ALPHA RULEBOOK

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 1

 Amidst the fog and smog of the Choking City, souls knighted under the signs of the damned stars, dance the dance of
the dead. Unsheathed daggers and echoing chants bind the Reaper to the old
cobblestone streets. The false prophecy takes root.

On a baleful night, at a dimly lit gallery, a grand painting was unveiled to an audience of dark means. As the velvet
curtain fell off the oaken frame - a scene of madness and murder was made manifest. Within the painting, signed by No
One, were the evocative depictions of carnage - among the faces of the victims and perpetrators were
those of the dark attendants of the reveal.

The moments of terror in the gathering room would have been the end of the delirium, had those who beheld the
painting been ordinary men and women. They were not. They were the rot in the arcane heart of London, spellslingers
of a bygone Era, privy to the eldritch secrets and the terrors from beyond. Even then, peace could have been preserved,
had the depicted scenes not come to fruition. Apprentices and family members, lovers and relics were brutalized in the
same fashion as it was painted - a prophecy painted on a bone-colored canvas.

It took but mere days for the arcane underbelly of the city to fall into anarchy, as the fingers were pointed, and blood
was drawn. The War of the Cults had begun.

Welcome to Historica Arcanum: Cults of London, a cut-throat strategy game where players take control of occult
cabals vying for the control of Victorian Era London. Conduct Rituals, Slay Eldritch Horrors, and Plot Assassinations!

Important Information
This rulebook is for the Alpha version of Historica Arcanum: Cults of London. While the core gameplay will
remain the same, we may alter the balancing, turn sequencing and victory conditions to hone in on the fun
and strategy aspects of the game.

Feel free to give feedback on any aspect of the gameplay, rules writing, or content. You can reach us
through our EMAIL, DISCORD, or our SOCIALS.

2 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Components...............................................2 • Combat Roll..........................................17 • Operators & Operator Cards.....................20
WAR OF THE CULTS (3-4 PLAYERS)...................................6 • Combat Prowess.....................................17 • Outpost Tokens......................................21
• Game Setup............................................6 • Control.................................................17 • Quick Action..........................................21
• Game Overview.......................................7 • Control Tokens.......................................17 • Power Level..........................................21
• Gameplay..............................................8 • Cost.....................................................17 • Relic Cards...........................................21
• Spellrebound and Anomalies.....................11 • Defeated..............................................17 • Requirement........................................22
• Secret Rituals........................................12 • Duplicate..............................................17 • Reveal................................................22
• Victory Points.........................................12 • Exhaustion............................................17 • Secret Ritual Cards.................................22
• Faction Mats.........................................18 • Spell Rebound Tracker.............................22
THE ELDRITCH ONSLAUGHT (SOLO MODE)....................13 • Gaming/ Drawing....................................19 • Stealing...............................................22
KEYWORDS AND COMPONENTS DETAILS.......................14 • Insight Tokens........................................19 • Turn Tracker..........................................22
• Action Cards..........................................14 • Location & Location Tiles..........................19 • Victory Tracker .....................................22
• Anomaly...............................................15 • Slot....................................................20
• Board..................................................16 • Skills..................................................20
• Combat................................................17 • Operation............................................20

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 3

 COMPONENTS

12x Location Tiles

1x Game Box

1x Game Board

1x Anomaly Tracker

4x Faction Mats 30x Anomaly Standees

36x Anomaly Holders 12x Anomaly Miniatures*

12x Card Holders 6x Outpost Standees (Deluxe Edition Only)
4 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook
 Action Card Decks for The Factions

1x Action Deck for 1x Action Deck for 1x Action Deck for 1x Action Deck for
The Purge Faction The Royal Society Faction The Mohocks Faction The Golden Dawn Faction
1x Rules Reference Booklet
1x Learn to Play Booklet

1x Operator Deck 1x Anomaly Deck 24x Location Cards 1x Relic Deck 1x Secret Ritual Deck

Control Token for The Factions

50x Insight Tokens

18x Control Tokens for 18x Control Tokens for 18x Control Tokens for 18x Control Tokens for
The Purge Faction The Royal Society Faction The Mohocks Faction The Golden Dawn Faction

4x Victory Point Markers

1x Turn Tacker Token 1x First Player Token 4x D6 Dices

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 5
WAR OF THE CULTS (3-4 PLAYERS)
GAME SETUP M I J

1. Location Tiles (A) are randomly placed on their slots on H

the Board.
2. Roll for Turn Order. The Turn Order is determined by
rolling a d6. The player with the highest roll goes first, and
the Turn Order follows in a clockwise order. A
3. Starting from the first player in the Turn Order, each player
chooses a Faction and places their Faction Mat (B)
in front of them. A A
4. Each player takes their faction’s Action Cards (C), shuffles
them, and places their decks next to their Faction Mats.
The Location of the deck is designated on the mat. Each
player then draws 5 Action Cards.
5. Each player is given a Location Card Deck (D).
6. Shuffle and place the Secret Ritual Deck (E) on the board, A A
then give each player one Secret Ritual card.
7. Each player gets their faction’s own Control Tokens (F)
and Outpost Tokens (G) and places them in front of them. A
Each player places one of their Normal Control Tokens on
the slot 0 of the Victory Point Tracker (H). L K E
8. The Operator Deck (I) is shuffled and put on or next to the
board in a location all players can easily access. Immedi-
ately discard one Operator to the Graveyard (J).
9. The Relic Deck (K) is shuffled and put on or next to the
board in a location all players can easily access. Immedi-
ately discard a Relic to the Auction House (L).
10. The Anomaly Deck (M) is shuffled, and their tokens/
standees/minis are readied near the board.
11. Each player is given 4 Insight Tokens (N). Other Insight
tokens are readied near the board in the Insight Pile.
12. The War of the Cults begins!
C

A: Location Tiles H: Victory Point Tracker D B

QUICK REFERENCE BOX

B: Faction Mat I: Operator Deck

C: Action Cards J: Graveyard
D: Location Card Deck K: Relic Deck N
E: Secret Ritual Deck L: Auction House F E
K
F: Control Tokens M: Anomaly Deck G
G: Outpost Tokens N: Insight Tokens

6 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

 GAME OVERVIEW
The main goal of Historica Arcanum: Cults of London - The War of the Cults Game Mode is to reach 13 Victory
Points; controlling Locations, achieving faction-specific goals, scoring through finishing Secret Rituals,
or burning a significant number of insight tokens.

The game follows a specific order of phases which guide the player actions.

1. PLANNING PHASE
The Planning Phase is when players
assign Operators, Action Cards, and
Location Cards to plot their movements.

6. REFRESH PHASE 2. INTEL PHASE

The Refresh Phase sees all surviving The Intel Phase is when players use
Operators come back to their owners’ hands, their insight tokens and Quick Actions
alongside insight tokens, and Victory Points to reveal and twist their rivals’ plans.
to those who scored this turn.

5. OPERATION PHASE 3. COMMITMENT PHASE

The Operation Phase sees Operators who were The Commit Phase is when the
successful or unbothered in their Combat players rearrange their committed
Phase conduct their missions in their cards one last time in light of new
assigned Action Cards. intelligence from the previous
phase.

4. COMBAT PHASE
Occurs when one or more operators and
anomalies have been assigned and present
at a specific location - and results in death,
victory, or retreat of those who are involved.

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 7

 GAMEPLAY
1. PLANNING PHASE
Players can use 0 to 3 Card Holders. Each Card Holder has
three slots, for 3 Cards: Location Indicator, Operator, and
Action. The Location Indicator is from 1 to 6 and represents
which Location an Operator goes to. An Operator has its own
abilities, and the Action Card lets a player claim a Location and
use the Operation effect of the Action Card.

The cards assigned to the Card Holders must not be seen by

other players in this stage.

Once a player assigns all their cards, they must verbally declare
they have done so. After everyone declares that they are ready,
the Intel Phase begins.

2. INTEL PHASE
Following the turn order, each player can spend 2 Insight
Tokens to reveal a card in another players’ Card Holders.
The revealed cards cannot be changed in the next phase. If a
player prefers not to spend Insight tokens, they must verbally
declare that they are “Passing”. The turn order continues until
all players have Passed. S

A player who declared that they are Passing can no longer

spend Insight tokens, but can still use their Action Cards if
any of their Quick-Actions are applicable to this Phase.

There is no limit to how many cards can be revealed in this

Phase.

If all cards in a Card Holder are revealed, the player that

revealed the last card gains 1 Insight Token.

3. COMMITMENT PHASE
The players can rearrange their hidden cards according to the
information they received on the Intel Phase. They can swap from
Holder to Holder or change cards between their hands and their
Holders. Only unrevealed cards can be changed, any card that is seen
by other players must stay on their assigned slots, unless specified
otherwise by another gameplay effect.

Once all players commit to their plans, they must verbally declare
they have done so. After everyone declares that they are ready, the
end of the Commitment Phase begins, and all players simultaneously
reveal their assigned cards to the Card Holders.

8 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

 4. COMBAT PHASE • All the Cards that modify the Combat Score must be • Anomalies automatically assign one hit to all Oper-
• If more than one player has assigned the same Location
for their actions, if any Operator has gone to a location played before the dice are rolled, unless ators who have a final Combat Score lower than the
that contains an anomaly, or if an anomaly spawns on a specified otherwise. Combat Score on the Anomaly’s Card.
Location containing any Operator (even if a Combat was • The Spell Rebound Costs of these Quick Action cards
resolved in that Location in this turn), Combat occurs. are all added up together and reflected on the Spell • After a hit is assigned a turn of Combat is considered
Rebound Tracker after Combat is resolved. complete. All modifying effects are reset, unless specified
• If there is more than one Combat encounter in the otherwise.
round, the Locations’ numbers determine the combat • The players may decide on avoiding combat if there is one
order. For example, if combat occurs in Location 2 and 4, empty Control Token slot per Operator present in the loca- • The players who have surviving operators may declare
Location 2 goes first. tion, or if the Control Tokens that need to be removed for Retreat after a turn of Combat is complete. If ALL players
• If an Anomaly has spawned as a result of Spell each player belong to another player that does not have an participating in combat agree, the Combat ends, and all
Rebound on a Location containing an Operator, resolve Operator in the Location. players are considered unsuccessful in accomplishing the
that Combat immediately before continuing with any • This rule does not apply if at least one player Operation in their Action Cards. The Operators are imme-
other action. prefers to resolve Combat. diately returned to their players’ hands. Retreat cannot be
used if there is an Anomaly in the Location.
• During the Combat, players may use any relevant Quick • If Combat occurs, after playing all the relevant Action
Action cards. Cards, all combatants in a location roll a d6 and apply • The combat resumes until only one Operator remains in
• The turn order determines in which order these cards possible modifiers. The player with the highest result, if the Locations. Operators that are defeated (reaching 0 hit
will be played if any are overlapping. they have also reached the Combat Score of the Anomaly points) immediately go to discard piles, and any Action
• These cards must be played one at a time, alternat- (if present), assigns one hit to one enemy Operator or an Cards or Relics they carry are also discarded, unless speci-
ing between players. Anomaly in the location. fied otherwise by an effect.

1 2

3 4

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 9

 5. OPERATION PHASE
Surviving Operators succeed in implementing their plans: in
other words, the Operation aspect of the Action Cards is carried
out in the Location.

First, the player may remove one Control Token from the loca-
tion. Then, they can put one of their own Control Token in the
Location. If, for any reason, they are unable to place a Control
Token, the Operation aspect of the Action Card can not be used.

This phase also follows the turn order when resolving the
effects of the Action Cards and placement of Control Tokens.

6. REFRESH PHASE
The Refresh Phase is when all the upkeep of the end of
round occurs.

1. All Surviving Operators return to hands.

2. All used Action Cards are put into Discard Piles.
3. If there are effects on Anomalies, they are resolved.
If there are multiple anomalies with effects, they are
S
resolved based on the Location order.
4. Victory Points are scored. Players may choose to burn 10
Insight tokens for 1 VP this phase.
5. Auction Starts: Bidding for the Relic on top of the Auction
House begins. Players can take turns biddingbid on the
Relic with their Insight Tokens taking turns. The Highest
bidder takes
the Relic. In a case where no one enters the auction,
the Relic is discarded.
6. All players are given 2 Insight tokens.
7. All players may discard any number of unused Action Cards
from their hands. They draw up to their hand limit - which
is 5 unless specified otherwise with a gameplay effect.
Afterwards, they may discard up to two cards from their
hands, and once again draw to their hand limit.
8. All exhausted cards are refreshed.

10 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

 SPELL REBOUND AND ANOMALIES
In the Historica Arcanum universe, Reality is a vengeful power that punishes those who break its rules through the use of magic - with an effect called Spell Rebound. This is the origin of supernatural
monsters, eldritch horrors, rifts in reality, and abhuman species - and for Cults of London, where Anomalies come from.

Represented by the Spell Rebound Tracker in the game, some

Action Cards and Relic Cards, with their Spell Rebound Cost,
may summon Anomalies.

Once a card or an effect that has an associated Spell Rebound

Cost is played or exhausted, increase the Spell Rebound
Tracker designated by the cost.

Once the Spell Rebound Tracker hits 12, the player that
triggered it draws an Anomaly card. The card holds specific
features belonging to the monster.
• The Spell Rebound Tracker immediately resets to 0 when
an Anomaly is triggered, with the excess Spell Rebound
cost disregarded. However, there are some faction-specific
cards which may start the Tracker at a higher number
once reset. S

After the combat ends, put the relevant Anomaly standee on

the board by randomly determining the Location with a d6. The
Anomaly has these effects on a Location:
• Outposts on this Location do not affect combat rolls.
• No player can score victory points with Control Tokens or
effects depending on this Location.
• No secret objectives can be scored if a player’s Control
Token needed to fulfill one coincides with the Location that
is infected with an Anomaly.

If an anomaly is spawned on a Location that contains any S

number of Operators, resolve the Combat there immediately.

For an anomaly to be defeated, the player who coincides

with an Anomaly must roll equal to or higher than the Anomaly’s
Power Level. If a player fails to roll higher, it is hit by the
Anomaly. If more than one player fights an Anomaly, the highest
roll assigns the hit.
Anomalies are defeated once their Hit Point reaches 0. If that
happens, put away the Anomaly standee, and the Anomaly card
immediately, unless specified otherwise.

The player who assigned the hit that reduced the Anomaly to 0
Hit Points earns 2 Insight tokens.

At the end of a Refreshment Phase, Anomalies may or use

special effects. Check out their cards for specific conditions.
Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 11
 SECRET RITUALS VICTORY POINTS
There are many Secret Rituals in the game that players can attempt to draw on the board There are 4 default ways of scoring victory points in Historica Arcanum: Cults of London. At
and get Victory Points from. the Refresh Phase, the players go in Turn Order to Score Victory Points.

For example, the secret ritual below can be completed by putting one Control Token to form 1. Controlling 2 Locations at the start of the Refresh Phase = 1 VP
the shape of a triangle. This can be completed by putting Control Tokens to Locations 1-3-5 • You need to have at least two control tokens in a location to control that location.
or 2-4-6. The alignment of the Shape does not matter, only that the shape is complete with • You can score a maximum of 3 VPs for controlling all 6 Locations per turn.
the correct number of Control Tokens on all nodes.
2. Completing a Secret Ritual = X VP
• As long as the Secret Ritual shape is not broken until the Score Victory Points
stage in Refresh Phase, you can score the specified VPs on the Secret Ritual card.
• You may only score 1 Secret Ritual card per turn.

3. Burning 10 Insight Tokens = 1 VP

• You may burn Insight Token in the same turn order as you are scoring VPs.
• You may score unlimited VPs with this method per turn.

4. Faction Specific Conditions = X VP

• Achieving the Faction Specific Victory Condition during any time in the round is
enough to score specified VPs this way.
• You may score your Faction Specific Victory Condition once per turn.

At the end of the Refresh Phase, once a player reaches 13 points, they are immediately
declared the winner.

If multiple players reach 13 points or more, the highest score wins.

If there is still a tie, check out these two aspects in order: the one with a total of more Con-
trol Tokens on the board, and the one with the most Insight Tokens remaining.

If there is still a tie, tied players share the victory.

At the score Victory Points section of each Refresh Phase, if a player has completed their
Secret Ritual shape, they must reveal the card to the other players, score the points shown
in the card, and Discard the Secret Ritual card.

Some Secret Rituals require you to have different numbers of Control Tokens on a specific
point in the shape. While the alignment of the shape does not matter, you must have the
correct number of Control Tokens in the specified nodes of the shape.

The hand limit for Secret Ritual Card Rules is 3. If you draw an additional Secret Ritual Card,
you must discard one in your hand immediately.

You can only score one Secret Ritual per turn.

12 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

THE ELDRITCH ONSLAUGHT (SOLO MODE)

COMING SOON!

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 13

KEYWORDS AND COMPONENT DETAILS
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THE CROWDFUNDING AUDIENCE
Our intention is to turn this section into a full and separate Rules reference booklet for the final product, with
its own glossary and table of contents. While below covers an extensive list of all specific features in Historica
Arcanum: Cults of London, we will further extend it so it becomes an exhaustive list. We encourage you to let
us know any parts of the gameplay and this booklet that could use a section below. Thank you!
ACTION CARDS
Each faction has their own unique deck of Action Cards, placed
near their Player Mat. Action Cards can be played in two ways:
as an Operation or as a Quick Action.

Operations are designated with the upper text on an Action

Card and can only be played if the action card is placed on a
Card Holder with an Operator and Location during
the Planning Phase. A B

Quick Actions (E) are designated with the lower text on an

Action Card that comes after OR; in this case, the card is not
placed in the Card Holder and instead can be played from the
player’s hand to directly affect the game. They have specific
conditions and different phases regarding when they can be
played, which will be explained in their respective cards. Once
they are played, they are immediately discarded and taken
into the discard pile. C

The upper-left corner of the cards may have Skill

Requirements (A) for an Action Card, and it is applied to the
Operation part of a card. The upper-right corner of the card D
may have Spell Rebound Cost (B) and they are applied to both
Operations and Quick Actions of a card.

A player can have up to 5 Action Cards in hand. During the E

Refresh Phase, new cards are drawn if the hand is not 5. A
player draws a card until the number of the cards on their
hand reaches 5.

After new cards are drawn each Refresh Phase, each player can
A: Skill Requirements C: Card Name
discard up to 2 cards from their hand to draw 2 new cards.
B: Spell Rebound Cost D: Operation Effects
E: Quick Action Effects
If you can’t have 5 Action Cards in your hand, shuffle your
discard pile to form a new Action Deck and draw until
you have 5.

14 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

ANOMALY
An Anomaly prevents any points being scored on the Location it If there are multiple Operators on a Location Tile with an Anomalies may also have unique effects and rewards for
exists on, and it also bars that location from being used Anomaly, only the highest rolling player can assign a hit - and slaying them. You can refer to the Anomaly card for information
on Secret Rituals. they can choose to assign that hit to the rival Operator rather on how to resolve this.
than the Anomaly. However, Anomalies will assign hits to ALL
If any Operator is present at a Location where an Anomaly Operators who score below their Power Level. If players wish, they can use their Relic on another player’s
exists, resolve Combat immediately. behalf if they both engage against the same Anomaly.
Each Anomaly slain awards the players –with an Operator that
All Anomalies have Power Levels. This indicates the minimum engaged in Combat with an Anomaly and survived until the
Combat Score that should be passed to assign one wound Refresh Phase of that round– with 1 Insight Token.
to the Anomaly.

For example, Whispering Terror has a Power Level 4. An

Operator must at least reach 4 as their Combat score.
Anomalies do not roll dice, they automatically assign one hit to
any Operator who failed to beat their Power Level.

A: Anomaly Health Bar C: Combat Prowess

B: Anomaly Name D: Anomaly Effect

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 15

 BOARD
The board is made up of 6 Locations Tiles. Players can control a Location by placing Control Tokens on locations. A Location may have up to 3 Control Tokens total in their designated
Spots. A player counts as “controlling the location” if it has two Control Tokens on a Location. In a classic 3-4 player ‘’War of the Cults’’ game, for each 2 controlled Locations, a player
scores 1 Victory Point at the Refresh Phase. Other game modes will have different rules regarding VPs and Locations, explained in their respective sections in the rulebooks.

B
A C D E

H I K

A: Anomaly Card Pile D: Operator Graveyard G: Spell Rebound Tracker J: Turn Tracker
B: Control Token Slot E: Victory Point Tracker H: Relic Auction House Pile K: Secret Ritual Card Pile
C: Operator Card Pile F: Location Tile I: Relic Card Pile

16 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

COMBAT COST EXHAUSTION
If at least two Operators coincide in the same Location, combat For an Operation to be carried out, or a Quick Action to be Using a card’s ability may exhaust a card. Exhaustion means
may occur. Players can have an agreement to not fight, but if played from one’s hand, the Cost must be paid. It increases the turning the card down. Exhausted cards are turned back up in
at least one side wishes for combat, it is initiated. The rolls are Spell Rebound Tracker by the designated amount. the Refreshment Phase.
made simultaneously, and bonuses may be added depending
on the Action Cards played or some other circumstances. The
highest roller assigns a hit to another Operator. DEFEATED
The Operators that are sent to the Discard Pile due to losing all
their health in a combat count as defeated.
COMBAT ROLL
It is a d6; rolled during the combat. After all modifiers have
been placed, the final score is called Combat Prowess. DUPLICATE
Some Operator Cards are duplicates of each other. They are
identical in every way: Health, Skills, Name and Art wise. If a
COMBAT PROWESS revealed Operator during the Intel Phase is a Duplicate of an
It is the end result of a Combat Roll after all modifiers have Operator in your hand, you can discard that Operator and your
been put in. Also, it refers to an Anomaly’s default Combat Roll. opponent discards the Duplicate.

CONTROL
Having two Control Tokens in a Location means that you control
that Location.

CONTROL TOKENS
These tokens are to designate a player’s authority over a
Location and to be used on Victory Point Tracker. There are
three types of Control Tokens: Normal tokens, Outpost One, and
Outpost Two. A player can put away a Normal Control Token and
insert a new one after any successful Operation in the Location
that the Operation took place in.

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 17

 FACTION MATS
These are given to each player at the start of the game. The faction mats offer a quick glance at the
gameplay flow, and have each faction’s faction specific victory conditions written on them.

B C

E F

A: Faction Name D: Faction Specific Victory Condition

B: Slot for Action Deck E: Slot for Location Cards
C: Slot for Discard Pile F: Slot for Relics

18 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

GAINING/DRAWING LOCATION & LOCATION TILES
Taking the mentioned resource from the board. There are 6 Locations on the board. They are numbered 1 to 6. The Location Tiles (for example, the Tower of London) are
distributed on the board randomly. So, in each game, Location Tiles can occur at different numbers.

INSIGHT TOKENS Location Tiles carry a name with them and during Game Setup, they must be placed randomly. For example, one game may have
One of the main currencies in the game. Insight Tokens can be the British Museum in Location 1, while another game could be put in Location 3. When a player controls a Location, check out
used in the following ways: the Location Tile for its bonus.
• During the Intel Phase, Spend 2 tokens to reveal a card
assigned in another player’s Card Holder.
• During the Intel Phase, Spend 2 tokens to discard a Secret
Ritual and draw a new one. This can only be done once per
turn.
A
Spent Insight Tokens go to the Insight Token pile.

A: Location Assignment on the Location Card

B: Name of the Location Tile
C: Effect of the Location Tile

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 19

SLOT
There are 3 Slots in each Location. When an Operation of a • If the combat is skipped, Operations are carried out by Turn The surviving Operators’ health return to maximum in the
player is successful in a Location, that player must put a Control Order. If a player can’t put a Control Token on the Location Refreshment Phase.
Token to a Slot. or has at least one Control Token belonging to their faction
on the Location, they can’t carry out the Operation and the In your hand, you can have a maximum of 6 Operators, if more
Operator and the Action Card is returned to their hand. Operators are recruited, one Operator of choice must be sent to
SKILLS • When an Operator loses a Combat round, has a hit the Operator Discard Pile immediately.
Operators come with Skills - and Operations require certain assigned to them, and its health reaches 0, it is
Skills to be played. Operations can only be played together immediately put into the Discard pile, unless specified
with Operators that possess one of the Skills in an Operation’s otherwise.
Skill Requirements.
Each faction has one Legendary Operator that cannot die as a
result of Combat and has to come back to the Player’s hand if it
OPERATION dies in Combat. If a player has no Operators in hand as a result
They are the upper actionable text on Action Cards. If an Action
of the Legendary Operator’s death, the player loses all Insight.
Card is put on the Card Holder, its upper text can be carried out
if the Operator survives the Combat Round and doesn’t Retreat.
Each Operation carried out successfully can remove a Control
Token, and then place a Control Token in an empty slot on the
Location. If you can not or do not choose to place a Control
Token in a Location, you can’t carry out an Operation. The
Operations are carried out in numerical order, from Locations
1 to 6. If more than one Operation is carried out in the same A B
Location, the turn order applies.

OPERATORS & OPERATOR CARDS

They are needed to carry out Operations of the Action Cards.
The players are limited to 6 Operators.

These cards represent the characters at the disposal of your

faction. They are required for an operation to be carried out
at a Location.

Operators have Skills. Skills are required to carry out the

Operations of the Action Cards and to signal which gameplay C
effects would target them. The skills are: Strength, Finesse,
Arcana, and Charisma.

If two Operators of opposing factions go to the same Location

as a result of their Action Cards, these situations must be D
considered:

• The players can decide to initiate combat or not. If all

agree on not to initiate one, the combat is skipped for that
Location. However, if at least one player desires combat, it
A: Operator Skills C: Name of the Operator
is initiated.
B: Operator Health Bar D: Effects of the Operator (If there is one)

20 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

OUTPOST TOKENS RELIC CARDS
There are two types of Outpost Tokens. Outpost One These powerful items can be drawn by players through some Operations, Quick Actions, and other unique situations. Drawn relics
and Outpost Two. These tokens can only be discarded by must be placed openly on a player’s area of the board.
Burn or Wildfire cards. If you happen to engage in combat in
a Location you own Outpost One adds +1 to all your rolls and A player may have a maximum of 3 Relics in front of them. If more Relics are drawn, one Relic of the player’s choice must be sent
Outpost Two adds +2. to the Auction House immediately.

Some relics constantly affect the gameplay, but some relics must be exhausted (turned face down) to be used, and have some
QUICK ACTION certain effects that apply one time. The exhausted cards are refreshed in the Refreshment Phase.
They are the lower actionable text on Action Cards. When
certain circumstances occur, you can directly play and discard
an Action Card in order to carry out the lower text on the cards.
Requirements on a card are not needed for Quick Acitons.

POWER LEVEL
Anomalies have Power Levels, and a combatant must score
equal to or above the Power Level to score a hit.

A: Name of the Relic B: Relic Effects

Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 21

REQUIREMENT SPELL REBOUND TRACKER STEALING
For an Operation to be carried out, an Operator must have the Some Action Cards have a Spell Rebound Tracker cost. When Taking the mentioned resource from another player. It is
required Skills on them. those cards are played, the spell rebound tracker increases by designated on the card which player is stolen from. If it is not
the amount shown in the Action Card. designated, any player will do.

REVEAL The moment the Spell Rebound Tracker hits 12, a card must be
During Intel Phase, a player can spend 2 Insight Tokens to immediately drawn from the Anomaly deck. Roll a d6 for this TURN TRACKER
reveal a card from an opponent’s Card Holders. That card can’t Anomaly to find out at which location the Anomaly will spawn It is on the board to track the turns that have passed.
be changed during the Commitment Phase. in. Afterwards, place the Standee/Mini for this Anomaly on top
of the Location Tile corresponding to the dice result, and place VICTORY TRACKER
SECRET RITUAL CARDS the Anomaly card close to that Location Tile. Players put one of their Control Tokens to this area to designate
These cards are secret objectives that could be completed by their Victory Points (VPs). All Victory Points are scored during
the players. The Secret Ritual card showcases a shape that If an Anomaly spawns on a Location Tile containing any the Refreshment Phase. Overall, Victory Points represent a
must be completed, as well as the amounts of Control Tokens Operators, resolve Combat on that location immediately before faction’s influence in the War of the Cults. The game ends if
in each of the shapes’ nodes, and the Victory Point gained from continuing with any other Actions. any player reaches 13 Victory points. The first player to do so
scoring this Secret Ritual. The alignment of the shape does not wins the game.
matter, but it must be complete with enough Control Tokens in Refresh the Spell Rebound Tracker to 0 after an Anomaly has
the correct nodes. spawned. Any excess points on the Spell Rebound Tracker
are disregarded.

B
C

A: The Shape of the Secret Ritual

B: The Shape of the Ritual
C: Victory Point Count

22 Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook

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Historica Arcanum: Cults of London Alpha Rulebook 23