INWO SOLO is a solitaire variant of Steve

Jackson Games' Illuminati: New World Order

(INWO) card game. The following description
assumes familiarity with the game, and uses the
World Domination Handbook Version 1.1 (March
1995) as the base reference. All official rules
changes, errata, and clarifications, found on the
Steve Jackson Games website are also in effect.
INWO is the intellectual property of Steve Jackson
Games; no copyright challenge is intended. Buy
their stuff.
INWO SOLO attempts to replicate the multiplayer
INWO experience for one player and consequently
preserves as many of the normal rules as
possible. Unless otherwise noted or obvious, all
rules for play remain the same as multiplayer
INWO.

BASIC RULES
As a multiplayer game progresses, each player
nears their own victory conditions as their
respective power structures grow. Although they
each have more Power available, their power
structures are becoming ever larger and hence
more vulnerable. As such, cooperation decreases
and attacks on rivals increase as each player
focuses on preserving their own victory chances.
INWO SOLO introduces the Intrigue Score to
simulate this multiplayer atmosphere. The turn
sequence section below details how the Intrigue
Score affects play. The rules assume the Intrigue
Score is tracked on a 10-sided die, but tokens
(distinct from Action tokens) may also be used.
Object of the Game
Victory conditions remain the same for INWO
SOLO. You must meet either the basic goal of 11
Groups, the special goal of your Illuminati, or
satisfy the conditions of a Goal card before a rival
declares victory (as determined by the Intrigue
Score; see below). The game also ends if you are
reduced to zero Groups in your Power structure
other than your Illuminati.
Beginning the Game
(1) Follow all the "Beginning the Game"
instructions in the World Domination Handbook,
starting by constructing a normal INWO deck of
any size and continuing all the way to drawing
your Group hand. The rules were playtested using
decks of approximately 45 cards. INWOSOLO

assumes you won the die roll to determine who

goes first: this die roll is unnecessary.
(2) Construct and shuffle a Rival Plot Deck
representing the fiendish plans of all your rival
Illuminati. The Rival Plot Deck is exactly twice as
large as your own Plot Deck, counting your
Illuminati card. The Rival Plot Deck shall include
one rival Illuminati card for every 10 cards or
fraction thereof of its required deck size. Tips on
Rival Plot Deck construction follow the Basic
Rules.
(3) Construct and shuffle a Rival Group Deck
representing the Groups and Resources of your
rivals' Power structures. The Rival Group Deck is
exactly the same size as the Rival Plot Deck.
(4) If you included a Group in the Rival Group
Deck which duplicates your own lead Group,
reveal from the top of the Rival Group Deck a
number of cards equal to the number of rival
Illuminati. If any of the cards revealed and your
lead are the same, you must pick an alternate
lead. Draw one more card off the top of the Rival
Group Deck if it contains a copy of your alternate
lead. Continue until the lead and the revealed rival
Groups do not match.

(5) Set the Intrigue Score at 0 (I use an old-school

d10 with a 0-9 marked on it). You are now ready
to play the first turn.
Turns
INWO SOLO uses a two turn sequence: first the
Player Turn (your turn) and then the Rival
Illuminati Turn. The sequence repeats until the
game ends. At the beginning of each and every of
the seven phases of the Player Turn, roll two dice
before doing anything else. If the sum of these
dice scores is less than or equal to the number of
groups you control then a Rival Plot is triggered
(see below). If a group you control counts double
for victory conditions, then it counts double for this
as well. Also, if a group counts double towards
victory conditions due to an exposed Goal card, it
counts double for this as well. As you approach
victory, the rival Illuminati groups become nervous
and direct more and more of their attention (and
plots) against you.

Player Turn Sequence

1. to 4. Phases 1 through are identical to normal
INWO: draw your plot card and group card, make
your automatic takeover, and place your action
tokens. Don't forget however, to roll to trigger a
Rival Plot.
5. Roll to trigger Rival Plots as in every
phase. Perform actions in phase 5 as per normal
INWO, but before any such actions draw a number
of cards from the Rival Group Deck equal to the
Intrigue Score. None of these groups have Action
Tokens (yet). The cards reveal parts of rival
Power structures left vulnerable and thus potential
targets for attack. If any rival card is a Resource,
leave it in play face-up.
After considering the rival Groups, make any
actions. Actions can include attacking a rival
Power structure (targeting a card just revealed),
attacking to control a Group from your hand, or
any other action allowed in normal INWO. On the
very first turn of the game the Intrigue Score starts
at 0, thus there should be no Rival Groups to
attack.
6. Roll to see if a Rival Plot is triggered. Free
moves as per INWO, including victory declaration.
7. Roll to see if a Rival Plot is triggered. If you
successfully attacked a rival power structure in
Phase 5, roll to reduce the Intrigue Score (see
below).
Rival Illuminati Turn Sequence
1. Add 1 to the Intrigue Score.
2. Add one action token to any rival groups and
resources which require tokens and do not
currently have any.
3. Determine the number of groups controlled by
the most powerful Rival. Roll a single die. If the
sum of the die score and the Intrigue Score equals
11 or more, a rival Illuminati has achieved their
goal and you lose. If the sum does not equal 11 or
more, the game continues. Proceed to the next
phase.
4. Roll two dice. If the sum of the dice scores is
less than or equal the number of groups you
control (towards victory conditions as above), then
a rival Illuminati attacks your Power

structure! Reveal the top card from the Rival Plot

Deck and Rival Group Deck and resolve the
attack. The Rival Group card just flipped is the
attacking group; the other groups will aid if able.

5. Discard any Rival Plot cards and Rival Groups

still in play, except Goal and New World Order
cards.
Plot Cards
All INWO rules apply normally for your Plot cards.
Rival Plots function differently. As noted, a die roll
triggers play of Rival Plot cards. Since the rival
Power structures are an abstract representation in
INWOSOLO and not on the game table, any Rival
Plot card is assumed to have all action token
requirements met by the appropriate Group(s).
Rival Plot cards must still be legal however; if a
Plot card can only be played on the owning
player's turn (the Rival Illuminati Turn in this case),
then it cannot be played during the Player Turn.
Any revealed Rival Plot cards which are illegal are
simply discarded. A Rival Plot card is resolved
immediately if applicable. Instants, Disasters,
Assassinations, and Plots that target another
player's card decks and card hands are all
examples of Rival Plot cards that are resolved
immediately.
If a Rival Plot card is legal but cannot be
immediately resolved (+10 Bonus cards are a
great example, as are Alignment changers), it
remains in play until the beginning of the next
Player Turn when it is discarded excepting New
World Order and Goals as noted below. Cards
which remain in play throughout the turn will be
used at an appropriate time. For example, a +10
Bonus plot is meaningless when revealed but if a
Rival Group later attacks your power structure, the
Rival Plot suddenly becomes very useful for your
enemies.
Three Rival Plot cards function very different and
deserve special attention: Illuminati, Goal and New
World Order cards.

Illuminati Cards- An Illuminati card played from the

Rival Plot Deck betrays a rival Illuminati's direct
influence. As soon as an Illuminati card comes
into play it gains an action token (unlike Rival
Groups). The Illuminati card remains in play until
it uses its action or the beginning of the next
Player Turn, whichever comes first. The
Illuminati's Global Power is used in the first attack
after it is revealed, aiding either the defender (if
you are attacking) or the attacker (if you are
defending). After aiding one attack, the Illuminati's
action token is considered spent and the card is
discarded.

Interfering Power
Interfering Power is a bonus added to the Power
or Resistance of an attacking or defending Group,
as appropriate. Interfering Power represents the
struggle amongst all the rival Illuminati, some of
whom are aiding you (for their own reasons) and
others who oppose you. Compute Interfering
Power by rolling a single die and adding the
resulting die score to the Intrigue Score (Rival
Illuminati are less and less inclined to help you as
both you and they near victory).
Illuminati Closeness Bonus

Goal Cards- If a Goal card is revealed, leave it in

the play area next to the Rival Group Deck like a
Resource. The Goal card is NOT exposed by this
play; you must play an appropriate Plot or special
Group ability to expose it. Successful attacks
against any Rival Group which helps satisfy the
Goal Card helps reduce the Intrigue Score (see
below).
New World Order cards- Remain in play until
removed by another NWO of the same color or a
Plot, exactly as in INWO.

During attacks on Rival power structures, use the

following procedure to compute a Group's defense
bonus due to its proximity to its Illuminati. Roll two
dice. If the sum of the dice scores exceeds the
Intrigue Score, the target Rival Group gets a +5
closeness bonus and the dice are rolled again. If
the sum of these new dice scores again exceeds
the Intrigue Score, the target Rival Group gets an
additional +5 closeness bonus. If the first dice roll
fails to exceed the Intrigue Score, the closeness
bonus is 0 (the longer the game, the larger and
more vulnerable the Power structures get).

Group Cards
Attacks to Control from Your Group Hand

Your Groups function exactly as in INWO but Rival

Groups, like Rival Plots, require special
rules. Rival Groups will use their special abilities
on the appropriate turn to have the most
detrimental effect on you, but must still follow
normal INWO rules regarding Action Tokens; Rival
Groups cannot both use special abilities and make
attacks or lend Power (unless of course the
special ability is free). Rival Resources, whenever
revealed, remain in play until removed by some
Plot or special ability, as in INWO.

Compute the Power of all the Groups you plan to

use in the attack. Compute Interfering Power and
add it to the target's resistance. Finally, if any of
the Rival Group revealed at the beginning of
phase 5 can legally aid the target (usually via
special abilities), add their bonuses as appropriate.
Don't forget to add any bonuses due to Rival Plot
cards in play and any Rival Resources (remove
tokens as necessary). Results of Attacks to
Control from your own Group hand are per INWO.

Attacks

Attacks to Control or Destroy Rival Groups

Attacks to Control and Destroy follow all the

normal rules of INWO including alignment
bonuses/penalties, closeness bonuses, and
legality for aiding the attackers and defenders.
Again, because rival Power structures exist only in
abstract, INWOSOLO requires a few additional
rules to determine the closeness bonus as well as
Power defending against and aiding attacks.

If you decide to target any of the Rival Groups

revealed in phase 5 of your turn, compute the
Power of all the Groups you plan to use in the
attack. Compute Interfering Power and the
target's Closeness Bonus; add to the target's
Power or Resistance as appropriate. Rival
Groups will use any free special abilities to thwart
your attack and rival Illuminati cards will spend
their action token to add their Global Power to the
target's Power or Resistance.

Rival Attacks to Control or Destroy Your Groups

Compute Interfering Power and add to the Rival
Group's Power. Any Rival Groups eligible to aid
will do so. Apply any bonuses due to Rival Plot
cards in play and any Rival Resources (remove
tokens as necessary). If an Attack to Control
versus your Power structure is successful, add the
target Group and any puppets to the Rival Group
Deck discard pile. Successful Attacks to Destroy
your Groups have the same effects as normal
INWO.
Privilege
If you play a Plot or use a special ability which
makes your Attack Privileged the results of the
Privilege depend on your target. If Attacking your
Group hand no one else can lend Power, therefore
do not add any Power to your target's resistance! If
you are attacking a Rival Power structure your
privilege prevents other Illuminati from aiding your
target; do not roll the single die and add it to the
target's Power or resistance. You must still add the
Intrigue Score as well as any closeness bonus.
If a Rival's attack becomes Privileged, the attack
proceeds as above, but compute Interfering Power
by rolling two dice instead of one and adding their
sum to the Intrigue Score.

The Intrigue Score

The Intrigue Score represents not really the slow
march of time but your rivals' progress toward
world domination, as well as their awareness of
your progress. The game can be lost with a simple
die roll once the Intrigue Score reaches 5! Since
the Intrigue Score advances by 1 each turn, your
inevitable defeat can only be avoided by using raw
Power to slow its advance, just as you use Actions
to counter your opponents in multi-player INWO.
Reducing the Intrigue Score
Two ways exist to reduce the Intrigue Score:
successful attacks versus rival power structures or
thwarting Illuminated Goals.
If you successfully attack a Rival Power structure,
roll a single die. If the Group you successfully
attacked counted double for a Rival's Special Goal
or a face-up Goal card, roll two dice. If the score
on any die rolled is less than or equal to the Power

of the targeted group, reduce the Intrigue Score by

1. Total all the Powers of any group and its
puppets if captured in an Attack to Control. Also,
add 1 to the Power for every +5 closeness bonus
(rival Illuminati will typically keep their most
valuable groups closer). Example: You just
Destroyed Count Dracula via an Instant
Attack. The Count had a Power Corrupts Plot
linked to him making him Criminal, and the
Criminal Overlords Goal card is in play for the
Rival. His closeness bonus was +5. Since
Dracula counted double towards the Criminal
Overlords Goal, you roll two dice and get a 3 and a
6. The Count's Power is 2, but due to the
closeness bonus it is considered 3. At least one of
your dice was less than or equal to Dracula's
Power, so you reduce the Intrigue Score by 1. If
both the dice were 3 or less you'd still only reduce
the Intrigue Score by 1; your chances are
increased, not the effect.
If you take out a Plot particularly vital to a rival's
plans, you significantly reduce their chances for
victory (and thus reduce the Intrigue Score). Any
time you remove from play a face-up Rival Goal
card (for example you expose it via a special
ability and then use the "Foiled!" Plot to discard it),
you may immediately reduce the Intrigue Score by
1.
"What if my one of my rivals is the Servants of
Cthulhu?"- If Cthulhu is one of your rivals and you
cause a Group to return to play after being
Destroyed, reduce the Intrigue Score by 1.
"What if my one of my rivals is the Bermuda
Triangle?"- If the Triangle is one of your rivals and
one of your Attacks (or Plots) results in the loss of
a Rival Group, roll a single die. If the die score is
less than or equal to the number of Alignments
that Group possesses, reduce the Intrigue Score
by an additional 1.

Other INWOSOLO Peculiarities

Deck Exhaustion

Deck Searches

If either Rival Plot Deck or Rival Group Deck

becomes exhausted, simply reshuffle all the cards
in the respective discard pile and continue play.
Also, after all the rival Illuminati have been
revealed and discarded, immediately reshuffle the
discards and the rest of the Rival Plot Deck and
continue play (you can never hide from the
Illuminati!).
Remember to place Destroyed rival Groups in a
separate pile; these Groups may not return to play
via a simple reshuffle. As in INWO only the
combination of duplicate cards and relevant Plots
can bring Destroyed Groups back.

Any Plot card (or special ability) that allows you to

search another player's deck or hand works
differently in INWO SOLO.
If you play a Plot or use an ability allowing you to
search a Group or Plot deck, you may search the
Rival Group Deck or Rival Plot Deck respectively.
If you play a card allowing the search of a Plot
hand, roll a single die to determine the rival hand
size. Remove that many cards from the top of the
Rival Plot Deck and treat those cards as you
would another player's hand in normal INWO. Any
face-up Rival Goal cards are considered part of
the rival hand. If you have to select cards from an
opponent's hand without looking and face-up Rival
Goals are in play, use a random die roll to fairly
determine if the Goal is indeed the card you would
have chosen. You may never steal a rival
Illuminati card revealed from a hand or deck
search, but you may expose and discard it through
an appropriate combination of Plots and/or special
abilities.
If you play a card allowing the search of a Group
hand, roll two dice; the sum determines the rival
hand size. Remove that many cards from the top
of the Rival Group Deck and treat those cards as
you would another player's hand in normal INWO.
"...for every..." Bonuses
For Rival Groups that have bonuses or abilities
based on the number of a certain type of other
Groups available (such as "Add 2 to this Group's
Power and Global Power for every media
Personality in your power structure"), use the
following procedure to determine how many of
these other Groups exist. Roll one die. Subtract
this die score from the Intrigue Score. Results
less than zero are treated as zero. For example:
on a Rival Illuminati Turn (Intrigue Score 4), you
suffer an attack on your power structure led by
Hollywood. You roll a single die to determine how
many media Personalities exist in the Rival power
structure and get a 2. Subtracting this from the
Intrigue Score of 4, you get a total of 2 media
Personalities, boosting Hollywood's Power to 6! If
you had rolled a 6, Hollywood would have no
media Personalities to boost its Power.

Alignment Adders/Changers
Plots like "Assertiveness Training" which can add
or change alignments can be used against rival
Groups, but the target's closeness to its Illuminati
increases the Power required. Determine the
target's closeness bonus using the same
procedure as when Attacking a rival Power
structure.
UFOs
If the UFOs are played off the top of the Rival Plot
deck, discard it after the second attack it takes part
in or phase 5 of the Rival Illuminati Turn,
whichever comes first.
Tips
Rival Plot Decks should include a lot of cards that
will directly affect your plans. Thus it should
include a lot of Instant Attacks. Some cards that
you'd typically put in a normal INWO deck (+10
bonus cards are a good example) still function
nicely against you in the Rival Plot Deck. Other
cards (like Crop Circles) have no real function in
the Rival Plot Deck and thus should be left
out. Make the Rival Plot Deck nasty and it will be
a lot more satisfying if you win.
Rival Group Decks should have a number of
general themes as well. You don't have to put as
much time into its construction as you do your own
deck, but if Rival Groups have shared alignments
it will make the game more challenging and, again,
more satisfying.
If the game is too hard or too easy, adjust the ratio
of Illuminati cards in the Rival Plot Deck. Adding
even one extra Illuminati card really puts the hurt
on your plans.