Arkham Horror: The Card Game – The Midwinter Gala: Scenario Pack
Arkham Horror: The Card Game – The Midwinter Gala: Scenario Pack Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Expansion Symbol
The cards in this expansion are identified by the expansion symbol before each card's collector number.
Game Modes
The Midwinter Gala can be played as either a standalone scenario or as a side-story inserted into any campaign.
Standalone Mode
When this scenario is played as a standalone scenario, follow the steps for Standalone Mode in the Rules Reference. This scenario has three difficulty modes. Construct the chaos bag with the following tokens:
- Standard: +1, 0, 0, –1, –1, –1, –2, –2, –3, –4, skull, skull, cultist, tablet, elder thing, auto-fail, elder sign.
- Hard: 0, 0, –1, –1, –1, –2, –3, –4, –6, skull, skull, cultist, tablet, elder thing, elder thing, auto-fail, elder sign.
- Expert: 0, –1, –1, –2, –3, –4, –5, –6, –8, skull, skull, cultist, tablet, elder thing, elder thing, auto-fail, elder sign.
Side-story (Campaign Mode)
A side-story is a scenario that may be played between any two scenarios of an Arkham Horror: The Card Game campaign. Playing a side-story costs each investigator in the campaign a certain amount of experience. Weaknesses, trauma, experience, and rewards granted by playing a side-story stay with the investigators for the remainder of the campaign. Each side‑story may only be played once per campaign.
When this scenario is played as a side-story, play it as if you are setting up the next scenario in the campaign, with the same chaos bag, weaknesses, trauma, and story assets previously earned.
Playing The Midwinter Gala side‑story costs each investigator 2 experience.
Additional Rules & Clarifications
Score
In The Midwinter Gala, the investigators can accomplish multiple tasks to score points. At the end of the game, they will tally their score to earn bonus experience and measure how successful they were in thwarting the Lantern Club's true intentions. While playing this scenario, reference page 24 of this booklet to see what tasks you may work toward. Each time you play, try to top your previous score!
Story Cards
Story cards are a cardtype used in this scenario. These cards provide additional narrative and game text. Abilities on story cards in play can be triggered by any investigator.
Guest Story Assets
Guest assets are a type of story asset featured in this scenario. Investigators may parley with Guest assets to take control of them. Investigators cannot trigger abilities on Guest assets that they do not control.
Spellbound
Spellbound is a condition that can affect Guest assets. When a Guest asset becomes spellbound (via card or game text), investigators lose control of that asset, flip it facedown, and remove all damage and horror from it (leaving all other tokens on it).
- When a Leader asset would become spellbound, remove it from the game instead.
- When a spellbound card is flipped faceup, ready it (leaving all tokens on it). It is no longer spellbound.
- A spellbound card cannot be interacted with unless a game effect explicity states otherwise.
Alert
Each time an investigator fails a skill test while attempting to evade an enemy with the alert keyword, after applying all results for that skill test, that enemy performs an attack against the evading investigator. An enemy does not exhaust after performing an alert attack. This attack occurs whether the enemy is engaged with the evading investigator or not.
Patrol
Some enemies have the patrol keyword. During the enemy phase (in framework step 3.2), each ready, unengaged enemy with the patrol keyword moves to a connecting location along the shortest path toward the designated location (as described in parentheses next to the word patrol).
- If there are multiple locations that qualify as the designated location, the lead investigator may choose which location the enemy moves toward.
- If an enemy with patrol would be compelled to move to a location that is blocked by a card ability, the enemy does not move.
The Midwinter Gala
Who is your mysterious contact? The investigators must choose which faction requested their assistance. (Hint: The faction you choose will determine your objectives in this scenario.)
The Guests
- A severe woman in a well-tailored suit leans against the wall with her arms crossed. She looks like she'd rather be in a shootout than at this elaborate party. If she is your contact, proceed to The Foundation (page 8).
- An astute professorial type strokes his goatee as he studies a painting. You recognize him as Caldwell Phillips, the dean of Miskatonic University. If he is your contact, skip to Miskatonic University (page 8).
- A slick-looking man with dark hair taps ash from his cigar into a hapless guest's champagne flute. His darting eyes suggest he's casing the joint. If he is your contact, skip to The Syndicate (page 9).
- You catch the gleam of a signet ring in the corner of your eye. Turning, you see the prestigious leader of the Silver Twilight Lodge, Carl Sanford, conversing with a pair of masked guests. If he is your contact, skip to The Silver Twilight Lodge (page 9).
- A tall, stout man with a long black beard and a weatherbeaten coat looks clearly out of place at this extravagant gala. You recognize him from The Rope and Anchor tavern in Kingsport. If he is your contact, skip to Locals of Kingsport (page 10).
The Foundation
"Ah, you came," the woman says in a light Russian accent. "I am agent Valeriya Antonova. I am here on behalf of the authorities." When you ask which authorities, she simply nods. "Yes. The authorities." She explains that she and her "authorities" are investigating strange disappearances in the area and abroad, and they suspect the Lantern Club and Declan Pearce are to be blamed. The agent seems to loosen up as she knocks back a flute of champagne. "We also believe this Jewel may be the source of some highly unusual paracausal phenomena. Be prepared for anything."
Skip to Setup (page 11).
Miskatonic University
You approach Dean Phillips and introduce yourself. The painting he was examining is eerily lifelike, depicting a humanoid creature covered in fur, with multiple arms, each with a clawed talon. "Quite imaginative, these Lantern Club folks," he laughs. "I see you received my missive. Thank you for coming. I must admit, the university is more than a little curious to study this ancient gem. The Jewel was rumored to have been housed in a Tibetan monastery until it vanished in the twelfth century. I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity!" he exclaims. "Of course, if there were some way to examine the Jewel more thoroughly…"
Skip to Setup (page 11).
The Syndicate
The man raises his glass in a mock toast as you approach. "Johnny Valone. Glad you could make it to this mutually beneficial business arrangement." The man finishes his drink and casually hands the empty glass to a nearby socialite, who looks equal parts confused and offended. Valone is seemingly deaf to their protest as he leads you to a deserted study. "Your reputation precedes you. Or rather, it doesn't precede you. Nobody'll suspect your involvement, which is why I've asked for your help in procuring this Jewel of Something-Or-Another. It's a big score. I can promise you we'll make it worth your while."
Skip to Setup (page 11).
The Silver Twilight Lodge
Carl Sanford makes no introduction as you approach. "Very good," he says matter-of-factly, then waves his masked guests away. "As I am sure you are aware, rumors of the Jewel of Sarnath are quite prevalent amongst the occult circles of Arkham. Given the Jewel's…colorful history, it would make quite the addition to the Lodge's collection." The patriarch stares down his nose at you. "Although I suspect that there is far more at play here than meets the eye. That is why I have asked you here. Acquire the Jewel for the Lodge, and you shall be rewarded with knowledge and riches beyond your wildest dreams." You ask him why the Lodge deserves the Jewel more than any other, and he smirks. "We will keep it safe. Far safer than it would be in the hands of others. You cannot even begin to comprehend its power."
Skip to Setup (page 11).
Locals of Kingsport
"The name's Bain. William Bain," the stalwart man shakes your hand with a firm grip. "I'm glad you came to this fancy little party. Truth be told, I'm not really a local; I just happen to have a soft spot for this old port." The man deftly avoids your questions about his origins before pointing at the silent masked figure in the corner of the room. "He is the reason I invited you here. They call him 'The Bloodless Man.' Whatever the Lantern Club has planned for this evening is certainly his design." The captain sighs. "No good can come of that strange Jewel. Only ruin. At least, so long as the Lantern Club has it." After further discussion, you agree to help Bain recover the Jewel.
Proceed to Setup (page 11).
Setup
- Gather all cards from The Midwinter Gala encounter set. This set is indicated by the encounter set icon.
- Set aside the 3 Second-Floor Room locations, out of play. Put the Lobby and Lantern Chamber into play. Put the 3 Ground-Floor Room locations into play in a row to the right of the Lobby, at random (see location placement on page 12).
- Each investigator begins play at the Lobby.
- The chosen faction from The Guests on page 7 is your "allied" faction. Set aside that faction's story card, then put that faction's Leader card, story asset side faceup, into play under the control of any investigator. Put one of that faction's 3 remaining Guest assets into play faceup at each Ground-Floor Room location at random. Remove its Rival card from the game.
- Set aside one of the other 4 faction story cards at random, out of play, along with that faction's Leader card and its Rival card. This faction is your "rival" for the game. Remove your rival's 3 remaining Guest assets from the game.
- For each of the remaining 3 factions, remove its faction story card, its Leader card, and its Rival card from the game.
- Shuffle the remaining 9 Guest assets facedown to form the Guest deck and place it next to the act deck.
- Put the top 3 cards of the Guest deck into play faceup, placing one of them at each Ground-Floor Room location.
- Put The Bloodless Man (Silent Lurker) enemy into play exhausted at the Lantern Chamber, and attach The Pale Lantern story asset to him, (Hypnotic Glow) side faceup.
- Set each of the following cards aside, out of play: all Monster enemies, both copies of Vicious Ambush, the Declan Pearce enemy, and the Jewel of Sarnath story asset.
- Shuffle the remaining 23 encounter cards to form the encounter deck.
- You are now ready to begin.
Location Placement
- Lobby (Manor. Ground Floor.): The front door of the mansion leads to a room filled with art, attendees, and a beautiful chandelier. Grab yourself a drink; it could be a long night.
- Ground-Floor Room (Manor. Ground Floor.): The stately halls are filled with the sound of music and laughter.
- Lantern Chamber (Manor. Private. Basement.): As an additional cost to enter this location, you must take 1 horror. You feel an icy chill when you put your hand on the knob to the silent sanctum.
Interlude: The Fabled Jewel
Read the following only when directed during the scenario.
Your contact has further instructions for how to acquire the Jewel. Put the set-aside faction story card you allied with into play next to the act deck, Allied side faceup. If you allied with…
- The Foundation, put the set-aside Declan Pearce enemy into play at the Lantern Chamber, exhausted. Attach the set-aside Jewel of Sarnath asset to The Bloodless Man (ignoring its Revelation effect). If The Bloodless Man is not in play, attach the Jewel of Sarnath to the Lantern Chamber.
- Miskatonic University, put the set-aside Declan Pearce enemy into play at the rightmost Second Floor location and attach the set-aside Jewel of Sarnath asset to him (ignoring its Revelation effect).
- The Syndicate, shuffle the top card of the encounter deck, the set-aside Jewel of Sarnath asset, and the Declan Pearce enemy together, then randomly place 1 facedown beneath each Second Floor location, as "mysteries."
- The Silver Twilight Lodge, shuffle the encounter discard pile into the encounter deck. Take the top 7 cards of the encounter deck and shuffle the set-aside Jewel of Sarnath asset and Declan Pearce enemy into them, then place those 9 cards on the bottom of the encounter deck. If there are exactly 2 undefeated investigators, discard the top 6 cards of the encounter deck. If there is exactly 1 undefeated investigator, discard the top 12 cards of the encounter deck.
- Locals of Kingsport, put the set-aside Declan Pearce enemy into play at the Lantern Chamber and attach the set-aside Jewel of Sarnath asset to him (ignoring its Revelation effect). Place 1 damage and 1 doom on that asset. Reveal the top card of the Guest deck and put it into play at the Lobby.
Advance to act 2a.
Do Not Read
Read until the end of the scenario.
If no resolution was reached (each investigator was defeated): You wake up, freezing cold, facedown in the snow outside the Lantern Club's stately manor. The house is deserted, the cheery windows dark and foreboding, like the empty eye sockets of a grinning skull. You can't remember how you escaped the mayhem, but you will never forget what happened at Kingsport's first—and hopefully last—Midwinter Gala.
- Skip to Resolution 7.
Resolutions
Resolution 1
You look up from the Jewel to see your contact standing in front of the manor, silhouetted in the moonlight.
- Each investigator may choose one single-sided Guest asset under any investigator's control to add to their deck (ignoring deckbuilding restrictions). It does not count toward that investigator's deck size.
- If this scenario is a side-story, during the setup of each subsequent scenario in this campaign, you may shuffle the Jewel of Sarnath story asset into the encounter deck.
- If the investigators sided with The Foundation, proceed to Resolution 2.
- If the investigators sided with Miskatonic University, skip to Resolution 3.
- If the investigators sided with The Syndicate, skip to Resolution 4.
- If the investigators sided with The Silver Twilight Lodge, skip to Resolution 5.
- If the investigators sided with the Locals of Kingsport, skip to Resolution 6.
Resolution 2
Agent Antonova turns and strides toward you, her left cheek spattered with viscous ichor. "I did not like this party at first, but it became much more interesting once they locked the doors," she grins, then lays a hand on your shoulder. "I have reported the strange effects of this 'Jewel' to my superiors. They want it brought to our offices for safekeeping, but I have several other obligations to attend to before I can deliver it. I suppose there is little harm in letting you hold onto it for now. Know that I will be back later to collect it." After seeing the chaos the Jewel brought to the Gala, you wonder if you are being used more as a "case study" than a recipient of its power.
- Skip to Resolution 7.
Resolution 3
After calming down a very flustered Dean Caldwell, the academic grabs the Jewel from your hand and holds it up to the light. "Truly remarkable. The legends hardly do it justice. Miraculous! Breathtaking!" The astute gentleman eventually runs out of descriptors, then thanks you for your assistance. "Given what happened here tonight, I would prefer we not house the Jewel on campus grounds. We only just rebuilt the student dormitories. But if you could bring it by my office next week, I would relish the chance to study it further."
- Skip to Resolution 7.
Resolution 4
"Not too shabby," says Johnny Valone, lit cigar in his mouth. "You have light hands. Could always use another pair for a job or two." He winks as he blows smoke out the side of his mouth. "I figured we could pawn the thing on the black market for a fair price, but after seeing what happened in there–" his tough exterior softens. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone. What were those things anyway? Elephants? Sick gorillas?" He takes one last puff of his cigar. "I guess I'll never know. All I knows is, there's no way I'm hauling that rock back to Arkham. Consider the Jewel a party favor. And this is for savin' my ass." He hands out a wad of bills to you and melts into the shadows with a Cheshire grin.
- Skip to Resolution 7.
Resolution 5
"I don't care what it takes: I want that Jewel and I want it now!" Carl Sanford seethes at his lackeys. As you listen to the patriarch excoriate his associates, you think back to the events of the evening. Although you had resolved to help the Lodge, is the world truly safer with the Jewel in their possession? Rather than return it to Sanford, you pocket the Jewel and slip away into the evening. You are the only one who can temper its power. What you are doing truly is for the greater good. Hopefully Sanford will never find out.
- Skip to Resolution 7.
Resolution 6
"You've done a great thing this evening," Captain Bain claps you on the back. "Given tales of the Jewel, this evening could have gone far worse. It is said that the Jewel brings the greatest dreams and worst nightmares of its bearer to life. Perhaps it is fitting, what happened to the Lantern Club…" Bain looks up at the darkened windows and snow stained with blood, then presses the Jewel back in your hand. "Something tells me, however, that with you as its bearer, the Jewel may do some good." You lose yourself looking into the cloudy, smoky heart of the gem. When you look up, the Captain has vanished.
- Proceed to Resolution 7.
Resolution 7
Your skin prickles as you sit in the back seat of your cab, and you have the feeling of being watched. You turn to look back at the manor's facade to see the nightmarish face of the Bloodless Man staring down at you from the window. As the manor disappears from view, you think back to Kingsport, a city shrouded in mystery and folklore. The city beckons with its name alone, conjuring up images of misty sea cliffs, shadowy coves, and ancient, brooding mansions. For generations, stories of inexplicable phenomena, strange dreams, and haunting legends have plagued Kingsport. After tonight's events, you finally understand why.
- Each investigator earns experience equal to the Victory X value of each card in the victory display.
- Tally your score (see page 24). If your score is…
- …10-19, each investigator earns 1 bonus experience.
- …20-29, each investigator earns 2 bonus experience.
- …30-39, each investigator earns 3 bonus experience.
- …40-49, each investigator earns 4 bonus experience.
- …50 or more, each investigator earns 5 bonus experience.
Optional Variant
Best Guests
For a more challenging and thematic experience, this variant allows 2–5 groups to play this scenario simultaneously in Standalone Mode and compete against each other for the highest score. Each group requires its own copy of this product in order to play. During gameplay, observe the following additional rules:
- Each group has its own play area, and plays the game separately from the other groups. Each group may play on a different difficulty mode. Rules, actions, and card effects cannot affect investigators in the other groups, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
- Each group can proceed to the next round or agenda independently of one another; there is no need to wait until all groups have reached the same point before proceeding.
- Each group must be allied with a different faction.
- During setup, instead of choosing a rival faction at random, each group has a different rival and that rival is another group's allied faction. For example, if Group A is allied with The Foundation, Group B is allied with The Syndicate, and Group C is allied with The Silver Twilight Lodge, then Group A's rival could be The Syndicate, Group B's rival could be The Silver Twilight Lodge, and Group C's rival could be The Foundation.
- Add the following to the end of agenda 1b and agenda 2b: "Your rival group looks at the top 1 cards of your encounter deck, discards any number of non-story asset cards from them, and puts the rest back in any order."
- In addition to scoring points for accomplishing tasks, bonus points may be scored by being the first group to complete an achievement. During gameplay, if a group completes one of the achievements listed below before another group, they immediately announce the achievement and check it off, while the other groups cross it off of their list (they cannot score that achievement). At the end of the game, each group scores 2 bonus points for each of their completed achievements.
- Have The Bloodless Man in your victory display.
- Have The Pale Lantern in your victory display.
- Have Declan Pearce in your victory display.
- Have a Rival story card in your victory display.
- Have no cards remaining in your Guest deck.
- Have all 8 Manor locations revealed with no clues on them.
Tasks for End of Game Scoring
The following is a list of tasks used to tally your score.
- 1 point for each revealed Manor location with no clues.
- 1 point for each Guest asset controlled by the investigators.
- 4 points if no spellbound cards are in play.
- 5 points if agenda 1a or agenda 2a is in play.
- 4 points if The Bloodless Man is in the victory display.
- 3 points if The Pale Lantern is in the victory display.
- 3 points if Declan Pearce is in the victory display.
- 4 points if a Rival story card is in the victory display.
- 3 points if no investigator has been defeated and there is 2 or less damage on the investigators, as a group.
- 3 points if no investigator has been defeated and there is 2 or less horror on the investigators, as a group.
- 3 points if you are playing on Hard difficulty mode.
- 6 points if you are playing on Expert difficulty mode.
- The end of game points on your faction's story card.
Total: