LEARN TO PLAY
Beyond Time and Space… Assuming that I was sane and awake, my experience on that night was such as has befallen no man before. It was, moreover, a frightful confirmation of all I had sought to dismiss as myth and dream. –H. P.
Components Examples of the components in the game are presented here for identification purposes. A complete card anatomy can be found on pages 28–31 of the Rules Reference. 44 Chaos Tokens 27 Damage Tokens (1s and 3s) 30 Resource Tokens Roland Banks 30 Clue/Doom Tokens (double-sided) 3 The Fed 3 4 2 Agency. Detective. After you defeat an enemy: Discover 1 clue at your location. (Limit once per round.) effect: +1 for each clue on your location.
First Game Setup ==Some cards have an upgraded version with one or more white pips in the upper left-hand corner of the card. When building these starter decks, do not include these upgraded versions. To set up the first game, perform the following steps in order. The game is best learned with one or two players. 1 Magnifying Glass 1. Choose investigator(s). Each player chooses an investigator and places that investigator’s card in his or her play area.
one scenario to carry over into later scenarios. If the players are instructed to cross out one of these notes, the crossed off note is ignored for the remainder of the campaign. front porch out into the rainy street, toward Rivertown. Æ In your Campaign Log, record that your house is still standing. 9. Find the scenario cards for “The Gathering.
LEARN TO PLAY 3 Illus. Mark Molnar © 2016 FFG 2/16 105 Illus. Yoann Boissonnet © 2016 FFG 8/16 The door to your study has vanished. LO C ATION Study 111 2 Encounter Area 2 Act 1a Illus. Jose Vega © 2016 FFG 5/16 2 Trapped As you leap to investigate, the door to your study vanishes before your eyes, leaving behind only solid wall. You’re trapped inside your study until you can find another way out. Agenda 1a What’s Going On?! It is late at night.
Per Investigator () Key Concepts The symbol next to a value multiplies that value by the number of investigators who started the scenario. The number of clues that are placed on a location and the number of clues necessary to advance the current act are often denoted with this symbol. This section introduces a number of foundational concepts important to learning and playing the game.
Skills and Skill Tests Concluding a Skill Test If the investigator’s modified skill value is equal to or higher than the difficulty value of the skill test, the investigator succeeds at the test. Otherwise, the investigator fails. The ability or game step that initiated the skill test provides instructions for the consequences of succeeding and/or failing. Each investigator possesses four skills: willpower (), intellect (), combat (), and agility ().
Round Sequence Arkham Horror: The Card Game is played over a series of rounds. During a round, the investigators encounter the terrifying forces of the Mythos, move through and explore mysterious locations, fend off dangerous enemies, and finally, collect their bearings in anticipation of the next round. Each round is divided into the following four phases: 1. Mythos phase (skip on the first round of the game) 2. Investigation phase 3.
Engage Evade The investigator using this action engages one enemy that is at his or her location. To engageStudy an enemy, the investigator places that enemy in his or her threat area. The investigator using this action attempts to evade one enemy he or she is engaged with.
Play If an investigator wishes to play or gain control of an asset that requires a slot already held by a different asset, the investigator must choose and discard an asset or assets under his or her control to make room for the newly acquired asset. When an investigator uses this action, that investigator selects an asset or event card in his or her hand, pays its resource cost, and plays it. A card’s resource cost and cardtype are found in its upper left corner.
4 4 1 Humanoid. Monster. Ghoul. 4 Flesh-Eater 4 4 4 1 1 Humanoid. Monster. Spawn –The Attic. amount of damage and horrorMonster. dealtGhoul. by an enemy’s attack Ghoul. Humanoid. Attic. Spawn – Attic. can be found at the bottom of theSpawn enemy’s– text box: Table Talk Arkham Horror: The Card Game seeks to establish a roleplaying experience in which each player takes on the role of a specific character: his or her investigator.
The Upkeep Phase Enemy Engagement In the upkeep phase, the heroes and villains find their bearings and prepare for the next round. Resolve the following steps, in order: 1. Each investigator turns his or her mini card faceup. 2. Ready all exhausted cards. Each unengaged enemy that readies at the same location as an investigator engages at this time. (See “Enemy Engagement” sidebar, in the next column.) 3. Each investigator draws 1 card and gains 1 resource. 4.
What’s Next? ==Each standard player card in a player’s deck must be chosen in observance with the “Deckbuilding Options” available on the back of his or her investigator card. After the mythos phase is resolved, play proceeds to the investigator phase as usual. Continue resolving game rounds until players have reached the scenario’s resolution (see “Winning and Losing,” on page 7). ==A player’s deck cannot include more than 2 copies (by title) of any given player card.
“Skids” O’Toole starter deck: “Skids” O’Toole (3), On the Lam (10), Hospital Debts (11), 1 copy of each level 0 Rogue card (44–53), 1 copy of each level 0 Guardian card (16–25), 2 copies of Knife (86), 2 copies of Flashlight (87), 2 copies of Emergency Cache (88), 2 copies of Guts (89), and 2 copies of Overpower (91). Card Levels A card’s level is indicated by the presence of white pips beneath its cost. The card’s level is equal to the number of such symbols on the card.
Symbols and Icons Phase Sequence 1. Mythos phase (skip during the first round of the game) Per Investigator 2. Investigation phase 3. Enemy phase Character Classes 4. Upkeep phase Keywords A keyword is an attribute that conveys specific rules to its card. The following section serves as a quick reminder of how each keyword functions. For complete rules on a keyword, see the Rules Reference. Aloof: An aloof enemy does not engage investigators of its own accord.
