After staring down the business end of a pikathulhu one too many
times, my mind has cracked. In the depths of my madness I developed
this: the outline for the quick-playing Pokethulhu: the Insanity
Generating Card Game!


Rules
Cultists begin the game by drawing five cards into their hand. Order
of play is determined by having each cultist roll a Dodecahedron (d12)
. The cultist with the highest roll gets to go first. Cultists begins
the game with 10 Hurty Points.

Each turn, a cultist may bring one 'thulhu, (if he doesn't currently
have one out) and one of any other type of card onto the field. A non-
'thulhu card may either be set, or brought into effect immediately.
Set cards are kept hidden face down until they are activated. Under
normal condition, a cultist may have no more than one 'thulhu card,
and three other cards on the field at any one time. This restriction
includes set cards, continuous effect cards and instant-activation
cards.

Example: Randy has his trusty Pikathulhu on the field. In addition he
has one continuous effect card in play, (an NPC) and two set cards
face down. He has just drawn the Poor Little Orphan Child card, and
wants to play it to give Pikathulhu a power boost on his next attack.
But with three cards already on the field, he will have to get rid of
one before he can use the new card.

'Thulhu Cards
'Thulhu are the bread and butter of any young cultist. Your monster
companions are your primary method of attacking and defending. Use
them to keep your own Hurty Points safe, and to try and lower your
opponent's to 0 so that he can be devoured. Each creature has the
following statistics.

Aspects: These define the type of creature. 'Thulhu that are weak
against your creature's aspects take a -1 to all their Defense checks.
Weakness: Choose one Aspect, your 'thulhu is weak against attacks from
creatures with this Aspect type.
Power: A numerical rating representing the 'thulhu's attack strength.
When making an attack you roll a dodecahedron (d12) and add this
number to it.
Defense: A numerical rating representing the 'thulhu's ability to
either get out of the way of attacks, or to simply shrug off the
damage. When defending against an attack, roll a dodecahedron (d12)
and add this number to the result.
Hurty Points: How many wounds the 'thulhu can take before being KOed.
Special Abilities: Some 'thulhu may have a particular special ability,
if so it will be described here. These abilities take the place of the
creature's normal attack for the turn in which they are used.

Attacking and defending.
Each turn, a cultist may use his 'thulhu to attack. If the other
cultist has no active 'thulhu, and no other cards that allow a
possible defense, he takes one Hurty Point of damage; the first
cultist to be reduced to 0 Hurty Points is devoured by elder forces
from beyond the universe, and loses the game.

If the defending cultist does have a 'thulhu in play, then the
attacking cultist rolls a dodecahedron and adds the result to his
monster's Power rating. The defending cultist rolls a dodecahedron and
adds the result to his creature's Defense rating. The 'thulhu
belonging to whichever cultist rolled lowest takes a Hurty Point of
damage, putting it one step closer to being KOed. 'Thulhu which are
KOed. 'Thulhu which are KOed are removed from play, and may not be
brought back out under normal circumstances. A cultist may switch his
active 'thulhu at any time, provided the previous 'thulhu is not
currently the target of any enemy special abilities or KOed. The
cultist who does this may not use her new 'thulhu to attack that turn.

Sample 'Thulhu Cards
Pikathulhu
Aspects: Fungus, Luminescent
Weakness: Sticky
Power: 4
Defense: 4
Hurty Points: 3
A cute little horrible fungus monster with floppy ears and tentacles.

Billy-Niggurath
Aspects: Non-Euclidian, Icy
Weakness: Squamous
Power: 5
Defense: 2
Hurty Points: 3
Special Abilities: Billy can sacrifice one point of Defense to freeze
the other cultist's 'thulhu; reducing its Power by 1, and preventing
it from being switched for another creature or attacking until the
cultist manages to score an Attack roll (d12 plus the 'thulhu's Power)
of 9 or higher. Attempting to break free uses up the creature's
attack for that turn.
An icy goat made of strange angles. He has a powerful kick, but is
rather brittle.

Cuthugaforret
Aspects: Luminescent, Squamous
Weakness: Luminescent
Power: *
Defense: 3
Hurty Points: 5
Special Abilities: Cuthugaforret has the bad luck of being against his
own attack. He can defend just fine. But once you make an attack with
him, he is consumed in a fiery. On the downside, this automatically
KOs the little guy. On the up side, both the enemy cultist and his
active 'thulhu suffer a Hurty Point of damage.
A bright pink ball with tentacles emerging from the bottom. When he
attacks, he explodes in a giant ball of fire.

Wild 'Thulhu
Wild 'thulhu are the exception to the rule of only one creature on the
field at any given time. Any cultist stupid errr brave enough can
through a creature on the field at the beginning of his turn, and
declare it wild. He may use that 'thulhu to attack as normal that
turn. At the beginning of the next turn, he and his opponent roll a
dodecahedron. The cultist with the highest roll may then use that
'thulhu to attack in addition to his normal creature attack for that
turn.

These wild 'thulhu always attack before any other attacks or cards are
played. If a cultist loses her 'thulhu to one of these attacks, she
may not summon one until the beginning of her next turn. Fortunately,
wild 'thulhu can be attacked and KOed as normal.

Continuous Effect Cards
These types of cards provide an effect that remains in play from one
turn to the next. One of the more common examples of these are NPC
cards; characters from the hit pokethulhu show who show up to aid you
in your battles. Some, like the rare Randy card, provide bonuses to
all rolls relating to 'thulhu of a certain aspect.

A cultist may have no more than one continuous effect card active at
any time.

Instant Effect Cards
These cards provide a one-off bonus, gained in the round which the
card is played. These are the only types of cards that can be played
during an opponent's turn. One of the most popular cards of this type
is Poor Little Orphan Child, which allows you to sacrifice your
parents to get a bonus on your 'thulhu's next attack!

A cultist may play no more than one instant effect card in any turn.