Elder Sign: Omens of Ice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Using This Expansion
  • Omens of Ice Expansion Icon
• Alaska Expedition Setup
• Alaska Expedition Rules
  • Expedition Camp
  • Track Card
    • The Supply Track
    • The Day Track
  • Alaskan Adventures
  • Special Adventure Cards
  • Stages of the Alaska Expedition
  • Alaskan Mythos Cards
  • Entry Effects
  • Split Rewards and Penalties
  • Storm Markers
    • Placing Storm Markers
• Playing Other Game Modes
• Midnight Effect Timing
• New Ancient Ones
  • Rhan-Tegoth
  • Rlim-Shaikorth
  • Ithaqua

Components

• 60 Alaskan Adventure Cards
• 4 Special Adventure Cards
• 3 Ancient One Cards
• 8 Investigator Cards
• 1 Reference Card
• 30 Alaskan Mythos Cards
• 5 Common Item Cards
• 5 Unique Item Cards
• 5 Ally Cards
• 5 Spell Cards
• 1 "Expedition Camp" Entrance Card
• 28 Storm Markers
• 2 Supply Tokens
• 1 Day Token
• 12 Monster Markers
• 8 Investigator Markers
• 1 Track Card

Using This Expansion

Omens of Ice provides an entirely new way in which to enjoy Elder Sign: the Alaska Expedition game mode. The Alaska Expedition game mode takes investigators away from the civilization of Arkham and casts them out into the cold and icy winter of the Alaskan wilderness. It uses new Alaskan Adventure cards and a new Alaskan Mythos deck, as well as several new mechanics exclusive to adventures in the many wild places of Alaska.

Omens of Ice Expansion Icon

Most components in this expansion are marked with the Omens of Ice expansion icon to distinguish them from the base game components.

Alaska Expedition Setup

When playing the Alaska Expedition game mode, perform the setup for a normal game, modified in the following ways:

1. New Common Components: Combine the following new Omens of Ice components with their respective components found in the base game: Investigator cards, Common Item, Unique Item, Spell, and Ally cards, and Monster markers.

2. New Adventure Cards: Replace the Adventure deck with a new deck made up of only the new Alaskan Adventure cards provided in this expansion. Set the four Special Adventure cards aside. Then separate the Alaskan Adventure cards by stage and shuffle both stages separately to form a Stage I deck and a Stage II deck.

3. New Mythos Cards: Replace the Mythos deck with the new Alaskan Mythos deck.

4. Storm Markers: Place the storm markers randomly in a facedown pile.

5. Entrance Sheet: Replace the entrance sheet with the "Expedition Camp" entrance card.

6. Track Card: Choose during which season the expedition will occur, "Summer" (more forgiving) or "Winter" (more challenging), and place that side of the Track card faceup near the play area. Place the "+10" supply token on the "5" space of the supply track (the top track on the card). Place the day token on "Day 1" of the day track (the bottom track on the card).

7. Choose Ancient One: Choose one of the three Ancient Ones found in Omens of Ice to challenge: Rhan-Tegoth, Rlim-Shaikorth, or Ithaqua.

8. Modify Setup: Replace Step 4 of the core game setup with the following:

Alaska Expedition Rules

This section describes new rules for playing the Alaska Expedition game mode.

Expedition Camp

The "Expedition Camp" entrance card replaces all other entrance cards. An investigator who starts his Clock phase on the Expedition Camp may spend trophies for various effects.

At the start of an investigator's Clock phase he may pay the listed cost to choose any investigator to do one of the following:

• 6 Trophies: Remove up to 5 storm markers from adventures.
• 5 Trophies: Gain 1 ally.
• 4 Trophies: Gain either 1 unique item or 1 clue.
• 3 Trophies: Gain either 1 common item or 1 spell.
• 2 Trophies: Regain 2 stamina or 2 sanity.
• 1 Trophy: Discard the top card of the adventure deck.

During an investigator's Movement phase, he may remain on his current card, move to another adventure or Other World in the play area, or move to the Expedition Camp card. When an Adventure card or Other World card is successfully resolved, or otherwise discarded, all investigators on that card return to the "Expedition Camp" card.

If an investigator is on the "Expedition Camp" card at the end of his Movement phase, he skips his Resolution phase and moves directly to his Clock phase.

If a game effect refers to "the entrance," it refers to the "Expedition Camp" card instead. For example, if an investigator must move to "the entrance," he moves to the "Expedition Camp" card.

Track Card

There are two relevant tracks located on the Track card: the supply track on the top half of the card and the day track on the bottom half of the card.

The Supply Track

The supply track on the top of the card represents the provisions that investigators need to survive in Alaska. Supplies are used to mitigate dangers that arise as the investigators travel through the wild.

Each time supplies are gained, advance the supply token a number of spaces equal to the supplies gained. When the supply token advances from the "9" space, replace it with the supply token showing the next highest modifier and place the new token on the "0" space of the supply track.

Each time supplies are lost, retreat the supply token a number of spaces equal to the supplies lost. When the supply token retreats from the "0" space, replace it with the supply token showing the next lowest modifier and place the new token on the "9" space of the supply track.

The supply track card art is printed with: "At Midnight: If investigators have 0 supplies, each investigator loses 1 stamina."

The Day Track

Located along the bottom of the Track card is the day track. When midnight strikes, before any other "At Midnight" effects are resolved or a new Alaskan Mythos card is drawn, advance the day token one space along the track. Then add a number of storm markers to adventures as indicated by the new space on the day track.

Day Track and Day Token: The day track runs from Day 1 to Day 7. The Day 1 space is blank. Day 2 shows a sun icon. Day 3 through Day 7 show a storm icon with the number of storm markers added on that space: Day 3 adds 4, Day 4 adds 5, Day 5 adds 6, Day 6 adds 8, and Day 7 adds 9. The last space is a skull. (Note on transcription: in the scan, the numerals on the Day 6 and Day 7 badges are partly obscured by the card art. The values above are as legible in the printed track; the Day 7 wrap-around rule below says "seven storm markers." Check against a physical Track card before relying on these two numbers.)

When the day token reaches the last space of the day track, investigators suffer a penalty depending on whether the "Summer" or "Winter" track card is being used. If it is "Summer," add two doom tokens to the doom track and move the day token back to the "Day 7" space, adding seven storm markers to adventures. If it is "Winter," the investigators lose the game.

Alaskan Adventures

The Adventure cards provided in this expansion are referred to as "Alaskan Adventure" cards. Game effects that refer to "Adventure cards" can affect Alaskan Adventure cards, but game effects that refer to "Alaskan Adventures" only affect Alaskan Adventure cards. When a player is instructed to place an Alaskan Adventure card during the game, he places it facedown. (Other World cards are still placed faceup.)

Note: The back side of the top card of the Alaskan Adventure deck is always open information.

At the top of each Alaskan Adventure card back is a colored field with a skull and crossbones. The color denotes the card's estimated difficulty: green for an easy adventure, yellow for a normal adventure, and red for a hard adventure. The color of each card back's frame has no effect on gameplay but helps players identify and distinguish similar-looking locations at a quick glance.

• Easy: green skull and crossbones.
• Normal: yellow skull and crossbones.
• Hard: red skull and crossbones.

When an investigator moves to a facedown Alaskan Adventure card, he immediately resolves the effect printed on the back of the card. Then he flips the card faceup, resolves any "Entry" effects on the card, and ends his Movement phase. "At Midnight" effects on the back of Alaskan Adventures are not triggered at this time but are instead triggered if facedown when Midnight strikes.

When a monster appears, it may be placed at any faceup or facedown Adventure card, following normal rules. When a facedown Adventure card with a monster is flipped faceup, that monster is placed on any monster task at that adventure. If that adventure has no monster tasks or there are more monsters than monster tasks available, the monsters that cannot be placed in a monster task are placed below the card's bottom task as normal.

Special Adventure Cards

Special Adventure cards are not shuffled into the Adventure deck but are set aside until players are instructed to put them into play. A Special Adventure card cannot be discarded or otherwise removed from play except by successfully completing it. Markers or tokens, such as monsters and storms, cannot be placed on a Special Adventure card.

In Omens of Ice, Special Adventure cards are used by investigators to progress the expedition further north and advance to a new stage.

Stages of the Alaska Expedition

The Alaskan Adventures are separated into two stages: Stage I and Stage II. Stage I contains fewer dangers and provides plenty of useful items and some supplies for the investigators. Stage II is more treacherous but contains the Elder Sign and Other World rewards needed to seal away the Ancient Evil plaguing Alaska.

Investigators begin in Stage I and draw from the Stage I deck when replacing completed or discarded adventures. Investigators can progress to Stage II by successfully completing the "Into the Wild" Special Adventure.

When investigators progress to Stage II, discard the Stage I Adventure deck and replace it with the Stage II Adventure deck. Stage I Adventure cards still in play or held as trophies by investigators are not discarded. Finally, add the "Treacherous Ascent" Special Adventure card faceup to the play area. Investigators now draw from the Stage II Adventure deck when replacing completed or discarded adventures.

Alaskan Mythos Cards

Omens of Ice contains an entirely new Mythos deck which follows its own set of rules and force investigators to make hard choices in the face of growing threats.

When players draw and resolve a new Alaskan Mythos card, they are presented with a dilemma and must choose as a group between one of the two options listed on the card. Players cannot choose the bottom option if they cannot fully resolve the effect. If players cannot decide as a group, the investigator who took the last turn decides.

Entry Effects

Some Adventure cards in Omens of Ice feature Entry effects. Immediately after an investigator moves to a card with an "Entry" effect, he must resolve the "Entry" effect. In addition, if an investigator flips over an Adventure or Other World card while at that adventure, he immediately resolves its "Entry" effect.

If an investigator fails an adventure with an "Entry" effect and stays there on his next turn, he does not resolve the "Entry" effect again. However, if a different investigator moves to the adventure, resolve the "Entry" effect for that investigator.

Split Rewards and Penalties

Some rewards and penalties in Omens of Ice are split into two groups by a diagonal line. When receiving rewards or suffering penalties that are split, an investigator must choose which group of rewards or penalties to receive or suffer.

An investigator cannot choose to suffer a penalty that he cannot fulfill. For example, an investigator cannot choose a penalty that causes him to lose a common item if he has zero common items.

Some split rewards and penalties include a blessing, a curse, or a skill, which were introduced in the Unseen Forces and Gates of Arkham expansions. If not playing with those expansions, players must choose the reward or penalty which does not include a blessing, a curse, or skill.

Storm Markers

Certain game effects, such as penalties, doom icons, day icons, or Alaskan Mythos cards add storm markers to adventures. The presence of these markers represents unnaturally harsh weather at that location. This section further describes the rules governing storms.

Placing Storm Markers

When an effect instructs players to place storm markers on adventures, they first draw the required number of storm markers from the facedown pile without revealing the marker's effect. Then players place the storm markers, one at a time, facedown on adventures of their choice. An adventure cannot have more than four storm markers on it at any time.

Storm markers cannot be placed on Other World or Special Adventure cards. If a player is instructed to place storm markers during his Resolution phase, he cannot place storm markers on the adventure where his investigator is located, unless all other adventures have 4 storm markers on them.

Storm markers are limited by the amount included in the game. If a game effect instructs a player to place a storm marker and all storm markers are already placed, then no storm marker is placed and there is no further effect.

Storm Effects

At the start of an investigator's Resolution phase, if there are any storm markers on his adventure, he must flip them all faceup and then resolve all penalties revealed, in any order of his choice. Storm markers that are blank do not inflict penalties. After a storm marker is resolved, it is returned randomly to the facedown pile of storm markers.

When the clock strikes midnight, add 1 doom token to the doom track for each adventure with 4 storm markers on it.

New Doom Icon

The storm icon is a new doom icon that appears on the doom track of Ancient Ones in this expansion. Each time a doom token is placed on a space with a storm icon, investigators must place 3 storm markers on adventures.

Midnight Icon on Monsters

Some monster markers in Omens of Ice have a midnight icon in their task list. This icon indicates that the monster has a midnight effect printed on the back of the marker. At midnight, resolve all "Midnight effects" printed on the back of monsters with this icon.

New Rewards and Penalties

There are 15 potential new icons appearing on adventures. When receiving rewards or suffering penalties, the current player resolves the following effects (if able) for each icon that appears on the card:

• Healing: Any one investigator regains 1 stamina.
• Respite: Any one investigator regains 1 sanity.
• Expeditious: Do not advance the Clock during the Clock phase this turn.
• Reprieve: Remove 1 doom token from the Ancient One's doom track.
• Clock: Advance the clock once.
• Storm: Add 3 storm markers to adventures.
• Remove Monster: Return 1 monster on an adventure to the monster cup.
• Lost Common Item: Discard 1 common item.
• Lost Unique Item: Discard 1 unique item.
• Lost Spell: Discard 1 spell.
• Lost Ally: Discard 1 ally.
• Lost Skill: Discard 1 skill.
• Lost Elder Sign: Remove 1 Elder Sign from the Ancient One card. If there are no Elder Signs on the Ancient One card, add 1 doom token to the doom track instead.
• Supply: Gain 1 supply.

Playing Other Game Modes

The Alaskan Adventure cards, Alaskan Mythos cards, Track card, and Entrance card found in the Omens of Ice expansion are only used when playing the Alaska Expedition game mode. All other content found in this expansion can be played with the base game or any other game mode.

Midnight Effect Timing

When resolving multiple effects that occur at midnight, use the following order (also found on the included reference card):

1. Advance the day token one day along the Day track. Add a number of storm markers to adventures as indicated by the space the day token moved into.
2. For each adventure with 4 storm markers on it, add 1 doom token to the doom track.
3. Resolve all "At Midnight" effect on cards currently in play in the following order.
   • a. "At Midnight" effects on the Ancient One.
   • b. "At Midnight" effects on monsters, in order of the investigators' choosing.
   • c. "At Midnight" effects on Adventure and Other World cards, in order of the investigators' choosing.
   • d. "At Midnight" effects on other cards, in order of the investigators' choosing.
4. Resolve any "The next time the clock strikes midnight..." effects on the current Mythos card.
5. Draw and resolve a new Mythos card.
6. Refresh any "Once per day" abilities.

New Ancient Ones

Rhan-Tegoth

Difficulty: Average

He slumbers upon his ivory throne in a palace of ice and stone. For three million years he was fed endless sacrifices of blood and flesh, and yet still he hungers.

• Attack: When Rhan-Tegoth attacks, one investigator loses 2 stamina. If an investigator is devoured by this attack, add 2 doom tokens to the doom track instead of 1, then Rhan-Tegoth attacks again.
• Insatiable Hunger: When 1 or more Elder Signs are added to this sheet, one investigator loses 2 stamina. If an investigator is devoured by this ability, add 2 doom tokens to the doom track instead of 1.

Rlim-Shaikorth

Difficulty: Hard

Legends tell of a giant white worm that lives upon a towering iceberg, blasting any who come near with deadly rays of cold.

Ithaqua

Difficulty: Insane

A hideous beast that stalks the far north, where the snow never melts, Ithaqua hunts any creature or man foolish enough to enter his territory.