Arkham Horror: The Card Game – The Blob That Ate Everything ELSE!
Arkham Horror: The Card Game – The Blob That Ate Everything ELSE! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Expansion Contents
This expansion contains several elements that can be used independently from one another (in any combination), or all together.
- Subject 5U-21: Cards #1–5 consist of a brand new investigator and her signature cards. The rules for using this investigator can be found starting on page 3.
- New Scenario Content: Cards #6–9 and #11–21 consist of new content for The Blob That Ate Everything scenario. The rules for incorporating this content can be found starting on page 5. This also includes a new, expanded Reality Acid table which can be found on pages 8–20.
- New Event Organizer Rules: All 9 copies of card #10, along with the new rules starting on page 21, can be used to expand the role of the event organizer when playing The Blob That Ate Everything in Epic Multiplayer Mode.
The cards in this expansion can be identified by the expansion symbol before each card's collector number.
Subject 5U-21
Story text printed on page 3 under the heading "Subject 5U-21":
That's how it started. The oozeling seemed to be completely severed from the joint consciousness of the rest of Subject 8L-08's manifold offspring. Instead, it seems to have imprinted onto us. It does not devour on pure instinct, but rather, only when directed or fed. We have given the subject a new designation: 5U-21.
It is a truly human thing to emotionally attach oneself to something so alien. But as 5U-21 grew in size and adapted more and more human mannerisms, it seems to have attached itself to us, as well. It has started to mimic humanity at almost every level. It has changed its shape to that of a human being, right down to adopting the functions of some human organs. Some of the researchers have even begun affectionately calling it by the moniker "Suzi."
Part 2 Story Card
Read only if "the sample was lost:"
Remove Mi-Go Harvester, Meteorite Sample, and this card from the game. Lose 2 countermeasures.
Read only if "the sample was recovered:"
The few researchers who remain subject the meteorite shard to all kinds of tests. But before they can reach any sort of conclusion, a second creature breaks free from within. Panic erupts throughout the research station, but as the creature does not immediately attack, you wait and observe it closely. It begins to follow you everywhere you go, crawling along the ground like a lost duckling.
Put the set-aside Pet Oozeling story asset into play under any investigator's control. Remove Meteorite Sample from the game. Add Mi-Go Harvester and this card to the victory display. Gain 2 countermeasures.
Victory 1.
Source note: the rendered page shows only the "recovered" passage of this story card. The "lost" passage and the recovered effect text above were taken from the same card's text layer in the PDF, because they do not appear in the page render.
Suzi
Thanks to Suzi's unique physiology, she is capable of speech and has even learned several languages. Unlike Subject 8L-08's other oozelings, Suzi can maintain physical contact with matter without immediately consuming it. That means she can wear clothing, hold and manipulate tools, nearly anything a human can do. Though she cannot truly pass for human, she has exhibited a clear desire to be a part of humanity.
We do not believe Suzi holds any ill will toward us. In fact, she seems to be quite affectionate toward most humans, though she can only come close to approximating human empathy. As such, we would be unwise to let our guard down entirely. Since she cannot truly empathize with other living organisms, there is risk in allowing Suzi to operate outside the confines of the QZ. If she turns on us—if her appetite becomes too much to control—she could pose as much danger as 8L-08 itself.
That said, we who have studied Suzi's capabilities and mannerisms vouch for her usefulness and her genuine desire to assist in any way. We believe Suzi can be a valuable asset for the Foundation, so long as she is closely observed.
Subject 5U-21, otherwise known as "Suzi," is a new neutral investigator for Arkham Horror: The Card Game. This investigator can be used in any campaign or standalone scenario, following the standard rules for choosing an investigator when creating a deck.
- Note: When resolving Subject 5U-21's Reality Acid weakness, use her Reality Acid reference card, not the Reality Acid table in this rulebook or in the original The Blob That Ate Everything rulebook.
New Scenario Content
When setting up The Blob That Ate Everything, players (or the event organizer) may choose to add the additional content included in this expansion. In order to do so, set up the scenario using the same guidelines and setup instructions included on pages 13–15 of the original rulebook, with the following modifications:
Setup
- When gathering encounter sets, also gather the new sets included in this expansion: The Blob That Ate Everything Else and Mi-Go Incursion II. These sets are indicated by the encounter-set icons printed beside this step in the rulebook (one icon for each set).
- Set aside all cards from the Mi-Go Incursion II encounter set, out of play.
- When setting up the locations, shuffle the 4 new Quarantine Zone locations together with the Quarantine Zone locations from the original scenario, then remove 5 of them from the game, instead of only 1. Arrange the locations as normal.
- If you are playing in Single Group Mode, remove each copy of Replicating Aberration from the game. If you are playing in Epic Multiplayer Mode, give each copy of Replicating Aberration to the event organizer.
- Set the original rulebook for The Blob That Ate Everything aside until the end of the game; its Reality Acid table will not be used during this scenario. (Refer to the rules on page 7 of this rulebook for more information.)
New Rules and Clarifications
- When you are instructed to randomly draw a Part 1 story card, include the 3 new story cards in the Mi-Go Incursion II encounter set, for a total of 7 possible story cards.
- Some effects allow investigators to affect investigators in "any group." If playing in Single Group Mode, there is only one group that can be affected (yours). If playing in Epic Multiplayer Mode, any group (including your own) can be chosen. Communicate and strategize with the other groups playing in order to make the best use of these abilities.
- As a variant rule, in Epic Multiplayer Mode, the event organizer may choose to allow the abilities of the Church, Water Tower, Abbatoir, and Old Burial Hill to also function in this way. If so, when an investigator activates one of these abilities, they may choose any group and treat all of that ability's effects as applying to that group's game state. (Note: this only changes the text of the locations' effects, not their triggering conditions.) If this variant is used, the event organizer should clearly indicate this before the scenario begins.
- The new Replicating Aberration enemies are only used in Epic Multiplayer Mode, and only at the event organizer's discretion. (See page 20 for more information.)
Expanded Reality Acid Table
When playing The Blob That Ate Everything ELSE!, use the table on the following pages instead of the table on pages 16–19 of the original The Blob That Ate Everything rulebook.
When resolving Reality Acid in The Blob That Ate Everything ELSE!, the order of the tokens pulled matters, unlike in the original. Instead of revealing two tokens simultaneously and finding that combination of tokens in the Reality Acid table, reveal each token one at a time. Find the first token revealed in the leftmost column of the Reality Acid table, then find the second token revealed in the next column over, and resolve the devour effect listed.
- If you reveal a token that is not listed, ignore it and reveal a new token from the chaos bag to replace that token.
- If the devour effect listed for your combination of tokens cannot be resolved for any reason, return the revealed tokens to the bag and start the process over.
- Example: Suzi draws a Reality Acid treachery and is instructed to reveal two tokens from the chaos bag, one at a time. The first is a token which is not listed in the Reality Acid table, so she ignores it and reveals another token in its place, which is a "–3" token. For her next token, she reveals a "–2." She locates the row in the Reality Acid table that lists these two tokens in the order she revealed them (–3 in the left column and –2 in the right column), and resolves the devour effect listed there (in this case, her "future").
Symbol key for this section. The printed table uses symbols with no names in the text layer. They are written here by shape: [star-eye] is the star with an eye; [compass] is the four-pointed compass sigil; [curl] is the curled hook; [figure-2] is the figure with a 2. Skull, cultist, tablet, and elder thing are written by name. Match each bracketed shape to the matching chaos token in the bag.
Reality Acid
Subject 8L-08 opens its maw, and devours…
(If the combination of chaos tokens revealed is not listed, or if the listed aspect cannot be devoured, reveal two new chaos tokens and consult the chart again.)
| 1st Chaos Token | 2nd Chaos Token | Aspect of Reality Devoured |
|---|---|---|
| [star-eye] | [star-eye] | …the concept of failure. For the remainder of this round, whenever you would fail a skill test, you succeed by 0, instead. |
| [star-eye] | [compass] | …your misfortune. Set this [compass] token aside. The next time you would reveal a chaos token during a skill test, resolve this set-aside [compass] token instead (as if it were just revealed from the chaos bag). |
| [star-eye] | +0/+1 | …your greatest flaw. Search your deck for any 1 weakness card. It is devoured. |
| [star-eye] | Skull / Cultist | …the non-Elite enemy nearest to you. |
| [star-eye] | Tablet / Elder Thing | …a treachery at your location. |
| [star-eye] | –1/–2 | …1 horror and 1 damage from your investigator card. |
| [star-eye] | –3 to –5 |
Symbol notes for this section. The printed page uses three further symbol sets that have no names in the text layer. They are written here as follows:
- Stat icons in the "set your base … to 0" entries are named by their position in the standard order of the four stats: the head icon is Willpower, the open-book icon is Intellect, the fist icon is Combat, and the winged-figure icon is Agility.
- Ability-trigger icons in the "you cannot trigger … abilities" entries are written as [curved-arrow] (curved arrow, the reflex entry), [lightning] (lightning streak, the boldness entry), and [double-arrow] (double chevron, the initiative entry). Use the matching ability-type icon on the card being affected.
New Event Organizer Rules and Variants
When playing The Blob That Ate Everything or The Blob That Ate Everything ELSE! in Epic Multiplayer Mode, the role of the event organizer can be expanded to include adversarial elements, allowing the event organizer to act as extensions of Subject 8L-08 itself.
Replicating Aberrations
This expansion includes 9 copies of a new enemy, the Replicating Aberration. These enemies are not used in Single Group Mode, and are given directly to the event organizer in Epic Multiplayer Mode. If playing with more than 3 groups, there is no need to take all of them; take the Replicating Aberration cards from 3 groups and have the rest set them aside. (If there is more than one event organizer, each one should choose which groups they wish to cover, and take only the Replicating Aberration enemies from each of those groups.)
Each of these enemies has a "Replicate" ability that allows the event organizer to spawn that enemy if they spot a specific event or circumstance while passing by or watching over a group of investigators. That group may cancel the spawning of that enemy by spending countermeasures as instructed.
- Triggering the replicate ability of a Replicating Aberration is optional. Event organizers should use their own discretion when determining whether or not to do so. (For the best experience, do not pick on a group that is struggling. As Subject 8L-08 nears death, feel free to be a bit more cruel and knock those investigators down a peg or two.)
- Replicating Aberration enemies are returned to the event organizer when they leave play. (Their Blob X keyword still triggers if they are defeated.)
- When visiting or passing by a group, take a moment to watch their gameplay and take note of their unique circumstances. There may be a replicate ability that you can trigger!
Expanded Communication and Teamwork
Some of the new cards in The Blob That Ate Everything ELSE! allow for increased strategy between groups. Investigators may communicate freely between groups, but at the investigators' request, you may aid them in this endeavor by scouting other groups who may benefit from their actions.
As described on page 6, you may optionally decide to allow the abilities on some locations to affect the game state of other groups. If you choose to do so, make sure to announce this to the investigators before the start of the scenario.
Conflicts between groups are rare, but should be resolved swiftly and with compassion in order to keep the scenario moving and all parties content.
Reality Acid Choices
Be aware that some of the new Reality Acid effects on pages 8–20 allow the event organizer to choose what aspect of reality gets devoured. Try to follow the guidelines presented, but if you cannot think of anything in the moment, you may instruct the players to reveal new tokens instead.
Design Notes
Hah! You thought I was done designing for Arkham, didn't you? Okay, okay, starting now, I really am. Consider this my encore: a love letter to my favorite scenario, and to you, this game's wonderful fans.
I honestly believe that The Blob That Ate Everything is the best "event" scenario we've ever made, so when I was given the opportunity to reinvigorate it with some new content, I was thrilled. I always leave ideas on the cutting room floor when designing scenarios, so it's fun when I get the chance to return to some of those concepts. Having run this scenario numerous times at Gen Con and Arkham Nights as the event organizer, I also wanted to find a few ways to make that experience more engaging—not for future me, but for other players who want to organize blob events at home or at their friendly local gaming store.
We also wanted to find a way to make this experience a memorable set piece even for players who don't get the chance to experience this scenario in epic multiplayer mode. The first thing that popped into my head was "we absolutely need to make a blob investigator." We laughed the idea off like it was a funny joke for about fifteen seconds before realizing it was actually a great idea—which actually echoes the moment this entire scenario was conceived in the first place. And thus, "Suzi" was born.
We hope you enjoy this fun little callback to one of Arkham Horror: The Card Game's most memorable scenarios, and look forward to what's coming next. As you'll soon know, Blackwater's not the only spot where a meal is taking place.