An Investigator's Guide to Kingsport Horror, vol. 3

Rifts

By Daniel Clark

My investigation has brought me to the town of Kingsport, down the mighty Miskatonic from Arkham in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. These notes will chronicle my third, and one hopes final, attempt to draw back the veil around the mysterious events that have plagued my life (and if they have so haunted me, how many others are similarly afflicted?). Although I struggle to remain optimistic, the fate of my carefully collected Lithuanian evidence, my ill-fated Dunwich trip, and the loss of my luggage off the coast of Innsmouth have conditioned me to expect disaster to strike once again.

That Arkham is plagued by madmen no one has been able to deny (although Mr. Kane does much to suggest that these men are harmless, or at any rate no worse than those present in other towns). But what drives these men to madness? What awful things have they glimpsed? What comprehension of the enormity of reality has dawned upon them? It has long been my contention that there is more to Arkham than meets the eye, that some power is at work here.

I became convinced that the town of Kingsport was involved one night after leaving the Advertiser offices. While I was making my way to my lodgings, I heard a noise as of a great wind and turned to find its source. A strange light, as if reflected off rippling water, seemed to play across the shuttered buildings of that street, and I heard a scuffling and a scurrying like that of a thousand vermin hiding from the light. For just an instant, I clearly saw a lighthouse standing proud before me, its light distorted and strange. The next day, I consulted the Advertiser's archives and discovered that the lighthouse I had seen was the North Point Lighthouse in Kingsport. I purchased a train ticket the next morning.

- Journal of Rex Murphy

Rifts are a new game mechanic introduced in Kingsport Horror. Although Kingsport is stable and new gates will never appear there, the threat represented by the rifts is dire enough that any investigators who ignore developments in Kingsport will suffer dearly.

The Kingsport game board features three rift progress tracks, which represent the growing instability of the rifts. Each rift progress track has two monster movement patterns noted on it, and each of these has two rift progress spaces, for a total of four spaces per rift. Each time a mythos card is drawn and resolved that bears a monster movement pattern matching one of the rift progress tracks, a marker is drawn from the pool of rift progress markers and placed on the appropriate progress space on the board. Each of these markers has a particular Kingsport location on it, which ties those locations to the developing rifts.

When a rift progress track fills up, a rift is placed at the location shown on the mythos card that caused the rift to open, regardless of whether or not a gate or elder sign is present at that location. Each rift bears a movement symbol (circle, moon, etc.) that is either black or white. Each time monsters of the appropriate symbol move, the rift with that symbol moves as well. Each time a rift moves, a monster appears in the rift's new location. Moreover, each time a rift moves along an arrow whose color matches the rift, a doom token is added to the doom track. For example, if the black moon rift is in Arkham and the mythos card drawn shows a moon movement icon in the black box, then the rift will move along the black arrow to its next location, spawn a monster there, and add a token to the doom track.

If left unmolested, these rifts will quickly fill Arkham with monsters and could potentially add many doom tokens to the track. Fortunately, the investigators can prevent rifts from opening or even close open rifts by visiting Kingsport. Each rift progress marker bears the image of a particular Kingsport location. An investigator who visits that location and has an encounter may investigate the rift. If the rift is currently closed, the rift progress marker is removed from the track. If the rift is open, the progress marker is turned facedown to indicate that it has been investigated. If all four progress markers for a rift are investigated, then they are all discarded and the rift is closed.

This all results in a careful balancing act with Kingsport. Spend too much time there and the gates in Arkham will get out of control. Spend too little, and the rifts will have Arkham overrun with monsters and doom tokens.

Having finally, on my third attempt, secured passage to Kingsport, I arrived to a torrential downpour. I had not brought an umbrella, the weather being fine when I initially departed, and so was obliged to run through the rain-slicked streets towards the lighthouse. Taking shelter in a tavern by the name of the Rope and Anchor, I spent some time gazing out at the gabled roofs and winding streets of this ancient town. The dark immensity of the Kingsport Head loomed above it all, and a strange light seemed to play about the strange house that I had heard clung to its uttermost edge.

I have resolved to continue my exploration of this village and discover all that I can before I return to Arkham.

Find the rest of the Articles from this series on the Design Notes page.