Game: Mythos

Thread: Re: Alone Against The Mythos - Solo Rules for Mythos

chooche — 2008-09-17T21:34:24+00:00

In the process of acquiring some Mythos card after reading your solo rules. Thanks!

Thread: Re: Alone Against The Mythos - Solo Rules for Mythos

TheMadWelshWizard — 2008-08-29T16:20:45+00:00

Alone Against the Mythos

v.1.0

A game for one using the cards from the collectible card game Mythos.

by TheMadWelshWizard
a.k.a Craig Andrews

based entirely on the original rules from Chaosium
and the solo variant by Phil Gooch on BoardGameGeek.com
(with a few additions of my own…)

Introduction

In ‘Alone Against the Mythos’ you portray an ordinary person living an ordinary life. Your world is safe, sane, and well ordered. During the course of play this ordinary person, called an Investigator, discovers dark secrets about the world. Horrible creatures live in the most remote, inaccessible corners of the earth. They came here millions of years ago, and once they ruled. Humanity rose after their downfall. Now they sleep and dream of the demise of humankind, awaiting the day when they will again rule the earth. In the rules below full explanations are given but for those who are familiar with the cards from playing Mythos can skip to the paragraphs in blue.

The Objective of the Game

Whilst the main objective of any game is to have fun and enjoy playing, in terms of this rule book it relates more to the game mechanic of how to actually win the game.

In ‘Alone Against the Mythos’ the objective is simple: Complete any one Adventure card you have drawn.

Once you have all the required cards in play or in your story area you win the game at the conclusion of the current turn. This does mean (as you will see) that whilst you may complete an adventure, it could come at the cost of your sanity.

Losing the Game

You immediately lose the game if your investigator is ever reduced to zero (or less) sanity.

Setup

1) Randomly draw an investigator from your collection and place it on the table in front of you.

2) Separate the cards into the following sub-decks:

- Monsters
- Events
- Allies (include corrupt allies)
- Artifacts
- Tomes
- Spells
- Adventures
- Locations

3) Shuffle each of these decks and place them in a line in front of you, for ease of identifying during play just use a spare card from each and place that face up on the table so you can see the card type. Place your decks on top of the respective cards.

4) You start the game with the number of cards equal to the hand maximum of cards written on your investigator card (note this is not 13, it is the smaller hand maximum written underneath). You can draw from either the Ally deck or the Location deck. Unlike competitive games you don’t need to hide your hand, simply lay out your cards in a line next to the table edge in front of you.

5) Draw an Adventure card and place it on the table in front of you.

6) Set your sanity marker to the amount shown on your Investigator card. Your Investigator's Sanity is the most important value in the game. Sanity Points reflect your Investigator's capacity to withstand the shock of encountering the unutterable horrors that comprise the Cthulhu Mythos. Sanity will be gained and lost during the course of play. The Sanity cost or benefit of playing a particular card appears in the lower left corner of the card, in a small pentagram. Green pentagrams indicate Sanity gains, red pentagrams a Sanity loss, and yellow the cost for when a Spell is cast. Apply Sanity effects for a Location only when you arrive at that Location, not while you are walking to it. A Location card is not considered to be "played," and does not count for an Adventure, until it is turned right-side-up, becoming your Current Location. Always tally Sanity point additions before taking Sanity losses when more than one card affects your Investigator.

You are now ready to begin playing.

Turn Sequence

Each turn consists of a number of phases, these phases are played through in the order listed. Depending on your Location during play you might not get to complete each phase, just move on to the next.

The turn summary is below:

Draw Phase
Location Phase
Ally Phase
Tomes Phase
Artefacts Phase
Spell Phase
Events Phase
Monsters Phase
Discard Phase

Draw Phase

Draw up to your hand maximum listed on your investigator card (note this is not 13, it is the smaller hand maximum written underneath). You may draw cards from the Ally deck or the Location deck and place them in your hand.

Location Phase

Location Cards represent particular cities, sites, and places important to Investigators of the Cthulhu Mythos. Locations are key cards in any Mythos System game. Other types of cards that later come into play usually depend on your Investigator being at the appropriate Location.

Locations are organized into groups, identified and distinguished by the Dimension Indicator, the Region colour bar, and a word or phrase contained therein. These groups of Locations are referred to as Regions, Subregions, and Dimensions. The colour describes the Region and the phrase the Subregion to which the Location card belongs. The Dimension Indicator describes the card's Dimension.

A Region is a large area of the world. Once you play a Location card in one Region, subsequent Location cards that you play must also be in that Region unless you play special cards (e.g., Travel By Sea or Travel By Air Event cards) in order to later play a Location card in a different Region. Regions are further organized into Subregions - those cities, towns, valleys, and countryside that make up the character of the Region. A summary of all Regions introduced in all Mythos games is provided on the back cover of this rulebook. All Locations (except for Exotic Locations) within the same color group are considered to be in the same Region.

In addition to various places in the world, Lovecraft and the other Mythos authors also described places in other worlds or dimensions. Dimensions are represented in Mythos games as special groups of Regions identified and distinguished by the presence, or lack of, a Dimension Indicator. Location cards lacking a Dimension indicator belong to 1920s Earth, this dimension is also called the Waking World.

Location cards bearing a red and yellow atom symbol belong to the NEW AEON - the modern-day reality with which we are all familiar. If the Dimension Indicator is a blue star symbol, then that Location belongs to the Dreamlands dimension.

Islands are special Locations found within Regions. You can not walk or use Travel By Land or Travel by Air cards to go to, from or between Islands, unless special effects say otherwise.

Exotic Locations are the most mysterious places in the Mythos, and are sometimes located on other planets or in other dimensions. All Exotic Locations require some special procedure before playing that Location card. For example, you may play the CASTLE OF THE GREAT ONES ON KADATH location Card only if your Investigator uses a TRAVEL BY AIR card while a STAR EVENT is in play.

In the location phase you can either:

a) Play a location in the same region as your current location.

b) Play a respective travel card to move to a location in a different region.

or

c) Draw a card from the location deck.

If you do (a) or (b) that now becomes your current location and place the previous location in your story area.

If you do (c) and it’s in the same region as your current location you immediately put it into play and place the previous location in your story area. If you draw a location card from a different region, you may go there immediately if you discard an appropriate travel card from your hand, otherwise put the location card in your hand. Putting a location card in your hand in this way represents leads you have received and places you think of going to follow up your investigation.

If you draw a dream card put it into play immediately. From a Dream location you can travel to any other location.

Resolve the location card's effects if appropriate. Any sanity effect (on the lower left hand corner) is applied immediately. You only get these effects when you first arrive at a location.

Unless otherwise indicated by a previously played Event card, it is Day.

Ally Phase

Ally cards represent personalities who aid your Investigator in the course of a ‘Alone Against the Mythos’ game. Allies are found only in particular places as indicated by the Ally card Region and subregion. Allies are always tied to Dimensions unless the special effects dictate otherwise. If there is no Dimension indicated, then that Ally can only be played if your Current Location is in the Waking World.

There are a few Allies who can be played in special circumstances, such as when your Investigator is OUTSIDE, at a SITE or a HOUSE, or so forth. Some of these allies may be found in all Regions, as indicated by an uncoloured Region colour bar. There are three Allies appearing in the DREAMLANDS card array who can be found either in the Waking World or in the Dreamlands. Finally, we have published a few powerful Allies who are found in specific Locations in the PAST. These appeared in LIMITED EDITION MYTHOS and are mentioned only for completeness' sake.

Allies are always labelled as being either STEADFAST or CORRUPT. Steadfast Allies are generally working against the effects of the Mythos forces, while Corrupt Allies generally use the powers of the Mythos for their own ends.

It does not matter if your Investigator employs Steadfast or Corrupt Allies. Sometimes, though, one or the other (or both) are called for as part of an Adventure Card (the exception being Corrupt Cultists who are mentioned below). Note that these are opposites; if a Steadfast Ally becomes Corrupt, he or she loses the Steadfast attribute. An occupation or special interest is also given. This is used in Adventures, and to provide colour in the game.

Allies frequently know Languages, sometimes very esoteric languages. Investigators are always considered to be able to communicate with their Allies, even if both know different languages. The languages listed on Ally and Investigator cards imply the deep understanding of that language needed to glean the horrible knowledge from Mythos Tomes written in that Language. Allies may have other special abilities, as described in the special effects box on the card.

If an Ally can know a Spell, it can be any Spell and is not limited to Spell icon restrictions. A Spell may be given to an Ally on any Turn after the Ally has been played. Spells cast by Allies do not cost your Investigator Sanity, but the spell is buried once cast. A Spell-casting Ally may later be given another Spell as your Turn.

All Allies are considered to be in the same Location as your Investigator and they travel with your Investigator.

During the Ally phase you can either:

a) Play a valid Ally card from your hand.

or

b) Pick up from the Ally deck. If you pick up an Ally who can be found at your current location, it is immediately played face up in front of you to the left of your Investigator card where indicated. Otherwise, put it in your hand. Ally cards put into your hand in this way represent names and numbers of contacts you have collected during your investigation who you can call upon if in the right place.

Corrupt Cultist allies work a little differently in ‘Alone Against the Mythos’, they are not allies at all but evil minions of the forces of darkness. If you draw a Corrupt Cultist they are played on the table if the region colour matches, they do not have to match the sub region. These Cultists are working against you and they attack you immediately (see Attacked! section).

Tomes Phase

Tomes are books that contain knowledge "that man was not meant to know." In ‘Alone Against the Mythos’, Tomes represent your Investigator's accumulated knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Playing a Tome requires that your Investigator or an Ally be able to read the language that the Tome is written in. The language that a Tome is written in is listed on the individual Tome card. There are a few Tomes in the DREAMLANDS card array that utilize more than one language. If, for example, a Tome is written in GREEK & LATIN, then your Investigator and his or her Allies must among them know both Greek and Latin to play that Tome. If, on the other hand, a Tome is written in ATLANTEAN OR HYPERBOREAN, then knowing either language allows you to play that Tome.

If your current location contains the keyword Tome, you can either:

a) Play a Tome from your hand (if it’s requirements are met).

or

b) Pick up from the Tome deck. If it’s requirements are met by your investigator or an Ally this Tome is played face up in front of you immediately. Otherwise it goes into your hand.

Artefact Phase

Artefacts are special, usually magical, devices, machines, sculptures, and equipment. Some Artefacts can function as Spell-casters, or can mimic the effects of Spells in their own right. When an Artifact can be used for Spell-casting, any Spell can be placed beneath the Artefact during the Spell phase; there are no icon limitations to the Spell held by any Artefact. As with Spells cast by Allies, Spells cast by Artefacts do not cost your Investigator Sanity to cast, but the Spell cards themselves are buried after use. An Artefact may be given another Spell in a future Spell phase.

Artefacts described as Weapons must be assigned to one of your Investigator's Ally. Each Ally may have only one Weapon. The two cards, Weapon and Ally, then function as one card and their values are added together. If the Ally bearing the Weapon is buried or discarded, the Weapon suffers the same fate.

Other Artefacts work in a variety of ways. Most cost no Sanity, but a few say "Cost X points of Sanity to use." Some Artefacts have limited uses. They may say "Flip this card when used," "Rotate this card when used," or "Bury this card when used." A few Artefacts will constantly function as long as they are face-up. These say "This artefact has constant effect." Refer to the special effect box on an Artefact for specific rules regarding it.

If your current location contains the keyword Artefact, you may either:

a) Play an Artefact from your hand (if it’s requirements are met).

or

b) Pick up from the Artefact deck. If it’s requirements are met by your investigator or an Ally this Tome is played face up in front of you immediately. Otherwise it goes into your hand.

Spell Phase

If you have a Tome in play (or an Artefact or Ally who may know a spell), you may pick up from the Spell deck. If the spell matches the icon on the Tome (or Artefact or Ally), you may keep it. Otherwise, return it to the bottom of the Spell deck. You can do this once for each Tome (or Artefact or Ally) in play.

Do note that spells and artefacts can be used at any valid time. Spell cards are discarded as soon as they are cast.

Events Phase

Event Cards feature an exclamation point in the upper left, and include a panoply of various effects with certain common characteristics. Each effect is applied as described in the card's special effect box. No player can be affected by more than one of the same Event card at the same time. If one Event adds to a particular card's value, and a different Event subtracts from the value of the same card, always apply the addition before applying the subtraction. Each Event special effect description follows a similar format. The Event first notes the Event effect. Then it describes the means of ending the Event. Some take effect and are then immediately buried. Some remain in effect until certain other cards are played.

Draw from the Event deck, applying its effect where appropriate.

If you draw a phobia card it effects you.

This phase will require the most re-interpretation of existing cards.

Any cards that target your opponent, would have no affect in solo play so you need to use your imagination to apply the effects.

For example: "Curse of the Rat thing" does nothing.

The "Tiara of Opulent Fantasy", "Ambush", and "Mist of R'lyeh" do nothing.

Cards that increase the value of your threat now instead decrease the strength of attackers. For example: "Unaussprechlichen Kulten" decreases the the strength of living dead by 1.

Other cards now target the last card drawn instead of your opponent.

For example: "Yithian Mental Contact" can be used to negate a card just drawn and "Instability in the Mythos" can negate an attacker just drawn.

Spells that target opponent's allies now target attacking corrupt allies.

Some event cards now target you instead of your opponent. For example: "Townsfolk Riot" targets your investigator.

Event cards now target your allies instead of your opponents allies. For example: "Influenza" and "Hound of Tindalls" target your allies.

In addition to these examples, many more cards have to be reinterpreted, a task left to the eager investigator.

A "round" now means the next three turns.

Monster Phase

Certain Locations bear a swirl in the upper left corner. This indicates that the Location features the GATE attribute. Gates are special places where the barriers between humanity and the horrors of the Mythos are weak.

If your current Location contains a Gate, draw from the Monster deck. You immediately get an Sanity reduction as marked in the bottom left of the card. This represents the horror of coming face to face with creatures from the Mythos. After this Sanity damage is dealt the Monster attacks you as normal (see Attacked!).

If it is a Great Old One, resolve its effects but it remains in play unless another Great Old One is drawn.

End of Turn Phase

The maximum hand size is stated on your Investigator card. You must discard excess cards before starting the next turn.

At the end of the turn, any cards which have been used during the turn, those involved in combat (Allies, Artefacts) and any Spells played etc, in your Story Area. Both cards in play and in your story area count towards adventures.

Once you have completed an adventure and got to the end of turn phase you have won the game !

Attacked!

The strength of an attacker causes a loss of that many sanity points, or points worth of allies.

Allies receiving any damage are marked how many damage points they have taken (either using dice or pen and paper). Once they have taken damage equal to their points value they are discarded.

Any damage points from a monster (or Corrupt Cultist) that are not blocked still affect your Investigator. E.g. A monster with a value of 5 which is defended by an Ally with a value of 4 still deals 1 point of Sanity damage to your investigator.

Optional Rules

Choosing an Investigator

You can if you prefer choose an Investigator to play if you have a favourite or one you want to include in a themed game.

Tweaking the decks during setup

You can tweak the decks if you want to make a more focused game, for example you might only include locations from one region or just include cards related to the adventure cards you know you’ll be playing. The balance is up to you depending on the type of game you want to play.

Time Limit

Instead of having just one adventure you can play to a time limit and see how many points you can accumulate. Choosing a new adventure once one has been completed.

Thread: Alone Against The Mythos - Solo Rules for Mythos

TheMadWelshWizard — 2008-08-29T16:17:44+00:00

Hello Folks,

So whilst browsing through my collection of games looking for inspiration of something to play I saw Mythos and thought I’d check out the solo rules. I read Chaosium’s rules and Phil Gooch’s version from this site and set about combining the two. Last night I played three solo games and thoroughly enjoyed them. With each progressive game I amended the rules slightly and think it now plays quite well.

I have uploaded the rules PDF here as version 1.0 of 'Alone Against The Mythos'. Please have a look and let me know any thoughts and feedback.

[EDIT: File is awaiting admin sign off so I've cut and pasted the rules into the reply to this message]

I intend to turn these into a two (or more) player variant soon but for the moment I’ll keep tweaking the solo rules and enjoying faces what lies in the dark...

Craig

Thread: Re: Adventures

jeblucas — 2008-07-11T16:12:56+00:00

Scoring Adventures is a way to win in the normal, competitive game. We would play to say, 20 story points, for example. Normally, someone was driven insane by then, so it didn't come up as often as it should. I would set that goal, see if every game comes down to sanity points, and then set up some house rules to handle some tougher cards (Townsfolk Riot for example, is hellish on the story player), or dial down the story point requirement.

Thread: Adventures

mavo — 2008-07-11T16:00:12+00:00

Hi all,

I'm new to this game and have a question: Are all the downloadable adventures around here for the solo play? Or are adventures necessary for "normal" play?

Thanks!

Thread: Defending Allies - Face Down/Face Up

usrlocal — 2008-06-04T23:37:08+00:00

If an ally is used during a round such that it has to be turned face down is that ally then not available to commit to defend at end-of-round combat? My wife and I have been playing that this is the case (i.e., face-down allies cannot be committed as defenders). However, the rules are unclear on this point -- the rules just state that committed allies must be placed face-up behind the threat -- this could be read either way (i.e., an ally turned face-down during the round can be flipped up and added to the defence stack).

Have we been playing correctly in not allowing face-down allies to defend?

Thread: Re: Mythos on CCG Workshop (03/28/2006)

marrinea — 2008-05-15T11:42:44+00:00

Alas, no. I don't think anyone is able to logon to the gEngine these days. I read something about the admin having some family trouble and just wasn't able to commit to the software for the forseeable future. It might be back, but things don't sound good. I've not been able to log in for some time.

Thread: Re: Mythos on CCG Workshop (03/28/2006)

pfong — 2008-05-15T04:07:04+00:00

Thanks for the session report. It's a fun read. Are you still able to play on CCG Worskshop? I hear that people have had trouble logging in.

Thread: Re: Mythos - First Game Report

pfong — 2008-05-15T03:28:11+00:00

Matt - thanks for the feedback. Great to get another player back :-)

Cedric - Thanks for the great suggestion on improving the decks. I've been wondering how to improve the consistency of the decks.

Thread: Re: Deck Construction Rules?

ced1106 — 2008-05-13T15:04:50+00:00

Some advanced guidelines:

* Tomes and Spells: By playing Tomes and Spells to your play area, you make your play deck smaller. This makes it easier to find a card which fulfills an Adventure requirement.

* Joins: The more cards you play per turn, the better. And cards which Join allow you to do this.

aka. Washu! ^O^

Thread: Re: Mythos - First Game Report

ced1106 — 2008-05-13T14:58:27+00:00

Some quick suggestions to improve the Starter Set:

* Get a second copy.
* Pool the Steadfast decks together. Pool the Corrupt decks together.
* Remove the second Unique (red dot) and second copy of an Adventure from each of these decks.
* Play a few games. You'll notice that, by having two cards that qualify for an Adventure, the Adventures are easier to fulfill.
* After a few games, start trimming the decks. See the Deck Construction thread.

Glad you enjoyed the game!

aka. Washu! ^O^

Thread: Re: Mythos - First Game Report

Harv — 2008-05-13T12:26:02+00:00

pfong wrote:
Would appreciate it if you could let me know how you liked the play report. I thought that doing it in a "Story" form would be more
interesting and in keeping with rules to "briefly and colourfully
narrate" events after completing an adventure

Story form is very suitable for a high-theme game like Mythos. This game hasn't been played in my house since the great CCG Burnout of 2006, but recent plays of Arkham Horror mixed with your session report have made me want to dig it out again!

Thread: Mythos - First Game Report

pfong — 2008-05-13T09:17:09+00:00

Finished a test game with Crawford. It’s my first game played
to completion, so please excuse the play by play. Both of us were
using the Steadfast deck from the Standard Game Set. Words in
ALL CAPS are to denote the cards played.

I lead off with RED HOOK and SONYA LOVECRAFT. I'll do the rest of the session report in story form as suggested by the rules ;-)

The dangerous neighbourhood and the loneliness no doubt drove Sonya
to seek all the protection she could: FAITHFUL HOUNDS, NERVE TABLETs and a BOLT ACTION RIFLE! I had to load her with all these artifacts as I didn't have any other playable allies at that location. Sonya's paranoia was justified, as it turned out that Red Hook was a breeding ground for the INSECT FROM SHAGGAI. Sonia fled to the country (BOSTON & MAIN TRAIN STATION) to avoid the horror at Red Hook. Little did she know
what awaited her!

I'd played out my hand down to my max of 7 (playing with the
BORED CLERK as my investigator) so passed twice to force the end of the round and a discard from my opponent Crawford.

In the meantime Crawford had started off in Kingsport at GRANNY
ORNE'S HOUSE. He managed to lay out THE TERRIBLE OLD MAN + LIGHTNING
GUN then moved to New York to play HARRY HOUDINI and FRANK BELKNAP
LONG. Luckily, this cosy circle of friends was unable to summon a
monster of their own!

During combat my INSECT attacked and Crawford defended with HARRY and
FRANK. FRANK took a bullet for the team and HARRY'S ability to escape wounds kept him around to fight another day.

Finding no comfort in the country and feeling uneasy everywhere she
goes, Sonia glimpses a HUNTING HORROR at the station and in terror
tries to get back to New York. There is no respite anywhere, Sonia is
cracking and is now seeing the terrifying dream sendings of CTHULHU
RISING.

Again I pass twice to force the end of round and yet another discard
from Crawford. Cthulhu Rising also forced him to discard the ARKHAM
POLICE STATION. I hope all these discards are having some effect on
him!

During combat, Crawford has one monster to the threat and also throws
in the TERRIBLE OLD MAN armed with the LIGHTNING GUN. I make a newbie
mistake and don't defend with any allies or use any artifacts.
Threats revealed - a HUNTING HORROR on each side! The Horror's devour
each other and the old man and lightning gun wreak havoc on me.
Argh! Down two sanity and randomly discarded my faithful hounds.
Trust them to lay down their lives to save their master! I should
have used the hounds to take out one of Crawford's threats. Oh well.
I'm down to 7 san now.

Sonia desperately boards the TRAIN to flee back to New York.
Suddenly, to her immense relief she finds as a fellow passenger,
FRANK BELKNAP LONG who offers the nerve wracked woman a shoulder to
cry on. Suddenly things don't seem too bad with a new friend to
comfort her! Frank tells her that it's just her imagination playing
up, he'll write up her story in a book:” TWO CITIES AND A TALE". Sonia
is comforted and the new friends walk off into the EVENING.

Barely squeaked into a win by completing an adventure. We were
playing the basic game. I didn't have any gate locations to play defensive monsters and Crawford was pointing a 4 point Martin's beach monster at me!

Just a couple of comments on my playtest report. I'm sure all the
old hands have already spotted the other newbie play errors I made,
but for those who haven't, I'll elaborate:

- I should not have played the BOLT ACTION RIFLE on SONYA LOVECRAFT.
The rules state that only one weapon can be played on an ally and I had
the FAITHFUL HOUNDS (also a weapon!) already on SONYA. I
was not familiar with the cards and my opponent didn't pick up the
mistake either.

- I could have saved Cthulhu Rising to play on an adventure critical
water location such as ST MARTIN'S BEACH or MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY
COMMONS which are required for the other adventures in the steadfast
deck. I used Cthulhu Rising on my opponent's location because he
just spent a turn walking to it and I wanted to force him to waste
time walking to another location. This may not have been such a bad
play as it bought me enough time to complete my adventure.

Would appreciate it if you could let me know how you liked the play
report. I thought that doing it in a "Story" form would be more
interesting and in keeping with rules to "briefly and colourfully
narrate" events after completing an adventure

Thread: Re: Mythos newbe rules questions

trif — 2008-05-08T00:11:06+00:00

finetime wrote:
The following questions are about the Standard Game Set rules.

The rules state: "You must pay the Sanity point cost for the Monster card before you play it to your Threat."
If your Monster is to remain secret,(face down on Threat Deck)until Combat, what's to keep someone from deducting -1 Sanity on a -2 Monster?
How is this handled? Honor system? Cover all on the card but the Sanity and show it to your apponent?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

As Rita pointed out, it's the honour system. However the Killer Penguins have a variable sanity cost (I think from 0 to -2) which acts as a bluff - i.e. you can announce them as a -2 monster played to your threat in the hope that your opponent directs his spells/allies/etc at the lowly Penguins.

I think the TOTAL sanity cost is meant to be given when the monsters are played facedown to your threat, rather than a breakdown by card (as the Penguins join with any other monster and therefore can obscure the potency of your threat)

Thread: Re: Mythos Digest - archives?

usrlocal — 2008-04-25T02:23:20+00:00

Hi Aaron,

Just messaged you back in the affirmative.

Thanks very much!

Peter

Thread: Re: Mythos Digest - archives?

marrinea — 2008-04-21T20:05:53+00:00

I was looking for the same thing a few years ago. Guy Hail was nice enough to send me a CD with the digests on them. I've messaged you about it. I can send them along to you if you'd like.

Thread: Mythos Digest - archives?

usrlocal — 2008-04-13T01:50:38+00:00

Hi all,

I'm interested in obtaining a text copy of the complete archive of Chaosium's Mythos Digest newsletter. I'm currently downloading issues individually from groups.google.com but this is insanely tedious. Can anyone point me to a link where I could download the complete archive in text format? There are lots of good deck recipes and gameplay tips in there.

Thread: Re: Deck Construction Rules?

joedogboy — 2008-03-19T07:08:03+00:00

Since deck construction is a bit tricky, it is nice to build a few decks and have them ready to go when your friends drop by.

I think that many casual players were turned off by the fact that deck construction for this game required finesse and balance (maybe even a spreadsheet), rather than simply figuring out a few killer combos.

Image

Fantas — 2008-03-06T17:40:18+00:00

Limited edition starter deck, box back

Image

Fantas — 2008-03-06T17:39:22+00:00

Limited edition starter deck, box front

Image

GVogel — 2008-02-24T16:04:29+00:00

Dreamlands expansion starter deck - Front and Back

Thread: Re: Mythos newbe rules questions

RicochetRita — 2008-01-25T16:08:19+00:00

I'm going to attempt to answer all of these from memory.

finetime wrote:
If your current Location's Attributes lists TOME and ARTIFACT, can a TOME and ARTIFACT be played in one turn, or must you play A TOME on one turn and the ARTIFACT on another?
Normally, you can only play a single Artifact or Tome during a turn. There are some locations which allow you to play more than one and some cards "join" to others, but this will be clearly stated on the cards.

The situation you described would normally require multiple turns to play multiple Artifact &/or Tome cards. (Note that, if you have matching spells in your hand, they can be 'joined' into a Tome as it's played. This is also true for Allies & Artifacts which allow spell-casting.)

Is assigning a Weapon to an Ally considered a turn action?
Sort of. You must have a legal Ally target, in play, to play a Weapon Artifact from your hand. So, the "assignment" occurs immediately, as a part of the normal Act of playing the Weapon.

Also, you normally cannot re-assign Weapons from one Ally to another, unless noted on the card (ex. Cast-Iron Skillet).

The rules state: "Spells cast by Allies or Artifacts do not cost Investigators Sanity." Does it cost Allies sanity?
Your Allies do not have Sanity; only your investigator does (which probably explains why they steadfastly follow you to their doom).

So, the casting is free, but the spell is usually buried or discarded, afterward. Also, it requires an action to add new spells to an Ally or Artifact.

In a two player game is your whole MYTHOS THREAT essentially your DIRECTED THREAT? In other words is the concept of a DIRECTED THREAT only relevent with more than two players?
Yes. I believe that is correct. The Directed Threat refers to the collection of Monsters, attacking a particular opponent.

This is important for cards granting Threat bonuses, because the whole bonus will apply to each 'portion' of your threat, when your monsters are spread across multiple opponents.

The rules state: "You must pay the Sanity point cost for the Monster card before you play it to your Threat."
If your Monster is to remain secret,(face down on Threat Deck)until Combat, what's to keep someone from deducting -1 Sanity on a -2 Monster?
How is this handled? Honor system? Cover all on the card but the Sanity and show it to your apponent?
Definitely honor system, according to the rules, but feel free to show each other, if you don't trust your choice of opponents. However, the actual cost will be revealed shortly & all will see if your opponent was cheating.

When we play, we announce aloud the quantity & Sanity, as we add to Threat (ex. "2 at 1 San, apiece"). This gives your opponents a sporting heads-up about the oncoming dangers. Experienced players know that the "1, 2, or More" Sanity cost signals increasingly more dangerous Threat opposition.

Hope this helps,

R³

Thread: Mythos newbe rules questions

finetime — 2008-01-24T19:22:08+00:00

The following questions are about the Standard Game Set rules.

If your current Location's Attributes lists TOME and ARTIFACT, can a TOME and ARTIFACT be played in one turn, or must you play A TOME on one turn and the ARTIFACT on another?

Is assigning a Weapon to an Ally considered a turn action?

The rules state: "Spells cast by Allies or Artifacts do not cost Investigators Sanity." Does it cost Allies sanity?

In a two player game is your whole MYTHOS THREAT essentially your DIRECTED THREAT? In other words is the concept of a DIRECTED THREAT only relevent with more than two players?

The rules state: "You must pay the Sanity point cost for the Monster card before you play it to your Threat."
If your Monster is to remain secret,(face down on Threat Deck)until Combat, what's to keep someone from deducting -1 Sanity on a -2 Monster?
How is this handled? Honor system? Cover all on the card but the Sanity and show it to your apponent?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Thread: Re: Deck Construction Rules?

nyhotep — 2008-01-07T17:17:40+00:00

What he said.

Thread: Re: Deck Construction Rules?

Ozludo — 2007-12-17T13:54:06+00:00

Greetings-

Nyhotep has missed one important point- some cards are unique and can only occur once in the deck. These cards are marked with a red dot in the lower right-hand corner. See here: http://www.chaosium.com/mythos/rules/rulesbook.shtml#3-card
Also, for the advanced game your deck may contain no more than 4 copies of any given card (same reference as above, also under the heading "Uniqueness Dot").
I strongly recommend the advanced game if players can be convinced to create themed decks which "tell an interesting story". The minimum deck size is 52 cards, and the practical upper limit is ~80.
4 player Mythos was arguably the best multiplayer CCG (LotR, L5R the other contenders IMHO). Good luck with a great game- I wish I could find regular players here in Melbourne.
Rob

Thread: Re: Deck Construction Rules?

nyhotep — 2007-12-17T12:43:40+00:00

Minimum 52 cards.

Minimum 20 points of adventures.

The rest of the rules are purely recommendations:

Have at least 1 card that can satisfy each adventure requirement.

Choose cards that overlap (can satisfy more than 1 requirement and or requirements in several adventures).

Use as few locations as you can, but have enough to bring out all your cards.

If you can, have 2 copies of required cards.

Add monsters, phobias and other stuff to taste.

See here:

http://www.chaosium.com/mythos/rules/rulesbook.shtml#8-advan...

Thread: Deck Construction Rules?

Tabris — 2007-12-17T04:47:12+00:00

What are the deck construction rules for this game? How many of each card are you allowed to have in your deck?

Thread: Re: User Review

Smurfy6 — 2007-10-04T23:00:04+00:00

This game rocks.

Thread: Re: solo play

macpips — 2007-09-05T12:28:42+00:00

You might want to check out my solo variant:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/153475

You can play solo with a starter deck. But if you can get hold of a job lot of cards on ebay, that might be a better bet, as you can created themed decks (Dunwich, Innsmouth, Cthulhu), which closely follow the original stories and which is pretty fun.

Thread: solo play

QWERTY_DREMILITY — 2007-05-26T23:20:27+00:00

well im still on a quest for more good solo games to play. already have dungeoneer and mage knnight dungeons but variety is always good.

for one, is the solo play for this game good at all? do you still get a good feel of the game without an opponent?

also what should i buy to play in such a manner? is just a=one of the 2 player startes nessacery? or would it be better to also buy a box of 2 or packs sinc ehtey are so chep on ebay anyway?

Thank oyu for your help

--QD

P.S. also, i finally figured out how to post something directly into the threads about that game. i always thought that you just posted it on the forums and then a mod moved it to a game, so srry about all that incorrect posting before.

Thread: Re: Card list/value?

rossum — 2007-02-26T03:21:18+00:00

Thanks for the pointer. As of right now, the Complete Card List is here:
http://www.chaosium.com/mythos/cardlists/complete.shtml

I'm not looking for cash per se, but it would be nice to know what they are worth when I trade them.

Thanks again!

MDK

Thread: Nice solo variant

macpips — 2007-02-25T15:17:54+00:00

Here's a variant on Mythos solo play that I have found is quite fun and could possibly be developed into a multiplayer variant that would make the game more like Arkham Horror.

1. Take a standard or limited edition Mythos or Dreamlands deck; alternatively use your own custom deck.

2. Choose an Investigator. Use one of the Investigator cards that comes with the deck.

3. Separate the cards into the following sub-decks:

- Monster
- Event
- Ally
- Artifact
- Tome
- Spell
- Adventure

4. Shuffle each of these sub-decks and place each sub-deck face down around your Investigator card. Place the Monster deck next to the 'Threat' space, and the Event deck to the right of the Monster deck. Place the Ally deck next to the 'Allies' space. Place the Tome, Artifact and Spell decks to the 'Tomes and Artifacts' space (use a marker to identify each, or remember!)

5. Look through your Location cards. These will be used to determine the flow of the story.

6. Draw an Adventure card. The aim of the game is to complete this adventure before going insane.

7. Each turn consists of the following actions:
a) Play a Location card face up in front of you. This is your current location. Resolve the card's effects if appropriate. Unless otherwise indicated by a previously played Event card, it is Day.
b) Pick up from the Ally deck. If the Ally can be found at your current location, you may keep it, played face up in front of you. Otherwise, return it to the bottom of the Ally deck.
c) If your current location contains a Tome, pick up from the Tome deck. If you or an in-play Ally knows the Tome language, you may keep it, played face up in front of you. Otherwise, return it to the bottom of the Tome deck.
d) If you have a Tome in play, you may pick up from the Spell deck. If the spell matches the icon on the Tome, you may keep it. Otherwise, return it to the bottom of the Spell deck.
e) If your current location contains an Artifact, you may pick up from the Artifact deck, and assign the Artifact to an Ally.
f) Draw from the Event deck, applying its effect where appropriate.
g) If your current Location contains a Gate, draw from the Monster deck. The Monster attacks the player (if not a GOO - if it is, resolve its effects and the GOO remains in play as per the normal game). Resolve combat in the normal way.

8. At the end of the turn, bury any cards involved in combat (Allies, Artifacts) and any Spells played, in your Story deck.

9. If your player is still sane, play another round. Continue until insane or until you have completed the Adventure!

Thread: Re: Card list/value?

viogression — 2007-02-23T06:47:57+00:00

I have a card list in Excel/OpenOffice format. I got the base data from http://www.chaosium.com/mythos/

As far as prices go, I doubt they'd be worth all that much. I've seen unopened booster boxes on eBay going for less than $10. Unless of course, it's Dreamlands or New Aeon, then they usually goes for a bit more.

Thread: Card list/value?

rossum — 2007-02-23T05:53:59+00:00

In cleaning out my closet, I found a pretty significant stash of Mythos cards- at least one long box full. I have no idea what they're worth, but I'm looking to find out.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a card list? Many thanks in advance!

MDK

Thread: Re: Brain Counters/Tokens

pseen — 2007-02-22T09:22:52+00:00

I remember them, yeah. I bought a bag of brains in California in 1999. I am afraid I don't want to part with it, though.

Thread: Brain Counters/Tokens

radynski — 2007-02-19T20:08:29+00:00

Does anyone remember those brain tokens that they gave away with the game for a short period of time?

I'm trying to get my hands on a set of those. Does anyone have them that would be willing to part with them? I'm willing to pay or trade for them.

Thread: Re: User Review

macpips — 2007-02-18T14:50:18+00:00

Great review! Mythos is one of my all-time favourite games.

For me, the artwork on the cards is more evocative of HPLs work than FFGs CoC CCG. And Mythos has more more HPL 'flavour'.

Greatly underrated game IMHO.

Thread: Re: Mythos Cards Up For Auction

joewyka — 2006-12-30T02:25:35+00:00

Sorry, didn't get your post until too late! I'm sending my deck to Croatia. Who'd have ever thunk my cards would end up on the other side of the planet?

Thread: Re: Mythos Cards Up For Auction

ejohnson7 — 2006-12-25T10:26:56+00:00

Dear Joe,

Can you give us some more info about the nature of the cards offered?

Any Sanitariums?

Any New Aeon?

Any Dreamlands?

Lovecraft Country, Middle East, Europe breakdown?

Thanks,
Eric

Thread: Mythos Cards Up For Auction

joewyka — 2006-12-24T07:10:15+00:00

Just to let folks know I've put my Mythos Deck of 330 cards up for Geek Auction. (I actually have 331 cards, but I'm keeping The Brazen Head for sentimental reasons...)

Image

dodonna — 2006-11-03T05:29:14+00:00

Custom Adventure Cards

Thread: Help! Need a few cards...

allismom3 — 2006-09-07T01:12:03+00:00

...to finish a deck I'm constructing.
Police Investigation
Dr. Allen
Cthulhu
Dawn of a New Day
Direct Sunlight(2)
Tramp Steamer
Typhoid
Exham Priory

I have to trade my Mythos extras, geekgold, or cash.
*Update*

jmmurphy(Jesse) has very kindly been able to provide a few cards. I'm still looking for a few more:
Cthulhu
Direct Sunlight(2)
Exham Priory
*2nd Update*
lawmama(Janna) was also able to provide a few more cards. Here are the few others I'm still looking for:
Cthulhu
Direct Sunlight
Stand Against the Order
The Outsider
The Temple

Thread: DREAMLANDS Lot (Two Decks) up for GG Auction

kimbo — 2006-08-29T16:04:38+00:00

I am offering two DREAMLANDS Limited Edition Decks for GG Auction.

Both decks are unopened and still wrapped in cellophane.

DREAMLANDS is a stand alone expansion for the CCG MYTHOS. The cards can be used alone or in combination with regular MYTHOS cards and decks.

The auction link:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekauction.php3?action=viewauc...

Thread: MYTHOS Standard Starter Set up for GG Auction

kimbo — 2006-08-29T16:02:01+00:00

I've got a MYTHOS Standard Starter Set up for GG Auction.

The set is unopened and still in the shrink wrap.

The auction ends on Friday, Septemeber 1st.

Auction link:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekauction.php3?action=viewauc...

Thread: Re: General Comment

dlminsac — 2006-05-18T23:03:43+00:00

Huh!?!?

Thread: Mythos on CCG Workshop (03/28/2006)

marrinea — 2006-03-28T19:29:36+00:00

Since I've had a spate of Mythos games on the CCG Workshop of late, I figured I wouldn't post reports on all of them. However, I might as well add another session report for the last game I played. It seems like there are a few more interested Mythos players on the gEngine these days so I hope that keeps up ...

This was the second time I played this deck so I was hopeful. The first time was relatively successful, and I'd hoped this would be better. It's based on one of my favorite adventures: Ashes, Ashes, Azathoth but is set in the Waking World as opposed to New Aeon. Why? Just because I like doing adventures in unlikely places. The other adventures to round it out were Two Cities and a Tale and Arkham Horror.

When first putting the deck together, I was just using Two Cities and Ashes as the base. However, I couldn't quite come up with a third (or fourth) adventure that overlapped to my liking. I stumbled on Arkham Horror which, to my surprise, seemed to overlap quite well even though it added a third subregion which made it slightly more complex. I use Chronoportation to get the Ashes artifacts in play (Tank and Tactical Nuclear Bomb).

Back to the game: my opponent was playing a New Aeon deck consisting of Dark Horse and Knee Deep in Doom. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what his other adventure(s) were. From the outset I had a good card draw and played most of the cards in my hand on the first round. From the start I thought I'd play Arkham Horror, then Ashes, then Two Cities to finish. However, my opponent had some high value monsters early on and dropped my sanity pretty quickly as this deck doesn't have a heck of a lot in the way of allies/monsters for blocking.

Thus, when I was able to play Two Cities early on I did so for the sanity increase and to cycle through my deck to get back to the Bellvue sanitarium. I also used up my Faithful Hounds buried monsters in my opponent's threat so I switched from trying to complete Arkham Horror to going for Ashes. I would have had Ashes _much_ earlier but my opponent played Media Hyperbole on the location where I was going to summon my GOO (Nyarlathotep) and then Batophobia. The phobia really hurt since all my locations are cities and I had just lost Sam Winsor and didn't have Bellvue in hand to get rid of it. Turned out to be a great play for him as I would've completed Ashes that round otherwise.

So I spent a while getting to Bellvue and ridding myself of the phobia (spent several turns on a train and using Chant of Thoth to draw Bellvue). I was finally able to play Ashes the following round, and was nicely set up for Arkham Horror on the following round.

However (!) during combat, my opponent had two cards in his threat: a -1 sanity card and a -2 sanity card. I thought for sure the -1 sanity was an IRS Auditor and thus wouldn't do any damage, and I commited 5 points of allies in defense of the other card. I could have used my Faithful Hounds, but chose to save them because I thought I had enough and needed them for Arkham Horror. Turns out both cards were monsters worth 12 points! I had only 2 points of sanity left and was driven insane. The final score was 19 - 12.

In hindsight (of course) I would have used the Faithful Hounds because I would have drawn the second copy on the next round and still would have been able to complete Arkham Horror. Ah well, a lesson learned. While this deck has yet to win a game, I thought it played fairly well and I really enjoy the adventures it uses. It is repoint legal as well.

Anyone up for another game?

Thread: Mythos on CCG Workshop (03/14/2006)

marrinea — 2006-03-20T21:03:46+00:00

I was able to make the weekly Mythos Tour on the CCG Workshop last week. A Tour is where a user signs up to be a shepherd and teach new players the game. This was a three-player game and since all of us had played before it ended up being simply a normal game rather than a Tour game.

I played a Waking World deck that uses Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh and Summon Great Cthulhu as adventures. I like the theme of those two adventures a lot so I really enjoy playing this deck. This is the same deck I played in my first CCG Workshop session report back in February. One opponent, wumpus, (the shepheard) played a South Pacific deck (ouch!). He's also the creator of the Repointed system which I like quite a bit. My other opponent, dracon, played a New Aeon only deck which had many cards to inhibit his opponents.

The deck really flew this time. I got a great draw on the first couple of turns. The R'lyeh disks were all in play by the time I got Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh out, and I had all the cards I needed in my hand to play Summon Great Cthulhu so I was able to play that for the win a few turns later.

dracon's deck was hitting me hard at the beginning, but I was lucky in that it was only really affecting my allies (something which this deck doesn't care much about). wumpus' deck couldn't quite get going as is somewhat typical of South Pacific decks, unfortunately. So, I'm not sure if my deck played really well or I benefited from some bad luck from my opponents. As I mentioned, I also had some very good luck with me draws which helped a lot. Either way, I'm really happy with the way it played and with the win.

This deck is Repoint legal. It ends up having 22 points without repointing and 20 with it. It plays quite fast in the few times I've used it. Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh is a borderline cheese card, but I feel it's offset by playing Summon Great Cthulhu from the desert. Its main weakness is all the unique cards required for adventures and its sanity loss. Some cards (Carter's Clock, Create Time Warp, Seal of Isis, Ahmed, Yithian Mental Contact) are there to help with the unique issue. Not a heck of a lot can be done (in the current state) about sanity unless you're able to visit the Middle East sanitarium multiple times. It's best to just play the artifacts/tomes necessary for Brotherhood so as to keep sanity relatively high. Also, there are few monsters and they're only really played in defense for the same reason.

Thread: Mythos on CCG Workshop (03/20/2006)

marrinea — 2006-03-20T20:53:37+00:00

I was able to get another Mythos game in on the CCG Workshop again today. The frequency of games has been picking up for me somewhat which is nice. I'll try to remember to submit a session report for the Mythos Tour I played in last week as well.

I played a deck I had just finished putting together today so I was in for an interesting time. It's a dual-region deck based in the Waking World and New Aeon. All the locations are from the New York subregion in either dimension. My opponent was playing the Steadfast deck from the MSGS. He'd played Mythos years ago, but hadn't played in a while.

One quarter of my deck is Locations (13 out of 52), and I draw a hand of 13 cards (again a quarter of my deck). Imagine my surprise when I drew no locations on my first turn!!! I played an event or two and then had to pass quickly.

Subsequent turns went much better as I was able to get a Time Machine out pretty quickly (turn 2 I believe) and then hop back and forth between dimensions whenever I needed to. I got out most of what I needed for two different adventures. I played one (With Neighbors Like These) and then needed two or three cards for my next (Theron Marks Society). I should have played a Vampire instead of my unique Yithian to sasify Theron's monster requirement since my last adventure (Out of my Mind) needed the Yithian.

I was able to cycle back through fairly quickly, though, and finished off my adventures for the win.

A few notes on this deck. It played quite well for the first time aside from the odd location-less first turn. It can easily be stopped if opponents are playing Eltdown Shards as they prevent Yithian Mental Contact from being played. Yithian Psychic Possession can be tough to get out later in the game because most allies are out by then. Luckily this deck has plenty of ways to get opposing allies out of play and back into circulation.

This deck is Repoint legal. If playing Repointed, Theron Marks Society can be omitted as With Neighbors Like These and Out of my Mind will get you to 20 points. However, it can stay in as a sanity-boost/deck-reshuffle as its requirements are easily met with the other adventures. If removed, another card would need to be added since it would drop the deck under 52.

Thread: Mythos on CCG Workshop

marrinea — 2006-02-15T19:47:35+00:00

I played a great game of Mythos on CCG Workshop yesterday (02/14/2006). I've never actually played Mythos face to face, and I'd only played one other time on CCGW at least a year or two ago. The bulk (three games) of my Mythos experience comes from playing it by email at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cofcmythos

With that out of the way, on to the game. I was playing a deck I'd just built. It's set in the Waking World and the adventures it uses are Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh and Summon Great Cthulhu. I thought those would be an interesting choice. Desert and Sea. It also had a nice side benefit of being a Middle East deck that doesn't include the Sun Worshipper and/or Seeking Everlasting Life I. Lastly, it works with the standard Mythos point system or Alex Broadhead's Repoint system (which I think is terrific).

My opponent was playing a Dunwich Horror deck with A Day in the Life of a Miskatonic University Student.

I started off really well with some good card draws. My sanity was dropping quite a bit due to some of the requirements for the Brotherhood and my opponent had two pretty sizeable threats in the first two rounds. I was able to hit a Sanitarium and play Brotherhood right after he had played A Day in the Life so I didn't think I was doing too badly (especially since this was the first play for this deck).

My next round's draw was very poor and I had to pass twice early in the round. Luckily my opponent had a tough time with discards so it didn't work out too badly.

On the last round I'd drawn really well. I set down the White Ship on the way to R'lyeh and I had all the cards I needed in my hand to win (about 4). However, on my next turn I put down R'lyeh and my opponent used Yithian Mental Contact which sent R'lyeh to the bottom of my Story Deck! That hurt as R'lyeh is unique and I didn't have a way of getting it back since I'd already played my other adventure.

I had discarded Carter's Clock a couple rounds ago and so I didn't have my only means of getting R'lyeh back. I also couldn't get off the White Ship because I didn't have any other region cards in the deck so we ended the game there in favor of my opponent since nothing I could have done would have won me the game (it was unlikely that I would have driven him insane).

All in all I was pleased with the deck, and needless to say I added a few cards that would help that situation should it arise in the future. Playing at the CCGW was fantastic, too. Everything was very smooth and worked very well. I think Mythos is a terrific CCG, though I'm somewhat biased as I enjoy Lovecraft's stories.

So, who's up for another game of Mythos?!

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Nekura — 2005-09-02T12:39:16+00:00

Game played on CCGWorkshop.com

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boneroller — 2005-08-09T12:36:20+00:00

Dreamlands - 6 Different Card Types

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boneroller — 2005-08-09T12:36:19+00:00

4 Dreamlands Adventures

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Unexpected Party — 2005-07-01T12:24:15+00:00

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Unexpected Party — 2005-07-01T12:24:15+00:00

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Unexpected Party — 2005-07-01T12:24:15+00:00

Thread: User Review

cdwalkley — 2004-04-28T14:31:14+00:00

This is a slightly different review of the game, as I am reviewing it from the point of view of the solo player. The game includes rules to facilitate solo play (Note: these are quite different to the rules presented in the link on the main page).

The first stage in playing Solo Mythos is to build two decks. Deck construction in this version of the game is very different to that of two player Mythos and has to adhere to even stricter rules.

You start by selecting which adventures you want to try and complete. The total points of adventures directly affects the amount of other cards in your deck of each type. For example, you have to include 1 tome for every full 5 points of adventures in your deck. This is done for each of the following types of card: Locations, Tomes, Spells, Artifacts and Allies. Monsters and Events are left to one side.

This means that there is quite a bit of work involved in setting up a deck. In some ways this is part of the fun, but it may not appeal to players who like 'getting on with the game'. Mind you, if you are the kind of person who likes CCGs you probably won't mind a bit of extra deck construction!

There is a potential problem here in that it is quite easy to build an optimum solo player deck, which is easy to beat. This is not part of the fun, as far as I am concerned. It works much better when you theme a deck around certain locations or allies. Building themed decks is always fun, and it keeps the game challenging.

Of course, it is vital you pick cards which fulfil adventure and location/language requirements, just like the normal game. But sites and artifacts which increase your sanity are particularly valuable in the solo game.

If your adventures require any monster or event cards, then one of each of the required cards is put in your deck. However, a duplicate of the card must also be put in the threat deck.

The second deck you have to build is a monster/event 'threat' deck. This is easier to do as you just need to pick monsters with a value of 3 times the points of adventures, in no more cards than there are points of adventures. So if you have 15 points of adventures, you need 45 points of monsters in 15 cards or less. To this you add one Great Old One for each 10 points of adventures. Again, it is better if you theme your monsters instead of just picking the ones you think you and your allies can defeat the most easily.

To the monsters, you add a range of Event cards picked from events which adversely affect investigators/allies etc.

If your adventures require any monster or event cards, then one of each of the required cards is put in your deck. However, a duplicate of the card must also be put in the threat deck.

The game it self progresses like the normal game, by and large. However, whenever you move to a new location, you must draw from the threat deck and resolve whatever the card is. So if it is an event, it will affect you in the worst way possible. If it is a monster it attacks immediately and you may defend with allies as normal.

The objective is to complete ALL the adventures you have put in your deck.

The game is surprisingly fun to play solo and I have enjoyed it greatly. The good thing is that it doesn't change a huge amount from the two player game in terms of how you play your cards. Obviously, the way the threat deck is used is probably the biggest difference.

The major drawback from my point of view is that, because the threat deck has monsters and events based upon the points values of the adventures in your deck, you have to rebuild it for every solo deck you use. This makes it hard to build more than one solo deck at a time. Annoying when building them takes so long to do well.

Solo play drains your card reserves as well, so unless you have a large collection it may not be feasible to have both multi-player and solo decks at the same time. But then, if you regularly play multi-player, you probably wouldn't want to play solo.

I have tweaked the solo rules a bit to change a couple of things, especially the way the monsters attack, in order to make it more similar to the normal game. However, I have found that this makes the solo game even harder to beat. Not that I mind!

All in all it is nice to have a CCG to play around with even when you haven't got an opponent to hand. I don't know of any others which have a decent set of solo rules. I know Magic has one on the WoTC site, but it is nothing at all like the regular game.

I feel it kind of justifies having so many cards. After all, when (or if) Magic goes out of fashion I'm going to end up with a whole load of effectively useless cards... I'll still be able to have fun with my Cthulhu ones when I am in the old people's home...

So, in conclusion, Solo Mythos as presented in the rulebook is a solid alternative to multi-player games and still good fun. It needs a couple of tweaks to run entirely smoothly, but this is no real problem. I'd have tweaked it anyway

Thread: Re:Session Report

Robert Osvalds — 2004-03-04T23:46:53+00:00

pfong (#7818),
Sorry this is [way] late, but Thanks!

Thread: Re:Session Report

jeblucas — 2003-11-12T17:16:26+00:00

I enjoy this game, but I've found that House Rules are the only things that make it work. Townsfolk Riot, as an example, had to be banned as it just ate people up (It says move from your current Location or lose 5 sanity). Too often at our house the game became more about driving the opponent insane rather than completing Stories--I would say the most completed Story was the one which just requires you play 20 (25?) points worth of Monsters! The game make disrupting adventures easier than it should--there's a card that compels a random card from the discards to be reshuffled--a potential disaster for completing a Story. I want this game to be better--it's one of few CCG's that can compete with Magic on its merits.

Thread: Card Lists and Editions

Urhixidur — 2003-09-15T14:25:11+00:00

The successive sets of cards were:

Mythos Limited Edition, Starter Set, 1996 (199 cards plus 9 Investigator cards) (plus one Promotional card)
Mythos Limited Edition, Expeditions of Miskatonic University Booster-1, 1996 (67 cards)
Mythos Limited Edition, Cthulhu Rising Booster-2, 1996 (67 cards)
Mythos Limited Edition, Legends of the Necronomicon Booster-3, 1996 (67 cards)
Mythos Standard Game Set Unlimited, 1996 (two decks of 52 cards plus 2 Investigator cards)
Mythos The Dreamlands Limited, 1997 (200 cards plus 5 investigator cards)
Mythos: New Aeon, 1999 (200 cards plus 5 investigator cards)

Starters were always 60 cards, boosters were always 13 cards.

Thread: Re:Session Report

pfong — 2003-06-12T01:19:36+00:00

Yoder wrote:

Your report also highlights what I find frustrating with the game. With two people it can be turned into a "monster mash" where the object is to drive your opponent insane first.

...I wonder how long that game took you on CCG Workshop?

Apologies if it came across that way in my report, but my game with RR was not really a "monster mash". Both of us were trying to win by completing adventures. RR told me that the only monsters he had in his deck were the 4 Hunting Horrors. He got a "God draw" for his opening hand. Same thing goes for my deck. Although the Serpent Men + Weapons combo is nasty, the intention is not to drive my opponent insane, but to keep them low on sanity. This starves them of resources to play their own nasty stuff. It's like the land destruction strategy in Magic: the Gathering.

Most of the Mythos players at CCG workshop are "old hands", so the win by adventures play style is what I've encountered there. I didn't really note the time, but I think it took about an hour or less. Both of us were playing fast and familiar with the interface.