Arkham Horror: The Card Game - The Path to Carcosa: Return to the Path to Carcosa Expansion **

Arkham Horror: The Card Game - The Path to Carcosa: Return to the Path to Carcosa Expansion **I knew that the King in Yellow had opened his tattered mantle and there was only God to cry to now. Robert W. Chambers, The Yellow Sign You thought that the final curtain had closed on your dealings with The King in Yello12w. When the cursed play first came to Arkham, it was followed by a string of disappearances, delusions, suicides, and madness. Throughout The Path to Carcosa cycle, which marked the second full length campaign for Arkham Horror: The

“I knew that the King in Yellow had opened his tattered mantle and there was only God to cry to now.”
   –Robert W. Chambers, The Yellow Sign

You thought that the final curtain had closed on your dealings with The King in Yello12w. When the cursed play first came to Arkham, it was followed by a string of disappearances, delusions, suicides, and madness. Throughout The Path to Carcosa cycle, which marked the second full-length campaign for Arkham Horror: The Card Game, your search for answers took you across the sea to the shining lights of Paris and beyond to Dim Carcosa and before the throne of Hastur himself in eight unique scenarios that tested your conviction, made you doubt your senses, and pushed you to the edge of insanity. But now, madness returns to Arkham for an encore performance…

All the World’s a Stage

When you first took center stage in The Path to Carcosa, you dissected the history of the cursed play, reading between the lines to reveal an eldritch conspiracy that stretched beyond this latest performance. Now in Return to the Path to Carcosa, you are invited to step back into the halls of the Ward Theatre and bear witness to the triumph of Nigel Engram and his loyal crew. But as you relive the horror of a past you swore you left behind you find that not everything is as it once was. New backstage areas seem to have appeared out of nowhere, and new socialites like La Comtesse (Return to the Path to Carcosa, 20) whose names you had never heard drift along the corridors. Perhaps one of them holds the key to understanding what has happened to you.

You must conduct investigations and uncover as much evidence as possible if you wish to solve the mystery of The King in Yellow and, perhaps more importantly, prove to those around you that your suspicions are not the ramblings of a lunatic. A vital source of information are the attendees of the play's cast party, but few are willing to speak such madness in a public setting. If there is another Party Guest (Return to the Path to Carcosa, 26) present, you will not be able to question any Bystanders until you can bribe them to leave you be for a few minutes.

Beyond the much-anticipated encore performance and the lavish party first found in The Path to Carcosa deluxe expansion, Return to the Path to Carcosa provides you with new scenario and encounter cards to enhance your entire The Path to Carcosa campaign. For example, if you should fail to project the image of sanity, you may find yourself returning to Arkham Asylum as a patient rather than a guest. And this time, there are even darker secrets buried deep beneath te surface for you to uncover…if you dare. While The Unspeakable Oath provided you with two possible versions of what was in the basement with "The Really Bad Ones" (v. I) (The Unspeakable Oath, 164) and (v. II) (The Unspeakable Oath, 165), “Return to the Unspeakable Oath” increases the terror of the unknown by introducing a third and fourth variation of the Second Act. There is no telling what is locked down in the darkness, kept secret from even the broken minds that populate Arkham Asylum. Just what are they trying to hide?

Beneath Hastur’s Gaze

In addition to the campaign itself with its increased challenges, Return to the Path to Carcosa provides a premium box that can be used to house your entire The Path to Carcosa campaign, along with divider cards marked for each encounter set to organize and contain the madness until you are ready to unleash it. Complete with 81 scenario cards and 23 player cards, this expansion presents you with never before seen challenges and greater tools to stand against them. For example, Seekers may have an easier time healing their broken minds with a potentially three times more effective Logical Reasoning (Return to the Path to Carcosa, 3), while Guardians may take a more straightforward approach to their troubles with an upgraded .32 Colt (Return to the Path to Carcosa, 1) they can return to their hand for the low price of a single resource, nearly guaranteeing they will never be left unarmed. 

You can further define your campaign and seek the ultimate challenge with the new Achievement list included in this expansion. Playing into the mechanics of Doubt and Conviction first introduced in The Path to the Carcosa, The Path is False requires you to win The Path to Carcosa with eight Doubt, while The Path is Real demands that you win the campaign with eight Conviction. If, however, you deny any truth other than your own, you can declare The Path is Mine, winning the campaign with less than two Doubt and Conviction in total. While on your journey, you may encounter those who would try to deter you, whether for your own good or theirs, and only you can decide want is reality and what is madness. Can you trust your own senses, or have your investigations into the mysterious and the macabre finally pushed your mind past its breaking point?

Encore! Encore!

No matter how much you may wish to leave the memories of Carcosa behind you, there is no escape from all you have seen. And as the King prepares to claim power once again, you have little choice but to get your ticket to the show and experience an inspired retelling of the classic campaign that captured the minds of so many devoted followers. Don your fine clothes or tattered mantle and ready your mind for a second journey to Lost Carcosa!