: 4, 8 final battle: 22 flying monsters: 11 focus: 6, 21 game board breakdown: 21 gates: and winning the game, 12; closing, 12, 17; mon- sters guarding: 18; opening during Mythos Phase, 9; opening on investigators, 10; sealing, 12, 17, awakening the Ancient One, 20, 24 home dimension: 21 insane: 16 investigator sheet breakdown: 19 locations: closing, 20; encounters at, 8-9; special abili- ties of, 22 lost in time and space: 17 Magical Combat: 16 Magical Immunity: 24 "Mask" monsters: 5 monster limits: 18, 24 monster marker breakdown: 21 monster movement: 10-11; example of, 10 monster trophies: collecting, 15; spending, 23 Movement Phase: 6, 8 Mythos card (resolving): 9 Mythos Phase: 9-12 neighborhoods: 21 Nightmarish: 24 Other World Encounters Phase: 9 Other World movement: 8 Outskirts: 18, 24 Overwhelming: 24 Physical Combat: 16 Physical Immunity: 24 refresh: 6 Rumor: 12 sealing gates: and winning the game, 12; how to, 18 setup: skills: 12-13; adjusting, 6; skill checks, 13 skill checks: 13 special card limitations: 23 spells, casting: 16 street area: 21 terror track: 20, 21; summary of levels: 24 timing conflicts: 23 toughness (of monsters): 15, 21 trading equipment: 23 unconscious: 16 Upkeep Phase: 6 victories, scoring: 12 weapon and spell limits: 16 weapons: 16