How to Play Arkham Horror: The Black Goat of the Woods Expansion

Game Objective

In Arkham Horror: The Black Goat of the Woods Expansion, an evil cult, known as the "One of a Thousand" Cult, has emerged in Arkham. Investigators must infiltrate this cult and learn enough about these enemies to save Arkham from impending disaster. The cult is gaining power as slumbering masters are summoned, and investigators must resist the corrupting and seductive influence of the Black Goat. The game uses the standard victory conditions of Arkham Horror, but adds challenges and thematic elements related to the cult and corruption.

Setup

Before playing your first game of THE BLACK GOAT OF THE WOODS, carefully punch out the game pieces. To integrate the expansion with the base game, follow these steps, which only need to be done once if you are not separating the components afterward:

1. Prepare the Decks: Shuffle the Common Items, Unique Items, Spells, Arkham Locations, Mythos, and Gates cards into their respective base game decks.
2. Prepare the Monster Tokens: If you are not playing with the "Herald" option, shuffle the new expansion's monster tokens with the non-mask monster tokens from the base game.

When playing with the expansion, perform the normal ARKHAM HORROR game setup, with the following additional changes:

• Separate the Decks:
  • Place the eight "One of a Thousand" Cult Society cards in a pile near the other special cards.
  • Shuffle the Cult Encounter cards into a deck and place it near the Arkham Locations cards.
  • Shuffle the sixteen Green Corruption cards into one pile, and the sixteen Red Corruption cards into a different pile. Then, place the green pile on top of the red pile to form a single Corruption deck. Place this deck near the special cards.

If using the "Herald" option, follow these additional steps during base game setup:

• 5a. Place the Herald sheet to the left of the Ancient One sheet.
• 11a. Set aside all monster tokens with a hexagonal dimensional symbol to form another monster reserve, which will be the hexagonal reserve.

Gameplay Flow

The game progresses according to the original Arkham Horror rules, with the additions and modifications introduced by this expansion. The new rules apply at specific moments in the game:

• Gate Bursts: Some Mythos cards have their Gate location in red, indicating a gate burst. It functions like a normal Mythos card, unless the listed location has an Elder Sign token. In that case, the token is removed, a gate appears, and a monster emerges. However, a doom token is not placed on the Ancient One track, and this event does not cause Monster Surges. Additionally, whenever a burst occurs, all flying monsters move, regardless of their dimensional symbol.
• Mythos Phase and Corruption Cards: The effects of Corruption cards are triggered in the Mythos phase. They must be resolved immediately after monster movement in step 3 of Mythos card resolution, if the symbol and colored background on the Corruption card match those on the drawn Mythos card.
• "The Herald" Option: This option adds rules listed on the Black Goat of The Woods Herald sheet:
  • When a gate opens, draw one monster from the common reserve and a second monster from the hexagonal reserve, placing both at the gate's location.
  • When a monster surge occurs, draw half of the monsters from the hexagonal reserve (rounded down).
  • Every time a monster surge occurs, add a doom token.

Actions and How to Play

The expansion introduces new interactions and card types:

• "One of a Thousand" Cult Society: Investigators may have the opportunity to join this organization. Cult members have different encounters in various Arkham locations.
• Cult Encounters: If a player belonging to the "One of a Thousand" Cult society has an encounter at the Black Cave, Unvisited Island, or Woods, they must draw a card from the Cult Encounters deck instead of the deck associated with the Location.
• Corruption Cards:
  • When instructed to draw a Corruption card, the player takes the top card from the Corruption deck and places it near their investigator sheet. An investigator cannot possess more than one card of this type.
  • Each Corruption card has an effect that is triggered whenever a specific monster movement symbol appears on the Mythos card during the Mythos phase.
  • Effects are triggered only if the symbol and colored background on the Corruption card match those on the drawn Mythos card. Triggering a Corruption card ability is not optional and must be resolved immediately after monster movement.
  • Some Corruption cards have abilities that are always active (passive effect, text above the monster movement symbol).
  • When a gate is closed, all Corruption cards that match the gate's dimensional symbol are discarded to a discard pile and considered removed from the game. The Corruption deck is not reshuffled.
  • If a player is instructed to draw a Corruption card and no more cards are available, the Ancient One is immediately awakened.
• Defeating Hexagonal Monsters ("The Herald" Option): Every time an investigator defeats a hexagonal monster, they must draw a Corruption card.
• Monster Movement ("The Herald" Option): The Dark Young moves like a normal monster.

End of Game and Scoring

The game uses the standard Arkham Horror rules and victory conditions. The expansion introduces an additional defeat condition:

• Awakening the Ancient One: If a player is instructed to draw a Corruption card, but no more cards are available in the Corruption deck, the Ancient One is immediately awakened.

In "The Herald" option, there is an additional condition that increases difficulty:

• Every time a monster surge occurs, add a doom token.

Refer to the Arkham Horror base manual for details on standard victory and defeat conditions and scoring.

Tips for Winning

• Manage Corruption Carefully: Corruption cards can be very dangerous, especially Red Corruption. Pay attention to the dimensional symbols on Mythos cards and try to discard Corruption cards that match closed gates whenever possible. Remember that the Corruption deck is not reshuffled, and its depletion awakens the Ancient One.
• Consider Cult Infiltration: Joining the "One of a Thousand" Cult offers special Cult Encounters at specific locations. Evaluate whether the benefits of these encounters outweigh the risks and potential influence of corruption.
• Adapt to Difficulty: Use the Difficulty cards to adjust the game's challenge. If you are starting, choose an easier difficulty. If you seek a greater challenge, "The Herald" option and more challenging difficulties can be used.