3
The Groups
The basic elements of Illuminati are the Group cards,
ranging from the Illuminati themselves to the Yuppies and
the Boy Sprouts. (Any resemblance to real organizations is
purely satirical in nature.) Each Group has certain character -
istics. See Figure 3 below.
Alignment
There are ten possible political alignments. It is easier
for a Group to control or neutralize Groups with similar
alignments, and to destroy those of opposite alignments.
Some cards have one alignment, some have several, and a
few have none. Meanings of the alignments, for the pur poses
of this game, are:
Government – An arm of the U.S. government; its opposite
is Communist.
Communist – Inspired by the Soviets or Chinese or
Albanians or somebody; its opposite is Government.
Liberal – Politically “left,” whatever that means; its opposite
is Conservative.
Conservative – Usually mad at the Liberals; its opposite is
Liberal.
Peaceful – Philosophically opposed to the use of force; its
opposite is Violent.
Violent – Armed and/or dangerous; not necessarily vicious;
its opposite is Peaceful.
Straight – Socially middle-of-the-road; Middle American;
its opposite is Weird.
Weird – Peculiar, offbeat, notably different from the neigh-
bors; its opposite is Straight.
Criminal – Extorting money from citizens through force or
threat, and/or breaking the law professionally; there is
no opposite.
Fanatic – Adhering to a limited system of beliefs in defiance
of all others; any two Fanatic Groups are considered
“opposite” to each other.
Power
The Power number shown on the card is a measure of its
ability to dominate other Groups. The higher the number, the
greater the Power. If a Group has two numbers (for example:
7/4), the first number is its regular Power and the second
represents the portion of that Power which can be used to
assist another Group in an attack (Transferable Power).
Figure 2.
A typical Power Structure. The center of
any Power Structure is the Illuminati card. Each play-
er starts with one of the eight Illuminati cards; each is
different and has its own special abilities. In this
example, the Illuminati control three Groups directly:
the Democrats, the Congressional Wives, and the
South American Nazis. The South American Nazis
control two Groups: the KGB and the Cycle Gangs.
The Democrats control one Group: the Antiwar
Activists.
Figure 3.
The Mafia card. Each card, except for Illuminati, has an
arrow pointing inward (1). When a card becomes part of a Power
Structure, this arrow is placed next to the Group which controls it.
There may also be one to three arrows pointing outward (2). These
arrows show the potential to control other Groups. The Mafia, with
three arrows pointing outward, is very powerful. If a Group has no
arrows pointing outward, it will have no Power at all.
The Group’s name (3) is at the top of the card. If it has any
special abilities, they will be listed just below (4). Its political
alignments will be shown at the lower right (5). Its characteristics
in terms of Power, Resistance, and Income are shown at the lower
left (6).
Illuminati card
A card with no Power cannot attack. A few Groups have
transferable power only (Power 0/1, for instance). This
means they cannot attack, but can help another Group
attack.
Resistance
This is a measure of a Group’s ability to resist domina-
tion. The lower its Resistance, the easier it is to take over . . .
and the harder it is to protect when you control it.
The Illuminati Groups have no Resistance number,
because they cannot be attacked directly.
Income
Money is measured in Megabucks (MB). At the begin-
ning of your turn, each Group you control collects the
amount listed on its card. This income is placed directly on
that card, becoming part of the Group’s treasury. If a card
has no Income, it gets no money. Uncontrolled Groups get
no Income.
Two cards have a special Income. The IRS gets its
Income by taxing each of the other players 2 MB on the
owning player’s turn. The Post Office costs 1 MB per turn to
control (paid by their master or their Illuminati).
Special Abilities
All Illuminati, and some other Groups, have “special
abilities” shown on their cards. There are two kinds of
special abilities.
“Any attempt” abilities give an extra power to the
hold-
er of the card. Any attempt by that
player to do that thing,
regardless of which Group tries it, will receive the indicated
bonus. For instance, if you control the Cycle Gangs, any
attempt you make to destroy another Group with any of your
Groups will get a +2 bonus. This ability comes to you as
soon as you take over the Cycle Gangs, and is lost as soon
as you lose them. A Group may give a bonus on “any attempt
to control,” even if it has no outgoing arrows.
Other abilities apply only to the card itself. For instance,
the Mafia have a +3 to control any Criminal card. This
means you get a 3-point bonus when trying to take over a
Criminal Group with the Mafia. If you try to take over a
Criminal Group with another card, the fact that you hold the
Mafia makes no difference. Note, though, that a special
bonus like this is in addition to any regular bonus a Group
gets for alignment. The Mafia would also have a +4 bonus
to control other Criminal cards because its own alignment
is Criminal (see p. 5). Thus, it would have a total of +7 for
control of other Criminal cards!
For oddball special abilities like that of the IRS, follow
the instructions on the card.
Actions
There are three types of actions: an attack, a money
transfer, and
moving a Group. Each action must be complet-
ed before beginning another. A player may elect to take no
actions (not even free actions, free money transfers or spe-
cial actions) and collect 5 MB for his Illuminati treasury
instead. Actions cannot be saved for later turns.
Attacks
The most important actions in Illuminati
are attacks. In an attack, a Group uses its
Power, and probably its money, in an attempt
to either control, neutralize, or destroy
another Group.
Illuminati cards themselves can attack,
but cannot be attacked. No Group, except the
UFOs, can attack more than once per turn.
Attack to Control
This attack may be made against any
other Group in play except another Illuminati
or a Group you already control. The attack-
ing Group must have at least one outward-
pointing arrow free. If a Group has no open
outward-pointing arrow (either because all
are being used or some are blocked), it cannot attempt to
control another Group.
To attack, the player announces which Group is attack-
ing, which one is being attacked, and the type of attack.
(Example: “The KKK, assisted by the CIA, will attempt to
control the Yuppies.”)
The success of the attack is determined by rolling two
dice. To find the roll required for a successful attack, sub-
tract the defending Group’s Resistance from the attacking
Group’s Power. Example: If a Power of 6 attacks a
Resistance of 2, it can succeed only on a roll of 4 or less. If
a Power of 10 attacked that same Resistance of 2, it would
succeed on an 8 or less, giving it a much better chance.
4