The Black Book

A new version of the Arkham Horror: The Card Game FAQ (pdf, 11.4 MB) is now available for download!

Arkham Horror: The Card Game transports one to four players to Arkham, Massachusetts, at the height of the roaring twenties. There, they must band together to become an unlikely team of heroic investigators attempting to solve eldritch mysteries as they are confronted by the terrors of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Over the course of their adventures, players have been pulled from the town they knew to the lights of Paris, the jungles of southern Mexico, and beyond to maddening realms that exist beyond the realm of reason.

Now, as the game continues to move into The Circle Undone cycle, the investigators are faced with what may be their greatest threat ever as a new coven of witches takes up residence in their once quiet city. Throughout this cycel, you struggle to uncover the truth of Arkham’s history to find clues to why this is happening and perhaps find some way to stop them. But there are some secrets that the city would rather leave buried. As your team prepares to face evils beyond their worst imaginings, we're here to provide you with every tool possible to ensure that your campaigns run smoothly as you take on The Circle Undone.

Today, designer Matt Newman sheds some light on what you can expect in the newest FAQ for Arkham Horror: The Card Game.

Designer Matt Newman on the Latest FAQ for Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Greetings, investigators!

It’s that time again! We are already at the mid-point for The Circle Undone campaign, and players are knee-deep in mystery. But Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a living game, and there are many more haunting stories on the horizon. As such, we believe this is a good time to revisit the official FAQ to update some rules and answer some of the more commonly asked questions that have stemmed from recent releases. We are also introducing a new, optional tool for Arkham Horror: The Card Game players, called The List of Taboos, which can be used to deepen your deckbuilding experience and increase the challenges you face. Let’s get to it!

First, let’s talk about the new errata. As always, each of our errata serve to fix errors or clarify card interactions so that players’ experiences are as smooth and intuitive as possible. We’ve issued an errata to fix two issues that have popped up from new scenarios (“The Witching Hour” and “The Wages of Sin”), and we are adding errata to each of the five investigators from The Dunwich Legacy  so that their deckbuilding options are as clear and intuitive as possible. With The Circle Undone’s release, we are also issuing an errata to the promo version of Carolyn Fern (To Fight the Black Wind, 10) so that her deckbuilding options on that card are in line with the deckbuilding options on her  new version  (The Circle Undone, 1). Finally, Eldritch Inspiration (The Circle Undone, 33) has received an erratum to clarify exactly when it can be used.

As for rules clarifications, we have expanded on the concept of “deckbuilding options” to clarify that when an investigator has access to a limited number of “other” cards, those cards only fall into that category if they fall into no other category. For example, if an investigator’s deckbuilding options reads: “Guardian cards level 0–5, up to 10 other Weapon cards,” then a Guardian card with the Weapon trait does not count toward that investigator’s limited number of Weapon cards. This change, when coupled with the above errata, helps to clarify how multi-class cards interact with the deckbuilding options for certain investigators. We’ve also expanded upon multi-class cards on a case-by-case basis, to answer any hanging questions about how they operate.

The other big addition to this version of the FAQ is The List of Taboos, which is a new feature for experienced players. Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a cooperative game, so a restricted list or a banned list for tournament-level play is not necessary. However, many players enjoy the dramatic shifts in deckbuilding that are enforced by such a list and are seeking an additional challenge. This is where The List of Taboos comes in. This is a completely optional list of restrictions or alterations to cards which players may adhere to in order to challenge their creativity during deckbuilding and add a new level of difficulty to their play experience. The List of Taboos contains three different lists, each of which has its own purpose.

• Cards on the “Limited” list have their experience cost increased by the number of dots shown next to their title. This means that if you are adhering to the List of Taboos, some level 0 cards which have become staples in many decks are only available if you purchase them with experience, and some cards which used to be relatively easy to purchase require a much larger investiture of experience.
• Cards on the “Mutated” list have additional or altered text. This is functionally similar to an erratum, but the changes are only applied if you are adhering to The List of Taboos. Mutated cards can gain new limitations or restrictions when a simple experience point adjustment would not do the trick.
• Cards on the “Forbidden” list cannot be included in your deck if you are adhering to The List of Taboos. While there are no cards currently on this list, its mere existence means that a particular card could be excised from the card pool for any player who is adhering to The List of Taboos.

One of the great things about The List of Taboos is that, unlike errata, entries are not permanent. Since this is a purely optional feature, a card on one list could move to a different list or even be dropped from The List of Taboos entirely depending on the status of the card pool. Meanwhile, those players who do not wish to adhere to The List of Taboos can ignore it entirely, and it will not affect their printed cards whatsoever. We encourage players to play Arkham Horror: The Card Game in the way they find most enjoyable!

We hope that these updates will continue to make solving arcane mysteries and slaying monsters as enjoyable as possible. As always, thank you so much for being a part of this amazing community, and I look forward to the remainder of The Circle Undone campaign!

A Curious Tome

Thanks, Matt!

With this new knowledge at your disposal and new possibilities to customize your gameplay, you're more prepared than ever to face the terrors that await you in Arkham’s mist-shrouded streets and beyond. Download your copy of the Arkham Horror: The Card Game FAQ today and prepare to uncover the impossible truths of Arkham’s dark past!