ia! ia! Cast spells Gain Power Don’t go (too) mad
a game for 3-5 amateur cultists by Martin Bødker Enghoff character drawings by Lars Rune Jørgensen
OVERVIEW OF THE GAME You are a distant relative to a Cthulhu mythos legend and you are competing with others like you to be the most powerful sorceror of your time. Every turn you draw Component cards - magical words or ingredients - which you use to try and complete different sets, called Spells. When you complete a Spell you can play it and gain Power, which is used to find the winner of the game. As you complete spells you also gain Mythos cards, which give you new abilities in the game as well as Madness cards, that makes it harder for you to play the game. GAME PIECES
Fhtagn Common
Component (left) and Blood Spellbook (right) cards Rare differ only in colour and shape. Spellbook cards define what Spells you attempt to play and Component cards are the cards you draw and play to match the Spellbook cards when it is your turn. The rarity of the cards are also shown.
Insight
Lost in time
Draw 1 extra card each turn
You have 60 seconds to complete your turn (if time runs out you may still draw card after you cast Spells)
Mythos cards are gained by casting Spells and give you special abilities.
Unique
Madness cards are gained when you get Mythos. They make the game harder.
Each player starts with a Character card that gives a unique special ability.
Round 1 Instructions (3-4 players) Cards Power Mythos/Madness 0-1 3 3 1 3 3 2 4 4 Add 1 of each to a spell for +1 Power per extra Component added.
The Round Instructions are used to set up each of the 3 Rounds.
Eerie Tunes.
During your turn give the Eerie Tunes card to an opponent.
Erica Zann
DJ at Discothèque d’Auseil
Power Tokens used to track each players Power points.
SETUP (see the Setup figure on the next page) 11. Each player takes a random Character card and follows the instructions on the card, if there are any. 22. Shuffle the Component cards. Deal 3 to each player. Put the rest in a pile, face down - this is the Component draw pile. Take 3 cards from the pile and put them face up next to the pile. 33. Shuffle the Mythos and Madness cards separately and put them face down in a pile each. Take the top 3 Mythos cards and put them face up next to the Mythos pile. 44. Shuffle the Spellbook cards and put them in a face down pile. Put the Round 1 Instruction card next to the pile (note that one side shows setup for 3-4 player games, the other for a 5 player game). Draw cards from the pile and make 3 (4 for a 5 player game) rows with as many cards in them as shown on the Instruction card. These are the Spells in the Spellbook for Round 1. Note that you can gain up to 3 extra Power per Spell by boosting them with the special Component cards Blood, Candle, and Pentagram as noted on the Instruction card.
SETUP Mythos
3
Madness
Insight
Prescience
Warp reality
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Common
Rare
Common
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4
Common
1
Uncommon
2
Rare
Uncommon
Uncommon
Common
Common
Uncommon
Common
ROUND STRUCTURE Each game of Ia! Ia! consists of three Rounds. Each Round has two phases. Phase 1: Spellbook. The Spellbook showing which Spells you are aiming to cast this Round is set up. Phase 2: Spell casting. This is the main part of the game where players gather Component cards and use them to cast Spells. A Round ends once a) each of the Spells in the Spellbook have been cast at least once or b) the final Component card is drawn (very unlikely). Phase 1: Spellbook Skip this phase in Round 1! 1. The player with the fewest Power points may select one Spell in the Spellbook to stay in play. Skip this step in case of a draw. 2. Shuffle the cards from Spells in the Spellbook together with the cards not used in the previous Round. Then take the Instruction Card for this Round and make new Spells according to the card, in addition to the one that was left in play in Step 1 (if any), such that you again have 3 Spells in the Spellbook (4 Spells for a 5 player game). 3. Take all Component cards used in the previous Round and shuffle them into the Component draw pile along with all discarded Component cards. Put 3 Component cards face up next to the draw pile. 4. Reshuffle the 3 Mythos cards next to the draw pile into the pile. Put 3 Mythos cards face up next to the draw pile. Phase 2: Spellcasting In Round 1 randomly select a player to start and take a full turn, then play proceeds clockwise for the rest of the game. As soon as a players turn starts she may no longer look at
the cards in her hand. The must be either put on the table or held so only the back can be seen. A player may elect to skip her entire turn and instead do one or both of the following: 1) Discard her hand of Component cards and draw the same number of cards selecting between the Component Draw pile and the three face up cards next to the pile. 2) Discard 1 Madness and 1 Mythos card. Otherwise the turn proceeds as follows: I. Draw Component cards. II. Cast Spells. III. Replenish cards. Note that the power from the Mythos cards can be used if you want but the Madness cards must always be obeyed. Failure to do so causes the players turn to go directly to Replenish Cards.
I. Draw Component cards The player can draw two Component cards. Cards can either be drawn from the Component Draw pile or from the three face up cards next to the pile. The player may look at a card she drew until another card is drawn, then the first card must be put away, like the rest of the players hand. Instead of drawing a card a player may discard the Component cards next to the draw pile and replace them. Additionally a player may replace a “Mumble” card in play with a card from her hand, corresponding to the card the “Mumble” was mimicking. If the player takes the wrong card from her hand that card is discarded. II. Cast Spells The player may attempt to cast one of the Spells in the Spellbook. To do so the player announces which Spell she will attempt. She must then play the cards in the Spell in
Example on Spellcasting Lara announces that she wants to cast the first Spell in the Spellbook on the Setup figure (Ia!, Fhtagn, Blood). She says “Ia!” and reveals an “Ia!” card from her hand (remember that she is not allowed to look at her cards). She then says “Fhtagn”, reveals the matching card, and finally does the same for “Blood”. She then says “Candle” and plays a “Candle” card to boost her Spell. The Spell is a succes! She gets 4 Power points (3 for the basic Spell and +1 because she boosted it with the Candle) and draws 1 Mythos and 1 Madness card (The Instruction card allows her to select 0 Mythos and Madness cards too, but she wants more abilities). The Madness card she draws is “Fanatic” so she must stand up every time she plays “Ia!” or “Fhtagn”. On her next turn she announces she wants to cast the second Spell (Ia, Mglw’nfah, Candle). She says “Ia!” and plays an “Ia” card. But she forgot to stand up as required by the “Fanatic” Madness card and so the “Ia!” card is discarded and she proceeds to Replenish cards.
order (left to right) by first announcing the name of the card and then taking the card from her hand and putting it in front of her. If the card matches the announced card she may proceed to announce and play the next card until the Spell is completed. If, at any point, she plays a wrong card the Spell fails, the used cards are discarded, and the turn proceeds to Replenish cards. If she manages to complete a Spell she gains Power points, as listed on the Instruction card for the Round. Furthermore the player gets a number of Mythos and Madness cards - this is also shown on the Instruction card. If an interval is listed the player selects how many cards she wants - but the same number of Mythos and Madness cards must always be drawn. Madness card are drawn from the
Madness pile. Mythos cards can either be taken from the Mythos draw pile or the face up Mythos cards next to the draw pile. If you draw a second copy of a card marked “Unique” shuffle it back and draw another card. After a successful Spell has been cast the player may attempt another Spell. Leave any succesfully played Spells on the table. Note that the “Mumble” Component card can be played as a substitute for any other card. If all Spells for that Round has been played (by any combination of players) or the final Component card is drawn then the Round immediately ends.
III. Replenish cards If any of the face up Component or Mythos cards were drawn, replace them with new ones from the respective draw piles. Discard down to your hand size, which starts at 7. WINNING THE GAME After Round 3 ends the player with the most Power points wins. In case of a draw the tiebreakers are 1) Most Mythos cards, 2) Most Component cards in hand. THANKS Playtesters: Esben Flachs, Morten Hartelius, Birgitte Hollegaard Hartsteen, Hans Peter Hartsteen, Jakob Hein, Peter Hendriksen, Frank Madsen, Mikkel Strøbech. And a big thanks to Fastaval, particularly Mads Havshøj and Rasmus Ragnvald Olofsson and the Jury, for giving us the opportunity.