Arkham Horror Third Edition: Under Dark Waves

We shall swim out to that brooding reef in the sea and dive down through black abysses to Cyclopean and many-columned Y’ha-nthlei, and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory for ever.
–H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow over Innsmouth

Cold salt waves beat on the New England coast and thick fog rolls in off the bay, obscuring the small fishing hamlets that nestle in the gloom. Dark things creep along the shoreline, strange lights glide deep beneath the surface of the Atlantic, and the pallid villagers go missing with disturbing regularity. It seems that Arkham is not the only town affected by strange happenings…

In this new large box expansion, your investigations take you beyond Arkham to the other ill-fated towns of Massachusetts. Two new double-sided tiles bring Kingsport and Innsmouth to vibrant life, while new mystery spaces invite you to travel beyond the city’s borders to locations like Devil’s Reef and the Strange High House. Eight more investigators arrive to join your party, ranging from a drifter like “Ashcan” Pete to a letter carrier such as Stella Clark.

It’s undeniable that these investigators have their work cut out for them with four entirely new scenarios pitting them against the horrors that lurk beneath the ocean waves. With over 150 encounter and event cards, alongside new assets, monsters, conditions, and the terror mechanic, Under Dark Waves boasts a vast undersea treasure trove of content, pulling you into some of the Cthulhu Mythos’s most compelling tales.

Tyrants of Ruin

With four new scenarios—the same number of scenarios that came in the Arkham Horror Core Set—Under Dark Waves brings a massive amount of replayability to the game, challenging you to travel across Massachusetts, from the city of Arkham to Kingsport and Innsmouth. You may be shivering in the ice-cold winds wrought by cruel Ithaqua or facing an onslaught of Deep Ones sent from Y’ha-nthlei to corrupt the surface world. Whether it’s terrifying moon-beasts, squamous deep ones, or accursed dreamers, you’ll face new dangers in every scenario.

There’s more to these scenarios then just new waves of monsters, however. Since your very first games of Arkham Horror, your investigators have had to contend with doom building up in the neighborhoods of Arkham. If you’re unable to ward the doom building up around the city, the consequences could be devastating, and with the addition of Under Dark Waves, there may be new consequences in the form of terror tokens and terror cards.

A surplus of doom causes terror to spread in Kingsport Harbor, forcing you to encounter a terror card before taking another encounter!

Terror represents a neighborhood becoming overrun with madness and fear, and in certain scenarios, you’ll have to contend with a terror deck unique to that scenario. Terror can accumulate from increasing doom in a neighborhood or by drawing a new terror mythos token, and when terror spreads, you’ll take a terror encounter card and place it on top of your neighborhood’s encounter deck. Before you can have any of the encounters within the deck, you’ll first need to face your fears with a terror encounter.

Whether terror finds you in Arkham, Kingsport, or Innsmouth, the new scenarios of Under Dark Waves boast dangerous and horrifying encounters to push the limits of your sanity.

Steadfast in the Storm

It wouldn’t be a new expansion for Arkham Horror without a full cast of new investigators. Zoey Samaras is just one of these investigators, dedicated to smiting the evil of the Ancient Ones wherever it appears.

Zoey always kept her knives sharp. At first, it was simply a habit, drilled into her by years training under the finest chefs in the world. A chef’s tools, they’d taught her, were her knives and the fire. One night, some impulse told her to take a different route home, and the scales fell from her eyes. She saw monsters—horrid, blood-drenched, sharp-toothed monsters—feasting on a man in the alley. She cleansed their foul hunger from the earth, and will soon cleanse all the horrors that lurked in the shadows.

Though she may be trained as a chef, Zoey is perfectly suited to slaying monsters in your games. Her strength of three is only average, but with a Chef’s Knife in her hands, Zoey can carve through whatever eldritch thing may stand in her way. Even setting aside her knives, Zoey can deal maximum damage in a number of ways. By casting Enchant Weapon, Zoey can make any weapon in her space a potent force, allowing you to reroll one die or all dice during an attack. Alternatively, you may take Zoey’s Cross, letting you use your will to damage a monster.

No matter how you take advantage of Zoey’s skills, the fervor of her faith and the strength of her arm could tip the balance in your favor. And she’s just one of the eight new investigators included in Under Dark Waves!

Beneath the Surface

You have heard your name whispered in the mists. You have the seen the change taking root in your neighbors. You have found the half-eaten carcasses down by the moldering docks. It’s time to charter a ferry and take your investigations on the road to Innsmouth and Kingsport—but who knows what terrors lurk beneath the choppy ocean waves?