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BUILDING A CRIMINAL DECK
by Eric Jome ejome@execpc.com

Lets take a look at a simple criminal deck using a simple construction method. The following deck construction is a classic:

• 8 Resources, 8 Pullers, 4 Hitters, 4 Blockers, 4 Specials, 12 Other

• 8 Resources, 6 Pullers, 5 Hitters, 5 Blockers, 4 Specials, 12 Other

So, onto a sample deck;

Here we boost the number by 1 because the basic resource does not offer any bonus pull for our characters. We will take advantage of the bonus pull we do get, though. Note that Crime & Punishment gives 4 pull to call Criminal or Law ... very solid, so 2 will really up the chances of getting at least 1.

This is a classic tactic; by putting in 2 copies, we help to eliminate the random chance of what might come up and make it easier to count into our deck (ie. Track all the cards we have drawn and played to guess what is left). Note that all of these can be called by the secret. On the down side, they only offer 1 pull each (bonus from Ajay though). That coupled with Simon only copying someone else (usually he goes under Specials, not Pullers), means we are pull light and will have to rely on tricks.

Don't double up on hitters unless the person is too good to live without. Hitters never live long and Dead, Dead, Dead (D25) is all too common. Again, all of these are callable by the secret.

Doubling here is not always the best, but I confess I have a weakness for these two ladies. Again, everyone can make it in on a secret. Blush has an effective defense of 6 and Lissy is a glug. Her being non-human may help with pharaohs... esp. kidnaping or squeezing them.

Great White is numbered here for her limited use; She is best in tandem with someone with surprise (Gayth Silver comes to mind) and we have no one here. Portia, Reek, and the indispensible Andreij are obvious. Too bad Portia is not criminal...

We go a bit over here because there is just so much good stuff to play with. Hostage and Squeeze are both criminal cards; the secret can provide a boost of 4 pull to inflict these on the enemy. Note that Hostage does not require an attack, so Mrs. Brinker can be bound and gagged (not that she's into it or anything). The real workhorse is Mole as any other human, regardless of blockers, can be visited by another human who can put the Squeeze or Kidnap on... Very effective way of denying the enemy pullers. But be sure you wait until they can buy off the kidnap; this jump of 3 can be all you need to make a break for it. Lastly, the bonus pull from the resources can be used to outfit your people with some decent equipment.

This deck doesnt max out the criminal potential, but it displays some basic elements of pursuing a straight criminal, competitive deck. Any thoughts?

COMMENTS

T've got a deck along similar lines to Criminality. It's Criminal - Law - Terminal - Hangmen. Crime & Punishment (D2) is one of the best secrets out there! With tons of Gang Up and Multi-Dimension (158), I just plain don't care how well you protect yourself! You're getting Kidnapped, Hostaged, whatever... (John Baker, jmb14@psu.edu)

Ah, the Hangmen. A dedicated resource makes them cheap and everybody can Gang Up. But only 1 puller, and not fond of artists. So, who do you get to hang with the Hangmen? You probably want a group with some pull which could also upgrade the power of the Hangmen. Perhaps there are some of them who are itching for spinal replacements, and the Kergillians have no dedicated resource of their own! (Eric Jome, ejome@execpc.com)

I noticed here you mentioned a criminal deck. I made a deck sometime ago that worked very well. I paired up cards with the trait 'Net' to go with my criminal elements. This gets you a little more pull (especially in the case of a Net-Monique...) and it makes sense. I tend to think of the Net as being similar in vision to the Mafia, or other organized crime groups (this probably comes from my experience with the Net in the role playing game). So, a Criminal/Net deck works well theme wise. When I made my deck, I threw in a couple of entrepeneurs (after all, the Net needs to have business folks to corrupt, right?). This then gives you a good pool of small pullers to round out the deck. And yes, my Criminal/Net deck was fast, fairly straight forward (though you can have a lot of fun with kidnap/blackmail/hostages), and did pretty well in games. And it was a lot of fun to play...can you say "I's a gunna teach yu da true meanin o'aldente, p0nk!!"

The other neat thing I did with my Criminal/Net deck. I threw in 2 Giovanni Mancini's, one regular, one the 'criminal mastermind' version or somesuch. I included some of the cabbies for flavor, and used the 'rasputin of cabbies' trick early in the game, provided I got the right cards out. This trick helped against those fast deploying decks, to make sure I could get a handle on em early. Also, it enhanced the criminal theme of the deck, when I would get the first Govanni popped, and then would bring the criminal version into play. (Jay J. Allen, jallen10@wvu.edu)