Cthulhu Zap

Info:
• 2 players
• 30 minutes-2 hours
• For ages 13+

You will need:

• The game board (see Page 4).
• 2 8-sided dice (1 black, 1 white)
• A large amount of scrap paper.
• Pencils
• 1 unique playing piece for each player

Story:
Dark forces are moving. Gates are opening all over the city, monsters are on the loose, and Cthulhu is
starting to stir from his endless slumber. You need to close all the gates and kill all the monsters before
Cthulhu wakes up and destroys everything.

Setup:
To begin setup, you need to make your character sheet. Create the following on a piece of scrap paper,
using pencil.

Name:
Stamina: 5
Sanity: 3
Clues: 1
Items:

Fill in your name. As written above, you start with 5 Stamina, 3 Sanity, 1 Clue and no Items.

Now it is time to find the starting gates. Roll both dice. The two numbers rolled act the starting gates.
Find the zones marked with those numbers and place a gate there. Each gate spawns one monster now
(see “Spawning Monsters” later in these rules). If you rolled the same number on both dice, roll again
until you get two different numbers.

Once you have the starting gates in place, each player rolls one die, and places their piece on the zone
marked with that number, rerolling if there is a gate there. The players then need to decide who will go
first. Once everything is in place, the game can begin.
The Turn Cycle:
On each turn you roll both dice. If both dice show the same number, then a new gate opens (see
“Opening gates” later in these rules). After handling the new gate, reroll the dice.

Once you have two different numbers, you can make your move. Choose one of the dice to be your
move die (keep track of the other die). You can move up to that many spaces clockwise around the
board (the arrows move clockwise around the board). If you move through a monster, take 1 damage of
that monster's type. Stopping on a monster does not have this effect.

The die that isn't your move die is your effort die. It shows how much you can do once you reach the
target space. Below is a list of the various things you can do:
• If there is a monster there, then the effort die is used to battle that monster. The die is your base
value, which you can increase with items. If the modified effort value is greater than or equal to
the monster’s power, the monster is killed (remove it from the board). If the values are equal,
then you take 1 damage of the monsters type (the monster is still killed). For each monster you
kill, gain 1 clue.
• If there is a gate there, then you can try to close it. You need a effort value of nine. You can get a
+1 bonus to this for every clue you discard to close this gate.
• If you are on a space that has a power with X in it, then X is your effort value (Example: If your
effort value is 3, then the Police Station gives 3 clues.)
• If you are on a store, then your effort value sets the stock for that shop. Each item the shop sells
is marked with a value. If your effort value is greater than or equal to that value, then the item is
in stock. You may buy any one item, as long as it's in stock (money is not tracked).
• If you are on a powerless space with no gate or monster, then the effort value is useless.

The Monsters Turn:

Before each turn except the first, you must move the monsters every turn (As in every turn cycle
[Player 1, Player 2, Monsters, Player 1…]). Each monster moves 1 space counter-clockwise
(remember, the arrows move clockwise around the board); Physical monsters move two spaces counter-
clockwise instead.

After moving the monsters, if two (or more) monsters are on the same space, move the weaker (lower
power) monster one additional space counter-clockwise; if the monsters have the same power, just
move one.

Check if any monster has just moved onto or past the Belltower. If any of them have, add one point to
the doom track (one point, not one point each) and create a new gate.

After all of this, check to see which monsters have moved through or onto a player. That player takes 1
damage from each of them of that monster's type.
Maximum Resources:
A player can have a max of 6 Stamina, 4 Sanity, 8 Clues and one of each Item. All Items are one use
only.

Knockout:
If you reach 0 Sanity or Stamina, you have been knocked out. Remove your piece from the board and
advance the doom track by one. Skip your next turn. At the start of the turn after that, place yourself at
the location that restores that stat (Hospital for Stamina, Asylum for Sanity), and restore 1 point of that
stat. From there your turn played is as normal.

Opening Gates:
When you need to create a gate, roll one die. Find the space marked with that number. If there is no
gate there, put a gate there and spawn one monster from it (“Spawning Monsters”, later in the rules).
If there is a gate there, then add one point to the doom track and that gate spawns a monster (you
know).

Spawning Monsters:
To spawn a monster, roll both dice. The type of monster spawned is based on the roll as follows:
• Black die higher: Monster is Magical. Magical monsters move 1 space when moved, have 7
Power and deal Sanity damage
• White die higher: Monster is Physical. Physical monsters move 2 spaces when moved, have 5
Power and deal Stamina damage.
• The dice are equal: Add one to the doom track and the monster is an Elder. Elder monsters
move 1 space when moved, have 9 Power and deal both Stamina and Sanity damage.
Place the monster on the space with the gate that spawned it.

End Game:
There are two ways to end the game:
• The doom track fills all 16 spaces. Cthulhu wakes up, and the players lose.
• The players create 9 seals. The dark forces have been repelled, and the players win.

Credits:
• Cthulhu and all related works are by H.P. Lovecraft.
• Certain elements of gameplay are from Arkham Horror which is © 2006 and ™ Fantasy Flight
Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
• The background of the map is from Google Maps.
• All else is by Nicholas Fletcher. No Rights Reserved.