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Chaosium Digest Volume 24 Number 05
Chaosium Digest Volume 24, Number 5
Date: Sunday, March 15, 1998
Number: 3 of 3
Contents:
Don't Let Them Interfere (Guy Hail) MYTHOS
Power Beyond Your Wildest Dreams (Guy Hail) MYTHOS
CF: Gate of Deeper Slumber (Robin Wardle) MYTHOS
--------------------
From: <GRHail@aol.com>
Subject: Don't Let Them Interfere
System: Mythos
Don't Let Them Interfere
While it was always possible to exploit the advantages of casting
Spells and using Artifacts in the Combat phase of a turn, cards in the
New AEon edition of Mythos provide the clearest advantages yet. In
Combat a player may use any Artifact or Spell capable of being used in
the Combat phase (the effects of some spells aren't applicable in
combat -- Grasp of Cthulhu, for example; the special effects of others
forbid their use in combat). If one's deck holds The Time Machine,
Anti-Gravity Harness, or the Sphere of Nath, use the artifact in
Combat when opponents are unable to play Yithian Mental Contact or
take other measures to mitigate the card's effect.
The Spell Use & Artifact Use phase of combat permits rapid play of
cards that, were those cards played as a turn, would allow and
encourage opponents to interfere with their play. For example,
travelling to a Sanitarium or to another region. Instead of using a
player-turn to travel to a distant region and back to fulfill an
adventure requirement (for example, the two different region
requirement of The Strange Case of Charles Fort or the Lair
requirement of Carter's Quest), use the non-summoning Song of the
Stellar Larvae Spell, which despite its name permits the use of
several Monsters as travel Events. With two copies of this Spell it is
possible to travel to almost anywhere (the Monsters have different
restrictions on their travel abilities) and to return while one's
opponents, who aren't prepared to use Artifacts or Spells, sit
stunned.
Other spells very useful in Spell Use phase of Combat: Chant of Thoth,
Create Time Warp, Darkness of the Void, Devolution, Call the Unnamed
One, Chronoportation, Fly, Keenness of Two Alike, and Monatomic
Translocation (to name a few) can be used to move to a new Location,
change day to night, add an Ally, or play a Monster as an Ally, and
the only thing one's opponents can do about it is use Chime of
Tzechaptl, a rare card found only in the Limited Edition that permits
the cancellation of a just cast spell! (Note the similar B-Movie
Script can't be used because it is a Tome, and there is no Tome use
phase of Combat.)
In one game I stayed at Yuggoth for several turns. Yuggoth's special
effect is to permit the addition to one's hand of two cards from one's
Mythos deck. Everyone had thought I'd gone mad: I'd have to discard
those cards at the end of the Round. And I would have discarded those
cards, except I drew two Sanitariums, both of which required the loss
of a turn, and several Allies that I'd like to have in play. During
Combat, I used my Spells in play (including Song of the Stellar
Larvae, Monatomic Translocation, and Keeness of Two Alike) to travel
via Byakhee to both Sanitariums consecutively, play an Ally at the
Sanitarium in Paris, then use Monatomic to move to a third
Location. Not only did I rapidly gain Sanity (though I'd lose my first
two turns in the next round), but because I aimed to complete the
Knee-Deep in Doom adventure, through use of Song of the Stellar
Larvae, I put eight points of Monsters into my Story Deck.
Don't forget to use the special effects of Artifacts, Allies, or Tomes
in Combat, and always, Sanity permitting, cast as many spells as
possible.
* * *
G R Hail
grhail@aol.com
--------------------
From: <GRHail@aol.com>
Subject: Power Beyond Your Wildest Dream
System: Mythos
Power Beyond Your Wildest Dream
Remortification
The Remortification Spell is nearly the most powerful Spell in the
Limited Edition Mythos. Trade for this card if you haven't one. Here
are its vital statistics:
Sanity Cost: -2
Spell Type: Skull (formerly Death)
Edition: Legends of the Necronomicon
Artist: Michael Kellner
Attribute: Affects Target Investigator's Allies
Special Effect: Just after Combat is concluded,
all Allies lost during this Round's Combat rise
against the Investigator whose Threat caused their
demise. That Investigator may use his or her Allies
in defense.
The special effect seems straight forward enough. If I cast
Remortification on myself, then in combat if a Monster causes Raymond
Legrasse to be buried, before he is buried Raymond Legrasse attacks
the Investigator whose threat causes him to be buried. Example:
Libby: I aim my threat at you.
Guy: I defend with Raymond Legrasse.
Guy: I cast Remortification on myself.
Libby: It's a Deep One (value 1)
Guy: I wasted two points. Ray (value 3) is
still buried. But: before he's buried he
attack you with a three-point attack.
Libby: I lose three Sanity.
Now for some clarity. While a player may use Allies to defend against
the Remortified Allies, only those Allies selected to defend in the
ally commit phase of combat may do so! Furthermore, these allies
committed earlier must have survived combat themselves and have been
comitted to defend against an attack by the player who owns the
Remortified Allies. The commit ally phase of combat occurs before the
spell & artifact use phase, thus players who suspect Remortification
may be used must commit their allies prior to the use of the spell.
For example, if I commit an Ray Stuckey to defend against an attack
from John, but Libby's Remortified Allies attack me, Ray Stuckey can't
defend against Libby's Remortified Allies.
Another surprise: if a Monster is in play as an Ally (for example, a
Mi-Go), or if an Artifact is in play as an Ally (for example, Tank),
then these unnatural Allies, if scheduled to be buried as part of
combat, may be Remortified and attack the Investigator whose threat
they defended against! Their natural card type as Monster or Artifact
does not return until the card is buried in the Story Deck.
Remortification has a side effect. The target is all of an
Investigator's Allies, not a particular subset of them committed to
defend against a player's directed threats. If I have three allies in
defense against three different players, all three players may be
attacked by my allies, each ally attacking the Investigator whose
threat caused my ally to be buried.
Let's You & Him Fight: Remortificaton can target any Investigator, not
just yourself. If Libby is using her Deep One-Father Dagon-Mother
Hydra combination to attack John, and John is defending with Raymond
LeGrasse & Ray Stucky, I may cast Remortification on John. When
Libby's Monsters cause Raymond LeGrasse & Ray Stucky to be buried,
Remortification causes these two Allies to attack Libby prior to their
burial. The trick: if somone defends with a large number of Allies
against a Threat, those Allies can be involuntarily used to lower the
Sanity of the player owning the Threat, perhaps to the point of
Insanity! And it only costs the player casting Remortification two
points of Sanity.
GRHAIL@AOL.COM
--------------------
From: Robin Wardle <r.wardle@sheffield.ac.uk>
Subject: CF: Gate of Deeper Slumber
System: Mythos
** THE CARD FILES: GATE OF DEEPER SLUMBER **
by Robin Wardle
THE CARD
========
Name: Gate of Deeper Slumber
Set: Mythos Dreamlands
Type: Location
Region: The West
Subregion: Oukranos Wilds
Location Attributes: Gate, Country, Site
Public Attributes: Forest, Inside
Sanity Gain/Loss: +1
Dimension: Dreamlands
Special Effect Box: You may use this Gate more than once but you must
Flip a Dreamer Ally face-down for each subsequent use.
THE SOURCE
==========
"So asking a formal blessing of the priests and thinking shrewdly on
his course, he boldly descended the seven hundred steps to the Gate of
Deeper Slumber and set out through the Enchanted Wood."
-The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, H.P. Lovecraft
CLARIFICATIONS
==============
The Gate can be used more than once, as long as an Ally with the
Dreamer Attribute is flipped face-down for each use after the
first. The following Allies have the Dreamer attribute: Howard
Lovecraft (Dreamlands), Randolph Carter (Dreamlands and Limited),
Captain of the White Ship, Lin Carter, Basil Elton, and Etienne
Laurent de Marigny. All the Allies with the Dreamer Attribute *and*
the Dreamlands Attribute can easily be played in the West, where the
Gate of Deeper Slumber is situated.
QUESTIONS
=========
Q: Do I need to flip a Dreamer Ally every time I use the gate?
A: You can use the Gate once without flipping a Dreamer Ally face-down.
You may then re-use the gate any number of times, but must flip
a Dreamer Ally face-down each time you re-use it.
Q: Do I receive the +1 SAN bonus every time I use the gate, just as I
lose one SAN for every use of other reusable Gates, such as 197 E.
Pickman St.?
A: No. You receive +1 SAN when you arrive at the Location. The cost of
reusing the Gate at the Gate of Deeper Slumber is flipping a Dreamer
Ally face-down.
Q: Does the Gate of Deeper Slumber count as a Gate for certain Adventure
requirements?
A: Yes, but only because it actually has a Gate swirl, not because it
has the word `Gate' in the title. Partial titles don't count for
Adventure requirements; this is in the FAQ. If the Location somehow
loses the Gate Attribute (as your Current Location) it does not
satisfy the Adventure Gate requirement.
STRATEGIES
==========
* Monster, Monster, Monster! - Because Allies can be flipped face-up
as a Turn, having even one Ally with the Dreamer Attribute in play
may be enough to allow the play of all Monsters in your hand during
that round. Flipping an Ally face-up as a Turn and then re-using the
Gate is as efficient as moving to a new Location with an unused Gate
if you have no fast Travel Events (such as Zebra).
* Card Advantage - Although one Ally with the Dreamer Attribute is
enough to allow multiple use of this Gate, being able to flip
multiple Allies to reuse the Gate many times is the preferred way of
doing it. Being able to achieve this just once in a game might be
enough to clear your hand of cards, giving you the edge over your
opponents. From a defensive point of view, the Gate of Deeper
Slumber is an Inside Country Location which avoids the main Phobia
afflicting decks with Country Locations, Agoraphobia.
* Knee Deep in Doom - A reusable gate which has a 1 SAN *gain*> to
visit is ideal for Knee-Deep in Doom. The 1 SAN gain offsets the
cost of one monster played at the gate and the gate re-use penalty
does not cost any extra SAN, unlike all Waking World Locations
except for Stonehenge. So how easy is it to find Dreamer Allies in
order to make free use of the Gate? Howard Lovecraft and Randolph
Carter are very easy to play in Oukranos Wilds; The Captain of the
White Ship can be played in most of the rest of The West. These
three Allies are staple inclusions in many Dreamlands decks which
makes the reuse of the Gate almost effortless. Any of the other
Allies which can be played in Oukranos Wilds (including Allies
playable at Sites and Country Locations) can easily be given the
Dreamer Attribute using the Wine of Pnoth, which also provides a +1
SAN bonus, further reducing the cost of playing those expensive
Knee-Deep in Doom Monsters.
* The Great Menagerie - This Adventure becomes very much easier if The
Gate of Deeper Slumber is used as one of the prime sites for playing
Monsters. In addition to the Monster requirements, this Adventure
also requires an Adventurer or Explorer. In Dreamlands, this
requirement is met by Iranon the Explorer (Any Site) and The Hunter
(Any Country), both playable at The Gate of Deeper Slumber (a
Country Site). Play Joined with Randolph Carter and equip them with
Wines of Pnoth, and most of the Monsters for this Adventure could be
played in one Round. The only disadvantage to using the Gate of
Deeper Slumber in The Great Menagerie is that it is not an Outside
Location and as such, it is probably not worth including more than
two copies in a deck using this Adventure.
* The Hunter - The Special Ability of The Hunter allows him to be
buried to eliminate the SAN cost of playing any one Monster to the
Threat. The cost of playing all those Monsters for Knee-Deep in Doom
or The Great Menagerie is reduced even more!
* West is Best - If you're going to base all or part of a deck's
strategy around The Gate of Deeper Slumber, it's worth thinking
about going the whole way and using other locations in Oukranos
Wilds and The West. It's commonly assumed that Country Regions are
too slow and should be avoided, but Oukranos Wilds has the
much-overlooked Zoog Chieftain to speed up movement, and Zebras can
allow you to really fly through the deck. Many of the West Locations
give +1 SAN, reducing the need for those dangerous card-discarding
Temples, and many also have the Gate Attribute. Lastly, Oukranos
wilds is home to the excellent Old Woman of the Enchanted Wood, a
superbly annoying discard card.
* Chorazin - One of the main problems with GOOs is that you must use a
Gate to play them. It's often a dilemma whether to play the GOO or a
defensive Monster when faced with large opposing Threats; playing
the GOO might leave you open to attack, while playing the monster
uses up your Gate (which may be very specific to the GOO) and wastes
the opportunity. The Gate of Deeper Slumber allows you to play both,
one after the other, as long as you've a Dreamer Ally. Regrettably,
the only GOO requiring a specific location playable at the Gate of
Deeper Slumber is Chorazin (Dreamlands Site / Lunar Eclipse). Where
might playing Chorazin be useful then? That's right, The Great
Menagerie; being able to use a GOO as one of the Monster subtypes is
very helpful, and can provide quite a surprise.
COUNTER STRATEGIES
==================
The best strategies to use against (ab)use of The Gate of Deeper
Slumber are anti-Location strategies, anti-Ally strategies, and
generic anti-Monster strategies.
* Anti-Location Strategies - Wave of Oblivion, Green Mist of Doom,
Cthulhu Rising (although this latter attack will only bury
it). These discard methods may be a bit extreme, as The Gate is not
needed for any Dreamlands Adventures and is just an efficient
Monster producer, so Burying will be just as effective. Townsfolk
Riot will drive them away. Yithian Mental Contact is *not* a good
idea, as your opponent may be waiting for that final Monster to
enter his or her Story Deck ... playing YMC just as your opponent
arrives at the Location is ok though. Two cards from New Aeon which
are particularly effective against this multiple-use Gate are Media
Hyperbole and Serial Killer, both of which are playable in any
Dimension.
* Anti-Ally Strategies - If your opponent has no Dreamer Allies, he or
she cannot re-use the gate. Use Ally Buriers such as Harney Reginald
Opens Fire, or steal the Wines of Pnoth with Mi-Go, Thieves in Your
Attic, or similar. Epidemics are an especially efficient method of
slowing down this strategy, particularly Dysentery. Television (from
New Aeon) will flip face-down all allies and keep them there; the
Gate of Deeper Slumber is not a Tome location, so a Day event or the
end of the Round is necessary to free them up again. All usual
methods such as Black Binding will work too, but beware that decks
using The Great Menagerie and Knee-Deep in Doom will usually put out
a decent Threat so Defending Allies might never be affected (and
Bypassing Monsters might be suicidal); in this instance New Aeon
cards such as Fragmentation Grenade and Hitman from Medellin are
useful.
* Anti-Monster Strategies - Use all those surplus Allies and Monsters
to your advantage. The Innsmouth Look might just tip the size of the
Threat into Instability in the Mythos territory, a situation fairly
likely if Knee-Deep in Doom is being played. Ill Omen is another
solution to this problem; discarded Monsters will really slow such a
deck down.
--
