fbpx
Wikipedia

Mythos (card game)

January 01, 1970

Mythos is an out-of-print collectible card game published by Chaosium. It is based on the Cthulhu Mythos stories of the horror author H. P. Lovecraft, as well as on Chaosium's own Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

Mythos
Cardback to the Mythos CCG.
DesignersCharlie Krank
PublishersChaosium
Players2+
Playing timeApprox 45 min
ChanceSome
Age range10+
SkillsCard playing
Arithmetic
Basic Reading Ability

Overview edit

In 1996, Chaosium decided to join the ongoing collectible card game boom and published Mythos, designed by Charlie Krank. It received critical acclaim, winning the 1996 Best Card Game Origins Award,[1] and initially sold well.[2] Later expansions however, most notably the non-collectible Standard Game Set, fared poorly and forced Chaosium to discontinue Mythos.[2] The production was stopped after the release of New Aeon in 1997, only a year after the game's initial release.

In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Mythos as one of The Millennium's Best Card Games.[3] Editor Scott Haring said "Mythos was a very deserving game, with great art and gameplay that involved more than just monsters fighting each other."[3]

Game play edit

Mythos was designed to include a high level of player interaction, in the vein of some traditional card games like rummy.[4] Game play borrowed concepts from previous CCG titles, but also introduced new, innovative mechanics.

The game is playable by two players, but is really intended to be played by a larger number. Increasing the number of players makes completing adventures more important, and encourages development of other strategies other than disrupting an opponent's game. Mythos tournament games are conducted with four players.[5]

Like most collectible card games, a Mythos player constructs a deck from available cards within certain restrictions. A player chooses an investigator card to represent his character. Each investigator has special abilities and numerical attributes, most notably "sanity". Some cards can lower an investigator's sanity score, and when it reaches zero the investigator is eliminated from the game.

The main objective of the game is to collect points by completing "adventures". Adventures are cards that include keywords derived from different card names and types. Once the required cards are in the player's story deck or on the table, the player can play the adventure and receive its points. When a player reaches the number of adventure points previously agreed upon (usually 20), the game ends after the current round and the winner is determined.

Each player can normally play only one card at a time, after which the turn is passed to the next player. This continues until a certain number of players have passed their turns without playing any cards.

Cards edit

Investigator edit

A double-sized card played on the table at the start of the game to represent the player. Examples: Adventurous Dilettante//Proud Prussian Submariner, Obsessed Federal Agent//Obsessed Agent in Mi-Go Braincase. (The first is from the game's original release and is simply two different Investigators printed on the same card; the second is from the final expansion, which contained a few ways of "flipping" the investigator card, enabling you to start as a "human" character and be transformed into a "monster".)

Adventure edit

An Adventure card consists of a short story, in which certain key phrases are highlighted and need to be completed to play the Adventure card. Some Adventures are of general type, some try to recreate famous events from Lovecraft's stories. Examples: The Dunwich Horror, Summon Great Cthulhu.

Ally edit

Allies (as well as all other card types) are used to satisfy different Adventure requirements and know languages that make comprehending foreign Tomes possible. They also protect your Investigator from Monsters and other cards. The allies featured in the set are drawn mainly from Lovecraftian fiction, but also include real-life people, mostly authors, as game characters.[6][7] Examples: Randolph Carter, Edgar Allan Poe, Dr. Carl Jung.

Artifact edit

Artifacts are items that can be found at Artifact Locations. They help the Investigator in myriad ways or give bonuses to his or her Allies. Some Artifacts, mostly Weapons, are assigned to a particular Ally, but most are simply kept next to your Investigator card. Examples: Jewelry of the Deep Ones, Tommygun.

Event edit

Events represent calamities, phobias, weather conditions, day-night cycle, methods of travel, and other surprising things that can happen to one or more investigators or cards. Examples: Eclipse of the Sun, Townsfolk Riot.

Location edit

During the game, investigators travel to different locations by walking or by using different methods of transportation (by playing Event cards such as Train). In true Lovecraftian spirit, some Locations are real while others are fictitious. Locations may be in various "regions" (color-coded) or "dimensions" (indicated by a symbol); this complicates the process of playing a new location, as some are difficult or impossible to travel to from others. Examples: Massachusetts State Hospital, R'lyeh

Monster edit

Playing a Monster requires certain locations which are marked as a "gate", and can usually only be used once. Monsters are played face down into a "mythos threat", where their strength may be roughly guessed at by the Sanity cost required to play them, but their exact identity is unknown. At the end of the round, they are divided into one or more "directed threats" which each attack a different opponent; two threats directed at each other usually fight, the stronger being reduced and the weaker eliminated, with survivors slaying the defending player's Allies or damaging his Investigator's Sanity. Most are drawn from Cthulhu Mythos and some are Great Old Ones or Outer Gods with powers that affect every Investigator (unlike all other Monsters, these are played face-up, requiring certain cards or gameplay conditions, never engage in combat, and remain in play for two rounds rather than one). Examples: Colour out of space, Nyarlathotep.

Spell edit

Spells can be found in Tomes. Some corrupt allies can also know Spells. Casting spells costs your Investigator sanity, but can help you or hinder your opponent in many ways. Spells are marked with icons defining which tomes they can be found in. Examples: Create Gate, Thirty-five Abominable Adulations of the Bloated One.

Tome edit

Arcane literature that contains Spells. Each Tome is written in a language, which your Investigator or an Ally must be listed as speaking before you can play the Tome. Tomes may be played with several Spells in them, an exception to the general rule of playing only one card per turn in most cases. Examples: Necronomicon, Unaussprechlichen Kulten.

Distribution edit

Mythos was available in boosters and starters, which contained a fixed number of common, uncommon and rare cards distributed randomly. The Mythos Standard Game Set deviated from this practice.

Cards are illustrated by various artists using very various styles, some cards being photo-realistic paintings, some computer-generated and some examples of modern arts.

Mythos Limited Edition edit

Mythos Limited Edition (1996) was divided into starters, which also contained a random investigator, and into 3 different boosters. Each booster contained cards from Limited Edition plus 60 [incorrect, it actually is 67] unique cards from the different starters.[8]

  • Expeditions of Miskatonic University[8]
  • Cthulhu Rising[8][9]
  • Legends of the Necronomicon[8]

Mythos Limited Edition was distributed in Starter decks and in the three booster pack expansions (Expeditions of Miskatonic University/Cthulhu Rising/Legends of the Necronomicon). Limited Edition consists of 10 double-sided investigator cards, 50 rare, 50 uncommon, 99 common, 2 promo, 1 insert cards. Each of the three booster expansion sets consists of 17 rare, 17 uncommon, 33 common cards.

The Limited Edition Starter decks contains 60 cards and a random (folded) investigator card.[10]: 84  Each booster box contains 36 booster packs and a sealed (unfolded) set of the ten investigator cards. Each booster pack contains 13 cards including two rare cards, one of which is from the expansion and the other either from the expansion or from the limited set, four uncommon cards, and seven common cards.[10]: 84 

Mythos Standard Game Set edit

Mythos Standard Game Set (unlimited) (1997), unlike other Mythos sets, did not have boosters. Instead it came in two pre-constructed, out-of-the-box playable 52-card decks packed together.[11]

Mythos: The Dreamlands edit

Mythos: The Dreamlands (1997) introduced the concept of a different dimension, Dreamlands, with all new Investigators, boosters and starters. It had a projected print run of 35 million cards.[12] The 200-card set was sold in 60-card starter decks and 13-card booster packs.[13] It was based on Lovecraft's Dream Cycle stories.[13]

New Aeon edit

New Aeon (1997), at times known as Mythos Now before its release,[14] was a 200-card stand-alone expansion set distributed in the same way as The Dreamlands.[15] The setting was modern age, with a lighter, popular culture overtone in illustration and card design (notably including references to modern beliefs in UFOs as well as time travel, as well as the presence of military hardware and mention of nuclear radiation). Due to the game's cancellation, New Aeon had a far lower print run than preceding sets (especially The Dreamlands), and sold out quickly after it became known that the game was discontinued.[16]

Reception edit

Paul Pettengale reviewed Mythos for Arcane magazine, rating it an 8 out of 10 overall.[17] Pettengale comments that "It's an enjoyable diversion from CoC, and a game that I can recommend to those of you who appreciate Lovecraft's works and have some experience of CoC roleplaying."[17]

Paul Pettengale reviewed the Cthulhu Rising expansion set for Arcane magazine, rating it a 6 out of 10 overall.[18] Pettengale comments that "it doesn't have an easily discernable personality of its own. Without the basic set cards diluting the set, I'd have liked it a lot more."[18]

John D. Rateliff commented that Mythos "remains the high water mark for capturing roleplaying sensibilities within a trading card game, and also stands as the best translation of a RPG into a card game, conveying the flavor of the original roleplaying game while also succeeding as a card game in its own right."[19]

Allan Varney, in a review published in The Duelist, stated that the rulebook supplied with the original set is "opaquely written and requires study", but that the rules "are rather simple".[10]: 84 

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ . Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-05-07.
  2. ^ a b Applecline, Shannon (2006-09-04). "A Brief History of Game #3: Chaosium: 1975-present". RPGnet.
  3. ^ a b Haring, Scott D. (1999-12-17). "Second Sight: The Millennium's Best Card Game". Pyramid (Online). Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  4. ^ . Chaosium. Archived from the original on 2007-05-18.
  5. ^ "Mythos: Standard Tournament Rules". Chaosium.
  6. ^ Complete Mythos card list 2013-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ New Aeon card list 2012-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b c d Varney, Allen (May 1996), "Reports on Trading Card Games", The Duelist, no. #10, p. 9
  9. ^ Forbeck, Matt (May 1996). "On the shelves". InQuest. No. 13. Wizard Entertainment. p. 20.
  10. ^ a b c Varney, Allen (July 1996). "Madness and mayhem". The Duelist. Vol. 3, no. 3. pp. 84–85.
  11. ^ "Game news & updates". The Duelist. No. 14. Wizards of the Coast. December 1996. p. 78.
  12. ^ "Inside the Industry", The Duelist, no. #12, p. 74, September 1996
  13. ^ a b "Game news & updtes". The Duelist. No. 14. Wizards of the Coast. February 1997. p. 84.
  14. ^ Varney, Allen (August 1997). "Game news & updates". The Duelist. No. 18. Wizards of the Coast. p. 84.
  15. ^ Varney, Allen (October 1997). "Game news & updates". The Duelist. No. 19. Wizards of the Coast. p. 78.
  16. ^ Varney, Allen (October 1997), "Inside the Industry", The Duelist, no. #19, p. 78
  17. ^ a b Pettengale, Paul (June 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane (7). Future Publishing: 60–61.
  18. ^ a b Pettengale, Paul (August 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane (9). Future Publishing: 64–65.
  19. ^ Rateliff, John D. (2007). "Mythos". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 209–212. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Mythos at Board Game Geek website
  • Card lists at Trade Cards Online (defunct)
  • Card lists at TroveStar

January 01, 1970
mythos, card, game, mythos, print, collectible, card, game, published, chaosium, based, cthulhu, mythos, stories, horror, author, lovecraft, well, chaosium, call, cthulhu, role, playing, game, mythoscardback, mythos, designerscharlie, krankpublisherschaosiumpl. Mythos is an out of print collectible card game published by Chaosium It is based on the Cthulhu Mythos stories of the horror author H P Lovecraft as well as on Chaosium s own Call of Cthulhu role playing game MythosCardback to the Mythos CCG DesignersCharlie KrankPublishersChaosiumPlayers2 Playing timeApprox 45 minChanceSomeAge range10 SkillsCard playingArithmeticBasic Reading Ability Contents 1 Overview 2 Game play 3 Cards 3 1 Investigator 3 2 Adventure 3 3 Ally 3 4 Artifact 3 5 Event 3 6 Location 3 7 Monster 3 8 Spell 3 9 Tome 4 Distribution 4 1 Mythos Limited Edition 4 2 Mythos Standard Game Set 4 3 Mythos The Dreamlands 4 4 New Aeon 5 Reception 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksOverview editIn 1996 Chaosium decided to join the ongoing collectible card game boom and published Mythos designed by Charlie Krank It received critical acclaim winning the 1996 Best Card Game Origins Award 1 and initially sold well 2 Later expansions however most notably the non collectible Standard Game Set fared poorly and forced Chaosium to discontinue Mythos 2 The production was stopped after the release of New Aeon in 1997 only a year after the game s initial release In 1999 Pyramid magazine named Mythos as one of The Millennium s Best Card Games 3 Editor Scott Haring said Mythos was a very deserving game with great art and gameplay that involved more than just monsters fighting each other 3 Game play editThis section relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Mythos card game news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2013 Mythos was designed to include a high level of player interaction in the vein of some traditional card games like rummy 4 Game play borrowed concepts from previous CCG titles but also introduced new innovative mechanics The game is playable by two players but is really intended to be played by a larger number Increasing the number of players makes completing adventures more important and encourages development of other strategies other than disrupting an opponent s game Mythos tournament games are conducted with four players 5 Like most collectible card games a Mythos player constructs a deck from available cards within certain restrictions A player chooses an investigator card to represent his character Each investigator has special abilities and numerical attributes most notably sanity Some cards can lower an investigator s sanity score and when it reaches zero the investigator is eliminated from the game The main objective of the game is to collect points by completing adventures Adventures are cards that include keywords derived from different card names and types Once the required cards are in the player s story deck or on the table the player can play the adventure and receive its points When a player reaches the number of adventure points previously agreed upon usually 20 the game ends after the current round and the winner is determined Each player can normally play only one card at a time after which the turn is passed to the next player This continues until a certain number of players have passed their turns without playing any cards Cards editInvestigator edit A double sized card played on the table at the start of the game to represent the player Examples Adventurous Dilettante Proud Prussian Submariner Obsessed Federal Agent Obsessed Agent in Mi Go Braincase The first is from the game s original release and is simply two different Investigators printed on the same card the second is from the final expansion which contained a few ways of flipping the investigator card enabling you to start as a human character and be transformed into a monster Adventure edit An Adventure card consists of a short story in which certain key phrases are highlighted and need to be completed to play the Adventure card Some Adventures are of general type some try to recreate famous events from Lovecraft s stories Examples The Dunwich Horror Summon Great Cthulhu Ally edit Allies as well as all other card types are used to satisfy different Adventure requirements and know languages that make comprehending foreign Tomes possible They also protect your Investigator from Monsters and other cards The allies featured in the set are drawn mainly from Lovecraftian fiction but also include real life people mostly authors as game characters 6 7 Examples Randolph Carter Edgar Allan Poe Dr Carl Jung Artifact edit Artifacts are items that can be found at Artifact Locations They help the Investigator in myriad ways or give bonuses to his or her Allies Some Artifacts mostly Weapons are assigned to a particular Ally but most are simply kept next to your Investigator card Examples Jewelry of the Deep Ones Tommygun Event edit Events represent calamities phobias weather conditions day night cycle methods of travel and other surprising things that can happen to one or more investigators or cards Examples Eclipse of the Sun Townsfolk Riot Location edit During the game investigators travel to different locations by walking or by using different methods of transportation by playing Event cards such as Train In true Lovecraftian spirit some Locations are real while others are fictitious Locations may be in various regions color coded or dimensions indicated by a symbol this complicates the process of playing a new location as some are difficult or impossible to travel to from others Examples Massachusetts State Hospital R lyeh Monster edit Playing a Monster requires certain locations which are marked as a gate and can usually only be used once Monsters are played face down into a mythos threat where their strength may be roughly guessed at by the Sanity cost required to play them but their exact identity is unknown At the end of the round they are divided into one or more directed threats which each attack a different opponent two threats directed at each other usually fight the stronger being reduced and the weaker eliminated with survivors slaying the defending player s Allies or damaging his Investigator s Sanity Most are drawn from Cthulhu Mythos and some are Great Old Ones or Outer Gods with powers that affect every Investigator unlike all other Monsters these are played face up requiring certain cards or gameplay conditions never engage in combat and remain in play for two rounds rather than one Examples Colour out of space Nyarlathotep Spell edit Spells can be found in Tomes Some corrupt allies can also know Spells Casting spells costs your Investigator sanity but can help you or hinder your opponent in many ways Spells are marked with icons defining which tomes they can be found in Examples Create Gate Thirty five Abominable Adulations of the Bloated One Tome edit Arcane literature that contains Spells Each Tome is written in a language which your Investigator or an Ally must be listed as speaking before you can play the Tome Tomes may be played with several Spells in them an exception to the general rule of playing only one card per turn in most cases Examples Necronomicon Unaussprechlichen Kulten Distribution editMythos was available in boosters and starters which contained a fixed number of common uncommon and rare cards distributed randomly The Mythos Standard Game Set deviated from this practice Cards are illustrated by various artists using very various styles some cards being photo realistic paintings some computer generated and some examples of modern arts Mythos Limited Edition edit Mythos Limited Edition 1996 was divided into starters which also contained a random investigator and into 3 different boosters Each booster contained cards from Limited Edition plus 60 incorrect it actually is 67 unique cards from the different starters 8 Expeditions of Miskatonic University 8 Cthulhu Rising 8 9 Legends of the Necronomicon 8 Mythos Limited Edition was distributed in Starter decks and in the three booster pack expansions Expeditions of Miskatonic University Cthulhu Rising Legends of the Necronomicon Limited Edition consists of 10 double sided investigator cards 50 rare 50 uncommon 99 common 2 promo 1 insert cards Each of the three booster expansion sets consists of 17 rare 17 uncommon 33 common cards The Limited Edition Starter decks contains 60 cards and a random folded investigator card 10 84 Each booster box contains 36 booster packs and a sealed unfolded set of the ten investigator cards Each booster pack contains 13 cards including two rare cards one of which is from the expansion and the other either from the expansion or from the limited set four uncommon cards and seven common cards 10 84 Mythos Standard Game Set edit Mythos Standard Game Set unlimited 1997 unlike other Mythos sets did not have boosters Instead it came in two pre constructed out of the box playable 52 card decks packed together 11 Mythos The Dreamlands edit Mythos The Dreamlands 1997 introduced the concept of a different dimension Dreamlands with all new Investigators boosters and starters It had a projected print run of 35 million cards 12 The 200 card set was sold in 60 card starter decks and 13 card booster packs 13 It was based on Lovecraft s Dream Cycle stories 13 New Aeon edit New Aeon 1997 at times known as Mythos Now before its release 14 was a 200 card stand alone expansion set distributed in the same way as The Dreamlands 15 The setting was modern age with a lighter popular culture overtone in illustration and card design notably including references to modern beliefs in UFOs as well as time travel as well as the presence of military hardware and mention of nuclear radiation Due to the game s cancellation New Aeon had a far lower print run than preceding sets especially The Dreamlands and sold out quickly after it became known that the game was discontinued 16 Reception editPaul Pettengale reviewed Mythos for Arcane magazine rating it an 8 out of 10 overall 17 Pettengale comments that It s an enjoyable diversion from CoC and a game that I can recommend to those of you who appreciate Lovecraft s works and have some experience of CoC roleplaying 17 Paul Pettengale reviewed the Cthulhu Rising expansion set for Arcane magazine rating it a 6 out of 10 overall 18 Pettengale comments that it doesn t have an easily discernable personality of its own Without the basic set cards diluting the set I d have liked it a lot more 18 John D Rateliff commented that Mythos remains the high water mark for capturing roleplaying sensibilities within a trading card game and also stands as the best translation of a RPG into a card game conveying the flavor of the original roleplaying game while also succeeding as a card game in its own right 19 Allan Varney in a review published in The Duelist stated that the rulebook supplied with the original set is opaquely written and requires study but that the rules are rather simple 10 84 See also editCall of Cthulhu The Card Game Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture List of collectible card games The Art of Playing MythosReferences edit Origins Award Winners 1996 Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts amp Design Archived from the original on 2008 05 07 a b Applecline Shannon 2006 09 04 A Brief History of Game 3 Chaosium 1975 present RPGnet a b Haring Scott D 1999 12 17 Second Sight The Millennium s Best Card Game Pyramid Online Retrieved 2008 02 17 The Official Mythos CCG Homepage Chaosium Archived from the original on 2007 05 18 Mythos Standard Tournament Rules Chaosium Complete Mythos card list Archived 2013 01 15 at the Wayback Machine New Aeon card list Archived 2012 08 19 at the Wayback Machine a b c d Varney Allen May 1996 Reports on Trading Card Games The Duelist no 10 p 9 Forbeck Matt May 1996 On the shelves InQuest No 13 Wizard Entertainment p 20 a b c Varney Allen July 1996 Madness and mayhem The Duelist Vol 3 no 3 pp 84 85 Game news amp updates The Duelist No 14 Wizards of the Coast December 1996 p 78 Inside the Industry The Duelist no 12 p 74 September 1996 a b Game news amp updtes The Duelist No 14 Wizards of the Coast February 1997 p 84 Varney Allen August 1997 Game news amp updates The Duelist No 18 Wizards of the Coast p 84 Varney Allen October 1997 Game news amp updates The Duelist No 19 Wizards of the Coast p 78 Varney Allen October 1997 Inside the Industry The Duelist no 19 p 78 a b Pettengale Paul June 1996 Games Reviews Arcane 7 Future Publishing 60 61 a b Pettengale Paul August 1996 Games Reviews Arcane 9 Future Publishing 64 65 Rateliff John D 2007 Mythos In Lowder James ed Hobby Games The 100 Best Green Ronin Publishing pp 209 212 ISBN 978 1 932442 96 0 Further reading editSmith Lester June 1996 On deck Mythos Inquest No 14 Wizard Entertainment p 38 39 Carl Jason February 1998 Welcome to his nightmare The Duelist No 22 Wizards of the Coast pp 86 87 Smith Lester July 1998 Call waiting of Cthulhu The Duelist No 27 Wizards of the Coast pp 70 73 External links editMythos at Board Game Geek website Card lists at Trade Cards Online defunct Card lists at TroveStar Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mythos card game amp oldid 1179200753, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.