Eldritch Horror

Setup: Choose investigators and one base-game Ancient One. Receive listed possessions, Health and Sanity; build the three-stage Mythos deck and set Doom, Omen, associated decks and the first Mystery. Use the investigator-count Reference card for starting gates and clues. Each newly spawned gate also spawns a monster. Display four Assets in the reserve. A single-investigator game removes Teamwork components; one player may instead control two investigators using the two-player Reference card.

Round: Resolve Action, Encounter and Mythos phases in order. During actions and encounters, start with the Lead Investigator and proceed clockwise; each investigator finishes before the next acts. At Mythos phase end, the Lead Investigator may pass the token to another investigator.

Actions: Normally perform up to two, using each action at most once per round. Options are Travel, Rest, Trade, Prepare for Travel, Acquire Assets and component actions. Actions on different components can be used separately. Additional actions do not remove the once-per-round restriction.

Travel and supplies: Travel one adjacent path first, then spend train or ship tickets for extra spaces along matching paths. Prepare for Travel is city-only, requires the matching path and allows at most two tickets. Rest restores one Health and one Sanity; Acquire Assets is a city Influence test. Neither Rest nor Acquire Assets is allowed with a monster present.

Tests: Form a pool from skill, modifier, improvements, the single highest applicable bonus and cumulative additional dice; roll at least one die. Normally each five or six is a success and one success passes. Spend a Clue to reroll one die. Ordinary rolls that are not tests cannot use effects restricted to rerolling tests.

Encounters: If monsters are present, encounter each once in your chosen order. After clearing them all, you may choose an additional encounter. Otherwise choose one legal option, such as a location, research clue, gate, expedition or rumor. Reaching a clue does not collect it automatically; resolve the research card. Closing a gate likewise requires an instructing effect.

Combat: Check monster effects, then resolve its Will and Strength tests. Lose Sanity equal to horror minus Will successes and Health equal to damage minus Strength successes, with no loss if successes meet the relevant value. The monster simultaneously loses Health equal to Strength successes. Defeat it when accumulated damage reaches toughness; surviving monsters retain damage.

Mythos: Resolve only the current card's icons and text, in order. After Omen advances, each gate matching the new Omen advances Doom one toward zero. Resolve Reckoning for monsters, the Ancient One, ongoing Mythos cards, then investigator possessions and Conditions. Use the Reference card for gates, monster surges and clues; a Mythos surge with no matching gate spawns one gate instead.

Loss and victory: Zero Health or Sanity defeats an investigator and advances Doom one. Before awakening, normally choose an unused investigator at Mythos phase end; after awakening, defeat or devouring eliminates that player. Solve the three required base-game Mysteries to win, with the Final Mystery also required after awakening. If no Mythos card can be drawn, end that phase and lose unless victory has been achieved. All players eliminated or a specified loss effect also ends the game.