Wake up, Cthulhu! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
• Development of the Game
• Turn Sequence
  • 1. Replenish the Hand
  • 2. Play an Action
    • A. Conjure
    • B. Advance
  • 3. Replenish the Grimoire
  • 4. End of the Turn
• Curses
• Card Description
  • Spells
  • Objects
  • Curses
• End of the Game
• Winner
• Solitaire Mode
  • Preparation
  • Development of the Solitaire Game
  • Cthulhu's Turn
  • Player's Turn
  • Clarification
  • Curses (Solitaire)
  • End of the Game (Solitaire)

Components

• 1 Board
• 60 Arcane Knowledge tokens:
  • 15 Green tokens
  • 15 Red tokens
  • 15 Blue tokens
  • 15 Yellow tokens
• 1 Cthulhu figure
• 100 Cards
  • 64 Ingredients
  • 36 Grimoire cards
    • 18 Spells
    • 11 Objects
    • 7 Curses

Set Up

Follow these steps to prepare a game of Wake up, Cthulhu!

1. Place the board in the centre of the table with the Cthulhu figure in the central slot.

2. Shuffle both card decks separately: the Grimoire (blue back) and the Ingredients (brown back). Place them face down on opposing sides of the board.

3. Each player receives 15 Arcane Knowledge tokens of a colour and 7 ingredient cards. The tokens are placed before him or her forming his or her Arcane Knowledge token reserve.

4. The Grimoire deck is split randomly into six piles of six cards each. Each pile is placed face down on that same side of the board (opposite the Ingredients decks). Reveal the first card of each pile, thus revealing the full Grimoire.

   Note: if a Curse is revealed, it must be executed following the rules in the "Curse" section (see further on). Once the Curse has been resolved, it will be discarded (forming a discard pile for the Grimoire cards next to the Grimoire piles) and the next card of that pile will be revealed. Repeat this process with any Curse that is revealed.

5. The player with the most bulgy eyes (and therefore with ancestors of the order of Dagon) begins the game.

Development of the Game

During the game players pass the turn clockwise around the table. Once a player has completed his or her turn, it will be the turn of the player to his or her left.

Turn Sequence

A player must take the following steps to complete his or her turn:

1. Replenish the hand.
2. Play an action.
3. Replenish the Grimoire.
4. End of the turn.

1. Replenish the Hand

The player draws Ingredient Cards until he or she has 7 Ingredient cards in his or her hand.

Note: Object Cards aren't taken into account for this as they are not Ingredient Cards.

[Frank starts his turn. Since he only has two ingredient cards in his hand, he takes 5 cards from the Ingredients Deck in order to have a total of 7. If he had started the turn with 7 cards, he would have skipped this step.]

2. Play an Action

The player can play any of the following actions:

• A. Conjure a Grimoire card
• B. Advance on Arcane Knowledge

A. Conjure

The player can combine Ingredients from his or her hand to conjure one of the available Grimoire cards (the revealed one on top of each pile). To conjure a Grimoire card the player must:

1. Discard from his or her hand the Ingredients indicated in the cost of the card (see card description) and...
2. Resolve the effect of the card.

There are two kinds of Grimoire cards that can be conjured:

• SPELL: the player must immediately resolve its effects (see Card Description further on) and is then sent to the discard pile.
• OBJECT: the player becomes the owner of the card, incorporating it to his or her hand with the rest of the Ingredients. A player may use his or her objects at any time without an additional cost (even during another player's turn). Object Cards don't count for the grand total of 7 cards in hand. Once it has been used, this card is put into the Grimoire discard pile. A player can own any amount of objects. Only one copy of each object may be played each turn, however. In the event that two players wish to use the same object at the same time, only the closest one to the player with the turn can play it. Likewise, if a player has more than one copy of the same object, he or she can only play one per turn.

[It's Anthony's turn and he notices that the "Ulthar" object is revealed in the Grimoire, which would allow him to duplicate spells in one of his following turns, but he also realizes that he doesn't possess the necessary Ingredients in his hand, so he decides to use "Daemonum Prestigis", which he had obtained during a previous turn. Like this, using just one Ingredient from his hand, he manages to get hold of an "Ulthar" (the Ingredient and the "Daemonum Prestigis" are placed in their respective discard piles). Next, he reveals the next Grimoire card from the pile where "Ulthar" was, and he passes the turn to the player on his left.]

B. Advance

On the top right-hand side of some Grimoire Cards an Arcane Knowledge advancing cost can be found. To advance the player must:

1. Discard from his or her hand the amount of Ingredient Cards indicated (for example, "3X" would be 3 Ingredients of the same kind), and
2. Take as many Arcane Knowledge tokens from his or her reserve as the card indicates and add them to the board. Each token is placed on an empty square (candle) of the path on the board that leads to Cthulhu and the Summoning Circle. The squares must be filled in order, beginning with the Starting square. In a two-player game the Starting square will be the first black candle, while in a three-player game it will be the first purple candle. When four players play it's the first square of the board.

In the event that a player has no Arcane Knowledge tokens left in his or her reserve, for each token that he or she must place but can't, that player must:

1. Exchange the position of one of his o her Arcane Knowledge tokens with the nearest to the end of the line that belongs to another player, and...
2. Advance the Cthulhu figure one position (see "Curses" further on).

[Daniel spends 4 "Mandrake" cards from his hand and uses the "Necronomicon" to place three Arcane Knowledge tokens in the Summoning Circle. As he only has one left in his reserve, he places this token in front of the rest. Then he takes two tokens of his colour from the beginning of the Summoning Circle and swaps them with two of Frank's, that are towards the end of the circle. Cthulhu also advances two squares (one for each token Daniel has swapped). With his remaining ingredients Daniel can't conjure any other Grimoire card, so he passes the turn to the next player.]

Note: If at any time there was an empty space between two Arcane Knowledge tokens on the board, move all the tokens forward to fill up the space keeping the same order.

3. Replenish the Grimoire

Once the card of point 2.) has been resolved, reveal the next card in its pile. If the pile is depleted, no card is revealed.

If the revealed card is a "Curse" card (symbol D) it will resolve immediately (see "Curse" section further on). Then it will be discarded and the next card of the pile will be revealed.

When a second Grimoire pile is depleted, the player takes the cards from the discard pile, shuffles them and refills every empty slot with a new pile of 6 cards face-down. The remaining cards are returned to the discard pile, face-up. Next, reveal the top card of each pile.

4. End of the Turn

If while Replenishing the Grimoire a Curse has appeared (or more than one), once it's resolved the player's turn ends and it's the turn of the player to the left.

If no Curse has appeared and the action which has been played has granted the player the possibility of playing another action (symbol A), the player can go back to point 2.). If the player doesn't have another action or doesn't wish to play one, his or her turn ends and it's the turn of the player on the left.

[It's Frank's turn. He replenishes his hand until he has 7 Ingredient Cards and he takes a look at the Grimoire. He decides to advance in Arcane Knowledge with Clavicula Salomonis: he uses three Mandrakes to place two Arcane Knowledge tokens from his reserve onto the board and obtains an additional action. He puts Clavicula Salomonis in the Grimoire discard pile and reveals the next card of that pile. He uses an Insect to buy Liber Eibon, draws two Ingredients from the deck, and he can play another action. Frank reveals the first card of that pile. In exchange for another Insect he uses Clavicula Salomonis, searches for a Bone card in the Ingredients Deck and he gets another action. He reveals the next top card of this pile. Finally he has the combination he needed and with a Bone and a Mandrake he gets the "Ulthar" object and ends his turn, passing it on to the player to his left.]

Curses

When revealing the top card of a Grimoire pile a Curse may appear. Curses resolve instantly as follows:

1. Move the Cthulhu figure one position on the Summoning Circle. He moves from his starting position in the centre outwards towards the player's Starting square.
2. Resolve the effects of the Curse. Some Curses ask for a sacrifice to be made to resolve the effect. To make a sacrifice players must discard Ingredient cards from their hands in an auction. Starting with the player whose turn it is and following the game order (clockwise around the table), each player must place an Ingredient card from his or her hand face down on the table before him or her, thus creating their bid. During the first round of the auction, if a player has any Ingredient Cards in his or her hand he or she must bid. As from the second round they might choose to fold. Once a bidder decides to fold he or she can't bid again. Follow this sequence adding cards until everybody folds. Then flip the cards face up and each player adds up their value. Each Ingredient has a number on the top left corner. This is the sacrifice value of the Ingredient. The player with the highest total will win the auction and he or she will receive the benefits of the Curse. If two or more players draw, the one with the least cards in his or her hand wins. If they have the same amount of cards, they randomly draw a card from the Ingredients Deck. The one who draws the highest sacrifice value wins. Repeat this process until there's a tie break. Once the auction is over, all the Ingredient Cards that have been used are discarded and placed in the Ingredient discard pile.

R'lyeh, the amulet, grants an automatic success when making a sacrifice for a Curse. The player who uses it wins the auction (and the other players don't have to make any sacrifice).

[Mike buys a spell, completes its effects and, as he reveals the next card of that Grimoire pile, it turns out to be the Curse of Yuggoth. They start an auction to determine who resolves the Curse. Following the turn order, Mike places an Ingredient card before him face-down. Then Frank, Anthony and Daniel do the same. In the next round Mike decides to fold, but the rest all bid another card. In the third round they all fold. So they reveal their bids: Mike forwarded an Arcane Symbol (5), Anthony and Frank two Bones each (2+2=4), and Daniel one Bone and one Mandrake (2+1=3). Mike, despite having bid only one card, wins the auction and resolves the Curse: he places two tokens from his reserve on the board and replaces two of Anthony's for two from his own reserve.]

Card Description

Spells

All the spells can be played in two different ways: by their cost in Ingredients (top left corner) and immediately resolving the effect indicated in the lower part of the card, or as advancement in Arcane Knowledge, using as many Ingredient Cards as it indicates in the top right corner and placing as many Arcane Knowledge tokens as candles on the card. In this case another action can be played.

There are three copies of each spell in the Grimoire:

• Clavicula Salomonis: Search for a card in the Ingredients Deck. Afterwards shuffle the deck. You can play another action.
• Liber Ebon: Draw the first two cards from the Ingredients Deck. You can play another action.
• Necronomicon: Swap three of your Arcane Knowledge tokens on the board with three of one or more players of your choice on the board.
• Picatrix: draw the first four cards of the Ingredients Deck. You can play another action.
• Pkanos Skriptum: discard any face-up card of the Grimoire. You can play another action.
• Vermiis Mysteries: Swap two of your Arcane Knowledge tokens on the board with two tokens of one or more players of your choice.

Note: the card title is printed as "Liber Ebon" in the card description and as "Liber Eibon" in the example text above; both are transcribed as printed.

Objects

All objects are placed in one's hand when they are bought from the Grimoire together with the Ingredients, and they might be used in subsequent turns. Once it is used it will go to the Grimoire discard pile.

There are 3 copies of each Object in the Grimoire, except for R'lyeh, of which there are only 2.

• Daemonum Prestigis: During your turn you can buy any card from the Grimoire for only 1 Ingredient of any kind.
• Ran-Tegoth: During another player's turn, if this player places Arcane Knowledge tokens on the board, you may play Ran-Tegoth and place the same amount of tokens in front of his or hers.
• Ulthar: before you "conjure a Spell" (not an Object), you may play Ulthar to double its effects.
• R'lyeh: You may play R'lyeh during an auction to win it immediately and receive the effect of the Curse. The Ingredient Cards that had already been played are discarded. In the event of a player being affected by a C'thonian, that player may play the card so that his or her Arcane Knowledge tokens on the board aren't counted as the closest to the beginning of the Summoning Circle.

Curses

There are three copies of Stellaris Seminum in the Grimoire and two of the other Curses:

• Stellaris Seminum: an auction takes place. The player who wins the auction keeps this card in front of him or her for the rest of the game. As from this moment, during the "Replenish the hand" step, the player will draw an extra card than what he or she would have for every "Stellaris Seminum" in his or her power.
• C'thonian: No auction takes place with this Curse. The two Arcane Knowledge tokens closest to the end of the Summoning Circle (the end where the Cthulhu figure begins) are returned to the reserves of their owners.
• Yuggoth: an auction takes place. The player that wins it can place two Arcane Knowledge tokens from his or her reserve onto the board and, then, he or she can swap two tokens on the board belonging to one or more players with two of his or her own.

[It's Daniel's turn and he decides to play the action of Advancing 2 squares: he places 1 Arcane Knowledge token and is left in the square right next to the one Cthulhu is occupying at that moment. Once this happens, at the end of his turn the game will finish.]

End of the Game

Cthulhu always wins. He wakes and takes a large snack.

As for the players, the game will finish at the end of the turn of a player in which one of the following has happened:

• The Cthulhu figure and an Arcane Knowledge token of a player are in consecutive squares of the Summoning Circle.
• The Cthulhu figure gets to the Red Candle square.

Winner

The player who has managed to place most Arcane Knowledge tokens of his or her colour on the board will win the game… and won't be devoured! For now, anyway. That player will wander eternally by the Prince of Chaos's side, destroying dimensional planes and creating nightmares while his old comrades suffer the worst of fates.

In the event of a draw, the player amongst the tied ones who has an Arcane Knowledge token closest to Cthulhu on the board will win the game.

[In the same example as before, both Frank and Daniel have the same amount of tokens on the board. Since Daniel has placed the last token, this is the closest to the Great Old One's position, so Daniel wins the game.]

Solitaire Mode

In the one player "solitaire" mode of Wake up, Chtulhu! you must strive to reach to the Great Old One's portal before the first tentacle crawls out, just to prove to him that his favourite acolyte is already awaiting his arrival on Earth.

Preparation

An Arcane Knowledge token will be placed on the first square of Path C and the Cthulhu figure on the first square of Path D.

Shuffle the Ingredients deck and place it on position E on the board. The player draws 7 cards.

Shuffle the Grimoire deck and place it on position F on the board. The first 4 cards are taken and placed on the B positions of the board.

Development of the Solitaire Game

The solitaire game progresses by taking alternate turns between the player and Cthulhu's figure.

Cthulhu's Turn

Cthulhu takes the first turn of the game.

In order to play Cthulhu's turn:

• 1st The first 4 cards of the Ingredients Deck are taken and placed in the available A positions of the board in the following manner:
  • Each different ingredient will be placed in a different position. Same Ingredients occupy the same position.
  • Once the 4 cards are adequately placed, if there are 3 accumulated cards in any position discard them and Cthulhu advances 3 squares. If in any position there are 4 or more accumulated cards, discard them and Cthulhu advances 4 squares.
  • The position which has caused Cthulhu to move is left empty.
  • If an Arcane Symbol (wild card) is drawn it will always be placed in the position closest to Path C, therefore accumulating more cards in said position for the recount.
  • Next, it's the player's turn.

Player's Turn

During his turn the player must follow these steps:

• 1st The player takes cards from the Deck of Ingredients until he or she has 7 in his or her hand. In the event of having that amount or more to start off with, go to the next step.
• 2nd The player will combine the Ingredient Cards from his or her hand to Conjure Spells or to advance in Arcane Knowledge but using only the Grimoire Cards in the B positions. Unlike in the normal game, when a player advances in Arcane Knowledge, that player doesn't add tokens to the path on the board, what the player does is advance his or her figure the amount of candles that appear on the card. Once a card is conjured, an object is taken from the hand or a card is used to advance in Arcane Knowledge, this card will be discarded straight away and a new card from the Grimoire will take its position. If the player has another action (because he or she has advanced in Arcane Knowledge or because the effect of the card describes so) the player may continue playing over the Grimoire cards until he or she decides to pass or a Curse is revealed. If all four positions are occupied by objects, the player can choose to discard them all, refill the 4 positions and play his or her action. If the Grimoire Deck runs out, the player will take the cards from the discard pile, shuffle them and form a new Grimoire.

Clarification

All the cards that indicate that other players' Arcane Knowledge tokens should be swapped for yours (Necronomicon, Vermiis Mysteries, etc.) will result in setting back the Cthulhu figure and advancing yours those many squares.

Curses (Solitaire)

Whenever a Curse is revealed, the player must decide how many cards he or she discards to obtain advantage. Set aside those cards and draw the same amount of cards from the Ingredients Deck. This will be Cthulhu's strength against the Curse. Compare the total value of the player's cards and Cthulhu's. The one with the highest value obtains the benefit of the Curse. In the event of a draw, Cthulhu wins.

If the curse is C'thonian the sacrifice must be made, and the winner will move two squares forward while the looser moves back two squares.

End of the Game (Solitaire)

The game will end when either of the two figures reaches the last square, the Portal.

The player wins if his or her figure gets there before Cthulhu's.