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Chaosium Digest Volume 27 Number 05
Chaosium Digest Volume 27, Number 5
Date: Sunday, January 10, 1999
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
The Card Files: Instability in the Mythos (Guy Hail) MYTHOS
Editor's Note: Welcome all to this year's first edition of the Chaosium
Digest and the first edition under her new editor. I'd like to thank those
who've offered me their assistance, especially Paul Franklin for his help
with editing this issue's Mythos article.
We need to keep those submissions coming. This issue's article is the only
one I've received to date. Send those to me, John W. Thompson, at
gobackstage@prodigy.net with a note in the subject line that it is a Digest
submission. Thanks in advance for the help.
Announcements: If you plan on being at Gen Con and/or Origins this year,
Chaosium could use your help. If you would like to volunteer your skills as
a GM, email Dustin Wright (dustin@chaosium.com).
--------------------
The Card Files:
Instability in the Mythos
by Guy Hail
The Cards
Name: Instability in the Mythos
Set: Limited Edition
Type: Event
Dimension: Any Dimension
Attribute: Affects Opponent's Threat
Sanity: No Sanity Cost
Artist: Tom Sullivan
Artist: Lee Gibbons
Rarity: Common
Special Effect Box (Sullivan) If the target Threat contains more than
three cards, randomly choose two cards and add them to your Threat as if
you summoned them (place crosswise). Bury them in your opponent's Story
Deck at the end of Combat. Then, Bury this card.
Special Effect Box (Gibbons) If the target Threat contains more than
three cards, including any Great Old One or Outer Gods, randomly Discard
three. Then, Bury this card.
Clarifications
In play the two different Instability in the Mythos cards are
distinguished by artist. The Instability in the Mythos card that
discards Monsters from a threat is the Gibbons Instability and the
Instability in the Mythos card that moves Monsters to your threat is the
Sullivan Instability.
What is a card? Both versions of Instability in the Mythos affect a
threat of three or more cards. For most game purposes, when any
artifact, tome, or spell joins to an Ally or Monster in play, the joined
cards is treated as one card. These purposes include both versions of
Instability in the Mythos. That is, when playing a Serpent People
Monster (Limited Edition) to your threat joined with a Weapon at an
Artifact+Gate Location, you should announce that you're playing one card
to your threat. Similarly, when an Ally is moved to the threat to
temporarily become a Monster, that Ally counts as one card no matter how
many Artifacts, Spells, or Tomes are joined to it.
Brian, Jeremy, and Andy are playing Mythos with Morgan. Brian has two
Limited Edition Serpent People in his Threat. Each is armed with a
Tommygun. Jeremy has four Insect from Shaggai in his Threat. Andy's
Threat contains Ghatanathoa, Gnoph Keh, one Servitor of the Outer Gods,
and Wilbur Whately armed with (joined to) Shotgun, and who is in Andy's
Threat because Jeremy gave Wilbur the Innsmouth Look. Morgan wants to
play Instability in the Mythos (Gibbons). She first tries to play it on
Brian, but he insists his Threat has only two cards in it. He's correct.
But Morgan will remember to check during Combat, because she's
suspicious. Then she tries to play Instability in the Mythos on Jeremy.
It will discard three of Jeremy's cards, but he tells her she's not the
target of his Threat and urges her to use it on Andy. Andy is
understandably upset, because Morgan takes Jeremy's advice and targets
Andy's Threat with Instability in the Mythos. Andy sets aside Shotgun
(everyone knows it was Wilbur's Weapon), then shuffles his cards. Morgan
draws one card of the four (Servitor of the Outer Gods), which Andy
returns to his Threat, unexamined by the other players. Ghatanathoa,
Gnoph Keh, and Wilbur Whately and Shotgun are all discarded.
Questions
Q: Do Great Old Ones & Outer Gods count as Monsters in the threat?
A: Yes, although only the Gibbons Instability mentions them by name. A
Great Old One or Outer God can be moved to your Threat by play of the
Sullivan Instability or discarded by play of the Gibbons Instability.
Q: If a Great Old One or Outer God is moved to my Threat by the
Sullivan Instability, is it buried at the end of the Combat or is it
rotated at the end of the Round?
A: The Great Old One or Outer God is buried in its original player's
Story Deck at the end of Combat. Both the rulebook and the card describe
what to do the Great Old One. Play of the card takes precedence.
Q: If the target Threat contains a Great Old One or Outer God, my Threat
already contains a Great Old One or Outer God, and I play the Sullivan
Instability, do I put both Great Old One or Outer God cards in my Threat?
A: No. A Threat may hold only one Great Old One or Outer God at a time.
You may play the Sullivan Instability, but if it moves your opponent's
Great Old One or Outer God to your Threat, your Great Old One or Outer
God is buried immediately. For example, if you have Hastur in your
Threat and you play the Sullivan Instability on an opponent whose Threat
contains Nyarlathotep. If Nyarlathotep is one of the cards moved to your
Threat, you must bury Hastur then move Nyarlathotep to your Threat.
Q: May I play Instability in the Mythos on an opponent whose Threat
contains only one or two Monster cards to prevent play of additional
Monsters?
A: No. The special effect of both Instability in the Mythos cards is
clear: the target Threat must contain more than three cards.
Q: Does play of Instability in the Mythos on me prevent me from adding
more Monsters to my Threat?
A: No. If you've played four Deep One cards to your Threat, then lost
three to the Instability, you may play additional Monsters to your
Threat (following the normal rules for playing Monsters). Instability in
the Mythos does not prevent your Threat from increasing. When the card
is played its effect is calculated, then it's done.
Q: If I my Monsters are moved to another player's Threat by the Sullivan
Instability in the Mythos, can that player examine them?
A: Yes. If your Monsters are discarded by the Gibbons Instability in the
Mythos, then all players may examine them.
Strategies
He got the Look. If your Threat has no cards in it and an opponent's
Threat has three cards in it, and you'd like to use Instability in the
Mythos to even the odds, target Innsmouth Look at the opponent's Ally,
preferably one with a weapon or a valuable artifact. (My favorite target
is Abigail Winthrop Marsh armed with Dynamite, or any of the many
Monsters that have been played as Allies in the New Aeon.) Once the Ally
becomes the fourth card in an opponent's Threat, then that Threat can be
the target of Instability in the Mythos. Body Warping of Gorgoroth also
moves Allies to the Threat.
He got the Look. Then he retired. Many Adventures require an Ally by
name: Henry W Akeley in Whispers in Darkness; Tukor in Lender Be; Old
Man Whateley in The Dunwhich Horror. It's bad enough when Innsmouth Look
puts Old Man Whateley in your Threat where he can't be used to complete
an Adventure, it's doubly bad when your opponent uses Create Stasis to
keep Old Man Whateley in your Threat where he'll never be able to
complete an Adventure. If an opponent has one or two Monsters already in
it, use of Innsmouth Look can increase the number of cards to unstable
levels. Two Monsters held over by Create Statsis + Two Allies
transformed into Monsters by Innsmouth Look make a Threat vulnerable to
Instability in the Mythos.
He's Raising an Army of the Dead. If your opponent favors the
multiply-joining Living Dead Monsters (Zombies, Vampires, Skeletons),
play of Instability in the Mythos will defeat them faster than a stake
through the heart. Ditto for the Servants of the Deep Combination
(Mother Hydra, Father Dagon, Deep One, Shoggoth).
Always Expect the Unexpected The New Aeon Unexpected Calamity causes the
Combat round to be skipped. Two consecutive plays of Unexpected Calamity
can trap a large number of Monsters in an opponent's Threat. Alas, this
card is a rare and it's good, so don't expect to acquire one in trade.
Counter-Strategies
Reduce the Size of Your Threat If your Threat has three or fewer cards
in it, you can't be the target of Instability in the Mythos. There
aren't many ways to voluntarily reduce the size of your Threat, but a
short visit to Harbor of the Black Galley can reduce the size of your
Threat and cause an opponent to lose an Ally or two. The attribute of
Sign of Eibon reads "affects 1 threat" so it may be used to
reduce the number of cards in your own threat. Exorcism or Blasphemous
Obeisance won't work because they may be used only during Combat.
Yes, they're Enchanted Weapons Because Instability in the Mythos is an
Event, play of the card requires one turn. In Combat Events may not be
played. Therefore, avoid the effects of Instability in the Mythos by
playing cards to your Threat during combat. An Ally armed with Enchanted
Weapons (or Bless'd Weapons or who has been the target of Become
Spectral Hunter) may be moved to Threat. Create Gate can place one
additional Monster in your Threat. Use of the control half of a Summon &
Control spell (Dust of Suleiman, Embody Charnel Odor of Xura, Angles of
Tagh Clatur, etc.) can move another player's cards to your Threat.
Threat?! I Don't Want to Threaten You If your opponents use Instability
in the Mythos, you may still play Adventures that require Monsters by
using the Monsters as Travel Events. Monsters used as Travel Events
never enter your Threat; they cannot be discarded or turned against you
by Instability in the Mythos.
Ring! Ring! Ring! Many of the most damaging uses of Instability in the
Mythos must be combined with another card. The Create Stasis +
Instability in the Mythos combination is vulnerable to Chime of Tezchaptl.
We Are in Control Yes, the Yithians are in control of everything.
Really. Prove it by playing Yithian Mental Contact. Monsters affected by
Instability in the Mythos are returned to your Threat. If your opponents
paid attention, they checked what those Monsters were when the cards
were moved to your Discard deck. Revealing your Threat won't be a
surprise, but it will still do damage.
Deck
A deck built around Instability in the Mythos should encourage opponents
to play Monsters in large, joining combinations. Unless you can subtly
influence your opponents' deck-building, this may not be possible; but
if your opponents have Monsters, you can tempt them into playing them
all at once by placing Cthulhu in play or by casting Grasp of Cthulhu at
the beginning of the round. Card titles marked with an asterisk were
previously listed to complete a prior adventure; do not add an
additional copy when a card title is marked with an asterisk.
The Interesting Shop (+5/+2, 10/10 cards)
Four different City Locations with the Artifact, Tome, or Artifact &
Tome Attributes
Church of Starry Wisdom (multiuse Gate when Aldebaran is in play)
Harvard University Houghton Library (+1 Sanity)
Providence Historical Society
Robert Blake's Study
Silver Twilight Lodge (multiuse Gate at Night) x2
An Artifact or Tome that costs Sanity
R'lyeh Disk (Left Fragment)
R'lyeh Disk (Right Fragment)
R'lyeh Disk (Top Fragment)
The Cruise (+5/+2, 13/23 cards)
City-Water Location
The Docks (recover buried artifacts, +1 Sanity)
Boston Globe
Travel by Sea
Mauretania (Tome Location) x2
South Pacific Location
Easter Island
Retoka
Steadfast Chief
Wakalea (extend Cthulhu's stay) x2
Second Travel by Sea
*Mauretania
Titanic (bury a phobia)
Second City
Brown University John Hay Library (+1 Sanity)
*Providence Historical Society
Storm
Blizzard (no Travel by Land)
Downpour (no fast City travel)
Questionable Judgement (+5/+1, 11/34 cards)
Library
*Brown University John Hay Library
*Harvard University Houghton Library
Tome
Eltdown Shards (protection from Yithian Mental Contact)
Zanthu Tablets, A Conjectural Translation (protection from Spells &
Artifacts)
City-Gate Location
*Silver Twilight Lodge
Second City-Gate Location
*Church of Starry Wisdom
*Robert Blake's Study
Monster
Cthulhu
Spell
Barrier of Seol Seril (Monsters don't bypass)
Fly (may travel to & from islands with this spell)
Grasp of Cthulhu (if you have one)
Powder of Ibn Ghazi (no Invisible Monsters)
Corrupt Cultist
Dr Allen (knows Glyphs; can know one Spell)
Gomes (lowers minimum)
John Scott (can know one Spell)
Knee Deep in Doom (+5/+1, 5/39 cards)
Star-Spawn of Cthulhu x4
Extras (15/54 cards)
George Gammel Angell (knows Glyphs)
K J Hooper (strong Ally with good special effect)
Thomas Malone (strong Ally with good special effect)
William Channing Webb (knows Glyphs)
Shining Trapezohedron (to play Cthulhu)
Instability in the Mythos x2
Waxing Moon (to play Cthulhu) x2
Yithian Mental Contact
Bellevue Hospital
Conanicut Island Hospital
Namquit Point (recover Artifacts)
Giant Albino Penguins x2
Plant the suspicion that your threat is filled with three or four
Star-Spawn of Cthulhu by playing the Giant Albino Penguins joined to one
or two Star-Spawn of Cthulhu. When Cthulhu is in play, your opponents
will respond with all their Monsters. Then play Instability in the Mythos.
Investigator
Because you'll want to hold several cards in your hand while trying to
complete Adventures, play Tomes, or ambush your opponents, it's best to
choose an Investigator with a minimum of five or six, but remember to
use Gomes's power near the end of the game: pass early, discard most of
your cards while seeking the one or two your need.
Play
If you have one or more fragments of the R'lyeh Disk in play, cast
Barrier of Seol Seril if necessary. Your opponent's Monsters are
unlikely to defeat your Star-Spawn of Cthulhu, and you don't want to
accidentally drive an opponent insane, as can happen when one Monster
by-passes.
If your hand contains a Location with a Gate, and you don't immediately
need it nor can you hold it, then discard it. You may need it later to
play your Monsters. A discarded card returns to your hand after
reshuffling. A card in your Story Deck, played even when you didn't need
it, does not return.
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