Basic Game Play

From the main game screen cards are drawn from the Spawn Deck and held in The Library, until you decide where to place them on the game board.

Cards are all scripted to interact with each other in unique ways.

If you draw a card which cannot be used, you'll be able to place it in The Cemetery for later use.

Investigator cards, represented by the Player, are always placed in one of the (5) open slots along the bottom row.

Horror cards, representing Monsters, are always placed in one of the (5) open slots along the top row.

When you draw a card, the game will highlight any slots on the game board where the card may be placed (e.g. on a Monster or Investigator – or both).

As in role-playing games, some cards require a pass or fail die roll before their benefits are applied.

Be sure to examine the reverse side of cards to learn what they do before placing them.

Cards which have a reverse side are indicated by a “card-catalog” icon, located in the bottom left-hand corner of the card. Touch it to flip the card over. Touch the back of the card again when you're finished reading it, to flip it back around to its front side.

When a card requiring a die roll is placed on top of your Investigator, a floating dice labeled “SPIN” will appear over their portrait.

To spin the dice, flick it with your finger.

The number you have to match or beat will appear in the top-right corner, just above the die. Your result will display directly below the die.

If your die roll is a success, then the card's benefit will be applied with a visual effect.

If you fail the die roll, a skull will appear, and no benefit will be rewarded.

The Doomsday Calendar

The Doomsday Calendar (bottom left screen) is a mysterious artifact known as the 'Cthulhu Tzolk'in', created to calculate the time mankind has left on the earth before the Old Ones rise from their slumber.

Touching the Doomsday Calendar shows you a full-screen view of its present state.

“Exit” will return you to the main game board where the card game is played.

If the (5) top row slots become filled with Monsters, then each additional Monster drawn from the deck will damage the Doomsday Calendar by increments of (1).

However, if you fill the (5) bottom row slots with Investigators, then each additional Investigator you draw will begin to restore the Doomsday Calendar in increments of (1).

Drawing (7) Investigators in total (5 filling and holding the bottom row slots +2 more) turns back the Doomsday Calendar and wins the game.

The Doomsday Calendar can take (3) increments of Monster damage before it's shattered, and you lose the game.

So if your (5) top row slots are filled with Monsters, and you draw (3) more Monsters, then the Doomsday Calendar will be destroyed and you'll lose the game.

Mythos Score

Your score is represented by your Mythos knowledge, which represents how long you've survived, and how much forbidden knowledge you've accumulated.

Whenever you lose a battle or suffer a negative consequence (i.e. loose a portion of your Defense and/or Sanity), your Mythos score is penalized.

If you attain high enough Mythos scores, there are 'secret cards' which will be unlocked and added to your deck.

Defeating Monsters in the game boosts your Mythos score.

When your Investigators are killed, or you suffer a negative consequence, you can lose a portion of your Mythos score.

All cards have an Mythos score value, shown at the top right-hand side, just below their Class label.

Whenever a card is used on your Investigator, its Mythos value is added to your Investigators' Mythos value.

The more cards you equip your Investigator with, the more their Mythos value increases.

However, a single Investigator may only be equipped with (1) card type of each class. So for example, you cannot equip your Investigator with (4) weapons cards – or more than (1) card of any class.

Your Mythos score will update only after battles, or on instant kills, or when you win a game.

When you win a game, the sum of all your Investigators' Mythos scores (e.g. those filling your 5 bottom-row slots) will be added together, then that sum will be added to the total Mythos score which you already earned during the game.

If your game ends in a draw, you will earn only the Mythos scores of your Investigators left on the bottom row.

Card Notations

Located on the top left-hand side of the cards are shown that card's DEFENSE and SANITY attributes.

On the bottom right-hand corner of the card a DIE ICON will appear, showing you how much HIT DAMAGE your Investigator can inflict during a battle.

Any Hit Damage BONUS (for example, if one of your Investigators is armed with a weapon) will appear beside it as -- +2, +4, +6, etc.

On Investigator and Monster cards, the Defense and Sanity attributes describe their toughness in relation to each other.

On all other cards, Defense and Sanity appear as (+1) or (-1), etc. These kinds of modifier cards will boost or lower a cards attributes. The game will highlight for you whether the card may be used on an Investigator or a Monster.

For example, if you use the card “Mad Monk” on one of your Investigators, and pass the die roll, you will receive a (+1) boost to your Defense, and also a (+6) bonus to your Hit Damage dice roll during combat.

A card's LIVES (represented by a drop of red blood) show you how many times an Investigator or Monster can be killed in battle before they are removed from the game.

Cards with reverse sides are unique, they are scripted to interact with Investigator and Monster cards--and carry both benefits and consequences.

There are currently (9) classes of cards in the game:

1.) Investigators – need to be boosted
2.) Monsters – need to be weakened
3.) Weapons – boosts Investigators Hit Damage
4.) Allies – boosts Investigators Hit Damage/Defense/Sanity
5.) Relics – variable – boosts/weakens Investigators + Monsters
6.) Potions – variable – boosts/weakens Investigators
7.) Abilities – conditional – allows Investigators of use special skills/abilities
8.) Hazard – variable – weakens Investigators
9.) Spells - boosts Investigators

HINTS:

* You can visually track which Investigators are equipped with which cards by a class notation which appears beneath your Investigator's portrait, in its contracted view on the game board.

* The game will always highlight the slots on the game board where your current card may be placed.

* Some cards (e.g. Insanity, Master of the Seal, Reanimate) have unusual effects and properties. The reverse sides of these cards will explain what they do.

* Bonuses to Hit Damage, if any, will appear next to your Investigator’s hit dice icon on the front of the card (e.g. +4).

* Hit Damage and Hit Damage Bonuses are also notated in the bottom right-hand corner of the cards portrait, when they are in contracted view on the game board.

For example, if a modifier card has a Hit Damage bonus of (+4), then (+4) will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the card's image, in contracted view on the game board.

If an Investigator has a Hit Damage of (1d6) and a Hit Damage Bonus of (+4), the notation will appear as (10). This number represents the full amount of damage an Investigator (or Monster) can deal out in battle, based on their die roll and any Hit Damage Bonus they possess.

Sorcery and the Arcane Arts

The introduction of magic has been added to Necronomicon in its latest iteration.

A new category of Spell cards has been added to the deck. Forthcoming expansions will allow players to collect and unlock card packs which will supplement this new class.

In order to be able to use Spell cards during a game, one of your Investigators must be equipped with the "Dark Pact" card.

A distinct tracking icon will appear on your Investigator's portrait, and you'll be able to use Spell cards for as long as that Investigator remains alive during the game.

Dueling Cards

A battle is set into motion whenever an Investigator and Monster card are placed opposite each other.

Both cards have a Defense and Sanity value; whoever has the highest numbers in BOTH attributes automatically wins with an instant kill.

In the event of a TIE or ODDS, a die roll will determine who wins the battle.

You'll be shown a Battle screen which lays out the attributes of the Monster and Investigator for easy scanning and comparison.

You may also review any modifier cards your Investigator is equipped with.

Any Hit Damage Bonus will appear at the top of the screen, to the right of your Investigator.

Just below that is the space where the results of your die roll will display; and below that is where the Monster’s die roll is revealed.

For example, if your Investigator is holding an Ally card which gives him a (+4) boost to his Hit Damage, the game displays that number where it says: “Bonus Damage”.

When you spin the die, you are rolling for your Investigator’s Hit Damage. This is the die icon that appears on the front side (bottom right) of their card.

The result of your roll is displayed beneath the words “Hit Damage Roll” on the battle screen.

So your “Bonus Damage” (from any modifier cards you may be holding), is displayed to the right of your Investigator's portrait.

And your die roll result + any bonus is displayed under “Hit Damage Roll”.

The game will add both your “Bonus” and “Hit Damage” roll against the Monster after you spin the die.

Whoever has the higher number wins the battle.

WINNING THE GAME

To win the game, you need to fill the (5) bottom-row slots with Investigators, then draw (2) more from the deck to turn back the state of the Doomsday Calendar.

If the (5) top-row slots become filled with Monsters, however, then each additional Monster card you draw from the deck will damage the Doomsday Calendar in increments of (1) until it's shattered –- and you lose the game.

When you win a game, your "victories x 200" points will be added to your total Mythos score.

If you lose a game, your "defeats x 200" points will be deducted from your total Mythos score.

With high enough scores, you'll win new achievements and unlock secret cards which will be added to your deck.

*RESOURCE CARDS

“Core Expansions” are an optional add on to the Necronomicon which will expand your deck, and also upgrade your game providing you with innovative new features.

Our first expansion, Investigator Resources, draws on players ingenuity and their characters occupations, allowing you to create new cards by mixing and combining existing ones.

With this new expansion, your scholars can decipher moldering old tomes, and create spells for your occultists. An investigator with some skill in medicine may be able to concoct life-saving potions. Another may be able to follow a map to a hidden item, summon a ghoul in the graveyard--or even reanimate a corpse to fight alongside you as an ally . . .

Resource cards represent a variety of unique items and characters, which when combined with Investigators and other card classes, create unique new cards for use during the game.

The backs of all Resource cards suggest successful combinations to try out.

Most Resource cards are scripted to be compatible with an Investigator’s “occupation”, which appears on the upper left-hand side of their card. When a successful match is made, a new card is created for use during the game.

Future updates and expansions will support this optional category of cards.

25 unique cards are added to the deck with this core expansion.