Illuminati - house rule about groups and specials

[LorenzoGatti]

From the "Sequence of Play" in the rules:

2. Draw a card. If the card is a Group, it is placed face-up in the center of the table, with the other uncontrolled Groups.
If it is a Special card, the player keeps it. He may place it face-down or face-up (whichever he chooses) in front of him. However, he must display the card; he can’t hide it in a pocket. The other players do not have the right to know what the card says, but they do have the right to know how many Specials each player has.

This way to consume the deck has a problem that I really dislike: a player could hold a Group (or Artifact, or NWO) in hand, pretending it is a Special. This could be done to bluff having a Special, to keep a certain card out of circulation, or to starve subsequent players of uncontrolled Groups/Artifacts.

My proposed change, on which I'd like comments:

• The active player reveals card from the top of the deck until at least one Special and two Groups are revealed.
• The active player chooses one of the revealed groups and places it on the table as an uncontrolled group; the others are put in the Dead Pile of destroyed groups.
• The revealed Specials are put into a new face-up pile, the "Specials Queue". As long as the Queue contains more cards than there are players, shuffle it and distribute one Special to each player face down, leaving leftover Specials in the Queue.
• With expansions, play all NWOs that are revealed (the active player chooses the order) and count Artifacts as Groups.
• The rules don't say to do it, but the Dead Pile should be shuffled and recycled as a new deck in case the deck runs out.

This rule should have several effects, some positive and some doubtful:

• At least three cards per turn are revealed, keeping up with the card increase from expansions.
• The possibility of card type cheating is eliminated.
• Choosing which Group should be "played" and which groups are consigned to oblivion should be a good strategic decision, but the game might become too easy and/or too fast.
• Every player gets exactly the same number of Specials, slightly more than one per turn cycle, which is much more than what the standard rules offer: can excessive numbers of Specials distort the game?

Did anyone try something similar to my suggestion?

[StormyWaters]

If someone held a group to pretend it was a special, they cheated and are disqualified from the game.

I guess I never play with people like that so it's never come up.

[PK]

LG, I think you're misunderstanding the rules. The player can only hold the card in his hand if it's a Special. If it's not a Special (if it's a group, an artifact, or an NWO), he must play it to the table. No exception.

So it's impossible for someone to "bluff" having a Special. The only choice the player gets to make is whether to show everyone what the Special is (e.g., as a threat) or keep it hidden.

[StormyWaters]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

LG, I think you're misunderstanding the rules. The player can only hold the card in his hand if it's a Special. If it's not a Special (if it's a group, an artifact, or an NWO), he must play it to the table. No exception.

So it's impossible for someone to "bluff" having a Special. The only choice the player gets to make is whether to show everyone what the Special is (e.g., as a threat) or keep it hidden.

His post sounds to me like a player could, in opposition to the rules, hold a group card while saying "yeah this is totally a special and not a group at all".

Like I said, it's cheating to do that, so if your players are doing it, I'd call them out and probably not invite them back.

[LorenzoGatti]

Of course holding cards in hand pretending they are Specials is cheating, but Illuminati implies a peculiar attitude towards cheating (just like Munchkin is designed for arguing about rules) and otherwise sane players might think that "playing dirty" is appropriate; if it's possible, someone is going to try, and I want to avoid this specific way to cheat.

Do you think that choosing groups and having many more Specials could upset the game?

[StormyWaters]

Originally Posted by LorenzoGatti

Of course holding cards in hand pretending they are Specials is cheating, but Illuminati implies a peculiar attitude towards cheating (just like Munchkin is designed for arguing about rules) and otherwise sane players might think that "playing dirty" is appropriate; if it's possible, someone is going to try, and I want to avoid this specific way to cheat.

While I think Illuminati requires you to be devious, cutthroat, and deceptive, it certainly doesn't imply that you should break the rules. I would just tell your players "if you draw a group and keep it in your hand, you're cheating and it's not cool".

If you're really concerned about it, make your players show the corner of the card (with the yellow stripe) to prove that it's a special and not a group. They don't have to show any text, but prove that it's got the yellow bar that makes it a special.

Do you think that choosing groups and having many more Specials could upset the game?

What do you mean? The Y2K expansion adds a ton of specials and makes them WAY more common.

[PK]

It's true that Illuminati does offer a "cheating" variant . . . but in such a variant, I don't see the problem with someone lying about his Specials. I mean, you're playing a cheating game -- you're asking for crap like that to happen. :)