CTHULHU WARS
Frequently Asked Questions
Core Game Rules
Q. How much Power does Crawling Chaos get for Killing or Paining Cthulhu?
A. He receives 2 Power, since that is now half the cost of Awakening Cthulhu (since, obviously, he has already been Awakened once). Of course, he could instead just take 2 Elder Signs. That’s what I would do, anyway.
Q. Yellow Sign’s Undead and Byakhee have Combat values that change depending on how many are present in the Area. If an Undead or Byakhee is exempted via Invisibility, does it affect the Combat of the remaining Units?
A. An Invisible Unit does not count as being “present” in the Area for this purpose. If you have two Undead in an Area and one is turned Invisible, the remaining Undead rolls 0 dice, not 1. The intent is that Invisibility is supposed to be useful.
Q. Regarding Crawling Chaos’s Madness Spellbook, must he obey normal restrictions on retreating Units (i.e., not into an area containing Units of the Faction just battled)?
A. Yes, he must obey normal retreat rules. He also does not get to choose WHICH Units retreat, only their destination. Also note that with Madness, Crawling Chaos can retreat players in either order. That is, he may retreat the Defender first.
Q. Black Goat has a Spellbook requirement, “Share Areas with all enemies.” Do the enemies all have to be in a single Area with your Unit(s)?
A. No. For example, in a three-player game versus Cthulhu and Yellow Sign, if you have a Unit in an Area with Cthulhu’s Units and also have a Unit in an Area with a Yellow Sign Unit, this requirement is immediately fulfilled. Note that this requirement can be met during an enemy’s turn.
Q. When Crawling Chaos’s Thousand Forms or Black Goat’s Ghroth abilities are used, can a player insist on taking part of the loss, even if the other players don’t want him to? What if a player has no Power or no Cultists—can he “disagree” with the division?
A. In the first case, this would count as a disagreement which needs to be resolved. In the second, if a player refuses to or cannot contribute to the effect, he does not participate in further negotiations and his agreement is immaterial.
Q. If a Ghoul is already in the target Area but is not participating in the Battle (due to Invisibility), can it stay there and use Necrophagy?
A. Yes! An Invisible Ghoul is “not involved” and thus could react via Necrophagy!
Q. Since Nyarlathotep cannot be Eliminated due to being surrounded (when he has Emissary of the Outer Gods and is not Battling an enemy Great Old One), can he still “soak up” that Elimination to protect his other Units?
A. Yes!
Q. If Black Goat is in a Battle and uses Necrophagy, can the Ghoul that was sent to the Battle also take the Pain that it added?
A. No, the newly-called Ghoul cannot be chosen to take the extra Pain.
Q. When Yellow Sign takes the Screaming Dead or He Who is Not to be Named Action, does he have to pay the normal Power cost for his second, subsequent Action?
A. Yes! For instance, if he moved using Screaming Dead and then immediately attempted a Desecration, this would cost him a total of 3 Power (or 2 Power, if Third Eye was in effect).
Q. What happens when Crawling Chaos uses Thousand Forms and the number rolled is higher than the sum of all other players’ power?
A. Crawling Chaos gets Power equal to the die roll.
Q. If I fail a Ghroth roll, is the free Acolyte (of any Faction) an optional placement?
A. No. Abilities themselves are always optional (unless stated otherwise on their text), but if you choose to use an Ability, you must then do what it says—once you choose to use Ghroth, you cannot simply decide to avoid with the consequences! You knew what you were getting into when you joined with Black Goat’s cult! Basically, a failed Ghroth is still intended to be a good thing; Black Goat usually has Acolytes in its Pool, but if not, this can be used to place an enemy Acolyte into an Area with your Monsters so that you can Capture it! Or, you might help a potential ally, perhaps even requesting that they do something for you on their turn in return for your giving them a free Acolyte.
Q. Similar to the question above, but what if I want to use Ghroth, but there are NO Acolytes remaining to be placed in any Faction’s pool (in case of a failed roll)?
A. If you fail, then nothing happens! This is not similar to abilities such as Zingaya, which prevents from using the ability if there are no Undead in your Pool with which to replace the enemy Acolyte. With Ghroth, chance is involved - you could Eliminate enemy Cultists (which is the main purpose of Ghroth). To be clear, because you cannot normally choose to fulfill only part of an ability, Ghroth’s free Acolyte is a compensation you cannot refuse. But, having no Cultists to place does not prevent you from attempting a Ghroth roll.
Additional Factions
The Ancients
Q. If there is more than one enemy Great Old One in a Battle against me and I invoke Unholy Ground, can I remove two Cathedrals to kill two Great Old Ones?
A. Yes.
Q. Can Rhan-Tegoth avoid Unholy Ground’s Kill by spending 1 Power as per his Eternal Ability?
A. No, because Unholy Ground produces an Elimination, not a Kill.
Q. Can I use Unholy Ground to Eliminate Azathoth or the Watcher of the Green Pyramid?
A. No. Unlike other Units, the Watcher just loses 1 from his strength when he is “Eliminated”, and Azathoth loses 1 die from his Combat.
Q. If I remove Cathedrals via Unholy Ground, where can I rebuild them?
A. When replacing a removed Cathedral, you must obey Cathedral placement rules. For example, if you removed a Cathedral from a particular Yellow Sign Glyph’s Area, and all your other Cathedrals were in play, you could only rebuild it in an Area with that same Yellow Sign Glyph.
Q. If I have Reanimated in an Area by themselves, can I use them to take actions besides Move, Capture, or Battle?
A. Yes, if such Actions are available to you.
Q. Do Reanimated need to be accompanied by another Unit to Move?
A. No. They simply need to start their Move in an Area with another friendly (non-Reanimated) Unit.
Opener of the Way
Q. How does Key and the Gate Work?
A. Opener gets 2 Power for Yog-Sothoth during the Gather Power Phase. He also gets 1 Doom for having Yog- Sothoth on the Map during the Doom Phase. If he performs a Ritual of Annihilation, he gets 1 point for Yog-Sothoth as a Gate (plus an Elder Sign for Yog-Sothoth as a Great Old One).
As a Gate, Yog-Sothoth can always Summon Monsters into his Area. Unlike other Gates, he can coexist with a normal Gate, and he is never considered to be Abandoned. Cultists do not Control him, nor can they ride him. He cannot be Moved with The Beyond One as if he were a Gate.
Q. Does Yog-Sothoth provide Power to Cthulhu via Y’ha Nthlei if he is in an Ocean?
A. Yes, because Yog-Sothoth is an Enemy-controlled Gate in the Ocean!
Q. If Yog-Sothoth is in the Area where Ithaqua is Awakened, do you have to replace Yog-Sothoth (as the Gate) with Ithaqua?
A. If Yog-Sothoth is the ONLY Gate in the Area, then yes. If there is another available Gate, then you must replace THAT Gate with Ithaqua instead.
Q. Can I use Beyond-One to teleport a Gate to an Area containing Yog-Sothoth, since he is also a Gate?
A. Despite this fact, yes, you can Beyond-One to Yog-Sothoth’s Area.
Q. Do enemy Great Old Ones still cancel Beyond-One if the Gate in question is not Controlled by their Faction? And do enemy Independent Great Old Ones still cancel it, too?
A. Yes, to both.
Q. If an Opener of the Way Unit in an Area is turned Invisible by a Flying Polyp, does it count as “participating in a Battle” for the purpose of getting promoted by Million Favored Ones?
A. No. The Invisibility Spellbook states that the Unit “takes no part in the rest of the Battle.” This includes all Post- Battle abilities and effects.
Q. If I have a Mutant and an Abomination eligible to promote via Million Favored Ones, but I do not have an Abomination figure in my Pool, can I first promote the Abomination, then the Mutant (now that an Abomination figure has returned to the Pool)?
A. Yes. You can cycle Units through your Pool in this way to promote them.
Q. If I promote a Spawn of Yog-Sothoth into 2 or more Mutants via Million Favored Ones, and that Spawn was Pained in the Battle, are all of his Mutant “progeny” Pained?
A. Million Favored Ones happens after all the Pains and Kills are applied, so the Spawn first retreats into a neighboring Area and THEN shatters into multiple Mutants. This also means that if a Spawn is Eliminated by a Pain result because it was surrounded by its opponent, you do not receive the Mutants.
Q. If Windwalker’s Howl is used to retreat one of Opener’s Monsters, can it still promote via Million Favored Ones?
A. No, they do not participate in the rest of the Battle and so cannot use their abilities.
Q. How do Battle abilities interact with Dread Curse of Azathoth?
A. Dread Curse is not considered a Battle, despite the fact that Combat dice are rolled. It cannot be combined with Channel Power or any other Pre-Battle, Battle, or Post-Battle effects (such as Regeneration, Necrophagy, or even Madness).
Q. Who selects the targets of Dread Curse of Azathoth?
A. The victim selects the targets; you just choose which results apply to which Faction. Thus, if you rolled a Kill and two Pains, you could apply the Kill and a Pain to one Faction, and the remaining Pain to another.
Q. Regarding Dread Curse of Azathoth, to where do Pained Units retreat?
A. After the victim selects which Units are Pained, Opener of the Way selects which adjacent Area to which each Unit retreats. He can include Areas that contain Opener of the Way Units (these Units cannot be Eliminated by being surrounded).
Q. Can the Dread Curse of Azathoth be used to attack Units that are not Controlled by any Faction, such the Dreamlands Surface Map’s Zoogs, or Abhoth’s Filth tokens after Abhoth has been Killed?
A. No, because that Spellbook requires you to apply the Combat results to particular Factions. In the case of Abhoth, once he is back in play the Filth tokens may be targeted, but as the Zoogs are never under the Control of a particular Faction they can never be targeted.
Q. Can I use Channel Power more than once in the same Battle?
A. Yes. You can keep re-rolling misses (rolls of one, two or three), paying one Power per re-roll, until you run out of Power or all the dice score results.
Q. Can I use Dragon Ascending even if I am out of Power?
A. Yes, because it is not an Action—it is simply an effect that you can apply at any time.
Q. If I use Dragon Ascending during the Gather Power Phase, who becomes the First Player?
A. You and another player will be tied for most Power, so the previous First Player will make that decision.
Q. To Awaken an Independent Great Old One, you need a Controlled Gate and your own Great Old One. Does Yog-Sothoth, by himself, fulfill both these requirements?
A. No, because Yog-Sothoth is not technically a Controlled Gate.
Q. Chaugnar Faugn’s Miri Nigri ability gives Gates 3 Combat dice. Does this apply to Yog-Sothoth?
A. Yes! For example, if there are 4 Enemy Faction Great Old Ones on the Map and Opener Controlled Chaugnar Faugn, then Yog-Sothoth’s Combat would be 11 (8 + 3). However, if Opener also Controlled a normal Gate in the same Area as Yog-Sothoth, you would still only add 3, and not 6, to your Combat in that Area. The ability reads “in an Area,” which means that you get the Combat bonus once per Area rather than once per Gate.
Q. If Sleeper uses Cursed Slumber to remove a Gate from the Map, does that lower the count towards Opener’s two Spellbooks requiring 8 or 12 Gates to exist on the Map, respectively?
A. Yes, it lowers the count. A Gate on Sleeper’s Faction Card is not on the Map.
Q. Can Sleeper use Cursed Slumber to place a Gate from his Faction Card onto the Area containing Yog-Sothoth, but lacking a normal Gate?
A. Yes.
Sleeper
Q. If I have Energy Nexus and 0 Power, can I still do an Action that Costs 0 (or Hibernating, via Ancient Sorcery)?
A. Yes! Using Energy Nexus does not require it to be your turn, so the rule that your turn is skipped when at 0 Power (or Hibernating) doesn’t apply
Q. If my Serpent Man returns to the Map during the Doom Phase (Ancient Sorcery) to an Area with Windwalker’s Ice Age token, do I pay 1 Power?
A. No, because returning the Serpent Man is not an Action; it occurs during the Doom Phase.
Q. How does Demand Sacrifice interact with the Leng Spider’s Bloodthirst?
A. Any Pains converted into Kills become single Pains. I recommend against using Bloodthirst!
Q. Can I use Lethargy forever, thus preventing the game from ending?
A. We recommend defenestration as the quickest way of managing such a player. More seriously, Sleeper cannot use Lethargy if no one else is active; just go ahead and finish out the Action Phase.
Q. How does Ancient Sorcery affect Great Cthulhu or Yellow Sign?
A. Ancient Sorcery doesn’t affect the targeted Faction at all. However, I think what you mean is, “how does Sleeper benefit from using Ancient Sorcery on Great Cthulhu or Yellow Sign?” The answer in the first case is that a unique ability that names a specific Great Old One allows Sleeper to apply that ability to Tsathoggua. Thus, if Ancient Sorcery affects Great Cthulhu, Sleeper can re-Awaken Tsathoggua for 4 Power (and will also earn 1 Elder Sign). With regards to Yellow Sign, during the Gather Power Phase, Sleeper will gain 1 Power for each Area containing one or more of his Units plus a Desecration token (which, admittedly, had to be created by Yellow Sign).
Q. If a Serpent Man uses Ancient Sorcery on Crawling Chaos, thus giving Sleeper the Flight ability, can this be combined with the Burrow Spellbook?
A. Yes. Sleeper’s Units are able to fly while burrowing. Tsathoggua is not from this part of the universe.
Q. What does it mean that an Action must originate in the Battle Area when using Energy Nexus?
A. It means that the Action, if tied to Map Areas, must begin in those Areas. For example, you can only use it to Move OUT of the Area (Burrow would apply), and not into it. You could only use Ancient Sorcery if the Serpent Man comes from that Area. You could Recruit, Summon, Awaken, or Capture a Cultist or Monster in that Area. In a multi-Area situation, such as using Mother Hydra’s Zygote Action, then at least one Recruited Cultist must be placed in that Area. If it is not tied to a Map Area, then you may do it (such as one of Sleeper’s Spellbook requirements that is an Action). You could even do Lethargy if you wanted, but that really wouldn’t make much sense from a strategic standpoint.
Q. Can I do the Battle Action with Energy Nexus?
A. Yes. This results in an immediate Battle with you as the Attacker, which would be followed by the already-declared Battle, between whatever Units remain. You can only do 2 total Battles in a row (i.e., you cannot use Energy Nexus to “chain” Battles together into an infinite loop). However, you could use Energy Nexus to perform a non-Battle Action before the Energy Nexus Battle, which will happen before the Battle that was originally declared.
Q. Can I use Energy Nexus even if the Battle in the Area was not declared against me (or by me)?
Energy Nexus simply requires a Battle to be declared in the same Area as your Wizard. For example, if two other Factions Battled in an Area containing your Wizard, Sleeper could immediately Recruit a Cultist. If all the Units involved in the Battle were Killed and/or Pained, then Sleeper could take Control of an abandoned Gate on his turn without having to use his next turn’s Action to Recruit a Cultist there!
Q. Can I perform Unlimited Actions in addition to my one Action when using Energy Nexus?
A. You may Abandon and/or Control a Gate in addition to your 1 Action, but may not do Unlimited Battle (one regular Battle is okay).
Q. Do Battle abilities still apply if Energy Nexus removes all Units of one side so that a Battle does not really take place? For example, what if a single Monster declares Battle on Sleeper, and Tsathoggua simply uses Energy Nexus to Capture the Monster? Or if Sleeper simply Moves all of his units out of the Area?
A. Although Energy Nexus takes place prior to Pre-Battle, follow the same rule as to what happens when all Units of a side are removed during Pre-Battle. The Battle ends, no dice are rolled, and no abilities (including Pre-Battle!) can be used. The Power is paid to initiate the Battle, but no Battle actually takes place!
Q. Does Demand Sacrifice protect against Eliminations?
A. No, it only protects against Kill results.
Q. Does Tsathoggua have to be personally involved in a Battle to use Demand Sacrifice?
A. No. So long as Tsathoggua is in play, Demand Sacrifice applies to all Battles against Sleeper’s Units.
Q. Can the Opener of the Way use They Break Through to Summon a Monster onto the Cursed Slumber Gate?
A. No. The Gate and Cultist under Cursed Slumber are immune to Enemy abilities.
Q. Can Sleeper choose to Eliminate his Cultist on a Cursed Slumber Gate to satisfy losses inflicted by Ghroth (or any similar ability)?
A. Yes, but he doesn’t have to even if it is the only Cultist he has left (since it is protected from all enemy abilities). If he DOES choose to lose it, the Gate becomes Abandoned and now provides Power to all Factions. It can still later be returned to the Map by Sleeper for 1 Power.
Q. If a Cursed Slumber Gate has a High Priest on it, can that High Priest be sacrificed for Power? If so, what happens to the Gate?
A. Yes. The Gate becomes Abandoned, as described in the previous answer.
Q. If I have acquired the Ghast Neutral Monsters, how and when would I spawn them via Death from Below?
A. Since they cost 2 Power, they are 2-cost Monsters. You will only receive 1 Ghast per spawning, so it is usually preferable to get some other Monster with Death from Below.
Q. If Sleeper uses Cursed Slumber to remove a Gate from the Map, does that change the count towards Opener’s two Spellbooks that require 8 or 12 Gates to exist on the Map, respectively?
A. Yes, it lowers the count. A Gate on Sleeper’s Faction Card is not on the Map.
Q. Can Sleeper use Cursed Slumber to place a Gate from his Faction Card onto the Area containing Yog-Sothoth, but lacking a normal Gate?
A. Yes.
Q. If I Move a single Shantak who brings along a Cultist (using the Horror Steed ability), does Burrow give me a refund of 1 Power?
A. No. Burrow gives you a refund based on spending 2 or more Power during a Move Action, not on Moving 2 or more Units. In this situation, you would have to pay to Move at least one more Unit to benefit from Burrow.
Q. How does Demand Sacrifice interact with the Leng Spiders’ Bloodthirst?
A. Any Pains converted into Kills become single Pains. I recommend against using Bloodthirst!
Tcho-Tcho
Q. How does Soulless interact with Gla’aki’s Green Decay and the Yithian’s Possession abilities?
A. Soulless makes the base reward 0 Power, rather than. Gla’aki’s Green Decay modifies that reward to be an Elder Sign (meaning that it overrides Soulless, by changing its reward from Power to an Elder Sign). The Yithian’s Possession adds to whatever the base reward is (whether 1, 0, or an Elder Sign). Thus, a Yithian who Captured a Soulless Tcho-Tcho still provides at least 1 Power.
Q. What if the Tcho-Tcho has no Controlled Gate when you have the Hierophants Spellbook, and you earn another Spellbook?
A. Place the High Priest anywhere on the Map where you have Units. If you don’t have Units, place it anywhere on the Map. You’re probably going to lose this game.
Q. In an 8 player game, it seems like the Tcho-Tcho are forced to appear in one of Windwalker’s start Areas. Is this really so?
A. Yep.
Q. When performing the Spellbook requirement of “Remove my Controlled Gate in my Start Area,” can I remove Yog-Sothoth?
A. Of course not. He is not your Controlled Gate.
Q. Do I benefit from Martyrdom if my High Priest is Eliminated in Battle (such as by being Abducted or Devoured), but not actually Killed?
A. No. Martyrdom only takes effect if the High Priest is actually Killed.
Q. Give me an example of how Tablets of the Gods works?
A. If the Tcho-Tcho have this Spellbook and perform a Ritual of Annihilation, then they MUST Eliminate all of their High Priests, turning them in for Elder Signs. Their only element of choice in the matter is whether or not they perform the Ritual. They could sacrifice their High Priests for the Power reward, and then do the Ritual.
Q. Can I use Terror to have some of my Proto-Shoggoths reduce enemy combat, while the rest roll 2 dice each?
A. No. All Proto-Shoggoths must “vibrate” in the same way, so if you have 4 in an Area, you can either roll 8 dice, OR roll 4 dice and subtract 4 from the enemy dice total; no Mister In-Between. (and if the enemy’s reduction goes to below 0, he still just rolls 0. No negative Combat ratings!)
Q. If the Tcho-Tcho Recruit a Unique High Priest, are they affected by the various abilities of the Tcho-Tcho regarding High Priests (Hierophants, Martyrdom, Tablets, etc.) and can they be used to awaken Ubbo-Sathla?
A. Yes to all—the Unique High Priest acts as your other two “regular” High Priests in every way, EXCEPT that it cannot use the normal Unspeakable Oath ability. High Priests can only use the abilities on their own Loyalty Cards.
Q: How does Sycophancy interact with Sleeper while using Ancient Sorcery?
A. Because the Tcho-Tcho Sycophancy unique ability applies to the entire Doom Phase, Sleeper can use Ancient Sorcery to gain its benefit throughout that Phase. In such a case, return the Serpent Man to the Map at the very end of the Doom Phase, rather then when it is Sleeper’s turn to perform a Ritual, which is normally when you use abilities in the Doom Phase.
Q. With the Hierophants Spellbook, do the Tcho-Tcho get to place a free High Priest when they earn an Independent Great Old One’s Spellbook, too?
A. No, that is not the intent. It should read “Faction Spellbooks.” Otherwise it would be too gross.
Windwalker
Q. If my Serpent Man returns to the Map during the Doom Phase (Ancient Sorcery) to an Area with Windwalker’s Ice Age token, do I pay 1 Power?
A. No, because returning the Serpent Man is not an Action—it occurs during the Doom Phase.
Q. How does Windwalker’s Hibernate interact with Crawling Chaos’ Thousand Forms?
A. Despite the fact that Windwalker is not an active Faction when Hibernating, he does participate in the negotiations for how much Power is lost, and he may choose to lose Power due to Thousand Forms.
Q. Normally, when a Faction with 0 Power somehow gains new Power, it re-enters the Action Phase sequence. What happens if Windwalker under Hibernation gains Power?
A. You gain the Power, but remain under the effects of Hibernation and may take no Actions. You may only spend Power when given the option via Spellbooks or abilities. For example, Rhan-Tegoth’s Eternal ability can keep him from being Killed or Pained.
Q. Gnoph-Keh cost depends on the number of Gnoph-Kehs in the Pool. Please give a precise breakdown.
A. If no Gnoph-Kehs are on the Map, Summoning one costs 4 Power. With one on the Map (and three in the Pool), the Cost is 3. With two each in the Pool and on the Map, the third will cost 2, and the final Gnoph-Keh will only cost 1. Remember that a Gnoph-Keh Captured by Tsathoggua is not in the Pool, and thus decreases the cost for future Summons!
Q. If I have no Wendigos in my Pool, and one is Killed in Battle, can I immediately re-spawn it via Cannibalism (assuming I’d Killed an Enemy Unit in that same Battle)?
A. Yes. Obnoxious, eh? It also works with Cultists.
Q. If Cannibalism is used in a Battle, immediately followed by Black Goat’s Necrophagy, could the newly placed Acolyte or Wendigo be Pained out?
A. No, because that particular Acolyte or Wendigo did not participate in the Battle.
Q. How does Rhan-Tegoth’s Eternal ability interact with abilities such as Nyarlathotep’s Harbinger or Cthulhu’s Spellbook requirement that must be fulfilled with a Kill?
A. Rhan-Tegoth’s Eternal ability only removes the effect of a Kill or Pain on Rhan-Tegoth itself, not the effect such a result has on other abilities and Spellbooks. In other words, even when Eternal is being used, Nyarlathotep can still gain Power or Elder Signs and Cthulhu can still earn a Spellbook.
Q. If Cthugha rolls a Kill on Rhan-Tegoth, but the latter uses Eternal to cancel it, does Cthugha still have a chance to spare Rhan-Tegoth, too?
A. No, Eternal takes precedence—if Windwalker chooses to remove the Kill or Pain from Rhan-Tegoth, Cthugha cannot spare him.
Q. What does it mean in the description of Ice Age when it refers to “any Action ending in the Ice Age Area”?
A. This describes any Actions involving Units that finish their turn in the Area, or that do something to the Area itself. For example, Units can Move OUT of the Area for no extra cost. But moving INTO the Area costs an additional Power (not per Unit, just for the entire Move Action). For other examples, if Yellow Sign tried to Desecrate the Area, it would cost one additional Power. If Cthulhu emerged from Submerge in the Ice Age Area, he would pay one additional Power (but not if he left the Area via Submerge). Great Cthulhu’s Devolve is not an Action, so it is still free, though using Dreams would cost him four Power. Black Goat’s Avatar would cost plus an additional Power as at least one Unit will be ending that Action in that Area (even if the Unit ending up in that Area is not a Black Goat Unit). Opener of the Way’s Units can Promote after Battle and Sleeper can use Death From Below in the Ice Age Area free of cost, as these are not Actions. If Sleeper declares Lethargy while Tsathoggua is in the Ice Age Area, it costs one Power. If you use a multiple-Area Action, such as if you used Mother Hydra’s Zygote, and placed at least one Recruited Cultists there, it would cost an additional Power.
Q. Controlling or Abandoning a Gate is defined in the rules as an Unlimited Action that costs 0 Power. Does this mean it costs 1 Power to Control or Abandon a Gate if the Ice Age marker is in the Area?
A. No. These are the only two Actions (Controlling a Gate and Abandoning a Gate) exempted from Ice Age’s Power tax. Unlimited Battle still costs +1 Power to initiate.
Q. Can Crawling Chaos Units fly over (but not land in) an Ice Age Area without spending extra Power?
A. Yes. They are not ending their Action in that Area!
Q. If Yog-Sothoth is in the Area in which you Awaken Ithaqua, can Yog-Sothoth be the Gate you replace with Ithaqua?
A. If Yog-Sothoth is the only Gate in the Area, then yes. If there is another available Gate, then you must replace THAT Gate with Ithaqua instead
Q. Who determines where a Unit is retreated to when Howl is used?
A. The victim decides which of his Units is retreated, and to which adjacent Area it goes.
Q. If Windwalker’s Units completely surround an Area before a Battle, and Windwalker uses Howl, is the retreated Unit Killed (as per the rule that surrounded Units must receive an extra Elimination if they cannot be Pained)?
A. No. It may retreat to an Area containing Windwalker’s Units, because Howl does not inflict a Pain.
Q. Can Units retreated due to Howl still use Battle Abilities that have not yet been activated (such as promoting Units via Million Favored Ones, or Nyarlathotep’s Harbinger)?
A. No, they do not participate in the rest of the Battle, and so cannot use their Abilities.
Q. Can Howl be used on Map enemies such as Zoogs, Bhole, the Watcher, etc.?
A. Although Howl works on any Unit, rather than the typical specification of a Monster or Cultist, it does not work on the larger Map enemies such as the Bhole, Watcher, Librarian or Custodian. It would, however, work on Zoogs and uncontrolled Slimes. (In the former case, it Eliminates it but does not reflect a Pain back, and in the latter, you choose where the Slime is sent).
Q. Does Crawling Chaos’ Madness ability allow him to choose the Area to which victims of Howl are retreated?
A. No. Howl is a Retreat, not a Pain.
Q. Can Windwalker’s Howl retreat a Brain Cylinder on the Yuggoth map? A. No. Brain Cylinders turn off their sensors, so they don’t hear the Howl.
Q. If you have Herald of the Outer Gods, do you still advance the Ritual of Annihilation marker up when paying the 5 Power?
A. Yes.
Q. During the Action Phase, if a Player reveals his Elder Signs and causes the game to end, does Windwalker still get to fulfill his Spellbook requirement which states “Take this Spellbook at any time”?
A. Yes. Treat this Spellbook requirement similar to the way in which every player may reveal Elder Signs at the moment the game ends. This means that Windwalker could also immediately turn in all the Elder Signs he might receive from fulfilling that Spellbook requirement. No one said Windwalker played fair!
Q. If one of Windwalker’s Gnoph-Keh has been captured by Sleeper via Capture Monster, how does this affect the Summoning cost of the next Gnoph-Keh?
A. A Gnoph-Keh on Sleeper’s Faction Card is not considered to be in your Unit Pool. For example, if you had one Gnoph-Keh in play and one on Sleeper’s faction card, then the next Gnoph-Keh would cost 2 Power to Summon, because 2 are currently in your Unit Pool.
Neutral Spellbooks
Azathoth
Q. How does Undimensioned interact with unusual locations, such as Cthulhu’s Submerged Units, or Sleeper’s Gate with a Cultist that is in Cursed Slumber?
A. Undimensioned specifies that you may only rearrange Units among your Areas. So, you could not swap out a Cultist who is Cursed Slumbering with one from the Map, or change which Units are currently Submerged with Cthulhu, since these are not Areas. (When Cthulhu is Submerged he uses incalculable geometry such that even beings who are temporarily dimensionless cannot reach him).
Q. Do Units from my Faction need to be involved in a Battle in order to use Shriveling?
A. Yes.
Q. If Shriveling is used on one of Black Goat’s Monsters, and Black Goat has the Spellbook Thousand Young, how much Power does Black Goat receive?
A. The Thousand Young Spellbook changes the cost of each of Black Goat’s Faction Monsters, so Shriveling would grant Black Goat the reduced cost to Summon. For example, Black Goat would receive 0 Power when a Ghoul is Shriveled.
Q. How many points does the owner get when her Gnoph-Keh is Shriveled?
A. When a Gnoph-Keh is Shriveled, calculate the cost it would take to Summon it at that moment, not how much it would cost to re-Summon it. This means that if Windwalker had all four Gnoph-Keh on the board at the moment of Shriveling, it would grant him 0 Power.
Q. Why is The Mao Ceremony worded cumbersomely, reading “after the minimum Power rule, but before Determine First Player”?
A. Because it is always the very last Power to be added—even after the minimum Power rule. This is the only ability in the game which must take place at that moment. To be clear, when Mao Ceremony is in play, first all players tally up their Power, then the minimum Power rule occurs, and finally Mao Ceremony can be used. (By the way, a High Priest can still be sacrificed for 2 Power at any time, Mao Ceremony notwithstanding).
Q. What does Recriminations mean when it says that you may replace a Spellbook with any available Spellbook?
A. You may replace the selected Spellbook with one of your own Faction Spellbooks or another Azathoth Spellbook from the Pool. You may NOT use Recriminations in conjunction with any Independent Great Old One Spellbooks— only with Spellbooks which can be placed on your Faction Card.
Q. If I am playing Opener of the Way and use Recriminations to swap out Dragon Ascending or Dragon Descending after I have flipped them face-down, do they flip face-up again? Could I take those Spellbooks again (using Recriminations) and re-use them?
A. While you could take them back onto your Faction Card, you cannot flip them. The Spellbook states “flip it face down to indicate that it cannot be used again.” This is categorical. It also works this way with Crawling Chaos’ Thousand Forms, which won’t flip over until the following Gather Power Phase.
Q. If I use Recriminations to remove another neutral Spellbook from my Faction card, does that Spellbook go back to the general Pool, where anyone can now earn it, or does it remain in my own, exclusive Spellbook Pool?
A. It goes back to the general, neutral Spellbook Pool. If a neutral Spellbook is not currently on your Faction card, then any Faction may earn it.
Q. How many points does the owner get when her Ghast is Shriveled?
A. Two, since that’s how much a single Ghast costs to Summon.
Q. What happens when you use Recriminations on a Spellbook that contains a Moonbeast?
A. The Moonbeast is removed with the Spellbook (costing nothing to do so) and follows normal rules for returning it to the Map.
Neutral Monsters
Q. How does Demand Sacrifice interact with the Leng Spiders’ Bloodthirst?
A. Any Pains converted into Kills become single Pains. I recommend against using Bloodthirst!
Q. Can Black Goat Summon Neutral Monsters at the same time as her Faction Monsters?
A. Yes. She may Summon any number of Monsters at once, as long as they are hers to Summon.
Q. Can Yellow Sign spawn Neutral Monsters as the result of a Desecration Attempt?
A. Yes, so long as it costs 2 or fewer Power.
Q. How does Mind Control (the Elder Thing’s ability) work?
A. In an Elder Thing’s Area, Cthulhu can’t Devour. He can still use Submerge and Y’Ha Nthlei, as those are Spellbooks, not Great Old One special abilities. This ability also works on Independent Great Old Ones (but only their special abilities, and not their Spellbooks). Nyarlathotep can’t use Harbinger, Azathoth can be Killed with a single Kill result, and so on. Shub-Niggurath can’t Avatar out of an Area containing an Elder Thing, but she could use Avatar to enter an Area containing an Elder Thing because she is not in that Area at the moment she uses her Avatar ability. (And the player controlling Bokrug could lose his Loyalty Card!)
In some cases, Mind Control can cancel the abilities of Great Old Ones. For example—if Tsathoggua is in an Elder Thing’s Area, then he can’t use Lethargy. If Ithaqua is in an Elder Thing’s Area, then Ferox is not in effect for any of his Cultists (of course, if an Elder Thing is merely in the same Area as one of Windwalker’s Cultists, but NOT in Ithaqua’s Area, Ferox is still in effect). Likewise, Abhoth could put a Filth Token in an Elder Thing’s Area, so long as Abhoth himself does not share an Area with an Elder Thing. Some Spellbooks might affected, even though they are not directly negated by Elder Things. For example: The King in Yellow can’t Desecrate, which means that his Third Eye Spellbook can’t be used, either (a similar effect happens to Cthugha and Ghatanothoa when they have their respective Firestorm and Execration of Mu Spellbooks).
Q. Is there any way to get rid of the Servitor of the Outer Gods Loyalty Card once it has been given to you?
A. No.
Q. If I have been given Servitors of the Outer Gods, can I still gain non-Servitor Monsters by means other than Summoning?
A. Yes. For example, Windwalker can use Cannibalism to place Wendigos, Opener of the Way can promote Units via Million Favored Ones, and Yellow Sign can Recruit via Desecration attempts. The Servitor of the Outer Gods’ ability only affects normal Summons.
Q. Can I use Black Goat’s Fertility Cult ability to simultaneously Summon all the remaining Servitors in my Pool, as well as other Monsters?
A. Yes, you can do this as long as no Servitors remain in your Pool at the end of this Action.
Q. If the presence of Servitors of the Outer Gods reduces my combat total to less than zero, what happens?
A. Just leave it at zero. That’s bad enough.
Q. What if I have both Star Vampires and Servitors of the Outer Gods in the same Area, reducing my overall Combat dice to less than what the Star Vampires would normally roll, or even 0. How do I roll my Star Vampire dice “separately”?
A. Just go ahead and roll your Star Vampires’ total Combat dice. In this case, you will actually get to roll Combat dice, even though your total is theoretically zero. However, if your total dice are technically zero, you cannot Declare Battle. Weird, I know, but if Elder Things are in play, you’re already dealing with multiple realities and alternate dimensions. And yes, in this case, the Combat results of the Star Vampires still DO apply in the Battle, as usual.
Q. When a Star Vampire rolls a Kill or a Pain, in addition to the Doom or Power that is drained from the target, is the Kill or Pain inflicted on the Enemy?
A. Yes, you always add the Star Vampire’s Combat results to the Battle (even if, as in the question above, you technically have zero Combat dice). However, if the Enemy has no Power (or no Doom), then the Star Vampire’s drain does nothing.
Q. What if my Star Vampires roll more Kill and/or Pain results than there are Enemy Units in the Battle?
A. You still get to take the Doom and/or Power from your Enemy, even if some of the Battle results are not applied to Enemy Units (unless, of course, your Enemy doesn’t have enough Doom or Power to take). This also means, for example, that if Rhan-Tegoth uses his Eternal ability when fighting your Star Vampires, you still get to take the Doom or Power if a Kill or Pain was initially assigned to Rhan-Tegoth! Likewise, if your Star Vampire rolls a Kill against Nyarlathotep when he is protected by Emissary of the Outer Gods, you get 1 Doom but the Kill is reduced to a Pain (as per Emissary).
Q. If Yellow Sign Recruits a Dimensional Shambler (or Moonbeast) while attempting a Desecration, where does the Shambler appear?
A. Sadly, in the Desecrated Area, as described in the ability. This also applies to Moonbeasts.
Terrors
Great Race of Yith
Q. How does the Tcho-Tcho’s Soulless interact with the Yithian’s Possession ability?
A. Soulless makes the base reward 0 Power, rather than 1. The Yithian’s Possession adds to whatever the base reward is, whether 1 or 0. Thus, a Yithian who Captured a Soulless Tcho-Tcho still provides at least 1 Power.
Independent Great Old Ones
Abhoth
Q. Can you combine placing Abhoth’s Filth with Black Goat’s Fertility Cult? Or Sleeper’s Death from Below? Or Yellow Sign’s Desecration?
A. YES to all!
Azathoth
Q. When I Control Azathoth, can I modify the Nuclear Chaos die roll to be 0 or 7?
A. Yes!
Q. Can Azathoth absorb more than one Kill result in a single Battle
A. No.
Q. How much Power can Nyarlathotep get when he Pains or Kills Azathoth in Battle (under Harbinger)?
A. Zero. Technically, Azathoth costs 0 Power to Awaken. The one die plus 2 Power you pay to Awaken him is a loss, not a cost. Nyarlathotep can get at most 2 Elder Signs when fighting Azathoth.
Q. What happens when Azathoth is surrounded by Enemy Units he just Battled, and he receives a Pain?
A. Treat it as if he received a Kill and roll a die.
Q. What happens when Azathoth is chosen to receive a Kill as a result of Dread Curse of Azathoth (since no Battle abilities apply)?
A. Azathoth’s special ability is Ongoing and not a Battle ability, so just reduce his Combat by a d6. (Yog-Sothoth can’t use Azathoth’s own curse against him, you cadaverous fool! But because Azathoth is the Blind Idiot God, he can still harm himself somewhat).
Chaugnar Faugn
Q. If I have a Controlled Gate and only Units with 0 Combat, can I declare Battle due to Miri Nigri?
A. Yes! Although Miri Nigri does not technically add 3 Combat to a particular Unit (as with Absorb), the fact that you will roll Combat dice means that you can initiate Battle even if all you have is a single Cultist (on that Gate) in the Area.
Q. Chaugnar Faugn’s Miri Nigri ability gives Gates 3 Combat dice. Does this apply to Yog-Sothoth?
A. Yes! For example, if there are 4 Enemy Great Old Ones on the Map and an Opener-Controlled Chaugnar Faugn, then Yog-Sothoth’s Combat would be 11 (8 + 3). However, if Opener also Controlled a normal Gate in the same Area as Yog-Sothoth, you would still only add 3 to your Combat in that Area, not 6. The ability reads “in an Area,” which means that you only get the Combat bonus once per Area, rather than once per Gate.
Cthugha
Q. If Cthugha rolls a Kill on Rhan-Tegoth, but the latter uses Eternal to cancel it, does Cthugha still have a chance to spare Rhan-Tegoth, too?
A. No, Eternal takes precedence—if Windwalker chooses to remove the Kill or Pain from Rhan-Tegoth, Cthugha cannot spare him.
Eihort
Q. Can a Brood be moved via Cursed Slumber, since it’s not really a “movement-like” ability?
A. No, you may not use Cursed Slumber on a Brood, as you can go to another Area on the map! Brood are already in a terrible slumber…
Gla’aki
Q. How does the Tcho-Tcho’s Soulless interact with Gla’aki’s Green Decay?
A. Soulless makes the base reward 0 Power, rather than 1. Gla’aki’s Green Decay modifies that reward to be an Elder Sign (meaning that it overrides Soulless by changing its reward from Power to an Elder Sign).
Unique High Priests
Q. If I Awaken The King in Yellow (as an Independent Great Old One) via Lavinia Whateley, do I get a refund of 1 Power?
A. Yes
Q. When I have Lavinia Whateley, how do I calculate Awakening Cthugha?
A. Lavinia Whateley reduces the cost to Awaken Cthugha himself, not whichever Great Old One Cthugha will replace as part of Awakening him. For example, if you have Hastur and want to Awaken Cthugha, the cost would be calculated by starting with 6, then subtracting 3 (per Lavinia), and then again subtracting 10 (the nominal cost to Awaken Hastur). The result would be negative 7. Then, per Cthugha’s Awakening requirements, you would gain Power equal to the result if it is negative, so you would GAIN 7 Power by Awakening Cthugha using both Hastur and Lavinia Whateley.
Additional Maps
Dreamlands Map
Q. Do I win as Opener of the Way if I control 4 Gates at Citadels, including Yog-Sothoth, but only in 3 of the Citadel Areas (e.g., I Control Gates in Citadel Areas numbered with 1, 2, & 3, and Yog-Sothoth itself is also in Citadel three, but I do NOT control a Gate in the Area of Citadel four)?
A. No. You must Control Gates in all four Areas, not simply Control four Gates among the Citadel Areas, you cheater. In this situation, Moving Yog-Sothoth to Citadel 4 would give you the win.
Q. What happens if I fight three Zoogs and roll two Kills and three Pains? How many of my Units are affected by the reflected Pains?
A. First, remove the Killed Zoogs. Only one remains, so it is Pained (and removed), and one of your Units is likewise Pained. Remember, Kills always take effect before Pains.
Q. How does Black Goat’s Necrophagy interact with the Zoogs?
A. If two Ghouls teleport via Necrophagy to a Battle in which Zoogs have participated, two of the original Attacker’s Units are Pained as normal, and two Zoogs are likewise Pained (and removed). Both Ghouls are also Pained by the Zoogs (the original Attacker receives Pains due to Necrophagy, but not additional Pains as a result of the Zoogs being Pained by Necrophagy—those Pains are reflected back on the Ghouls themselves).
Q. Can Cthulhu count Zoogs which are Eliminated by Pain results as Kills for the purpose of his Spellbook requirements?
A. No. As stated previously, Pains Eliminate Zoogs from the map, but do not Kill them.
Q. Can Opener of the Way’s Dread Curse of Azathoth be used to attack the Bhole or Zoogs?
A. No.
Q. Can Shub-Niggurath use her Avatar ability to switch places with a Zoog?
A. Yes. Even though Avatar specifically works on Faction Monsters, Zoogs are all identical so it doesn’t matter which one in the given Area is chosen to swap places with Shub-Niggurath. If the Zoog is sent via Avatar to an Area that is NOT a Citadel, then the Zoog is Eliminated from the Map.
Q. Can Zoogs be captured via Sleeper’s Capture Monster?
A. Of course.
Q. Does the Shantaks’ Horror Steed ability allow it to Move freely between the two maps?
A. Yes.
Library at Celaeno Map
Q. If the Custodian moves my Units to The Oubliette, and an Abandoned Gate is there, can I immediately occupy it?
A. Only when it is your turn to take an Action.
Q. To Battle the player who currently has the Barrier of Naach Tith Tome, must I release a Captured Cultist from that Faction?
A. No. You can release a Captured Cultist from any Faction to bypass the Barrier.
Q. What if I want to Battle the owner of Barrier of Naach Tith, and I don’t have a Captured Cultist, a Silence Token, nor an Elder Sign?
A. You can’t declare Battle on that Faction. Do something else.
Q. One of the options for Yr and Nhhngr says you gain 2 Power, but the Action itself costs 1 Power. Is this basically a net gain of 1 Power?
A. Yes.
Q. If the Librarian or Custodian are Activated in the same Area over several Actions in a row, do they keep adding +1 more to their roll, accumulating over time?
A. No. They just get a maximum of +1 to their roll.
Q. Does Windwalker’s Ice Age defend against the Librarian or the Custodian?
A. No, because the action to trigger the Libraria or Custodian does not technically take place in the Librarian’s or Custodian’s Area.
Primeval Map
Q. I think the map layout for Primeval Earth is interesting, and I would like to try playing it in a normal game, without the Glaciers. Would this work?
A. It’s your game. Give it a try!
Q. If Opener of the Way uses Beyond-One to Move a Gate from a Glacier-infested Area to a clear Area, does the Glacier travel with the Gate?
A. No. The Glacier is removed from the Gate in this case. If a Gate is Moved to where there is a Glacier, the Glacier immediately pops on top of it
.
Q. How do the Glaciers work with Cursed Slumber?
A. Since you can only use Cursed Slumber with a Controlled Gate, then you may not use it in an Area already containing a Glacier. However, if you place a Cursed Slumbering Gate back on the Map onto an Area with a Glacier, then the Cultist must immediately step off the Gate.
Q. Can Opener’s They Break Through Spellbook be used to Summon Monsters at a Gate covered by a Glacier?
A. Yes. They Break Through permits you to Summon at Abandoned Gates.
Q. In the first Doom Phase, do I add a Glacier to the Start Areas of Factions not in this game?
A. No.
Shaggai Map
Q. Does Crawling Chaos avoid losing a Unit with his Flight ability when “skipping” over Eradicated Areas?
A. No. He must lose a Unit to trace over such Areas, though skipping over an Eradicated Area doesn’t count as Moving over an Area for Flight, so he could Move over three Areas if one of them were Eradicated.
Q. Does Yellow Sign get his Passion Power when his cultists are Eradicated?
A. Yes.
Q. Does Yog-Sothoth give Opener two Elder Signs if he is Eradicated?
A. Yes, because he is not only a faction Great Old One but also a Gate. You’d also get 1 Power, since he is a Unit.
Q. Can Windwalker use Cosmic Power to pay 8 Power and summon Ithaqua “on top of” Yog- Sothoth, thus killing the latter?
A. Only if Yog-Sothoth is the only Gate in the Area. Otherwise, Windwalker must destroy the physical Gate.
Yuggoth Map
Q. Can Cthulhu get his Kill Spellbook requirements from scoring a Kill on The Watcher?
A. Yes! (But not for Devour, since that doesn’t affect The Watcher).
Q. I have two Units in an Area, one of which is a Brain Cylinder. In Battle, the enemy rolls one Kill and one Pain. What are my options?
A. Kills are always assigned first. If you assign the Kill to the Cylinder, it dies and the other Unit is Pained. If you assign the Kill to the other Unit, then the Pain is ignored.
Q. Can Windwalker’s Howl retreat a Brain Cylinder?
A. No. Brain Cylinders turn off their sensors, so they don’t hear the Howl.
Q. Does Black Goat’s Frenzy affect Brain Cylinders?
A. Yes. This represents them casting spells, planning strategy, or cheering others on.
Q. How does Yellow Sign’s Passion Spellbook apply to Brain Cylinders?
A. When a Brain Cylinder is either directly Captured or Converted to an Enemy Brain Cylinder, Yellow Sign gains 1 Power if Passion is in play (his Cultist has been lost!). Of course, Yellow Sign does not gain 1 Power when removing his own Acolyte in order to replace it with a Brain Cylinder.
Q. How does Ghatanothoa’s Mummify ability affect Brain Cylinders?
A. Brain Cylinders are immune to Mummify. They are only brains, and according to Lovecraft, they are not affected by the mummification process. Also, Mummify specifies “Acolyte Cultist,” you n00b.
Q. If a Battle takes place on the Slime Sea Overlook and the Gate’s Controller is Pained or Killed, can his enemy retreat into an adjacent Area containing only Slimes?
A. Yes, because the Slimes are now uncontrolled!
Q. How is the Watcher affected by Elder Things?
A. The Elder Things’ Mind Control ability has no effect on the Watcher.
Q. Can Opener of the Way’s Dread Curse of Azathoth be used to attack the Watcher or uncontrolled Slimes?
A. No.
Q. Can Shub-Niggurath use her Avatar ability to switch places with an uncontrolled Slime Mold?
A. Yes. Even though Avatar specifically works on Faction units, Slime Molds are identical, so it doesn’t matter which one in the given Area is chosen to swap places with Shub-Niggurath.
Q. Does the Watcher count as an enemy Great Old One for Windwalker’s Hibernate ability? Does he prevent Opener of the Way from using Beyond-One?
A. Yes to both, but only when it is Awake. He is always considered an enemy Great Old One.