Mythos

Mythos cards are a primary method through which the game will cause the investigators to lose. The third phase of every round is called the **Mythos Phase**, where a Mythos card is drawn from the Mythos deck. After the Lead Investigator has resolves its effects, play continues to a new round. There are three types of Mythos cards with three different difficulties.

## Mythos Deck

At the start of the game, players must build the Mythos Deck from the Mythos cards available. The Mythos Deck is built according to the composition of Green, Yellow, and Blue Mythos cards as indicated on the Ancient One sheet being played.

Every Mythos deck is split into three separate **Phases**. Each Phase is created and shuffled independently of another, and then put back together with the third Phase on the bottom, the second Phase in the middle, and the first Phase on the top.

Before constructing the Mythos Deck, modify the difficulty of the deck as you wish. Then, separate the Green, Yellow, and Blue cards into three separate decks and shuffle each deck.

For each Phase, check the Ancient One sheet; draw a number of colored Mythos cards as specified by the Phase that you are constructing, and then shuffle these cards together, then set them aside. It is recommended that you construct the deck from Phase 3 to Phase 1 so that you can simply stack the Phases on each other when you are done constructing each.

Finally, recombine the Phases, and set aside the remaining Mythos cards; those cards will not be used for the current game.

### Triggering a Mythos Card

*See also: Reference card*
When a Mythos card is drawn, the Lead Investigator resolves all of its icon effects from left to right as they are listed at the top bar of the Mythos card. After all icons effects have been resolved, the Mythos card's main effect should be resolved. If the card has the Event trait listed above the text effect, immediately resolve the effect and then discard the card. If it has the *Ongoing* trait, place it in play near the Ancient One sheet. It remains in play until discarded by a game effect.

If a Mythos card has the  icon in the lower-right corner, it is a reminder that the card has a  Reckoning effect. That card does not cause other Reckoning effects to be resolved.
If a Monster is spawned or an investigator gains a component while investigators are resolving  Reckoning effects, they do not resolve the Reckoning effect on that Monster or component.

### Deck Depletion

If a Mythos Card needs to be drawn, but the Mythos Deck is empty, the Mythos Phase ends immediately. This will possibly trigger the solving of a final Mystery, in which case the investigators win the game. However, if investigators have not won by this point, they automatically lose the game.

## Mythos Card Types

### Green Mythos Cards

Green Mythos Cards are generally the second most common Mythos card; they will always cause the Omen to advance, trigger a Monster Surge, and spawn Clues.  The Monster Surge and spawning of Clues is determined by the Reference card being used.

Green Mythos cards will usually have an immediate event, although some will have an ongoing effect.

As of  Masks of Nyarlathotep there are 78 Green Mythos Cards: 20 Easy, 37 Normal, 21 Hard.

### Yellow Mythos Cards

Yellow Mythos Cards are generally the most common Mythos card; they will always cause the Omen to advance, trigger a  Reckoning, and spawn Gates. The spawning of Gates is determined by the Reference card being used.

Yellow Mythos cards always trigger an immediate event.

As of  Masks of Nyarlathotep there are 92 Yellow Mythos Cards: 22 Easy, 41 Normal, 29 Hard.

### Blue Mythos Cards

Blue Mythos Cards are the least common Mythos card; they will always spawn Clues.

Blue Mythos cards always initiate a Rumor. Often,  Eldritch tokens will be placed on the card in order to keep track of when the Rumor's fail effect triggers; the starting number of Eldritch Tokens, should they be required, is printed on the symbol on the top bar of the Mythos card.

As of  Masks of Nyarlathotep there are 47 Blue Mythos Cards: 11 Easy, 19 Normal, 17 Hard.

### Mythos Card Difficulties

Mythos cards are also differentiated by difficulty. Difficult Mythos cards are indicated by a red tentacle border around the Mythos card's name, while easy Mythos cards are indicated by a blue sigil border around the Mythos card's name. Mythos cards without a border around their name are "normal" difficulty.

If the players wish to make the game easier or harder, they may build the Mythos deck using cards only from one or more of these difficulty categories in order to modulate the difficulty of the game. For example, removing all difficult Mythos cards creates a Mythos deck consisting of only normal and easy difficulty Mythos cards, which will make the game easier to win.

## List of Mythos

There are 217 Mythos across the base game and all expansions.