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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan.magick,alt.satanism,rec.games.trading-cards.misc,alt.marketplace.collectables
From: satanservice.org@boboroshi (SOD of the CoE)
Subject: Alt.Satanism The Flaming! (Trading Card Game)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 09:45:10 GMT

50030221 VII Hail Satan!

This post forms part of the ruleset to the new trading-card game:

		"Alt.Satanism The Flaming!"

Ben Schultz  waxes exciting!:
> From Pokeman to Yu-Gi-Oh, customizable card games are 
> all the rage. Why shouldn't we jump on that band wagon? 
> We could have Alt.Satanism, the CCG... 

I'm game!

> We could have multiple decks to represent each "major" 
> organization, plus independent and specialty cards. 

organization cards for a Player's Starting Game Objective:

   CoS -- obtain a relic of Anton LaVey or become the High Priest/ess
   ToS -- get recognized by the US Govt as The Setian Authority
 TOKUS -- convert 4 CoE members through ordeals most horrible!
  FCoS -- sleep with Lord Egan and his slobbering perverts
  Reds -- share a domicile with Tani Jantsang and other Satanic Reds 
   ONA -- counter-demonstrate during an anti-war rally at Nuremburg
Luciferians -- initiate a global neo-Gnosticism focussed on flames
Discordia -- get the Principia entered into the Gutenburg Project

we'll be stepping into Illuminati!(TM) territory if we 
take it very far into the 'org-card central' direction.

otherwise we might as well have an "organization deck"
which adheres to certain standards based on historical
factioning and allegiance. see below for ideas on these,
as well as ideas for strategy and winning conditions.

==================================================================

GAME DECKS


ORGANIZATION CARDS

>"Suffering John" -- Allows you to fabricate a story about your opponent
> and temporarily increase the power and clout of your organization.
> However, after several rounds of play, your allegations are found to
> be false and you lose half of what you had just gained....

>"My People" -- Makes your organization immune to one attack because your
> people know the truth. They have always known the truth. And will
> always know the truth.

"We Own the FAQ" -- Gives your organization temporary influence over
 faqs.org and convinces most of the newsgroup regulars that somehow
 your organization is worthy of more attention in the newsgroup and
 in the FAQ (play before someone plays the "alt.satanism ADMIN" card 
 from the independent deck).

"Our Bible is Your Bible" -- Persuade a nationally-distributed
 bookseller to market your bible to the masses, convincing the
 bulk of new posters that your organization is most authentic.

"High-Profile Convert" -- Temporarily involve some celebrity in
 membership proclamation to raise the profile of your organization
 and gain more converts. May be cancelled by the "Scandal" card.

"Search Engine Sequester" -- Through proper timing and well-
 crafted HTML-coding, gather converts to your organization by
 masquerading as more authoritative and extensive than actual.

"We Bad! We Bad!" -- A small cadre of new converts to your
 organization takes up residence in alt.satanism, trolling and
 flaming the rest of the newsgroup and driving out substance so
 that newbies only hear about the troll's organization.

"Flying Monkey Card" -- Wedge-posting draws attention to the 
 leader of your organization, while their acolytes caustically
 assault any who don't kowtow to their Master (a hi muckety-muck).
  	
"Qualifications Scandal" -- The true ease of membership-purchase
 becomes known throughout the alt.satanism newsgroup and jeers
 about 'buying priesthoods' are given in response to any
 discussion on hierarchy within your organization.

"Embarrassing Adepti" -- Leaders in your organization post to
 the newsgroup while high on illegal substance, seriously
 damaging your organization's reputation amongst conservatives.

"Cypherin' Sycophants!" -- Initializing the organization with a
 very bad acronym, attention to the organization and its converts
 is extremely low until a new name is chosen.

"Another Fucking Faction" -- Fights erupt within your 
 organization, erupting into embarrassing disputes in alt.satanism
 and setting the stage for Organizational Repose (see rules).
 This card may be further complicated by Cypherin' Sycophants!


INDEPENDENT CARDS

"Pact With the Devil" -- Today's Monster Alliance allows you to
 trump newbie Satanist posters to alt.satanism when they talk
 about belonging to the Left-Hand Path and the Council of Nine.

"alt.satanism ADMIN" -- Volunteer time to masquerade as the
 newsgroup Moderator and Administrator, multiplying FAQs beyond
 the ability of faqs.org or news.answers to keep up! Nobody can
 gain the upper ground (automatically cancels the effects of the
 "We Own the FAQ!" and can only be remedied by the repeated use
 of the specialty card "Cancel Bot", rolling each time for ISP
 discovery).

"Feet of Clay" -- Your former membership in a popular Satanist
 organization is discovered, complete with all its pimples and
 disclosure of the personal information of other members of
 your Initiated Grotto.

"Picked Off by the Herd" -- Insane trolls harass and demean you
 as criminal and you have no organization to defend your honour.
 Does not affect those with Education Chits (see rules).

"My Opinion Is Made of Cream Cheese" -- Followups to your posts
 of substance within alt.satanism are lost in a blizzard of
 chatting about the newest sci-fi movie and anti-Christian
 bleating.

"Who ARE You?" -- When played by a rank newbie, effectively
 demolishes a thread of substance by breaking up all newsgroup
 regulars with their ignorant astonishment at puissance.

"Butcher's Demise" -- Ridiculed to the point of tears and
 bed-wetting, the victim of this card loses all followers
 and cannot post for 2 turns. Immediate play of "Who ARE You?"
 in response allows return to posting after 1 turn.


SPECIALTY CARDS

>"Coming Soon" -- Suspends the effects of an opponents attacks until a
> latter date and time. Giving you a chance to formulate an appropriate
> response.
	
>"Random Capitalization" -- Allows you to replay an attack card 
> and double its effect by randomly capitalizing words. 

"SRA Accusation" -- Played on another poster, this card squelches
 their contributions, forcing them to lose one turn trying to
 defend themselves against accusations of child molestation.

"No I'm Not!" -- Sad responses to flame-bait drops your ratings
 in newsgroup readership. Miss next turn to study the dictionary.

"Cancel Bot" -- Remove posts by any individual. Roll on a d9 for
 ISP discovery. If you get a 6 or 9 then remove the card from
 your deck. May be used effectively against "alt.satanism ADMIN".

"Anti-Meme Spray" -- Construct reference documents exposing all
 the organizational and independent Satanists posing as neutral
 observers or interested newbies. Cancels effects of the card
 "SRA Accusation" and "Qualifications Scandal".

"Satanist History Confusion" -- When played, sends all posters
 without Education Chits into a lather pertaining to subjects
 about which they have no clue, making them lose the next 2 turns.

"Trapezohedronic Mesmerization" -- Using $100, multi-syllabic
 terminology, absolutely obliterates adversaries in 3 thread-radius.

"Top-Posting" -- Lame inclusion of all previous cascade-type
 seriously detracts from the content and popularity of your posts.

"Garbled Text" -- Serious technical problems with your news-
 reader cause your next 2 posts to be rendered illegible and
 totally meaningless. If an Education Chit is sacrificed when
 playing this card, it has the effect of a Trapezohedronic
 Mesmerization.

"Scratched and Sniffed" -- Out-dressed and generally circled
 by a vast differential in knowledge and maturity, those who
 are described as the target of this card lose half their
 membership (if playing on the Org-Game-Mat) and cannot 
 make use of Educational Chits for the rest of the game.

"Blood Sacrifice" -- Repudiated by all organization-based
 Players, this card is the only real defense against the
 Flying Monkey Card. Extra points if the sacrifice is 
 one of the Monkeys in question.

================================================================

STRATEGY TIPS, RULES DISCUSSION, and POSSIBLE WINNING CONDITIONS

Trait and Dogma Cards and Follower Dependencies

> You could build your deck around a "powerful personality." Once you
> put your "personality" into play, you could play trait cards to
> attract followers. These followers would represent the life of your
> organization. Other players could attack your "personalities" to 
> cause you to loose followers. 

You could also build your deck around conceptual dogmatism. Once
you put your Doctrine into play, you can play scripture cards,
plus Initiation Bonuses (earned from organizations or crudely-
manufactured in the privacy of your own home). That Doctrine
may also attract followers. Other Players can attack your
Doctrine to cause you to lose followers. Education Chits 
could be extremely helpful here, as could, in the case of 
personality, typing ability and familiarity with the internet.



Possible Winning (/Whining?) Conditions (Organization-based)

> The game ends when one players organization runs out of 
> followers and folds under. 

As long as someone has selected the Org-Game-Mat, this will be
fine as their termination from the game (because their org has
run its course and they have been shown as pathetic losers).

Ind-Game-Mats, on the other hand, must be all about attention,
regardless of any particular arrested followers. Given a
sufficient number of followers, an Indy could exchange their
Game-Mat for an Org-Game-Mat and gain bonuses for having been
an individual operator prior to becoming a Satanic Herd. Once
the Ind-Game Player's Attention Rating (see rules) has
fallen below a certain threshold, that Player is out of the
game, just like the memberless org. 

Particularly-wealthy or clever Org-Game Players might trade
in their Org-Game-Mat for an Ind-Game-Mat, sacrificing the
organization for their self-respect through the fabrication
of some kind of deceptive origin story.

More! Where's the Shub when you need him?

blessed beast!

boboroshi at-sign satanservice.org: Satanic Outreach Director
Church of Euthanasia: http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/
TOKUS WEBLINKS: http://dmoz.org/Bookmarks/B/boboroshi
Ninth Scholar's Library (Satanism Archive): http://www.satanservice.org/