Cthulhu Mythos

Munchkins have hacked their way through dungeons, kung fu temples, starships, haunted houses, and super-foes. Now they face their greatest challenge – Cthulhu! Will they survive? Will they retain their sanity? Will they...level up?

Munchkin Cthulhu is a standalone game in the Munchkin universe, this time lampooning Lovecraft's Mythos and the horror gaming that surrounds it. This base game features four new Classes, including the Cultist, and a lot of classic monsters from outside reality – and they all have Stuff you can take from their twitching bodies. You can play Munchkin Cthulhu by itself, or combine it with any number of other Munchkin titles for mind-bending silliness.

Part of the Munchkin series.

Munchkin is a satirical card game based on the clichés and oddities of Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games. Each player starts at level 1 and the winner is the first player to reach level 10. Players can acquire familiar D&D style character classes during the game which determine to some extent the cards they can play.

There are two types of cards - treasure and encounters. Each turn the current players 'kicks down the door' - drawing an encounter card from the deck. Usually this will involve battling a monster. Monsters have their own levels and players must try and overcome it using the levels, weapons and powers they have acquired during the game or run away. Other players can chose to help the player or hinder by adding extra monsters to the encounter. Defeating a monster will usually result in drawing treasure cards and acquiring levels. Being defeated by a monster results in "bad stuff" which usually involves losing levels and treasure.

That flaming column was spouting volcanically. The combustion does not lay warmth, but only the clamminess of death and corruption. – The Festival, H.P. Lovecraft, 1923

In the unimaginable darkness of Kingsport, silent wanderers are called to a profane celebration. Their goal: to invoke unthinkable horrors! A dread terror that is not of this world or any other — but rather from the spaces between the stars — demands your submission. Meanwhile, unwary investigators vainly attempt to halt this appalling chapter in the dark history of Arkham.

As the high priest of one of these shadowy cults, you must dominate the city. You will invoke cosmic creatures and unholy gods to receive their "gifts", but you must take care to preserve your sanity and thwart the investigators who seek to stop you. This time, you are the bad guys. Why settle for the lesser evil?

Kingsport Festival, a game of bizarre cults set in the terrifying world of Howard Philips Lovecraft, lasts 12 rounds, each divided into six phases. All Cultists roll their dice and the one that rolled the lowest sum will play first and so on, then (in turn order) each one may invoke an Elder
God by using one or more of his dice, where the sum of their values is exactly equal to the number of the Elder God, or pass. Once all the dice are placed or players have passed, in ascending order, the Elder Gods give their gifts to the Cultists who invoked them: the Cultists may have to
lose Sanity points to receive the rewards. After Cultists have taken their dice back, in turn order each one may place his disk on one Building that is connected to another one he has already marked (starting from the House). To do so, he must pay the Domain resources required.

In turns marked with a blue marker on the Calendar, a Raid takes place: first the Event card and then
the Investigator card is revealed. Each Cultist calculates his Strength by adding up any modifiers he has due to Spells, Buildings, and other game effects (such as Events, Scenarios, etc.). If his strength is greater, the Cultist receives rewards; if is less, he suffers the penalty.

The game ends after the twelfth round is played. If the Scenario has a Festival card, it is revealed and its effects resolved at this time.
The Cultist who has the most Cult points is the winner.

Game description from the publisher:

You're one of the Great Old Ones – beings of ancient and eldritch power. Cosmic forces have held you at bay for untold aeons, but at last the stars are right and your maniacal cult has called you to this benighted place. Once you regain your full powers, you will unleash your Doom upon the world!

There's only one problem: You're not alone. The other Great Old Ones are here as well, and your rivals are determined to steal your cultists and snatch victory from your flabby claws! It's a race to the ultimate finish as you crush houses, smash holes in reality, and fight to call down The Doom That Came To Atlantic City!

You and your fellow players are Great Old Ones competing to be the first to destroy the world. There are two ways to achieve this:

Any Great Old One can win by obtaining six gates, at which point the game instantly ends. You have only five gate markers because if you open a sixth gate, you win!

At the start of the game, each Great Old One receives a Doom card providing a shortcut to victory. If you land on one of your gates and meet the preconditions, you may attempt the action listed on your Doom. If you succeed, you win!

Decode the ancient secrets of R'lyeh by forming words with the letters you find in this sanity-sapping letter game. The more angles that appear in the words, the greater their mystical value, but beware! For each word that is created, you must roll a sanity check against its value to see if the word's power drives you mad!

Cthulhu Mythos themed.

Awards:

Games Magazine's 2007 Word Game of the Year.

One player takes on the role of the escaped student. He is the Human player, and he is trying to rescue his friends and escape Innsmouth. By playing movement cards, he moves his pawn around the board to visit various locations, fights any Deep Ones there, then searches those locations for his friends and equipment to help in their escape.

The other players play groups of Deep ones. They are trying to prevent the Human player from escaping. The Deep one players take turns moving their pawns around the board trying to trap the Human. Certain locations on the board also allow them to draw cards, spawn additional Deep Ones or even summon a terrible Shoggoth.