The Last Relic of R'lyeh Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Components
• 3. Setup
• 4. Objective
• 5. Basic Concepts
  • 5.1 Decks, Hands, and Discard Piles
  • 5.2 Locations and Clues
  • 5.3 Card Abilities
  • 5.4 Funds
• 6. Round Sequence
  • 6.1 Draw Phase
  • 6.2 Deployment Phase
  • 6.3 Action Phase
  • 6.4 Alert Phase
  • 6.5 Reinforcement Phase
  • 6.6 Maintenance Phase
• 7. Adventurer Actions
  • 7.1 Play a Card
  • 7.2 Discover a Location
  • 7.3 Steal a Relic
  • 7.4 Activate the Ability of a Discovered Location
• 8. Cult Actions
  • 8.1 Play a Card
  • 8.2 Activate a Deployed Cultist
• 9. Relics
  • 9.1 Cult Relics
  • 9.2 Relics Stolen by the Adventurer
• 10. Wounds and Madness
• 11. Alert Board
• 12. End of the Game
• 13. FAQs

1. Introduction

The Last Relic of R'lyeh is an asymmetrical game for two players. One player controls the Cult, deploying Cultists to different Locations in order to obtain Relics and summon the chosen Great Old One. The other player controls the Adventurer, who investigates those Locations, steals Relics to prevent the summoning, and increases the public Exposure of the sect, unmasking the Cult.

2. Components

• A · 1 wooden Adventurer figure
• B · 2 personal boards
• C · 1 Alert Board
• D · 1 Exposure marker
• E · 1 Notoriety marker
• F · 2 Funds markers, one per player
• G · 2 Reserve tokens, one per player
• H · 15 Relic tokens
• I · 12 Clue / Ritual Mark tokens, value 1
• J · 4 Clue / Ritual Mark tokens, value 3
• K · 7 Adventurer Damage tokens, Wound / Madness
• L · 5 Stolen Relic / Shot tokens

62 cards:

• M · 10 Cult cards
• N · 9 Adventurer cards
• O · 24 Reinforcement cards
• P · 12 Location cards
• Q · 5 Great Old One cards
• 2 Reference cards

3. Setup

1. Choose who will play as the Cult and who will play as the Adventurer. Give each player their starting deck: 9 cards marked with the Adventurer icon for the Adventurer, and 10 cards marked with the Cult icon for the Cult. Also give each player their personal board, their Reserve token and a Funds marker.
2. Each player should place their Funds marker on space 3 of their personal board and their Reserve token in the corresponding space.
3. Place the Alert Board beside the play area, within reach of both players. Place the Exposure and Notoriety markers on the starting spaces of their respective tracks on the board.
4. Shuffle the Reinforcement deck and reveal the top 5 cards face up to form the market. The card offer must be accessible to both players, with the cards oriented according to each player's role.
5. The Cult player shuffles the Great Old One cards and draws 1 at random. They keep it face down near the Alert Board and return the rest to the box. The Cult player may look at it at any time, but the Adventurer may not see it.
6. The Cult player shuffles the Location deck, draws 4 cards, secretly chooses 3 of them, and places them face down in the center of the table, forming a row between both players. Return the unchosen card to the bottom of the Location deck, which is placed on top of the Alert Board.
7. The Adventurer places her figure on her side of one of the three Locations.
8. Each player shuffles their deck and places it to the left of their personal board.
9. Each player also has their own discard pile, to the right of their board.
10. Leave the Relic, Damage and Clue / Ritual Mark tokens in a general supply.

A Location card has two zones: the Cult side and the Adventurer side, along with the number of Ritual Marks needed to solve the Location and whether it is revealed or still hidden. It also shows the Adventurer's ability and space for the Adventurer's Clues.

4. Objective

A game of Last Relic of R'lyeh is played over a variable number of rounds until one of the players fulfills one of their victory conditions.

The Cult wins if:

• They gather the six Relics needed to complete the summoning of the Great Old One.
• They defeat the Adventurer by inflicting enough damage on her.

The Adventurer wins if:

• She steals four different Relics.
• She moves the Notoriety marker to the final space on the Alert Board.

5. Basic Concepts

5.1 Decks, Hands, and Discard Piles

Each player has their own deck. Whenever you draw cards, you should always draw them from your own deck. Played or discarded cards are placed in your discard pile unless a card indicates otherwise. If you run out of cards in your deck and still need to draw more, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck and continue drawing. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Cards acquired during the Reinforcement Phase are placed directly in your discard pile. They will become part of your deck the next time you shuffle your discard pile to form a new one.

Do not automatically discard the cards you keep at the end of a round. The Draw Phase limits how many cards you can have in your hand.

5.2 Locations and Clues

Locations are at the heart of the game. The Cult uses them to obtain Relics and Funds, while the Adventurer investigates them to unlock abilities and steal Relics.

Locations are placed in the center of the table face down at the start of the game. While a Location remains hidden, only the Cult player may look at it.

Each Location has two zones: the Cult side and the Adventurer side. When a player places tokens, deploys cards, or moves components to a Location, they must do so on the side corresponding to their faction. Clue tokens and the Adventurer figure are placed on the Adventurer side, while Cultist cards and Ritual Mark tokens are placed on the Cult side.

Ritual Marks represent the Cult's progress towards completing the summoning. For short, the rulebook refers to them simply as Marks. Only the Cult may use Marks.

Clues represent the signs, evidence, and discoveries that the Adventurer gathers during her investigation. Only the Adventurer may use and discard Clues.

When the Cult places Marks, they must be placed on the Location where the Cultist generating them is located, unless a card indicates otherwise.

When the Adventurer places Clues, she must place them on her Location (that is, where her figure is located), unless a card indicates otherwise.

5.3 Card Abilities

Most Adventurer cards have an action box with the action icon symbol. This effect is resolved when the card is played, after which the card is discarded.

The rest of the Adventurer cards have the permanent symbol. These permanent cards are not resolved and discarded immediately when played. Instead, they remain in play, and their effect stays active for the entire round. At the end of the round, all permanent cards in play are discarded.

The Cult also has cards with action and permanent effects, but they also have a third type of effect, indicated by the deployed symbol. This effect is continuous, but it is only active if the card is deployed to a Location as a Cultist, as explained later in section 8. Cult Actions.

Reinforcement cards allow each player to improve their deck during the game. Each Reinforcement card has two halves: one for the Adventurer and one for the Cult. The card has a single purchase cost.

When you buy a reinforcement card, you do not choose which half to use. The active half is determined by your faction: if the Adventurer buys the card, it will always use its Adventurer half; if the Cult buys it, it will always use its Cult half.

Each card also shows its Resistance (if a Cultist), its purchase cost, its type of action, and its action icons.

5.4 Funds

Funds are the game's economic resource. Some actions and effects allow you to gain Funds. The track on your personal board shows how many Funds you have at any given time. Increase the value of your marker when you gain Funds, and reduce it by the same amount when you spend Funds.

During the Reinforcement Phase, you may spend Funds to acquire new cards for your deck. Any Funds you do not spend remain available from one round to the next.

6. Round Sequence

Each round is always resolved following these phases, in this order:

1. Draw Phase
2. Deployment Phase
3. Action Phase
4. Alert Phase
5. Reinforcement Phase
6. Maintenance Phase

6.1 Draw Phase

Each player draws 5 cards from their deck, always respecting the hand limit: 8 cards.

A player with eight cards does not draw any more cards and ignores any effect that would make them draw until their hand is below eight again. In other words, if a player has cards in their hand at the start of this phase, they only draw cards until they reach the limit of eight.

6.2 Deployment Phase

The Cult player may deploy any number of cards from their hand to Locations as Cultists. To assign a Cultist, place the card face up on the Cult side of a Location. If a Cultist has a continuous effect, that effect is active from the moment the Cultist is assigned to a Location.

Newly assigned Cultists, as well as Cultists deployed in previous rounds, can be activated during the following round's Action Phase.

6.3 Action Phase

This is the main phase of the game. Starting with the Adventurer, players alternate taking one action each. On your turn, you may perform an action available to your faction or pass. Passing does not prevent you from acting again later in the same phase. The Action Phase only ends when both players pass consecutively.

6.4 Alert Phase

Check how many Cultists are deployed to Locations. Advance the Exposure marker on the Alert Board as many spaces as there are deployed Cultists. Then apply the effect of the space reached. Spaces on the Exposure track may grant Funds to one of the players, depending on the zone of the track where the marker is located. They may also advance the Notoriety marker.

If the Notoriety marker reaches the final space, the Cult is definitively exposed and the Adventurer wins immediately.

6.5 Reinforcement Phase

During this phase, players take turns purchasing cards. The player who passed first in the consecutive pass goes first in this phase.

On your purchase turn, you may buy one of the available cards from the market or pass. To buy a card, subtract its cost from your Funds and place it in your discard pile. Purchased cards are not replaced immediately. The market is refilled only at the end of the phase.

Players continue alternating turns until both pass consecutively. Then, in the same order, each player may place their available Reserve token on a card remaining in the market.

Reserving a card is optional and can only be done if you do not already have your Reserve token placed on another card. Both tokens can be on the same card.

Finally, discard all cards in the market without a Reserve token. Refill the market with cards from the Reinforcement deck until there are five available cards again.

Important: A card with your Reserve token on it costs one fund less for you. If any player buys a card with a Reserve token on it, return the token to its owner's personal board.

6.6 Maintenance Phase

Resolve the following steps:

1. Ready all activated Cultists. Cultist cards assigned by the Cult to a Location remain deployed to that Location from one round to the next.
2. Return the Exposure marker to the starting space on its track on the Alert Board.
3. Discard all permanent cards from play.
4. Remove the Clues placed on Location cards to mark used abilities. Do not remove Clues or Marks located on the sides of Locations (see section 7.4).

7. Adventurer Actions

During the Action Phase, the Adventurer may take one of the following actions:

7.1 Play a Card

You may play a card from your hand to activate its permanent effect, if it has one. If so, place the card above your personal board. The card's effect remains active until the Maintenance Phase.

You may also play a card from your hand to resolve its immediate action effect. If the icons are separated by "/", you must choose which option to resolve.

After resolving all possible effects, always from left to right, place the card in your discard pile.

Common Adventurer icons:

• Increase your Funds marker by one.
• Place one Clue next to the Location you are on, on the side closest to you.
• Advance the Exposure marker one space on the Alert Board.
• Move your figure to another Location.
• Draw a card from your deck and add it to your hand.
• Place one Shot token on a Cultist in your same Location. If that Cultist has as many Shots as its Resistance, discard it and apply any effect it has when eliminated. Shot tokens on Cultists are not removed during Maintenance; they remain on the Cultist from one round to the next until the Cultist is eliminated or discarded.

Some cards offer multiple options or enhanced effects when certain conditions are met. Choose a valid option and ensure that you meet all its conditions before activating it.

For example, to activate one such effect, you must discard a Clue. To activate another, there must be three or more Cultists in your Location. An "X" icon means you produce that effect as many times as Relics you have stolen.

7.2 Discover a Location

Discard 2 Clues from your Location to discover it. Turn the card face up. From that moment on, the following applies:

• The cost for the Cult to resolve that Location increases, and the Cult must use the higher value.
• The Adventurer may activate that Location's ability once per round (see Section 7.4).
• The Adventurer may steal Relics from that Location if she is there and pays the corresponding cost, as explained below.

7.3 Steal a Relic

Discard 4 Clues from a discovered Location where you are located. Choose one visible Relic from that Location to steal.

Take a token of that Relic and place it on your personal board. Then, place a Stolen Relic token on the Location card, covering the chosen Relic.

If the Cult resolves that Location later, they will not obtain the covered Relic.

7.4 Activate the Ability of a Discovered Location

Each discovered Location grants the Adventurer an ability that can be activated once per round. To activate this ability, use a Clue that is on that same Location and place it on top of the Location card to show that the ability has already been resolved this round.

The Adventurer does not need to be present at the Location to activate its ability. These Clues are not discarded immediately. They remain on top of the Location card until the Maintenance Phase, at which point they are returned to the general supply.

Important: The Adventurer may move to a hidden Location and place Clues there, but she may not activate its ability or steal its Relics until the Location has been discovered.

8. Cult Actions

During the Action Phase, the Cult player may take one of these two actions:

8.1 Play a Card

You may play a card from your hand to resolve its immediate action effect, if it has one. After resolving the effect, place the card in your discard pile.

You may also play a card from your hand to activate its permanent effect, if it has one. In that case, place the card above your personal board. Its effect remains active until the Maintenance Phase.

Keep in mind that many Cult cards do not have effects that can be resolved from your hand. Some only have their passive effect active when they are deployed to a Location as Cultists.

8.2 Activate a Deployed Cultist

Choose a Cultist that you have deployed to a Location and is ready. Rotate the card 90° to show that it has been activated, then resolve its action icons. If the icons are separated by /, choose which half to resolve.

A rotated Cultist cannot be activated again until it is readied during the Maintenance Phase or until a card effect allows it.

Common Cult icons:

• Place one Ritual Mark next to this Location, on your side of the card.
• Increase your Funds marker by one.
• If the Adventurer is in this Location, place one Wound token on her personal board.
• If the Adventurer is in this Location, place one Madness token on her personal board.
• Move the Exposure marker back one space on the Alert Board.

As a result of placing Marks, the Cult may reach the point where they resolve a Location. The moment the Cult has enough Marks on a Location, it must be resolved immediately as part of the same action that placed the last Mark. If the Location is still hidden, use its basic cost. If it is discovered, use its higher cost.

When resolving a Location, reveal it if it was hidden and apply these steps in order:

• Discard all Marks from that Location.
• Discard all Cultists deployed to that Location.
• If the Adventurer is in that Location, her player moves her figure to another Location.
• Distribute any Clues that were in that Location evenly between the other two Locations. In case of doubt, the Cult player decides.
• The Cult gains the rewards shown on the Location: non-stolen Relics and Funds.
• The Cult checks whether it can complete the summoning. If so, the Cult wins the game immediately.
• If the game doesn't end, remove the resolved Location card from the game. The Cult draws the top two cards of the Location deck, chooses one, and places it face down in the space of the removed Location. The other card is placed on the bottom of the Location deck.

Example: The Cult player has just activated one of its Cultists to add the seventh and final Ritual Mark to that Location, resolving it. If the Location weren't discovered, only 5 marks would have been necessary. Now, the Cult returns all the Marks to the general supply and moves the Cultist to its discard pile. The Adventurer player moves her figure to another Location and the Cult player also moves the Clues, 2 to one Location and 1 to the other, the way it chooses. Then, they take from the general supply 2 Relic tokens, but not the token the Adventurer already stole in a previous turn. Those 2 Relics are not enough for the Cult to win, so the game continues. The Cult looks at the 2 first cards in the Location's deck, chooses one to replace the one resolved, and returns the other to the bottom of the deck.

9. Relics

Relics are tokens that players can obtain during the game. The Cult gathers them to complete the summoning of its Great Old One, while the Adventurer steals them to prevent the ritual.

9.1 Cult Relics

Each Great Old One requires a specific combination of six Relics to be summoned. When the Cult gains Relics by resolving a Location, they take the corresponding tokens and place them on their personal board. These tokens are visible to both players.

If the Cult has the six Relics required to summon the Great Old One, they win immediately.

Very Important: Two identical Relics may be used as a substitute for any one missing Relic needed to complete the summoning.

9.2 Relics Stolen by the Adventurer

When the Adventurer steals a Relic, take the corresponding token and place it on her personal board, where both players can see it.

If the Adventurer has four different Relics on her personal board, she wins immediately.

A Location may have more than one stolen Relic. Each stolen Relic must be covered with its own Stolen Relic token. If the Cult resolves that Location later, it does not obtain the Relics covered by those tokens.

10. Wounds and Madness

Some Cultists and effects inflict Wounds or Madness on the Adventurer. When this happens, take an Adventurer damage token on the corresponding side and place it on the damage track of her personal board, starting from the top for Wounds and the bottom for Madness.

Wounds and Madness do not, by themselves, reduce the actions available to the Adventurer, although some Cult cards may become more effective depending on the damage she has accumulated.

The Adventurer is defeated and the Cult wins immediately if either of these conditions is met:

• The Adventurer has five tokens of the same type: 5 Wounds or 5 Madness.
• The Adventurer has seven damage tokens in total, regardless of type (her damage track is full).

Some Adventurer cards or Locations have icons that allow her to heal:

• Remove one Wound token from your personal board.
• Remove one Madness token from your personal board.

11. Alert Board

The Alert Board has two markers:

• Exposure: Measures the Exposure generated during the round. It resets at the end of each round.
• Notoriety: Measures how much the Cult has been exposed over the course of the game. It does not reset between rounds.

Both markers start the game on their initial spaces.

During the Action Phase, some cards may advance or move back the Exposure marker.

In addition, during the Alert Phase, the Exposure marker advances as many spaces as there are Cultists deployed to Locations. Then, apply the effects of the space reached:

• If a space indicates that the Notoriety marker advances or moves back, move it the indicated number of spaces. If the Notoriety marker reaches the final space, the Cult is exposed and the Adventurer wins immediately.
• If a space grants Funds, the appropriate faction gains the corresponding amount.
• During the Maintenance Phase, return the Exposure marker to its starting space. The Notoriety marker remains where it is.

Example: During the action phase, the Exposure Marker has advanced 2 spaces. On the Alert phase, it advances another 4 because there are four Cultists deployed on the Locations. As a result, the Notoriety marker, which has already advanced 3 positions throughout the game, advances another 2 spaces, and the Adventurer gains 1 Fund. Finally, during the Maintenance Phase, the Exposure Marker returns to its starting position. The Notoriety Marker, though, remains in place until it is moved again in the next Alert Phase.

12. End of the Game

The game ends when one of the four victory conditions is met.

The Cult wins immediately if it fulfills one of these conditions:

• Summoning: The Cult gathers the Relics needed to summon its Great Old One.
• Defeat of the Adventurer: The Adventurer accumulates five damage tokens of the same type, or seven damage tokens in total.

The Adventurer wins immediately if she fulfills one of these conditions:

• Ritual cancelled: The Adventurer steals four different Relics.
• Cult exposed: The Notoriety marker reaches the final space of its track on the Alert Board.

13. FAQs

What happens if a player passes? Nothing irreversible happens. They may act again later if the Action Phase has not ended.

When do the Action Phase and Reinforcement Phase end? When both players pass consecutively.

Do Clues and Marks remain from one round to the next? Yes. Clues and Marks placed on the sides of Locations remain there from one round to the next. They are only removed when used to pay a cost, when a Location is resolved, or when an effect indicates so. However, Clues used to activate a Location ability are placed on top of that Location only to show that the ability has already been used during that round. These Clues are returned to the general supply during the Maintenance Phase.

Do Cultists remain deployed from one round to the next? Yes. Cultists remain in their Location until they are discarded, eliminated, moved by an effect, or until the Location where they are deployed is resolved.

Do Shot tokens remain on Cultists? Yes, Shots on a Cultist remain from one round to the next. They are only removed when that Cultist is eliminated or when the Location where it is deployed is resolved and the Cultist goes to the discard pile.

Do I discard my hand at the end of the round? No, cards kept in hand remain from one round to the next. During the draw phase, draw five cards, or as many as you can, until you reach the eight-card hand limit. Do not exceed the limit in order to discard afterwards.

Can the Adventurer use two identical Relics as a substitute for another one? No, this rule may only be used by the Cult to complete the summoning of its Great Old One.

What is the difference between eliminating and discarding a Cultist? A Cultist is considered eliminated when it receives enough Shot tokens to equal or exceed its Resistance, or when an effect expressly indicates that it eliminates a Cultist. By contrast, a Cultist is considered discarded when it is removed from play without having been eliminated. Effects that require a Cultist to be eliminated do not trigger when a Cultist is simply discarded.

Can I deploy all the Cultists or only those with the deployed-effect symbol? You can deploy any cultist you want. Just keep in mind that action and permanent abilities cannot be used if the Cultist is deployed, so you have to evaluate if those Cultists do you more service in your hand or deployed in a Location.

Can I purchase a card with my opponent's reserve marker on it? Yes, of course. Reserve markers ensure the card remains available from one turn to the next and give you a discount, but that doesn't give you any special right over the card.