The Independent Great Old Ones, part One

At this time, we have announced 18 independent Great Old Ones for Cthulhu Wars. They are: Abhoth, Atlach-Nacha, Azathoth, Bokrug, Byatis, Chaugnar Faugn, Cthugha, Daoloth, Eihort, Father Dagon, Ghatanothoa, Gla’aki, Gobogeg, Mother Hydra, Nyogtha, Tulszcha, Y’Golonac, & Yig.

When I conceived the idea of the Independents, I set some ground rules.

First, I wanted players to be easily able to awaken them. Therefore, with few exceptions, they ALL have an extremely simple Awakening cycle. They typically cost 4 Power (or 6 Power for the more dangerous ones), and all you need is a Great Old One and a Gate. The only exceptions to this awakening procedure are Azathoth, Cthugha, Gobogeg, and Y’Golonac, and they are still fairly simple.

Second, I wanted them to feel like Great Old Ones. In other words, I didn’t want them to just be another unit you could access. The faction Great Old Ones aren’t just like a big combat monster – they are literally game-changing dynamos and you can base whole strategies on their arcane clout. I wanted the Independent Great Old Ones to be game-changers as well. I wanted players to be able to construct strategies around them, too. In fact, I wanted some of them to force players to construct stategies.

Let’s take three examples. Now, I actually numbered the Indies from 1-18, and then generated three random results. And … I rolled a 1. Hmm. I wonder if my generator is working. <tries some more rolls> Yup. Just lucked out I guess. Let’s examine Abhoth.

Abhoth: a closer look

Abhoth’s unique ability is that if he is in play, you can pay 1 Power and spawn a Filth token anywhere on the map.

Filth tokens act like Combat 0 Monsters that cannot Move nor initiate Actions. They are still affected by abilities and spellbooks and other game events. For example, Cthulhu could Submerge with them, they can be Pained, etc.).

But Abhoth’s spellbook, when earned, suddenly renders the Filth tokens dangerous. Enemy Gates in Areas containing a Filth token no longer count during the Doom phase. This is huge. Now all enemy players have to spend time and trouble exterminating the Filth from their Areas before the Doom phase or lose points. Every player has to consider this, including you – do you spend your time spawning Filth to waste your opponent’s time, or do you take other actions? It’s a whole world of options, new tactics, and new strategies.