- This page is about the faction. For the base of the same name, see Innsmouth (base).
Ah, Innsmouth, idyllic little fishing village on the New England coast. Sample their excellent seafood. Become their excellent seafood! That’s right, you too can become a fish and live with Dagon below the depths. They may look like simple mutants, but in great numbers and with great power the residents of Innsmouth will welcome you into the fold. Or else.
- - The Obligatory Cthulhu Set rulebook
Innsmouth is one of the 4 factions from The Obligatory Cthulhu Set.
The Locals of Innsmouth surge up from the depths of your deck to welcome all into their slimy scaly fold! *gurgle glub glub glub*
Other factions from the same set: Elder Things, Minions of Cthulhu, Miskatonic University.
Cards[]
The Innsmouth faction has the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. Every minion is power 2 which leads to an unusually low total minion base power (not counting any abilities) of only 20. The usual is a total of 30 power and with an average of 3 power per minion. They are also one of the rare factions to have received a titan from the TITANS Event Kit.
Among their actions, there are:
- 0 play-on-minion actions,
- 2 play-on-base actions: In Plain Sight, Sacred Circle,
- 8 standard actions (3 that affect one or more minions, in bold): Mysteries of the Deep, New Acolytes, Recruitment, Return to the Sea, Spreading the Word (2x), The Deep Ones (2x),
- 2 actions that directly increase a minion's power: The Deep Ones (2x).
Minions[]
10x The Locals - power 2 - Reveal the top three cards of your deck. Place any The Locals revealed into your hand. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your deck. FAQ
Actions[]
1x In Plain Sight - Play on a base. Ongoing: Your minions here of power 2 or less are not affected by opponents’ cards. (errata'd by The Bigger Geekier Box) FAQ
1x Mysteries of the Deep - If you have three or more minions with the same name on a base, draw 3 cards, then you may draw 2 additional cards and 2 Madness cards. FAQ
1x New Acolytes - All players shuffle all minions in their discard piles into their decks. FAQ
1x Recruitment - Draw up to three Madness cards. For each one drawn, you may play an extra minion this turn. FAQ
1x Return to the Sea - Special: After a base scores, put any number of your minions with the same name on that base into your hand instead of the discard pile. FAQ
1x Sacred Circle - Play on a base. Talent: You may play an extra minion here with the same name as another minion here. FAQ
2x Spreading the Word - Play up to two extra minions with the same name as a minion in play. FAQ
2x The Deep Ones - Each of your minions of power 2 or less get +1 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
Titan[]
- (available in each Smash Up TITANS pack released with the TITANS Event Kit)
1x Dagon - Special: On your turn, you may play this titan on a base where you have two or more minions with the same name. Ongoing: You have +1 power here for each of your minions here that has the same name as another minion here. Talent: Play an extra minion. FAQ
Bases[]
Clarifications[]
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook:
Mysteries of the Deep: The minions with the same name must be on the same base.
The Deep Ones: It only affects minions currently in play, not those played later in the turn.
Mechanics[]
Of the factions of The Obligatory Cthulhu Set, Innsmouth makes the least use of the set's Madness cards. Each of the just two cards even allow you to choose not to draw any Madness cards. With that said, at the end of the game you will only be penalized if you have more than one of them. So go ahead and take the dip.
Now, one ought to wonder, why bother with Innsmouth when their minions only average 2 power? That's Titanically low! While that is fair, there is nuance to this. Clearing the water will take diving into a little math.
Innsmouth contains 10 copies of the same minion of power 2, The Locals. Within a combined 40-card deck, 10/40 or 25% of them will be a Local (dropping "The") when you start the game. In your starting hand, you are likely to have at least one. Say you get lucky and draw 3 Locals. Now 7 out of 35 cards left in your deck are Locals. When you play one of The Locals, you have a 7/35 or 20% chance that the first card you reveal will be a Local. Out of the 3 cards you reveal, the odds of getting at least one Local gets a little statistical, but it's roughly 50%. Say you draw exactly 1 Local, and you get to play an extra minion, so you play another Local. Now you have 6/32 or 18.75% chance that the first card you reveal will be a Local. Out of the 3 cards you reveal, the odds of getting at least one is slightly lower, but still roughly 50%. Rejected cards that were placed at the bottom of your deck don't count because we reveal from the top.
Strategy[]
The resulting effect is that The Locals "bubble" out of your deck. Sometimes you find a cluster of them and sometimes you don't draw any for a while. Whenever you play a Local, you have a varying chance of drawing extra Locals. This tends to front-load them. You'll get a lot of them during your first several turns, but when the rejected cards come up to the top you'll have 0% chance of drawing Locals. You might feel put out by having to reject cards that you wanted, but this is a fallacy. Under normal circumstances, you aren't supposed to know what you'll draw next out of your deck. That's the point. However, if you have a good memory, you get a sense of how your deck is arranged, and if your opponents will allow you, a little sleight of hand puts some cards ahead of others.
These are extra card draws. They may not be very valuable individually, but a card draw is a card draw, and a minion play is a minion play. Having weak minions and the ability to play them is more powerful than having strong minions but no ability to play them. Actually, Innsmouth's actions have their maximum effect once you've found most of your Locals, specifically favoring minions of power 2 or less with the same names. You get to play them all rapidly, power them up all at once, and recover them from the discard pile afterwards. Due to The Locals' front-loaded "bubbling" behavior, Innsmouth's impact on the game flows and ebbs like the tides of the sea.
Synergy[]
Thankfully, only The Locals specify The Locals by name, so their actions are fair game to other factions. Factions that play lots of extra minions, especially ones of power 2 or less, are ideal for Innsmouth.
- Robots: These two factions fit seamlessly in many ways. Just do it. You'll have a good time.
- Zombies: Both factions love power-2 minions. The Locals are quite vulnerable to destruction, which Zombies are specialized in recovering from. Some of their actions conflict with each other, but with careful timing you can keep your Tenacious Z's on the field while returning The Locals to your deck.
- Miskatonic University: They offer a surprising number of extra minions and power boosts, as well as helping you search through your deck for The Locals, all of which greatly help Innsmouth. Feel free to indulge in Mysteries of the Deep and Recruitment.
- Killer Plants: I've heard fish is great fertilizer! But really, it's the other way around. The Plants bypass The Locals' nonsense to hook them straight out of the deck, so you can surge onto shore much faster.
External Strategy Guides[]
- |Smash Up Guide| Innsmouth are the Worst Faction... But...
- Innsmouth – The Board Game Bandit
- The Smash Up Factions Series #20: Innsmouth(T)
- Calling All Titans: Dagon
- Smash Up Action Awareness #32: The Deep Ones
- Smash Up KOTH #55: The Locals
FAQ[]
Questions on The Locals[]
Q: When playing The Locals, if I reveal one or more The Locals, can I choose not to put any in my hand and have all of them be placed under my deck?
A: No. You're meant to place all revealed The Locals in your hand.
Q: If I reveal a card I don't own, what happens?
A: There are two different paths for the revealed card:
- If it's one of The Locals, it goes to its owner's hand, that's because the other players can see who owns the card and the card changes location.
- Otherwise, it goes to the bottom of its owner's deck, that's because the other players can see who owns the card and the card changes location.
Q: After playing this card, I have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: I only have two cards left in my deck. I play one Local and reveal them. Then, do I stop or shuffle my discard pile to get at third card?
A: You shuffle your discard pile to make a new deck and reveal your third card from there.
Questions on In Plain Sight[]
Q: It's not Ongoing, so are my minions of power 2 or less only immune during the turn that I play In Plain Sight, then they're all vulnerable again?
A: The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook corrects this. It now says "Ongoing".
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have a minion of power 2 or less there, it's no longer affected by my opponents' cards, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "your minions" means "their minions" and "opponents" means "their opponents".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: It protects "my minions" of power 2 or less. Does it also protect minions I own that I don't control of power 2 or less? I don't control them but I "own" them, so they are "my" minions, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: An opponent plays Bear Hug (or Unfathomable Goals, Griefer, Out of Sight), forcing me to affect one of my minions. Can I choose one of my minions of power 2 or less on the same base as In Plain Sight? If so, does In Plain Sight protect it?
A: First of all, you can indeed choose any of your minions, but you must choose one if you have any in play. Secondly, since the cause of the affect is "another player's card", then yes, In Plain Sight protects it, even if the card makes you do the affect.
Q: I have a power 5 minion on a base where I also have In Plain Sight. In Plain Sight doesn't protect my minion, so an opponent can play Poison on it. My minion is now of power 1 and therefore In Plain Sight protects it from being affected. But if it becomes immune to Poison, it them goes back to be a power 5 and is therefore vulnerable again. How do we solve this situation?
A: Poison also affects the minion by being attached to it. Since the minion becomes immune to that, Poison is discarded and no longer affects your minion.
Q: I have a power-3 minion and In Plain Sight on the same base (In Plain Sight doesn't protect my minion yet). Another player plays Sleep Spores, Enchantment and chooses the -1 power option, Hissy Fit, etc. on that base so my power-3 minion becomes power 2 and is now in the range of protection of In Plain Sight and so the other player's card doesn't affect it anymore. But then it loses the -1 power and becomes power-3, out of range of In Plain Sight, so the other player's card can affect it again. And so on, and so on... How do we settle this loop?
A: The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook settled it: Because the other player's card is what allows your minion to be protected by In Plain Sight, In Plain Sight "accepts" it.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If you're asking about when In Plain Sight is played, it doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
- If you're asking about when you copy an effect onto an opponent's minion with In Plain Sight protecting it, then the minion isn't affected. Note that In Plain Sight only protects against other player's cards, so if In Plain Sight's controller plays a standard action, you can copy it with Dancing King and have it affect one of that player's minion, bypassing In Plain Sight's protection because the minion is considered as being affected by its own controller's action and what Dancing King does is copy the effect onto it, which itself doesn't count as affecting the minion.
- If you're asking about when an opponent's minion with In Plain Sight protecting it is directly affected by your standard action and you want to copy that, then it's not possible because the minion isn't affected by your action and because no minion was affected, you can't copy the effect.
- If you're asking about when an opponent's minion with In Plain Sight protecting it is directly affected by that player's standard action and you want to copy that, then you can indeed copy it the same way.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Questions on Mysteries of the Deep[]
Q: If you have three minions with the same name but on different bases, do you still draw three cards?
A: The intention is that the minions must be on the same base. "A base" means one base, "bases" means 1 or more bases
Q: If you don't have at least three minions with the same name on a base, you can't draw three cards, but can you still draw two cards and two Madness cards?
A: No. Drawing the two cards and the two Madness cards are also dependent on the condition of having three or more minions with the same name. Notice that it says "If X, do Y and then Z", not "If X, do Y. Do Z."
Q: About the 2 additional cards, if I choose to draw, can I draw only 1 card instead of 2?
A: No. If you choose to draw the 2 additional cards, you have to draw 2 if possible.
Q: About the 2 cards with the 2 Madness cards, can I draw 2 cards and 0 Madness cards, or 0 cards and 2 Madness cards?
A: No. It doesn't say "you may draw 2 additional cards and you may draw 2 Madness cards". So, if you choose to draw, you have to draw all 4 if possible.
Rule: "You may do X and Y" means you either do both X and Y, or neither X nor Y.
Q: It works "if I have three or more minions" with the same name. Can I count minions that I own but don't control too? I don't control them but I "own" them, so I "have" them, right?
A: No. "If you have a minion" means "if you control at least one minion (whether or not you own it)". Minions you just own but don't control don't count.
Q: After playing this card, I have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.
Questions on New Acolytes[]
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.
Questions on Recruitment[]
Q: After playing this card, I have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied. Note that merely playing a minion doesn't count as affecting it.
Questions on Return to the Sea[]
Q: Can I use this if I have only one minion on the base?
A: Yes. "Any number" can be 1.
Q: If I have one group of minions with the same name and another group of minion with the same other name on the base, can I get them all back in my hand?
A: No. The minions you put back in your hand must all have the same name as each other.
Q: It tells me to put "any number of my minions". Can I choose a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it is "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: After playing this card, I have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards. In fact, if the base scored on another player's turn, you keep your cards and can therefore play your upcoming turn with more than ten cards in hand.
Q: With Ship’s Engineer, can I move the returned minions instead?
A: No. Return to the Sea doesn't "return" your minions, it "puts" them, which an entirely different term. So, Ship’s Engineer doesn't apply here.
Rule: Specific words are not synonymous no matter how similar they seem.
Q: Can I play it from stasis after a base scores?
A: No, while in stasis, the only abilities that can do anything are the ones that explicitly state that they do something there.
Rule: Abilities of cards in stasis do not work unless they refer to stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If Diva copies it, Diva is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is put into its owner's hand, regardless of whoever owns the minions that were directly affected by the action. Note that it works even if the directly affected minions don't have the same name as Diva.
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is put into its owner's hand, regardless of whoever owns the minions that were directly affected by the action. Note that if the minion is a monster or a treasure, it is discarded instead. This is a different answer compared to cards that refer to a minion's owner; this card never refers to the card's owner ("you" means "the controller", who may not be the owner) and so the rule is that the treasure/monster is discarded. Also, note that it works even if the directly affected minions don't have the same name as the indirectly affected one and even if this minion wasn't controlled by the action player.
- If We are Family copies it, the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is put into its owner's hand, regardless of whoever owns the minions that were directly affected by the action. Note that if the minion is a monster or a treasure, it is discarded instead. This is a different answer compared to cards that refer to a minion's owner; this card never refers to the card's owner ("you" means "the controller", who may not be the owner) and so the rule is that the treasure/monster is discarded. Also, note that it works even if the directly affected minions don't have the same name as the indirectly affected one and even if this minion wasn't controlled by the action player.
- With Funky Town, you can only copy it if you're the one who played the action and if it affects one of your minions, but if Funky Town does copy it, the minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is put into its owner's hand, regardless of whoever owns the minions that were directly affected by the action. Note that it works even if the directly affected minions don't have the same name as the indirectly affected one.
Rule: Monsters and treasures go to their own discard pile when they leave play.
Questions on Sacred Circle[]
Q: When you play a card that says "Play on a base" BUT DOES NOT include the word Ongoing, does the card still stay on the base or do only cards with "Play on a base. Ongoing: etc...." stay on the base?
A: Actions that are played on a base (with an Ongoing ability or not) remain on the base until something explicitly tells you to destroy or return it, or until its base scores.
Rule: Non-standard actions remain in play as long as the card they are connected to remains in play.
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so on my turn, I can now use its talent, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore only they can use its talent.
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Spreading the Word[]
Q: Can I play one extra minion with the same name as a minion in play; and play another extra minion with the same name as a different minion in play?
A: No. Both extra minions must share the same name as the same minion in play.
Q: If another player took control of one of my minions (e.g. Make Contact, Flower Child), can I use Spreading the Word and play extra minions with the same name as that minion (supposing I don't have one already in play)?
A: Yes. The extra minions can have the same name as any player's minion in play, not just yours.
Q: Can I play extra minions with the same name as a minion in stasis?
A: Yes, cards in stasis are considered in play, and Spreading the Word isn't affecting nor chosing any minion.
Rule: Cards in stasis are considered in play, but they are not on any base.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied. Note that merely playing a minion doesn't count as affecting it.
Questions on The Deep Ones[]
Q: If I play The Deep Ones, all my power-2 minions become power 3, so they aren't concerned by The Deep Ones, lose their boost and revert back to power 2. But, then they are concerned by The Deep Ones again, so they get the boost and then they go outside of The Deep Ones' range. How do we resolved that?
A: Actually, you evaluate each of your minions' power when you play the action and give +1 power to all those of power 2 or less. From them on and until the end of the turn, the +1 power remain on those minions.
Q: It gives +1 power to "each of my minions" of power 2 or less. Does it also give +1 power to minions I own that I don't control of power 2 or less? I don't control them but I "own" them, so they are "my" minions, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: Can you use it to boost a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If Diva copies it (and it can copy it even if its power is more than 2), Diva is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets +1 power.
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself and it can copy it even if the power of the minion that gets the copy is more than 2), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets +1 power. Note that while the action is restricted to a minion controlled by the action player, the effect's copy still works if applied to a minion not controlled by that player.
- If We are Family copies it (and it can copy it even if the power of the minion it is on is more than 2), the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets +1 power. Note that while the action is restricted to a minion controlled by the action player, the effect's copy still works if applied to a minion not controlled by that player.
- With Funky Town, you can only copy it if you're the one who played the action, but if Funky Town does copy it (and it can copy it even if the power of the minion that gets the copy is more than 2), the minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets +1 power.
Questions on Dagon[]
- Main article: Titans
Q: The card says "Special" so I can use it outside of my turn, but why does the card also say "on your turn"? Aren't Special playable at any time?
A: "Special" does not mean the card can be played out of turn. "Special" simply means that it's an ability that can be used when its condition is met. Whether it can be used out of turn, activated straight from your hand/discard pile, or if it can only be used when it's already in play (essentially being a synonym of Ongoing), it entirely depends on the wording. In the case of Dagon, the condition is "on your turn", which already restricts its usage during your Play Cards phase, not at any other times. Note that it's restricted to your Play Cards phase only, not any other phases of your turn either.
Rule: "On your turn" means "during the Play Cards (phase 2) of each of your turns".
Q: I need to "have two or more minions". Do minions that I own but don't control also count? I don't control them but I "own" them, so I "have" them, right?
A: No. "Where you have a minion" means "where you control at least one minion (whether or not you own it)". Minions you just own but don't control don't count.
Q: I don't get its Ongoing power. When do I get +1 power?
A: As soon as Dagon is out and for as long as it's in play, you have to keep track of the minions you control on its base. For each one of your minions, if it has the same name as another minion on Dagon's base, whether or not you control that other minion, you get +1 power added to your total power. For example:
- if you control two "The Locals" on Dagon's base, each The Local gives you +1 power (for a total of +2 power) because each one is on the same base as another "The Locals",
- if you control a single "The Locals" on Dagon's base, then it doesn't give you any power because there are no other "The Locals" there,
- if you control a single "The Locals" on Dagon's base and another "The Locals" on another base, then none of them gives you any power because "The Locals" on Dagon's base is the only "The Locals" there,
- if you control a single "The Locals" on Dagon's base, but if another player controls one or more "The Locals" there too (because they took control of it, they got one with Trade, or they are also playing the Innsmouth), then the "The Locals" you control gives you +1 power (for a total of +1 power) because it's on the same base as another "The Locals" and it doesn't matter whether that other "The Locals" is yours or not.
Q: What are the +1 powers added to? Do they increase the power of my minions that have the same name?
A: No, they are added to your total power on the base. It doesn't increase any of your minions' power. You just calculate your total power on the base normally, then add +1 power from Dagon as many times as you have minions on its base with the same name as another minion there.
Q: I have +1 power for each of "my minions" that has the same name as another. Do minions that I own but don't control also count? I don't control them but I "own" them, so they are "my" minions, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: I use Dagon's talent, I suppose I have to play the extra minion on Dagon's base, right?
A: No, it just says "play an extra minion", without any restrictions on the base, so the extra minion can be played anywhere.
Q: A base is chosen to score. I have no minions there, but I have Dagon there. It is similar to a minion, right? So I can still get VPs from the base if 0 is among the top three total power, right?
A: No and no. Dagon is a titan, not a minion. To be eligible to receive VPs, you must have at least one minion or at least 1 total power on the base. If you have no minions and your total power there is 0, then you can't receive any VPs from the base. Now, if Dagon had any +1 power counters on it and/or gave you any total power (e.g. from its Ongoing ability or on Kaiju Island), then you would have at least 1 total power and be eligible. Otherwise, no.
Q: An opponent is playing with the Innsmouth with their titan. Their Dagon isn't in play. It's my Play Cards phase and I have two or more minions on the same base, I can then invoke Dagon through its Special ability and play it there, right?
A: No, only the player who has it next to their deck can play it.
Rule: Playable Special cards can only be played by their current possessor.
Trivia[]
- The artist is Benjamin Sowa.
- The artist for the titan (which was released after The Obligatory Cthulhu Set) is Francisco Rico Torres, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- Their divider (available in The Big Geeky Box and The Bigger Geekier Box) features The Deep Ones.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 印斯茅斯 |
| French | Innsmouth |
| German | Innsmouth |
| Italian | Innsmouth |
| Russian | Инсмут |
| Spanish | Innsmouth |
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