Game Objective

Prepare yourselves, investigators! In Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu, you are the last line of defense against an ancient evil that threatens to plunge the world into madness and destruction. The Great Old Ones are stirring in their cosmic prisons, and if they awaken, everything we know will be annihilated!

Your main objective is to work as a team to seal the 4 gates before it's too late. If you succeed, humanity will have a chance. If you fail, well... madness and chaos will reign!

You lose if:

• Cthulhu awakens.
• There are not enough cultists to be placed on the board.
• There are not enough Shoggoths to be placed on the board.
• There are not enough game cards to be drawn.
• All players go insane.

Setup

Let's set up the table and prepare the scene for this terrifying adventure!

1. Assemble the Board and Pieces: Place the board within everyone's reach. Place the Great Old One Cthulhu card face down in the indicated space (X) and keep the reserve cultist and Shoggoth figures nearby. The Seal markers are placed near the Turn Order table at the bottom of the board.
2. Sleeping Great Old Ones: Shuffle the Great Old One cards and place 6 of them, face down, in the spaces to the left of Cthulhu. Unused cards are returned to the box.
3. Initial Invocation: Shuffle the Invocation cards and place them in the Invocation Deck space.
   • Flip the top 2 cards and place 3 cultists in each of those locations.
   • Flip 2 more cards and place 2 cultists in each of those locations.
   • Flip 2 more cards and place 1 cultist in each of those locations.
   • Finally, flip 1 more card and place 1 Shoggoth in that location.
   • Discard all face-up Invocation cards to the Invocation Discard Pile.
4. Investigator Selection and Sanity: The player who last read a horror story is the starting player.
   • Shuffle the 7 Investigator cards. Place 2 on the table. The starting player chooses one, a new one replaces the removed one, and the next player chooses, and so on, until everyone has an Investigator.
   • Each Investigator figure starts at the Train Station in Arkham.
   • Each player receives 4 sanity tokens and keeps their Investigator card with the Sane side face up.
   • Each player also receives a reference card.
5. Set Difficulty: Adjust the number of Clue cards in the deck:
   • Introductory: All 44 Clue cards.
   • Normal: Remove 1 Clue card of each color.
   • Difficult: Remove 2 Clue cards of each color.
6. Starting Hands and Relic Pile: Randomly choose 4/5/6 Relic cards (for 2/3/4 players, respectively) and shuffle them with the remaining Clue cards to form the Game Deck. Unused Relics form the Relic Pile, face down.
   • Deal cards to each player to form their starting hands: 4 cards for 2 players, 3 for 3 players, 2 for 4 players.
   • Suggestion: Keep hand cards face up to facilitate cooperation!
7. Assemble the Final Game Deck: Divide the remaining game cards into 4 equally sized face-down piles. Shuffle 1 "The Evil Stirring" card into each pile, face down. Combine the piles to form the Game Deck, placing the smaller piles at the bottom.
8. Start Playing!: The starting player begins the round.

The Game Turn

A turn in Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu is divided into 3 phases, and cooperation is key! Talk, plan, but the final decision is always the active player's.

1. Perform 4 Actions

You can perform up to 4 actions (or fewer, if you are insane!). Choose any combination of the actions below, and you may repeat the same action. Your Investigator's abilities may change how an action is performed. Discarded cards go to the Game Card Discard Pile.

Movement Actions

• Walk: Move from your current location to another location connected by a line. Beware: if you end your movement in a location with a Shoggoth, you must roll the Sanity die!
• Take a Bus: If you are in a location with a bus stop, you can:
  1. Discard a Clue card to move to any location in the city indicated on the card.
  2. Discard a Clue card that matches your current city to move to any location in any city.
• Use a Gate: Move from a location with a gate to another location with a gate. After moving, roll the Sanity die. Remember: you cannot move to or from sealed gates. If after using a gate you land in a location with a Shoggoth, roll the Sanity die twice!

Special Actions

• Defeat a Cultist: Remove 1 cultist figure from your location and return it to the reserve.
• Defeat a Shoggoth (3 Actions): Remove 1 Shoggoth figure from your location and return it to the reserve. This costs 3 actions, which must be performed in the same turn. After defeating a Shoggoth, draw a Relic card from the Relic Pile.
• Give or Receive 1 Relic Card: Trade 1 Relic card with another Investigator who is in the same location as you.
• Give or Receive 1 Clue Card:
  1. Give another player a Clue card that matches your current city.
  2. Receive from another player a Clue card that matches your current city.
  Both must be in the same location and agree to the trade. If the player receiving the card ends up with more than 7 cards, they must discard one or play a Relic card.
• Seal a Gate: In a location with a gate, discard 5 Clue cards from your hand that match the city you are in. Place a Seal marker on the gate and remove 1 cultist from each location in the city whose gate you just sealed.

2. Draw 2 Game Cards

After your 4 actions, draw the top 2 cards from the Game Deck. If there are fewer than 2 cards remaining, the game ends and you lose!

"The Evil Stirring" Cards: If you draw one of these, resolve it immediately (before playing Relics):

1. Fight the madness: Roll the Sanity die and apply the result.
2. Awaken: Reveal the next Great Old One.
3. A Shoggoth emerges: Draw the bottom card of the Invocation Deck and place a Shoggoth in the indicated location. Discard the card. If there are no Shoggoths in the reserve, you lose!
4. Cultists regroup: Shuffle only the cards from the Invocation Discard Pile and place them on top of the Invocation Deck.

If you draw 2 "The Evil Stirring" cards at once, resolve all 4 steps twice.

Hand Limit: If you have more than 7 cards after resolving "The Evil Stirring" cards, discard cards or play Relics until you have 7.

3. Reveal Invocation Cards

Flip a number of Invocation cards equal to the invocation indicator number (on the last revealed Great Old One card, or 2 if none have been revealed). Flip them one by one, placing a cultist in the indicated location. Discard the card to the Invocation Discard Pile.

• If a location already has 3 cultists, do not place a 4th. Instead, a ritual of awakening occurs.
• If the Invocation Deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to create a new one.
• Shoggoth Movement: If the Shoggoth icon appears on an Invocation card, move each Shoggoth to the nearest open gate. If a Shoggoth at an open gate needs to move, it is removed from the board and a ritual of awakening occurs.

Rituals of Awakening: Reveal the next Great Old One and apply its effects. If Cthulhu awakens, you lose!

Sanity Rolls and Insanity

You must roll the Sanity die in several situations:

• After using a Gate.
• After resolving the effects of a Relic card.
• When entering a location with a Shoggoth, or a Shoggoth enters your location.
• As the first step of an "The Evil Stirring" card.

The die results are: Nothing, Delirious (lose 1 sanity), Psychotic (lose 2 sanity) or Paranoid (add 2 cultists to your location).

If you lose all your sanity tokens, you go insane. Flip your Investigator card to the Insane side. You will have one less action per turn and your special ability will change. Insane players still roll the Sanity die, but do not lose more sanity.

The good news is there's a cure! If an insane Investigator seals a gate, they are immediately transported to the Church or Hospital, recover their initial sanity, abilities, and number of actions, and gain 1 extra action for the turn.

End of Game and Scoring

Victory is yours if you manage to seal all 4 gates!

Defeat occurs if:

• The last Great Old One (Cthulhu) awakens.
• There are no cultist figures to place on the board.
• There are no Shoggoth figures to place on the board.
• A player cannot draw 2 game cards after their actions.
• All players go insane.

Remember, in Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu, you win or lose together! There is no individual scoring, only the survival of humanity!

Tips for Winning

To avoid being swallowed by madness, here are some tips:

1. Manage your Sanity! Sanity is a crucial resource. Avoid unnecessary movements to locations with Shoggoths and plan your actions to minimize Sanity die rolls. Remember that Relic cards can also cost sanity, so use them wisely!
2. Communication is Key! This is a cooperative game, so communicate constantly. Share your Clue cards and Relics, plan each other's movements and actions. Knowing who has which cards and where each person can be most useful is fundamental to sealing the gates efficiently.
3. Prioritize Shoggoths and Rituals of Awakening! Shoggoths not only cause sanity loss but can also trigger rituals of awakening if they are moved out of an open gate. Keep an eye on them and try to defeat them when possible, especially if the invocation indicator is high or if a dangerous Great Old One is about to awaken.