A New Form of Madness

Find Answers to Your Questions:

• What Is Draft Play?
• What Should I Expect from the Necronomicon Draft Pool?
• How Does Draft Play Affect the LCG® Model?
• What Do I Need to Play?
• Will There Be Cards Exclusive to Draft Play?
• When Do Draft Cards Become Legal for Tournament Play?

“Of his final death or disappearance (738 A.D.) many terrible and conflicting things are told. He is said by Ebn Khallikan (12th cent. biographer) to have been seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses. Of his madness many things are told.”     –H.P. Lovecraft, History of the Necronomicon

The time has come for daring investigators to blow the dust off the world’s darkest and most forbidding tomes in order to explore their maddening mysteries more deeply than ever. Necronomicon Draft Starters and Draft Packs are now available via FFG’s in-house manufacturing!

With Necronomicon Draft Starters and Draft Packs, you and your friends can enjoy the exciting and unique challenges of Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game Draft Play, a new, alternate play format now available for Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game.

What Is Draft Play?

Draft play is like a parallel universe, close to the world of standard Call of Cthulhu game play, but separated by a thin veil. When you enter its reality, though, Call of Cthulhu Draft Play introduces a unique set of challenges, forcing you to build a deck from cards that you select one at a time from a limited number, without full knowledge of the available card pool. Accordingly, you’ll develop strategies for how to select your cards and build your deck. Furthermore, you’ll stretch and adapt to the format’s challenges as you and your friends test your mettle against each other with draft-built decks.

For more about how Necronomicon products allow players to participate in an alternative and exciting draft play format for Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game visit our Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game Draft Play description page.

What Should I Expect from the Necronomicon Draft Pool?

Lead Developer Damon Stone offers this introduction to the Necronomicon draft experience:

“The Necronomicon draft pool is an environment in which deep powers long asleep grow restless, as do their monstrous supporters, while at the same time mortal associations marshal their forces to regain control of human destiny.

“Within the 240-card draft pool, each faction gains a subset of cards that present numerous interactions with each other, as well as a strong core of utilitarian cards which highlight the faction’s strengths.

“Day and Night mechanics are also available, as well as a number of cards from the Dreamlands cycle that interact with them, and these can help create an interesting tug of war.

“Two new story cards are included in the Draft Starter, unique to this draft pool, which will help round out a cherry-picked story deck. A Crack in the Ice allows you to remove a troublesome card from the game, potentially changing the game’s whole complexion.

"Rampaging Shaggoth has an ability similar to several other story cards, forcing each player to discard a won story card… However, unlike the past the story cards that featured similar effects, the effect of Rampaging Shaggoth has an important “if able” clause that gives its winner the opportunity to create a one-sided story loss, making this story even more valuable for come-from-behind efforts and increasing its usefulness.

“Finally, since Call of Cthulhu Draft Play features no restrictions on the number of cards you can include by title, and no restricted list, deck-building takes on an entirely new dimension.”

What Do I Need to Play?

If you want to start a Necronomicon draft with your friends, each player will need to bring two items: a fixed, twenty-card Draft Starter and a randomized Draft Pack.

Draft Starters: The Necronomicon Draft Starter is a fixed collection of necessary cards that can be reused any number of times, so you only need to purchase this item once to participate in any number of Necronomicon drafts. Draft Starters contain rules for draft play, some utilitarian neutral cards, and a unique Necronomicon story deck that introduces two new story cards designed specifically for the Call of Cthulhu Draft Play experience.

These cards are clearly distinguished from both the larger Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game LCG card pool and the cards in the Necronomicon Draft Packs, allowing you to collect and sort them after each of your games. No matter how many Necronomicon drafts you play, you’ll only ever need one Draft Starter.

Draft Packs: The heart of each Necronomicon draft are its Necronomicon Draft Packs, each of which is an unique collection of fifty randomized cards, carefully compiled from a 240-card set called Necronomicon.

All draft cards are clearly identified by a new icon, and starter pack cards are further distinguished from draft cards.

To learn more about how Necronomicon Draft Packs are created, visit the Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game Draft Play description page.

All cards in Necronomicon draft products, excepting the stories, are legal in standard Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game tournament play. However, because of variations in production color and card-stock resulting from our in-house manufacturing, players using draft cards in tournaments must sleeve their cards with opaque or art sleeves.

Begin Your Investigations

The portals have opened. The Ancient Ones begin to stir from their eons of slumber. Draft play has arrived to Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game!

Explore new options and face new challenges in the face of utter insanity. Pick up your Necronomicon Draft Starter and Draft Pack today!

Note: Necronomicon draft products do not serve as a replacement for the standard Call of Cthulhu LCG model. Instead, Necronomicon products allow players to enjoy the game through an additional format of play.