Cthulhu Wars: Dreamlands Map Expansion
Cthulhu Wars: Dreamlands Map Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Dreamlands Map boards (2), printed on both sides (Surface and Underworld)
- Bhole (figure)
- 6 Zoogs
Setup and Map Basics
The Dreamlands Map has a Surface and an Underworld, each with the normal 3- and 5-Player sides.
Setup the game for your player count, with one of the Surface sides, and one of the Underworld sides. For your first 4-Player Dreamlands game, we recommend using the 5-Player side where the majority of players start. Usually this will be the Surface.
Place the Bhole in the Vale of Pnath on the Underworld side. Place the Zoogs next to the Surface, within easy reach.
The Dreamlands Map is flat, rather than a globe. Therefore, the Surface and Underworld have edges and corners, and Units cannot move around from one edge to another.
All the Areas with Sea in their name (or in parentheses) count as Oceans or Seas for any game text referencing Oceans or Seas. We realize that the Underworld "Seas" are not necessarily water. But they have liquescent aspects (pitch, fungus goop, and Bholes swim through a canyon filled with bones called the Vale of Pnath), so they are considered ocean-like in biogeography.
Tunnels
Moving Between the Maps
Four Areas on each board are marked with a Tunnel Glyph. Areas with a Tunnel Glyph are adjacent to the Area with the matching Tunnel Glyph on the other board. For example, a Unit in Zura can directly Move to the Ruins of Karoth. (So, for example, since Crawling Chaos' Units may Move 2 spaces, Nyarlathotep in Zura could Move to the Ruins of Karoth, and then to another, adjacent Underworld Area, such as the Tower of Koth or Vale of Pnath).
A Unit in a tunnel Area that is Pained can retreat through the Tunnel to the other map, because they are adjacent for every purpose.
Players using other, Movement type, abilities to travel may do so between the two boards freely. For instance, Shub-Niggurath can Avatar to either side, Crawling Chaos' Hunting Horrors can use Seek and Destroy to either board, Cthulhu can use Submerge to hit both boards, etc.
Keen-eyed players may notice that the Gates and passageways do not have a direct one-to-one correspondence to the geography of the two boards. This is how things are in the Dreamlands.
Citadels (Victory)
The Dreamlands Map provides an alternate source of victory. Each board has 4 Citadels. If a single player Controls Gates on all 4 Areas with a Citadel on a single board, he immediately wins, regardless of whether he has 6 Spellbooks on his Faction Card or not (or the most Doom points).
You must Control a Gate at all 4 Citadel Areas on a single board—Surface OR Underworld, and not merely some from each, in order to win.
If no player ever Controls Gates at all 4 Citadels of a single board, the game ends and victory is determined normally.
If Opener of the Way is in play, Yog-Sothoth's presence in a Citadel Area DOES counts as Controlling a Gate in that Citadel Area—even if another Faction Controls the normal Gate in such an Area, Opener of the Way could win the game by simply Controlling 3 normal Gates in the other 3 Citadel Areas!
Citadels are numbered. Some Citadels have more than one number—these Citadels are especially attractive to pesky creatures. The numbers control Bhole and Zoog activity.
The Bhole (Underworld)
The Bhole is a gigantic creature that normally dwells peacefully in the Vale of Pnath. Over-stimulated by the clash of forces that is Cthulhu Wars, the Bhole ravens forth to feast upon the otherworld energies released by the Factions and their Great Old Ones.
Bhole Activation and Attack
At the end of each Doom Phase, after all players have had a chance to perform a Ritual of Annihilation (or not), check for the Bhole's Activation and Attack.
If the Bhole is in an Area containing a Gate, it remains in place and destroys the Gate, as well as Eliminating any Controlling Unit. The Bhole does not affect anything else in that Area. This Elimination counts as an enemy Eliminating your Unit (so, for example, Yellow Sign can benefit from Passion).
If the Bhole is not in an Area with a Gate, roll 1 six-sided die and move the Bhole to the Underworld Citadel labeled with the appropriate number (even if the designated Citadel lacks a Gate). For example, on a five-player map, when a 1 or a 2 is rolled, the Bhole goes to the Sea of Pitch. On a 3, it is sent to the Vaults of Zin. If the Citadel the Bhole enters contains a Gate, that Gate is immediately destroyed, along with any Controlling Unit. The Bhole does not affect anything else in that Area.
If Opener of the Way is in play, and the Bhole attacks the Area with Yog-Sothoth, it destroys and Eliminates Yog-Sothoth! (Sometimes it's not beneficial to be coterminous with all space and time). It does this in addition to destroying the normal Gate in the Area.
How to Defeat the Bhole
Any player may initiate a Battle against the Bhole (with a Unit in the same Area).
The Bhole has a Combat rating of 6.
A single Kill result destroys the Bhole (though it will return on the next Doom Phase!)
A Pain always sends the Bhole to the Vale of Pnath, regardless of the presence of other Units (it may not be Eliminated due to being surrounded). Crawling Chaos' Madness Spellbook cannot send the Bhole elsewhere, nor can Units who Battled the Bhole be Pained to the Vale of Pnath (if the Bhole is Pained). If the Bhole is already in the Vale of Pnath, it ignores the Pain.
The Bhole is a Terror Unit type. Additionally, while Spellbooks and abilities can be used in Battle against it, they can only affect your own Units. For example, you cannot use Windwalker's Howl to send the Bhole out of the Battle Area, nor does Demand Sacrifice have any effect on the Bhole's dice results.
The Bhole costs 0 Power, has no Spellbooks or Doom, and has no Power of its own, or any other normal feature of a Faction for all purposes such as calculating the Combat of Tsathoggua, Ithaqua, Nyarlathotep, etc.
The Bhole Respawns!
If the Bhole is Killed, a new Bhole re-appears in the Vale of Pnath at the end of the Doom Phase! A newly-spawned Bhole does not immediately roll to Move onto a Citadel, but is merely placed and stays in the Vale that Doom Phase. However, it does destroy a Gate and any Controlling Unit if there is one in the Vale of Pnath when it reappears.
This means that when Killed the Bhole goes to the Vale of Pnath for one Doom Phase, giving players a short grace period (as there is no Citadel in the Vale of Pnath).
Zoogs (Surface)
Zoogs are small, mischievous creatures, native to the forests of the Dreamlands. When Cthulhu Wars erupts, the clever Zoogs seize their opportunity to make their mark and torment your Cultists to distraction.
The Zoogs are Monsters, and can thus be affected by any Spellbooks or abilities targeting or referencing Monsters.
Zoog Activation and Effects
At the end of the Doom Phase, after rolling for the Bhole, roll 1 die for each Zoog that is not in play (remember, at the start of the game, no Zoogs are in play, so roll 6 dice in the first Doom Phase). Then, place a Zoog on the Surface Citadel for each number rolled. Zoogs already on the Map simply remain in their Areas. Do not roll for them. For example, if there are 3 Zoogs not in play, roll 3 dice. If their numbers are 1, 6 and 6, then place a Zoog at the Surface Citadel marked with a 1, and place the other 2 in the Surface Area with the Citadel marked with a 6.
Any Controlling Unit on a Gate in a Citadel Area with Zoogs must immediately come off that Gate, which is now Abandoned. Zoogish pranks and other shenanigans render that Gate impossible to Control until the pests are abated.
Units may not Control Gates in Areas that contain one or more Zoogs. Before your Cultist (or Dark Young) can Control a Gate in a Zoog-infested Area, you must rid the Area of Zoogs. To do this, you'll need appropriate Spellbooks or to engage in Battle.
Yog-Sothoth is not affected by Zoogs! He always counts as a Controlled Gate in a Citadel Area even if Zoogs are there as well.
How to Defeat the Zoogs
Like the Bhole, Zoogs may be Battled.
Zoogs have 0 Combat, and so never roll any Combat dice.
Each Kill result Kills a Zoog.
Each Pain result likewise Eliminates a Zoog, but also Pains one of your Units in the Battle. This does not count as a Kill. It just means the Zoog vanished into the underbrush. As with normal Pain rules, you cannot be Pained to an Area containing Zoogs. (Windwalker's Howl Eliminates a Zoog, but does not reflect back a Pain, as it is not a Pain).
Remember, since Zoogs are Monsters they can be Killed, Pained, or Eliminated by appropriate Spellbooks and abilities.
If a Zoog is somehow moved to an Area that is not a Citadel, it is instead Eliminated from the Map.
Regardless of your efforts, all Killed and Eliminated Zoogs return to the Map in the next Doom Phase.