Eldritch Horror: Signs of Carcosa
Eldritch Horror: Signs of Carcosa Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The Signs of Carcosa expansion contains these components:
- 4 Investigator Sheets
- 1 Ancient One Sheet
- 84 Encounter Cards
- 4 General
- 4 America
- 4 Europe
- 4 Asia/Australia
- 6 Expedition
- 6 Other World
- 24 Research
- 32 Special (3 unique backs)
- 8 Mystery Cards
- 24 Mythos Cards
- 4 Prelude Cards
- 4 Artifact Cards
- 16 Asset Cards
- 28 Condition Cards
- 12 Spell Cards
- 16 Unique Asset Cards
- 4 Investigator Tokens with Plastic Stands
- 8 Monster Tokens (6 normal, 2 epic)
- 20 Impairment Tokens
Using This Expansion
When playing with the Signs of Carcosa expansion, add all expansion components to their respective decks or pools of Eldritch Horror components except for the components described below.
- Before setup, players draw one random Prelude card. These cards alter game setup and make each game feel unique.
- Add all Impairment tokens to the general token pool. See the Impairment Tokens section for rules regarding these components.
- Shuffle all Unique Assets to create the Unique Asset deck. Place this deck faceup near the Asset deck.
Some components in this expansion require other newly introduced components. For this reason, all expansion content should be included when playing with this expansion.
Expansion Icon
Cards in this expansion are marked with the Signs of Carcosa expansion icon to distinguish these cards from the cards in other Eldritch Horror products.
Prelude Cards
When playing with this expansion, players draw one random Prelude card before setting up the game. These cards alter game setup and make each game feel unique.
The card's effect is resolved immediately after drawing the card unless it specifies different timing, such as "after resolving setup."
Impairment Tokens
This expansion introduces a new mechanic that interacts with Improvement tokens and investigators' skills. Impairment tokens represent a permanent impairment to an investigator's skills.
- When an investigator impairs a skill, he gains an Impairment token for that skill with the "–1" side up.
- If an investigator already has an Impairment token for that skill, he flips that token to the "–2" side instead. Each "–2" Impairment token counts as two "–1" Impairment tokens.
- Improvement tokens and Impairment tokens negate one another. If an investigator has both an Improvement token and an Impairment token for the same skill, he discards both tokens.
- An investigator cannot impair a skill if doing so reduces that skill's modified value to below 1.
- An investigator cannot choose to impair a skill if doing so would reduce that skill's modified value to below 1.
- An investigator cannot impair a single skill more than twice.
- An investigator cannot choose to impair a skill if that skill has already been impaired twice.
Unique Assets
Some encounters in this expansion reward investigators with various Unique Assets. Like Spells or Conditions, Unique Assets are double-sided cards. An investigator cannot look at the back of a Unique Asset unless an effect allows him to.
- Unique Assets are possessions and may be traded using the Trade action. There is no limit to the number of Unique Assets an investigator can have.
- "Asset" refers to both Assets and Unique Assets. "Non-Unique Asset" refers to Assets but not Unique Assets.
- When a Unique Asset is discarded, also discard all tokens on it.
The example Unique Asset card shown in the rulebook is Albert Wilmarth, an Ally — Character:
When you gain this card from the deck, gain 1 random Tome Asset from the deck.
Reckoning icon: Roll 1 die. On a 4–6, gain 1 Clue and recover 1 Sanity.
Skill Values
Some effects in this expansion reference an investigator's skills as a value. A skill's value is equal to its printed value as modified by Improvement tokens and Impairment tokens.
- A skill's value is not affected by bonuses from possessions or other effects, since those effects are applied only when resolving a test.
For example, Dexter Drake has a printed Influence of 2 and a single "+1 Influence" Improvement token. As such, his Influence value is 3 (2 from its printed value plus 1 from his Improvement token). The bonus to Influence that Dexter would gain from the Personal Assistant Asset does not affect the skill's value.
Additional Rules
This section lists additional rules regarding Combat Encounters and Mysteries.
Combat Encounters
During the Encounter Phase, an investigator must encounter each non-Epic Monster on his space before encountering each Epic Monster on his space.
Physical Resistance
Some Monsters and Epic Monsters in this expansion have the Physical Resistance ability. When resolving a Combat Encounter against a Monster with the Physical Resistance ability, an investigator cannot apply any bonus to his dice pool except from Magical possessions and Spells. Effects that allow the investigator to reroll dice or manipulate dice results can be used as normal.
Mystery
This expansion introduces a new mechanic: "advance the active Mystery." Due to the complexity of Mysteries, this can result in a number of different effects. When investigators are instructed to advance the active Mystery, the active investigator resolves one of the following effects that applies:
- If the active Mystery requires one or more tokens to be placed on the card, place one token of that type on the card.
- Clues, Gates, and Monsters placed on the active Mystery in this way are drawn from the Clue pool, Gate stack, and Monster cup, respectively.
- If the active Mystery requires an Epic Monster to be defeated, place two Health on the card. The Epic Monster's toughness is reduced by one for each Health on the active Mystery.
- If the active Mystery requires an investigator to spend one or more Clues, place one Clue from the Clue pool on the card. Any investigator may spend Clues placed on the active Mystery when resolving an effect of that card.
Optional Rules
Some players may wish to adjust the game's difficulty. This section lists optional rules for adjusting the game's difficulty and setup instructions of Prelude cards.
Insane Game Difficulty
If players wish to have a more challenging game experience than Hard game difficulty from the base game, they can make the game significantly more difficult by building the Mythos deck using only hard Mythos cards.
Note—This optional rule may require additional expansions depending on the chosen Ancient One.
Control Your Fate
Instead of drawing a random Prelude card before setup, players as a group may choose one Prelude card, following the card's effects as normal.
Alternatively, players may choose to not use a Prelude card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can Jenny Barnes use her action ability to allow herself or another investigator to perform the Acquire Assets action if that investigator is not on a City space or on a space containing a Monster?
A. No. An investigator can perform the Acquire Assets action only if he is on a City space and only if there are no Monsters on his space.
Q. Can Michael McGlen use his action ability if he already has a Wanted Condition?
A. Yes. Michael McGlen can use his action ability if he has a Wanted Condition. If he does, he resolves all effects of the ability except that he will not gain another Wanted Condition.
Q. Does Michael McGlen's passive ability allow him to reroll the die rolled as part of a Dark Pact's reckoning effect?
A. Yes. Michael McGlen's passive ability allows him to reroll any single die that is rolled as part of a Deal or Pursuit Condition's effect even if the die is not rolled as part of a test. This includes the one die rolled when resolving the reckoning icon effect of a Dark Pact Condition or a Promise of Power Condition.
Q. Can Wendy Adams's passive ability stop her from gaining a Condition she chooses to gain?
A. Yes. If an effect allows Wendy Adams to gain a Condition as part of a cost, such as "you may gain a Madness Condition" or "unless you gain a Blight Condition," she may use her passive ability to not gain that Condition instead. If she does, the cost of gaining the Condition has still been paid.
Q. Does the Spawn of Hastur Epic Monster's ability prevent it from losing two or more Health during a Combat Encounter?
A. Yes. If any effect, including the effects of a Combat Encounter, would cause the Spawn of Hastur Epic Monster to lose two or more Health, it loses one Health instead.
Q. Can an investigator have multiple copies of the same Unique Asset?
A. Yes. There is no limit to the number of Unique Assets an investigator can have.
Q. Can an investigator gain a random Unique Asset when told to gain a random Asset?
A. No. If an effect says, "gain 1 random Asset from the deck," the investigator gains the Asset from the Asset deck, not the Unique Asset deck. An investigator gains a Unique Asset only if the effect specifically calls for a Unique Asset.