Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Chaosium Digest Volume 24 Number 08
Chaosium Digest Volume 24, Number 8
Date: Sunday, March 29, 1998
Number: 3 of 3
Contents:
CF: Remortification (Guy Hail) MYTHOS
--------------------
From: Guy Hail <grhail@aol.com>
Subject: CF: Remortification
System: Mythos
** THE CARD FILES: REMORTIFICATION **
by Guy Hail
THE CARD
========
Title: Remortification
Set: Limited Edition Starter, rare
Type: Spell
Spell Icon: Skull (formerly Death)
Sanity Cost: -2
Dimension: Any Dimension
Attribute: Affects Target Investigator's Allies
Special Effect Box: Just after Combat is concluded, all Allies lost
during this round's Combat rise against the Investigator whose Threat
caused their demise. That Investigator my use his or her Allies in
defense.
The artist is Michael Kellner.
THE SOURCE
==========
"There was no sound, but just then the electric lights went out and I
saw outlined against some phosphorescence of the nether world a horde
of silent toiling things which only insanity--or worse--could create.
Their outlines were human, semi-human, fractionally human, and not
human at all--the horde was grotesquely heterogeneous."
-"Herbert West--Reanimator", H.P. Lovecraft
CLARIFICATIONS
==============
Remortification takes effect at the end of Combat, before the last
phase, Bury the Lost. Any Ally who absorbed damage from a Threat and
who will be buried or discarded in the Bury the Lost phase attacks the
Investigator whose threat caused the Ally to be buried.
An Ally is lost if it the Ally card will be Buried or Discarded in the
Bury the Lost phase of combat. Allies buried or discarded as a result
of Spells (for example, Awful Doom of Cerrit) are not affected by
Remortification. Allies buried or discarded by Artifacts (for example,
Fragmentation Grenade) are not affected by Remortification. Only those
Allies who absorb their at least one point in Sanity loss in the
Allies Defend phase of Combat are affected by Remortification. (This
excludes Allies lost in the Allies Assault phase.) The Ally must have
been buried by the opponent's Threat.
Opponents may defend with any Allies that have survived Combat; that
is, any Allies who are not scheduled to be buried in the Bury the Lost
phase of Combat.
Read the Just Cast definition in the Glossary at the end of the
rulesbook. It will tell you when your opponents may cancel this spell.
EXAMPLE
=======
Shannon, Guy & Alex are playing Mythos. After two passes, it's time
for Combat. Shannon has low Sanity. He directs the one card in his
threat at Guy. Guy has no threat. Alex directs his threat at
Shannon. Shannon chooses Arthur Monroe and John Scott to defend
against Alex's threat, but leaves Professor Wingate Peaslee as an
undefending Ally. Guy selects Raymond Legrasse and Albert Shiny as
defending Allies. Alex has no Allies. In the Spell & Artifact Use
phase of Combat, Guy casts Remortification on himself.
Shannon reveals his threat: a Hound of Tindalos, a five-point Monster
strong enough to cause both of Guy's defending Allies to be buried.
(Albert Shiny absorbs four points of the Sanity loss and will be
buried. Raymond Legrasse absorbs the remaining one point, but any
Sanity loss is enough to bury an Ally.)
Alex reveals his Threat: one Pack of Rat Things, a 2-point
Monster. Shannon choses Arthur Monroe to absorb two points of Sanity
loss and John Scott absorbs nothing. Arthur Monroe will be buried in
the Bury the Lost phase of Combat. John Scott will not be buried.
Just before the Bury the Lost phase of Combat, Guy's Allies, the
three-point Raymond Legrasse and the four-point Albert Shiny, attack
Shannon. Shannon chooses Professor Wingate Peaslee and John Scott to
defend. Arthur Monroe will be buried in the Bury the Lost phase of
Combat and cannot be chosen to defend. Having survived Allies Defend
phase of Combat, John Scott defends with his full value of 2-points.
Guy's Allies attack with seven points; Shannon's, the 1-point
Professor Wingate Peaslee and 2-point John Scott, defend with three
points. Shannon's Investigator suffers four points of Sanity loss.
Raymond Legrasse, Albert Shiny, Professor Wingate Peaslee, and John
Scott are buried.
QUESTIONS
=========
Q: During the Commit Ally phase of Combat, I put up Raymond Legrasse
(value 3) to defend against a Directed Threat. During the Spell &
Artifact Use phase, I cast Remortification on myself. Raymond absorbed
the one point from a Zombie and will be buried. Is Raymond's value in
the attack required by Remortification 1, 2, or 3?
A: 3. Remortified Allies attack with their full value regardless of any
points absorbed in the Allies Defend or Assaulting Allies phase of Combat.
Q: If a Remortified Ally is holding Dynamite, when are the Ally and the
Dynamite discarded?
A: In the Bury the Lost phase following the attack by Allies affected
by Remortification. Until then the Ally's value is increased by the
value of the Dynamite.
Q: During the Commit Ally phase of Combat, I put up Raymond Legrasse
(value 3), who has been assigned Dynamite, to defend against a
Directed Threat. During the Spell & Artifact Use phase, I cast
Remortification on myself. Raymond absorbed the one point from a
Zombie and will be buried. Is Raymond's value in the attack required
by Remortification 3 or 9?
A: 9. Allies and their artifacts are, for purposes of Combat,
considered one card until buried. Weapons, though, aren't the only way
to increase an Ally's value in combat: there are Artifacts (the Orne
Formulae & Diagrams), Locations (Herbert West, student, adds one point
to his value at some Miskatonic University Locations), and Spells
(Hands of Colubra increases an Allies value for the entire Combat
phase). Conceivably Wilbur Whateley (value 3) could carry Dynamite
(value 6) be holding the Orne Formulae & Diagrams (value 2) be chosen
to defend with Old Man Whateley (whose command ability adds 1 to other
defending Whateleys), be at The Remote Whateley Farmhouse (another
+1), and have Hands of Colubra cast upon him (+2) for a total of 15.
Q: If a Remortified Ally attacked by Limited Edition Nightgaunts, when
is the Ally discarded?
A: In the Bury the Lost phase following the attack by Allies affected
by Remortification. Allies that will be discarded also rise against
the Investigator whose threat caused them to be discarded.
Q: Can Monsters played as Allies be Remortified?
A: A Monster played as an Ally has its card type and attribute altered
to corrupt Ally until it is buried in the Story Deck or moved
face-down to the threat (by a Spell or Enchanted Weapon). So, yes,
Monsters played as Allies are Allies. If you have a Men in Black card
in play as an Ally, then commit the Men in Black to defend against a
Threat, that Men in Black card is an Ally for the purposes of the
Remortification Spell.
Q: Can Allies played as Monsters be Remortified?
A: No. Allies played as Monsters are Monsters until they revert to
their printed type upon being buried in the Story Deck.
Q: Can the Tank be Remortified?
A: Yes. Once played to the Ally area, it's an Ally - the special
effect box states this clearly. (It's the Tank's crew that's
Remortified.)
Q: Does the order in which cards are played matter?
A: If the Remortification is cast as your first action in the Spell &
Artifact Use phase of Combat, then on your next turn in the Spell &
Artifact Use phase, a new Ally, Monster, or Artifact becomes a
defending Ally, that new Ally will be Remortified. Remortification is
cast on the Investigator and affects all the Investigator's Allies
regardless of when those Allies are chosen to defend.
Although the Spell must be cast during a particular Spell & Artifact
Use phase of Combat, the Spell "goes off" and its effects are
calculated before the Bury the Lost phase of Combat.
Q: I cast Remortification on myself, then realized that if my Allies
attack my opponent, the Sanity loss will drive my opponent insane,
ending the game. Must my Allies attack or can I opt not to attack. Or:
Remortification was cast on me, even though I don't want my Allies to
attack. May I voluntarily bury them to avoid attacking my opponent?
A: Your allies must attack.
STRATEGIES
==========
* Kill 'Em, Kill 'Em All - When you put up several Allies to defend,
they absorb damage from the Directed Threat in the order you
choose. For example: If an opponent's Directed Threat holds two Men
In Black with a value of six, and if you have placed in defense Ozzy
Orne (strength 1), Henri Zann (strength 2), Johnny Booger (strength
2), and Giovanni Angellis (strength 3), you may choose to absorb the
damage in this order: Ozzy Orne (6 - 1 = 5), Henri Zann (5 - 2 = 3),
Johnny Booger (3 - 2 = 1), then Giovanni Angellis (1 point
remaining, but any loss buries the Ally). All your Allies are
scheduled to be buried and all attack just before the Bury the Lost
phase. Their total strength is 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 = 8, more strength than
was in the opponent's Directed Threat.
* Let's You & Him Fight - Don't cast Remortification on yourself.
Cast it on an unsuspecting opponent. If Shannon has a Threat
directed at Alex but no Allies committed to defend, and Alex has no
Threat, but has one or more Allies defending against Shannon's
Threat, cast Remortification on Alex! Then Alex's to-be-buried
Allies will attack Shannon at the end of the Combat round. Shannon
will have no defense.
* Not There, Stupid. Here! - Select your strongest Ally to defend
against a player who has no Threat, or who has a weak Threat
(various Spells and Events can expose or place cards in a Threat, so
it is possible to know what is in a Threat before it is
revealed). Then use the Cthulhu Statuette to move that Ally to
defend against another opponent's Threat, one that will bury the
remortified Ally. Cthulhu Statuette is a New AEon edition common.
* I Feel... Different - Commit a 1-point Ally to defend. Before
casting Remortification, cast Consume Likeness to exchange that
1-point for a stronger Ally from your Story Deck. Or choose a
corrupt Ally to defend. Before casting Remortification, cast
Devolution to exchange that corrupt Ally for a Monster chosen from
your Story Deck. Lovecraft Country has many, many corrupt Allies to
devolve. Consume Likeness is a rare from the Limited Edition Legends
of the Necronomicon. Devolution is a common from the Limited Edition
Cthulhu Rising.
* Of Course I'm Seeking Everlasting Life - Remortification is a Skull
icon Spell. It belongs in a Tome with the Skull Icon. Sound
familiar? This is the kind of Tome required for that most hated of
Adventures, Seeking Everlasting Life 1. As if you needed another
reason to play it. If you're using Letter from a Friend (because it
costs no Sanity to play and is in English) as your Tome with the
Skull icon for Seeking Everlasting Life 1, and you expect Letter
from a Friend to hold the Resurrection Spell, add the Algol Event to
your deck. Algol increases the capacity of Tomes by 1.
COUNTER STRATEGIES
==================
* Listen to the Minstrel's Music - Lute of Oonai will cancel the
casting of Remortification on you by another player. The special
effect box of Lute of Oonai limits it to Spells cast by an opponent
on you, so you may not use it to cancel your own Remortification
that you have cast by mistake. The Lute of Oonai is buried after
use. Lute of Oonai is a Dreamlands edition uncommon, unique card.
* You Hear Those Chimes, Too, Don't You? - It costs two Sanity to
play, but unlike the Lute of Oonai, Chime of Tezchaptl remains in
play after canceling the Spell. It may also be used to cancel your
own cast of Remortification, if you Just Cast Remortification on
your prior turn in the Spell & Artifact Use phase of Combat. Unlike
when a Spell is canceled by Yithian Mental Contact, the player
casting the Spell does not regain the Sanity norq is the Spell
buried. This is a Limited Edition Starter set rare card.
* I Cannot Forget Carcosa - Cast the Yellow Sign Spell Song of Hastur
and one random spell held in a Tome or Ally is buried. When Waning
Moon is in play, a random Tome is buried instead of a Spell. Maybe
you'll get lucky. Maybe the Investigator has only one Spell:
Remortification. This is a rare card from the Limited Edition
Cthulhu Rising.
* You're Where? - The Cthulhu Statuette can move an opponent's
remortified Ally to the Ally area, where it becomes nondefending and
ineffective, or direct it against another opponent. An Ally who has
been moved to defend against another player's Threat will at the end
of the Combat attack that player, not you.
* Ghouls, Ghasts, and Vampires - Monsters that bypass Allies don't
bury those Allies. Mythos has several invisible Monsters that negate
the potential of Remortification by bypassing Allies: Vampires, Son
of Yog-Sothoth, Good Fowler's Ghost, Minion of Karakal (which also
buries an Artifact), the Colour Out of Space. Several other Monsters
are Invisible under special conditions, and several Spells make
invisible Monsters or Allies who can be committed to the Threat.
* Cut Out Their Tongues - Okay, the remortified Allies will attack
me. There's nothing I can do about that. But instead of being
buried, that Ally will be discarded. If a player is going to defend
with Allies, welcome the attack with Command the Bloody Tongue, a
spell which causes an Ally to be discarded instead of buried. Sign
of Barzai, Wrack, Pipes of Madness, Nyhargo Dirge, Lassitude of
Phein all can bury or flip Allies to prevent them from participating
in Combat. Command the Bloody Tongue is an unlimited card from the
Mythos Standard Game Set.
* They've Been Taken Where? By What? - If you haven't Command the
Bloody Tongue, the Limited Edition Nightgaunts also cause Allies
that would have buried to be discarded. An opponent with
Remortification in a Tome is likely to put up Allies to defend. Now
you know at whom to direct your Nightgaunts. Nightgaunts is a
Limited Edition common.
* What's That's Buzzing I Hear? - Each Insect from Shaggai that
survives the Cosmic Battle devours (buries) one Spell chosen by the
player of the Insect from those Spells held in Tomes (not in Allies)
by the opponent at whom the threat was directed. Unfortunately,
Insects are weak Monsters, easily defeated. If you rely on Insects
to destroy spells, try to protect them by playing them with stronger
Monsters. Insects do not bury Spells when summoned to attack by Dust
of Suleiman (Mythos Standard Game Set; Folk) or Circles of Thaol
(Limited Edition; Water) because when summoned to attack there is no
Cosmic Battle. This is an unlimited card from the Mythos Standard
Game Set. Each set has two, one in the corrupt deck and one in the
steadfast deck.
* His Brother Looked More Like His Father Than He Did - Wilbur
Whateley, who stole the Necronomicon from the Miskatonic University
Orne Library in "The Dunwich Horror," is the all-purpose solution to
spells you don't like. His special effect box reads "Use Wilbur to
steal (cause it to be Buried) a Tome from your opponent Then Bury
Wilbur." If you play Wilbur Whateley to your Investigator's Ally
area as your turn, Wilbur may still be in play when next your turn
comes around. Because all of your opponents will have Tomes, unless
they have designed decks around omitting Tomes, every opponent will
try to bury Wilbur Whateley by using one of the several Events that
bury Allies. The best time to play Wilbur Whateley as an Ally is in
Combat, by means of the Keenness of Two Alike Spell
If you're playing in the New AEon dimension, Wilbur may be played at
the J. Edgar Hoover Building at the cost of one Sanity and the use
of the gate. If Wilbur is buried in your Story Deck, he may be
retrieved by Consume Likeness, Resurrection, or Shaggai Mental
Possession. If another player has Wilbur in play, use Dominate (see
the errata for this card) to convert one of your own Allies into
Wilbur.. Wilbur Whateley is an uncommon card from the Limited
Edition Expeditions of Miskatonic University.
* You Drank the Water? - If a player relies upon Allies for attack &
defense bury or flip those Allies with Dysentery, Typhoid, or
Influenza. Influenza is a Limited Edition Starter common
card. Typhoid is a Limited Edition Starter uncommon card. Dysentery
is an unlimited card from the Mythos Standard Game Set.
* Turn That Darn Thing OFF - Televison. It's hypnotic. Need I say
more? Television is a New AEon common.
* I Love My Friends - Everyone needs Allies, and Investigators with
Monophobia (lose 1 point of Sanity each time you lose an Ally) need
Allies more than others. An opponent won't be able to risk a strong
defense followed by a remortified attack when Monophobia imposes an
additional Sanity loss. Monophobia is a Limited Edition Starter
common card.
* Timing is Everything - A large Mythos deck is your best friend.
Don't attack an opponent with Remortification until you're certain
that your opponent is about to play an Adventure. Then encourage
your opponent to put up lots of Allies in defense by placing strong,
Sanity-costing Monsters in your Threat and by casting Spells such as
Black Binding. An Ally buried in the opponent's Story Deck will be
reshuffled into the Mythos deck after an Adventure is played. An
Ally in the Mythos Deck can't defend in the next Combat and won't be
available to complete an Adventure until drawn again from the Mythos
Deck.
TOMES
=====
The following list of Tomes are those which have the Skull icon. This
list is correct through the New AEon edition of Mythos.
* Book of Eibon (Atlantean); Common from Cthulhu Rising
* Book of Eibon (English); Common from Legends of the Necronomicon
* Book of Eibon (Hyperborean); Uncommon from Cthulhu Rising
* Cultes Des Goules (French); Common from Limited Edition Starter
* Kitab Al Azif (Arabic); Uncommon from Legends of the Necronomicon
* Letter From a Friend (English); Unlimited from Mythos Standard Game
Set Steadfast
* Liber Ivonis (Latin); Common from Expeditions of Miskatonic University
* Livre d'Ivon (French); Uncommon from Legends of the Necronomicon
* Necronomicon (Latin); Uncommon from Expeditions of Miskatonic University
* R'lyeh Text (Atlantean); Common from Cthulhu Rising
* R'lyeh Text (Chinese); Rare from Legends of the Necronomicon
* Unaussprechlichen Kulten (German); Common from Limited Edition Starter
--
