Arkham Encounters Phase

The Arkham Encounters Phase is the third phase of each turn.

During the Arkham Encounters Phase, each player whose investigator is in a location (not a street area or Other World area) must take one of the following actions. The action the investigator must take depends on whether his location contains an open gate or not.

No Gate

If the location has no gate, the investigator has an encounter at the location. The player shuffles the location deck corresponding to the neighborhood his investigator is in and draws a card from the deck. The player then finds the entry for his investigator’s location, reads the entry aloud, and performs any actions indicated by the card text. Note that the card may indicate that “a monster appears,” in which case the investigator must either evade the monster (see Evading Monsters) or fight it (see Combat). Once the player has resolved any actions indicated by the card, he returns the card to the location deck. Monsters and gates cannot appear in sealed locations, even if this is directed by the text of a card.

Monsters that appear as the result of a location or gate encounter never remain on the board after the encounter is resolved. If an investigator evades such a monster, return it to the monster cup (see [[Monsters in Encounters]]).

Alternatively, the investigator can choose the location's special ability.

Gate

If the location has a gate, and the investigator has not yet moved through that gate, the investigator is drawn through the gate. He moves to the first area (the left area) of the Other World indicated on the gate marker.

Exception: Once an investigator has entered a gate and returned to Arkham, the player places an explored marker underneath his investigator marker. While he remains in the gate’s location, he is no longer drawn through the gate, but may instead try to close or seal the gate (see Closing Gates). If the investigator leaves the location before the gate is closed or sealed, discard the explored marker. If the investigator returns to the location later in the game, he will again be drawn through the gate. He must resolve the Other World Encounters phase again before he can return to the location and attempt to close or seal the gate.

Important: If an investigator is drawn through a gate that appears as a result of an encounter (such as “A gate appears!” or “A gate and a monster appear!”), then he is delayed, just as if he had been drawn through a gate in the Mythos Phase.