User Manual

During the Upkeep Phase, each player takes the follow-
ing actions, in order.
1. Refresh Exhausted Cards
Some cards exhaust themselves when used, which
means that they are turned face down for the remainder
of the turn. At the start of the Upkeep Phase, each player
refreshes those cards by turning them face up. Simply
remember that you can use face-up cards and that you
cannot use face-down cards until you turn them face up
again during the next Upkeep Phase.
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.
2. Perform Upkeep Actions
After refreshing his exhausted cards, each player must
review his investigator’s cards to see if any of them
have an Upkeep action. Each player must perform all
Upkeep actions listed on his investigator’s cards every
turn. Upkeep actions may be taken in any order the play-
er wishes. Bless, Curse, Bank Loan, and Retainer cards
do not require an upkeep roll during the first Upkeep
Phase after an investigator acquires them.
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.
3. Adjust Skills
Finally, each player may adjust his investigator’s skills
using the three skill sliders he placed on his investigator
sheet during game setup. This process, as well as a gen-
eral description of how skill sliders work, is explained in
the “Adjusting Skills” diagram.
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 movement
or
Other Worlds movement
The two types of investigator movement are described
below.
Arkham Movement
If the player’s investigator is located in Arkham (i.e., his
investigator marker is in the town area of the game
board), he receives movement points equal to his Speed
value, as found on his investigator sheet. A player may
spend one movement point to move his investigator
marker from one board area to another, so long as the
two areas are connected by a yellow line on the game
board. One movement point allows an investigator to
move from a location to a street area, from one street
area to another, or from a street area to a location.
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).
Evading Monsters
Locations and street areas that contain monster markers
may affect an investigator’s movement. Each time an
investigator attempts to leave a location or street area
occupied by one or more monster markers, the investiga-
tor must either fight or evade each of the monsters there
(see “Evading Monsters” and “Combat” on pages 14 for
more information). Likewise, if an investigator ends
his
Phase II: Movement
Phase I: Upkeep
6
ADJUSTING SKILLS
During Upkeep, you may adjust your charac-
ter’s skills in order to react to the investiga-
tor’s situation. Focus represents your charac-
ter’s ability to split his attention between the
different tasks at hand. It determines the total
number of “stops” you may adjust your skills
each turn.
Example 1: Above, Amanda has a focus of 3.
This allows her to move her skill sliders a
total of 3 stops each turn. This turn, she
chooses to move her Speed/Sneak slider to the
right by 2 stops. Then, having 1 point of focus
remaining, she moves her Lore/Luck slider 1
stop to the left.
Example 2: This turn, Amanda decides to use
all of her focus to move her Fight/Will slider
3 stops to the right. She has no focus left to
move any of her other skill sliders, so they
remain where they were last turn.
Be careful how you adjust your skills, particu-
larly if your character’s focus is low. If you
make your skills too one-sided, you can be
caught off-guard at a crucial moment without
the ability to react.