Eldritch Horror: Masks of Nyarlathotep

Eldritch Horror: Masks of Nyarlathotep Rulebook

Table of Contents

Expansion Overview

In the Masks of Nyarlathotep expansion, investigators must embark on an epic, world-spanning campaign to hinder the devious plots of multiple cults. Should they fail, Nyarlathotep, the Messenger of the Outer Gods, will succeed at opening the Great Gate and bringing doom upon the Earth. This expansion includes two new Ancient Ones and new investigators, Monsters, and encounters.

This expansion also features new mechanics, including Personal Stories, Unique Assets, Focus, and Resources. In addition, it introduces a new way to play: campaign mode.

Using This Expansion

When playing with the Masks of Nyarlathotep expansion, add all expansion components to their respective decks or pools of Eldritch Horror components except for the components described below.

Before setup, players draw one random Prelude card. These cards alter game setup and make each game feel unique.
The Mystic Ruins Encounter cards included in this expansion are used by the Antediluvium Ancient One as well as The Stars Align Prelude card. Otherwise, they are returned to the game box. See Mystic Ruins Encounters below for rules regarding Mystic Ruins Encounters.
The Adventure cards included in this expansion are used by the Nyarlathotep Ancient One. Otherwise, they are returned to the game box. See Adventures below for rules regarding Adventures.
Shuffle all Unique Assets to create the Unique Asset deck. Place this deck faceup near the Asset deck.
Add the three new Gate tokens to the Gate stack.
Add all Focus tokens, Resource tokens, and the Adventure token to the general token pool. See Focus Action and Gather Resources Action below for rules regarding these components.
Personal Stories add character-specific missions and rewards for each investigator. See Personal Stories below for rules regarding personal stories.
Players can challenge themselves with the new campaign mode of play. See Campaign Mode below for rules regarding campaign mode.
The Round Overview cards can be used to quickly reference possible actions and encounters.

Some components in this expansion require other newly introduced components. For this reason, all expansion content should be included when playing with this expansion.

Components

The Masks of Nyarlathotep expansion contains these components:

7 Investigator Sheets with Matching Tokens and Plastic Stands
2 Ancient One Sheets
8 General Encounter Cards, 8 Americas Encounter Cards, 8 Europe Encounter Cards, 8 Asia/Australia Encounter Cards, 6 Other World Encounter Cards, 20 Mystic Ruin Encounter Cards (4 unique backs), 48 Research Encounter Cards (2 unique backs), 16 Special Encounter Cards (2 unique backs)
10 Mystery Cards (2 unique backs)
12 Adventure Cards (4 unique backs)
20 Mythos Cards
14 Prelude Cards
8 Round Overview Cards
4 Artifact Cards
16 Asset Cards
4 Spell Cards
28 Unique Asset Cards
24 Condition Cards
55 Personal Mission Cards
55 Reward/Consequence Cards
10 Monster Tokens and 5 Epic Monster Tokens
20 Resource Tokens
16 Focus Tokens
8 Eldritch Tokens
3 Gate Tokens
1 Adventure Token
1 Mystic Ruins Token

The Components page also pictures sample cards (Bane, Corruption, Eye of Light, Call the Storm, Thrall, God of the Bloody Tongue, and others). Their full printed text is on the physical cards and is not reproduced here, except where the Ancient One sheet and the Reward example are transcribed below.

Expansion Icon

Cards in this expansion are marked with the Masks of Nyarlathotep expansion icon to distinguish these cards from the cards in other Eldritch Horror products.

Actions

The Round Overview card summarizes the actions available during the Action Phase, as printed on the expansion's Components page:

During the Action Phase, you can perform two actions. You can perform each action no more than once per round.

Travel: Move 1 space. Spend travel tickets to move additional spaces.
Prepare for Travel: Gain 1 travel ticket (max 2). (City only.)
Acquire Assets: Test Influence. Gain Assets from reserve with total value up to your test result. Spend Resources for additional successes. (City only. No Monsters.)
Rest: Recover 1 Health and 1 Sanity. Spend Resources to recover additional Health or Sanity. (No Monsters.)
Gather Resources: Gain 1 Resource (max 2).
Trade: Exchange any number of possessions with another investigator on your space.
Focus: Gain 1 Focus (max 2). (Focus can be spent to reroll dice during tests.)
Component Actions: Perform the action or local action of a component. Each component action is a separate action.

Prelude Cards

When playing with this expansion, players draw one random Prelude card before setting up the game. The card's effect is resolved immediately after drawing the card unless it specifies different timing, such as "after resolving setup."

The The Stars Align Prelude card instructs players to set up the Mystic Ruins Encounter deck. The rules for setting up and using this deck are described below.

Four Preludes in this expansion (Beginning of the End, The Dunwich Horror, Twin Blasphemies of the Black Goat, and Call of Cthulhu) originally appeared in previous expansions (Mountains of Madness, Strange Remnants, The Dreamlands, and Under the Pyramids respectively). If playing with those expansions, do not include the duplicate Preludes in the Prelude deck.

Adventures

The Adventure cards in this expansion represent the challenges the investigators will face in order to defeat Nyarlathotep. There are four stories told by these cards with unique traits to differentiate them. Each trait indicates a specific occult organization that tends to the Ancient One's bidding: Brotherhood of the Dark Pharaoh, Cult of the Bloody Tongue, Order of the Bloated Woman, and Cult of the Sand Bat. Each of the four Mysteries for the Nyarlathotep Ancient One instructs you to set aside and draw from one of these stories. Each story is told in three parts, shown as a trait (I, II, III).

When an Adventure is drawn, the active investigator places it faceup in play and resolves that card's "when this card enters play" effect.

Each Adventure has an effect that allows investigators to complete the Adventure. When an Adventure is completed, the active investigator resolves that card's "when this Adventure is completed" effect, which includes drawing another Adventure representing the next chapter of the story. Then the active investigator discards the Adventure, any tokens on it, and any tokens placed by its effects. Each Adventure will instruct investigators to draw an Adventure for the next stage of the story until reaching the third and final stage.

Mystic Ruins Encounters

The Mystic Ruins Encounter cards in this expansion allow investigators to explore the ruins of prehuman civilizations left behind from the distant past.

The Mystic Ruins Encounter cards are used only if Antediluvium is the Ancient One or when using The Stars Align Prelude card.

To set up the Mystic Ruins Encounter deck, shuffle all Mystic Ruins Encounter cards into a single deck. Then another player cuts the deck.

Mystic Ruins Encounters are complex encounters that may require an investigator to resolve multiple tests.
Each Mystic Ruins Encounter's back indicates the space it corresponds to.
The Mystic Ruins token is placed on the space corresponding to the top card of the Mystic Ruins Encounter deck. This space is referred to as the "Mystic Ruins space." If the top card of the Mystic Ruins Encounter deck changes for any reason, move the Mystic Ruins token to the appropriate space.
During the Encounter Phase, an investigator on a space containing the Mystic Ruins token may encounter it by drawing and resolving the top card of the Mystic Ruins Encounter deck.

Focus Action

This expansion includes the Focus action, a new action first introduced in the Mountains of Madness expansion, that can be performed by any investigator. As an action on any space, you gain one Focus token.

You may spend one Focus token to reroll one die when resolving a test. There is no limit to the number of Focus tokens you can spend to reroll dice.
You cannot have more than two Focus tokens.

Gather Resources Action

This expansion introduces the Gather Resources action that can be performed by any investigator. As an action on any space, you gain one Resource token.

As part of a Rest action, you may spend any number of Resources to recover 1 additional Health or 1 additional Sanity for each Resource spent.
As part of an Acquire Assets action, you may spend any number of Resources to add 1 success to your test result for each Resource spent.
Resources are possessions and may be traded using the Trade action. You cannot have more than two Resources.

Unique Assets

Some encounters in this expansion reward investigators with various Unique Assets. Like Spells or Conditions, Unique Assets are double-sided cards. You cannot look at the back of a Unique Asset unless an effect allows you to do so.

Unique Assets are possessions and may be traded using the Trade action. There is no limit to the number of Unique Assets you can have.
"Asset" refers to both Assets and Unique Assets. "Non-Unique Asset" refers to Assets but not Unique Assets.
When a Unique Asset is discarded, also discard all tokens on it.

Additional Rules

This section lists additional rules regarding Combat Encounters and Mysteries.

Combat Encounters

During the Encounter Phase, you must encounter each non-Epic Monster on your space before encountering each Epic Monster on your space.

Physical Resistance

Some Monsters and Epic Monsters in this expansion have the Physical Resistance ability. When resolving a Combat Encounter against a Monster with the Physical Resistance ability, you cannot apply any bonus to your dice pool except from Magical possessions and Spells.

Effects that allow you to reroll dice or manipulate dice results can be used as normal.

Eldritch Tokens

Some effects in this expansion (notably the Corruption Condition) cause you to gain Eldritch tokens. Eldritch tokens you have gained represent your current level of corruption.

When you gain an Eldritch token, place that token on your Investigator sheet. Some effects allow you to spend or discard your Eldritch tokens.

Mysteries

This expansion includes a new mechanic first introduced in the Mountains of Madness expansion: "advance the active Mystery." Due to the complexity of Mysteries, this can result in a number of different effects. When investigators are instructed to advance the active Mystery, the active investigator resolves one of the following effects that applies:

If the active Mystery requires one or more tokens to be placed on the card, place one token of that type on the card.
- Clues, Gates, and Monsters placed on the active Mystery in this way are drawn from the Clue pool, Gate stack, and Monster cup, respectively.
If the active Mystery requires an Epic Monster to be defeated, place two Health on the card. The Epic Monster's toughness is reduced by one for each Health on the active Mystery.
If the active Mystery requires an investigator to spend one or more Clues, place one Clue from the Clue pool on the card. Any investigator may spend Clues placed on the active Mystery when resolving an effect of that card.
If the active Mystery instructed you to set aside Adventure cards, treat the current Adventure as the active Mystery for purposes of advancing the active Mystery.

Optional Rules

Some players may wish to adjust the game's difficulty. This section lists optional rules for adjusting the game's difficulty and setup instructions of Prelude cards.

Adjusting Game Difficulty

If all players agree at the start of the game, they can use the optional rules listed below to alter the difficulty of the game.

Staged Difficulty

Players can make the game's difficulty increase in stages by building stage I of the Mythos deck using only easy Mythos cards, building stage II of the Mythos deck using only normal Mythos cards, and building stage III of the Mythos deck using only hard Mythos cards.

To increase the difficulty of this optional rule, players can use normal blue Mythos cards when building stage I of the Mythos deck and hard blue Mythos cards when building stage II of the Mythos deck. Players may also start with an easy blue Mythos card in play following the "Starting Rumor" rule in the Eldritch Horror Reference Guide.

Insane Difficulty

If players wish to have a more challenging game experience than Hard game difficulty from the base game, they can make the game significantly more difficult by building the Mythos deck using only hard Mythos cards.

Note: This optional rule may require additional expansions depending on the chosen Ancient One.

Control Your Fate

Instead of drawing a random Prelude card before setup, players as a group may choose one Prelude card, following the card's effects as normal.

Alternatively, players may choose to not use a Prelude card.

Personal Stories

This expansion introduces personal stories which represent the continuing stories your investigator faces as the game progresses. Personal stories can be used during any game.

Before beginning setup, players decide if they would like to play with personal stories or not. Either all players play with personal stories or all players play without.

This expansion includes a Personal Mission card and a Reward/Consequence card for each investigator (including all investigators from previous expansions and the base game). Which investigator these cards correspond to can be determined by their art which matches the art on their Investigator sheet.

Personal Missions

There is a unique Personal Mission card for each investigator. During step 4 of setup ("Receive Starting Possessions, Health, and Sanity"), you receive the Personal Mission card that corresponds to your chosen investigator, placing it near your Investigator sheet with your possessions.

Your Personal Mission includes additional narrative text as well as an effect that causes you to gain your Reward or Consequence. The Personal Mission indicates what you must accomplish to gain your Reward or avoid your Consequence.

Rewards and Consequences

There is a unique double-sided Reward/Consequence card for each investigator. You gain your Reward or Consequence as instructed on your Personal Mission, placing it near your Investigator sheet with your possessions. You can gain your Reward or Consequence, but not both.

Once you gain your Reward or Consequence, you keep it until the end of the game. Personal Missions, Rewards, and Consequences cannot be discarded by other game effects.

Although Reward/Consequence cards act similarly to Assets or Conditions, they are not possessions or Conditions and are not affected by effects that affect other card types.

Example: the Reward card "Resourceful" for Daniela Reyes (The Mechanic) reads: "Once per round, when you spend a Resource, gain 1 Resource. Once per round, you may spend 1 Resource to add 1 to the result of 1 die when resolving a test."

Campaign Mode

This expansion features a new mode of play to challenge experienced players. With the campaign mode, players will embark upon a series of six sequential games. Over the course of these games, major events within each game will create lasting effects that linger until the end of the campaign.

The goal is win all six games of the campaign. If the investigators lose any single game, the world has ended and the investigators lose the campaign.

Campaign Setup

Each game of a campaign is set up in the same way as a normal game except as stated here:

You must use the personal stories optional rule (see Personal Stories above).
The Ancient One for the first game is selected at random. Also randomly determine a second Ancient One that will be played against in the next game of the campaign.
The game is played using two Preludes: one that corresponds to the current Ancient One and a second for the Ancient One that will be played against next game. Each Ancient One is listed below with its corresponding Prelude.

Ancient One Specific Preludes

Ancient One	Prelude
Abhoth	Epidemic
Antediluvium	The Stars Align
Atlach-Nacha	Web Between Worlds
Azathoth	Beginning of the End
Cthulhu	Call of Cthulhu
Hastur	The King in Yellow
Hypnos	Otherworldly Dreams
Ithaqua	Rumors from the North
Nephren-Ka	Under the Pyramids
Nyarlathotep	Harbinger of the Outer Gods
Rise of the Elder Things	Doomsayer from Antarctica
Shub-Niggurath

Subsequent Games

Subsequent games of the campaign are set up in the same manner as the first. However, the following rules and additional steps of setup must be followed:

The Ancient One for each subsequent game was determined during setup of the previous game. The Ancient One for the next game must be determined at random during setup to inform which two Preludes will be used in the game.
For the sixth and final game, instead of determining a second Ancient One, play using the Prelude for the current Ancient One and the Unto the Breach Prelude.
Once an Ancient One has been defeated, that Ancient One cannot be selected again during the same campaign.
Investigators that have been defeated or devoured in a previous game are permanently eliminated and cannot be chosen when selecting an investigator.
The surviving investigators from the previous game are the chosen investigators to begin the new game. Players who were eliminated at the end of the previous game may select new investigators from the remaining pool.
If you gained your Reward or Consequence from your personal story, you begin the new game with that card.
If you ended the previous game with a Dark Pact Condition or a Promise of Power Condition, you begin the new game with a copy of that Condition.
All cities that had been devastated during previous games begin devastated in the new game. (Ignore this bullet if not playing with the Cities in Ruin expansion.)

All other components and effects are reset between games. Undefeated investigators do not retain the possessions or skill improvements they accrued during previous games; defeated investigators and their possessions are returned to their respective decks and pools; gates and monsters do not remain on the game board; etc.

Ancient One Sheet: Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep: The Crawling Chaos

When an investigator has Eldritch tokens equal to or greater than his maximum Sanity, he is devoured.
When 2 Mysteries have been solved, investigators win the game.
When Nyarlathotep awakens, flip this sheet and resolve the "Nyarlathotep Awakens!" effect on the back.
[icon]: Investigators as a group gain Eldritch tokens equal to half [icon].

He has many names and wears many faces. He alone of the Outer Gods walks the Earth, the puppetmaster pulling the strings of a thousand cults, wearing the masks of a thousand gods.

Setup: Set aside all Nyarlathotep Special Encounters.

Mythos Deck (number of Mythos cards of each color in each stage):

Stage	Green	Yellow	Blue
Stage I	1	2	1
Stage II	2	3	1
Stage III	2	4	0

The sheet also shows a Cultists Monster with this printed text: "If you fail the [skill icon] test, gain a Corruption Condition; if you already have a Corruption Condition, gain 1 Eldritch token instead." The skill and reward symbols on the sheet are graphics that the text layer does not carry, so they are shown above as [icon] or [skill icon] rather than named.

The effect printed on the back of this sheet, "Nyarlathotep Awakens!", is not part of this document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can the actions granted by Preston Fairmont's action ability be used in any order?

A. Yes. The actions granted by Preston's action ability can be performed in any order, including allowing the other investigator to perform actions before or after Preston.

Q. Does Sefina Rousseau need to roll the successes naturally to use her passive ability?

A. The two successes required for Sefina's passive ability to trigger must be rolled on the dice during her test. This is, successes granted by another effect (such as accepting a bank loan) do not count toward the requirement. However, Sefina may use any rerolls or other dice manipulation effects to achieve her two successes.

Q. Does reducing my maximum Health reduce my current Health?

A. No. If your maximum Health is changed, your current Health remains the same. However, your current Health cannot exceed your new maximum Health. In such a case, your current Health is set to your new maximum Health.

The same is true for current and maximum Sanity.

Q. Are the Eldritch tokens gained from a Corruption Condition discarded when I discard the Condition?

A. No. The Corruption Condition (and some other effects) cause you to gain Eldritch tokens which are placed on your Investigator sheet. Eldritch tokens you have gained are not discarded unless an effect specifically allows you to spend or discard them.

Q. What does the second effect of Jacqueline Fine's Reward card ("Oracle") do?

A. During the Mythos Phase, after the Mythos card is revealed, Jacqueline may spend three Clues. If she does, the Mythos card is resolved as if its text box is blank. She must choose to do this before any part of the text effect is resolved.

Q. Does the second effect of Marie Lambeau's Reward card ("SmokeyVelvet") allow another investigator to perform the same action a second time?

A. No. If Marie performs the Rest action, her Reward effect will not allow an investigator to also perform the Rest action if that investigator has already performed that action this round. However, after performing her action ability (which allows her to perform an action she has already performed this round), her Reward effect can allow another investigator to perform an action the investigator has already performed.