A Note from ArkhamDB

This page contains a replica of the Rules Reference found in any copy of the Core Set of Arkham Horror: The Card Game. It also includes updates to the Rules Reference: rules added in deluxe expansions (marked in red) and rules added in the official FAQ for the game (marked in blue).

The Thing That Should Not Be...

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.

– H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Halt! Read the Learn to Play book first. As questions arise during gameplay, use this document's glossary as a reference. After playing the tutorial game, we recommend reading the appendices beginning on page 22.

This document is intended as the definitive source for rules information, but does not teach players how to play the game. Players should first read the Learn to Play book in its entirety and use this Rules Reference as needed while playing the game.

The majority of this guide consists of a glossary, which provides an alphabetical listing of terms and situations a player might encounter during a game. This section should be the first destination for players who have a rules question.

The latter part of this guide contains four appendices. The first appendix describes the process of playing cards or initiating triggered abilities. The second appendix provides timing diagrams that illustrate the structure of a game round, as well as a detailed explanation of how to handle each game step presented in those diagrams. The third appendix lists the complete rules for setting up a game of Arkham Horror: The Card Game. The fourth appendix provides a detailed anatomy of each cardtype.

The Golden Rules

If the text of this Rules Reference directly contradicts the text of the Learn to Play book, the text of the Rules Reference takes precedence.

If the text of a card directly contradicts the text of either the Rules Reference or the Learn to Play book, the text of the card takes precedence.

The Grim Rule

If players are unable to find the answer to a rules or timing conflict in this Rules Reference, resolve the conflict in the manner that the players perceive as the worst possible at that moment with regards to winning the scenario, and continue with the game.

When investigators are forced to make a choice and there are multiple valid options, the lead investigator decides between those options. The Grim Rule does not play a part in these choices.

For example: Locked Door reads “Attach to the location with the most clues,and without a Locked Door attached.” If there are 3 locations that are tied for the most clues, and none of them already have a Locked Door attached, the lead investigator decides between those 3 locations. Players are not forced to decide which of those 3 options would be the objectively worst option.

The Grim Rule only comes into effect if players are unable to find the answer to a rules or timing conflict, and are thus unable to continue playing the game. It is designed to keep the game moving when looking up the correct answer would be too time-consuming or inconvenient for the players. The Grim Rule is not an exhaustive answer to rules/timing conflicts.

Glossary

The following is an alphabetical list of entries for game rules, terms, and situations that may occur during play.

A, An

When used to describe a condition, the words "a" or "an" are satisfied if one or more of the conditional elements are present. For example, an investigator with 3 resources will satisfy the condition of "Each investigator with a resource."

Ability

An ability is the specialized game text that indicates how a card affects the game.

Card abilities only interact with the game if the card bearing the ability is in play, unless the ability (or rules for the cardtype) specifically references its use from an out-of-play area.

Card abilities only interact with other cards that are in play, unless the ability specifically references an interaction with cards in an out-of-play area.

If multiple instances of the same ability are in play, each instance interacts with (or may interact with) the game state individually.

The various types of card abilities are: constant abilities, forced abilities, revelation abilities, triggered abilities, keywords, and enemy instructions (spawn and prey). Each type is described in detail below.

See also: "Costs" on page 7, "Effects" on page 9, "Qualifiers" on page 17, "Self-Referential Text" on page 18.

Constant Abilities

Constant abilities are simply stated on a card with no special formatting. Constant abilities are always interacting with the game state as long as the card is in play. (Some constant abilities continuously seek a specific condition, denoted by words such as "during" or "while." The effects of such abilities are active any time the specified condition is met.) Constant abilities have no point of initiation.

Forced Abilities

A forced ability is identified by a bold "Forced – " command. Forced abilities initiate and interact with the game state automatically at a specified timing point. Such a timing point is usually indicated by words such as: "when," "after," "if," or "at."

If a forced ability does not have the potential to change the game state, the ability does not initiate.

The initiation of a forced ability that has the potential to change the game state is mandatory each time its specified timing point is met.

A forced ability with a timing point beginning with the word "when..." automatically initiates as soon as the specified timing point is reached, but before its impact upon the game state resolves.

A forced ability with a timing point beginning with the word "after..." automatically initiates immediately after that timing point's impact upon the game state has resolved.

For any given timing point, all forced abilities initiated in reference to that timing point must resolve before any [reaction] abilities (see below) referencing the same timing point in the same manner may be initiated.

See "Priority of Simultaneous Resolution" on page 17.

Revelation Abilities

A revelation ability, indicated by a bold "Revelation – " command on an encounter card or weakness, initiates as that card is drawn by an investigator (see "Revelation" on page 18).

Triggered Abilities

A triggered ability is any ability prefaced by either a [free] icon, a [reaction] icon, or an [action] icon. If the ability has one or more prerequisites (costs and/or conditions), these are listed in text immediately following the icon. A player must always meet the prerequisites of a triggered ability in order to trigger that ability. There are three types of triggered abilities:

Free triggered abilities ([free]) – A [free] triggered ability may be triggered as a player ability during any player window. (See "Appendix II: Timing and Gameplay" on page 22 for a complete list of player windows.)

Reaction triggered abilities ([reaction]) – A [reaction] triggered ability with a specified triggering condition may be triggered any time that triggering condition is met. For example: "[reaction] After you defeat an enemy:"

A [reaction] ability with a triggering condition beginning with the word "when..." may be used after the specified triggering condition initiates, but before its impact upon the game state resolves.

A [reaction] ability with a triggering condition beginning with the word "after..." may be used immediately after that triggering condition's impact upon the game state has resolved.

Each [reaction] ability may be triggered only once each time the specified condition on the ability is met. For example, an ability that is triggered "After X occurs," may be used once each time "X" occurs.

Action triggered abilities ([action]) – An [action] triggered ability may be triggered during a player's turn in the investigation phase through the use of the activate action, and only if the player uses one action for each [action] specified in the ability's cost.

All triggered abilities are governed by the following rules:

Triggered abilities on a card a player controls are optionally triggered (or not) by that player at the appropriate timing moment, as indicated by the ability.

A triggered ability can only be initiated if its effect has the potential to change the game state, and its cost (if any) has the potential to be paid in full, taking active cost modifiers into account. This potential is assessed without taking into account the consequences of the cost payment or any other ability interactions.

Once an ability is initiated, players must resolve as much of the effect as possible, unless the effect uses the word "may" (see "May" on page 15).

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.2) An investigator is permitted to use triggered abilities ([fast], [reaction], and [action] abilities) from the following sources:

A card in play and under his or her control. This includes his or her investigator card.

A scenario card that is in play and at the same location as the investigator. This includes the location itself, encounter cards placed at that location, and all encounter cards in the threat area of any investigator at that location.

The current act or current agenda card.

Any card that explicitly allows the investigator to activate its ability.

Keywords

A keyword is a card ability which conveys specific rules to its card (see "Keywords" on page 13).

Spawn Instructions and Prey Instructions

Spawn instructions inform where an enemy spawns as it enters play (see "Spawn" on page 19).

Prey instructions inform which investigator an enemy pursues and/or engages if it has a choice (see "Prey" on page 17).

Action Designators

Some abilities have bold action designators (such as Fight, Evade, Investigate, or Move). Activating such an ability performs the designated action as described in the rules, but modified in the manner described by the ability.

Act Deck and Agenda Deck

The act deck represents the progress the investigators can make in a scenario. The agenda deck represents the progress and objectives of the dark forces arrayed against the investigators in a scenario. Generally, advancing the act deck is good for the investigators, and advancing the agenda deck is bad for the investigators.

The act deck advances if the investigators, as a group, spend the requisite number of clues (as indicated by the act card). An act card may indicate a flat value (such as "4") or a per investigator value (as indicated by the [per_investigator] icon). This is normally done as a [free] player ability. Any or all investigators may contribute any number of clues towards the total number of clues required to advance the act. If the act has an " Objective – " instruction, that instruction overrides or adds additional requirements to the spending of those clues.

– " instruction, that instruction overrides or adds additional requirements to the spending of those clues. The agenda deck advances if the requisite number of doom is in play (doom on the agenda card as well as doom on any other cards in play), as indicated by the agenda card. An agenda card may indicate a flat value or a per investigator value. If the agenda has an " Objective – " instruction, that instruction overrides or adds additional requirements to meeting this doom requirement.

– " instruction, that instruction overrides or adds additional requirements to meeting this doom requirement. The act/agenda on top of the act/agenda deck is referred to as the "current" act/agenda.

To advance the act deck or the agenda deck, follow these steps, in order:

Remove all tokens from the card to be advanced. If the agenda deck is advancing, remove all doom from each card in play. Flip the advancing card over and follow the instructions on the reverse ("b") side.

If the reverse side of the act or agenda is an encounter card, follow the rules for drawing that encounter cardtype. Otherwise, simply follow the instructions on the card.

Sometimes, the advancing act/agenda specifies which card becomes the next act/agenda. If it does not, the next card in the deck becomes the current act/agenda. As a new card becomes the current act/agenda, the advancing card is simultaneously removed from the game.

Some instructions in the act and agenda decks (as well as on other encounter cardtypes) contain resolution points, in the format of: "(→R#)." If a resolution point is reached, the scenario ends. Read the designated resolution in the campaign guide.

See also: "Clues" on page 6, "Doom" on page 9.

Action

During his or her turn, an investigator is permitted to take up to three actions. When performing an action, all costs of the action are first paid. Then, the consequences of the action resolve.

If an investigator is instructed to lose 1 or more actions, he or she has that many fewer actions to take during that round.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.10) Some card abilities grant investigators "additional actions." If an investigator has one or more additional actions during his or her turn, the first action he or she takes that is able to qualify as that additional action automatically uses that additional action.

For example: Daisy Walker reads: "You may take an additional action during your turn, which can only be used on Tome [action] abilities." The first time Daisy performs a Tome [action] ability each turn, it automatically uses up that additional action, and not one of Daisy’s three standard actions.

If an action qualifies as more than one of an investigator’s additional actions, he or she may choose which additional action is used.

If an effect causes an investigator to lose one or more actions, that investigator has that many fewer standard actions to take that turn (the investigator’s three standard actions are the ones that are "lost" first). If an investigator only has additional actions remaining, those are then lost, in an order of the investigator’s choosing.

For example: An effect causes Daisy to lose two actions. She has two fewer standard actions to take during her turn. She cannot choose to "lose" her additional action unless it is the only action she has remaining.

For a complete list of the available actions, see "2.2.1 Investigator takes an action, if able" on page 24.

Activate Action

"Activate" is an action an investigator may take during his or her turn in the investigation phase.

When this action is taken, the investigator initiates an ability that specifies one or more [action] icons as part of its ability cost. The number of [action] icons in the ability's cost determines how many actions the investigator is required to use for this activate action. When performing an activate action, all of that action's costs are simultaneously paid. Then, the consequences of that action resolve.

An investigator is permitted to activate abilities from the following sources:

A card in play and under his or her control. This includes his or her investigator card.

A scenario card that is in play and at the same location as the investigator. This includes the location itself, encounter cards placed at that location, and all encounter cards in the threat area of any investigator at that location.

The current act or current agenda card.

Active Player

The active player is the player taking his or her turn during the investigation phase.

After

The word "after" refers to the moment immediately after the specified timing point or triggering condition has fully resolved.

(For example, an ability that reads "After you draw an enemy card" initiates immediately after resolving all of the steps for drawing an enemy – resolving its revelation ability, spawning it, etc.)

See also: "Ability" on page 2, "Priority of Simultaneous Resolution" on page 17.

Additional Costs (added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.6)

Some cards add additional costs that must be paid in order to perform certain effects or actions, in the form of "As an additional cost to (specified effect/action) you must (additional cost)" or "You must (additional cost) to (specified effect/action)."

Additional costs are costs that can be paid outside the normal timing point of paying costs (for instance, during the resolution of an effect). If an effect that requires an additional cost would resolve, the additional cost must be paid at that time. If the additional cost cannot be paid, that aspect of the effect fails to resolve.

Additional costs do not have to be paid when a Forced effect or mandatory instruction (such as in the Campaign Guide, or on the back of an Act or Agenda card) requires an investigator to resolve an effect.

For example: “Ashcan” Pete is at the Miskatonic Quad and activates Duke’s second ability, which reads: "[action] Exhaust Duke: Investigate. You investigate with a base skill of 4. You may move to a connecting location immediately before investigating with this effect.” Pete pays the cost to activate this ability, which is spending one action and exhausting Duke. Then Pete resolves the ability, first moving to the Orne Library, followed by investigating. The Orne Library, however, reads: “You must spend 1 additional action to investigate the Orne Library.” This adds an additional cost that must be paid in order to investigate the Orne Library. This additional cost is paid when the investigate action would resolve, outside the normal timing point for paying costs. If Pete cannot spend the additional action, that aspect of Duke’s effect fails to resolve.

Agenda Deck

See "Act Deck and Agenda Deck" on page 3.

Alert (added in The Forgotten Age)

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.

Aloof

Aloof is a keyword ability. An enemy with the aloof keyword does not automatically engage investigators at its location.

When an aloof enemy spawns, it spawns unengaged.

An investigator may use the engage action or a card ability to engage an aloof enemy.

An investigator cannot attack an aloof enemy while that enemy is not engaged with an investigator.

"As if..." (added in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.10)

Some card effects allow an investigator to resolve an ability or perform an action as if a certain aspect of the game state were altered, using the text "as if..." to indicate the difference. The indicated ability or action is resolved with the altered game state in mind, but the actual game state remains unchanged.

This includes all steps of the indicated ability/action, including the paying of its costs, attacks of opportunity (where applicable), and resolving each aspect of its effect.

Other card abilities or game effects do not resolve with the altered game state in mind; only the indicated ability/action.

Example 1: Luke Robinson’s ability allows him to "play one event each turn as if you were at a connecting location and engaged with each enemy at that location." If Luke plays Barricade as if he were at a connecting location, he would attach it to the location he is considered to be at, instead of the location he is actually at. Doing so would also provoke attacks of opportunities from any enemies at that location, since he is considered to be engaged with them throughout the playing of Barricade. That location has the following ability: "[reaction] After an event card is attached to this location, deal 1 damage to each investigator at this location." This ability would still trigger, but it would not deal any damage to Luke, because he is not actually at that location. He is only considered to be at that location for the purposes of the playing of Barricade.

Example 2: Luke Robinson instead plays Shortcut as if he were at a connecting location. This would allow him to move to a location connected to the chosen location. If there are 1 or more enemies at that location, they do not move with him, because even though the event is resolved as if Luke is engaged with him, those enemies are not actually in his threat area, and therefore do not move when he moves.

Asset Cards

Asset cards represent items, allies, talents, spells, and other reserves that may assist or be used by an investigator during a scenario.

When you play an asset, it is placed in your play area. Generally, assets remain in play unless discarded by a card ability or game step.

Some assets have health and/or sanity. When an investigator is dealt damage or horror, that investigator may assign some or all of that damage or horror to eligible asset cards he or she controls (see "Dealing Damage/Horror" on page 7).

Most assets take up one or more slots while in play (see "Slots" on page 19).

Some assets have an encounter set icon and no level indicator. Such assets are known as Story Assets. Story Assets are part of an encounter set and may not be included in a player's deck unless the resolution or setup of a scenario grants that player permission to do so.

At (added in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.2)

Some abilities have triggering conditions that use the words "at" or "if" instead of specifying "when" or "after," such as "at the end of the round," or "if the Ghoul Priest is defeated." These abilities trigger in between any "when..." abilities and any "after..." abilities with the same triggering condition.

See also: "If".

Attach To

If a card uses the phrase "attach to" it must be attached to (placed beneath and slightly overlapped by) the specified game element as it enters play. Once attached, such a card is referred to as an attachment.

The "attach to" phrase is checked for legality each time a card would be attached to a game element, but is not checked again after that attachment occurs. If the initial "attach to" check does not pass, the card is not able to be attached, and remains in its prior state or game area. If such a card cannot remain in its prior state or game area, discard it.

Once in play, an attachment remains attached until either the attachment or the game element to which it is attached leaves play (in which case the attachment is discarded), or unless a card ability explicitly detaches the card.

An attachment exhausts and readies independently of the game element it's attached to.

Control of Attachments (added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.14)

An attachment may change control depending on the card it is attached to.

If an investigator attaches a player card to a player card he or she controls, he or she retains control of the attachment.

If an investigator attaches a player card to a player card another investigator controls, that other investigator takes control of the attachment.

If a player card with 1 or more player attachments changes control, the card’s new controller takes control of those player attachments.

If an investigator attaches a player card to an encounter card, he or she retains control of the attachment (but does not gain control of the attached encounter card).

Attacker, Attacked

An "attacker" is an entity (usually an enemy or investigator) that is resolving its attack against another entity. The entity being attacked is referred to as the "attacked enemy" or the "attacked investigator."

Attack of Opportunity

Each time an investigator is engaged with one or more ready enemies and takes an action other than to fight, to evade, or to activate a parley or resign ability, each of those enemies makes an attack of opportunity against the investigator, in the order of the investigator's choosing. Each attack deals that enemy's damage and horror to the investigator.

An attack of opportunity is made immediately after all costs of initiating the action that provoked the attack have been paid, but before the application of that action's effect upon the game state.

An ability that costs more than one action only provokes one attack of opportunity from each engaged enemy.

An enemy does not exhaust while making an attack of opportunity.

After all attacks of opportunity are made, continue with the resolution of the action which instigated the attack.

Attacks of opportunity count as enemy attacks for the purposes of card abilities.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.1) Attacks of Opportunity are only triggered when 1 or more of an investigator’s actions are being spent or used to trigger an ability or action. [free] abilities with a bold action designator do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Automatic Failure/Success (expanded in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.9)

Some card or token abilities may cause a skill test to automatically fail or to automatically succeed. If a skill test automatically fails or automatically succeeds, it does so during step "ST.6" of the "Skill Test Timing" process outlined on page 26.

If a skill test automatically fails, the investigator's total skill value for that test is considered 0.

If a skill test automatically succeeds, the total difficulty of that test is considered 0.

(Here begin the expanded rules. NB this section overrules some of what is above.) Some card effects make an investigator automatically succeed or automatically fail a skill test. If this occurs, depending on the timing of such an effect, certain steps of the skill test may be skipped in their entirety.

If it is known that an investigator automatically succeeds or fails at a skill test before Step 3 ("Reveal chaos token") occurs, that step is skipped, along with Step 4. No chaos token(s) are revealed from the chaos bag, and the investigator immediately moves to Step 5. All other steps of the skill test resolve as normal.

If a chaos token effect causes an investigator to automatically succeed or fail at a skill test, continue with Steps 3 and 4, as normal.

If an ability "automatically evades" 1 or more enemies, this is not the same as automatically succeeding at an evasion attempt. As per the entry on "Evade" in the Rules Reference (see "Evade"), if an ability automatically evades 1 or more enemies, no skill test is made for the evasion attempt whatsoever. Consequentially, because no skill test is made, it is not considered a "successful" evasion. The investigator simply follows the steps for evading an enemy (exhausting it and breaking its engagement).

For example: Patrice uses the ability on Hope, which reads: "[action] If Hope is ready, exhaust or discard him: Evade. Attempt to evade with a base [agility] value of 5. (If you discarded Hope, this test is automatically successful.)" If Patrice chooses to discard Hope, the skill test automatically succeeds before chaos tokens are revealed; therefore Steps 3 and 4 of the skill test are skipped. However, the skill test still takes place. Cards may still be committed to the test, and the investigator’s total modified skill value is still determined, as it may have some bearing on other card abilities. However, if Patrice instead uses the ability on Stray Cat, which reads: "[fast] Discard Stray Cat: Automatically evade a non-Elite enemy at your location," no skill test is made whatsoever.

Base Value

Base value is the value of an element before any modifiers are applied. Unless otherwise specified, the base value of an element derived from a card is the value printed on that card.

Bearer

The bearer of a weakness is the investigator who started the game with the weakness in his or her deck or play area.

See "Weakness" on page 21.

Blank

If a card's printed text box is considered "blank" by an ability, that text box is treated as if it did not have any of its printed content. Text and/or icons gained from another source are not blanked.

A card's text box includes: traits, keywords, card text and abilities.

Bonded (added in The Dream-Eaters)

Cards with the bonded keyword are linked to another player card. They have no level and therefore are not available as deckbuilding options. Instead, the card to which they are bonded (which is listed in parentheses next to this keyword) brings the bonded card into the game.

If your deck contains a card that summons one or more bonded cards, those bonded cards are set aside at the start of each game.

If a weakness with the bonded keyword is added to an investigator's deck, hand, threat area, or play area, it does not remain a part of that investigator's deck for the rest of the campaign (unlike other weaknesses). It starts each game set aside with that investigator's other bonded cards.

For example: Hope, Zeal, and Augur all have the "bonded (Miss Doyle)" keyword. This means each of those cards is bonded to the card Miss Doyle. Hope, Zeal, and Augur each have no level and are therefore not available as options to include when building your deck. However, Miss Doyle summons each of these cards when she is played. Therefore, a player with Miss Doyle in their deck should set aside Hope, Zeal, and Augur at the start of each game. These cards are not part of that investigator's deck and do not count towards their deck size.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.19) If an investigator’s deck contains a card that summons one or more bonded cards, those bonded cards are set aside at the start of each game. The number of copies of each different bonded card that are set aside in this way is equal to the number of copies of that were included in the product in which that bonded card was introduced. The number of cards in your deck that summon the bonded card in question does not factor into this limit.

For example: An investigator may only have 3 copies of Soothing Melody set aside at the start of the game. Similarly, an investigator may only have 1 Essence of the Dream set aside at the start of the game, regardless of how many copies of Dream Diary they include in their deck.

Campaign Play

A campaign is a series of interrelated scenarios in which each player plays the same investigator from one scenario to the next. As a campaign progresses, the investigator gains experience and trauma, and this is reflected by changes in his or her deck. Each decision made in a campaign may have repercussions in a later scenario.

When starting a campaign, follow the instructions for that campaign's setup in the campaign guide. After playing through a scenario during a campaign, record the specified results of that scenario in the campaign log.

Experience

After recording the results of a scenario, the investigators are ready to reflect on their experiences and purchase new cards for their decks. To do this, follow these steps, in order:

Count experience. Each investigator earns experience equal to the total victory value of all cards in the victory display plus or minus any bonuses or penalties indicated by the campaign guide for that resolution. This total is added to any unspent experience an investigator has recorded from previous scenarios in this campaign. Purchase new cards. New cards may be purchased and added to a player's deck by spending experience equal to the card's level (denoted by a number of pips in the upper left hand corner of the card). While purchasing new cards, observe the following rules:

An investigator's deckbuilding guidelines (found on the back of the investigator card) must be observed while that investigator is purchasing new cards. Only cards the investigator has access to may be purchased. The deck-size requirement must also be maintained, so that for each (nonpermanent) card purchased and added to a deck, a different card is removed from the deck. Weakness cards and cards that must be included in an investigator's deck may not be removed while that investigator is purchasing new cards.

Each card costs experience equal to the card's level, to a minimum of 1 (purchasing a level zero card still costs 1 experience). The number of pips beneath a card's cost indicates the card's level.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.8) When purchasing a new card during campaign play, an investigator must pay a minimum of 1 experience. As a result, level 0 cards cost 1 experience to purchase. This minimum only applies when purchasing new cards. It does not permanently alter a card’s level or experience cost, and does not apply when upgrading a card to a higher level version.

When purchasing a new card during campaign play, an investigator must pay a minimum of 1 experience. As a result, level 0 cards cost 1 experience to purchase. This minimum only applies when purchasing new cards. It does not permanently alter a card’s level or experience cost, and does not apply when upgrading a card to a higher level version. When purchasing a higher level version of a card with the same title, the investigator may choose to "upgrade" that card by paying only the difference in experience (to a minimum of 1) between the two cards and removing the lower level version of the card from his or her deck.

New cards are purchased (or upgraded) individually. If an investigator wishes to purchase more than 1 copy of a new card, each copy must be paid for separately, and one card must be removed from that investigator's deck for each copy purchased.

The above processes, and any specific instructions provided by the campaign guide, are the only methods by which a player may modify his or her deck during a campaign.

Record unspent experience. Each investigator records any unspent experience on the campaign log. This experience may be spent at a later time during this campaign.

Trauma

Trauma reflects permanent damage that has been done to an investigator's health and/or psyche.

If an investigator is defeated in a scenario that investigator is eliminated from the scenario but not necessarily from the campaign.

If an investigator is defeated by taking damage equal to his or her health, he or she suffers 1 physical trauma (recorded in the campaign log). For each physical trauma an investigator has, that investigator begins each subsequent scenario in the campaign with 1 damage. If an investigator has physical trauma equal to his or her printed health, the investigator is killed.

If an investigator is defeated by taking horror equal to his or her sanity, he or she suffers 1 mental trauma (recorded in the campaign log). For each mental trauma an investigator has, that investigator begins each subsequent scenario in the campaign with 1 horror. If an investigator has mental trauma equal to his or her printed sanity, the investigator is driven insane.

If an investigator is defeated by simultaneously taking damage equal to his or her health and horror equal to his or her sanity, he or she chooses which type of trauma to suffer.

If an investigator is killed or driven insane, that player must choose a new investigator to use in the next scenario, and creates a new deck for that investigator. Investigators that are killed or driven insane cannot be used for the remainder of the campaign (see "Killed/Insane Investigators" on page 13).

If a player attempts to choose a new investigator and there are no investigators remaining in the pool, the players have lost and the campaign ends.

Defeat by Card Ability

An investigator may be defeated by a card ability. A defeated investigator is eliminated from the game (see "Elimination" on page 10). Should this occur, follow the instructions of the card ability to determine if there are any long-term repercussions of the defeat.

Advancing to Next Scenario

After completing a scenario, resolving its resolution, updating the campaign log, and purchasing any new cards, advance to the next scenario (sequentially) in the campaign, unless the scenario resolution explicitly directs the investigators to a different scenario.

Joining or Leaving a Campaign

Once a campaign has begun, players can freely drop in and out of the campaign in between scenarios.

If a player leaves the campaign, do not delete that player's information from the campaign log, as he or she may re-join at any time between scenarios.

If a new player joins the campaign, he or she must choose an investigator not previously used during this campaign. That player begins as if it were his or her first scenario in the campaign, with no experience and no trauma.

Transferring Investigators to a New Campaign (added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.11)

This section expands on the ability for investigators to transfer from a completed campaign to another campaign, as originally described in the section "The End...or Is It?" in the Night of the Zealot campaign guide.

Note: The standard rules of the game dictate that players start each campaign with a clean state (new decks and 0 experience). The following is an optional variant that is likely to affect the game’s balance. Only intrepid investigators who wish to embrace the chaos should choose this option.

When transferring one or more investigators from a completed campaign to a new campaign, players should observe the following rules:

Not all surviving investigators in the original campaign need to be transferred. It is okay to transfer some and start fresh with others.

Investigator decks remain the same. This includes all story assets and weaknesses earned in the original campaign, as well as experience gained and trauma suffered. Everything recorded in the campaign log under that investigator’s "Earned Story Assets / Weaknesses" should be transferred to the new campaign, as well.

All other notes in the Campaign Log should be wiped clean and do not transfer to the new campaign.

The chaos bag is reset. This includes all additional chaos tokens that were added to the chaos bag throughout the original campaign.

Cards and Campaign Guides are written with the assumption that investigators are not being transferred from one campaign to another. For this reason, campaigns are sometimes referred to as "the campaign." (For example, "for the remainder of the campaign...") In general, when interpreting such effects, treat each campaign as being separate from one another. However, some effects should be interpreted as if each campaign played is part of one continuous uninterrupted campaign. This includes rules that dictate how an earned weakness or story asset operates, or additional rules that a specific investigator must follow. (For example, "for the remainder of the campaign, the bearer of X weakness must only speak in French.")

Cancel

Some card abilities can "cancel" other card or game effects. Cancel abilities interrupt the initiation of an effect, and prevent the effect from initiating.

Any time the effects of an ability are canceled, the ability (apart from its effects) is still regarded as initiated, and any costs have still been paid. The effects of the ability, however, are prevented from initiating and do not resolve.

If the effects of an event card are canceled, the card is still regarded as played, and it is still placed in its owner's discard pile.

If the effects of a treachery card are canceled, the card is still regarded as having been drawn, and it is still placed in the encounter discard pile.

Cannot

The word "cannot" is absolute, and cannot be countermanded by other abilities.

Cardtypes

The game's cardtypes are presented in Appendix IV, with detailed card anatomies (see "Appendix IV: Card Anatomy" on page 28).

If an ability causes a card to change its cardtype, it loses all other cardtypes it might possess and functions as would any card of the new cardtype.

See also: "Asset Cards" on page 4, "Enemy Cards" on page 10, "Event Cards" on page 11, "Location Cards" on page 14, "Skill Cards" on page 18, "Treachery Cards" on page 20.

Chaos Tokens

Chaos tokens are revealed from the chaos bag during skill tests, to modify or influence the results of the skill test.

[skull] [cultist] [elder_thing] [tablet] – If any of these tokens are revealed for a skill test, resolve the effect for that symbol as indicated on the scenario reference card for the current scenario.

[auto_fail] – This is the auto-fail token. If this token is revealed for a skill test, it indicates the investigator automatically fails the test (see "Automatic Failure/Success" on page 5).

[elder_sign] – This is the elder sign token. If this token is revealed for a skill test, resolve the [elder_sign] effect on the investigator card belonging to the player performing the skill test.

If a revealed chaos token (or the effect referenced by a chaos token) has a numerical modifier, that modifier is applied to the investigator's skill value for this test.

See "ST.3 Reveal chaos token" on page 26.

Resolving Multiple Revealed Chaos Tokens (added in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.5)

If an investigator is instructed to "resolve" multiple revealed chaos tokens, any game or card effects which refer to "the revealed chaos token" in the singular should be construed to apply to each of the revealed chaos tokens. For example, when applying chaos symbol effects during Step 4 of a skill test or applying modifiers to an investigator’s skill value during Step 5 of a skill test, the effects and modifiers of all of the resolved chaos tokens should be applied, even though the rules state "the revealed chaos token." Similarly, any card effects that refer to "the revealed chaos token" refer to all of the resolved tokens.

For example: An investigator plays Premonition, which reads: "Put Premonition into play, reveal a random chaos token from the chaos bag, and seal it on Premonition." That investigator then uses Olive McBride to "reveal 3 chaos tokens instead of 1, choose 2 of those tokens to resolve, and ignore the other." In this case, both of the resolved tokens would be sealed on Premonition, even though Premonition only refers to the revealed token as a singular token. Likewise, when Premonition instructs that investigator to "Resolve the token sealed here as if it were just revealed from the chaos bag," the investigator should resolve both of the tokens sealed on it.

Additionally, when resolving multiple chaos tokens, any game or card effects which trigger if a certain chaos token is revealed - such as the text "If the named chaos token is revealed during this skill test..." on Recall the Future - will trigger if any of the resolved chaos tokens meet the specified conditions. Such an effect will not trigger twice if two of the designated tokens are resolved.

Note that this entry only applies when multiple chaos tokens are "resolved." If multiple chaos tokens are revealed and all but 1 of them are canceled or ignored, this entry does not apply.

Choices, and the Grim Rule (added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.5)

When investigators are forced to make a choice and there are multiple valid options, the lead investigator decides between those options. The Grim Rule does not play a part in these choices.

For example: Locked Door reads “Attach to the location with the most clues,and without a Locked Door attached.” If there are 3 locations that are tied for the most clues, and none of them already have a Locked Door attached, the lead investigator decides between those 3 locations. Players are not forced to decide which of those 3 options would be the objectively worst option.

The Grim Rule only comes into effect if players are unable to find the answer to a rules or timing conflict, and are thus unable to continue playing the game. It is designed to keep the game moving when looking up the correct answer would be too time-consuming or inconvenient for the players. The Grim Rule is not an exhaustive answer to rules/timing conflicts.

Clues

Clues represent the progress the investigators can make towards solving a mystery, unraveling a conspiracy, and/or advancing in a scenario.

The first time an investigator enters a location, that location is revealed (turned face-up) and a number of clues equal to that location's clue value are placed on that location (from the token pool). Most clue values are conveyed as a "per investigator ([per_investigator])" value. This may occur during setup.

A clue at a location can be discovered by successfully investigating the location (see "Investigate Action" on page 13), or by a card ability. If an investigator discovers a clue, he or she takes the clue from the location and places it on his or her investigator card, under his or her control.

If there are no " Objective – " requirements for advancing the current act, during any investigator's turn the investigators may, as a group, spend the requisite number of clues (usually conveyed as a "per investigator" value) from their investigator cards to advance the act deck. This is normally done as a [free] player ability. Any or all investigators may contribute any number of clues towards the total number of clues required to advance the act.

– " requirements for advancing the current act, during any investigator's turn the investigators may, as a group, spend the requisite number of clues (usually conveyed as a "per investigator" value) from their investigator cards to advance the act deck. This is normally done as a [free] player ability. Any or all investigators may contribute any number of clues towards the total number of clues required to advance the act. A card ability that refers to clues "at a location" is referring to the undiscovered clues that are currently on that location.

See also: "Act Deck and Agenda Deck" on page 3, "Tokens, Running out of" on page 20.

Collection

If an ability refers to a player's collection (for example, "search the collection"), the collection of cards from which that player's deck was assembled is used.

Example: Sean and Etienne are each using a deck built from Sean's collection. If Etienne is instructed to "search the collection," he searches Sean's collection.

Constant Abilities

See "Ability" on page 2.

Control

See "Ownership and Control" on page 16.

Copy

A copy of a card is defined by title. A second copy of a card is any other card that shares the same title, regardless of cardtype, text, artwork, or any other differing characteristics between the cards.

Costs

There are two types of costs in the game: resource costs and ability costs.

A card's resource cost is the numerical value that must be paid (in resources) to play the card from hand. To pay a resource cost, an investigator takes the specified number of resources from his or her resource pool and places them in the token pool.

Some triggered card abilities are presented in a "cost: effect" construct. In such a construct, the aspect preceding the colon indicates the ability costs that must be paid and any triggering conditions that must be met to trigger the ability. The aspect following the colon is the effect.

If multiple costs for a single card or ability require payment, those costs must be paid simultaneously.

Only the controller of a card or ability may pay its costs. Game elements another player controls may not be used to pay a cost.

When a player is exhausting, sacrificing, or otherwise using cards to pay costs, only cards that are in play and under that player’s control may be used, unless the cost specifies an out-of-play state.

If a cost requires a game element that is not in play, the player paying the cost may only use game elements that are in his or her game areas (such as his or her hand or deck) to pay the cost.

If the investigators are instructed to pay a cost as a group, each investigator (or each investigator in the group defined by the ability) may contribute to paying the cost.

An ability cannot initiate – and therefore its costs cannot be paid – if the resolution of its effect will not change the game state.

If an investigator takes damage or horror as a cost and reassigns any of it to an asset, the cost is still considered paid.

Dealing Damage/Horror

There are two types of afflictions that may beset an investigator in the game: damage and horror. Damage afflicts an investigator's health, and horror afflicts an investigator's sanity.

When an investigator or enemy is dealt damage and/or horror, follow these steps, in order:

1. Assign Damage/Horror: Determine the amount of damage and/or horror being dealt. Place damage and/or horror tokens equal to the amount of damage and horror being dealt next to the cards that will be taking the damage/horror.

When an investigator is dealt damage or horror, that investigator may assign it to eligible asset cards he or she controls. To be eligible, an asset card must have health in order to be assigned damage, and it must have sanity in order to be assigned horror.

An asset cannot be assigned damage beyond the amount of damage it would take to defeat the card, and cannot be assigned horror beyond the amount of horror it would take to defeat the card.

All damage/horror that cannot be assigned to an asset must be assigned to the investigator.

2. Apply Damage/Horror: Any assigned damage/horror that has not been prevented is now placed on each card to which it has been assigned, simultaneously. If no damage/horror is applied in this step, no damage/horror has been successfully dealt.

Abilities that prevent, reduce, or reassign damage and/or horror that is being dealt are resolved between steps 1 and 2.

After applying damage/horror, if an investigator has damage equal to or higher than his or her health or horror equal to or higher than his or her sanity, he or she is defeated. When an investigator is defeated, he or she is eliminated from the scenario (see "Elimination" on page 10).

After applying damage/horror, if an enemy has damage equal to or higher than its health, it is defeated and placed in the encounter discard pile (or in its owner's discard pile if it is a weakness).

After applying damage/horror, if an asset has damage equal to or higher than its health or horror equal to or higher than its sanity, it is defeated and placed in its owner's discard pile.

Deck

There are 4 main types of decks that appear in any game: the Investigator Deck, the Encounter Deck, the Act Deck, and the Agenda Deck.

The order of cards within a deck may not be altered unless a player is instructed to do so by a card ability.

See also: "Investigator Deck" on page 13, "Encounter Deck" on page 10, "Act Deck and Agenda Deck" on page 3.

Deckbuilding

When building a custom deck, the following guidelines must be observed:

A player must choose exactly 1 investigator card.

A player's investigator deck must include the exact number of player cards indicated on the back of his or her investigator card as the "Deck Size." Weaknesses, investigator-specific cards, and scenario cards that are added to a player's deck do not count towards this number.

A player's investigator deck may not include more than 2 copies (by title) of any given player card.

Each standard player card in a player's investigator deck must be chosen from among the "Deckbuilding Options" available on the back of his or her investigator card.

Most investigators have 0 experience to spend at the beginning of a campaign, which means that they may only include level 0 cards in their decks. Some investigators, and/or some campaigns, may provide a player with additional experience at the beginning of a campaign, which can be used immediately to purchase higher level cards (see "Campaign Play" on page 5).

All other "Deckbuilding Requirements" listed on the back of a player's investigator card must be observed.

Each required random basic weakness is added to a player's deck at the end of the deckbuilding process.

Story Assets may not be included in a player's deck unless the setup or resolution of a scenario grants that player permission to do so. These assets are indicated by the lack of a card level and the presence of an encounter set symbol (see "Asset Cards" on page 4).

During a campaign, players build a deck before playing the first scenario. In between scenarios, players can purchase new cards or upgrade cards in their deck following the rules found under "Campaign Play" on page 5.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.18) If 1 or more cards are forcibly removed from an investigator’s deck and returned to the collection (such as when a card is exiled, or when a campaign effect forces an investigator to remove cards from their deck), that investigator must purchase cards so that a legal deck size is maintained. When purchasing cards in this manner, that investigator may purchase level 0 cards at 0 experience cost until a legal deck size is reached.

This rule also applies if an effect alters an investigator’s deck size, deckbuilding restrictions, or deckbuilding options such that 1 or more cards must be removed from or added to their deck as a result.

Classes

Most player cards, including investigators, belong to one of 5 classes. Each class has its own distinct flavor and identity, as described below.

Guardians ([guardian]) feel compelled to defend humanity, and thus go out of their way to combat the forces of the Mythos. They have a strong sense of duty and selflessness that drives them to protect others, and to hunt monsters down.

Mystics ([mystic]) are drawn to and influenced by the arcane forces of the Mythos. Many have spell-casting abilities, able to manipulate the forces of the universe through magical talent.

Rogues ([rogue]) are self-serving and out for themselves. Wily and opportunistic, they are always eager for a way to exploit their current situation.

Seekers ([seeker]) are primarily concerned with learning more about the world and about the Mythos. They wish to research forgotten lore, map out uncharted areas, and study strange creatures.

Survivors ([survivor]) are everyday people in the wrong place at the wrong time, simply trying to survive. Ill-prepared and ill-equipped, Survivors are the underdogs, who rise to the occasion when their lives are threatened.

Some cards are not affiliated with any class; these cards are neutral. Generally, investigators only have access to cards from their class.

Some investigators have access to cards from other classes. Refer to the "Deckbuilding Options" on the back of an investigator card to view which cards an investigator has access to.

Deckbuilding Options (added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.15)

The following section clarifies how certain investigators’ deckbuilding options function.

If one of the categories of an investigator’s deckbuilding options contains the word "other" in it, cards only fall into this category if they fall into no other category. (For example, if an investigator’s deckbuilding options reads: "Guardian cards level 0–5, up to 10 other Weapon cards," then a Guardian card with the Weapon trait would not occupy one of those 10 limited slots, because it first falls into the unlimited Guardian category).

If one of the categories of an investigator’s deckbuilding options lists card text in it, cards fall into this category if the listed text appears in the card in any capacity, even if it is circumstantial. (For example, if an investigator’s deckbuilding options reads: "cards that 'heal horror' level 0–5," any card with an ability that heals any amount of horror will fall into this category, even if it only heals horror under specific circumstances.)

Defeat

Taking damage and/or horror may cause an investigator, enemy, or asset to be defeated.

If an investigator has as much or more damage on it as it has health (or as much or more horror on it as it has sanity), that investigator is defeated. An investigator might also be defeated by a card ability. When an investigator is defeated, he or she is eliminated from the scenario (see "Elimination" on page 10).

In campaign play, an investigator that is defeated by taking damage equal to his or her health suffers 1 physical trauma. An investigator that is defeated by taking horror equal to his or her sanity suffers 1 mental trauma. Taking trauma may cause an investigator to be killed or driven insane (see "Campaign Play" on page 5 for more information).

or driven (see "Campaign Play" on page 5 for more information). If an enemy has as much or more damage on it as it has health, that enemy is defeated and placed on the encounter discard pile (or on its owner's discard pile if it is a weakness).

If an asset with a health value has as much or more damage than it has health, it is defeated. If an asset with a sanity value has as much or more horror than it has sanity, it is defeated. A defeated asset is placed on its owner's discard pile.

Delayed Effects

Some abilities create delayed effects. Such abilities specify a future timing point, or indicate a future condition that may arise, and dictate an effect that will happen at that time.

Each delayed effect initiates automatically and immediately (as a forced ability) if its future timing point or future condition occurs.

A delayed effect affects all specified entities that are in the specified game area and eligible at the time the delayed effect resolves.

Difficulty (level)

There are four levels of difficulty in Arkham Horror: The Card Game: Easy, Standard, Hard, and Expert. At the beginning of a campaign or standalone scenario, the players choose which difficulty level to use. The campaign setup section of that campaign or scenario's Campaign Guide indicates which chaos tokens should be placed into the chaos bag when playing on each difficulty level.

When playing in Easy or Standard mode, use the "Easy/Standard" side of each scenario's reference card. When playing in Hard or Expert mode, use the "Hard/Expert" side of each scenario's reference card instead.

Difficulty (skill tests)

The difficulty of a skill test is the target number an investigator is trying to equal or exceed with his or her modified skill value to pass that test.

When attacking an enemy, the base difficulty of the skill test is the enemy's fight value.

When investigating a location, the base difficulty of the skill test is the location's shroud value.

When attempting to evade an enemy, the base difficulty for the skill test is the enemy's evade value.

When resolving a skill test created by a card ability, the base difficulty is indicated as a parenthetical value following the indication of which skill is being tested. For example: Intellect (3).

See "Skill Test Timing" on page 26 for the full rules on skill tests.

Direct Damage, Direct Horror

If an ability causes a card to take direct damage or direct horror, that damage or horror must be assigned directly to the specified card, and cannot be assigned or re-assigned elsewhere.

Discard Piles

Any time a card is discarded, it is placed faceup on top of its owner's discard pile. Encounter cards are owned by the encounter deck.

Each discard pile is an out-of-play area.

Each investigator has his or her own discard pile, and the encounter deck has its own discard pile.

Each discard pile is open information, and may be looked at by any player at any time.

The order of cards in a discard pile may not be altered unless a player is instructed to do so by a card ability.

If multiple cards are discarded simultaneously, the owner of the cards may physically place them on top of his or her discard pile one at a time, in any order. If multiple encounter cards are discarded simultaneously, they are placed on top of the encounter discard pile in any order (determined by lead investigator).

Any ability that would shuffle a discard pile of zero cards back into a deck does not shuffle the deck.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Game Play', point 1.13) A single card cannot be shuffled into an empty player deck or encounter deck via card effect. If this shuffling would occur during the playing or revelation of a card that is typically discarded after it is resolved, such as an event or treachery card, it is discarded. Otherwise, the card remains in its current game area.

Doom

Doom represents the progress the forces of the Mythos make towards completing foul rituals, summoning cosmic entities, and/or advancing a scenario's agenda.

During each Mythos phase, 1 doom is placed on the current agenda (see "I. Mythos phase" on page 24).

If there are no " Objective – " requirements for advancing the current agenda and the requisite amount of doom is in play (among the agenda and all cards in play), the agenda advances during the "Check doom threshold" step of the Mythos phase. Unless a card otherwise specifies that it can advance the agenda, this is the only time at which the agenda can advance.

– " requirements for advancing the current agenda and the requisite amount of doom is in play (among the agenda and all cards in play), the agenda advances during the "Check doom threshold" step of the Mythos phase. Unless a card otherwise specifies that it can advance the agenda, this is the only time at which the agenda can advance. Doom on cards other than the agenda (such as enemies, allies, locations, etc.) counts towards the amount of doom in play.

See also: "Act Deck and Agenda Deck" on page 3, "Tokens, Running out of" on page 20.

Doubt and Conviction (added in The Path to Carcosa)

Some story resolutions and interludes in The Path to Carcosa campaign instruct the players to "Mark one Doubt" or "Mark one Conviction" in their Campaign Log. This is done by filling in one of the boxes next to "Doubt" or "Conviction at the bottom of the Campaign Log.

Later in the campaign, some scenarios may be changed or altered depending on whether the investigators "have more Doubt than Conviction" or "have more Conviction than Doubt." The investigators have more Doubt than Conviction if the number of boxes filled in next to Doubt is greater than the number of boxes filled in next to Conviction (and vice versa). Doubt and Conviction are shared among all of the investigators, and they are not tied to any specific investigator. Doubt and Conviction have no game effect except when explicitly referenced by the Campaign Guide or by a card effect.

Draw Action

"Draw" is an action an investigator may take during his or her turn in the investigation phase.

When an investigator takes this action, that investigator draws one card from his or her deck.

Drawing Cards

When a player is instructed to draw one or more cards, those cards are drawn from the top of his or her investigator deck and added to his or her hand.

When a player is instructed to draw one or more encounter cards, those cards are drawn from the top of the encounter deck, and resolved following the rules for drawing encounter cards under framework step "1.4 Each investigator draws 1 encounter card" on page 24.

When a player draws two or more cards as the result of a single ability or game step, those cards are drawn simultaneously. If a deck empties middraw, reset the deck and complete the draw.

There is no limit to the number of cards a player may draw each round.

If an investigator with an empty investigator deck needs to draw a card, that investigator shuffles his or her discard pile back into his or her deck, then draws the card, and upon completion of the entire draw takes one horror.

Effects

A card effect is any effect that arises from the resolution of ability text printed on, or gained by, a card. A framework effect is any effect that arises from the resolution of a framework event (see "Framework Event Details" on page 24).

Card effects may be preceded by costs, triggering conditions, play restrictions, and/or play permissions; such elements are not considered effects (see "Ability" on page 2).

Once initiated, players must resolve as much of each aspect of the effect as they are able, unless the effect uses the word "may."

When a non-targeting effect attempts to interact with a number of entities (such as "draw 3 cards" or "search the top 5 cards of your deck") that exceeds the number of entities that currently exist in the specified game area, the effect interacts with as many entities as possible.

The expiration of a lasting effect (or the cessation of a constant ability) is not considered to be generating a game state change by a card effect.

All aspects of an effect have timing priority over all "after..." triggering conditions that might arise as a consequence of that effect. (For example, if an effect reads "Gain 3 resources and draw 3 cards," resolve both aspects of the effect (gaining resources and drawing cards) before initiating an ability that reads "After drawing a card...")

See also: "Delayed Effects" on page 8, "Lasting Effects" on page 14, "Priority of Simultaneous Resolution" on page 17.

Elimination

A player is eliminated from a scenario any time his or her investigator is defeated, or if he or she resigns. The only manner in which eliminated investigators interact with the game is when establishing "per investigator" values (see "Per Investigator" on page 16). Any time a player is eliminated:

For the purpose of resolving weakness cards, the game has ended for the eliminated investigator. Trigger any “when the game ends” abilities on each weakness the eliminated investigator owns that is in play. Then, remove those weaknesses from the game. The cards he or she controls in play and all of the cards in his or her out-of-play areas (such as hand, deck, discard pile) are removed from the game. Any card that player owns but does not control that is in play remains in play, but if that card leaves play it is removed from the game. All clue tokens that player possesses are placed at the location the investigator was at when he or she was eliminated, and all of that player's resource tokens are returned to the token pool. All enemies engaged with that player are placed at the location the investigator was at when he or she was eliminated, unengaged but otherwise maintaining their current game state. All other cards in the eliminated investigator's threat area are placed in the appropriate discard pile. If the lead investigator is eliminated, the remaining players (if any) choose a new lead investigator. If there are no remaining players, the scenario ends. Refer to "no resolution was reached" entry for that scenario in the campaign guide.

Empty Location

An empty location is a location with no enemies or investigators at it.

Encounter Deck

The encounter deck contains the encounter cards (enemy, treachery, and story asset cards) the investigators may encounter during a scenario.

If the encounter deck is empty, shuffle the encounter discard pile back into the encounter deck.

Encounter Set

An encounter set is a collection of encounter cards, denoted by a common encounter set symbol near each card's cardtype.

Enemy Cards

Enemies represent villains, cultists, ne'er-do-wells, terrible monsters, and unfathomable entities from alternate dimensions or the cosmos beyond. When an enemy card is drawn by an investigator, that investigator must spawn it following any spawn direction the card bears (see "Spawn" on page 19). If the encountered enemy has no spawn direction, the enemy spawns engaged with the investigator encountering the card and is placed in that investigator's threat area.

See "1.4 Each investigator draws 1 encounter card" on page 24.

A ready, unengaged enemy engages any time it is at the same location as an investigator (see "Enemy Engagement" on page 10).

If an investigator is engaged with a ready enemy and takes an action other than to fight , to evade , or to activate a parley or resign ability, that enemy makes an attack of opportunity (see "Attack of Opportunity" on page 5).

, to , or to activate a or ability, that enemy makes an attack of opportunity (see "Attack of Opportunity" on page 5). Enemies with the hunter keyword move during the Enemy Phase (see "III. Enemy phase" on page 25).

Engaged enemies attack during the Enemy Phase (see "III. Enemy phase" on page 25).

Enemy Engagement

While an enemy card is in play, it is either engaged with an investigator (and placed in that investigator's threat area), or it is unengaged and at a location (and placed at that location). Each enemy in an investigator's threat area is considered to be at the same location as that investigator, and should the investigator move, the enemy remains engaged and moves to the new location simultaneously with the investigator.

Any time a ready unengaged enemy is at the same location as an investigator, it engages that investigator, and is placed in that investigator's threat area. If there are multiple investigators at the same location as a ready unengaged enemy, follow the enemy's prey instructions to determine which investigator is engaged. There is no limit on the number of enemies that can be engaged with a single investigator.

For example, a ready unengaged enemy immediately engages if:

It spawns at the same location as an investigator,

It moves into the same location as an investigator,

An investigator moves into the same location as it.

An exhausted unengaged enemy does not engage, but if an exhausted enemy at the same location as an investigator becomes ready, it engages as soon as it is readied.

Note: An enemy with the Aloof keyword does not engage in the manner described above.

See "Engage Action" below.

Enemy Phase

See "III. Enemy phase" on page 25.

Engage Action

"Engage" is an action an investigator may take during his or her turn in the investigation phase.

To engage an enemy at the same location (for example, this could be done to engage an exhausted enemy, an aloof enemy, or an enemy engaged with another investigator), an investigator places the chosen enemy in his or her threat area. The investigator and the enemy are now engaged.

An investigator may perform the engage action to engage an enemy that is engaged with a different investigator at the same location. The enemy simultaneously disengages from the previous investigator and engages the investigator performing the action.

An investigator cannot use the engage action to engage an enemy he or she is already engaged with.

(Added in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.3) When an investigator engages an enemy, that enemy has also engaged that investigator, and vice-versa. There is no difference between engaging an enemy and being engaged by an enemy. Effects that trigger "after an enemy engages you" will trigger at the same time as effects that trigger "after you engage an enemy."

Enters Play

The phrase "enters play" refers to any time a card makes a transition from an out-of-play area into a play area (see "In Play and Out of Play" on page 13).

If an ability (either on the card itself or from another card) causes a card to enter play in a state different from that specified by the rules, there is no transition to that state. It merely enters play in that state.

Evade, Evade Action

"Evade" is an action an investigator may take during his or her turn in the investigation phase.

To evade an enemy engaged with an investigator, that investigator makes an agility test against the enemy's evade value (see "Skill Tests" on page 18).

If the test is successful, the investigator successfully evades the enemy (see below). (This occurs during step 7 of the skill test, per "ST.7 Apply skill test results" on page 26.)

If the test fails, the investigator does not evade the enemy, and it remains engaged with him or her.

If an ability "automatically" evades 1 or more enemies, no skill test is made for the evasion attempt.

Any time an enemy is evaded (whether by an evade action, or by card ability), the enemy is exhausted (if it was ready) and the engagement is broken. Move the enemy from the investigator's threat area to the investigator's location to mark that it is no longer engaged with that investigator.

Unlike the fight and engage action, an investigator can only perform an evade action against an enemy engaged with him or her.

Event Cards

Event cards represent tactical actions, maneuvers, spells, tricks, and other instantaneous effects at a player's disposal.

If an event card does not have the fast keyword, it may only be played from a player's hand by performing a "Play" action during his or her turn. You must follow all play permissions/restrictions that card has.

A fast event card may be played from a player's hand any time its play instructions specify (see "Fast" on page 11).

Any time a player plays an event card, its costs are paid, its effects are resolved (or canceled), and the card is placed in its owner's discard pile after those effects resolve (or are canceled).

If the effects of an event card are canceled, the card is still considered to have been played, and its costs remain paid. Only the effects have been canceled.

Playing an event card from hand (or not playing it) is always optional for a player, unless the event uses the word "must" in its play instructions.

An event card cannot be played unless the resolution of its effect has the potential to change the game state.

Exceptional

Exceptional is a deckbuilding keyword ability.

A card with the exceptional keyword costs twice its printed experience cost to purchase.

A player's investigator deck cannot include more than 1 copy (by title) of any given exceptional card.

Exhaust, Exhausted

Occasionally, a card ability or game step will cause a card to exhaust to indicate it has been used to perform a function. When a card exhausts, it is rotated 90 degrees. A card in this state is said to be exhausted.

An exhausted card cannot exhaust again until it is ready (typically by a game step or card ability).

Exile (added in The Dunwich Legacy)

Some player cards in The Dunwich Legacy cycle must be exiled when they are used. When a card is exiled, it is removed from the game and returned to your collection. During campaign play, a card that has been exiled must be purchased again with experience points (between scenarios) if you wish to re-include it in your deck. If exiling 1 or more cards would reduce your deck below your investigator's deck size, when purchasing cards between scenarios, you must purchase cards so that a legal deck size is maintained (when purchasing cards in this manner, you may purchase level 0 cards for 0 experience cost until a legal deck size is reached).

Experience

See "Campaign Play" on page 5.

Explore (added in The Forgotten Age)

Some abilities in this campaign (and others) are identified with an "Explore" action designator. Such abilities are generally used to find new locations to put into play, and are initiated using the "activate" action.

"Explore" abilities instruct you to draw the top card of the "exploration deck," which is a separate deck that is constructed during the setup of some scenarios. This deck consists of several single-sided locations and treachery cards.

Each "Explore" ability indicates a particular type of location that you are seeking to draw. If a location of that type is drawn, it is put into play, and you move to that location. This is considered a "successful" exploration.

This is considered a "successful" exploration. If any other location is drawn, place it next to the exploration deck, and draw the next card from the exploration deck. Repeat this process until a location of the indicated type is drawn, or a treachery is drawn. After this action has ended, shuffle each location next to the exploration deck back into the exploration deck.

If a treachery card is drawn, it is resolved as normal. If it is discarded, place it in the encounter discard pile as you would normally. There is no discard pile for the exploration deck. This is considered an "unsuccessful" exploration.

As a single-sided location is put into play from the exploration deck, place clues on that location equal to its clue value.

Example: Agenda 1a — “Expedition into the Wild” has the following ability: “[action]: Explore. Draw the top card of the exploration deck. If it is a connecting location, put it into play and move to it.” Ursula Downs is at the Expedition Camp and wishes to find a new location to travel to. She spends her first action to explore, drawing the top card of the exploration deck. The card she draws is Circuitous Trail. Because Circuitous Trail is a location that is not connected to the Expedition Camp, it is placed next to the exploration deck, and Ursula draws the next card in the exploration deck. This time, she draws the Low on Supplies treachery card, which she resolves as normal and places in the encounter discard pile. Her exploration is unsuccessful, and she must shuffle the Circuitous Trail that she drew previously back into the exploration deck. Ursula decides to explore one more time, spending a second action. This time, she draws Path of Thorns, which is connected to the Expedition Camp. Her exploration is successful. Path of Thorns is put into play with clues on it equal to its clue value, and Ursula immediately moves from the Expedition Camp to the Path of Thorns.

Fast

Fast is a keyword ability. A fast card does not cost an action to be played and is not played using the "Play" action.

A fast event card may be played from a player's hand any time its play instructions specify. If the instructions specify when/after a timing point, the card may be played as if the described timing point were a triggering condition for playing the card. If the instructions specify a duration or period of time, the card may be played during any player window within that period. If the instructions specify both a when/after timing point and a duration or period of time, the card may be played in reference to any instance of the specified triggering condition within that time period.

A fast asset may be played by an investigator during any player window on his or her turn.

Because fast cards do not cost actions to play, they do not provoke attacks of opportunity (see "Attack of Opportunity" on page 5).

Fight Action

"Fight" is an action an investigator may take during his or her turn in the investigation phase.

To fight an enemy at his or her location, an investigator resolves an attack against that enemy by making a combat test against the enemy's fight value (see "Skill Tests" on page 18).

If the test is successful, the attack succeeds and damage is dealt to the attacked enemy. The default damage dealt by an attack is 1. Some weapons, spells, or other special attacks may modify this damage. (This occurs during step 7 of the skill test, per "ST.7 Apply skill test results" on page 26.)

If the test fails, no damage is dealt to the attacked enemy. However, if an investigator fails this test against an enemy that is engaged with another single investigator, the damage of the attack is dealt to the investigator engaged with that enemy.

An investigator may fight any enemy at his or her location, including: an enemy he or she is engaged with, an unengaged enemy at the same location, or an enemy engaged with another investigator who is at the same location.

Flavor Text

Flavor text is additional text that provides thematic context to a card and/or its abilities. Flavor text does not interact with the game in any manner.

Forced Abilities

See "Ability" on page 2.

Gains

The word "gains" is used in multiple contexts.

If a player gains one or more resources, the player takes the specified number of resources from the token pool and adds them to his or her resource pool.

If an investigator gains an action, that investigator is permitted one additional action to spend during the specified time period.

If a card gains a characteristic (such as an icon, a trait, a keyword, or ability text), the card functions as if it possesses the gained characteristic.

"Gained" characteristics are not considered to be "printed" on the card. If an ability refers to the printed characteristics of a card, it does not refer to gained characteristics.

Game

A 'game' consists of a single scenario, not an entire campaign. In a campaign, the beginning of a new scenario marks the start of a new game.

Hand Size

See "IV. Upkeep phase" on page 25.

Heal

"Heal" is an instruction to remove the indicated amount of damage or the indicated amount of horror from a card.

If a card is healed for more damage or horror than it currently has on it, remove as much of the indicated amount as possible.

Haunted (added in The Circle Undone)

Haunted is a new ability that appears on some locations. Each time an investigator fails a skill test while investigating a location, after applying all results for that skill test, that investigator must resolve all "Haunted –" abilities on that location.

A location is "haunted" for the purposes of other card effects if it has at least one "Haunted –" ability (printed or otherwise).

Health and Damage

Health represents a card's physical fortitude. Damage tracks the physical harm that has been done to a card during a scenario.

Any time a card takes damage, place a number of damage tokens equal to the amount of damage just taken on the card (see "Dealing Damage/Horror" on page 7).

If an investigator has damage on him or her equal to or greater than his or her health, that investigator is defeated. When an investigator is defeated, he or she is eliminated from the scenario (see "Elimination" on page 10).

In campaign play, an investigator that is defeated by taking damage equal to his or her health suffers 1 physical trauma. Taking physical trauma may cause an investigator to be killed (see "Campaign Play" on page 5 for more information).

(see "Campaign Play" on page 5 for more information). If an enemy has damage on it equal to or greater than its health, that enemy is defeated and placed in the encounter discard pile.

If an asset with a health value has damage on it equal to or greater than its health, it is defeated and placed on its owner's discard pile.

An asset card without a health value is not considered to have a health of 0, cannot gain health, and cannot have damage assigned to it.

A card's "remaining health" is its base health minus the amount of damage on it, plus or minus any active health modifiers.

See also: "Direct Damage, Direct Horror" on page 9.

Hidden (added in The Path to Carcosa, updated in The Dream-Eaters)

An encounter card or weakness with the hidden keyword has a revelation ability that secretly adds that card to your hand. This should be done without revealing that card or its text to the other investigators.

While a hidden treachery is in your hand, treat it as if it were in your threat area. Its constant abilities are active, and abilities on it can be triggered, but only by you.

While a hidden enemy is in your hand, it is not considered to be engaged with you or in your threat area, and it does not attack unless otherwise specified. However, its constant abilities are active, and abilities on it can be triggered, but only by you.

A hidden card counts toward your hand size, but it cannot be discarded from your hand by any means except those described on the card. When discarded, a hidden card is placed in its appropriate discard pile.

For the best experience, players are encouraged to stay "in character" and not share information about hidden cards in their hand.

Hunter

Hunter is a keyword ability.

During the enemy phase (in framework step 3.2), each ready, unengaged enemy with the hunter keyword moves to a connecting location, along the shortest path towards the nearest investigator. Enemies at a location with one or more investigators do not move.

If there are multiple equidistant investigators who qualify as "the nearest investigator," the enemy moves towards the one of those who best meets its prey instructions. If none do, or if the enemy has no prey instructions, the lead investigator may choose an investigator for the enemy to move towards.

If a hunter enemy would be compelled to a location to which the move is blocked by a card ability, the enemy does not move.

See also: "Prey" on page 17.

If (added in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.2)

Some abilities have triggering conditions that use the words "at" or "if" instead of specifying "when" or "after," such as "at the end of the round," or "if the Ghoul Priest is defeated." These abilities trigger in between any "when..." abilities and any "after..." abilities with the same triggering condition.

See also: "At".

Immune

If a card is immune to a specified set of effects (for example, "immune to treachery card effects," or "immune to player card effects"), it cannot be affected by or chosen to be affected by effects belonging to that set. Only the card itself is protected, and peripheral entities associated with an immune card (such as attached assets, tokens placed on, or abilities originating from an immune card) are not themselves immune.

If a card gains immunity to an effect, pre-existing lasting effects that have been applied to the card are not removed. If a card loses immunity to an effect, pre-existing lasting effects of that nature are not applied to the card.

Immunity only protects a card from effects. It does not protect a card from costs.

In Play and Out of Play

The cards that a player controls in his or her play area are considered in play.

The current act, the current agenda, each location in the play area, and each encounter card in a investigator's threat area or at a location, are all considered in play.

Out of play refers to the cards in a player's hand, in any deck, in any discard pile, in the victory display, and those that have been set aside and/or removed from the game.

A card enters play when it transitions from an out-of-play origin to an in play area.

A card leaves play when it transitions from a in play area to an out-of-play destination.

Tokens on in play cards are considered in play. Resources in each investigator's resource pool are also considered in play.

In Player Order

If the players are instructed to perform a sequence "in player order," the lead investigator performs his or her part of the sequence first, followed by the other players in clockwise order. The phrase "the next player" is used in this context to refer to the next player (clockwise) to act in player order.

Instead

The word "instead" is indicative of a replacement effect. A replacement effect is an effect that replaces the resolution of a triggering condition with an alternate means of resolution.

If multiple replacement effects are initiated against the same triggering condition and create a conflict in how to resolve the triggering condition, the most recent replacement effect is the one that is used for the resolution of the triggering condition.

The word "would" is used to define the triggering condition of some abilities, and establishes a higher priority for those abilities than abilities referencing the same triggering condition without the word "would." (For instance, "When X would occur" resolves before "When X occurs.")

If a replacement effect that uses the word "would" changes the nature of a triggering condition, the original triggering condition is replaced with the new triggering condition. No further abilities referencing the original triggering condition may be used.

Investigate Action

"Investigate" is an action an investigator may take during his or her turn in the investigation phase.

Each time an investigator takes this action, he or she makes an intellect test against the shroud value of that location (see "Skill Tests" on page 18).

If the test is successful, the investigator has succeeded in investigating the location, he or she discovers one clue at the location. (This occurs during step 7 of the skill test, per "ST.7 Apply skill test results" on page 26.)

Any time an investigator discovers a clue from a location, that player takes the clue from the location and places it on his or her investigator card, under his or her control.

If the test is failed, the investigator has failed in investigating the location. No clues are discovered during step 7 of the skill test.

Investigation Phase

See "II. Investigation phase" on page 24.

Investigator Deck

A player's "investigator deck" is the deck that contains that player's asset, event, skill, and weakness cards. A reference to "your deck" refers to the investigator deck under your control.

Joe's "Hunch Deck" (added in The Circle Undone)

As a private eye, Joe Diamond has learned to follow his instincts, and therefore he has a separate hunch deck, which is constructed during step 4 of the setup of each scenario. The cards in this hunch deck are chosen from Joe's 40-card deck and therefore count toward his total deck size. With the exception of these setup instructions, all references to Joe's "deck" refer to Joe's standard investigator deck and not his hunch deck. Joe's hunch deck has no discard pile; cards from your hunch deck are discarded to your standard discard pile when played.

Keywords

A keyword is a card ability which conveys specific rules to its card. Each keyword has its own rules which can be found in the keyword's own section of the glossary. The keywords in this game are: aloof, fast, hunter, massive, peril, retaliate, surge, uses.

There are also two deckbuilding keywords: exceptional and permanent. Deckbuilding keywords affect deck customization while building and/or leveling up a deck. They have no effect during gameplay. There are no exceptional or permanent cards in the core set – each of these keywords will be presented in future expansions.

A single card that has and/or is gaining the same keyword from multiple sources functions as if it has one instance of that keyword.

The initiation of any keyword which uses the word "may" in its keyword description is optional. The application of all other keywords is mandatory.

See "Ability" on page 2.

Killed/Insane Investigators

During campaign play, investigators who are killed or driven insane must be recorded in your campaign log and cannot be used for the remainder of the campaign.

An investigator with physical trauma equal to or higher than his or her printed health is killed.

An investigator with mental trauma equal to or higher than his or her printed sanity is driven insane.

An investigator may also be killed or driven insane by card ability, or during a scenario's resolution.

When playing a standalone scenario, there is no practical difference between being killed, driven insane, or defeated.

See "Campaign Play" on page 5.

Lasting Effects

Some card abilities create conditions that affect the game state for a specified duration (for example, "until the end of the phase" or " for this skill test"). Such effects are known as lasting effects.

A lasting effect persists beyond the resolution of the ability that created it, for the duration specified by the effect. The effect continues to affect the game state for the specified duration regardless of whether the card that created the lasting effect is or remains in play.

If a lasting effect affects in-play cards (or cards in a specified area), it is only applied to cards that are in play (or the specified area) when the lasting effect is established. Cards that enter play (or the specified area) after its establishment are not affected by the lasting effect.

A lasting effect expires as soon as the timing point specified by its duration is reached. This means that an "until the end of the phase" lasting effect expires before an "at the end of the phase" ability or delayed effect may initiate.

A lasting effect that expires at the end of a specific time period can only be initiated during that time period.

Lead Investigator

The lead investigator is sometimes required to make important scenario decisions. At the beginning of a scenario, the investigators choose a lead investigator. If they cannot agree on a choice, a lead investigator is chosen at random.

If there are ever multiple valid options for a choice or decision that must be made (for example, a hunter enemy that could move in two different directions), the lead investigator is the final arbiter in choosing among those options.

If the lead investigator is eliminated, the remaining players (if any) choose a new lead investigator.

Leaves Play

The phrase "leaves play" refers to any time a card makes a transition from an in-play state to an out-of-play state (see "In Play and Out of Play" on page 13).

If a card leaves play, the following consequences occur simultaneously with the card leaving play:

All tokens on the card are returned to the token pool.

All attachments on the card are discarded.

All lasting effects and/or delayed effects affecting the card while it was in play expire for that card.

Limits and Maximums

"Limit X per [period]" is a limit that appears on cards that remain in play through the resolution of an ability's effect. Each instance of an ability with such a limit may be initiated X times during the designated period. If a card leaves play and re-enters play during the same period, the card is considered to be bringing a new instance of the ability to the game.

"Limit X per [card/game element]" is a limit that appears on attachment cards, and restricts the number of copies of that card (by title) that can be attached to each designated card or game element.

Unless stated otherwise, limits are player specific.

A "group limit," however, applies to the entire group of investigators. (For example, if an investigator triggers an ability that is "group limit once per game," no other investigator may trigger that ability during that game.)

"Max X per [period]" imposes a maximum across all copies of a card (by title) for all players. Generally, this phrase imposes a maximum number of times that copies of that card can be played during the designated time period. If a maximum includes the word "committed" (For example, "Max 1 committed per skill test"), it imposes a maximum number of copies of that card that can be committed to skill tests during the designated period. If a maximum appears as part of an ability, it imposes a maximum number of times that ability can be initiated from all copies (by title) of cards bearing that ability (including itself), during the designated period.

If the effects of a card or ability with a limit or maximum are canceled, it is still counted against the limit/maximum, because the ability has been initiated.

Limits Pertaining to Play Areas (added in FAQ, section 'Card Ability Interpretation', point 2.3)

Some limits may pertain to a particular play area, such as "Limit 1 per deck," "Limit 1 in the victory display," or "Limit 1 in play." This limit restricts the number of copies of that card (by title) that can exist in the specified play area. Another copy of that card cannot enter the specified play area if this limit has already been reached. Remember that limits are player specific unless otherwise noted. For example, a card with "Limit 1 per deck" can exist in two different investigator decks.

Note: "Limit X per investigator" is a limit that pertains to an investigator’s play area.

Location Cards

Location cards represent the places the investigators may explore during a scenario.

Use each investigator's mini-card to indicate which location he or she is at.

While an investigator is at a location, that investigator, each of his or her assets, and each card in that investigator's threat area is at the same location.

Locations enter play in an "unrevealed" state, so that the side with no shroud value and/or clue value is faceup. Do not read the "revealed" side at this time.

The first time a location is entered by an investigator, that location is revealed by turning it to its other side and placing a number of clues on it equal to its clue value (this may occur during setup). Most clue values are conveyed as a "per investigator" ([per_investigator]) value.

A location with its shroud/clue value side faceup is in the "revealed" state.

Lola and "Roles" (added in The Path to Carcosa)

As a renowned actress, Lola Hayes can play many different roles. At the beginning of each scenario, after investigators draw opening hands, Lola Hayes must choose a role (Neutral, Guardian, Seeker, Rogue, Mystic, or Survivor). Lola can only play cards, commit cards to skill tests, or trigger [action], [fast], or [reaction] abilities on Neutral cards or cards whose class matches her role. This restriction only applies to player cards, not to encounter cards or weaknesses. Note that Constant and Forced abilities remain active on cards whose class does not match Lola's role.

Massive

Massive is a keyword ability. A ready enemy with the massive keyword is considered to be engaged with each investigator at the same location as it.

An exhausted enemy with the massive keyword is not considered to be engaged with any investigators.

An enemy with the massive keyword cannot be placed in an investigator's threat area.

When an enemy with the massive keyword attacks during the enemy phase, resolve its (full) attack against each investigator it is engaged with, one investigator at a time. The lead investigator chooses the order in which these attacks resolve. The massive enemy does not exhaust until its final attack of the phase resolves.

When an enemy with the massive keyword makes an attack of opportunity, that attack only resolves against the investigator who provoked the attack.

A massive enemy does not move with an engaged investigator who moves away from the massive enemy's location.

If an investigator fails a combat test against a massive enemy, no damage is dealt to the engaged investigators.

May

The word "may" indicates that a specified player has the option to do that which follows. If no player is specified, the option is granted to the controller of the card with the ability in question.

Modifiers

Some abilities cause values or quantities of characteristics to be modified. The game state constantly checks and (if necessary) updates the count of any variable value or quantity that is being modified.

Any time a new modifier is applied (or removed), the entire quantity is recalculated from the start, considering the unmodified base value and all active modifiers.

When calculating a value, treat all modifiers as being applied simultaneously. However, while performing the calculation, all additive and subtractive modifiers are calculated before doubling and/or halving modifiers.

Fractional values are rounded up after all modifiers have been applied.

A quantity on a card (such as a stat, an icon, a number of instances of a trait or keyword) cannot be reduced so that it functions with a value below zero. Negative modifiers in excess of a value's current quantity can be applied, but, after all active modifiers have been applied, any resultant value below zero is treated as zero. (For example: Danny tests agility and reveals a –8 chaos token. When applied to his agility of 4, this would reduce his skill value to –4. However, his agility cannot be reduced so that it functions with a value below zero. While the –8 modifier still exists, his agility is treated as zero. If Danny were to play "Lucky!" to receive a +2 bonus to the test, this bonus would not be applied to the functioning skill value of zero; but rather, it is applied in conjunction with all active modifiers. Danny's agility would then be calculated as follows: base skill 4, –8 from chaos token, +2 from "Lucky!" for a total of –2, which is still treated as zero.)

Move

Any time an entity (an investigator or enemy) moves, transfer that enemy card or investigator's mini card from its current location to a different location.

Unless otherwise specified by the move effect or ability, the moving entity must move to a connecting location. Connecting locations are identified on the location card representing the entity's current location, as sho