Arkham

Horror: Third Edition

Game End and Winning: AH3e is a co-operative game where the players together either win or lose against the game. The
particular scenario chosen, and the events of that unfold during the game will identify the particular win and lose
conditions.

Setup:

1. As a group Choose the Scenario you would like to play (Approach of Azathoth, Feast for Umordhoth, Veil of
Twilight, or Echoes of the Deep). Place that Scenario Sheet in the play area (return the rest to the box).
2. Take the 5 Neighbourhood Tiles, and the 7 Streets Tiles, and connect them up as exactly as depicted on the
Scenario Sheet. These tiles are now know as the Game Board.
a. Some neighbourhoods appear more than once across the double-sided Neighbourhood Tiles. Make sure to
use the correct version of the neighbourhood (identified by the symbol following its name) for your setup.
b. The Streets Tiles have types (residential, bridge or scenic). Make sure to use the correct type in each case.
c. Return any unused Neighbourhood or Streets Tiles to the box.
3. Take the deck of 72 Encounter Cards. These are divided into sets of 8 cards (numbere 1/8 to 8/8), and each set
has backs corresponding to either the Streets or to the 8 Neighbourhoods (Northside, Downtown, Easttown,
Merchant District, Rivertown, Miskatonic University, Uptown and Southside). From this deck take out each set
corresponding to a Neighbourhood in the chosen Scenario. Return any unused sets to the box. Shuffle each set
individually, and set each set face down to one side of the play area.
a. Some Event Cards have identical backs to the Encounter Cards (but have the magnifier on the front face,
and no “card x/8 at the bottom, so you can separate them out). Its imperative that you don’t accidentally
put Event Cards into the Encounter Decks unless prompted to do so by the game),
4. Take the 96 Event Cards (with a magnifier on the top L of the face, and “Event Encounter xxxxx” in the bottom left
corner of the face. Separate out the 24 Event Cards corresponding to the chosen Scenario, and return the 72
unused Event Cards to the box. Shuffle the 24 Cards you retained, and place them face down in the Event Deck
Holder.
5. Take the 62 double-sided Monster Cards, and from them gather the Monster Cards listed on the Scenario Sheet
to form the Monster Deck, returning all unused Monster Cards to the box. Place Monster Cards that begin on the
Game Board in their starting locations. Take the remaining Monsters and shuffle them, placing the deck Ready
side up (black side up) to one side of the play area.
a. The Scenario Sheet will specify how many copies of a particular Monster Card to include.
b. The Scenario Sheet may instead specify card types, rather than Monster names (e.g. All Hounds of
Tinadlos), in which case, you may also need to check the keywords at the top of each Monster Card to see
which apply.
6. Take an opaque container (such as a dice bag or mug – one is not supplied in the box): this will be your Mythos
Cup. Gather the 18 Mythos Tokens and from these, put the tokens specified by the Scenario Sheet into the cup.
Return any spares to the box.
7. Take the 32 Headline Cards and deal 13 face down to form a deck. Return the remaining 19 Cards to the box.
8. Take remaining mini cards, and separate out the 12 Ally Cards (blue), 10 Spell Cards (purple), 28 Item Cards
(green), and shuffle each deck and place them face down to one side of the play area. Deal a window of five face up
Item Cards. Put the 26 Special Cards (orange), and the 12 Condition cards (blessed/cursed), sorted into order,
to one side of the play area. A player may not look at the back of a Condition Card they have until the game says so.
9. Put the 42 Damage Tokens (hearts), 42 Horror Tokens (brains), 30 Focus Tokens (+1s), 24 Remnant Tokens,
and 48 Clue/Doom tokens into pools next to the play area.
10. Put the 40 Archive Cards (each Archive Card has a ringed number on the top left of its face, numbering from 1 to
40) in a deck (retaining the numbered order) to one side of the play area.
11. Each player chooses one of the 12 Investigators, and takes their Investigator Sheet and Investigator Token
(putting it on a stand). Players agree one Investigator who acts as the Leader, and give him the Flashlight token.
Each player is now referred to as an Investigator.
12. Each Investigator receives their Starting Possessions, as specified by the back of their Investigator Sheet. Where
a player has a choice of items, they can review all choices before making a decision. Return any unused Investigator
Sheets, Tokens and Starting Possessions to the box.
13. Place all Investigator Tokens on the Starting Space specified on the Scenario Sheet.
14. Perform any further Final Preparations as specified on the Scenario Sheet. These may include:
 a.Spawning Starting Clues: 3 Starting Clues will be placed on the board. For each clue, draw a card from
the front of the Event Deck (keeping it face down, so only the Neighbourhood is visible). Put a Clue Token
in the Neighbourhood that corresponds to the card. Then, draw the top two cards from the corresponding
Encounter Deck, and shuffle the Event Card into those cards, and place all three cards back on the top of
that Encounter Deck. Repeat this process until you have spawned all three starting clues.
15. Place Starting Doom: Check which spaces are identified as starting with Doom on the Scenario Sheet, and place
one Doom Token on each space indicated.
16. Spread Doom Once: Draw and reveal the back card of the Event Deck and discard it face up next to the Event
Deck. Place one Doom token on each space that has the Doom Icon next to its name.
17. Final Scenario Setup: Resolve any steps identified in the “Finalise Setup” box on the Scenario Sheet. Typical steps
could involve:
a. Putting cards from the Archive into play. Live Archive Cards are known as “The Codex”
b. Preparing the Anomaly Deck by taking the specified cards from the Anomaly Deck, and shuffling them to
form a face down deck. Return the remaining Anomaly Cards to the box.
c. Now read out loud the Anomaly Cards to all players, in numerical order, only flipping cards if told to.

Course of a Round

AH:3e is played in a series of Rounds. Each Round consists of the following four steps:

1. Action Phase – Each Investigator takes two actions from those available to them. Investigators Engaged with a
Monster have a more restricted selection of actions (Attack, Evade or Focus).
2. Monster Phase – Monsters activate, then attack investigators they are engaged with, or ready, if exhausted.
3. Encounter Phase – Unengaged investigators take turns to resolve an Encounter Card associated with their space.
4. Mythos Phase – Each investigator draws 2 Mythos Tokens from the Mythos Cup, and resolves their effects.

After Mythos Phase, play continues to the next round.

Winning: The conditions for winning will not be known at the start of the game. The Investigators will have some initial
objectives from the Codex or Scenario, and pursuing these will leave to the winning condition being revealed later in the
game. Usually Encountering, collecting and Researching clues is a good start.

Losing: The conditions for losing the game will not always be known from the start of the game. Typically, there will be a
card in the Codex that is advanced by Doom being placed on itself (and a game mechanism that causes this to happen).
This means that players will want to Ward Doom that is on the board to prevent this happening when the Codex advances.

Clues and Doom on the Scenario Card: Clues and Doom placed on the Scenario Card are never removed or transferred
unless a game effect specifically allows it. In particular, Doom is not removed if the Codex is advanced (unlike in the LCG).

Core Concepts

Skill Tests: Skill Tests represent a challenge an investigator faces. Each Investigator has five Skill Types (Lore (purple),
Influence (orange), Observation (green), Strength (red), and Willpower (blue)). When the game prompts a player to make
a Skill Test, it could either be as the result of choosing an Action (e.g. Ward), or as part of an Encounter. The Investigator in
question:

• Establish Value: Checks their Investigator Sheet to determine their Value in that skill (e.g. 3).
• Modifies Value: The value is then modified by any modifiers (which could be as the result of using an item for
that test, or printed on a Monster they face, or specified by a card). Apply all modifiers to the Value. Remember
that there is a 2-Hand limit (see later definition) to the items that can be contributed to a Skill Test.
• Rolls Dice equal to the Modified Value: Then the player rolls dice equal to the modified value.
• Checks for Successes: Each 5 or 6 rolled is a Success,
• Establishes the Outcome: if an Investigator rolls at least one Success, he passes the test. If he rolls no
Successes, he Fails the test. The number of Successes rolled is referred to as the Test Result (and may provide
additional effects depending on the card that specified the test). After Succeeding or Failing the test, read the
relevant card text for the outcome. If no effect is listed for the outcome achieved, there is no effect.
o Remember that one Skill Token can be spent to re-roll one die (you may spend as many Skill Tokens as you
wish / are able), and certain Investigator abilities do too.

Damage and Horror

Suffering Damage or Horror: When a game effect would cause an Investigator suffer Damage or Horror, they place that
many Damage or Horror Tokens on their Investigator Sheet from the Pool.
Recovering Health or Sanity: When a player recovers Health or Sanity, their remove that many Damage or Horror
Tokens from their Investigator Sheet and return them to the Pool.

Defeat: If an Investigator has suffered Damage or Horror greater than or equal to their Health or Sanity, respectively, they
are Defeated. When a player is Defeated, they remove their Investigator Card and Token from the game, and discard all
their Tokens and Cards. They select a new Investigator Sheet (from those not already used), and take the Investigator
Token and Starting Possessions (in the same way as game setup). At the end of the Mythos Phase of the current round,
they place their Investigator Token on the Starting Space, and continue to play as normal. If a player with a Defeated
Investigator draws a Headline Card during the Mythos Phase, the resolve the parts they are able to resolve but ignore
damage, horror and anything that spawns in their space, since they area not back on the board yet.

Phase 1: Action Phase

Investigators take turns in an order they agree. On their turn, a Player takes two actions. The two actions must be
different from each other. Note that if an Investigator is engaged with an Enemy, he can only focus, attack or evade.

1. Move: Move your Investigator up to 2 spaces. A player may Spend $1 per additional space of movement up to a
maximum of 2 additional spaces. If an Investigator moves into a space with a Ready Monster, that Monster
Engages them. Take the Monster Card from the board, and place it next to your Investigator Sheet. Its sensible to
place it Exhausted side up, because that’s the side that has the Monster stats on, but remember that the Monster is
Engaged, during Monster Phase). When an Investigator Engages with a Monster, they lose any further
Movement Points. If a player uses the Find Gate or Astral Travel Spells to move, remember they suffer Horror.
2. Gather Resources: Gain $1 from the Pool.
3. Focus: Choose 1 Skill and take a Focus Token for that Skill, and place it on your Investigator Sheet. Your
investigator has a +1 Modifier to that Skill for all Skill Tests of that type.
a. An Investigator cannot have more than one Skill Token per Skill.
b. Each Investigator has a Focus Limit (on their Investigator Sheet, just above the Health). A player cannot
have more Skill Tokens than their Focus Limit.
c. A focus token may be spent during a Skill Tests to re-roll a die (and there is no limit to the number of
Focus Tokens a player can spend to re-roll dice in one test). The Focus Token spent can come from any
Skill, i.e. irrespective of the test type.
4. Ward: Perform a Lore (Book) Test. For each Success remove one Doom Token from your current Space.
Additionally, if you remove two or more Doom in the same Lore Test, also gain 1 Remnant.
a. Uses for Remnants: You may spend 1 Remnant to prevent 1 Sanity Loss as a result of Spell-casting (as many
times as you wish/are able), and you can be exchange Remnants for Money at the Arkham Advertiser or
River Docks.
5. Attack: Choose a Monster in your Space (one that is Engaged with you, one that is Engaged with another player, or
an Exhausted Monster), and you Engage it (transfer the Engagement to you if its Engaged with another player).
An Exhausted Monster will never Engage, but can still be attacked. It remains Exhausted. Test your Strength,
modified by the Monster’s Attack Modifier). For each Success you roll, deal one Damage to that monster.
Add Damage Tokens to the Monster for each point of Damage. The Monster retains this damage from round to
round. When a Monster has Damage equal to or greater than its Health, it is Defeated. Return it to the top of the
Monster Deck. If the Monster yields a Remnant (check for icon), take a Remnant Token.
6. Evade: If you are Engaged with a Monster, as an action, you can resolve an Evade Test modified by the
Monster’s Observation. If you are engaged with multiple Monsters, you resolve the Evade Check against the most
observant Monster (e.g. the Monster that results in your modified dice value being the lowest). For each Success
you roll, Disengage and Exhaust one Monster, returning it to your space. If you manage to Evade all of the
Monsters you are engaged with, you may perform one additional action. This additional action must still obey the
‘no duplicate actions on the same turn’ rule.
a. Massive Monsters: Cannot be exhausted – if you evade a Massive monster, you receive your bonus
action, and then if you did not leave the space, the Massive monster re-Engages you.
7. Research: Resolve an Observation Test. For each success, place one Clue from your Investigator Sheet onto the
Scenario Sheet. Usually this will result in progression towards winning the Scenario.
8. Trade: You and an Investigator in your space may exchange Allies, Items, Spells, Money, and/or Remnants freely
with each other. Health, Sanity, Talents and Conditions cannot be exchanged unless a game effect permits it. An
item that has already been activated once this round, and then traded to another player may not then be activated
by the receiving player again in the same round.
9. Component Actions: Some game components have unique actions described on that component. When a
component action is available, it will be preceded by the keyword: Action.

Delayed: Some game effects could cause an Investigator to become Delayed. If this happens, tip your Investigator Token
over. At the start of your next turn, you stand your investigator up, at the cost of 1 Action, then, take your turn as normal.
Phase 2: Monster Phase

Monsters have three possible states, and they can only be in one of these states at a time. A player may look at the
Exhausted side of a Monster Card at any time.

1. Ready (on the board, black side up) – A Ready Monster is actively seeking Investigators. A Monster on the Game
Board Ready side (black side) up is Ready.
2. Exhausted – A monster can become Exhausted if an Investigator Evades them. A Monster is Exhausted if it is on
the Game Board, Exhausted side up (grey side). Exhausted Monster cannot Move, Attack or Engage Investigators.
3. Engaged – A Monster becomes Engaged with an Investigator if an Investigator enters the space of a Ready
Monster, a Ready Monster moves into an Investigator’s space, or if an Exhausted Monster becomes Ready while in
the same space as an Investigator. Engagement occurs immediately. Each Monster can only be Engaged with one
Investigator, but each Investigator can be Engaged with any number of Monsters. Exceptions:
a. Elusive Monsters: Will not Engage an Investigator even when Ready and sharing a space with an
Investigator. They must be attacked to be Engaged.
b. Massive Monsters: Will Engage all Investigators on their space, and if Exhausted, immediately re-engage.

When a Monster is Spawned during the game, it is Spawned according to its Spawn instructions. It enters play in the
Ready State unless their card or a game instruction says otherwise. If the Monster does not have a Spawn instruction, it is
Spawned by the Scenario, and the Scenario Sheet or Codex will contain the instructions.

The Monster Phase is resolved in three steps:

1. Ready Monsters Activate: Each Ready Monster moves according to its text, which can be one of three types:
a. Hunter – Hunters move towards and Engage an Investigator that best meets their hunter requirements
(e.g. most clues, or least sanity).
b. Patrol – Patrollers move towards a specific Space, e.g. the Unstable Space, or the Space with the most
Doom. They travel via the shortest available route.
c. Lurker – Lurkers do not move. They tend to place Doom onto the board. Note that Doom can never be
placed in a Streets location.

When a Monster moves, it moves up to its speed (shown bottom right on its Ready side), unless the card text says ‘moves
directly’ in which case it teleports to the space or Investigator in question, irrespective of distance. If, during the course of
its movement, a Ready Monster enters a space with any investigator, it stops its movement in that space, and Engages
them (except if it is Elusive), even if the investigator is not the one that best meets its requirements. If the Monster has two
equally valid destinations the same distance from its goal, the Players may decide where it moves.

Prey: The Prey instruction only activates if the Monster has a choice of Investigators in the same space, in which case the
Monster Engages with the Investigator that best meets its Prey requirements.

The Unstable Space refers to the top card in the discard pile of the Event Deck. Of the spaces on that card, the Unstable
Space is the one with the Doom icon. If the Event Deck discard Pile is empty, the Unstable Space is the Starting Space.

2. Engaged Monster Attack: The phase is performed in order from the Leader, going clockwise. Each monster that
is Engaged with that Investigator (i.e. all Monster that were engaged prior to Monster Phase, AND, all Monsters
that just Engaged as a result of being Activated, deal Damage and Horror to the Investigator equal to the amount
indicated right at the bottom of their Exhausted side.
3. Exhausted Monsters Ready: Each Exhausted Monster becomes Ready (flip from grey face to black face). If an
Exhausted Monster Readies in a space with at least one Investigator, it automatically Engages (either following a
Prey instruction, or the Investigators decide).

Phase 3: Encounter Phase

• Each Investigator not Engaged with a Monster has an Encounter relating to their Location. Each Investigator
Engaged with a Monster does not receive an Encounter.
• Investigators resolve their Encounters in an order that they agree.
• Any Investigator that receives an Encounter from a Neighbourhood Space has a Neighbourhood Encounter Card
read to them from the relevant Neighbourhood, using the text that refers to the space of that Neighbourhood they
are in (if that Neighbourhood has a clue in it, the card read out may relate to the clue, since you shuffled it into the
top of that deck).
• Any investigator that receives an Encounter from a Street Space, has a Streets Encounter card read to them, using
the text that refers to their Street Space Type (Residential, Bridge or Scenic).
 • The icons on each Residential Space indicate the likely effect of having an Encounter there (what resources you
might pay, or test type you might take), and what the rewards might be. Typically the effect of an Encounter is to
take a Skill Test – perform this as normal.
• After resolving the Encounter, discard it to the bottom of the relevant Encounter Deck (including Anomalies).
If your Encounter was with the Event (Clue) Card, and you were successful, you receive a clue. If you were
unsuccessful, it is shuffled with the top two cards of the relevant Encounter Deck, and the three cards are placed
back on top of the deck.

Phase 4: Mythos Phase

Beginning with the Leader, and proceeding clockwise, Investigators take turns to draw two Mythos Tokens from the
Mythos Cup. After drawing each token, resolve its effect (see table), and then put the token to one side (not back in the bag,
yet). If a player goes to draw a Mythos Token and the Mythos Cup is empty, place all Mythos Tokens placed to one side
back in the cup, and then draw normally. Some game effects may require tokens to be added to the cup. These tokens are
taken from those returned to the box at setup and placed in the cup.

Token Effect
Spread Doom: Discard the bottom card of the Event Deck. Place one Doom token on the board space
corresponding to the location marked with a Doom icon on the Event card you just discarded.

Spawn Monster: Draw the bottom card of the Monster Deck. Place it on the Game Board in a Ready State
according to its Spawn Text. If a Ready Monster is spawned in a space with an Investigator, it automatically
becomes Engaged with them. If there is a choice of Investigators for it to Engage, it Engages with the one that best
meets its Prey instructions.
Read Headline: Draw and read the top card from the Headline Deck. Any effects are applied to the Investigator
reading the card only (unless the card says otherwise). The card may be added to the Codex (because it has a
Reckoning Effect), or it may be discarded. If you go to draw a Headline Card and the deck is exhausted, you
instead place one Doom on the Scenario Sheet.
Spawn Clue: Draw the top card of the Event Deck without revealing it. Place one Doom on the Neighbourhood
corresponding to that card. Take that card, and the two top cards of the corresponding deck, shuffle them, and
place them back on the top of the Neighbourhood deck.
Gate Burst: Draw the top card of the Event Deck, without revealing it, and place 1 Doom on each space of the
corresponding Neighbourhood, in the order of the player’s choice. Shuffle the card you just drew with the Event
discard pile, and place all these cards on the bottom of the Event Deck. Remember that if there is no Event
discard pile, the unstable space is the starting space. If a Gate Burst causes an Anomaly to appear, the Anomaly is
placed immediately, and any further Doom placed by the Gate Burst is put on the Scenario Sheet.
Reckoning: Check all cards in play for Reckoning icons, and resolve each Reckoning Effect in turn, in an order
of the players’ choosing. Usually there are Reckoning Icons on the Scenario Sheet, but they could also be on
Headline Cards.
Blank: Nothing happens… Or so you think.

Additional Rules

Items, Allies and Spells – When a game effect causes you to gain an Item, Ally or Spell, draw one card from the
appropriate deck. When instructed to gain an Item, instead of drawing a card, you may instead choose to gain one of the
five cards in the Display. Immediately draw another card to replace it. If you are instead instructed to buy an item, you pay
money for an item in the display. If you are instructed to gain a Curio Item, or a Common Item, draw Item cards until you
draw the specified type, gain that card, and then shuffle the other revealed cards into the Item Deck. If you would buy
multiple items, the Display is not replenished until after all purchases. If you are given the opportunity to buy an Item and
you cannot (or choose not to), you may cycle two Items from the Display to the discard, and refresh the Display instead.

Some items may have item usage limits (e.g. once per round) that must be followed. If an item is traded between
Investigators, it cannot be used again in the same round (but fine from the next round onwards).

Hands – When resolving a Test, a player can use any number of cards to modify the value up to two hand icons
total. There is no limit to the number of items an Investigator can carry.

Casting Spells – Casting Spells comes with a cost. To cast a spell, you must first suffer Horror equal to the number of
Horror icons on the Spell. Remnants may be spent on a one-for-one basis to reduce this horror, to a minimum of 0.

Assigning Damage and Horror – Some Cards (mainly allies) have Health and Sanity values. When you suffer Damage or
Horror, you may instead assign it to one card of this type in your possession (you cannot divided it between multiple
cards). You cannot assign Damage or Horror where your card does not Health or Sanity, respectively. When the Damage on
a card equals or exceeds its health, or the Horror equals or exceeds its sanity, the card is discarded. Any game effect
causing Direct Damage or Horror is dealt to the Investigator, and cannot be allocated to other cards.

Anomaly Rules - Anomalies are not in all scenarios, but they are in Scenario 1 (Approach of Azathoth). The Codex card #2
summarises their effects. In brief, the Anomaly rules are:

• Triggering and Placing Anomalies: When any one space has three Doom tokens, or any Neighbourhood Tile has
five Doom tokens, place an Anomaly Token in the middle of that Neighbourhood.
• Placing Doom in Neighbourhoods with Anomalies: When a Doom Token would be placed in a Neighbourhood
with an Anomaly, that Doom is instead placed on the Scenario Sheet instead.
• Removing Anomalies: When all Doom tokens have been removed from a Neighbourhood with an Anomaly, the
Anomaly Token is removed. This can be achieved by the Ward Action, and by having Anomaly Encounters.
• Anomaly Encounters: If a player is in a Neighbourhood with an Anomaly during the Encounter Phase, if they are
entitled to have an Encounter, they must have an Anomaly Encounter instead of a Neighbourhood one.