Animal Allies is a Kickstarter Exclusive expansion for Cthulhu: Death May Die. This expansion brings a set of new Relic cards to the game, except, this time, they are animal allies that will join investigators on the board, following them around!

The Animal Allies box comes with:

• 10 Animal Ally figures
• 5 Relic cards
• Rules leaflet

Animal Allies are a special type of Relic that can be added to the pool of available Unknown Relics. Just like other Relics, each Animal Ally comes in 2 different forms: an initial form and an upgraded form. Unlike other Relics, however, each animal ally is also represented by 2 figures that move around the board (1 for the starting side and 1 for the upgraded side) and interact with enemies.

During setup, the starting ally figures are placed on the starting space along with their investigators. From then on, allies move on the board, either following investigators or on their own, attacking enemies, luring monsters away from their tutors, taking wounds instead of investigators, allowing them to reroll, and protecting them against enemies.

Allies do not count as figures for game purposes (for example, effects like Psychotic Outbreaks that state “Move to the nearest space with at least 1 figure”. Allies are ignored for this effect), instead, they count as tokens and have their own set of rules for moving. Whenever an investigator leaves a space where there’s an ally, loyal as they are, that ally may follow them (even if the investigator is not the controller of the Relic). In addition, investigators in control of an ally may move their pet companions up to 3 spaces as a free action. This is particularly important, as the placement of each ally is crucial to achieve maximum benefit out of their effects.

The connection between animals and their tutors is undeniable, and so, just like with the other Relics, as the investigator’s insanity rises, their ally’s behavior reacts accordingly. Upon reaching the 3rd insanity milestone, the card is flipped, reflecting their tutor’s insanity and a new, upgraded, behavior from their allies. Their figures on the board are also replaced with their upgraded counterpart to represent their state. Conversely, if the investigator is killed, their ally is removed from the board, as they run away in despair.