Board Game Geek Rating: 5.49
Board Game Geek Avg Player Rating: 6.06
Players: 1 to 5
Published: 2019
Content Notes: Kickstarter “Unspeakable” Pledge for Cthulhu: Death May Die by CMON. Includes Core Game, “Julia” Exclusive Investigator, and all unlocked stretch goals. Please note: unless otherwise stated paid add ons from the Kickstarter Campaign are not included.

In Cthulhu: Death May Die, inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, you and your fellow players represent investigators in the 1920s who instead of trying to stop the coming of Elder Gods, want to summon those otherworldly beings so that you can put a stop to them permanently. You start the game insane, and while your long-term goal is to shoot Cthulhu in the face, so to speak, at some point during the game you’ll probably fail to mitigate your dice rolls properly and your insanity will cause you to do something terrible — or maybe advantageous. Hard to know for sure.

The game has multiple episodes, and each of them has a similar structure of two acts, those being before and after you summon whatever it is you happen to be summoning. If any character dies prior to the summoning, then the game ends and you lose; once the Elder One is on the board, as long as one of you is still alive, you still have a chance to win.

The episodes are all standalone and not contingent on being played in a certain order or with the same players.

Cthulhu: Death May Die is a cooperative board game for 1 to 5 players willing to take on the Cthulhu mythos like never before! Cultists are summoning one of the Elder Ones to consume our world, and it is up to the ragtag group of investigators to face the nightmarish forces and disrupt the ritual long enough to make the Elder One vulnerable. And then kill it dead.

Find out more about these Optional Buys in the following links: Season 2 Expansion, Black Goat of the Woods, Art Book, Extra Dice, Frost Dice.

Designed by Rob Daviau and Eric M. Lang, the game features monster artwork by Adrian Smith and investigator artwork by Karl Kopinski. Investigators come from all walks of life, each bringing a unique skill to the team, as well as two other generic skills.

Madness is always at your side when battling unthinkable monstrosities from other dimensions. In fact, the investigators already start the game with a diagnosed insanity, which will will be triggered by your encounters with the occult. You may be doomed by your mental breakdown, or learn to use it to your advantage. The closer you are to losing your mind completely, the more powerful your skills will become.

Summoning the Elder Gods are fanatic cultists, and the hosts of nightmarish monstrosities aiding  them in their cause. Each of these enemies possesses its own special ability and combat strength. They are not controlled by any player, but instead have their behavior triggered by Mythos cards used for each specific episode.

The Death May Die core box contains smaller boxes that hold the modular elements to create each unique game session. Players choose one of the two available Elder Ones and combine their contents with those of one of the six available Episodes. Each of these boxes contain unique figures, tokens, and cards that are only used when playing with those elements. The Mythos deck used in each game is a combination of cards from the chosen Elder One box and the chosen Episode box. Each Episode not only indicates the map setup using the various tiles in the game, but also new actions the investigators can perform in order to accomplish the tasks required to disrupt that episode’s ritual. They each also bring their own Discovery cards for players to explore, and the monsters, behaviors and abilities are tailored to each unique story.

Hastur, known as the King in Yellow, and his disciples brand the world with their terrible Yellow Sign. Those that suffer this doom quickly meet their fate by the hands of death or madness.

Cthulhu, The Thing That Should Not Be, will bring his sunken kingdom of R,lyeh into our world, plunging the earth into a nightmarish reality.

The Elder Ones start the game off the board; as they move along the summoning track their growing presence invites chaos and insanity into the world to accompany their grand awakening. Eventually they cross over and the real nightmare begins. If the investigators have managed to disrupt the ritual, the Elder One becomes vulnerable and may (just possibly) be killed for good. If not, the investigators now have to contend with an immortal behemoth hunting them while they try to accomplish their tasks. Either way, killing the Elder One will not be easy, not by a long shot, as each time it’s bested it grows more enraged and powerful. In the end, either all investigators will fall or death will come for the Great Old One.

In their mission to thwart the cultist’s plans, investigators engage in more than combat. If they can get some respite, they can discover all sorts of things to potentially help them in their tasks. Discovery cards are unique to each Episode, and present the investigators with challenges or choices that will grant them different resources, companions or negative effects.

Cthulhu: Death May Die core box comes with:

• 45 Highly-Detailed Plastic Figures
• 17 Terrain Tiles
• 30 Plastic Tentacle Tokens
• 8 Custom Dice
• 5 Counter Bases
• 10 Investigator Dashboards
• 186 Cards
• 120 Tokens
• 1 Rulebook

WIP Rulebook

Please be aware that this is a Work In Progress Rulebook. It is not final. Rules may still be tweaked and changed, layout and graphics may still be altered. So, if you see anything in here that isn’t the same later, understand that during the Kickstarter the project is still in development and all aspects are subject to improvements.

Unspeakable Pledge

Backers with an Unspeakable Pledge will receive a copy of the Cthulhu: Death May Die core box, the Kickstarter Exclusive Investigator Julia, plus all applicable Stretch Goals.

Julia is an incredibly level-headed investigator. Given the extraordinary circumstances she finds herself in, it’s amazing how she can keep her wits about her. Her unique skill allows her to take wounds instead of stress, greatly increasing her chances of success in any given encounter. Though it may cost her life in the end…

— From the publisher

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