Aaron Curtis is in the habit of starting things. The originator of the Deck of the Week, that weekly dose of illumination sought after by millions, he also started me on the quest for the perfect Dirty INWO Trick.

How it happened is this: Aaron was discussing on INWO-LIST the rules and strategy behind the infamous "KillBjorne" style decks, including one that had been Deck of the Week, when he casually said: "By the way, the best way to stop a killBjorne or an Abduction Moon Party deck is..."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The first Dirty INWO Trick was devised by Aaron Curtis, and posted as part of a message on a completely different subject. "KillBjorne" and "Moon Party" type decks involve linking multiple personalities to your Moonbase, and then destroying it yourself to reap the benefits for Cthullhu. Aaron suggested using Are We Having Fun Yet? to cancel the Moonbase's "special ability" of linked personalities being destroyed along with the base. "Legal?" Aaron said, "Why not? Are We Having Fun Yet? can cancel `any special ability use'!"

Unfortunately, when word of these tricks leaked out prematurely (darn those pesky Security Leaks!) I received an ominous message from Steve Jackson Games which said in part: "Sorry, killing all the Personalities linked to Moonbase when it is destroyed is not a `special ability use.'" There followed an un-Illuminated suggestion for stopping these types of decks (involving *team* work! Sheesh!). I have therefore re-numbered Aaron's devious suggestion as Dirty Trick Zero, a move which recalls Aaron's own precedent of numbering of "Fusion Seppuku" as DotW Zero.

Even if it's illegal, it's still inspired. And for you purists, here's a variant that at least will stop Bjorne from trashing the Moobase and committing suicide. Play Are We Having Fun Yet? when Bjorne is *linked* to the Moonbase, canceling the link.

The Assassins! card Regi$tered Trademark, which requires everyone to refer to a card by its full name, can cause the tongue-tied serious hurt. So what happens when you add a foreign language edition of INWO? That's right, a Dirty INWO Trick. Brian suggests using a German edition card with an near un-pronounceable name (he likes "Zuvieldienstleistende"), but even cards in English can drive players nuts. Is it double-you, eye, tea, sea, aitch or The Women's International Conspiracy from Hell? Or is it double-you, period, eye, period, tea, period, sea, period, aitch, period? Please remove sharp objects and firearms from the premises before trying this one.

A lot of decks draw their critical group in what is supposed to be the last turn. So if you hold Botched Contact or Sabotage in reserve, you can stop that strategy and then pick the flesh from the bones of your rival. "Both prevent your opponent from taking over his key group, after which you should have no problem convincing the other players to bring him down before his next turn," Aaron says.

The Supreme Court can only cancel the actions of Government groups, right? Wrong! You can expand the power of the Court further than even Justice Brennan could by illuminated use of the New World Order Military-Industrial Complex (stop the Nuclear Power Companies, the Liquor Companies, the Tobacco Companies, Multinational Oil Companies, etc.) or, to a lesser extent, by using Nationalization. Show 'em what an activist court can *really* do!

If you have a dirty INWO trick that you'd like to share, either send it to me via e-mail or post it under the subject "Dirty INWO Trick."

My criteria is simple: the trick must be legal, it must be feasible (no "master plans," please, that's deck building) and it must be illuminated; when someone who's never heard it before is told the trick, they ought to go "wow!" (or at least "cool!"). It should also be described entirely within game terms, that is, not "convince 3 out of four players to leave the room while you order pizza." That's the major distinction between these ideas and the "Stupid INWO Tricks" in the INWO Book (although the distinction is fuzzy; Stupid INWO Trick number 6 could also qualify as a Dirty INWO Trick.)

I've re-written the tricks rather than quoting the authors directly to allow for my comments and a certain amount of uniformity. If I quote anybody directly, you'll see those cute little quotation marks and then an attribution, just like in professional newspapers. Unlike them, I'll attempt to make the quoted material accurate. The titles are my own. If you submit a Dirty INWO trick for my next compilation, include some suggested titles if you can think of any.

Back to the Dirty Trick Index

Back to the False Temple

This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page