ILLUMINATI: NEW WORLD ORDER HOMEBREW CARDS

Last Update: 9/20/04

Here's where I am going to deposit all of my Illuminati: New World Order Homebrew cards. Back when anybody actually played the game, I had a criminal amount of Homebrew cards, somewhere in the vicinity of 200+. This was insane, especially since about 95% of them were junk. But, time has refined some of them, and below is a listing of all of the Homebrew cards that have stood the test of time.

When I say "stood the test of time," I mean that most of them still seem like a Pretty Good Idea. Very few of them have actually been playtested, but that's okay. I really don't care.

I have halfway-decent drawing of most of these, the best of which I will post. I actually do have full-card printable versions for most of these cards, but it takes up too much space even when the graphics are converted, so if you see something you like, I'll e-mail it to you.

Read at the bottom of the page for a bit more excuses, obfuscation, and other assorted nonsense. Also, there's a lot of useful links as well.

I've pruned many of them down, mostly Personalities who are no longer really relevant. I'm trying to keep it down to a manageable 60* cards or so. Drop me a line if you have any comments, questions, or requests!

*This originally was 40, which is a dirty, dirty lie.

CARD MANIFEST

Organizations

Places

Personalities

Resources

Illuminati

Plots

New World Orders

Goals

Organizations:

Anime

Power: 1/1 

Resistance: 2

No outgoing control arrows

Weird, Violent, Media

This group's action token may be spent to power any Paralysis card, regardless of the requirements on the card.

If this group participates in an attack, any other Weird Media group may interfere as well, regardless of alignment.

The Amish

Power: 1 

Resistance: 8

No outgoing control arrows

Conservative, Church

The Amish are immune to attacks from Government and Corporate groups.

By spending their action, you may make any attack privileged. This must be done when the attack is first declared. The Amish, and their master (if not an Illuminati) may not otherwise participate in an attack to destroy!

Agribusiness

Power: 4

Resistance: 4

Left, Right, Bottom control arrows

Corporate, Science

If you control Agribusiness, you are totally immune to the effects of World Hunger. However, you may not make any automatic takeovers, or make attacks to control from your hand, of any Green group while you control this card.

Corporate and Science groups, and Nations with a Power of 2 or less, get +10 Resistance if a puppet of this card.

Bloggers

Power: 1

Resistance: 3

Right control arrows

Media, Computer

The Bloggers get +1 Power for every other Computer group you control. They may aid to attack or defend any Media group, or any Conservative, Liberal, Government, or Corporate group.

Carbonari

Power: 3/1 

Resistance: 7

No outgoing control arrows

Violent, Fanatic, Magic, Secret

The Carbonari may spend their action token and add their permanent Power to any Instant Attack. This is in addition to any other action tokens spent to increase the power of the attack.

Cell Phones

Power: 2/2 

Resistance: 2

Left, bottom outgoing control arrows

Corporate, Computer

Cell phones can interrupt--er, interfere--anywhere, anytime, by anybody. They may interfere in any attack, regardless of alignment, Secrecy, privilege, or immunity. This does not necessarily allow other groups to do the same.

Its Power and Global Power are increased by 1 for every Satellite resource you control.

Faith-Based Initiatives

Power: 1 

Resistance: 6

Left  control arrow

Straight, Conservative, Church

The action token on this group may be used to replace any canceled action. The action continues as if it was never cancelled.

International Airlines

Power: 4/2

Resistance: 4

Three outgoing control arrows

Straight, Corporate, Computer

When a rival is entitled to draw a Group card, for any reason, you may spend this group's action to delay them from drawing any groups cards for the remainder of the turn. After the current turn is over, they may then draw the cards they were entitled to as they normally would.

If this group is captured or destroyed, its puppets may be moved to any legal arrow in your power structure for free rather than returning to your hand or going with this card.

HMOs

Power: 3

Resistance: 1

Right, Left outgoing control arrow

Corporate, Criminal, Science

When a rival makes an automatic takeover, you may spend an action from this group. They must give up three Group cards from their hand and show them to you; you may choose, of those three, which one he takes over. The card you choose must be legal to play. The player may choose not to play that card as an automatic takeover, but then loses that chance. 

Interstate Highway System

Power: 1

Resistance: 4

Three outgoing control arrows

Government

The action from this group may be used to move any of your Groups. It can also be used to cancel a rival's attempt to move a group. This cannot affect a total reorganization.

Gives a +4 to any attempt to destroy a Green group or control a US State.

Kirilians

Power: 1

Resistance: 2

Left outgoing control arrow

Weird, Criminal, Magic

By spending an action from this group, you may force a rival to shuffle their Plot or Group deck. You may reshuffle your own Plot or Group deck as a free action, once per turn.

All your Magic groups, including this one, get a +2 bonus in any direct attack to control any other Magic group.

Organ Farms

Power: 1 

Resistance: 1

No outgoing control arrows

Criminal, Science

Any time any Personality in play is killed, this group gets an Action Token. Has a +4 for any attempt to control a Criminal Science group.

SETI Program

Power: 1

Resistance: 4

Left, right outgoing control arrow

Space, Science, Computer

Any time any rival makes an automatic takeover of a Space, Science, or Computer group, either draw a Group card or place a token on this group, if it does not already have one, or place a token on any Satellite Resource in play, if it does not already have one. Gives a +2 to any attempt to control or destroy any Space, Science, or Computer group.

Shining Path Guerillas

Power: 1

Resistance: 8

Left control arrow

Liberal, Violent, Fanatic, Communist

When this group participates in an attack to destroy, its own Power is increased by 1 for every other player who aids the attack. Their power is returned to normal after the attack.

[This card won Card of the Week, only it was called Closet Sandinistas. That title was taken from a news report about the fighting in Nicaragua, and how there were people still part of the Sandinistas but were hiding it so they wouldn't be pursued--much like those who have hid their Nazi party affiliation decades after World War II. I thought it was funny, but it didn't fit in with the special ability. The Shining Path Guerillas made a lot more sense, and the alignments and attributes could stay largely the same. Imagine my surprise when the Closet Sandinistas ended up as one of the first groups to come out in one of the online Homebrew play-by-email games!]

Russian Scientists

Power: 1/1 

Resistance: 2

Right outgoing control arrow

Criminal, Science, Communist

This group has a +10 to directly control any group that is both Science and Communist, even if that group is Secret.

Illuminazis

Power: 5 

Resistance: 7

No outgoing control arrows

Weird, Criminal, Fanatic, Magic, Secret

At the beginning of your turn, you may choose to roll one die. The die result is what the Illuminazis grant as a bonus to any attempt to destroy a group. However, if you roll a 6, they grant no bonus, and you must expose all of your Plots.

This group may interfere in any attack made by, or on, any Weird or Secret group. 

[Thematically, this is my favorite card--I like the blending of Nazis and the Illuminati. Quite frankly, the statistics on this card may be a bit too much.]

Public High Schools

Power: 5 

Resistance: 3

Right, Left, Bottom outgoing control arrows

Violent, Criminal, Government

If the Public High Schools make a successful attack to control, the target gains one alignment of your choice. This alignment must be an alignment the Public High Schools had at the time the attack was initiated.

[This is Public High School in the American sense (i.e., government-funded secondary institution). I know it's bass-akwards in Europe (or at least the UK), though I suspect some may have a differing option as to which one of us is backwards...]

Raelians

Power: 1

Resistance: 2

Left control arrow

Weird, Science, Space

By spending their action, you may triple the Power of any Space, Science, or Computer group, or any Personality, for one action or defense. If they make or aid an attack to control a Media group, their own power is increased to 4 for the duration of the attack.

[Might have to "satirize" the name to avoid lawyers.]

Software Pirates

Power: 3/3

Resistance: 1

Left control arrow

Criminal, Computer

By spending an action from this group, you may attempt to take over from your hand (or make an Automatic Takeover) an Organization that has already been destroyed. If the attempt is successful, the group no longer counts as destroyed for the person who destroyed it. 

World Bank

Power: 4/4

Resistance: 4

Left, right, Bottom outgoing control arrow

Bank

You may draw one extra Plot card for every Nation with a permanent Power of 2 or less this group controls.

YMCA

Power: 1

Resistance: 6

No outgoing control arrow

Peaceful

Any Organization that controls the Y gets global power equal to their regular power.

Places:

Alaska

Power: 1 

Resistance: 7

Left control arrows

Conservative, Government, Green, Huge, Coastal

Alaska's action may be used to bring into play any Satellite resource. 

Alaska grants your entire power structure a +4 bonus on any attempt to control or destroy any Space group, or Russia, or Canada, or any puppet of Russia or Canada; you also get a +4 defense against any attack against any of these groups.

Montana

Power: 1 

Resistance: 8

Right outgoing control arrow

Conservative, Green, Huge

All your other Fanatic groups get +1 Power.

The Face on Mars

Power: * 

Resistance: *

No control arrows

Space

This group's Power and Resistance is equal to the highest permanent Power and Resistance in play, by any player, not counting Illuminati groups or multiplying effects. The power and Resistance may come from different cards. The Face on Mars is immune from all Disasters except Meteor Strike and Volcano.

School of the Americas

Power: 1/1 

Resistance: 4

Left control arrow

Violent

By spending its action, you may force a re-roll of any Assassination attempt. 

[The following is a list of Nations. I'm not sure why, but I think there should be a lot more nations than there are in the game--if Finland gets a card, for crying out loud, India should get one, too. I'm not satisfied with some of these, so I will probably pick and prune at these for a while.]

Spain

Power: 3 

Resistance: 6

Left, Bottom control arrows

Government, Coastal, Huge, Nation

If Spain's master is Violent, Spain is Violent as well. If Spain ever does become Violent, for any reason, its Power is doubled while it is Violent.

If Spain is not Violent, it gives its puppets +5 Resistance, +10 against any Church group, and its master is immune to all attacks to Control. Spain itself is immune to all attacks from Church groups regardless of whether it is Violent or not.

Turkey

Power: 2 

Resistance: 3

Left control arrow

Government, Huge, Coastal, Nation

Strategically placed, Turkey has a step in Europe, Asia, and Africa...and elsewhere...

You get a +4 to any attack or defense you are involved in that involves any other Nation, on either side.

India

Power: 2 

Resistance: 6

Right control arrow

Peaceful, Government, Huge, Coastal, Nation

India is normally Peaceful...but if they participate in an attack, they become Violent immediately, and remain Violent until the end of the attack. If World War III is in play, they are immediately Violent regardless of whether they are attacking or not, and cannot lose this alignment by any means until WWIII is no longer in play! 

By spending their token, you may triple the Resistance of any card, including one being attacked from the hand of a rival. If India does not share an alignment with the target, you must also expose one Plot card from your hand. 

Malaysia

Power: 1 

Resistance: 5

Right control arrow

Government, Huge, Coastal, Nation

Malaysia has a +10 to directly destroy any Computer group.

Mexico

Power: 2 

Resistance: 3

Left control arrow

Government, Huge, Coastal, Nation

Mexico's action can be used to cancel the action of any US state. Mexico may give its action token to any Corporate group that does not have a token at any time except during an attack. 

North Korea

Power: 2 

Resistance: 7

Left, Right control arrow

Violent, Government, Coastal, Nation, Communist

North Korea may spend their Action Token to aid an attack to destroy after the dice are rolled...but only if they were eligible to interfere in the attack, and only if the target was Violent, Government, or a Nation...or any group, if World War III is in play...

Personalities:

Adam Weishaupt

Power: 3/3 

Resistance: 7

No outgoing control arrows

N/A

In order to bring Adam Weishaupt into play, you must control the Clone Arrangers, or have the permission of the player who does.

Adam Weishaupt must be a direct puppet of your Illuminati. His master may also be a Weird Science group, but if that group ever stops being both Weird and Science, you must move him immediately at full cost to be a puppet of your Illuminati or a Weird Science group, or else discard him (he is not destroyed).

If your Illuminati is the Bavarian Illuminati you get two privileged attacks each turn rather than one. Otherwise, your Illuminati's Power and Global Power is increased by one.

Miss America

Power: 1

Resistance: 4

Right control arrow

Peaceful, Straight, Media

Miss America has influence over the platform of your choice. When she makes an attack, her alignment bonuses are doubled.

[This card won Card of the Week.]

Van Helsing

Power: 1

Resistance: 6

Left control arrow

Violent

Gives a +4 to any attempt to destroy a Magic group, or any group linked to a Magic Resource. Gets a +10 for direct attacks to destroy such groups. These bonuses apply against any Magic group, even though he is not Magic himself, superceding any defenses that would otherwise apply to a non-Magic card. 

[I couldn't resist. I love the concept, and though I'm not big on latching on to pop culture references, this is just cool.]

Arizona Smith

Power: 1

Resistance: 3

Bottom control arrow

Science

By spending his action, you may pick up any just-discarded Artifact Resource and add it to your hand. If an Artifact Resource is destroyed, you may spend his action and an Illuminati action to save it from destruction and bring it directly into play!

[The following section is going to be of "obligatory" Personalities--people I believe will still be around in some form of power ten years from now. But it will probably fluctuate as fortunes wax and wane.]

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Power: 1

Resistance: 5

Bottom control arrow

Conservative, Violent, Media

You may replace any Personality in your Power Structure with Arnold at any time. As long as the Personality you are replacing is either Government or shared an alignment with Arnold, this is free; otherwise, it requires an action from the Personality or their master. Puppets stay the same, or, if they cannot fit or there are too few outgoing arrows, return to your hand. Legal links remain. You may do this during an attack, including an Assassination. The replaced Personality can be returned to your hand by spending Media action(s) worth 6 or more; otherwise, they are discarded.

If Registered Trademark is in play, you must pronounce all such card titles with an Austrian accent. Especially California.

Oprah Winfrey

Power: 3

Resistance: 3

Right, Bottom control arrow

Straight, Media

With Oprah's massive influence over all forms of media, she can give her action token to any Media group in play. This cannot be done during an attack, but it can be done to replace a just-cancelled Media action.

Michael Jackson

Power: 2

Resistance: 1

Left control arrow

Weird, Peaceful, Media

No one is Weirder than Jacko. Seriously, no one. As long as he is Weird, the permanent Power of every Weird group in play, except those who are a direct puppet of an Illuminati, cannot be greater than Wacko Jacko's own permanent Power as long as he is part of a Power Structure.

Richard Mellon Scaife

Power: 2

Resistance: 6

Right control arrow

Conservative

By spending his action, you may look at the Plot cards in a rival's hand. You may look at as many cards, randomly drawn, as Liberal groups owned by the rival you choose. If the rival owns at least one Liberal Personality, you may expose one card of your choice. He gives a +2 to any attempt to control a Conservative group or destroy a Liberal group.

Dick Cheney

Power: 1

Resistance: 4

Left control arrow

Straight, Government, Conservative

Dick Cheney's permanent Power is equal to his master or his puppet who has the highest permanent power, as long as that card is a Personality. 

George W. Bush

Power: 4

Resistance: 4

Bottom, Right control arrow

Straight, Government, Conservative

Your Power Structure is immune from Conservative groups. 

George Soros

Power: 2/1

Resistance: 2

Bottom control arrow

Liberal

He may give his action token to any Liberal group, as long as that group does not have a token. He gives a +2 to any attempt to control a Liberal group or destroy a Conservative group.

John Kerry

Power: 2

Resistance: 2

Right control arrow

Liberal, Straight, Government

John Kerry can reverse his alignments as he wishes, for any reason. They can only be reversed once per action or victory attempt.

Ted Turner

Power: 2/2

Resistance: 2

Left control arrow

Liberal, Corporate, Media

All your other Liberal groups get +1 Power.

[Turner is intended to replace Princess Di.]

Henry Kissinger

Power: 1

Resistance: 7

Bottom control arrow

Conservative

He may aid to attack any Nation, and if, he does, his Power is tripled. He may also aid to defend any Nation. If he attacks or defends a Nation and is successful, draw a Plot card from the top of the deck of the loser. If the Nation was Violent, draw from either their hand or their deck.

Rupert Murdoch

Power: 3

Resistance: 2

Right control arrow

Conservative, Corporate, Media

Any Media group he controls gains the Conservative alignment, reversing any Liberal alignment it may have had. Gives a +2 to any attempt to control a Conservative group.

Resources:

The Solomon Project

Unique Gadget Action

They said it was just a Hoax...

When you, or a rival, makes any die roll with at least two dice, you may spend an action from this Resource to re-roll one of the dice. You may choose which die is re-rolled.

Illuminati:

Plots:

Green Light

You may negate the Immunity from one group for one attack, or for using a Plot card or Resource against that group. This requires an action from your Illuminati, or a Group card discard from your hand.

The Final Answer

Play this after the dice are rolled. No player may re-roll or change the die roll for any reason. No one may enter the attack after the dice are rolled. This can cancel any such action or card that attempts to do so. This requires an action from your Illuminati.

Twisting Slowly in the Wind

Play this after a failed non-Instant attack against one of your groups. You may make an Instant, privileged, out-of-turn attack against the group that initiated the attack. If the attacker was their Illuminati, or a non-Group card of some sort, you may not play this card.

Endangered Species

Play this card at any time, except during an attack. Link to any non-Huge place you control. It gets a +10 defense against any attack, +20 instead if you control either the Lawyers or the EPA. If hit with a Disaster, any Green group may come to its defense. However, this Place may not have puppets; puppets at the time this card is played must be moved at full cost or discarded. You may only have one of these in your Power Structure at any time. Playing this card requires an action from the Place it affects, or from Green group(s) with a combined Power of 6.

Recount!

Play this after the dice are rolled in an attack. You may re-roll the dice, and continue to re-roll them until you get the result you want! The first re-roll costs action(s) worth 6 or more; each roll thereafter costs a Plot discard from your hand. If your hand runs out, you may start discarding from the top of your Plot deck. If you play this on your turn, your turn ends immediately.

[Obviously, this card was made shortly after the 2000 US election. I like it, and it received largely positive feedback from the Homebrew mailing list.]

Security Council Veto

Play this card after any other Plot card is played. That card is cancelled; discard it. 

Playing this card requires the action from three different Nations. The tokens from England, France, Russia, China, and the USA count as two actions. These tokens may be from different players!

Foreign Aid

Play at any time. This card may only be played once per turn. You may move a token from one Nation to any other Nation in play. The recipient Nation must have a lower Power at the time of transfer than the benefactor. Or, both Nations must share one Alignment other than Government.

Self-Destruct Sequence

Play after any of your groups are destroyed by a rival. You may choose one Resource owned by the rival who initiated the attack and destroy it. This requires an action from any Magic, Science, or Secret group(s) with a Power of at least 3.

Venture Capital

Play this card from your hand. You may make an automatic takeover of any Computer group from your hand. This group's master must be your Illuminati or a Corporate, Bank, or Computer group. 

This group does not count towards any goals. It cannot be attacked to Control or Destroy. At the beginning of your next turn, this card is discarded (not destroyed). Puppets may immediately be moved (at normal cost) or discarded as well.

Web Site

Play this card on your turn. It requires an action from the group it affects, or from the Network or any Computer group. Link this card to any Organization. Any Computer group may now aid to defend that Organization. This card is discarded if the Organization is ever captured or destroyed.

Goals:

Global Policeman

You may destroy up to three Criminal or Violent Government groups, and have each one count as a controlled group for your Basic Goal. This Goal cannot be combined with any other Goal in any way.

[This was well before the second Gulf War. Honest!]

Workers of the World, Unite!

Control six Communist groups. At least three of these must be Nations or have Global Power. Also, no other player may control a Communist group.

[I like this card; it's like the standard Blinding By Science Goal, with the added bonus of (maybe) forcing you to destroy other Communist groups.]

Vox Populi

Control groups that are puppets of your Personalities with a combined Power of at least 30. This Goal may not be combined with any other Goal in any way.

[I happen to like these goals. They're different enough that they're not the same old "count for double" Goals, but not convoluted enough like Population Reduction to be mind-numbingly complex.]

NWOs:

(Note: Caveats of "This replaces any other Blue NWO in play..." are omitted.)

Mad Cow Disease

Blue NWO

All Nations and Science groups lose their Global Power. Any attack on a Science group gets a +4 bonus, +10 if the attack is led by a Green group. All Green groups get +1 Power.

Abort, Ignore, Retry, Fail

Blue NWO

No player may make an attack to control from their hand, or make an automatic takeover, of any Computer group. Computer groups in play lose their Global Power.

Fundamentalism

Blue NWO

Church and Science groups are opposed. They are considered to be alignments when making or aiding attacks, and they grant the usual +4/-4 penalties for direct attacks, Resistance bonus from their masters, and ability to interfere. Any Church group that successfully attacks to destroy a Science group, and vice versa, may draw a Plot card.

Dawn of Decadence

Yellow NWO

The Weird, Criminal, and Fanatic alignments are becoming more alike and more mainstream. All players, during their action token placement phase, may place one extra action token on any Weird, Criminal, or Fanatic group they control, as long as they can get one normally. Any group that has at least one of these alignments may aid to defend any group with at least one of these alignments.

Terror Alert

Yellow NWO

All Government groups get global power equal to their regular permanent power. 

After the first Secret group is destroyed after this NWO takes effect, all Secret groups lose their Secret status, except for Goals! They regain their Secret status once this NWO no longer takes effect, or if a new copy of this NWO is played.

Irrational Exuberance

Yellow NWO

All Corporate groups get +2 Power.

All Computer groups get +2 Power.

All groups that are both Corporate and Computer get +3 Power.

Any time a Corporate or Computer group rolls an 11 or 12, the new economy crashes. All Corporate groups controlled by Computer groups, and vice versa, and all groups that are both Corporate and Computer, lose their action tokens. Every player must expose one Plot for every Computer group they control, or all their cards if they have more Computer groups than Plot cards in their hand. This happens every time the new economy crashes.

Life on Mars

Red NWO

All Space, Science, and Computer groups get +1 Power. This is cumulative, so a group that is all three would get +3 Power.

War on Drugs

Red NWO

The Government and Criminal alignments are now considered to be opposed to one another. Any group that is currently both Criminal and Government become just Criminal.

[Okay, so this card isn't very original--I've seen many different variations--but I like the mechanic.]

Days of Rage

Red NWO

All attacks to destroy get a +4 bonus, except for the Servants of Cthulhu. Every day is a Day of Rage for Cthulhu.

A few notes I already know about. These homebrew cards (the Groups, anyway) have too many alignments, and some are probably too powerful. In some ways, this is lamentable, but one of the best things about INWO is that it is largely self-balancing...a powerful card (such as the Nuclear Power Companies or the I.R.S.) are rarely all that powerful, since they will be ganged up on if they abuse their special abilities. So there.

I'm guilty of making inside jokes, or getting too much enjoyment out of obscurity. So things I think are insanely clever--like the Apostrophe Preservation Society--are probably stupider than I think. So start your own site.

I realize that this game is American-Centric. (Or whatever the term is.) I actually wouldn't mind making some more international conspiracy cards, but every time I do they end up being either unimaginative or slightly offensive. (I have no real desire to make a Hezbollah card, for instance.) I also have very few cards related to 9/11--I think that such cards are legitimate targets for conspiracy theories and, if done tastefully, can be effective. I just haven't been able to come up with anything useful.

I slowly purge those groups and cards I feel are the weakest...but if I come up with something clever, I'm putting them back on. Here's the Graveyard, where I'll put such groups with a brief synopsis.

Alchemists: Allow Magic and Science to work together.

Bioethicists: Cancels Science actions.

Ivy League: Generic Liberal group, grants Power bonus to master

Sons of Liberty: Secret and Conservative, allows additional card draws if puppets meet conditions.

Atlantis: Aid to defend Magic groups, like France and Italy

Excalibur: Generic bonus, nothing set in stone. (Ha! Get it?)

Utah: Bonus to any attempt to control a Church group.

Florida: Bonuses to control Space groups, destroy Communist groups. Some "recount" ability.
Nuts!: Plot based on increasing the power of an attack, but having it be discarded instead of destroyed. Didn't realize there was an identical card in SubGenius.

Smoke and Mirrors: Kind of a generic Goal (destroy as many groups as rivals, and control 35 Power). 

Campaign Finance Reform: NWO: Reduced power of Liberal and Conservative groups.

Prozac Nation: NWO: Reduced Resistance.

New Economy: NWO: similar to Irrational Exuberance, with Banks.

Mecca: Control bonus to Nations with low power; increased resistance to puppets.

Coffee Shops: puppets have increased Resistance, bonus to control Straight groups

Reform Party: Add one alignment to card each turn.

Arlen Specter: Switches between Liberal/Conservative; bonuses for Assassination re-rolls and interference in Supreme Court Nominations.

Ralph Nader: One Liberal group owned by each rival no longer counts as group controlled.

Credit Card Companies: Still trying to come up with a good ability that doesn't require a ton of text.

Apostrophe Preservation Society: Some goofy power. Still working on it.

Election Year: NWO. Liberal/Conservative groups get extra tokens that can only be used to attack the opposing alignment.

Labor Unrest: NWO. Cannot spend tokens to move groups.

Survival of the Fittest: NWO. Lowest-powered group in play is destroyed each turn.

Nashville: +1 to all your other Straight groups.

Insurance Companies: Payoff when selected or linked Place is devastated or destroyed.

Section 23: Personality puppets get defense bonus; spy on Plot cards

Roswell: Get bonus for exposing your own Plots, UFO bonus (like Switzerland)

Time Travelers: Illuminati: gets re-rolls, destroyed groups returned to play count as double.

There were a lot of other cards that I liked but pretty much had to drop. One of my favorites was Old Cold Warriors, representing the veterans of the Cold War who still are convinced of its existence. I even had a halfway-decent drawing for them. However, it just didn't make enough sense. Its main power was basically that Russia became Communist as long as they were in play, as well as any Nation puppets of Russia. And they had a bonus to control or destroy them all, and an additional bonus for exposing plots of anyone who controlled Communist groups. I liked it, but it was a bit too much work, and probably would work better as an NWO anyway.

Another one I dropped was the Spin Doctors, which to me was a nice "gimmick" card. You could spend its action and roll two dice, and if the result was less than or equal to the number of Media groups in play, you could add, remove, or reverse the die result in alignments to any groups in play. But it was really wordy and I had to impose a lot of restrictions to keep it from becoming too powerful, so I left it go.  

I dropped two Personalities--as could be expected; Personalities tend to be topical and come and go. Strangely, both the ones I dropped weren't actually topical. Arizona Smith, an obvious ripoff of Indiana Jones, could spend his action to pick up discarded or destroyed Artifacts, and could get the old Resources of a destroyed Illuminati if no one else could claim them. Richard Belzar acted for Straight/Weird groups, much (too much, actually) similar to the Shock Jocks.  

For some reason I haven't been able to come up with many good Resources. I had Black Holes (link to Space group for extra action token) and the Hagia Sophia (something about Agents cards--I forget) but they all seemed pretty stupid.

Anyone who types my name into Google, or even that Homebrew site, will see several cards by me. Uh, ignore 'em. Most of them are stupid. I didn't know that every card posted to the Homebrew site also went to the INWO cards list, and I later read through some of the digests and seeing people write, "Who is this guy? And will he stop posting twenty cards a day?" I apologize.

I think there should be one more attribute in the game: Medical. I don't know why I think this should be done, but if there's ever a reissue, I think it should be retroactively added. There are enough cards that are more Medical than Science to justify it, I believe. Just off of the top of my head, I can think of several groups: the Dentists, the Psychiatrists, the Centers for Disease Control, the A.M.A. (obviously), the Red Cross, the Nutrition Nazis, and the Drug Companies. We could even stretch it a bit and add the Science Alarmists, the Voudinistas, and the Clone Arrangers. Some of the abilities and power of cards may need to be retuned--such as the Miracle Diet Plan, Epidemic, Immortality Serum, and Poison. 

Just a thought.

And another thought: if they ever do come out with an expansion, I suppose there should be a new attribute added: Terrorist. The WDH says that the Violent alignment represents "...armed and/or dangerous; not necessarily vicious." Well, these are the vicious ones. There's not many now, but it would fit nicely with any new cards that would come out. A few cards with special abilities may also be modified, like Truck Bomb. 

Groups that could be affected now: Eco-Guerillas, Semiconscious Liberation Army, Society for Creative Anachronism, Arms Dealers, and W.I.T.C.H. Possibilities, depending on how broad "Terrorist" should be: KKK, Hackers, Fiendish Fluoridators, the Mafia, and the Thule Group. Some cards whose abilities might change: C.I.A., F.B.I., B.A.T.F. 

I think, like most INWO fans, that INWO should be re-released, or at least updated. I suppose the oft-delayed (and killed by SubGenius) expansion would be an appropriate update. I'm not a big marketing genius, but I think in this post-9/11 age, a conspiracy game would be welcomed, especially if "controversial" cards (such as Al-Queda or Osama bin Laden) were added. But releasing an expansion to a ten-year-old game might not be the wisest move in an industry where the profit margin is so low. (Then again, a company that can burn up cash in an obvious money sink like miniature casting can flush a few wads down for INWO.) So perhaps the wisest thing to do is re-release the whole thing as a whole set, adding the new cards--and, if it sparks enough interest, start selling boosters again.

[As an aside, what I just proposed could be countered with--"yeah, Steve Jackson Games did that--it's called Illuminati." Me, personally--I like INWO better than Illuminati. And I think many people do--a lot of people prefer the customizable aspect, if not particularly the collectable aspect.]

If such a project were entertained, what changes could be made?

Well, we'd first have to decide what stays and what goes. Obviously, the standard set and the Assassins expansion would be in. I suppose most of the German cards could go--most of them were slight variations of American cards, with a few unbalanced ones in the mix (like Der Grosse Magier and Autonome). I would dump SubGenius--my rant against this evil game will be saved for later--but cull maybe a few of the best, like, say, 10-20%. (Most of them were general rehashes of previously-released cards anyway.) It would be advisable to rename the groups and minimize the "SubGenius" part of it--there's nothing less professional than doing something half-arsed. Keep the Illuminati and perhaps a handful of vague "Bob" references, but convert the rest to contemporary culture.

A few other thoughts:

*Some of the cards could be pulled. I suppose we'll have to remove Princess Di, and some cards, like Dan Quayle and Imelda Marcos, should be dropped. Strangely enough, most of the Personalities are still important, ten-odd years after the fact. These cards can easily be replaced by other, similar cards.

*Some cards need massive reworks, and some should be dropped completely. I would drop Go Fish--it's getting rehashed to the point of unusability. Throw up your hands, guys--it was a nice idea, but it just hain't gonna work. Are We Having Fun Yet? should be reworked a bit as well, since no one seems to be satisfied with how things are now--perhaps simple giving it the ability to cancel an actual action or anything specified as a free move. (Redoing cards to specifically point out "special instructions"--perhaps through italics or some such designation--may be what finally needs to be done. Awkward but necessary.) Antitrust Legislation could be much, much simpler, but for some reason the rework is too useless.

Looking for cards to buy or trade? I have my Great Bid Illuminati Blow-Out site here: www.geocities.com/smacinwo

I would be remiss if I didn't point you towards Sam Kingston's Homebrew Site, where many, many people have Homebrewed before. Some are actually good!

Martin Laerkes has a particularly fascinating web site with the Deck of the Week, homebrew cards, etc. There are a lot of very, very good sites linked from there, such as Gary's Criminally Detailed Deck Builder's Guide, that I won't link from here--just go to Martin's site.

And, of course, the actual Illuminati reside here, courtesy of Steve Jackson Games.