Learn to Play Welcome to Arkham! 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 thresholds between worlds. Occult rituals must be stopped and alien creatures destroyed 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 board game of pulp action and horror for one to six players, playable in two to three 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. Game Overview Terrible creatures from beyond time and space threaten the city of Arkham. The players must join forces to beat back the approaching doom. If left unchecked, Sidebars these ancient evils will rise up and destroy not only Arkham, but the entire world. Sidebars like this one appear throughout Arkham Horror is a cooperative game. All players are on the same team and win this booklet to provide context for or lose the game together. Each player controls an intrepid investigator—one of rules, visual diagrams, strategy tips, or the unlikely few who have become aware of the growing threat to our world. The additional narrative. investigators explore the city, encountering places, people, and creatures both mundane and supernatural. Through these adventures, the investigators hope to gain the clues and resources needed to confront and ultimately thwart the Ancient Ones. Learning How to Play This Learn to Play booklet is designed to teach new players how to play Arkham Horror. To make your first game easier, this booklet omits some of the more complex rules and game interactions. The Rules Reference contains the complete rules of the game and addresses all exceptions that are not addressed here. Questions that arise during play are best answered by the Rules Reference. 2 Components APPROACH OF AZATHOTH DANIELA REYES THE MECHANIC The Story So Far... At the center of infinity slumbers Love For the Job—After you perform a gather resources action, you may focus Azathoth, lulled to sleep by the ceaseless one skill of your choice. piping of accursed flutes. Yet some “You got a job that needs doing, mortals would seek to draw the infinite I’m your girl.” power and calamity of the Blind Idiot God to them, and thereby doom all of humanity… Focus Limit: 3 Starting Space Train Station 7 5 Reckoning 3 Lore For each cultist monster, place one doom in its space. (If it’s in 3 Influence a street space, place the doom in an adjacent neighborhood space Observation instead.) 1 3 Strength 3 Will Rules Reference 12 Map Tiles 4 Scenario Sheets 12 Investigator Sheets Rules Reference 5 Neighborhoods With matching token and plastic stand 7 Streets 1. ACTION PHASE 1 OUTBREAK You perform up to two actions. (You can perform each action no more than once per round. While Windows are shut, curtains drawn, doors engaged with a monster, you can only focus, locked. Citizens hurry through the streets attack, or evade.) casting glances over their shoulders. A sinister unease gathers in the city, lurking on the 2. MONSTER PHASE rooftops and pooling in every shadow. As dread mounts, people and animals react in 1. Each ready monster activates, usually by unpredictable ways, fleeing or lashing out moving. (A monster that moves into your at those around them. And with each new space engages you.) outbreak of fear and violence, the Ancient One 2. Each engaged monster deals damage and grows stronger... horror to the investigator it is engaged with. 3. Each exhausted monster readies. If a space has four or more doom, 3. ENCOUNTER PHASE remove three doom from that space. Then place one doom in each other You draw and resolve an encounter matching your space in that neighborhood and one space (unless you are engaged with a monster). doom on the scenario sheet. 4. MYTHOS PHASE You draw two tokens from the mythos cup and resolve their effects one at a time. (All investigators do this in player order.) NorthsideDowntown NorthsideDowntown The Streets The Streets 1 6 Reference Cards 32 Headline Cards 40 Archive Cards 36 Anomaly Cards 96 Event Cards 72 Encounter Cards Event and encounter cards have the same backs. Don’t sort until setup. CursedBlessed HoodedRobed Stalker Figure Dark Pact Monster — Human Cultist ConditionCondition SwiftMonster Byakhee — Human Cultist Condition Monster — Byakhee While resolving a test, 4s, 5s, While resolving a test, only 6s and 6s—Roll count one as successes.die. Reckoningcount as successes. 3 After you fail a test, 2 On a After1, your you debt pass has a test, come Spawn at unstable space. 2 due; flipdiscard this card. this (This card. die Spawn at most doom. If youdiscard would becomethis card. cursed, PatrolSpawn at most doom. roll is not a test.) —Move toward unstable Daniela Reyes If youdiscard would this become card instead. blessed, Hunterspace. —MoveEngage—Move highest toward toward . and and discard this card instead. Hunterengage lowest . (Do not look at the back of this card engage lowest . The Mechanic until you are instructed to do so.) 12 Ally Cards 28 Item Cards 10 Spell Cards 26 Special Cards 37 Starting Cards 12 Condition Cards 62 Monster Cards 48 Clue/Doom 42 Damage Tokens 42 Horror Tokens 40 Money Tokens Tokens 36 “1 damage” 36 “1 horror” 31 “1 dollar” 6 “3 damage” 6 “3 horror” 6 “5 dollar” 5 Anomaly 30 Focus Tokens 6 Dice 24 Remnant Tokens 6 for each skill Tokens Event Deck Holder Assemble as shown 18 Mythos Tokens 10 Marker Tokens 6 Activation Tokens Setup To set up the game, follow these steps in order: APPRO ACH OF AZATHOTH The Story So Far... At the center of infinity slumbers 1. Choose Scenario Azathoth, lulled to sleep by the ceaseless piping of accursed flutes. Yet some APPROACH OF AZATHOTH MmortalsAP KEY would seek to draw the infinite power and calamity of the Blind Idiot As a group, choose one of the available scenario sheets. For your first game, we DOOMGod TOKEN to them, and thereby doom all of Monster Deck ROBEDhumanity… FIGURE Abyssal servant, eyeless watcher, high recommend “Approach of Azathoth.” Place that sheet in the play area. Return all OWN priest, hooded stalker x2, occult TT AS ritualist x2, robed figure x3, swift E Train Station Starting Space byakhee, and all hound of Tindalos other scenario sheets to the game box. monsters OWN Reckoning Mythos Cup IVERT R , , , , , , , , , For each cultist monster, place , , and three blanks one doom in its space. (If it’s in 2. Prepare Board and Encounters a street space, place the doom in Finalize Setup an adjacent neighborhood space OWN Add cards 2 and 3 to the codex. instead.) T OWN D Arrange the neighborhood and street tiles as shown on the back of the scenario sheet. Create the anomaly deck using the “Temporal Fissure” cards. T Each street tile has an icon indicating its type. Use tiles with the indicated icons. T CHAN TRIC IS ER D M Shuffle the encounter cards separately to create the encounter decks. Use only the ORTHSIDE N steet cards and the neighborhood cards that correspond to the neighborhoods used in the current scenario—for “Approach of Azathoth,” use Downtown, Merchant District, Scenario Sheet Northside, and Rivertown. There are exactly eight cards in each of these decks. Be careful not to accidentally include any event cards (seeEasttown, step three). Return all other neighborhood cards to the game box. The Streets TheThe Streets Streets Northside NorthsideNorthside Downtown DowntownDowntown EasttownEasttown Easttown Merchant District MerchantMerchant District District The Streets Deck Rivertown RivertownRivertown 4 Neighborhood Decks 3. Prepare Event Deck Hibb’s Roadhouse Each scenario has a unique deck of event cards that correspond to the five The liquor and conversation in the roadhouse work wonders for your weary mind. You or an ally recovers two sanity. You hear a distinct clacking neighborhoods in that scenario. Event cards are kept in a single deck despite not sound and look around for the source (). If you pass, you see a figure with cloven hooves slip out the sharing the same card back. door; you gain one clue from your neighborhood. There is an identifying label along the bottom-left of each event card that indicates Police Station “They’re a strange lot,” says Sheriff Engle. “We which scenario that card belongs to (see sidebar). Take the 24 event cards for the rounded ‘em up by the river.” You interrogate the robed figures in the holding cell (). If you pass, they won’t talk, but you notice a symbol on their “Approach of Azathoth” scenario, shuffle them, and place them facedown in the robes, a swirling ribbon threaded through a circle; event deck holder. you gain one clue from your neighborhood. Velma’s Diner Return the event cards for the other scenarios to the game box. “Slice of pie, hon?” offers Velma. You or an ally recovers two health. Velma returns a moment later. “Slice of pie, hon?” You may spend $1 to order another. If you do, the event repeats in a loop until you leave; you or an ally recovers two health and you gain one clue from your neighborhood.