The Dreamlands Map has a Surface and an Underworld, each with the normal 3 and 5-Player sides. Arrange the Map for your player count, using one Surface side and one Underworld side. For your first 4-Player Dreamlands game, we recommend using the 5-Player Surface side.
Place the Bhole in the Vale of Pnath on the Underworld side. Place the Zoogs next to the Surface, within easy reach.
The Dreamlands Map is flat, rather than a globe. Therefore the Surface and Underworld have edges and corners, and Units cannot move around from one edge to another.
All Areas with Sea in their names (or in parentheses) count as oceans or seas for any game text referencing these Areas. We realize that Underworld “Seas” may not necessarily be composed of water, but they have liquescent aspects (pitch, fungus goop, etc., and Bholes swim through the Vale of Pnath, a canyon filled with bones), so they are considered ocean-like in their biogeography.
Four Areas on each board are marked with Tunnel Glyphs. An Area with one of these Glyphs is adjacent to the Area on the other board having the matching Tunnel Glyph. For example, a Unit in Zura can directly Move to the Ruins of Karoth. (So, for example, since Crawling Chaos’ Units may Move 2 spaces, Nyarlathotep in Zura could Move to the Ruins of Karoth, and then to another, adjacent Underworld Area, such as the Tower of Koth or Vale of Pnath).
A Pained Unit in a Tunnel Area can Retreat through the Tunnel to the other map, as they are adjacent for every purpose.
Players using other Movement-type abilities to travel may do so between the two boards freely. For instance, Shub-Niggurath can Avatar to either side, Crawling Chaos’s Hunting Horrors can use Seek and Destroy between boards, Cthulhu can use Submerge to hit both boards, etc.
Keen-eyed players may notice that Gates and passageways do not have a direct one-to-one correspondence to the geography of the two boards. This is just how things are in the Dreamlands.
The Dreamlands Map provides an alternate source of victory. Each board has 4 Citadels. If a single player Controls Gates on all 4 Citadel Areas of a single board, he immediately wins, regardless of how many Spellbooks he has earned or how much Doom he has. To win in this way, you must Control a Gate at all 4 Citadel Areas of a single board—Surface OR Underworld, and not merely some from each.
If this alternate victory condition is not met, the game will end once someone reaches 30 Doom or the Ritual track reaches Instant Death; victory will then be determined in the same way as in a standard game of Cthulhu Wars.
If Opener of the Way is in play, Yog-Sothoth’s presence in a Citadel Area DOES counts as Controlling a Gate in that Citadel Area—even if another Faction Controls the normal Gate in such an Area, Opener of the Way could win the game by simply Controlling 3 normal Gates in the other 3 Citadel Areas!
Citadels are numbered, and some have more than one number—these Citadels are especially attractive to pesky creatures, as the numbers control Bhole and Zoog activity.
The Bhole is a gigantic creature that normally dwells peacefully in the Vale of Pnath. Overstimulated by the clash of forces that is Cthulhu Wars, the Bhole, ravenous, emerges to feast upon the otherworldly energies released by the Factions and their Great Old Ones.
At the end of each Doom Phase, after all players have had a chance to perform a Ritual of Annihilation, check for the Bhole’s Activation and Attack.
If the Bhole is in an Area containing a Gate, it remains in place and destroys that Gate, Eliminating any Controlling Unit. The Bhole does not affect anything else in that Area. This Elimination counts as an enemy Eliminating your Unit (for example, Yellow Sign can benefit from Passion).
If the Bhole is not in an Area with a Gate, roll a six-sided die and Move the Bhole to the Underworld Citadel labeled with the appropriate number (even if the designated Citadel lacks a Gate). For example, on a five-player map, when a 1 or a 2 is rolled, the Bhole goes to the Sea of Pitch. On a 3, it is sent to the Vaults of Zin. If the Citadel the Bhole enters contains a Gate, that Gate is immediately destroyed along with any Controlling Unit. The Bhole does not affect anything else in that Area.
If Opener of the Way is in play, and the Bhole attacks the Area with Yog-Sothoth, it destroys and Eliminates Yog-Sothoth! (Sometimes it’s not beneficial to be coterminous with all space and time!) It does this in addition to destroying any normal Gate in the Area.
Any player may initiate a Battle against the Bhole (with a Unit in the same Area). The Bhole has a Combat rating of 6. A single Kill result destroys the Bhole (though it will return in the next Doom Phase!) A Pain always sends the Bhole to the Vale of Pnath, regardless of the presence of other Units (it may not be Eliminated due to being surrounded). Crawling Chaos’ Madness Spellbook cannot send the Bhole elsewhere, nor can Units who Battled the Bhole be Pained to the Vale of Pnath (if the
Bhole is Pained). If the Bhole is already in the Vale of Pnath, it ignores the Pain
The Bhole is a Terror Unit. Additionally, while Spellbooks and abilities can be used in Battle against the Bhole, they can only affect your own Units. For example, you cannot use Windwalker’s Howl to send the Bhole out of the Battle Area, nor does Demand Sacrifice have any effect on the Bhole’s dice results. The Bhole costs 0 Power, has no Spellbooks or Doom, and has no Power of its own or any other normal features of a Faction for any purposes, such as calculating the Combat of Tsathoggua, Ithaqua, Nyarlathotep, etc.
If the Bhole is Killed, a new Bhole re-appears in the Vale of Pnath at the end of the Doom Phase! A newly-spawned Bhole does not immediately roll to Move to a Citadel, but is merely placed and stays in the Vale during that Doom Phase. However, when the Bhole reappears, if there is a Gate (and any Controlling Unit) in the Vale of Pnath, those are destroyed. This means that if Killed, the Bhole goes to the Vale of Pnath for one Doom Phase, giving players a short respite (as there is no Citadel in the Vale of Pnath).
Zoogs are small, mischievous creatures native to the forests of the Dreamlands. When Cthulhu Wars erupts, these clever creatures seize their opportunity to make their mark and torment your Cultists. The Zoogs are Monsters, and can thus be affected by any Spellbooks or abilities that target or reference Monsters.
At the end of the Doom Phase, after rolling for the Bhole, roll 1 die for every Zoog that is not in play. As there are no Zoogs in play at the start of the game, you will roll 6 dice in the first Doom Phase. Then, place one Zoog on a Surface Citadel for each number rolled. Zoogs already on the Map simply remain in their Areas; do not roll for them. For example, if there are 3 Zoogs not in play, roll 3 dice. If their numbers are 1, 6 and 6, then place one Zoog at the Surface Citadel marked with a 1, and place the other two at the Surface Citadel marked with a 6.
Whenever a Zoog appears on a Citadel that contains a Controlled Gate, the Gate’s Controller must immediately Abandon that Gate. That Gate is now considered to be Abandoned. Control may not be regained until these pests are removed.
Units may not Control Gates in Areas that contain one or more Zoogs. Before your Cultist (or Dark Young) can Control a Gate in a Zoog-infested Area, you must rid the Area of Zoogs. To do this, you’ll need to use the appropriate Spellbooks or engage in Battle.
Yog-Sothoth is not affected by Zoogs! He always counts as a Controlled Gate in a Citadel Area, even if there are Zoogs present.
Like the Bhole, Zoogs may be Battled. Zoogs have 0 Combat, and so they never roll any Combat dice. Each Kill result Kills a Zoog. Each Pain result likewise Eliminates a Zoog, but also Pains one of your Units in the Battle. This does not count as a Kill; it just means the Zoog vanished into the underbrush. As with normal Pain rules, you cannot Retreat and go to an Area containing Zoogs. (Windwalker’s Howl Eliminates a Zoog but does not reflect back a Pain).
Remember, since Zoogs are Monsters they can be Killed, Pained, or Eliminated by the appropriate Spellbooks and abilities. If a Zoog is somehow Moved to an Area that is not a Citadel, it is instead Eliminated from the Map. Regardless of your efforts, all Killed and Eliminated Zoogs return to the Map in the next Doom Phase.