User Manual

Follow the steps below to prepare for a game of
Arkham Horror.
1
. PREPARE PLAYING AREA
Unfold the board and place it in the center of the play-
ing area. Make sure there is ample space around the
edges of the board to place the investigator sheets and
card decks. Place the various tokens and the dice near
the board, as shown in the setup diagram on page 4.
Make sure to place the terror track marker on the “0”
space on the terror track.
2.
PLACE INITIAL CLUES
Place one Clue token on each location on the board that
has a red diamond above it. These locations are unstable
and represent the places where dimensional gates can
open and monsters can appear. Locations are identified
by circular illustrations overlaying the Arkham portion
of the game board (for example, Silver Twilight Lodge
and Ma’s Boarding House).
3.
CHOOSE FIRST PLAYER
Select one player at random to be the first player. Give
the first player marker to that player.
4.
DETERMINE INVESTIGATORS
The first player shuffles the 16 investigator sheets. Then,
without looking, he randomly deals out one investigator
sheet in front of each player, including himself.
Alternately, the players may agree to choose their inves-
tigators, starting with the first player and continuing
clockwise until every player has selected an investigator.
5.
REVEAL ANCIENT ONE
The first player shuffles the eight Ancient One sheets.
Then, without looking, he selects one at random and
places it face up near the board. This is the Ancient One
that is threatening Arkham for this game. If the Ancient
One’s ability lists any actions that take place at the start
of the game, such as Nyarlathotep’s “Thousand Masks”
ability, they are resolved now.
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.)
6.
SEPARATE DECKS
Separate the various investigator and Ancient One cards
into their respective decks and place them near the board
as shown in the setup diagram.
7.
RECEIVE FIXED POSSESSIONS
On each investigator sheet, certain items may be listed as
fixed possessions. Each player, beginning with the first
player and continuing clockwise, now receives the items
listed on his investigator sheet in the “Fixed Possessions”
area. The first player should locate the appropriate cards
in the investigator decks and pass them out to the play-
ers, as noted on their investigator sheets.
8.
SHUFFLE INVESTIGATOR DECKS
The players shuffle the Common Item, Unique Item,
Spell, and Skill decks, then return them face down to their
places next to the board. Whenever players draw cards,
they draw them randomly from the tops of these decks.
9.
RECEIVE RANDOM POSSESSIONS
Each investigator sheet may indicate that the investiga-
tor receives one or more random possessions. Each play-
er, beginning with the first player and continuing clock-
wise, draws the indicated number of cards from the
appropriate decks, as listed on his investigator sheet in
the “Random Possessions” area.
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.
10.
FINISH INVESTIGATOR SETUP
Each player now receives a number of Sanity tokens
equal to his investigator’s Sanity value and a number of
Stamina tokens equal to his investigator’s Stamina
value. These values are listed on each investigator sheet.
Each player should place these tokens near the appropri-
ate area on his sheet.
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.
11.
CREATE MONSTER CUP
Place the monster markers in an opaque container and
randomize them. A coffee cup, plastic container, or cloth
bag works well for this purpose. Throughout these rules,
we’ll refer to this container as the monster cup. When a
monster appears or otherwise enters play, the first player
draws a monster marker randomly from the monster cup
and places it on the game board as instructed in these
rules or in the text of a specific card.
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.
12.
SHUFFLE ANCIENT ONE
DECKS AND GATE MARKERS
The players now shuffle the Gate and Mythos decks, and
then return them to their places next to the board. Next,
they shuffle the 16 Gate markers and place them face
down in a stack next to the board.
13.
PLACE INVESTIGATOR
MARKERS
Each player now takes the investigator marker depicting
his investigator and places the marker on the game
board location indicated on his investigator sheet in the
“Home” area. The other investigator sheets and markers,
as well as the unused Ancient One sheets, may now be
removed from the game.
14.
DRAW AND RESOLVE
MYTHOS CARD
Finally, the first player draws the top card of the mythos
deck and resolves it as described in the Mythos Phase
section of the rules. If a Rumor is drawn, discard it and
draw again until you draw a mythos card that isn’t a
Rumor. The mythos card will indicate an unstable loca-
tion where a gate and monster appear. Remember, unsta-
ble locations are identified by red diamonds on the game
board. For more information on resolving the Mythos
Phase, see page 9.
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.
The Game Turn
Game Setup
5