Hello all,

New Arkham/LCG player here who has only given it a single go of the opening scenario of campaign 1. I enjoyed my play-through but had a few questions regarding enemies in several phases...

1. During the Mythos Phase if I pull an enemy they don't automatically attack correct?

2. When it's my investigation phase can I make a move as my first of three? Are there consequences if I don't attack/evade the enemy in my room?

3. Lets say I'm in the cellar alone and I pull an Enemy during Mythos with a location indicator of "the Cellar" will this enemy be automatically engaged or is it engaged when I come back into this location?

I wasn't 100% sure on the move mechanic so I moved my character which might have been the wrong move during my play through but it was still a blast.

Thanks everyone!

1. If you pull an enemy during the mythos phase, it will engage an investigator if possible (unless it has the aloof keyword.) If it has a Spawn instruction, follow it, put it in that location and it engages an investigator at that location - if there are none, it doesn't engage anyone. If there's no Spawn instruction, it spawns at your location engaged with you. (See "Enemy Cards" in the rulebook.) The enemy engages, but does not attack until the enemy phase.

2. You may move as your first action, no problem. However, if you are engaged with an enemy and take any action other than Fight or Evade, the enemy gets a free attack on you. Moving is such an action that draws an attack of opportunity. Note that instant or fast actions do not draw an attack of opportunity because they don't use actions. This can allow you, for instance, to use Physical Training to buff up your combat value as needed for a fight.

3. If you're in the cellar, and an enemy spawns there, it is automatically engaged with you. Note a partial exception: if there are multiple investigators in the Cellar, and the enemy also has a Prey instruction, it follows the Prey instruction to determine who it engages with.

Hope that helps.

What he said.

Thanks so much for the breakdown!

Does the attack of opportunity if lost disallow my movement action? Or do I take damage and move? If I move twice (example: cellar - hallway - attic) the enemy will only move once during the enemy phase towards me correct? Also, can the enemy attack if it's in a different location or only move?

Sorry for so many questions, this game has a bit of a learning curve and want to make sure I get everything correct.

25 minutes ago, agarrett said:

2. However, if you are engaged with an enemy and take any action other than Fight or Evade, the enemy gets a free attack on you.

Parley and Resign actions also don't provoke attacks of opportunity.

@MrMorrill Enemy attacks are always successful. You take damage (and/or horror) and move (you pay the costs of your action, resolve the attack of opportunity and resolve the effects of your action). The enemy is still engaged with you (it follows you). If you move again, it gets another attack of opportunity (enemies don't exhaust after "extra" attacks - attacks of opportunity or attacks from card effects). During the enemy phase, ready enemies with Hunter move toward the nearest investigator (engaging an investigator if they meet one), then all ready enemies attack the investigator they're engaged with (so a Hunter enemy can move and attack the same round). You'll find the timing details at the end of the Rules Reference.

If you’re engaged and move, the enemy comes with you AND attacks you, though I forget whether the enemy attacks before or after you move. I think before. You will therefore still be engaged with the same enemy (as well as any I engaged non-aloof enemies you move into). You can then move a second time, but you will then be attacked again by the same enemy and he will still come with you the second time too. As for your last question, the only non-engaged enemy that will move toward you are those with Hunter, in which case, in the Enemy Phase, they will move one space towards you, and then if they have caught up with you, they will immediately engage and attack you (again, unless they have Aloof, in which case they only move).

Beat me to it! ?

4 hours ago, agarrett said:

3. If you're in the cellar, and an enemy spawns there, it is automatically engaged with you. Note a partial exception: if there are multiple investigators in the Cellar, and the enemy also has a Prey instruction, it follows the Prey instruction to determine who it engages with.

Not quite, if the investigator who pulled it is an option, it will engage with them first. Only if it is being spawned in a location other than with the investigator who pulled it will you go to the Prey distinction.

30 minutes ago, mwmcintyre said:

Not quite, if the investigator who pulled it is an option, it will engage with them first. Only if it is being spawned in a location other than with the investigator who pulled it will you go to the Prey distinction.

Are you sure?

29 minutes ago, mwmcintyre said:

Not quite, if the investigator who pulled it is an option, it will engage with them first. Only if it is being spawned in a location other than with the investigator who pulled it will you go to the Prey distinction.

You very well might be correct, but could you point me to the rules that clarify this? Here was my reasoning.

Spawn "=If an enemy has no spawn instruction, it spawns engaged with the investigator who drew it."

Prey "If an enemy that is about to automatically engage an investigator at its location has multiple options of whom to engage, that enemy engages the investigator who best meets its “prey” instructions (if multiple investigators are tied in meeting these instructions, the lead investigator may decide among them) (see “Enemy Engagement” on page 10)."

and,

Enemy Cards " When an enemy card is drawn by an investigator, that investigator must spawn it following any spawn direction the card bears (see “Spawn” on page 19). If the encountered enemy has no spawn direction, the enemy spawns engaged with the investigator encountering the card and is placed in that investigator’s threat area."

Okay, so we've got several scenarios:

1:Spawn instructions - a location away from investigator who drew it - That's a no-brainer and I'm sure we all agree it spawns at the location and if it has Prey instructions use them to determine between multiple investigators

2:No Spawn instructions: Even if it has Prey instructions, it spawns engaged with the investigator who drew it.

So I think where the bone of contention lies is scenario #3

3:Has Spawn instructions - spawns in the same location as the investigator who drew it and has a Prey instruction and there are multiple investigators.

Given the sequence of instructions and wording, looking at the rules I think you are right. If it has Spawn and Prey then Prey comes into effect right away, but if it doesn't have Spawn, then if it has Prey, Prey is ignored.

That was how I understood it. I agree with the 3 scenarios you presented, yes.

50 minutes ago, agarrett said:

That was how I understood it. I agree with the 3 scenarios you presented, yes.

If it matters, seconded

Just a sec guys because i ll forget what i already know..

Lets say Roland and Daisy are in the same location and Roland draws an enemy with prey highest intellect and no spawn instructions. It will engage Daisy right?

Thats how we play it at least..

10 minutes ago, player1631906 said:

Just a sec guys because i ll forget what i already know..

Lets say Roland and Daisy are in the same location and Roland draws an enemy with prey highest intellect and no spawn instructions. It will engage Daisy right?

Thats how we play it at least..

No, Roland is out of luck, it will engage him.

For reference, below is from the latest FAQ:

Spawning an Enemy

1. If an enemy is being spawned without an investigator drawing it, the effect spawning the enemy will typically indicate where that enemy should spawn. After spawning the enemy at that location, it will automatically engage investigators at its location using the rules for Enemy Engagement (Rules Reference, page 10), unless it is aloof.

2. If an investigator draws an enemy, check to see if the enemy has a “Spawn –” instruction. =If the enemy has a “Spawn –” instruction, the enemy spawns at the indicated location. After spawning the enemy at that location, it will automatically engage investigators at its location using the rules for Enemy Engagement (Rules Reference, page 10), unless it is aloof. =If the enemy does not have a “Spawn –” instruction, the investigator drawing the enemy spawns it engaged with him/her, unless it is aloof.

“Prey –” instructions have no direct impact on which location an enemy will spawn at. The only time “Prey –” instructions will impact this process is when an enemy spawns unengaged at a location with multiple investigators, and you use the rules for Enemy Engagement (Rules Reference, page 10) to determine which investigator it should automatically engage.

However if Roland evaded the enemy and disengages it, it would (once ready) engage Daisy as that is when Prey comes into effect.

ok i see...i usually skipped the part about spawn/enemy engagement on FAQ cause i though i already knew the process.

Thanks for clarifying

I think this is correct

When an enemy enters play:

Did another card give instructions about where to spawn the enemy?
Y: Obey that card, go to Engagement
N: Does it have Spawn?
Y: Is there a matching location in play?
Y: Is there more than one matching location in play?
Y: The investigator who drew it chooses a matching location`, go to Engagement
N: Spawn it there, go to Engagement
N: Discard the enemy
N: Go to Engagement

ENGAGEMENT
Did another card give instructions about the enemy's Prey or who it engages?
Y: Obey that card
N: It is Massive?
Y: It is engaged with everyone at its location (Note: it does not "become engaged")
N: Is it Aloof?
Y: It is unengaged
N: Does the enemy have Prey?
Y: Does the Prey specify "X Only"?
Y: Is X at the enemy's location?
Y: It engages X
N: It is unengaged
N: Did it come to its location via a Spawn instruction?
Y: It engages based on its prey
N: It engages the investigator who drew it
N: Did an investigator draw it?
Y: It engages the investigator who drew it
N: Players decide who at its location it engages

FWIW, I violated the Prey rules myself just a few hours before I put this together, to my own detriment.

Edit to note, this assumes that Massive and Aloof will always be mutually exclusive. I have no idea how an Aloof Massive could possibly work.

@CSerpent that is a great rundown.

Thank you very much everyone! I am going to give the first scenario of the core campaign a few runs to really get the mechanics of this game down then I'll begin to move on. I think I'll be on these forums a lot with questions or researching issues I'm having.