Chaosium Digest Volume 16, Number 5 Date: Sunday, September 29, 1996 Number: 2 of 2 Contents: C&S: Kitab Al-Azif (Shannon Appel) MYTHOS C&S: Yithian Mental Contact (Shannon Appel) MYTHOS -------------------- From: appel@erzo.org (Shannon Appel) Subject: C&S: The Kitab Al-Azif System: Mythos ** CLARIFICATIONS & STRATEGIES: THE KITAB AL-AZIF ** THE CARD -------- Name: Kitab Al-Azif Type: Tome Value: 4 Language: Arabic Icons: Cthulhu, Death, Eye, Yellow Sign San: -4 Unique: Yes Special Effect Box: While this card is in play, you may choose to play Monster cards face-up as Allies, or Allies face-down as Monsters, becoming part of your Threat. CLARIFICATIONS -------------- The Kitab Al-Azif does not change how you bring Allies and Monsters into play. It only lets you choose where to put them after they have been brought into play by the normal methods. After bringing a Monster into play, by using a gate (or some other more esoteric method), you may choose to put it into your Ally area. This uses the gate, since playing a Monster normally requires one. After bringing an Ally into play (through the correct subregion, a train, a surprise meeting, etc), you may choose to put it into your Threat. This does not require a gate, since playing an Ally does not regularly. QUESTIONS --------- Q: Can I bring Joined Monsters into play as Allies? A: Yes. Monsters are played just as they normally would be. As you bring them into play, you simply decide to place them into your Ally area rather than your Threat. Q: Can Monsters in play as Allies be moved back to the Threat? A: Only by means through which Allies could normally join a Threat (ie, an Enchanted Weapon, The Innsmouth Look, certain Spells, etc). Q: Do Monsters in play as Allies count as Monsters for an Adventure? A: No. Any Monster in the Ally area loses the Monster Type and gains the Ally Type instead. (In general, a card changes Type whenever it moves from one in-play area to another.) Note that it still posesses its Subtype. Thus, Father Dagon will still count as a Greater Servitor (if an adventure calls for that specific subtype), but not as a Monster (for Knee Deep in Doom). The Monster regains its normal Type when it rejoins the Threat, or when it is buried (all cards revert to their natural state when buried). Q: Can a Monster use its Special Effects as an Ally? How about Attributes? A: This has been clarified in the MSGS rules (pg. 10-11): "Monster abilities provided in the special effects box are not available to Monsters played as Allies. Attributes in the title bar remain, but some (such as Invisible) will have no effect when the Monster is an Ally." The converse is also true (Allies don't get their special effect boxes when acting as Monsters). Q: Are Monsters played as Allies Corrupt or Steadfast? A: This is clarified in the MSGS rules (pg. 10): "Monsters played as Allies are always considered to be corrupt". Q: Can GOOs be played as Allies with the Kitab Al-Azif? A: Yes. However doing so is usually an exercise in futility since they have no values. The MSGS rules (pg. 8) offer the following clarification: "Allies that are reduced to a zero Card Value (via Spells or Events), or that have no listed value, are buried in your Story Deck immediately." Thus, unless you've managed to somehow give your GOO a value, it's going to be buried the second it hits the table. STRATEGIES ---------- * The Kitab Al-Azif, Knee Deep in Doom and Enchanted Weapons: This one takes a few different elements, but it's well worth the work (for Sheer Fun Value at the least). The premise is this: some of the best decks I've seen stack up all the requirements for several adventures, and then allow you to play multiple adventues in very short order. So, what you do is play out your first several adventures, the whole time using the Kitab to play Monsters as Allies, and handing them Enchanted Weapons as you are able. (Yes, your opponents will begin to sweat.) Play through your Adventures until you reach 15 points. Hopefully, you should have 20 points of Monsters laid out as Allies by then, all equipped with Enchanted Weapons. After playing that Adventure that brought you up to 15, immediately Pass, Pass. Commit all your Enchanted Weapon Monsters to your Threat during the "Allies Defend" phase. Assuming you don't win outright by killing your opponents, you should be able to play Knee Deep in Doom at the start of the next round. * Using the Kitab Al-Azif for Defense: Bashing people with Monsters can be quite fun, but it's not always the best way to actually win a game. The Kitab gives you an alternative. You can bring your big Monsters out, but use them solely for defense. If no one else is attacking, they'll hang around, and you'll always be ahead for defense in following rounds. * The Kitab Al-Azif and the Brotherhood of the Black Pharoah: A simple enough combo. One card and you're halfway to the Sanity requirements for this Adventure. And, it's darned easy to bring out an Arabic Tome in the Middle East. * The Kitab Al-Azif and Adventures Requiring Corrupt Allies: Certain Adventures require Corrupt Allies (eg, Secrets of the Silver Twilight, Seeking Everlasting Life I). By using the Kitab Al-Azif, you can temporarily choose to turn your Monsters (a requirement in nearly any deck) into Corrupt Allies if you are missing that Adventure requirement. * The Kitab Al-Azif and Call Power of Nyambe: "I bring this Joined set of Father Dagon, Mother Hydra and a Shoggoth into play as Allies using the Kitab Al-Azif" (cost: -4 San). "I cast Call Power of Nyambe on Father Dagon, Mother Hydra and the Shoggoth" (cost: -2 San; Total Cost: -6 San; Total gain: +13 San, for +7 San sum). Not bad for two turns of work. You can get not quite as impressive, but still nice results from summoning smaller critters. Note that Call Power of Nyambe can also be used to replace Enchanted Weapons in the first Strategy above (involving Kneep Deep in Doom). It's probably even more effective, since it doesn't freak opponents out and is a little faster. It's just not as fun. * The GOO Factor: Although GOOs usually get buried the second they come into play as Allies, this may occasionally be a good thing. If, for example, you wish to play an Adventure card right after playing the GOO, and still get the Sanity from it. Or, alternatively, if you're afraid your opponent might make better use of a GOO's special ability than you. Thus, the Kitab Al-Azif is a good addition to decks that require GOOs for Adventures, just in case. * Holding Spells: The Kitab Al-Azif can also be used to hold spells of a variety of types. COUNTER STRATEGIES ------------------ Although Kitab Al-Azif has the cool effect of turning Monsters into Allies, it also has the unfortunate detriment of turning Monsters into Allies. They now fall prey to all the Spells and other items which specifically hurt Ally cards. Two Spells in particular stand out for use against Kitabbed Monsters. All Monsters turned into Allies automatically are Corrupt. Thus, they are vulnerable to the Yellow Sign Spell, Devolution. Turning a Color Out of Space Ally into a Deep One is usually worth the price. Turning one into a Giant Albino Penguin is even better, since the Penguin has 0 value, and is immediately buried. The Yellow Sign Spell, Steal Life, can offer an even bigger win. Players tend to use the Kitab to play big Monsters as Allies. Typically, Greater Servitors and Independents. That means you might be able to Steal Life from 4, 5 or 6 point Allies, which is amazingly high. If an opponent plays his Color Out of Space, you can use Steal Life to get +4 Sanity ever turn, the equivalent of a Sanitarium. -------------------- From: appel@erzo.org (Shannon Appel) Subject: C&S: Yithian Mental Contact System: Mythos ** CLARIFICATIONS & STRATEGIES: YITHIAN MENTAL CONTACT ** THE CARD -------- Name: Yithian Mental Contact Type: Event Affects: Opponent's Card Play San: -1 Unique: Yes Special Effect Box: Your opponent changes his or her mind and Buries the card(s) that were just played or whose orientations were altered, except Adventure cards. Ignore any effects those card(s) might otherwise have had. CLARIFICATIONS -------------- Before any thing else, it's useful to note that Yithian Mental Contact is not an "instant". There are no "instants" in Mythos. Yithian Mental Contact is played on your next Turn after something bad has happened (or on your next Turn after something good has happened, if you're perverse). It then retroactively undoes the effects. More on undoing effects in a bit, but first an examination (and clarification) of several of the phrases on the Card. Yithian Mental Contact starts off by saying "Your opponent changes his or her mind". This alludes to an important aspect of the card: it can only be played against a card play or an orientation change that a player specifically chose to take. If a player plays a card, flips a spell, rotates an artifact or walks to a location, you can Yithian Mental Contact that. You can not Yithian Mental Contact someone who was forced to change the orientation of a card by someone else. EXAMPLE: Meghan has Dysentery played against her. This MSGS Epidemic causes her to flip face-down all of her allies. This flipping of Allies was not an action she chose to do, and thus you can't Yithian Mental Contact it, and force Meghan to bury her allies. (You can, of course, Yithian Mental Contact the playing of Dysentery, but that's a totally different issue.) The bottom line is: Yithian Mental Contact is intended to stop an action that someone did on their turn, as long as it involved a card being played, or a card's orientation being changed. The phrase "Just Played" is very important, because it has some specific, legalistic meanings, namely: JUST PLAYED: A card played since your last Turn in the current Round that has not been affected by any other Card play. [Note: This is the official definition of Just Played, acting as errata on the definition in MSGS and older versions of the Mythos rules.] The "has not been affected by any other Card play" phrase is the only part of "Just Played" that needs any further clarification. If a card has been buried, flipped or discarded by another Card; taken by another player; or in some other way directly affected by other Card play, it is no longer considered Just Played. For example, if someone casts a spell to Control a Monster that had been Just Played, or if someone flips an Ally that had been Just Played, you may no longer Yithian Mental Contact it. Yithian Mental Contact also affects cards whose "orientations were altered". This is pretty straight forward, and mainly refers to spells, artifacts and allies that were flipped or rotated to achive a special effect. It also may refer to a location which has been rotated due to walking. It explicitly does not refer to gates which have been used [MSGS Rules, pg. 10: "As a reminder, rotate your top Location card so that it faces your opponent to indicate that the Gate has been used... [this] does not count as the 'orientation change' referred to in some card special effects"]. EXAMPLE: Austin uses the gate at his Current Location. He rotates that location, and brings a set of four joined Formless Spawn into his Threat. Meghan wisely decides to Yithian Mental Contact that action. Austin is forced to bury his four Spawn. He also returns his gate to its original unrotated orientation (since rotating the gate was an effect of card play), but does not bury it because the gate-use rotation is simply a reminder, not a real orientation change. In addition, burying is not an orientation change, thus freeing cards like the Sphere of Nath, which are buried to achieve a special effect, from being affected by Yithian Mental Contact when they are used. Finally, Yithian Mental Contact says: "Ignore any effects that those card(s) might otherwise have had". Anything that resulted directly from the original card being played is undone. This means, for a start, that any Sanity gained due to the card play is lost, and any Sanity lost due to the card play is gained back. If the Yithianed card buried an ally, it returns. If it caused some Event card to be buried (Night, Day, Storm), that Event returns. The split-second that a card hits the table, it may cause one or more things to occur. These are the things that are undone when Yithian Mental Contact is played. EXAMPLE: Meghan casts Summon/Control Greater Servitor, and summons a Star Spawn, which does Austin 5 point of damage. On his turn, Austin plays Yithian Mental Contact on Meghan. Meghan changed the orientation of her Summon/Control spell (by flipping it) and Just Played a Star Spawn. These cards are both buried. These cards had three other effects: the flipping of the spell cost Meghan one San, the summoning of the Star Spawn cost Meghan three San, and the attack of the Star Spawn cost Austin five San. The players each regain their lost Sanity. Note that Yithian Mental Contact is not a perfect time machine. Other players might have taken specific actions due to a Card which has been Yithianed. They have no opportunity to take their actions back. Only those actions which occurred the split-second the Yithianed card was played are undone. Such is the power of the Yithians. EXAMPLE: Brian plays Arkham Sanitarium. He flips the top card of his story deck, finds it is not a Monster, and gains 6 Sanity, bringing his total to 10. Austin casts his Summon/Control Greater Independent spell, summoning a Color Out of Space which does Brian 6 points of damage, dropping him back to 4. Meghan Yithians Brian's play of Arkham Sanitarium. He loses the 6 San he gained, and falls to 0 Sanity, immediately ending the game (he also replaces the card he had to flip back on top of his Story Deck, but that's pretty irrelevent given that the game is over). Meghan has the highest Adventure + Sanity total, and so wins. Austin would in fact have not attacked Brian had he not played Arkham Sanitarium, since it caused Meghan to win the game. Also note that Yithian Mental Contact might cause a sudden change in the Universe due to the reversal of that one card. These changes are dealt with at the moment Yithian Mental Contact is played, and are not looked at in any retroactive manner. EXAMPLE 1: Brian passes. Austin plays a card. Meghan plays In the Nick of Time, and another card. Brian passes. Austin Yithians Meghan's In the Nick of Time. She buries both it and the other card she played. The universe has changed, and there are now two passes in the current round, which immediately ends. (Why didn't Austin just pass? He wanted to get rid of the additional card Meghan played, and end the round at the same time.) EXAMPLE 2: Austin plays Waning Moon, burying the Direct Sunlight which had been in play. Meghan plays an Ally, Joe the Vampire Cultist (not a real card), which has the Special Effect Text: "May not be played if Direct Sunlight is in play; bury if Direct Sunlight is played". Brian Yithians the Waning Moon. The Direct Sunlight is returned to play. The Universe has changed, and poor Joe is immediately buried. Sometimes the change in the Universe with result in a temporarily contradictory situation. This is dealt with by looking at all cards in play, and applying all appropriate results at the exact same time, right after the Yithian Mental Contact in played. EXAMPLE: Meghan plays Dawn of a New Day, buring the Waning Moon which had been in play. Brian plays New Moon, a special Day event which has no effect on Day events in play. Austin Yithians the play of Dawn of a New Day, causing Waning Moon to be returned to play. The universe has changed, and there are now both a Day and Night event in play. Each says to bury the other. Both cards are simultaneously buried. The majority of the time, Yithian Mental Contact usage should be pretty simple, but if there are ever any questions, follow three basic steps: 1.) Bury any cards that the Yithianed opponent had just played or changed the orientation of. 2.) Undo any effects which took place the instant the original card play or orientation change took place. 3.) See if the changed universe has any new effect on cards that are currently in play. If so, apply all effects simultaneously. QUESTIONS --------- Q: If I cast a spell, flipping its orientation, and that spell then gets Yithianed, do I get the Sanity back that I spent on the spell? A: Yes. The sanity cost you spend to activate the spell is considered one of the effects the card had. The same is true for artifacts that have activation costs. Q: What happens if I get hit with a Townsfolk Riot, and instead of playing a new Location, I Yithian Mental Contact the Townsfolk? A: The Riot is buried, and you do not take the 5 Sanity Loss, because it was an effect the card had. Q: Can I Yithian Mental Contact an Unexpected Calamity? A: No. By the time you could, it is the next Round, and thus the strict definition of Just Played ("...in the current Round...") is no longer met. Q: Can I Yithian Mental Contact a Yithian Mental Contact? A: Yes. Ad infinitum. Q: What happens if someone plays Ring of Eibon on me, and forces me to use my Yithian Mental Contact, and I decide to Yithian their Ring of Eibon usage? A: In practice, the Yithian Mental Contact is used, the Ring is buried, and the former Ring wielder gets the two points he spent to activate his ring back. Theoretically, you iterate through an infinite number of alternate realities until you find one where you decide to Yithian the Ring, even though the Ring didn't force you to. Alternatively, the Universe may implode. STRATEGIES ---------- Most strategy involving Yithian Mental Contact is pretty dull. Someone does something detrimental to you, and you make them take it back. This strategy section outlines the main uses of Yithian Mental Contact, with perhaps a few interesting twists. * Using Yithian Mental Contact Defensively - This is probably the most common use. Someone does something nasty to you personally, and you make them take it back. Perhaps they hit you with a spell or used an artifact against you. Alternatively, maybe they just played some Monsters to their Threat that are clearly going to be attacking you during the combat phase. You're watching out for Number One. * Using Yithian Mental Contact Offensively - With just a little more work, you can use Yithian Mental Contact in an Offensive manner. Know someone is trying to get a Tome out to finish an Adventure? Yithian the next Tome location they play. Suspect someone might win if they can increase their Sanity? Make their Sanitarium go away. See someone play a Tome full of useful Spells? Yithian it, and they all go tumbling to their Story Deck. * Destroying Spells, Artifacts and Allies - Sometimes your opponent may have out Spells, Artifacts or Allies which are a real nuisance. Fortunately, Spells in Tomes are always flipped when used, and Artifacts and Allies are sometimes flipped to access their special effects. You can use Yithian Mental Contact to bury these items as soon as your opponent attempts to use them. Perhaps that special effect wasn't directed at you at the time, but you've still robbed him of a valuable resource. * Using Yithian Mental Contact to Win the Game - This is very tricky, but by using Yithian Mental Contact carefully, you can make it a game winner. I gave one example above, where Meghan Yithianed Brian's Arkham Sanitarium to bring the game to a quick end. I could give others, but they'll vary immensely from game to game. Overall, they boil down to two important points. At game's end, remember that you can: use Yithian Mental Contact to cost your leading opponent Sanity gains; and also that you can use Yithian Mental Contact to take advantage of sequences of actions where one player did something only because of what the player before him did. COUNTER STRATEGIES ------------------ Yithian Mental Contact is a hard card to counter because it undoes almost everything else that can be done. There are, however, two potential defenses. First, there is Yithian Mental Contact itself. Vitally important card plays can be protected by your own Yithian Mental Contact. And, if you Yithian Mental Contact your opponent's Yithian Mental Contact, he isn't going to play another one, since it's unique. Second, you can take advantage of the fact that Yithian Mental Contact only can stop card play and orientation changes. If you fear Yithian Mental Contact, make use of cards that are buried when used. For example, give Spells to Allies, rather than putting them in Tomes (sure, they're buried, but at least you get to use them). Also, make use of Artifacts or Allies that are buried when their special effects are used (ie, the Sphere of Nath and Wakalea). A little excessive? Perhaps. But this is the only way you can absolutely guarantee you will be proof from time-hopping Yithians. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial electronic 'zine about Chaosium's Games. In no way should it be considered representative of the views or beliefs of Chaosium Inc. To submit an article, subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to: appel@erzo.org. The old digests are archived on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP.