Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Animal Allies
BGG rating
8.2

Expansion for Cthulhu: Death May Die

Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Animal Allies

2024

Rules assistance for Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Animal Allies

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 1–5 players
  • 90 min
  • 14+

Rules assistant for Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Animal Allies

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Animal Allies is an expansion for Cthulhu: Death May Die released in 2024 for 1–5 players, 90 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Rob Daviau and Marco Portugal and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Cooperative Game.

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About the game

Animal Allies is a Kickstarter Exclusive expansion for Cthulhu: Death May Die. This expansion brings a set of new Relic cards to the game, except, this time, they are animal allies that will join investigators on the board, following them around! The Animal Allies box comes with: 10 Animal Ally figures 5 Relic cards Rules leaflet Animal Allies are a special type of Relic that can be added to the pool of available Unknown Relics. Just like other Relics, each Animal Ally comes in 2 different forms: an initial form and an upgraded form. Unlike other Relics, however, each animal ally is also represented by 2 figures that move around the board (1 for the starting side and 1 for the upgraded side) and interact with enemies. During setup, the starting ally figures are placed on the starting space along with their investigators. From then on, allies move on the board, either following investigators or on their own, attacking enemies, luring monsters away from their tutors, taking wounds instead of investigators, allowing them to reroll, and protecting them against enemies. Allies do not count as figures for game purposes (for example, effects like Psychotic Outbreaks that state “Move to the nearest space with at least 1 figure”. Allies are ignored for this effect), instead, they count as tokens and have their own set of rules for moving. Whenever an investigator leaves a space where there’s an ally, loyal as they are, that ally may follow them (even if the investigator is not the controller of the Relic). In addition, investigators in control of an ally may move their pet companions up to 3 spaces as a free action. This is particularly important, as the placement of each ally is crucial to achieve maximum benefit out of their effects. The connection between animals and their tutors is undeniable, and so, just like with the other Relics, as the investigator’s insanity rises, their ally’s behavior reacts accordingly. Upon reaching the 3rd insanity milestone, the card is flipped, reflecting their tutor’s insanity and a new, upgraded, behavior from their allies. Their figures on the board are also replaced with their upgraded counterpart to represent their state. Conversely, if the investigator is killed, their ally is removed from the board, as they run away in despair. —description from the publisher

Questions and answers

Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown: Animal Allies supports 1–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.