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Chaosium Digest Volume 18 Number 10
Chaosium Digest Volume 18, Number 10
Date: Sunday, March 23, 1997
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
Deckbuilding (Cedric Chin) MYTHOS
CF: Vortex of Far Journeying (Shannon Appel) MYTHOS
Kindergarten Kult: A Tale of Terror (Arthur Boff) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
This week, a trio of Lovecraftian articles: general deck-building
advice for Mythos; a card file spotlight on Vortex of Far Journeying,
from the Dreamlands; and a brand new Tale of Terror.
Shannon
--------------------
From: Cedric Chin <cchin@frk.com>
Subject: Deckbuilding
System: Mythos
Deckbuilding
Copyright Cedric Chin. Thanks to Ian Lee for starting this.
Introduction
The following are the criteria I use when constructing decks. The
criteria are somewhat listed in order of importance.
* Similar Adventures
* Dissimilar Allies
* Cards with non-Adventure Value
* Type of Cards
--
* Similar Adventures
The more overlap among the Adventures in your deck, the better. (Duh.)
* Dissimilar Allies
The more Allies you can remove from your deck, the fewer cards you
will have the next time you shuffle your deck to complete your next
Adventure. Thus, the smaller your deck will be, and thus the more
easily you will satisfy your next Adventure.
However, an Ally may not be played if you already have the same one in
play. Thus, the fewer Allies of the same name in your deck, the
better.
* Cards with non-Adventure Value
Few cards have any use in a deck unless they satisfy an Adventure.
Cards such as An Unexpected Calamity and Aldeberan Moves in the Sky
are exceptions, and these cards may be defined as having non-Adventure
value.
* Type of Cards
An analysis of each type of card follows. In general, the types are
in order of preference in a deck, but sometimes logical categories of
card types have taken precedence. Decks with Tomes and Allies, and
which are City, Same Sub-Region Decks, are the "fastest" Decks in
Mythos.
--
TOMES AND SPELLS
Advantages
* Removes cards from your deck.
* Tomes and Spells Join, thereby allowing you to play several cards at
once.
* Difficult to be placed into your Story Deck and the Discard Pile.
* Spells may be cast during Combat, giving additional "plays" outside
the turn.
Disadvantages
* Must be played at a Location with the Tome attribute.
* Makes play of Artifacts difficult, since few Locations have both Tome and
Artifact attributes.
* Tome languages restrict Investigator choice.
* Tomes in languages not available to Investigators require Allies knowing
the language.
ARTIFACTS (Non-Weapon)
Advantages
* Removes cards from your deck.
* Difficult to be placed into your Story Deck and the Discard Pile.
Disadvantages
* Makes play of Tomes difficult, since few Locations have both Tome and
Artifact attributes.
* Must be played at a Location with the Artifact attribute.
ARTIFACTS (Weapon)
Advantages
* Removes cards from your deck.
Disadvantages
* Requires an Ally in play.
* Must be played at a Location with the Artifact attribute.
* Does not increase the Value of an Ally for most anti-Ally Events.
* Makes the Ally a more attractive target to be removed from play.
ALLIES
Advantages
* Removes cards from your deck.
* More easily played than Tomes and Artifacts in a single Sub-Region Deck.
* Prevents Sanity loss from Monsters.
Disadvantages
* Easily removed from the play area to the Story Deck.
EVENTS
Advantages
* May be played regardless of Location.
Disadvantages
* Typically becomes part of Story Deck after being played.
MONSTERS (Monsters from Gate Locations)
Advantages
* Some Monsters Join, thereby allowing you to play several cards at
once.
Disadvantages
* Requires Gate Location
* Only one Monster (or set of Joining Monsters) may be played per Gate
Location.
* Does not qualify for Adventures until placed in the Story Deck,
which occurs after the Round ends.
* Becomes part of Story Deck after Round ends.
MONSTERS (Monsters Summoned)
Advantages
* Qualify for adventures when played.
* Does not require Gate Location.
* If Summoned to attack, opponent may only use Allies to defend.
* If Summoned to Travel, offsets disadvantage of Locations that are
not City, Same Sub-Region.
Disadvantages
* Become part of the Story Deck when played.
* Requires Spell in Tome before play.
LOCATIONS (City, Same Sub-Region)
Advantages
* Faster play than Country and Different Sub-Region decks.
* Same Sub-Region allows easy play of Allies.
Disadvantages
* Becomes part of Story Deck after next Location is played.
LOCATIONS (Country, Same Sub-Region)
Advantages
* Same Sub-Region allows easy play of Allies.
Disadvantages
* Much slower play than City, Same Sub-Region decks.
* Becomes part of Story Deck after next Location is played.
LOCATIONS (Different Sub-Regions, Same Region)
Disadvantages
* Much slower play than City, Same Sub-Region decks.
* Becomes part of Story Deck after next Location is played.
LOCATIONS (Different Regions)
Disadvantages
* Requires Travel By cards to move from one Region to another.
* Difficulty in moving from one Region to another makes Ally play more
difficult than Same Region decks.
* Becomes part of Story Deck after next Location is played.
--------------------
From: Shannon Appel <appel@erzo.org>
Subject: CF: Vortex of Far Journeying
System: Mythos
** THE CARD FILES: VORTEX OF FAR JOURNEYING **
THE CARD
--------
Name: Vortex of Far Journeying
Set: The Dreamlands
Type: Spell
Affects: Opponent's Mythos Deck
Spell Icon: Dream
Usage Cost: -2
Special Effect Box: Target opponent reveals the top card of his or her
Mythos Deck. If it is a Location it immediately becomes his or her
Current Location. If it is a Monster it attack him or her (Allies may
defend), then is Discarded. If it is some other kind of card, it is
Discarded.
THE SOURCE
----------
Like many spells in the Dreamlands CCG, vortex originated in the
H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands supplement for the Call of Cthulhu
RPG. In its original version, the vortex spell could be used to
transfer its caster anywhere, but sometimes the vortex would simply
disappear with its caster, never to be seen again.
CLARIFICATIONS
--------------
Cast the Spell. Force an opponent to flip the top card of his Mythos
Deck. That card either becomes your opponent's Current Location or is
Discarded.
If a Monster is revealed, there is no Cosmic Battle, the Monster
simply plows into the investigator and any Allies who leap to his
defense. Spells and Artifacts can not be used in defense. Overall,
this works just the same as a Summoning Spell. Note that certain
Monsters have special powers that occur if they "survive the Cosmic
Battle". There is no Cosmic Battle in this case, so special effects
with that specific wording have no effect.
QUESTIONS
---------
Q: If my opponent reveals a sanitarium, does he get the Sanity gain?
If it's a "Monster sanitarium", does he get attacked? If it's a
"lose a turn Sanitarium", does he lose his next turn?
A: To all these questions, the answer is yes. If a Location is
revealed, treat it exactly as if it had just been played as a
Current Location. Sanity is gained or lost. The gate is
usable. Other effects (such as those at sanitariums) also
immediately take place.
Q: What happen if a Location that can't be legally played is revealed?
For example, what if I reveal R'lyeh and my opponent doesn't have
all of the R'lyeh Disk?
A: The Location still becomes your opponent's Current Location. Other
restriction are irrelevent. The Vortex special effect overrides
them.
Q: What happens if my opponent reveals a Monster that is Buried under
certain conditions (ie, the the Limited Edition Ghast is buried in
Direct Sunlight) and those conditions are met? Is the Monster
Buried or Discarded?
A: It's Discarded. The Monster never properly entered play. It is
Discarded under any and all conditions.
Q: What happens if my opponent is walking somewhere and Vortex
reveals a Location card?
A: The Location he was walking to is Discarded. The newly revealed
Location becomes your opponent's Current Location.
STRATEGIES
----------
The Vortex of Far Journeying is a Dream Spell. This icon is a weird
one, so here are a few notes regarding it:
* On Playing Spells with the Dream Icons - The Dream Icon is rare. It
only appears on Tomes exclusively available in the Dreamlands, and
even then most of them are in obscure languages. There are only two
ways to play Dream Icon spells with ease. In the Dreamlands, you
should use the Book of Black Stones, the only English Tome with the
Dream Icon. In the Waking World, you can't access any of the Tomes
with the Dream Icon, but there are plenty of Cultists who can know
Spells with any Icon. Use them to learn your Dream Spells. John
Scott is a particularly good choice as is any Corrupt Cultist with
the Orne Formula & Diagrams.
* On Taking Advantage of the Dream Icon for Adventures - Since the
Dream Icon is rare, there are two Adventures that include it as a
requirement: The Art of Magic and Doomed if you Do. If you're using
the Vortex, consider taking advantage of these Adventures.
The Vortex of Far Journeying also has a number of strategies all its
own:
* On Thumping Your Opponent - Quite simply, you hope to get lucky when
you use the vortex, and hit your opponent with a Monster. This is a
crap shoot, but if you time it well, you can maximize damage. Flip,
bury, or discard Allies. Wait until your opponent adds Allies to
a Threat via Enchanted Weapons. Then, Vortex gives you a chance at
some unstoppable damage. Monsters tend to make up 10%-15% of Mythos
decks, thus this is of more marginal utility than some other
strategies. Still, it can be used administer a death blow and win
the game.
* On Denying Attributes - Attribute Denial involves preventing an
opponent from making full use of a Location. In particular it refers
to denying your opponent the Tome, Artifact, and Gate Attributes, as
well as the subregion name. If it's obvious an opponent is searching
for a certain Attribute, you can play vortex, and hope a new
Location hops on top of the one he planned to make use of. Locations
tend to make up 10%-35% of decks, so this strategy is a much more
sound one.
* On Discarding a Location - Discarding cards is quite powerful, and
the Vortex has this power in a limited manner. Catch an opponent
when he's walking, and get lucky enough to flip a Location, and your
opponent is forced to Discard that Location he was walking to. A
real bummer if he needed it for an Adventure. Again, Locations tend
to make up 10%-35% of decks.
* On Discarding Other Cards - And here is the real beauty of
Vortex. If you flip one of those 50-80% of the cards which are
neither Locations nor Monsters, you still cause an opponent to
Discard that random card. In the worst case, this will be something
required for an Adventure, and your opponent will be forced to
reshuffle, costing him a point of Sanity, and perhaps several turns
of play. If you want to really annoy your oppponent, you can also
use other cards that Discard from the Mythos Deck: the Office of
Dr. Freud and Nameless Lake.
You might even purposefully use Vortex to try and force a
Discard. If your opponent is down to the last few cards in his
Mythos Deck, and is turning several funny colors, it's likely that
he needs one of those last few cards, and you have a very good
chance of snatching it away from him.
* On Optimizing the Usage of Vortex - When all's said and done, the
Vortex of Far Journeying is a random chance, but you can make the
Spell even more useful by using it at the right time: later in the
game. As the game proceeds, an opponent tends to permanently lay out
Artifacts, Tomes, Spells, Allies, and Adventures. Occasional Events
may be quasi-permanent as well. After your opponent has played his
first Adventure card and reshuffled, he will now have fewer of all
of those cards in his deck, and thus a higher proportion of
Locations and Monsters, which are always reshuffled after Adventure
card play. Assuming 60 cards, 10 Monsters and 20 Locations, you
originally had a 16% chance of pulling a Monster and a 33% chance of
pulling a Location. If your opponent has 10 cards in play, your
odds will jump to 20% for a Monster and 40% for a Location. If your
opponent has 20 cards in play, your odds will jump to 25% for a
Monster and 50% for a Location. Cards held in the hand will tend to
skew these numbers a bit, but the trend will be the same. In
summary: use Vortex against the player with the most cards in play
who has reshuffled the most recently.
* On Faking your Opponent Out - The ability to move to any Location
without restriction can occasionally be a useful one that you wish
you could access. For example, you might know you have R'lyeh in
your deck, but don't have all the pieces of the disk yet, or you
might know you have another Region in your deck, and want to get
there ASAP. You could be able to take advantage of this power of
vortex if you have an opponent with the Deflection Spell. Hit them
with vortex. People hate the fact that they don't know what Vortex
will do, and will usually assume the worst case, and thus deflect
it. You're off to a good start because you've already cost them +1
Sanity. Then, if they deflect it back at you, you might get lucky,
and go exactly where you want. On the other hand, you could be fish
bait too.
COUNTER STRATEGIES
------------------
* Use the Standard Spell Strategies - There are a number of ways to
block spells: the Chime of Tezchaptl, the Lute of Oonai, and the
Deflection Spell.
* Keep Allies in Reserve - To ward off the Monster effect of the
Vortex, make sure that you always have an Ally or two ready to
protect you from surprise damage.
* Make Use of Location's Attributes Before Combat - Most spells,
including the vortex, are cast during Combat, because it's a free
action then. To ward off the Location effect of Vortex, make sure
you make use of a Location's most important attributes before the
Combat phase. Got a Tome you need to play for an Adventure? Then,
take advantage of that Tome attribute first, rather than summoning
yet another Monster.
* Don't Walk - If you have Locations necessary for an Adventure, don't
walk to them. It makes them too vulnerable. Instead, drive a Car, or
alternatively go elsewhere in the same City, and then you'll be able
to play the required card right-side-up.
--------------------
Sender: theboffs@dircon.co.uk (Arthur Boff)
Subject: Kindergarten Kult: A Tale of Terror
System: Call of Cthulhu
Kindergarten Kult: A Tale of Terror
by Arthur Boff
All is not well at the Arkham Day-Care Center. The children who attend
seem to have fun at the Centre, but recently they have been
complaining of nightmares. The nightmares vary, but they all seem to
be about Mrs. Mollse, the Center's nurse.
Possibilities:
1.) This is just another nursery child-abuse affair. It's sickening,
but not really supernatural.
2.) Mrs. Mollse is a member of the Arkham Witch-Cult. She has recently
been given a mind-control spell by the Outer God Yitllicn, the Alterer
of Thoughts. She is using it on the children under her care. Whilst
under the spell's influence, they think all is normal, not knowing
that they are really carrying out unspeakable tasks in the name of
Yitllicn. When they sleep, however, the memories of what really
happened seep through.
3.) About a month ago, Cthulhu visited Mrs. Mollse in her dreams,
"requesting" that she become one of her priests. Foolishly,
Mrs. Mollse refused. The Dreamer in R'lyeh is now trying to
incriminate Mrs. Mollse in a child-abuse case (the abuse is really
being carried out by Deep Ones).
4.) The nightmares are of Mrs. Mollse being torn up by awful dog-like
beasts (experienced investigators will realize that these are the
Hounds of Tindalos). Before she came to the Center, Mrs. Mollse was a
New Age Traveller. Experimenting with a certain drug, she encountered
the Hounds. She fled the New Age camp and became a kindergarten nurse,
which she thought would be enough to give the Hounds the slip. The
Hounds have not caught up with her yet, as she went quite far in
time. The dreams are warnings, sent by a rival species of angular
time.
Copyright Arthur Boff 1997
Writing from the Vale of Pnath.
--------------------
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