User Manual

USING WEAPONS AND SPELLS IN
COMBAT
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.
SANITY AND STAMINA
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.
DELAYED INVESTIGATORS
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.
ARRESTED INVESTIGATORS
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.
Investigator Status
Casting Spells
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