THE CARD
Name: Giant Albino Penguins
Set: Mythos Limited
Type: Monster
Value: 0
Subtype: Lesser Independent
San: ?
Special Effect Box: At the time of playing this card choose the Sanity point loss, from 0 to -2 points. Joins with any other Monster card.
THE SOURCE
"To say that the white thing did not profoundly frighten us would be
in vain. We were indeed clutched for an instant by a primitive dread
almost sharper than the worst of our reasoned fears... then came a
flash of anticlimax as the white shape sidled into a lateral
archway... for it was only a penguin--albeit of a huge, unknown
species larger than the greatest of the known king penguins, and
monstrous in its combined albinism and file eyelessness."
-At the Mountains of Madness, H.P. Lovecraft
Deep in the Antarctic is an ancient city that was old before Man first walked the Earth. It was once the residence of the Elder Things. Now, the occasional shoggoth may haunt the ruins, but for the most part, the City of the Elder Things is ruled by a strange race of mindless Giant Albino Penguins.
CLARIFICATIONS
Giant Albino Penguins (along with the Buopoth, the Men of Leng, and the Tcho-Tcho People in Mythos: The Dreamlands) can Join with lots of different things. This required a clarification in how Joining was supposed to work. It was officially introduced in the Dreamlands rules. It says "Two cards may Join as long as one of them allows this in its Special Effects box. More than two cards may Join as long as every combination of two cards in the group Joins".
In essence, Joining isn't super-glue. You can put any number of Penguins down together with any number of cards that would normally Join, but can't use them to draw together two groups of cards which couldn't normally Join. Ie, a Joined set of two Penguins and two Elder Things is legal; a Joined set of two Penguins and a Shoggoth is legal; a Joined set of two Penguins, two Elder Things, and a Shoggoth is not legal. Elder Things and Shoggoths don't get along.
QUESTIONS
Q: I don't understand about spending different points of Sanity! What's up!? Does the Penguin become more powerful if I spend more Sanity?
A: No. Giant Albino Penguins are always 0 value. The ability to spend varying amounts of Sanity is an advantage in itself, as noted in a few of the Strategies.
Q: What happens if I use the Kitab Al-Azif to make a Penguin an Ally?
A: It has no value, and thus is immediately buried. This is a clever way to quickly get a Monster into your Story Deck without waiting until the end of the Turn.
Q: If you play an Asylum which requires you to flip the top card of your Mythos Deck, and take the revealed Sanity Gain or Loss, what happens if you flip a Penguin?
A: Choose the Sanity point loss, from 0 to -2 points.
STRATEGIES
Drive Yourself Insane - As bizarre as it sounds, you can
occasionally win the game after you've gone insane. This occurs if
your number of points of completed adventures exceeds your
opponent's adventure points plus his Sanity. Usually, even when you
get the opportunity it's hard to pull off. You have to avoid
Sanitariums, desperately cast spells, and even that's often not
enough. Giant Albino Penguins can reduce your Sanity really
quickly. Not only can each one cost up to 2 points (meaning that you
can blow 8 Sanity if you have four in your hand), but they'll also
make your opponents over-react, and put big Monsters opposite
you. When you're sitting at 8 Sanity, but will win if you go insane,
you can put down a two Sanity Penguin, and then take it in the teeth
when your opponent reveals the Shoggoth he mistakenly pointed at
you. 8 Sanity points are gone, and you win!
Don't Drive Your Opponent Insane - Sometimes, you'll be in the
opposite situation. Your opponent wins if he goes insane, but you
really need to get a Monster out (for A Day in the Life of a
Miskatonic University Student, or a similar Adventure). Penguins are
the perfect harmless critter. They even make great pets.
Hide Big Monsters - Opponents will react different if you put out a
single -2 Sanity Monster (immediate assumption: a 6 point Monster),
then if you put out two Monsters that total -2 Sanity (immediate
assumption: two 3 point Monsters). If you want to really thump an
opponent, Join a Penguin with a big Monster, and then point the
big Monster at the opponent you want to thump, and the Penguin at
some other rube. Your victim will probably defend appropriately for
a 3 or 4 point Monster, and you'll be able to sneak a few, hopefully
critical, points of damage through. This tactic is especially useful
with the Gnoph-Keh and the Martin's Beach Monster, since they also
get rid of Allies. If you join a Gnoph-Keh and a Penguin, and attack
an opponent with just the Gnoph-Keh, he may block with a single
three point Ally, who is destroyed by the Gnoph-Keh's cold,
resulting in your opponent taking 5 points of very unexpected
damage.
Hide Special Monsters - If you drop down two Monsters, and declare
that they total -1 Sanity, expert players of Mythos will assume
you've put down either a Deep One and Dagon/Hydra or two Living
Dead. But, you could really have played a Penguin and a Nightgaunt,
perhaps resulting in some Allies very unexpectedly being flown away
(after all, your opponent never expected a Nightgaunt, given the
combined Sanity value). My Gnoph-Keh example, above, actually
took advantage of this strategy as well. The opponent didn't expect
a Gnoph-Keh when the combined Sanity value of two Monsters was -2.
Bait! - If you're putting enough Monsters out to attract Instability
in the Mythos, Penguins are very helpful. If you're playing other
Lesser Independents into your threat, and your opponent is sitting
on top of a Summon/Control Lesser Independent Spell, Penguins will
also be useful. Decks heavy in Joining Monsters or in Lesser
Independents can both be supported by Penguins for this reason.
The Great Menagerie - This Dreamlands adventure requires that you
play Monsters of four different subtypes. Penguins work well with
this Adventure because they can be joined with a different subtype
of Monster, thus you can play two subtypes at the same gate. Works
great with Father Dagon, Mother Hydra and Deep Ones, though you'll
still need a Greater Independent, a Living Dead, a Great Old One, or
an Outer God.
Adventures Requiring Multiple Monsters - A few other Adventures
require two or three Monsters. If you use N'gah-Kthun, the Mi-Go,
and Penguins, you can have up to 9 Joining critters. If you use
Father Dagon, Mother Hydra, Deep Ones, a Shoggoth, and Giant Albino
Penguins, you can have up to 11 Joining critters. Either way, you'll
be able to finish the Adventure more quickly, because you'll be able
to play more Monsters at a single gate. (Thanks to Cedric Chin.)
Effects Requiring Monsters to be Buried or Discarded - A few
effects require a Monster to be buried or discarded in order to be
used. One is the New Aeon Exorcism spell, another is the Dreamlands
Harbor of the Black Galley. Penguins work well with these effects.
COUNTER STRATEGIES
Know Your Opponent - Once you know your opponent has Penguins, and
can account for this when figuring out how to block his Monsters,
you're a little bit ahead of the game. However, he still can
counter-bluff you.
Know Your Opponent's Threat - For the first time, in Dreamlands,
you'll find cards that can be used to look at an opponent's threat.
Make use of these powers when you think your opponent is trying to
bluff. The Ring of Eibon can also be useful in this instance.