THE CARD
Name: Bokrug
Set: Dreamlands
Type: Monster
Subtype: Great Old One
Requirements: Ruins Location, Storm
Special Effect Box: All Locations feature the Water attribute. Do not Bury Storm Events. No investigators may gain Sanity unless they are in Mnar.
THE SOURCE
"It is also written that [the Beings of Ib] descended one night from the moon in a mist; they and the vast still lake and grey stone city Ib. However this may be, it is certain that they worshipped a sea-green stone idol chiselled in the likeness of Bokrug, the great water-lizard; before which they danced horribly when the moon was gibbous."
From "The Doom that Came to Sarnath" by Howard Lovecraft
Bokrug is most prominently featured in "The Doom that Came to Sarnath". There, we learn that Bokrug was once the god of the strange beings of Ib. After the beings of Ib were slain by the fierce inhabitants of Sarnath, Bokrug patiently waited 1000 years, and then he became the DOOM that came to Sarnath, and the city was destroyed in an evening. Now, the water-lizard Bokrug is worshiped throughout Mnar.
CLARIFICATIONS
As with all GOOs, YOU must have the requirements in play to bring out Bokrug. That is, your Current Location must be Ruins, and you must have a Storm card out. There is only one Waking World Ruins, The Old Brick Powderhouse in Kingsport. There are Dreamlands Ruins in The North (1) and Mnar (3). As of the Dreamlands, there are eight different storms, from Blizzard to Twister.
As with all GOOs, Bokrug becomes a part of your Threat when he is played. He counts as one Monster in the Threat. He can be affected by cards that affect the Threat (such as Sign of Eibon).
GOOs can never become part of Directed Threats.
As is stated on Bokrug, "Do not Bury Storm Events". Days, Nights, Droughts, and other cards that Bury Storms may be played normally, but all Storms remain out.
QUESTIONS
Q: If I play a Day Event, and then Bokrug is Buried, do any Storms go away due to the Day Event?
A: No. Days (and Nights and Droughts) only Bury Storms the instant they're played.
STRATEGIES
As with all GOOs, variants of a few standard strategies will help you make better use of Bokrug.
Standard GOO Strategies - Use the Shining Trapezohedron to help get your GOO out. The Stars are Right can also help, since Storms are pretty common cards. Gain Sanity while your GOO is out by using the Mao Ceremony. Protect your GOO from the Sign of Eibon by always adding Monsters to your Threat very early in the Round (Voonith are also very good for shielding GOOs). Use the Servitor of the Outer Gods in your deck.
Keep Bokrug Out - This isn't a totally standard strategy. Often, you're happy to say adieu to a GOO after a few turns because you're running low on Sanity. This may not be the case with Bokrug, because you can gain Sanity while in Mnar. Stock up heavy on Thirty-Five Abominable Adulations of the Bloated One and the Idol of Bokrug, so you can keep your big buddy about.
It also happens that a number of cards work well in conjunction with Bokrug.
Storms - Clearly you'll have Storms in your deck, to get Bokrug out. You can make an even better deck by choosing one each from a variety of the better Storms. Blizzard prevents Travel by Land. Hurricane prevents Travel by Air and Travel by Sea. Downpour forces walking in Cities. Set up your deck so it doesn't require any of these Travels. If you use Downpour, it shouldn't particularly depend on Cities either. If you need forms of transport, Travel Underwater, Travel by Cats, and the Fly Spell should all work fine. With Bokrug, you can keep all these Storms out. This will put your opponents at a disadvantage: they'll draw worthless cards; they'll waste time walking; and they might not be able to play Adventures if they need to traverse Regions or play certain Travel cards. Meanwhile, your deck will be optimized for this environment.
Deep Ones - The MSGS Deep Ones are +2 in Storms, which works great with a GOO who keeps Storms permanently out. If you add in the Jewelery of the Deep Ones, you'll be dropping down 4 point Monsters for 0 Sanity. Hydrophobia - When it rains, it pours. Bokrug makes all Locations Water. Hydrophobia will ruin someone's day.
Cthulhu Rising - Cthulhu Rising Discards Water Locations, and when Bokrug is out, all Locations are Water. Ouch.
As is the case with all GOOs, Bokrug will work best if you construct an entire deck around him. In doing so, make sure to take advantage of all the individual cards and strategies already noted.
The Mnar Deck - Since you can gain Sanity while in Mnar, the best
Bokrug Deck is clearly one centered there. The deck should start out
with Doomed if You Do, which rewards you for playing Bokrug. Seeking
Everlasting Life I is playable in Mnar (using the Hunter, the
Wandering Peddlar, Howard Lovecraft, and Randolph Carter for your
Steadfast Allies), as is Knee-Deep in Doom. Unfortunately, getting
all the way up to 20 points is a little trickier, so you'll end up
having to either add some Surprise Meetings or Trains (to pull an
Ally from elsewhere, to complete an Adventure), or to make a short
detour to another Dimension or Subregion, to find a missing Ally or
Location for a specific Adventure.
A nice thematic combination is The Mystery at Martin's Beach. Add in
two Martin's Beach cards and two Silver Keys, and everything else
can be played in Mnar. Doomed + Seeking + Mystery makes a very
appealing deck, although you need to stack up on several different
types of Tomes. Doomed + Kneep-Deep + Mystery is perhaps simpler.
Remember to add in a few of the Sanity-gaining spells (Call Power of
Nyambe and Steal Life are suggested) since there's only the one
Sanitarium in Mnar. The Zoog Chieftain would be another nice
addition, since he speeds Country travel, but you'll need to devise
a way to hijack him from the Enchanted Woods. One possible Bokrug
deck is included at the end of this article.
COUNTER STRATEGIES
The standard GOO Counter Strategies will work against Bokrug:
Standard GOO Counter Strategies - Bury the GOO with the Sign of Eibon, the Elder Sign, or Wakalea. Use the Mao Ceremony to avoid the GOO's effects. Pass to cause the GOO to quickly leave play. Use the Servitor of the Outer Gods in your deck.
The following strategies also work against Bokrug:
The Face of Fear - Giving your opponent Hydropohobia will give him a real good reason not to play Bokrug, or to get Bokrug out of play if he's already been played. Since Mnar is all-water this will tend to work well even if Bokrug isn't out.
Cthulhu Rising - Prevent your opponent from playing Bokrug. The Mnar Ruins Locations are Water, and thus very vulnerable to the Big Green Guy.
Destroy Storms - Storms are pretty easy to get rid of, since Day or Night buries them. If your opponent is heading for ruins, bring the Storms to an end.
A BOKRUG DECK (62)
INVESTIGATOR
Brilliant Egyptian Archaeologist
ADVENTURES (3)
Doomed if You Do x1
Mystery at Martin's Beach x1
Seeking Everlasting Life x1
ALLIES (7)
Any Country:
The Hunter x1
Randolph Carter x1
Wandering Peddler x1
Any Dreamland:
Howard Lovecraft (Dreamlands) x1
Mnar:
Ghost-Being of Ib x1
Taran-Ish x1
Oukranos Wilds:
Zoog Chieftain x1
ARTIFACTS (5)
Dr. Hammonds Nerve & Brain Tonic x2
Shining Trapozohedron x1
Silver Key x2
EVENTS (9)
Misc:
Cthulhu Rising x1
Discover Secret Cache x2
Surprise Meeting x1
Phobias:
Hydrophobia x2
Storms:
Blizzard x1
Downpour x1
Hurricane x1
LOCATIONS (14)
Danvers:
Massachusetts State Hospital x1
Miskatonic Valley:
Martin's Beach x2
Mnar:
Ilarnek x2
The Nameless Lake x2
The Ruins of Ib x2
The Ruins of Sarnath x3
The Temple of Bokrug x1
Oukranos Wilds:
The Temple of Loveliness at Kiran x1
MONSTERS (9)
Beings of Ib x4
Bokrug x2
Deep One (MSGS) x2
The Martin's Beach Monster x1
SPELLS (10)
Death:
Resurrection x2
Dream:
Command Lamp-Eft x1
Deflection x1
Embody Charnal Odor of Xura x1
Vortex of Far Journeying x1
Yellow Sign:
Steal Life x2
Thirty-Five Abominable Adulations of the Bloated One x2
TOMES (5)
Book of Black Stones x1
Kitab Al-Azif x1
Letter From a Friend x1
Necronomicon (Greek) x1
Papyrus of Ilarknek x1
Strategy Notes:
Doomed if You Do should be played first. It will prove easier to get the GOO out when your opponents aren't worried about you winning, and Doomed if You Do benefits less from setup than other Adventures. Seeking Everlasting Life I can be totally laid out while playing early Adventures. Make sure to keep your Resurrection Tome and the requisite Allies out. Mystery at Martin's Beach is a bit tricky because it includes two unique cards: The Martin's Beach Monster and Cthulhu Rising. Use the Kitab Al-Azif to play the Monster as an Ally, so you can keep him in play. Since the Adventure refers to the Martin's Beach Monster by name rather than type, you can score the Adventure even when it is in play as an Ally. Make sure to hold on to that Cthulhu Rising in your hand when you're setting up for Mystery at Martin's Beach.
The Tomes are a bit of a weakness in this deck, due to the scant Mnar Tome Locations. Tomes can be played via the following seven cards: Massachusetts State Hospital x1, Temple of Loveliness at Kiran x1, Discover Secret Cache x2, and The Ruins of Sarnath x3. Don't throw these cards out, assuming you'll have plenty more opportunities to play Tomes. Conversely, it should be very easy to play the Artifacts in the deck.
There is such a variety of Tomes because three different icons are needed, as follows. Seeking Everlasting Life I requires a Tome with a Skull Icon. The Kitab Al-Azif and Letter From a Friend fulfill this requirement. Doomed if You Do requires a Tome with a Dream Icon. The Book of Black Stones and the Papyrus of Ilarnek fulfill this requirement. You'll be able to keep Bokrug out, and perhaps get a little added Sanity, if you have a Tome with the Yellow Sign Icon. The Kitab Al-Azif (again) and the Necronomicon fulfill this requirement. Kitab Al-Azif and the Greek Necronomicon will also give you more options in game play.
Most of the spells have pretty obvious effects, but remember the following strategies. Resurrection can pull an Ally from your Story Deck just before you play an Adventure. This may help set up your next Adventure, and reduces the number of cards you'll be shuffling. Command Lamp-Eft can be cast just before you play a Storm to Summon Bokrug. It halves the number of cards that can disrupt your Storm. Embody Charnal Odor of Xura can Summon your Beings of Ib, so you can quickly add one to your Story Deck. It can Summon your Deep Ones too, for what that's worth. Steal Life should be cast whenever an opponent has a three of four-point Ally out. It's a free Sanity boost.
The Zoog Chieftain has been haphazardly thrown into the deck because he can make life easier in Mnar. You can only play him if you're at the Temple of Loveliness at Kiran, or have Surprise Meeting. Don't shed a tear if you have to toss the Zoog into the Discard pile.
This deck does best if you can get Bokrug out with certain associated cards. Namely: Thirty-Five Abominable Adulations of the Bloated One (in a book), Steal Life (in a book), and the three Storms. No one but you will gain Sanity (unless someone happens to be in Mnar). Everyone will be walking every place, without the benefits of Air, Sea, or Land Travel. Some people will not be able to play Adventures due to the restrictions against Travel cards. You'll be able to keep Bokrug out. As long as at least one player has a three-point Ally, you'll be able to stay even on Sanity thanks to Steal Life.
If you wish to tighten up the deck, you could drop half of the Dream Spells, one each of the Yellow Sign Spells, the Zoog Chieftain, the Surprise Meeting, and two of the Beings of Ib. That would bring the deck down to a slightly more manageable 54 cards. At that point, you might as well switch the Kitab Al-Azif for a second copy of Letter from a Friend. However, the deck as recorded above is at about the level I like for Maximum Game Fun.