Eldritch Horror: Mountains of Madness Expansion

Explore the farthest reaches of Antarctica in Mountains of Madness, the second expansion for Eldritch Horror. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s novella about an Antarctic expedition ravaged by inhuman, prehistoric creatures, this expansion allows you to trace the doomed expedition’s path and enter the immense City of the Elder Things. What happens in Antarctica has worldwide repercussions – freshly-awakened horrors are spreading across the globe. Monsters and mysteries are surfacing in areas long considered safe.

Eight investigators offer you new roles to play as you confront these chilling, inhuman threats. Numerous additional Assets, Spells, Artifacts and Conditions may help investigators or harm them, and for the first time, Adventures and Prelude cards shape the international struggle against the Ancient Ones. Do you have the strength to survive Antarctica’s frozen wastes, encounter the Mountains of Madness, and stave off the end of human civilization?

Mountains of Madness is the second expansion for Eldritch Horror, a cooperative game of terror and global adventure for one to eight players. Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s novella about an ill-fated Antarctic expedition, Mountains of Madness opens the desolate and eerie expanses of Antarctica, where lie the ruins of the Elder Things’ primeval civilization. Hidden there are the clues and artifacts you need to prevent the Ancient Ones from rising, but the ice also conceals inhuman, terrifying creatures, recently awakened and thirsty for blood.

You will find in Mountains of Madness a side board depicting six different Antarctic locations. Two new Ancient Ones threaten humanity in unprecedented ways, and eight investigators join the international effort against them. Additional gates spawn monsters in previously safe locations and a plethora of Assets, Artifacts, Conditions, Spells, and the Focus Action become available for use in the struggle against impending doom.

Antarctica’s Frozen Horrors
The side board featured in Mountains of Madness allows you to follow the route of Professor Lake’s doomed Antarctic expedition from the bustling Miskatonic University outpost and the remnants of Professor Lake’s ravaged camp to the megalithic City of the Elder Things and the mythical, otherworldly Plateau of Leng. Since Antarctica is so very different from any other place on earth, Outpost and Mountain cards, as well as Antarctic Research cards, give investigators adventures unique to that continent. Those encounters are often shaped by Antarctica’s treacherous climate, which can prove just as deadly as any monster. You may find yourself stumbling through snowdrifts, struggling against hunger and hypothermia, or fighting to subdue companions maddened by the isolation and the cold. Even if your efforts against the Ancient Ones do not lead you into Antarctica, you may nevertheless discover the Heart of Winter, meet a survivor from the Miskatonic expedition, or be attacked by a monster creeping north from the thawing Antarctic ice.

Lurking in the Antarctic ice are the Elder Things, one of the Ancient Ones introduced in Mountains of Madness: creatures that ruled the earth long before humans were a sapient species. Frozen and dormant, their tall, star-shaped bodies seem monstrous but not harmful, strange and exotic like coral. When they awaken, however, the Elder Things kill every living thing around them without pausing to think. Not only are they capable of quick and cold-blooded slaughter, they are tremendously intelligent creators of technologies beyond human conception. Were they to rise again, these Elder Things would destroy – or worse, enslave – mankind. Can you destroy these brilliant and ruthless monsters before they become too powerful to overcome?

A Skilled but Motley Crew
Mountains of Madness includes eight investigator sheets, increasing the number of roles that players can take on. Hailing from places as distant as Australia, India, and the Heart of Africa, these investigators bring a panoply of skills to the battle against the Ancient Ones. One, having retired from his legal career, now seeks justice for his murdered wife. Another waited tables at a diner in Arkham until memories of a past life suddenly flooded her mind. One investigator has spent her life learning ancient languages and exploring ruins of prehistoric empires, another has just joined the police force and now finds himself protecting Alaskan settlers against monsters from another world.

Whether you prefer to pour over tomes of mythology in London’s museums, secure funding for the Antarctic expedition in San Francisco, or seek Other World Encounters across the globe, there is among these investigators an absorbing and vivid role for you to play in Eldritch Horror.

Tools of the Trade
Exploring Antarctica requires provisions, guides, sled dogs, and other Assets that you would not need if traveling more populated regions, but, should you venture to Antarctica, you will find priceless and powerful Artifacts to protect you against both the Ancient Ones and the brutal cold in those far reaches of the world.

Two types of Assets are introduced in Mountains of Madness: Task Assets and Unique Assets. Task Assets are only different from other Assets in that they can be used only once and are activated as a result of an investigator’s activities, rather than within an encounter. Unique Assets form their own deck and some, similar to Conditions and Spells, contain effects on the back that must be resolved when the Unique Asset is used. However, unlike Conditions and Spells, the effects on the back of a Unique Asset are reliably positive: you may gain another clue, or find a sudden Ally.

If you anticipate a particularly challenging encounter, Mountains of Madness allows players to use an Action to gain a Focus token, which you can spend during a test to reroll a die instead of spending a Clue. A Focus token could prove to be the difference between improving a skill and gaining a horrible condition, or between defeating a monster and losing your sanity.

The Struggle Continues
While offering players the chance to make Antarctica a critical battleground in humanity’s war for survival, Mountains of Madness brings hideous horrors to every continent and raises the stakes of every investigation. No matter the shape or location of your struggle against the Ancient Ones, Mountains of Madness takes the adventure of Eldritch Horror to another level.

Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s novella about a Miskatonic University expedition that awoke ancient and deadly creatures, Mountains of Madness opens up to investigators the frozen expanses of Antarctica and releases horrors that have hibernated in the ice for eons. You may find in Antarctica solutions to many perplexing mysteries, but you will also encounter there profoundly disturbing sights and nightmarish new monsters. This expansion features a side board depicting locations throughout Antarctica, from the Miskatonic Outpost to the City of the Elder Things, where numerous and terrifying encounters await you. Two new Ancient Ones, including the very Elder Things that once dominated earth, threaten the end of humanity. Eight more investigators contribute their diverse skills and specialties to the struggle against the Ancient Ones. With their help you may be able to prevent the reawakened Elder Things from rising... or you may fall victim to the horror.

An Antarctic Expedition
The side board featured in Mountains of Madness allows players to follow the trail of the doomed Miskatonic University expedition. Your gateway to remotest Antarctica – and your last point of connection to the rest of the world – is the Miskatonic Outpost, where you can team up with an Antarctic guide or obtain life-saving medical supplies. You can then progress to the devastated Lake Camp where the cold preserves the grisly remains of Professor Lake and his colleagues. There, you may rescue the frightened sled dogs who survived their masters’ slaughter, or perform autopsies on the frozen bodies of the Elder Things. Beyond the immense and foreboding Snowy Mountains lay the megalithic City of the Elder Things and the mythical Plateau of Leng, where the unpredictable, transdimensional shifts of time and space may shatter your sanity.

Antarctica’s frozen climate makes it one of the most perilous regions of the world. Your Strength and Will may be tested as you are forced to dig through many feet of snow, restrain frightened dogs, or scrape ice off of your frozen airplane. A small mistake – or even sheer bad luck – can result in a Hypothermia Condition. Yet where humans struggle to survive, other creatures dwell comfortably. Innumerable monsters are insensible to the cold, and even animals that seem harmless may turn against you. Giant Penguins, seemingly innocent and friendly at a distance, can eagerly tear you limb from limb before you realize your danger.

The Rise of the Elder Things
When the first Miskatonic expedition uncovered frozen life forms, as tall as humans but grey, cylindrical, and crowned with starfish-like limbs, they assumed they had found corpses. The sled dogs knew better, and tried unsuccessfully to flee before the hibernating Elder Things woke up. One of two new Ancient Ones introduced in Mountains of Madness, the shrewd and ravenous Elder Things yearn to regain control of the planet that they ruled millions of years before humans walked the earth.

To defeat the Elder Things, you must search Antarctica’s icy wastelands for clues. Carved pictures in the city’s dark ruins may inform you about these creatures’ technology, culture, and ultimate downfall. The mutilated, dismembered bodies of the Miskatonic University expedition may reveal the Elder Things’ intentions towards humankind, while their tracks through the snow contain information about their shape, movement, and speed. Yet while knowledge may decrease your instinctive terror of the Elder Things, it will not lessen their malice.

Diamonds in the Rough
The eight investigators introduced in Mountains of Madness offer you intriguing new roles to play as you combat the increasing threat. Whether they earned their chops scouring libraries or fighting crime, practicng law or smuggling liquor, every one of them is equipped to go to the ends of the earth to fight the Ancient Ones. Many have unexpectedly useful skills: you wouldn’t suspect that a professional violinist would be adept at closing Gates, or that a waitress would be an expert in arcane lore.

Ursula Downs, for example, grew up climbing trees and exploring caves before delving into history, science, and archeology. Having spent years excavating the ruins of forgotten civilizations, she has the Strength to survive difficult climates, the Lore to understand the inscriptions of the Elder Things and the Observation to interpret subtle clues in any landscape. This combination of skills makes her excellently suited for a voyage to Antarctica, a trek through the Amazonian rainforest, or a visit to the archives of Istanbul. Ursula Downs can brave any terror imaginable and strengthen any team of investigators.

The Global Threat is Growing
Mountains of Madness focuses on Antarctica but leaves no corner of the earth untouched. This expansion spreads the horrors across the world, featuring additional Encounter and Research cards for every location and Gates that allow monsters to spawn in regions not before exposed to such horrors. New Assets, Spells, and Artifacts aid investigators in their struggles against the Ancient Ones. Whether you choose to defend humanity from the Elder Things or their enemy Cthulhu, whether you focus on fighting monsters or learning spells, Mountains of Madness will enhance your experience of Eldritch Horror.

Includes:
* A side board depicting the mysterious expanses of Antarctica
* One rulebook to guide your expedition
* Eight Investigator Sheets
* Two Ancient One sheets, with accompanying sets of Mythos and Mystery Cards
* 156 Encounter Cards and a multitude of Assets, Conditions, Gates, and Monsters

• The first side board expansion for Eldritch Horror, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s classic novella
• The side board and over 150 encounter cards allow players to experience locations throughout Antarctica
• Eight investigators contribute their unique talents to the fight to save humanity
• Two new Ancient Ones, the Elder Things and Ithaqua, threaten unspeakable destruction
• Numerous new Assets, Conditions, Gates, and Monsters spread horror across the globe

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