You asked
How do I set up the game?
Answered counted as answeredAsked with: Eldritch Horrorbg-146021-en-1e
To set up the game, follow these steps: 1. Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the play area within easy reach of all players [1]. 2. Create the Gate stack by randomizing the nine Gate tokens and placing them facedown (common side up) in a stack within reach of all players [1]. 3. Create the Clue pool by placing the Clue tokens facedown (common side up) in a pile within reach of all players and randomize them [1]. 4. Create the general token pool by taking all Health, Sanity, Improvement, Travel Ticket, Eldritch, Mystery, and Rumor tokens and place them in piles within reach of all players [1]. 5. Players agree upon one player to receive the Lead Investigator token (if they cannot decide, assign it to a random player) [1]. 6. Starting with the Lead Investigator and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses one investigator [1]. 7. The chosen investigator takes the corresponding Investigator sheet and places the matching Investigator token on the game board space listed on the back of his Investigator sheet [1]. 8. Each investigator receives the starting possessions listed on the back of his Investigator sheet, including any Assets or Spells listed by taking the matching card from the game box [1]. 9. Each investigator takes a number of Health and Sanity tokens equal to his investigator's maximum Health and Sanity listed on the front of his Investigator sheet and places these tokens near his Investigator sheet [1]. 10. As a group, players choose one of the Ancient One sheets and place the chosen sheet faceup near the game board [2]. 11. Resolve any setup effects on the chosen Ancient One sheet [2]. 12. Take all non-epic Monster tokens and place them in an opaque container (such as a bowl, mug, or the cover of the game box) and shake the container to randomize them; do not include Epic Monster tokens [2]. 13. Take all Research Encounter cards, Special Encounter cards, and Mystery cards that do not correspond to the chosen Ancient One and return them to the game box [2]. 14. Separate all other cards as follows: shuffle all Expedition Encounter cards into a single deck; shuffle the Spell cards and Condition cards into two separate decks and place these faceup with the top card's name and artwork visible; then separate all remaining cards into decks by card back and shuffle each deck [2]. 15. Build the Mythos deck by following the instructions on the Ancient One sheet: a. Separate all Mythos cards into three piles based upon the color on the front of the card (green, yellow, and blue), shuffle each separately, and place them facedown [3][4]. b. Build stage I of the Mythos deck by taking random cards of the denoted colors and quantities listed at the bottom of the Ancient One sheet and shuffling them together without looking at the cards [3][4]. c. Build stage II of the Mythos deck using the same steps as stage I and place it under the stage I deck [3][4]. d. Build stage III of the Mythos deck using the same steps as stage I and place it under the stage II deck to create a single Mythos deck; do not shuffle this completed deck once created [5][3][4]. e. Place the finished deck near the Ancient One sheet and return all remaining Mythos cards to the game box without looking at them [5][3]. 16. Resolve the following starting effects: a. Place the Reference card that corresponds to the number of players near the Mythos deck and return all other Reference cards to the game and game box [6][7]. b. Place the Doom token on the space of the Doom track listed in the upper-left corner of the Ancient One sheet [6][7]. c. Place the Omen token on the green (comet) space of the Omen track [6][7]. d. Place the top four cards of the Asset deck faceup in the four slots of the reserve at the bottom-left of the game board [6][7]. e. Spawn the number of Gates indicated on the Reference card by taking the top Gate token from the Gate stack and placing it faceup on the space indicated on the Gate token, then drawing one random Monster token from the Monster cup and placing it on that same space [6][8][7]. f. Place the Active Expedition token on the space that corresponds to the illustration on the back of the top card of the Expedition Encounter deck [6][8][7]. g. Spawn the number of Clues indicated on the Reference card by taking one random Clue token from the Clue pool and placing it facedown on
🔧 debug — where this ruling came from
- outcome
- ANSWERED — Answered
- corpus profile
- live
- answerer pin (deploy-frozen, attribution only)
- gemma4:26b think:false 5571076f3d70
- timings
- search 276 ms · ask 17643 ms · total 934414 ms
- single-flight (PR-5)
- queued 916485 ms · generation 17929 ms
- retrieval refs (raw)
- [{"page": 4, "score": 0.04918, "snippet": "Before playing each game, perform the following steps in order. The setup diagram on page 5 shows an example of these steps. Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the play area within easy reach of all players. Organize the following tokens as listed below: Create the Gate stack by ran", "headingPath": "setup · 1. plACe GAme boARd · 2. oRGAnize tokens · 3. Choose And plACe investiGAtoRs · You find Silas and gain all of his possessions. He has grown pale, and his breath has become a loud wheeze. He tells you, 'I'm a Marsh. It's in my blood. Not long now, I'll join my family, down on land, but on the ocean he possesses a singular strength and wit. It's earned him a sterling reputation in every port across the globe, particularly in Sydney, where Silas set ashore last night. But this morning, the smell of the briny air carries dread as well as joy. There is something in his past, something in Innsmouth, that he knows will some day 4. ReCeive stARtinG possessions, heAlth, And sAnity", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 11, "score": 0.047619, "snippet": "2 paths train ship k Loan 1 9 b 1 When an effect spawns a Monster, draw one random Monster token from the Monster cup and place it on the space indicated by the effect. If the Monster has the spawn icon, look at the back of the Monster token and resolve its effect immediately after spawning it (for ", "headingPath": "whAt ARe GAtes? Shanghai · spA wninG monsteRs · winninG the GAme · spA wninG Clues", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 6, "score": 0.04741, "snippet": "6 objeCt of the GAme Eldritch Horror is a cooperative game. All players are on the same team and win or lose the game together. The investigators’ ultimate goal is to banish the Ancient One from this world by solving Mysteries (see page 16). In addition, investigators need to deal with many threats ", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 5, "score": 0.046635, "snippet": "T o spawn a Gate, take the top Gate token from the Gate stack and place it faceup on the space indicated on the Gate token. Then draw one random Monster token from the Monster cup and place it on the same space. F. Place the Active Expedition token on the space that corresponds to the illustration o", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 4, "score": 0.046432, "snippet": "{ 1 Cultists 1 As a group, players choose one of the Ancient One sheets. Each Ancient One provides a different game experience. For their first game, it is recommended players choose 'Azathoth,' as he is the most straightforward Ancient One. Place the chosen sheet faceup --After resolving the { test", "headingPath": "5. deteRmine AnCient one · 6. CReAte monsteR Cup · 7. sep ARA te And plACe deCks · AnCient one speCifiC CARds", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 5, "score": 0.043905, "snippet": "5 8. build mythos deCk Follow the instructions at the bottom of the Ancient One sheet to build the Mythos deck. See the “Building the Mythos Deck” diagram on page 6. 9. Resol ve stARtinG effeCts Resolve the following effects to complete setup: A. Place the Reference card that corresponds to the numb", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 6, "score": 0.030769, "snippet": "Eldritch Horror is played over a series of game rounds. Each round consists of three phases that are resolved in the following order: Action Phase: Investigators perform actions to move about the game board and prepare for the tasks ahead. Encounter Phase: Investigators fight Monsters or resolve enc", "headingPath": "plAyinG the GAme", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 6, "score": 0.030118, "snippet": "Green Pile The Daemon Sultan When the Omen advances to the green space of the Omen track, advance Doom by 1 for each Eldritch token on that space. When 3 Mysteries have been solved, investigators win the game . Devoured!' effect on the back. Yellow Pile Blue Pile During step 8 of setup, players buil", "headingPath": "9. Resol ve st ARtinG effeCts · buildinG the mythos deCk Setup · When Azathoth awakens, flip this sheet and resolve the 'The World is · objeCt of the GAme", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}]
- citations (raw)
- [{"page": 4, "quote": null, "headingPath": "setup · 1. plACe GAme boARd · 2. oRGAnize tokens · 3. Choose And plACe investiGAtoRs · You find Silas and gain all of his possessions. He has grown pale, and his breath has become a loud wheeze. He tells you, 'I'm a Marsh. It's in my blood. Not long now, I'll join my family, down on land, but on the ocean he possesses a singular strength and wit. It's earned him a sterling reputation in every port across the globe, particularly in Sydney, where Silas set ashore last night. But this morning, the smell of the briny air carries dread as well as joy. There is something in his past, something in Innsmouth, that he knows will some day 4. ReCeive stARtinG possessions, heAlth, And sAnity", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 4, "quote": null, "headingPath": "5. deteRmine AnCient one · 6. CReAte monsteR Cup · 7. sep ARA te And plACe deCks · AnCient one speCifiC CARds", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 6, "quote": null, "headingPath": "9. Resol ve st ARtinG effeCts · buildinG the mythos deCk Setup · When Azathoth awakens, flip this sheet and resolve the 'The World is · objeCt of the GAme", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 6, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 6, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 5, "quote": null, "headingPath": "8. build mythos deCk · 9. Resol ve st ARtinG effeCts", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 5, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}, {"page": 5, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 309}]
- boost provenance — errata + base rulebook (E2/E3)
-
no registered errata card matched this query; base rulebook doc 309 boosted; rulesage.errata.boost-enabled=true, rulesage.errata.supersedence-enabled=true
base rulebook doc 309 boosted
- answered-before recall
-
this ruling was answered, so past rulings were not offered
similarity threshold in force: 0.55 (rulesage.answered-before.similarity-threshold; the exact-question tier is not gated by it)
- debug row retained until
- Nov 6, 2026 14:24
retrieval — what the search arm returned
score = the fused retrieval score (reciprocal-rank fusion over the search arms) — NOT a cosine similarity. This ruling ran the THREE-ARM fuse (full-text + vector + the doc-priority boost arm, which carried the base rulebook and/or the errata corrections this query matched), whose arithmetic ceiling is 0.04918 — all three arms ranking the same chunk #1 (ceiling = arms/(k+1) at k=60). The measured healthy band 0.016–0.033 was measured on TWO-arm asks and does not bound this one: its high end is the two-arm ceiling, and a third arm has room above it. A chunk only one arm ranked highly lands near 0.016 (that one arm's #1 vote), so 0.03 here is an excellent hit, not a 3% match.
per-arm ranks (the rank each search arm gave a chunk): NOT DISCLOSED by the gateway. Fusion happens gateway-side and only the FUSED score crosses the wire, so rulesage cannot show them without a gateway change. The rank column below is the FUSED rank (position in the returned list), which is real.
token count per chunk: NOT DISCLOSED — chunk token counts are not reported on the ask path. The character counts below are of the bounded snippet/quote rulesage actually received — a real measurement of what we hold, never an estimate of the chunk.
| fused rank | document | heading | page | fused RRF score | snippet chars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | setup · 1. plACe GAme boARd · 2. oRGAnize tokens · 3. Choose And plACe investiGAtoRs · You find Silas and gain all of his possessions. He has grown pale, and his breath has become a loud wheeze. He tells you, 'I'm a Marsh. It's in my blood. Not long now, I'll join my family, down on land, but on the ocean he possesses a singular strength and wit. It's earned him a sterling reputation in every port across the globe, particularly in Sydney, where Silas set ashore last night. But this morning, the smell of the briny air carries dread as well as joy. There is something in his past, something in Innsmouth, that he knows will some day 4. ReCeive stARtinG possessions, heAlth, And sAnity | p.4 | 0.04918 (at the 3-arm ceiling (0.04918) — every arm ranked it #1) | 300 |
| #2 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | whAt ARe GAtes? Shanghai · spA wninG monsteRs · winninG the GAme · spA wninG Clues | p.11 | 0.047619 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 |
| #3 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.6 | 0.04741 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 | |
| #4 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.5 | 0.046635 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 | |
| #5 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | 5. deteRmine AnCient one · 6. CReAte monsteR Cup · 7. sep ARA te And plACe deCks · AnCient one speCifiC CARds | p.4 | 0.046432 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 |
| #6 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.5 | 0.043905 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 | |
| #7 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | plAyinG the GAme | p.6 | 0.030769 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 |
| #8 | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | 9. Resol ve st ARtinG effeCts · buildinG the mythos deCk Setup · When Azathoth awakens, flip this sheet and resolve the 'The World is · objeCt of the GAme | p.6 | 0.030118 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one)) | 300 |
chosen chunks — what the answer actually cited
token count per chunk: NOT DISCLOSED — chunk token counts are not reported on the ask path. The character counts below are of the bounded snippet/quote rulesage actually received — a real measurement of what we hold, never an estimate of the chunk.
| # | document | heading | page | quote chars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | setup · 1. plACe GAme boARd · 2. oRGAnize tokens · 3. Choose And plACe investiGAtoRs · You find Silas and gain all of his possessions. He has grown pale, and his breath has become a loud wheeze. He tells you, 'I'm a Marsh. It's in my blood. Not long now, I'll join my family, down on land, but on the ocean he possesses a singular strength and wit. It's earned him a sterling reputation in every port across the globe, particularly in Sydney, where Silas set ashore last night. But this morning, the smell of the briny air carries dread as well as joy. There is something in his past, something in Innsmouth, that he knows will some day 4. ReCeive stARtinG possessions, heAlth, And sAnity | p.4 | no quote on the wire |
| [2] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | 5. deteRmine AnCient one · 6. CReAte monsteR Cup · 7. sep ARA te And plACe deCks · AnCient one speCifiC CARds | p.4 | no quote on the wire |
| [3] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | 9. Resol ve st ARtinG effeCts · buildinG the mythos deCk Setup · When Azathoth awakens, flip this sheet and resolve the 'The World is · objeCt of the GAme | p.6 | no quote on the wire |
| [4] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.6 | no quote on the wire | |
| [5] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.6 | no quote on the wire | |
| [6] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | 8. build mythos deCk · 9. Resol ve st ARtinG effeCts | p.5 | no quote on the wire |
| [7] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.5 | no quote on the wire | |
| [8] | RULEBOOK Eldritch Horror — Rulebook (corpus doc 309) | p.5 | no quote on the wire |
generation — timing and the path taken
- timing split
- retrieval 276 ms · first delta 10344 ms · total 934414 ms (retrieval and first-delta both measured from the START of gateway work, so first-delta INCLUDES retrieval — do not subtract)
- full breakdown
- queued 916485 ms · retrieval 276 ms · ask 17643 ms · gateway work 17929 ms · total 934414 ms
- tokens in (the prompt the answerer read)
- 4914
- tokens out (what the answerer generated)
- 1024
- tok/sec
- 136.1 tok/sec — 1024 output tokens in 7.523 s of generation
- live seat (read from the running child)
- answering — gemma4:26b think:false · num_ctx 32768 (live-verified 9s ago)
- stream path
- streamed — the gateway pushed at least one accumulated draft
- watchdog
- first-token watchdog: 30s per arming window (rulesage.table.first-token-watchdog-seconds), re-armed once by the passages frame — so the worst case before a reader falls back to polling is 60s. Whether it actually fired is a BROWSER-side decision that never reaches the server, so it is not recorded here. The stream path above is the server's half of that story: whether a delta was emitted at all.
- num_ctx · think posture
- both are the CHILD's settings, not rulesage's, and no ask reply carries them — an answer never states which context window or think posture produced it. The live-seat line above reads them from the running child instead, where the gateway can answer for itself; it describes the child NOW, not this ask.
disposition
- outcome
- ANSWERED — Answered
- abstain rationale (n/a — this ruling answered)
- answered — no abstain rationale applies
setup-shape — why the checklist band did or didn't render
- decision
- NO_APPROVED_CHECKLIST — setup-shaped, but no approved setup checklist exists for this game
- pattern that matched
- SETUP — "setup" / "set up"
- matched words (in the normalized question)
-
set up
errata registry — what the gate above had to match against
this game registers NO errata cards (edition 237), so "no registered errata card matched" above could never have matched one
Errata scope: the gate above matched this ruling's own edition only. When an ask also reads an expansion, that expansion's own registered errata cards stay outside the match — a stated phase-1 limitation, not a failed lookup.