Rise of Cthulhu: Dark Secrets (2016)

Overview

Darkness surrounds the shores of the world and seeps from caves deep beneath the Earth. The maddening howl of eldritch beasts echoes on the night air. Dangerous artifacts from strange eons call to you at all hours of the day. Your quest is nearly complete. So what if bands of enterprising “heroes” have started snooping around. The Old Ones have heard your prayers. Now all you need to do is finish your plans and set them free before these Investigators find you!

Rise of Cthulhu: Dark Secrets is the first expansion to last year’s successful Rise of Cthulhu card game. ROC: DS adds all new Monsters, Artifacts, and Old Ones for players to use in their shadowy path to victory. In addition, the expansion introduces a brand new mechanic: the Investigator. These “would-be heroes” set out to hunt down rumors of your corrupting influence and seek to stop you from awakening the Old Ones. When they appear, they force both you and your opponent to deal with the threat they bring, lest they halt the coming of the age of madness you seek to unleash.

When an Investigator card is drawn, it is placed on the corresponding Location printed in the upper right hand corner of the card. When an Investigator lands on a Location without an Old One, it banishes all the Cultists assembled there, effectively returning all Cultist cards in play to their owner’s hands. Any Monsters or Artifacts that are in play on that Location are removed from the game. The Location then resets to neutral (turns sideways so that it’s not facing either player).

Each Investigator has a number in a red circle in the upper left hand corner of their frame. This represents their resources they bring to bear against both cultist players. Players must play Cultist cards to equal or exceed the resource value listed to remove the Investigator from the Location. Until the Investigator is removed from the Location, players may not play any Cultist cards on any other Location except that one; furthermore, cards played on a Location with an Investigator present on it do not cause the Location to shift to face the player with the highest total value of cards. Once the resource rating is met or exceeded, the Investigator is defeated and removed, at which time the Location would face the player with the highest total Cultists in play there.

Lastly, this expansion adds a new player aide to the card, something the community asked for following the release of the core game.