Monsters

*See also: Combat Encounter, Epic Monsters*

A Monster is a type of adversary that investigators have to overcome in the course of the game. They are spawned primarily from Gates, but also from encounters and Mythos. Investigators defeat them through Combat Encounter, using effects of Assets, Artifacts and Spells, or through encounters.

There are 2 types of Monster: non-Epic (normal) and Epic Monster. Epic Monsters are more dangerous but can only be spawned under specific circumstances. "Monster" refers to both Monsters and/or Epic Monsters. "Non-Epic Monster" refers to a Monster but not an Epic Monster.

## Rules

### Spawning

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  icon, look at the back of the Monster token and resolve its effect immediately after spawning it (for example, "When this Monster is spawned, move it to The Heart of Africa"). Monsters cannot be spawned from the Monster cup if the Monster cup is empty. Set aside Monsters cannot be spawned if all set aside Monsters of the named type are on the game board.

If an effect says to "spawn a Monster on your space and immediately encounter it" and the drew Monster has a  effect that moves it elsewhere, a Mummy for example, resolve the situation as follow:

* Spawn the Monster on the active investigator's space.
* Resolve the Monster's  effect (e.g. moving it to another space).
* Encounter the Monster even though it could be in another space already.
* After the Combat Encounter, if the Monster has not been defeated and there are no other effect that move it elsewhere, it stays in its current space.

### Defeat and Discard Monsters

If a Monster's toughness is reduced to zero, it is defeated, even if it has not lost any  Health. Although defeating a Monster causes it to be discarded, discarding a Monster will not trigger any effect that checks if a Monster is defeated. For example, discarding a Wraith will not allow an investigator to discard a Cursed. However, an effect that allows an investigator to "defeat" the Wraith will trigger the Wraith's effect.

When a Monster is defeated or discarded:

* If it's an Epic Monster, it's returned to the game box.
* If it's a Monster that was set aside during setup, it's set aside again.
* If it's none of the above, it's returned to the Monster cup and the cup is randomized.

### "Place that Monster on this card"

Some effects like that of Purifying The World or Hunting the Thousand allows investigators to place defeated non-Epic Monsters on them after a Combat Encounter. Their effects will trigger even on an ambush or even if the Monster is to be set aside instead of discarded. But if an investigator is ambushed by a Cultist, he won't be able to place that Monster on his card due to the fact that Cultist information on an ambush is referenced from the Ancient One sheet instead of from a token, so there is no token available to be placed.

While a Monster is on those cards, it is not available to be spawned, but **its attributes may be referenced to resolve another ambush** in the future.

If another investigator is ambushed by a Monster and the only available reference for that Monster has been placed on another card, that investigator would not be able to place that Monster on his own card; that specific token is already claimed.

Finally, if a Monster that was previously set aside has been placed on a card, it will return to being set aside instead of being discarded when that card is discarded or otherwise removed from play.

## List of Monsters

This list includes all regular non-Epic Monsters, for Epic Monsters, see the List of Epic Monsters.

There are 86 non-Epic Monsters across the base game and all expansions.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reference Guide p. 6.
2. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for Spawn timing on  *BoardGameGeek*.
3. ↑ FAQ p. 10.
4. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for discard and defeat on  *BoardGameGeek*.
5. ↑ Reference Guide p. 10.
6. ↑ Reference Guide p. 8.
7. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for Purifying the World on  *BoardGameGeek*.
8. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for Cultist on  *BoardGameGeek*.
9. ↑ 5 Core, 1 FL, 2 MoM, 1 SR, 3 UtP, 2 SoC
10. ↑  1 MoM, 1 TD
11. ↑ 1 Core, 1 MoN
12. ↑ 1 Core, 1 MoN
13. ↑ 1 SR, 1 MoN
14. ↑ 1 Core, 1 MoN