Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu - FAQ

General

Q: How does giving/receiving a card work?

A: In order to trade, both players must be in the same physical location (say Police Station in Arkham) and be trading
cards that match the town they are in (in this example, it would be Arkham). So both players would still need to
physically be standing in the same space on the board to trade cards that match that town.

Q: For Evil Stirs, when resolving step 1 (Fight the Madness), if the sanity die roll triggers an Awakening Ritual (i.e. if the
die result is Paranoid, adding two cultists to the current location, where there are already one or more cultists), should
the Awakening Ritual be resolved immediately (before step 2, Awakening), or should you complete all the steps of Evil
Stirs first?
A: You would immediately Awaken the next Old One and apply its effect, then continue with the remaining steps of
the original Evil Stirs you drew.

Q: In the Summoning step, does placing a cultist occur before moving a shoggoth (where a shoggoth move symbol is
revealed), or the other way around?
A: Cultists are placed first, then the shoggoth moves. This is rarely important for timing, but for clarity this is how it was
intended.

Q: Do Awakening rituals triggered during the Summoning step (e.g., by either the placing of a cultist or the
movement of a shoggoth on an open gate) resolve immediately, or after you complete all cultist placement and
shoggoth movement in the Summoning step first?
A: Awakening rituals occur immediately when triggered.

Q: Can I play relic cards in between multiple Awakenings as a result of a single summoning card?
A: Revealing and resolving the Old Ones is all happening between drawing and resolving the summoning card. While
you can play relics between summoning cards, you cannot play relic cards between Old Ones that are all triggered by
the same summoning card.

Q: Player 1 draws an Evil Stirs card. A shoggoth is placed on the Church where Player 2 happens to be, as well as two
cultists. Since the shoggoth entered the space of a player, that player rolls the sanity die. Would player 2 immediately
roll it (even though it's still player 1 turn as they are in the middle of resolving the Evil Stirs card)? If so, then player 2
rolls the sanity die and spawns two cultists at their location. Since there were already two present, that would trigger
an Awakening, which I understand happens immediately. However, we're still trying to finish resolving the Evil Stirs
card that player 1 drew and haven't yet reached step 3. So what would be the correct order of things?
A: You would, in fact, have player 2 roll the sanity die and place the cultists. Then do the new Awakening Ritual,
followed by finishing the Evil Stirs card.
Shoggoth

Q: Do we have to roll for sanity for each shoggoth if we go to a location with more than one, or only once total?
A: Roll once for each present. You do roll the sanity die each time you move into a space with a shoggoth, or any time
a shoggoth moves into your space. So, if two shoggoth both move into your space, you would roll twice, once for each
shoggoth that entered your location.

Q: What places shoggoths in play (besides initial setup)?

A: Hastur (Old One), and Evil Stir cards.

Q: When I move to a gate where there is a shoggoth, I roll the sanity dice. After that, can I seal the gate with the
shoggoth still present as long as I have the necessary cards?
A: Yes.

Q: Does the card taken from the bottom of the deck to spawn a new shoggoth in the third step of Evil Stirs cause each
shoggoth to move one location closer to the nearest open gate?
A: No. Only cards drawn explicitly during the Summoning step of the game that bear the shoggoth symbol will move
a shoggoth (so not the card drawn from the bottom of the deck during an Evil Stirs). However, if Shub-Niggurath
wakes up during the Summoning step, that would indeed trigger the shoggoths to move, if those cards bore the
shoggoth symbol.

Q: When you kill a shoggoth, do you need to roll a sanity die?

A: No. Only when it lands on your space or you land in its space that you roll the sanity die.

Q: While seeding the board at the beginning of the game, when you have to draw the initial shoggoth, if the card has
shoggoth movement, do you spawn him and then move him?
A: No, don’t move him at the start since that is during setup and not the Summoning step.

Q: I am setting up my very first game, the starting shoggoth appears at the train station. Do all characters lose one
sanity token before the players even take their first turns?
A: All players would in fact roll for sanity loss immediately as per the normal rules.

Evil Stir Cards

Q: For Evil Stirs, Fight the Madness, is it only the player that drew the Evil Stirs card that rolls the sanity die or all
players?
A: Only the active player rolls the sanity die.

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Sanity

Q: If you are on a location with three cultists and you roll Paranoid on the sanity die, I assume only one Old One
awakens. Correct?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you get any sanity tokens back from Sealing a Gate while sane?
A: No.

Q: An insane character closed a gate, and they want to move to the hospital where a shoggoth is present. What is the
timing between healing and rolling the sanity die?
A: You would regain sanity first, flip the card over, transport yourself to either the Hospital or the Church (your choice),
and then have one more action left in your turn. So in this case, you would indeed need to roll the sanity die for
landing on a space with the shoggoth.

Q: If you are on a space with three cultists, roll the sanity die, and it comes up Paranoid. Would this lead to two
Awakening Rituals back to back or just one?
A: Only leads to one Awakening Ritual.

Relic Cards

Q: Can relic cards be played mid-resolution of game steps? While it is clearly stated in the rules that a relic cannot be
played during the Draw Cards step if an Evil Stirs card is revealed... can a relic be played during the Summoning step,
in between flipping a card and placing the cultist, or moving a shoggoth (when a shoggoth move symbol is revealed)?
A: You must resolve all the elements of a single flip of the card when you start the Summoning step, before you play a
Relic, but you can play Relic cards between each flip of the Summoning step if you wish.

Q: For Alhazred's Flame Relic, may I choose any combination of cultists for removal? For example, 2+2 (in different
places), 3+1, 1+1+1+1, or 2+1+1.
A: Yes, you can choose any combination of cultists from multiple spots.

Q: Song of Kadath says heal all players one sanity or heal one player all sanity. Can this be used on an insane player to
restore them instead of healing by sealing a gate?
A: Yes, you can use this on an insane player to restore their sanity completely.

Q: Warded Box says "Until the end of your next turn, players need not do sanity rolls. Place this card in front of you as
a reminder." There is also a section under Relic Cards which says "The player who plays the Relic card decides how it is
used." Can I play this on another player's turn and place the card in front of that player? Or must it be played in front
of me, no matter when I play it?
A: If you play it, you may indeed play it on another player's turn to save someone from the Sanity rolls. However, it is
still placed in front of you (the player that played it), and it will still cease to provide its effects when your next turn is
over.
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Sealed Gates

Q: Once a gate is sealed, I've removed one of each of the cultists from that town - but can more still be added?
A: A sealed gate doesn't prevent cultist or shoggoth spawns in that town. However, if you use the Elder Sign relic
card, you can flip a sealed gate token to its Elder Sign side, and then they can't be placed in that town during the
summoning step. Also, you can't travel through sealed gates, and shoggoth won't move towards them.

Q: If a gate is sealed with the Elder Sign relic preventing new cultists from appearing in the town, and a card of that
town is drawn during summoning that includes the shoggoth icon, do shoggoths move or is that ignored also?
A: Yes, shoggoths would still move if the symbol is revealed on a town marked with the Elder Sign.

Q: Can I seal a gate if there are still cultists on it?

A: Yes. Remember to remove one cultist from each location in that town when a gate is sealed, as well.

Roles

Hunter
Q: For the Hunter, can she kill a shoggoth and three cultists in one location with one action or two?
A: It would take two actions to kill the cultists and the shoggoth.

Q: When using the Hunter's ability that allows you to defeat a shoggoth for one action, do you still get a relic card?
A: No, not when effects allow you to remove shoggoths from the board in fewer than three actions.

Magician
Q: What happens if he is insane, has the Elder Sign relic card, and no gates are sealed?
A: He has to play it and "waste" the card if no gates have been sealed. The Magician must use a relic he has in his
possession at some point on his turn if he is insane. Since he clears himself of insanity first, he no longer is required to
use the relic.

Driver
Q: If the Driver moves through a space with a shoggoth but doesn't stop do they roll the sanity die?
A: Yes that player would need to roll for sanity. Anytime you share a space with a shoggoth, even if you or the
shoggoth are just passing through, you must roll the sanity die.

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Old Ones

Atlach-Nacha
Q: When Atlach-Nacha is revealed, if my character is in a city sealed by an Elder sign, can I choose to "add one cultist”,
and not actually do that?
A: If you are on a city sealed by the Elder Sign, you cannot add cultists to those locations willingly. Therefore, you
would need to suffer Atlach-Nacha's insanity loss instead. If you are at one Sanity or Insane already, then it would
simply have no effect.

Yig
Q: "Sealing gates requires one additional clue card from a connected town." What does this mean specifically?
A: You need five cards of one color as per normal, plus one additional card of another color, with that color being of
one of the two towns that is connected to the town which contains the gate you are trying to close. So, for example, if
you had Yig out and were trying to close Arkham, you would need five green Arkham cards plus one card from either
Innsmouth (purple) or Dunwich (yellow), whichever you choose.

Dagon
Q: For gates that are sealed, do I still need to add cultists to those locations?
A: Yes, you still place cultists on closed gates, so Dagon would place cultists on gates that have been sealed, as well.

Shub-Niggurath
Q: Rules specify that "Each time this icon appears on a Summoning card during the Summoning step, move each
shoggoth one location closer to the nearest open gate.” Therefore, the card taken from the bottom of the deck to
spawn a new shoggoth in the third step of an Evil Stirs card should not be used to move them, even if it bears the icon.
Nor should the cards used to add four cultists if Shub-Niggurath awakens when it is resolved as the second step of the
same Evil Stirs card, since Evil stirs cards are drawn during the Draw cards step, not the Summoning one. But what
about Shub-Niggurath awakening as the result of a fourth cultist being called to a location where there are already
three of them? It is the Summoning step, so are these four cards to be considered if they bear the icon?
A: Yes, it would move shoggoths. Only cards drawn explicitly during the Summoning step of the game that bear the
shoggoth symbol will move a shoggoth (so not the card drawn from the bottom of the deck during an Evil Stirs).
However, if Shub-Niggurath wakes up during the Summoning step, this would indeed trigger the shoggoths to move if
those cards bore the shoggoth symbol. A truly dangerous and unfortunate event when it does happen.

Azathoth
Q: If Azathoth is summoned, and you have the Seal of Leng in hand, can you cancel Azathoth’s effect?
A: No, you still must resolve Azathoth's effect before you can play the Seal. If there are two or fewer cultists in the
supply, you would lose the game.