For Wendy, the force

behind everything I do.

The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have

become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and

evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and

killing and reveling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach

them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and

all the Earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom.

—H. P. Lovecraft
 P
rophets, philosophers, and madmen all saw the coming of the end of the world. For years
they’d tried to warn us with their indecipherable scrawlings and conspiratorial whispers;
the signs were obvious enough, and in retrospect they should have been easy to see. In
those dark days, mankind seemed to have had a death wish. Long had we been poisoning the
air we breathed, the water we drank, and the Earth from whence our food came. Wars, famine,
and plague stretched cancerously across the globe, and death followed inexorably behind.

Certainly, a few cared. These foolish, kind-hearted souls tried to stem the tide, tried to reverse
the damage we’d done to the planet, but it was all for naught…for the Old Ones had other plans.
They’d come from the stars during the infancy of the world, when Earth was nothing but chaos,

4
magma, and churning elemental nonsense. Their inexplicable agendas were never made clear,
but eon by eon, epoch by epoch, they shaped this doomed outpost more to their liking. And, by
the end of the world, they’d finally completed their conflicting, yet eerily compatible agendas.
The poisons, waste, and radiation had served to make the Earth more hospitable to them, more
to their pleasures. As the stars aligned to herald the return of the Old Ones their influence grew,
hastening the sickness of this primitive planet.

Finally, the Wars. The alien horrors of the Old Ones barely had to lift a claw or tentacle. It
simply took a psychic nudge here, a rumbling emanation there, and mankind did the rest. Wars
erupted, flowing forth from the Third World, and engulfing the streets of the First. Massacres
on Main Street were the norm. Strange new weapons were developed to attempt to stem the
tide, but nothing prevailed. Men, women, and children ran through the streets, shouting, killing,
burning, and destroying. Blood flowed in volumes unparalleled in human history.

As the Old Ones rose from their eons-long slumbers, the world burned with a holocaust of
ecstasy and freedom. For moments, all was silent, as if all of existence held its breath...

Thus began the real battle…

5
 What’s Different?
Differences between Cthulhu Wars and Cthulhu Wars: Duel
If you are familiar with Cthulhu Wars, you’ll already know most of the rules in this book.
However, there are some important changes, so you may wish to read through it before
your first game anyway. Here is a summary of these changes:

• Magic Portals: The Areas containing the Portal icons are considered to be the
same Area in every way. Thus, only a single Gate can be placed in Devil’s Reef and
Miskatonic River combined, and a unit in Loblolly Cove is also adjacent to Salem,
since it is part of the Mystic River Area as well.

• Decay Marker: You’ll want to read the rules on Decay closely, since this is a new
feature introduced in Duel. Basically, it increases the cost of taking an Action
once a player is out of Power.

1
 • Doom Phase: You do not earn automatic Doom points in the Doom phase based
on your Gates, though a Ritual of Annihilation still earns Doom equal to your
Gates and Elder Signs equal to your Great Old Ones.

• Doom for Kills & Elimination: When a Unit is Eliminated or Killed by its
opponent’s act, that opponent earns Doom equal to that Unit’s Power cost. (This
does not happen if you Eliminate your own Unit.)

• Unlimited Battle: When either player is at 6 Spellbooks, Unlimited Battle is

unlocked for BOTH players.

• Victory Condition Change: You do not need to have all 6 Spellbooks to win
the game.

Cthulhu Wars: Duel is for two players. You may notice references to other factions in
the rules below that are not in this game. Forthcoming Cthulhu Wars: Duel games will
be compatible - if you own any games within the system, you can mix and match maps
and factions freely.

2
 Table of Contents
CTHULHU WARS: DUEL DIFFERENCES . . 1 Summon Monster . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Awaken Great Old One . . . . . . . . . 17
GAME COMPONENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Create Gate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
SET UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
PLACE THE COMPONENTS . . . . . . . . .7 Capture Cultist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
FACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
START AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 THE TWO UNLIMITED ACTIONS . . . . . 20

THE FIRST PLAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Control or Abandon Gate . . . . . . . . 20

GAME BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Unlimited Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
OBJECT OF THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Ongoing Special Abilities . . . . . . . . 21
PHASES OF PLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Between Action Effects . . . . . . . . . 22
THE MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 GATHER POWER PHASE . . . . . . . . . . . 23

THE WATER PORTALS . . . . . . . . . . . .9 DETERMINE FIRST PLAYER PHASE . . . . 24

UNITS AND FACTION POOL . . . . . . . . 10 DOOM PHASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

GATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 RITUALS OF ANNIHILATION . . . . . . . 25

SPECIAL ABILITIES & SPELLBOOKS . . . 12 INSTANT DEATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

SOURCES OF SPECIAL ABILITIES . . . 12 SPECIAL EVENTS AND ABILITIES . . . 26

TYPES OF SPECIAL ABILITIES . . . . . 12 EARNING DOOM VIA ELIMINATES & KILLS . 26

TARGET CHOOSES UNIT . . . . . . . . . 12 BATTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

EARNING SPELLBOOKS . . . . . . . . . . 13 PRE-BATTLE ABILITIES . . . . . . . . . . 27

ELDER SIGN TROPHIES . . . . . . . . . . 13 COMBAT DICE CALCULATION & ROLLS . 28

FACTION CARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 POST-BATTLE ABILITIES & ASSIGNING . 29

ACTION PHASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 APPLYING BATTLE RESULTS . . . . . . 30

THE DECAY MARKER . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 BATTLE EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

THE FOUR TYPES OF ACTIONS . . . . . 16 VICTORY: ENDING & WINNING THE GAME . 32

Common Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 RULE OMEGA: THE FINAL QUESTION . . . 32

Unique Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 TIPS & TRICKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Spellbook Requirement Actions . . . . 16 EARLY GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Unlimited Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 LATE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

THE EIGHT COMMON ACTIONS . . . . . 17 OTHER FACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Recruit Cultist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

3
 Core Game C O MP ON E N TS

12 Elder Sign Trophy Tokens

Decay Marker
Ritual of
Annihilation
Marker

10 Six-Sided Dice

12 Gates 19 Plastic Stands Rulebook

6/17/20 11:22 AM

Game Board
Game Board.indd 1

4
 Great Cthulhu

2 Shoggoths

Power
Marker
2 Starspawn

6 Acolyte Faction
Cultists Token 4 Deep Ones

Cthulhu

6 Spellbooks & Faction Card

5
Black Goat
Power
Marker

4 Fungi from
Yuggoth

Shub-Niggurath

Faction
Token 2 Ghouls

6 Acolyte
Cultists

3 Dark Young

6 Spellbooks & Faction Card

6
 Factions
Introduction Great Black
Cthulhu Wars: Duel is a two-player game Cthulhu Goat
about the rise of the Great Old Ones and the 8 Each player must select a Faction. You
end of the world. Each player represents a can do this randomly, or just choose.
Great Old One, its cosmic horrors, and its In case of a dispute, we usually let the
cult. You’ll battle to defeat your opponent, youngest player take first choice.
a rival Great Old One. It is based on the
multiplayer strategy game Cthulhu Wars, but 9 Each player takes their Faction Card,
is its own beast, so read the rules well even if Spellbooks, and all Standees and
you are familiar with the earlier game. tokens belonging to their color.

Each player places their Power

10
Set Up Markers at 8 on their Faction Card’s
Power Track.
Place the Components
Start Areas
1 Set the Lovecraft Country Map between
the players. We like to place it so that Your Start Area is indicated on your
11
the names are readable by the game’s Faction Card and on the Map with your
owner, but it’s up to you. Faction’s Glyph. All players start with a
Controlled Gate and 6 Acolyte Cultist
2 Place the Ritual of Annihilation counters in that Area. Each player
Marker pointed at the lowest number should place one of their Acolytes on
(5) of the Annihilation Track. top of their Gate.

3 Place each player’s Doom Marker The First Player

on the 0 slot of the Doom Track.
If your game includes Great Cthulhu, he is
4 Place the Decay Marker on the 0 always the First Player at the start of the
slot of the Doom Track. game. If Great Cthulhu is not in the game,
you may choose the First Player by any
5 Place the Gates and Dice means you wish.
within easy reach of all players to form
the general Pool. Note: If your game includes the Windwalker
Faction, it may never be the First Player at
6 Place the Elder Signs in an opaque the game’s start.
bag, then shake them up. Alternately,
you may simply turn these Tokens face-
down on the table (with the glyph on
top) and mix them up.

7• Phases of Play quick reference is

located on the back of the rulebook.

7
 9

8
10

11

6 5

1 4

11

11

2
8
Game Board.indd 1 6/17/20 11:22 AM

5 10
6
11
Phases of Play
2 Gather Power Phase
7
1 Action Phase to 0
Return the Decay marker
to unit cost
· Gain Doom equal
loses Units +1 Power per Cultist
whenever your opponent •
response
due to your action or Gate
• +2 Power per Controlled
Actions: Cultist
• +1 Power per Captured
Power, he
If the player has any (return to owner’s pool)
Add the Decay
performs 1 Action. Gate
action Power • +1 Power per Abandoned
marker’s position to all
Abilities
costs • +? Power for Special
1 Cultist Phase
• -1 Power to Recruit 3 Determine First Player
(requires Unit) becomes
• Player with most Power
1 Monster
• -? Power to Summon First Player
(requires controlled Gate)
Great Old One
4 Doom Phase
• -? Power to Awaken 1
Annihilation:
• (Optional) Rituals of
Gate (requires
• -3 Power to Create 1 Spend Power equal
to the current
Marker to earn
Cultist) position of the Ritual
Gate and 1
1 Doom per Controlled
• -1 Power per Unit to Move Great Old
Elder Sign per Faction

9
(requires Unit Ritual per player per
• -1 Power to Battle One. Max one
with 1+ Combat) Phase
Cultist Abilities
• -1 Power to Capture 1 • Special Events and
is gained from
• Pass – Lose all power (Reminder: no Doom
via Rituals)
Controlled Gate except
OR
Power, move the
· If the player has zero
and end turn
Decay marker up by 1

8
 The Map
The Map is divided into Areas. Each Area
Game Basics represents a single part of the world, and
is defined as either water or land. On the
Object of the Game Lovecraft Country Map, water Areas consist
At the end of the game, the player who has of the Merrimac River, Gardner Reservoir,
the highest Doom on the Doom Track is Martin’s Cove, Devil’s Reef / Miskatonic River,
declared the winner. See Victory: Ending Loblolly Cove / Mystic River, and Jersey Reef
and Winning the Game (p. 32) for more / Charles River.
details. For most game purposes there are no
Phases of Play differences between water and land. Any
Units can freely Move between land and
Cthulhu Wars: Duel is played out in four water, perform Actions in either type of
distinct Phases: Area, etc. Abilities occasionally distinguish
between water and land (notably Great
1. Action Phase (Page 15)
Cthulhu’s Y’ha Nthlei and Submerge.) In
2. Gather Power Phase (Page 23) certain Maps, the terms “sea” and “ocean”
may be used as synonyms for water when
3. Determine First Player Phase (Page 24) referring to Areas.
4. Doom Phase (Page 25) The Water Portals
Play begins with the Action Phase and To keep their conflict isolated from the larger
proceeds through each Phase as listed realm, the Great Old Ones have placed
above, returning to Phase 1 after Phase 4. magic Portals in some water Areas. These
This cycle continues until the end of the Portals combine into a single Area made of
game is triggered. A typical game of Cthulhu two parts, even though they are on opposite
Wars: Duel takes approximately four or five sides of the map. Combined Areas include:
cycles through these Phases.

1 ADJACENT 1

2
2

3
3

Game Board.indd 1 6/17/20 11:22 AM

The Innsmouth Bridge: Note that Devil’s Reef is directly adjacent to Gardner Reservoir, and
Innsmouth is directly adjacent to Rockport.

9
 1• Devil’s Reef and Miskatonic River The number of Units available to you is
limited. You can never have more than 6
2• Loblolly Cove and Mystic River
Acolyte Cultists in play, nor can Great Cthulhu
3• Jersey Reef and Charles River have more than 4 Deep Ones. During play,
if all of your Units of a particular type have
These pairs are considered the same Area been placed on the Map, you cannot place
in every way. For instance, only one Gate another until one has been returned to your
can be placed in a combined Area, you can Pool.
Move from either part of a combined Area to
any Area adjacent to the other part, and so Units in your Pool are not considered to be in
forth. play, and vice versa. A Unit can be removed
from play and returned to your Pool by being
Great Cthulhu starts with a Gate in Jersey Killed during a Battle, or by otherwise being
Reef. This means that no Faction can place a Eliminated. Eliminations can result from
Gate in Charles River, because it is combined Actions, abilities, or as part of Battle.
with Jersey Reef. It also means that Great
Cthulhu can Move a unit from Jersey Reef
to Boston or the Mystic River immediately.
Of course, Mystic River is itself a part of
Loblolly Cove.
Cultists
Units and Faction Pool
Each player has a Pool in which they keep
Spellbooks, Standees, Cultist counters,
and tokens of their player color that are not
currently in play. Players’ Pools should be set
up near their Faction Cards.

Each Faction has Units, which fall into three

categories: Cultists, Monsters, and Great
Old Ones. (A few Factions add a fourth
category: Terror.) In the Core Game, the Monsters
only type of Cultist is an Acolyte Cultist, and
every Faction has exactly 6 of them. Cultists
are distinguished by the fact that they are
cardboard tokens. Each Faction has more
than one type of Monster, and each of these
has different characteristics. No two Factions
share the same type of Monster. Great Old
Ones are individual beings, and thus every
single Great Old One has a unique name; no
two are the same.

Great Old Ones

10
 Gates
Each player starts the
game with a Controlled
Gate, meaning that one
of their Acolyte Cultists
has been placed atop
that Gate, identifying its Controller. A Gate
can never have more than a single Cultist on
top of it. Thus, a particular Gate may only
ever be Controlled by a single Faction. Gates
can also be Abandoned, as indicated by the
lack of a Cultist on top. Monsters and Great
Old Ones cannot Control Gates, and they
may never be placed on top of them (with the
exception of Black Goat’s Dark Young, once
their Red Sign Spellbook is in play).

More Gates will be Created during the

course of the game, and no Area can ever
hold more than a single Gate. Gates are
highly valuable, as they provide both Power Controlled Gate with Controlling Cultist
(which enables you to perform Actions) and
Doom (which enables you to win the game).

Game Board.indd 1

Abandoned Gate without

a Controlling Cultist

11
 Special Abilities
& Spellbooks
Each Faction in Cthulhu Wars: Duel is
strikingly different, largely due to their
unique abilities. These are derived from
three sources:
1. Unique Faction abilities, found on
Faction Cards and available from the
start of the game
2. Spellbooks, which are unique to
each Faction and become available
during play
3. Each Great Old One has its own
unique ability, available while that
Great Old One is in play and as
described on each Faction Card moment you would use the ability, or when the
ability’s effect would do something (including
4. Each Faction has unique monsters.
an Ongoing ability), you may choose for the
effect to not take place. Because Special
Types of Special Abilities Abilities are intended to help your Faction
win, it is usually better to use them at every
Every Special Ability belongs to a category
opportunity, so the default assumption is
that determines when that ability takes
that unless you speak out, an ability is used.
effect. There are five basic types of Special
However, you may occasionally encounter a
Abilities:
circumstance in which you may not want an
1. Actions: Use these during the Action ability to take effect.
Phase.
Some abilities are not optional, and they
2. Battle: These take effect only during must take effect at the appropriate time. In
a Battle. such a case, this is made clear in the ability’s
3. Gather Power Phase: These take text.
effect in this Phase.
Target Chooses Unit
4. Doom Phase: These take effect in
this Phase. If an ability targets an enemy’s Unit, the
victim typically selects which of his Units is
5. Ongoing: These abilities can be used
targeted by that ability. There are some rare
to benefit your Faction at any time.
exceptions which are stated in the text of
The use of all Special Abilities is considered the ability. If an ability does not specify who
optional, unless designated as mandatory chooses the Unit affected, then the choice
in the description. This means that at the always belongs to the Unit’s owner.

12
 Earning Spellbooks Elder Sign Trophies
Earning Spellbooks is similar to earning Elder Sign Trophies symbolize the shattering
achievements in video games. When you of the bonds that once held the Great Old
fulfill one of the requirements written on Ones in check. Throughout most of the text,
your Faction Card, you must cover that these are simply referred to as “Elder Signs.”
requirement with a Spellbook from your Pool
Whenever you earn an Elder Sign, take an
(this is mandatory). No particular Spellbook
Elder Sign token from its holder and, without
is tied to any particular requirement; you
revealing it to the other player, place
may choose any Spellbook to cover any
it face down by your Faction Card.
slot. Spellbooks may never be lost, even if
You may freely examine your own
their requirements are no longer true. Once
Elder Sign tokens, each of which
earned, Spellbooks remain on your Faction
is marked with a number: 1, 2, or
Card and may be used throughout the game.
3. These numbers indicate that
It is possible to earn more than one Spellbook Elder Sign’s value in Doom. Half
at a time, as long as all requirements of the Elder Signs are worth 1
are met at that time. However, there are Doom, a third are worth 2 Doom, and the
some Spellbooks that can only be earned rest are worth 3 Doom each.
simultaneously if performed in a specified
While these numbers indicate the Elder
way. In such a case, this will be explained on
Signs’ Doom values, this Doom is not
the Faction Card (see the Faction Card for
immediately marked on the Doom Track.
Great Cthulhu for an example).
Instead, it is up to players to decide when
Important Note: If you gain a Spellbook to gain Doom from their Elder Signs. To do
as part of, or during, a Battle (for example, so, players must reveal their Elder Sign(s)
Great Cthulhu’s requirement that demands and then advance their Doom Markers an
a Devour and/or Kill in Battle), you do not appropriate number of spaces along the
receive that Spellbook until the Battle has Doom Track. This may be done at any time,
been fully resolved, including Post-Battle including during any of the four Phases of
effects. play, or even at the very end of the game.
It is typical for most Elder Signs to remain
Example: Black Goat has a requirement
unrevealed until the end of the game, thus
which states, “Have Units in 4 Areas.” As
concealing each player’s true Doom.
soon as this requirement is met, Black Goat
gains a Spellbook and places it over that When revealing an Elder Sign to gain Doom,
slot on her Faction Card. Even if on the next do not replace that Elder Sign with the
turn someone drives her Units into three or others not yet revealed. Instead, place that
fewer Areas, Black Goat retains the relevant Elder Sign back into the box; it is gone and
Spellbook for the rest of the game. may never be redrawn.

Tip: Each individual Spellbook enhances In the unlikely event that all Elder Signs
your Faction significantly and, therefore, a have been earned and a new Elder Sign is
major part of your game strategy is tied to to be drawn, simply give that player 1 Doom
when and in which order you obtain your on the Doom Track instead; this would not
Spellbooks. be kept secret.

13
Faction Cards
Your Faction Card contains a great deal
of information.

1
3
8
2 4

1 Faction Name 7 Great Old One Information: Shows

your Great Old One’s silhouette, cost,
2 Faction Portrait: A handy spot in
and Combat rating, plus notes. All
which to place any Cultists you have
Great Old Ones have extensive notes
Captured.
that describe how to Awaken that Great
3 Power Track: This is where you keep Old One, provide its Combat formula (if
track of your available Power. any), and describe its Special Ability.

4 Unique Ability: Your Faction’s unique 8 Spellbook Requirements: Each of these

ability, available throughout the game. spaces describes the requirements
which must be met in order to place a
5 Setup Information and Faction Glyph Spellbook in that particular slot.

6 Cultist and Monster Information:

Describes your Cultists and Monsters, 8
including their names, silhouettes,
costs, and Combat values, plus any
notes. Next to each Unit’s name is a
number indicating how many Units of
that type are available in your Pool.

14
 The Decay Marker
If you are out of Power (or if your game
Action Phase includes Windwalker, if you are Hibernating)
when it would be your turn to take an Action,
The Action Phase is where the Great Old instead advance the Decay Marker by 1.
Ones destroy the world as they fight for Then the other player takes their turn.
supremacy. Most of the game takes place
during the Action Phase. In this Phase, each If the Decay Marker on the Doom Track is at
player in turn Moves Units, casts spells, 1 or higher, you must first pay the Decay cost
engages in Battle, and otherwise interacts (equal to its position on the track) before you
with their opponent. take an action. If paying for Decay leaves you
with 0 Power or you can’t fulfill the Decay
The Action Phase always starts with the penalty, you are reduced to 0 Power and your
current First Player, who takes a single turn ends.
Action. When this player has finished, the
other player takes an Action. Then the First
Player can take another Action, and so forth.

Example:

1 Rich spends his last power.

Each Action costs a certain amount of
2 Frank has 8 and moves a unit (7 left)
Power, which must be spent before the
Action can be performed. To take an Action, 3 Rich is out of power, so moves the Decay
simply adjust your Power Marker by the Marker to 1
appropriate amount and then perform that
Action. If you do not have enough Power to 4 Frank Pays 1 Power for decay and then
perform an Action, you must select an Action declares Battle for 1. (5 left)
that you can afford. 5 Rich moves the Decay to 2
You may never take more than a single Action 6 Frank pays 2 Decay and recruits (2 left)
on your turn, and you cannot decline to take
an Action if you still have enough Power
If you have no Power left when it is your turn
remaining to do so. You must choose an
to take an Action, you are skipped. You may
available Action and spend the appropriate
not even perform Actions costing 0 Power.
amount of Power to perform that Action. If
However, if you are at 0 Power and you are
Game Board.indd 1

you do not have enough Power to perform

granted Power by an ability or a Spellbook,
any Action at all, then your Power drops to
you must take an Action as normal on your
0 (exception: if you are Windwalker, you can
turn (bearing in mind any Decay penalty).
Hibernate).

15
The Action Phase continues with each an enemy Acolyte if there are no Undead in
player who still has Power, until both players its Pool.
are finally out of Power and no more Actions
Spellbook Requirement Actions
can be taken. At this point, the Decay Marker
is returned to the 0 slot on the Doom Track, These can be found on your Faction
the Action Phase ends, and play continues to Card’s Spellbook requirement slots. Most
the Gather Power Phase. Spellbook requirements are not Actions;
those that are will begin with the words, “As
Tips: Think of the Action Phase as chess—
an Action,” or, “As your Action.” Spellbook
you have many options, but may only take
Requirement Actions only cost Power if
a single Action each time. After taking that
indicated; otherwise, they have a cost of 0
Action, the other player has a chance to
Power. A Spellbook Requirement Action
respond.
is always a distinct Action, and you cannot
If your opponent runs out of Power first, double it up with another Action.
then this is good for you, as you are the only
one who can still take Actions. This means Example: Crawling Chaos has the Spellbook
you can do as you like while your opponent requirement of “As your Action, pay 4
helplessly watches you mess with their stuff. Power.” This means that you would simply
Bearing in mind the Decay penalty which pay 4 Power to fulfill this requirement and
may cut short your rampage, of course. gain a Spellbook. This cannot be combined
with another Action, nor can it be triggered
The Four Types of Actions by performing one of those Actions.
Moving four Units also costs 4 Power, but
There are four categories of Actions in
you can’t use that cost to fulfill this Spellbook
Cthulhu Wars: Duel—Common, Unique,
requirement. Because earned Spellbooks
Spellbook Requirement, and Unlimited.
are never lost, any Spellbook Requirement
Common Actions Action may only be performed once per
game.
These are available to all Factions. On their
turn, a player may choose to perform one of When it is your turn to take an Action, you
the eight Common Actions, as detailed later. must choose to perform a single Common,
Unique, or Spellbook Requirement Action.
Unique Actions
You cannot take one of each; you may only
These are only available to your particular take one such Action on your turn!
Faction. Some Unique Actions have
Unlimited Actions
requirements which must be met before
they can be performed. For example, Great The fourth category, Unlimited Actions,
Cthulhu’s Faction cannot perform the allow you to break the “one Action on your
Submerge Action unless Great Cthulhu turn” rule. Unlimited Actions are special,
himself is in play. Likewise, you cannot as you can perform them in addition to
execute a Unique Action unless you are your turn Action. Unlimited Actions are not
able to perform it completely. For example, unique to any Faction and are available to
Yellow Sign cannot use Zingaya to Eliminate both players. Unlimited Actions sometimes

16
 have requirements that must be met before into which the Monster is Summoned. Pay
they can be performed. the Monster’s cost (found on your Faction
Card), and place it on the Map.
Tips: If you are not sure what to do on your
turn, look at your Spellbook requirements. You may only Summon 1 Monster per
You cannot go far wrong so long as you strive Summon Monster Action (exception: Black
to gain new Spellbooks, or try to set yourself Goat).
up for more Power in the next Gather Power
Sometimes an ability allows you to place
Phase.
a Monster on the Map (such as Yellow
Tips: Once Cthulhu has the Dreams Sign’s Desecrate Action, or Great Cthulhu’s
Spellbook, you should never leave an Devolve Spellbook). These do not count as
Acolyte Cultist alone on a Gate in a critical Summon Monster Actions, and as such do
Area! Placing a second Cultist in the Area not necessarily require a Gate in the Area.
won’t prevent Dreams, but it makes it more
Awaken Great Old One - Cost: Varies
expensive for Cthulhu to steal the Gate. You 3 (specific requirements apply)
may also consider guarding your Cultist with
a Monster; if Great Cthulhu Dreams him The Awaken Great Old One Action allows
away, you can Capture his replacement. you to bring your Great Old One into play.
Just as each Great Old One itself is unique,
The Eight Common Actions
so is the way in which each is placed on the
Recruit Cultist - Cost 1 Power Map. Your Faction Card has a series of steps
1 (requires any of your Units) (always at least two) that must be done to
Awaken your Great Old One. All of these
The Recruit Cultist Action allows you to
steps combined comprise the Awaken Great
place a Cultist from your Pool onto the Map.
Old One Action.
One of your Units must be in the Area into
which you Recruit the Cultist. This Unit can You may only Awaken a single Great Old
be of any type: another Cultist, a Monster, or One per Awaken Action. Of course, most
even a Great Old One. If you have no Units Factions only have a single Great Old One.
on the Map, you may recruit a Cultist at any
Once your Great Old One is in play, its Special
location. This allows you to return to play
Ability is now available to use. If your Great
even if you have been wiped off the Map.
Old One leaves play, its ability is unavailable
You may only Recruit 1 Cultist per Recruit until the Great Old One has been Awakened
Cultist Action. This even applies to Black once again.
Goat, whose Fertility Cult Ability only applies
Tips: Since a Great Old One can be “Killed”
to Monsters.
(after which it must be re-Awakened), do
Summon Monster - Cost: Varies not bring it out before you can protect it
2 (requires a Controlled Gate) with other Units. Two exceptions are the
King in Yellow and Cthulhu, since they are
The Summon Monster Action allows
(comparatively) inexpensive to replace.
you to place a Monster from your Pool onto
the Map. You must Control a Gate in the Area

17
 Create Gate - Cost: 3 Power
4 (requires Cultist)

To Create a Gate in an Area, you must have

a Cultist in that Area and a Gate must not
already be present there. Only one Gate can
ever exist in any Area, including the two-part
water Areas connected by Portals, such as
Devil’s Reef / Miskatonic River. Pay 3 Power
and place the Gate. You may immediately
place your Cultist atop the Gate to indicate
that it is Controlled by you. (Technically,
this is a use of the Unlimited Control Gate
Action, detailed later).
Great Cthulhu Moves 3 Units at once in a
You may only Create 1 Gate per Create Gate single Move Action, costing him 3 Power.
Action.

5 Move - Cost: 1 Power per Unit Moved

6
Battle - Cost: 1 Power (requires Unit
Game Board.indd 1

with at least 1 Combat)

To Move Units, spend 1 Power for each Unit
you wish to Move. A Unit may Move from its To Battle your opponent, choose any area
current Area into an adjacent one. Movement in which both you and your enemy have at
is flexible; you can Move Units from several least one Unit. In Battle, each side rolls dice
different Areas into a single Area, or from a equal to their Combat totals and inflicts
single Area into several different ones, or any results upon each other. Combat totals are
combination you please. determined by adding up the Combat ratings
(found on your Faction Card) of your Units in
You may Move as many Units as you like (and the Battle. You must have at least 1 Combat
can afford) with a Move Action. However, on your side in order to declare a Battle. You
each Unit may only Move once per turn. may Battle an enemy who has 0 Combat.

You may only Battle once, and in one Area,

per Battle Action. Battle has several other
rules and characteristics, all of which are
detailed later.

Remember: Monsters with Combat 0 are

surprisingly useful. They can protect Cultists
from being Captured by other Monsters,
they can Capture Cultists themselves, and
they can be assigned as casualties in Battle,
sparing more expensive Units.

Great Cthulhu’s Units Before Move

18
 7 Capture Cultist - Cost: 1 Power Avoiding Capture by Monsters

The Capture Cultist Action is a means of

removing enemy Cultists from the Map and
then later sacrificing them to your Great
Old One to gain Power. A Captured Cultist
is Eliminated, and is therefore no longer in
play. However, unlike a normal Elimination,
it does not immediately return to its Faction’s
Pool until the next Gather Power Phase.
When it returns, it provides the Faction who
Captured it with 1 Power. To signify that a
Captured Cultist is neither in play nor in its
Faction’s Pool, place it on your own Faction Frank has a Cultist Controlling a Gate in
Card. Arkham.

To Capture an enemy Cultist, you need a

Monster or Great Old One in the same Area
as that Cultist. However, the enemy Cultist
you wish to Capture cannot have a protector
in the same Area. Cthulhu Wars: Duel has a
Game Board.indd 1

pecking order of protectors. Great Old Ones

outrank Monsters, which in turn outrank
Cultists. A Great Old One can Capture an
enemy Cultist in its Area unless the target
is protected by its own Great Old One in
that Area. A Monster can capture an enemy
Guy Moves two Deep Ones and a Cultist
Cultist unless the target is protected by its
into the Area.
own Monster or Great Old One. Cultists
cannot capture Cultists. Note that even a
single Monster protects a Cultist against
any number of enemy Monsters that wish to
Capture it.
Game Board.indd 1

You may only Capture 1 enemy Cultist per

Capture Cultist Action.

If more than one Cultist is in the Area, the

player whose Cultist is being taken chooses
which is Captured. Thus, you need not allow
a Gate-Controlling Cultist to be Captured,
unless it is the last remaining Cultist in the Frank, on his next turn, simply Summons
a single Monster (a ghoul) at his Gate,
Area.
which is enough to protect his lone Cultist
from being Captured by Guy’s Monsters.

19
Notes: Capturing and being Captured has says “immediately.” The use of one of these
nothing to do with the Combat ratings of Spellbooks would make up the entirety of
the Units involved. A Monster with Combat Step 3, above.
0 can Capture a Cultist with Combat 1 or
Two Unlimited Actions are available to
more. If the Cultist wanted to fight back,
players: Control or Abandon Gate, and
its owner should have declared Battle in a
Unlimited Battle.
previous turn.

8 Pass - Cost: All Remaining Power 1 Control or Abandon Gate - Cost: 0

Power
If you have nothing you wish to do, you may
If you have a Cultist in an Area with an
Pass. You lose all remaining Power and your
Abandoned Gate (e.g., no enemy Cultist atop
turn ends. If you later gain power from some
it), this Unlimited Action moves your Cultist
source, you can once again take actions on
onto the Gate to claim Control. When you
your turn.
Create a Gate, you can immediately Control
The Two Unlimited Actions it. So, if on your turn you have a Cultist in
an Area with an Abandoned Gate, you can
These are special in that they are the only
Control it as part of your turn, no matter
type of Action you may perform beyond the
what other Action you may be taking.
one Action allowed on your turn. They can be
performed either before or after your “main” You can also use this Unlimited Action to
Action, so that a turn in the Action Phase can take a Cultist off a Gate, thus Abandoning
be expressed as four steps, like this: it, but leaving the Cultist in the same Area.
Normally you would not voluntarily Abandon
1. Pay the current Decay penalty.
a Gate; however, if your turn Action was to
2. Take any number of Unlimited Move a Cultist who was on a Gate into
Actions (including 0). another Area, you would be Abandoning
the Gate first as an Unlimited Action, then
3. Take a single Common, Unique, performing the Move as your turn Action.
or Spellbook Requirement Action Another common use of Abandon Gate
(must be exactly 1). occurs when Black Goat has her Red Sign
Spellbook in play. She might Summon a
4. Take any number of Unlimited
Dark Young, Abandon the Summoning
Actions (including 0).
Gate, then Control that selfsame Gate with
Special Notes: The Yellow Sign Faction has the newly-Summoned Dark Young, all in
2 Spellbooks of note, named The Screaming the same turn. In other words, she took the
Dead and He Who is Not to be Named. Summon Action as her Action, followed by
Each of these Spellbooks reads, in part, “… the Unlimited Actions of Abandon Gate and
immediately after, you may take a second, then Control Gate.
different Action.” These Spellbooks allow
You can perform the Control or Abandon
Yellow Sign to take two non-Unlimited
Gate Action on your turn as many times
Actions in a row. However, you may not
as you like. However, it can never be the
perform an Unlimited Action between the
only Action you perform. You must still
two Actions from these Spellbooks, as it

20
 perform a Common, Unique, or Spellbook Unlimited Battle has one important
Requirement Action. restriction, however—you can still only
initiate one Battle per Area. You cannot
Since Unlimited Actions occur on your turn,
declare a Battle as a Common (or Unlimited)
you cannot Control an Abandoned Gate
Action, and then do an Unlimited Battle in
with a Cultist except when it is your turn to
the same Area. If, as a result of Battle, your
take an Action. If both players have Cultists
Units retreat to another Area, you can do
in an Area with an Abandoned Gate, the
Unlimited Battle in that new Area. However,
first player to take an Action will be able to
if they then retreat back into the original Area,
Control that Gate.
they can’t initiate a Battle there because of
Unlimited Battle - Cost: 1 Power this “one Battle per Area” rule.
2 (requires a player to have 6 Spellbooks)
Ongoing Special Abilities
When any player has 6 Spellbooks on their
Ongoing Special Abilities are not Actions
Faction Card, then Unlimited Battle is
but can take effect during the Action Phase.
unlocked for both players. Each Unlimited
Because they are not Actions, they do not
Battle you perform still costs 1 Power,
have a Power cost, and you can still do them
allowing you to initiate as many Battles
(at the appropriate time) even when you are
as you wish before and/or after your
out of Power. The rule about your turn being
single Common, Unique, or Spellbook
skipped when out of Power only applies to
Requirement Action.
Actions—it does not apply to Ongoing or
other types of Abilities. For instance, if an
enemy declares Battle against you when
you are out of Power, you can still use your
Spellbook Battle Abilities.

Ongoing Ability During a

Player’s Turn

You can still Battle as a Common Action,

if that is all you want to do on your turn.
Unlimited Battle is simply an option once a
player has 6 Spellbooks.

Since Battle can be either Common

or Unlimited once you have all of your
Spellbooks, you can execute a Battle and
then decide whether it was Common or
Unlimited. You may do this even after
seeing the results of the Battle. After the Before Zoran’s Turn.
Battle, you can then choose to do a single
Common Action or another Unlimited Battle
elsewhere.

21
Zoran has 6 Spellbooks and it is his turn. Zoran can still choose to Battle Ben,
First, he performs the Move Action and since it is his turn and he has the option
Moves several of his Monsters into an to perform Unlimited Actions. But he may
Area containing 2 of Ben’s Units, both of no longer want to do so now that Ben has
which are Cultists. a Monster of his own!

Between Action Effects

Game Board.indd 1 6/17/2

A few Ongoing abilities use the phrases,

“After any player’s Action…” or “At the end
of any player’s Action….” You can choose to
use these abilities, as written, after another
player’s Action, but before the next Action
takes place. They can even be used in the
middle of a player’s turn while performing
Unlimited Actions.

If both players want to use such an ability

Ben has the Devolve Spellbook. Fearing after a player’s Action, resolve it by having
that Zoran will declare an Unlimited
the active Player go first.
Battle after Moving into the Area, Ben
uses Devolve immediately after Zoran’s Note: Yellow Sign’s The Screaming Dead
Move Action, to replace one of his Cultists
and He Who Is Not To be Named Spellbooks,
with a Deep One.
which give that Faction two Actions in a row,
do not prevent an Ongoing Special Ability
6/17/2

from being used in between those two

Actions.

22
 Example: Alyssa has 2 Controlled Gates and
3 Cultists in play. She has also Captured an
enemy Cultist. She gets 3 Power from her
Gather Power Cultists and 4 Power for her two Controlled
Phase Gates. One Gate on the Map is currently
Abandoned, so she gets 1 Power from that
The Action Phase ends once both players source (as does her opponent). She must
are out of Power. sacrifice her Captured Cultist, which earns
her an additional 1 Power. Finally, she is
When the Gather Power Phase begins,
playing Great Cthulhu and has the Y’ha
return the Decay Marker to the 0 spot on the
Nthlei Spellbook on her Faction Card, and
Doom Track.
her opponent has one Gate in a water area,
so she gets 1 more Power from this. Her
total Power is set to 10.

In the Gather Power Phase, both players

regain Power, adjusting their Power Markers
to reflect new totals. Players perform the
Non-Cultist Units such as Monsters and
Gather Power Phase simultaneously. If this
Great Old Ones do not produce Power (with
is anyone’s first game of Cthulhu Wars: Duel,
rare exceptions). Only Cultists produce
it may be best to take turns doing it.
Power. Remember that certain Factions
How to Earn Power have special ways of gaining Power during
the Gather Power Phase. These differ with
• Earn 1 Power per Cultist you have in each Faction and might require particular
play. Spellbooks.
• Earn 2 Power per Gate you Control The Power track goes to 20, but you may
(this is in addition to the 1 Power for have more than 20 Power. If you reach 21
that Controlling Cultist). or more Power, you’ll need to keep track of it
• Earn 1 Power for each Abandoned by other means. The easiest way is to “wrap
Gate on the Map (both players gain around,” so if your Power is 23, you’d place
this per Abandoned Gate). your marker on the 3 space, and remember
Game Board.indd 1

that it is really 23, not 3. Then when it drops

• Earn 1 Power for each Captured Cultist to the 0 space, immediately place it on 20
on your Faction Card, then return all instead (e.g., when at 21 Power and you
Captured Cultists to your opponent’s spend 1 Power, move your marker to 20
Pool. You may not choose to keep a rather than 0).
Cultist—they must be returned.
Minimum Power Rule
• Check for Special Abilities and
Spellbooks that provide Power during At the end of the Gather Power Phase, after
the Gather Power Phase. both players have recorded their earned

23
Power on their Power Tracks, apply the
Minimum Power Rule. If either player’s
Power is less than half of the other’s
Power, increase that player’s Power
so it is at half of the higher Power
total, rounding up.

Example: After a disastrous turn, Tony

finds himself at the end of the Gather Power
Phase with a total of 4 Power. Fortunately
for Tony, Alyssa has 11 Power, so Tony gets
to set his Power to 6 (half of 11, rounded up).

Once everyone has recorded their new

Power totals and applied the Minimum
Power Rule, the Gather Power Phase ends.
Play then moves to the Determine First
Player Phase.

Determine First
Player Phase
The player with the greatest amount of power
becomes the new first player. If the players
are tied for most Power, then the player who
was the First Player in the preceding round
decides which of the two becomes the new
First Player.

Once the First Player has been determined,

play continues to the Doom Phase.

Tips: If you can arrange matters so that

you get to take two actions in a row, this
is sometimes very useful. You’d do this by
taking the last action in the previous turn,
then being First Player this turn. It’s also
sometimes useful to see what your opponent
is going to do first, so you may not want to
reflexively always be the First Player every
time you have the chance.

24
 pays 5 Power and advances the Ritual
Doom Phase Marker to the “6” space.

When the game ends, the player with the

highest Doom is the winner. The Doom
Phase is a common time for players’ Doom
to advance; it is also the Phase in which the
Game Board.indd 1

end of the game is most likely to be triggered.

During the Doom Phase, some Special Alyssa now advances her Doom Marker 3
Abilities can be triggered, and the players spaces—for her three Gates—plus receives
each choose whether or not to perform a an Elder Sign for Shub-Niggurath.
Ritual of Annihilation.

The First Player must decide first whether to

perform a Ritual of Annihilation, after which
his opponent can make that choice.

Rituals of Annihilation She also decides to use her

Blood Sacrifice Spellbook and
Each player can only perform a single Ritual
Eliminates one of her Cultists
of Annihilation per Doom Phase. To perform
in order to gain 1 Elder Sign.
one:
(Eliminating the Cultist does not give her
• Spend Power equal to the current opponent a Doom because it was instigated
position of the Ritual Marker on the by Alyssa.) If Alyssa had not performed
Ritual of Annihilation Track (this the Ritual of Annihilation plus her Blood
ranges from 5 to 10 Power). Sacrifice, she would have had 5 more Power
and 1 more Cultist upon entering the Action
• Advance the Ritual Marker one step
Phase, but she would not have gained the 3
up on the Ritual of Annihilation Track.
extra Doom and 2 Elder Signs.
This may increase the cost for later
Rituals. Instant Death
• Advance your Doom Marker one space If the Ritual Marker is on 10 and a Ritual
along the Doom Track for each Gate of Annihilation is performed, the Ritual
you Control. Marker advances to the Instant Death space.
This means that the game will end at the
Game Board.indd 1

• Gain 1 Elder Sign for each of your

completion of this Doom Phase, and the
Faction Great Old Ones in play
victor will be determined. See the Victory:
(normally no more than 1).
Ending and Winning the Game section (p.
Example: Alyssa is the First Player. She has 32) for more details.
three Controlled Gates and Shub-Niggurath
in play. As the First Player, Alyssa has first
choice of whether to perform a Ritual of
Annihilation; she chooses to do so. The
Ritual Marker is on the “5” space, so Alyssa
Game Board.indd 1

25
If the First Player advances the Marker to
Instant Death, his opponent can still perform Earning Doom Via
a Ritual afterwards. The Power cost for this
last Ritual is 10.
Eliminates & Kills
Special Events and Abilities Once all players have had a chance to
Some Spellbooks, Special Abilities, or even perform a Ritual of Annihilation and enacted
Spellbook requirements take effect in the any special abilities, play moves on to the
Doom Phase. These usually occur when it is Action Phase, thus restarting the cycle of
your turn to perform a Ritual of Annihilation, Phases.
whether you perform the Ritual or not. When a Unit is Eliminated or Killed by an
Examples include Black Goat’s Blood effect or action of the opposing player, that
Sacrifice Spellbook and Great Cthulhu’s player gains Doom equal to that Unit’s
two Doom Phase Spellbook requirements. Power cost. The player who lost their Unit
Some other events may also occur at this receives no Doom.
time. Here are some examples:
If you have multiple abilities or events, you • Black Goat Eliminates two Cultists
can choose the order in which you perform for her Spellbook requirement. Her
them. enemy gains zero Doom.
Example: Sleeper has a Serpent Man on • A Shoggoth Absorbs a Cultist for
an enemy’s Faction Card, as per his Ancient Battle. Its enemy gains zero Doom.
Sorcery Spellbook. The current cost of
performing a Ritual of Annihilation is 8, • Yellow Sign uses Zingaya to transform
yet Sleeper only has 7 Power. He returns an enemy Acolyte into an Undead.
his Serpent Man to the Map and gains 1 Yellow Sign gains 1 Doom.
Power, then has enough Power to perform
• Cthulhu Devolves an Acolyte into a
the Ritual.
Deep One. No Doom is gained by the
enemy.

• Opener of the Way promotes a Unit to

a Monster via Million Favored Ones.
No Doom is gained by the Enemy.

Some units have variable Power costs. In

this case, the Doom gained is equal to the
average of the Unit’s various Power costs
added together, whether or not the Power
benefit is currently in effect. Always round
up the final total.

26
 • Example 1: Cthulhu’s Power costs are
10/4, so Killing him is worth 7 Doom. Battle
• Example 2: Black Goat’s Units have Battle is the most complex of all events in
a Power cost of potentially 1 less, Cthulhu Wars: Duel. It is a player-initiated
thanks to Thousand Young. Hence, Action and is described in the Action Phase
Ghouls have an average Power cost of section (p. 18).
(1+0)/2 or 0.5, which is rounded up, so
they give the opponent 1 Doom when A Battle takes place in a single Area. The
they die. The same goes for the other Faction initiating the Battle must have at
Black Goat Units, all of which give the least 1 Combat amongst its Units in the
opponent Doom equal to their baseline Area. Though Battle can be an Unlimited
cost due to the rounding factor. Action (once either player has earned all 6
Spellbooks), an Area may only host a single
• Example 3: Windwalker’s Gnoph-Kehs Battle on a given player’s turn.
have a Power cost of 4/3/2/1 which,
when averaged, is 2.5, so Killing a All Units in the Area must participate in the
Gnoph-Keh is worth 3 Doom. Battle.

Units which avoid death by means of abilities After the Battle Action has been paid for
or Spellbooks still provide Doom to the by the player who initiated it, the Battle
enemy which “Killed” them, but only half as proceeds through the following steps:
much (rounded up).
1. Pre-Battle Abilities
• Example 1: Windwalker’s Rhan Tegoth
2. Combat Dice Calculations and Rolls
uses Eternal to avoid dying. The enemy
gets 3 Doom for “Killing” him. 3. Post-Battle Abilities and Assigning
Battle Results
• Example 2: A Regenerating Starspawn
who takes a single Kill and thus avoids 4. Applying Battle Results
death gives the enemy 2 Doom (half
their cost of 3, rounded up). Pre-Battle Abilities

You only get Doom once for a Unit per Battle.

Example: Nyarlathotep avoids death thanks

to Emissary of the Outer Gods, which
would normally give the enemy 5 Doom for
“Killing” him. But then Nyarlathotep, the last
Unit in that Area, can’t retreat from the Battle
because every adjacent Area contains enemy
Units, so he is Eliminated anyway, giving the The first step is for players to use (or choose
enemy 10 Doom. The enemy does not also not to use) any Pre-Battle Spellbooks or
get the 5 Doom for the “virtual death.” abilities. As with all abilities, Pre-Battle
abilities are optional unless the text says
otherwise.

27
Because these are not Actions, they typically and “exempted” throughout the rest of the
do not require Power to use. Some Pre- Battle. The Flying Polyp, of course, is still
Battle abilities require a particular type of Eliminated (providing Great Cthulhu with 2
Unit to be present in the Battle to take effect, Doom as per its cost).
while others may merely require one of your
Units to be in play, but not necessarily in the If all Units of one Faction are somehow
Battle itself! removed during Pre-Battle, you do not need
to continue to the next step—the Battle is
The Faction that initiated the Battle (the over, and no further abilities can be used. For
attacker) uses all of their Pre-Battle abilities example, if Great Cthulhu initiates a Battle
first, and in any order desired. The Faction against Black Goat and Devours Black
being attacked (the defender) then does the Goat’s sole Unit, the Battle would end. Black
same. Goat could not even use Necrophagy, as the
Battle is already over.
This means that all of the attacker’s Pre-
Battle abilities take effect before any of Combat Dice
those chosen by the defender. If the attacker Calculation and Rolls
refrains from using a Pre-Battle ability,
After all Pre-Battle abilities on both sides
they can’t “change their mind” and use any
have taken effect, it is time to calculate
of these after the defender has chosen and Combat and roll dice. Each Unit has a
used their own Pre-Battle abilities. Combat rating listed on its Faction Card,
Some Pre-Battle abilities Eliminate, Kill or which represents how powerful that Unit is
in Battle. Some have 0 Combat, and some
otherwise remove a Unit from the Battle.
require a simple calculation (such as Yellow
(This usually provides Doom to the player.) If
Sign’s Monsters, or many Great Old Ones).
this happens, that Unit does not participate
Your Faction’s Combat in the Battle is equal
for the rest of the Battle, including the
to the sum of the Combat rating of all of your
remainder of the Pre-Battle step. For
Units involved in the Battle. For example, if
example, if Cthulhu himself is in a Battle as
you are playing as Great Cthulhu and have an
the attacker, Cthulhu may use his Devour
Acolyte and 2 Starspawn in the Battle, your
Pre-Battle ability to Eliminate an enemy
combat would be 0+3+3 for a Combat total
Unit. Any Battle-related ability possessed by of 6.
that Unit cannot then be used, because that
Unit is no longer involved in the Battle. Both sides then roll a number of dice equal
to their individual Combat totals. Players can
However, if that Eliminated Unit had already roll simultaneously, or they may take turns.
used an ability that generated an effect
throughout the rest of the Battle, the effect Count up the number of 6s you rolled; these
remains. are “Kill” results. Then count up the number
of 4s and 5s you rolled; these are “Pain”
Example: Crawling Chaos can initiate a results. Rolls of 1, 2, or 3 are misses; they have
Battle and use its Flying Polyp’s Invisibility no effect.
to “exempt” Great Cthulhu’s Shoggoth.
Even if Cthulhu then Devoured that Flying
Polyp, the Shoggoth would remain invisible
KILL PAIN MISS

28
 A few abilities are written simply as Battle Kills. As with Kills, excess Eliminations are
abilities (as opposed to Pre- or Post- ignored.
Battle). These abilities modify this step.
Post-Battle abilities are not like Pre-Battle
For example, Opener of the Way’s Channel
abilities, as Kills, Eliminations, or any other
Power Spellbook permits him to re-roll dice
removal from the Battle does not prevent that
that did not score a Kill or Pain result.
Unit from using its own Post-Battle abilities.
Tip: Because Pre-Battle abilities can modify In other words, in this step, both sides can
Combat totals, wait until all Pre-Battle always use any available Post-Battle abilities.
abilities have taken effect before calculating
After Kills and Eliminations are assigned,
the final Combat total.
assign Pains to the remaining units, ignoring
Post-Battle Abilities and any excess. Each Pained Unit must Retreat
Assigning Battle Results to an adjacent Area

After counting up each side’s Battle results,

Pains
players must assign their enemy’s results to
their own Units.

First, assign Kill results (rolls of 6). Kills

are always assigned first. Killed Units are
returned to their owner’s Pool. If the number Retreat
of Kills exceeds the number of vulnerable
Units, ignore the excess.

Example: In a Battle, Alyssa’s enemy scored

one Kill against her two units—an Acolyte
and a Dark Young. She chooses to apply the
Game Board.indd 1

result to her Acolyte, who is far cheaper to

replace.

When assigning Kill results, players may

use any available Post-Battle abilities. These
abilities typically modify Battle results or how
they are assigned. Post-Battle abilities can
also add a third type of result: Elimination.
If a Post-Battle ability adds an Elimination,
it must be assigned at the same time as any

29
Post-Battle abilities that modify Pains you choose the Areas to which they retreat.
may be appropriate to use when assigning They do not need to all go to the same Area—
Pains, rather than when assigning Kills. they can be split among multiple Areas. A
For example, Windwalker’s Eternal ability Pained Unit’s Retreat does not count as a
could be used at this point, rather than Move Action, and Move abilities do not apply.
when assigning Kills. Also, Crawling Chaos’
The player who initiated the Battle (attacker)
Harbinger can be activated both when a
applies all of their Pains first, followed by the
Kill and a Pain are assigned. Yellow Sign’s
defender.
Vengeance is used when assigning Kills,
Eliminations, and Pains. You cannot Retreat a Pained unit to any Area
that contains enemy Units (regardless of
Importantly, once a Post-Battle ability has
whether you also have Units there). If this
been triggered (whether while assigning Kills
prevents your Pained Units from Retreating,
or Pains), its effect takes place, regardless of
select a single Unit among them and
whether the Unit with that ability is also (or
Eliminate it. Your other Units remain in the
later) Killed, Eliminated, etc. In other words,
Battle Area as if they were not Pained.
Post-Battle abilities may not retroactively
prevent other Post-Battle abilities from Tip: If you are the attacker in a Battle
taking place. However, they may modify how and receive several Pains, sometimes a
Battle results are assigned. good tactic is to Pain those Units to all the
Areas around the Battle Area to completely
Many Post-Battle abilities are triggered by
surround your enemy and force an extra
Kills or Pains. These are specific results,
Elimination!
meaning that if an Elimination occurs, it
would not trigger such an ability. For example, Some Post-Battle abilities take place
Windwalker’s Cannibalism requires an during the application of Battle results, or
enemy Unit to be Killed, not Eliminated; how results are assigned. A key example is
Sleeper’s Demand Sacrifice does not protect Crawling Chaos’s Madness, which allows
against Elimination, only actual Kills; and so Crawling Chaos, rather than his opponent,
forth. to choose the Area(s) where his opponent’s
Pained Units go.
Applying Battle Results
Once Battle results are determined, apply
them. Kills and Eliminations remove Units
from the Map, returning them to their
Faction’s Pool. As with assigning results,
Kills and Eliminations must be applied
before Pains. Both sides remove Eliminated
Units and Killed Units at the same time.

After applying Kills and Eliminations, it is

time to apply Pains. Pained Units Retreat
and are moved to Areas adjacent to the
Battle Area. As with assigning Kill results,

30
 Complex Battle Example
Battle Examples
Simple Battle Example

Anthony has Shub-Niggurath and a

Fungus; he initiates a Battle against
David, who has 2 Deep Ones.
Angela initiates a Battle against Frank
in Arkham. She has three Deep Ones In Pre-Battle, Cthulhu uses his Devour
and two Acolyte Cultists. Frank has two ability. Cthulhu can’t devour Shub-
Acolyte Cultists. As Angela’s Deep Ones Niggurath, so Black Goat must lose her
have Combat of 1 each, she rolls 3 dice
Game Board.indd 1
Fungus.
(1+1+1). Frank is playing Black Goat, Now they roll the dice. Both players roll
and his Frenzy Spellbook is in play, so his 1 kill and 1 pain. Anthony must assign
Cultists each have a Combat of 1, letting
6/17/2

the Kill to Shub-Niggurath, his only unit

him roll 2 dice. remaining. David chooses to assign the
Kill and Pain to his Deep Ones.

Post-Battle Black Goat brings in a Ghoul

KILL using her Necrophagy Spellbook. This
Pains Cthulhu out of the area, leaving the
PAINS
Ghoul behind.

KILL
PAIN
Angela rolls 2 Pains and no Kills, while
Frank rolls a Kill and no Pains. Angela
chooses to Kill one of her Cultists, and
Frank must Retreat both Cultists out of
KILL
the Area.

PAIN
6/17/2

31
 Victory: Ending and
Winning the Game
The end of the game is triggered in one of Example: Alyssa is attacked by Tony. Both
two ways: either when a player reaches players have 25 Doom on the track. Tony
30 or more Doom or when the Ritual of only manages to roll a bunch of Pains, but
Annihilation Track reaches “Instant Death.” Alyssa scores 2 Kills on Tony’s Units. He
takes the Kills on a pair of Acolytes, so Alyssa
scores 2 Doom. She then reveals her three
Elder Signs for 4 more Doom, giving her a
total Doom of 31. At the end of Tony’s turn
(assuming he has anything else he wants to
do), the game ends.

The game can also end during the Doom

Phase, when the Ritual of Annihilation
Marker reaches the Instant Death space. If
6/17/20 11:22 AM

When a Faction reaches 30 or more Doom one player has not had a chance to perform
on the Doom Track, the game will end. Your a Ritual of Annihilation, they may still do so.
Doom Marker can be flipped over to the +30 The game ends at the completion of that
side, allowing you to keep track of points Doom Phase, even if no one has 30 or more
above 30 by returning it back to the 1 spot Doom.
and continuing. Since Doom often increases No matter how the end of the game is
during the Doom Phase, the game may end triggered, both players reveal their Elder
during that Phase. In this case, complete the Signs before the victor is declared. After the
entire Doom Phase before declaring final end of the game, and after adding everyone’s
victory—including permitting both players Elder Signs to their Doom totals, the player
a chance at a Ritual of Annihilation and any with the most Doom is declared the winner.
Doom Phase effects.
If the two players tie for the most Doom, the
game ends in a draw. You may rejoice in your
6/17/20 11:22 AM

shared victory!

Rule Omega:
The Final Question
A player can also accrue Doom or reveal
Elder Signs during the Action Phase; if this We have tried diligently to cover all possible
new Doom increases his total to 30 or more, rules questions and to make this game as
the game ends at the end of the current true to Lovecraft as we can, but we are mere
player’s turn, even if the player whose Doom mortals. As such, we are subject to error. If
reached 30+ is not the player taking his turn. you come across a conflict with an ability

32
 or Spellbook and cannot find the answer in Old One, because this leaves you weak for
one of our FAQs (online or otherwise), we the rest of that Action Phase. It is sometimes
recommend that you discuss the desired wise to Awaken yours in the same turn as
outcome. The game’s owner should have your opponent. Battle in the early game is
his opinion weighted in his favor. In the end, sometimes opportunistic, based on attempts
Cthulhu Wars: Duel is your game. If you feel to seize enemy Gates or fulfill Spellbook
compelled to add house rules to cover such requirements.
an issue, please do so with our blessing.

Late Game
Tips & Tricks The late game begins when you have three
The Power loss from the Decay Marker is or four Spellbooks and a Great Old One in
significant, and strongly affects the game play. You still may want to finish up your last
flow. Keep it in mind at all times. When Spellbooks, but perhaps you can afford a
your opponent runs out of Power, you can Ritual of Annihilation. Remember, the earlier
then perfectly calculate how you Ritual, the cheaper it is (and the more
many extra turns you are expensive for your foe). Use Battle not only to
going to have, based on the score Doom off your opponent, but to reduce
Decay Marker’s progression. your enemy’s Gates, lowering both his Ritual
possibilities and his potential Power.
Keeping your Old One alive
is extremely important,
because its death gives Other Factions
the enemy a major Doom
boost. It is vital to use and Petersen Games is releasing other Cthulhu
understand your Spellbooks. Wars: Duel versions with new Maps and
Ghroth, for example, is one new Factions. You have noticed references to
of the mightiest weapons these in this text. If you own more than one
available to Black Goat. Duel version, you may freely mix and match
Factions between your games.
Choosing when to not use abilities is a
critical decision. For example, Yellow Sign
may not always want Passion’s Power gain,
since it’s not always beneficial.

Early Game
The gameplay can be divided into two main
periods—the early game and the late game.

In the first and second Action Phases, you

should try to acquire Spellbooks, build up a
influence, and Summon a minimal army. Be
choosy about when you Awaken your Great

33
 Map Illustration--------Damien Mammoliti
Credits Balance / Playtesting---- Lincoln Petersen
Design----------------------------- Sandy Petersen Sales Manager-----------------George Botelho
Art-------------------------------------Richard Luong Shipping Manager-------------Christy Crace
Additional Art-------------------------- Graey Erb Customer Support-----------Nathan Bishop
Project Director------------- Arthur Petersen George Botelho
Business Manager------Christine Graham Community / VF Support----- Pierre “Pit”
Lanrezac
Art Director------------------ Tony Mastrangeli
Editing and Proofreading-----Ben Kocher
Art Layout------------------------- Andrew Frisch
Additional Proofreaders ------ Kyle Guptil,
Tony Mastrangeli Jamie Bergman, Squire Kershner, Kristof
Brodeoux, Elliot Jenner

34
“He spoke very gently of how human beings might accomplish—

and several times had accomplished—the seemingly impossible

flight across the interstellar void. It seemed that complete human

bodies did not indeed make the trip, but that the prodigious

surgical, biological, chemical, and mechanical skill of the Outer

Ones had found a way to convey human brains without their

concomitant physical structure.”

—H.P. Lovecraft
 Phases of Play
1 Action Phase 2 Gather Power Phase
· Gain Doom equal to Unit cost Return the Decay marker to 0.
whenever your opponent loses Units
• +1 Power per Cultist
due to your action or response.

Actions: • +2 Power per Controlled Gate

If the player has any Power, he • +1 Power per Captured Cultist

performs 1 Action. Add the Decay (return to owner’s pool)
marker’s position to all action Power • +1 Power per Abandoned Gate
costs.
• +? Power for Special Abilities
• -1 Power to Recruit 1 Cultist
(requires Unit) 3 Determine First Player Phase
• -? Power to Summon 1 Monster • Player with the most Power becomes
(requires controlled Gate in area) First Player.

• -? Power to Awaken 1 Great Old One 4 Doom Phase

• -3 Power to Create 1 Gate (requires • (Optional) Rituals of Annihilation:
Cultist in area) Spend Power equal to the current
position of the Ritual Marker to earn
• -1 Power per Unit moved
1 Doom per Controlled Gate and 1
• -1 Power to Battle (requires Unit Elder Sign per Faction Great Old
with 1+ Combat) One. Max one Ritual per player per
Phase.
• -1 Power to Capture 1 Cultist
• Special Events and Abilities
• Pass – Lose all Power
(Reminder: No Doom is gained from
OR Controlled Gates except via Rituals.)
· I f the player has zero Power, move the
Decay marker up by 1 and end turn.