The Dog of War
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Posts posted by The Dog of War
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We had a situation come up in our game last night where I had a Terrors in the Dark in play - a support card which turns it to Night, and has the additional effect of:
Response: After an opponent plays a card from his hand, he must discard the top card of his deck.
So, the way we were playing it, when my opponent would tap a domain for 3 and play a Unfathomable Elder Thing - that would require him to discard the top card of his deck. Simple so far... but my opponent wondered if this would trigger on something like putting a Dreamlands Fanatic into play - directly from hand - as a result of the "after an opponent's character leaves play" - special Response.
He argued (mildly) that "plays" = puts into play by paying the normal costs for the card - based on our incomplete remembering of the FAQ ...since he had left the pages at home, by mistake. So he thought (perhaps) that Terrors would not trigger if a card came into play due to such a special fashion.
Beyond that mild uncertainty...our bigger question came a few turns later when he tried to Deep One Assault it. We felt (by mutual) agreement - that the Deep One Assault's destruction effect would resolve * first * as soon as it came out of the opponent's hand....and so the Terrors in the Dark would be put into the discard pile - before - it's "discard the top card of your deck" effect would activate.
The only other way to play it would be: - He plays Deep One Assault, placing DOA in his discard pile, as it is used, then because he played a card, he discards the top card of his deck....then I pick up Terrors and put it into my discard pile...and that's it.
This way seemed awkward / strange to us - so we played it the first way I mentioned - DOA came out...targeted Terrors...both cards placed in their discards, nothing further...
Final question on this...timing related.... let's say I had a character like Aspiring Artist (
) in my hand...while Terrors in the Dark was in play for my opponent. I pay 1-resource and put the Aspiring Artist down on the table top.What happens now ? Do I follow the Artist's command to Draw 2-Cards.....first....or do I follow the Terrors command to discard the top card of my deck.....first ? One has to happen first...right ? In the end, 2-cards will be in my hand, and 1-will have been flipped over from top of deck to discard....but how to determine?
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I like your English, Prodigee ! I think - as I said before once - I find it interesting how your French phrases translate to English sentence construction.
Like...we would say something like "The Big Car is red and impressive" - but the French might be (as example)
"La voiture rouge est brillant et impressionnant."
- the car (red) is brilliant/shiny and impressive -
This is only a minor example, as there are some better ones that are more distinctive and noticeable.
Anyways, on the matter of Guardian Pillar...I have always assumed that it retains all of its subtypes when it "Transforms"....there is no reason why you would conclude it should not...after all. So I assume that when it's just been played it is a "Dreamlands. Location. Mutable".
Now...when I commit it to a story, it also becomes "Character" in addition to those already listed Types. So, an Agency Groundskeeper could exhaust himself to destroy it - even after it commits because it (I think) is a Character - that is also a Location.... alternatively, you could play Flanking Maneuver on it ONLY when it became a character (committing) because Maneuver only works on characters.... but if Flanking Maneuver were worded "Destroy a location"...then I think you could use it at any point against the Pillar, because I don't believe it ever loses its "Location" type - even after it transforms to a Character.
But perhaps I am mistaken...
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But I MUST have Good - Bad - Neutral -!
Seriously though, thanks for the link. I have begun to read the story, and find myself instantly intrigued (having only gone through the first pages so far). It is interesting seeing how the early 1900's writers ...wrote...relative to our current speech / writing.
We might say, "He looked outside and saw that the sun was just beginning to rise."
Lovecraft (seemingly) would say, "His gaze turned to the nearby window where, slowly and inexorably, the first rays of the newly advancing dawn were at last becoming visible."
* - ps ....what is the meaning of Derlethian ? - is that like a Super Yithian ?
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I'm glad you mentioned this, Hellfury....
First - can you give me any info on Bokrug, like what story of Lovecraft's he featured in, and what his role is...I mean, I assume he's another "ally" of Cthulhu...which is why they picked him for that faction...but is there any firm story he was in as a major villain ?
Also - I was planning on asking about Beings of Ib, actually....and wanted to know if I understood their ability correctly....the card mentions "a single Ancient One" in play...so...do they mean as long as you have - JUST - one in play...the Beings of Ib have those icons, etc - but if you put a second Ancient One into play (rare to have 2 out at once, but still...) - at that moment, the Beings revert to ....no Icons at all ?
Lastly - to Manitou... I got crushed last night when my friend came back to work (from vacation) and played using my Cthulhu - Yog - deck against me (my Shub Night Ghouls and Hastur Agency Steps decks) - he had forgotten his cards, you see.
Anyways....I was beginning to think that deck needed revision...but he got some amazing draws against me and totally trashed my guys (though the one game was close 3-2 stories, in the end).
He (in the second game) - drew 2-Seekers of Mystery, a Lord of the Silver Twilight, a Deep One Assault, and Cthulhu, Lord of R'lyeh - AWESOME card - which I was excited to get a hold of when I heard he was coming in Wailer....
You can guess what happened next...
He won the roll to play first....resourced ....and slammed down both Seekers and the Lord of the Silver Twilight. "Your turn"....
I went and played a Beneath the Burning Sun, and a Undercover Security. Seemed good...
He goes on the second turn, lays down another resource (now had three in one domain)....and played a Degenerate Serpent Cultist (costs 1-)....and using the big Domain......out came Cthulhu.....on turn-2.
As you can imagine...the next turn, when I actually drew and played a 70-steps (pointless)....I was finished. He DOA'd the steps, and began to use the new Cthulhu to annihilate my characters...it was a slaughter.
Turn-2.He laughed and said, "you made the deck, so you only have yourself to blame"..... it was true, but it was painful, nonetheless !
Basically...it taught me something about the Steps - issue ....you HAVE to get Steps + Magah Birds in hand on the opening draw for the deck to work even remotely "as it should" - at least the way mine seems to play out (maybe I am doing something wrong ? - lol) ....... I find it hard to believe this type of deck (having playtested it many times against other decks I made in the last few weeks) ...actually was considered "reliable" enough to have so many top players bring it to the World Championships...and, beyond that, to actually have it win the tournament !? I must be doing something wrong ....
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Right ! So forgive my enthusiasm, if it's considered common knowledge....I took it that it was not, since Hellfury himself seemed surprised by it and deemed it "Stupid Broken" - and he's played the game longer than me (not saying that much given my 2-months, roughly - but you get the point).
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oooh....nice concept, Manitou. I haven't played a single game with a Miska deck yet....stupid nerds...so I'm not 100% up on all their tricks...but I have seen Carson's Treatment used against me before, and it's quite potent in those situations.
* on a related note - I really like the look and feel of Tcho-Tcho Tribe...and have gotten 3-of them now....but are they actually considered a "pretty good card" - to have in a Yog deck ? I see the one weakness (potentially) is they have no Toughness..which seems odd to me considering they are supposed to be a "tribe" of guys...meaning several...yet they are not as "tough" as the football coach for Miskatonic U.... ?
So...without Toughness...you pay 5...put out this great card (in theory) and the opponent Small Price to Pay's - it instantly....urrr....am I missing something ?
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You're a lucky guy if you have a GF who plays this regularly with you
- well done, Hellfury....On the Ancient One issue....I guess they are supposed to be immune to most mortal weaponry....which is why Flanking Maneuver is ineffective against them.... but this is another reason why I talk up Short Fuse with its Automatic 7-Wounds ..... ahem. This will auto-destroy ANY Ancient One that does not have Invulnerability....meaning every one of them EXCEPT - Cthulhu, Dagon, Shub-Niggurath, Y'Golonac, and Yog-Sothoth.
I think that's all of them that actually have Invulnerability....all the "lesser ones" have Toughness...even Hastur, (though he's a Great Old One), just has Toughness on both his forms, because they are lesser avatars he uses, as opposed to his monstrous "True Form" - which, if they ever publish it...probably would have Invulnerability, to keep with the theme.
So Short Fuse, ops phase or not, can do what 90% of other Agency cards cannot, to all Ancient Ones (or any other character in the game, since the most Toughness I've ever seen, by default, is on Terror of the Tides or Hideous Guardian, with +5).
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merci beaucoup ! - now I know how to say "Success Token" in French !
How do they say "The Great Old One" - when reference to Cthulhu himself ?
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And, on Topic.... does everyone agree that this revelation about these cards being playable in any deck make for some interesting combinations ? The idea of totally surprising someone who thinks you only have Miskatonic in hand, with a Terror of the Tides seems incredibly powerful.
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Just to fill me in ....what is so special about the "Great Race of Yith" ....in Lovecraft stories ? Like...what is their role and history and do they oppose or serve the evil Old Ones and Outer Gods ?
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Secondly - I've heard about this "Yithian Deck" - but what is so special about it ? Probably plays like Mi-Go decks right, with all characters being of that subtype and having a few special abilities here and there....right ?
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Lastly - I was intrigued // annoyed by the fact that they (FFG) have apparently said that SOME special Faction-Specific cards will be in the big Silver Twilight expansion....meaning even if one doesn't want to play HOST for any pressing reason, they probably will "have" to get the expansion to have access to the new cards for the existing factions (and I bet they are really nice cards too - to further pressure you into wanting them !).
Make Hastur one of those cool Court of Y'htill - things I got in this old CCG pack ... the effect looks pretty potent. I guess it's supposed to be where the King in Yellow holds court or something. -
And the biggest thing Thomas might have forgotten is right here:
Action: Exhaust 2 characters, each with at least 1 , to choose and destroy a non-Ancient One character.
So Flanking Maneuver is totally useless against any of the Ancient Ones that we might face....it would be effective against Stanford, the Shoggoth, Ghost, and Guardian Pillar though.
Behind Bars would probably serve us best to stall any of truly diabolical ones like Yog or Cthulhu, if it came to that, I guess.
* - one neat trick, although not relevant in this Agency - Cthulhu talk, would be to have the opponent commit their big Invulnerable tough-guy like Y'Golonac or Cthulhu to a story...you block with a scrub like Silver Twilight Temptress or something with at least 1-Terror. Then you play Scotophobia ! D'OH ! Big Boy loses his Terror Icon - and I don't think any of them have been given the further backup of "Willpower" - though they probably should have been, all things considered.....so suddenly the Ancient One is subject to Insanity ! He goes Insane and is flipped over.
Per the FAQ - at this point he is a Zero-cost card with no special abilites - etc - textbox blanked - etc.
Play a Shotgun Blast for free (0 cost = 0 skill of current target !!!) - and wound + kill the Insane Ancient One. Score one for the good guys !
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So...today while playing a solo test game between my Cthulhu - Yog deck and my Hastur - Agency Steps deck...I had a weird situation happen that I was not sure how to play out, so I thought I'd ask you guys.
Basically...the Cthulhu boys were happy, having just gotten a Ravager out, even though they were behind 2-Stories to 0 to the Agency/Steps nastiness.....and they thought they could slow down the enemy and get some other stuff out to contest some of the stories.
However, they had misfortune as the Agency next draw of cards was Blind Submission (and something else I cannot recall). So I got to the start of the Story Phase for Agency/Hastur deck and said "I am going to play Blind Submission on your Ravager of the Deep" - now I take control of him until the end of this (Story) phase ! I picked him up and put him on my side of the board ....and began to do my committals to stories.
However...I suddenly realized something.... I had an Undercover Security in play (I had just payed for them and put them out, before playing the Blind Submission). They are classed as "Heroic". The Ravager I had just gained control of is listed as "Villainous".
Now...page 11 of the Rulebook says "If for any reason a player controls both a Heroic character and a Villainous character at the same time, he must immediately choose one to be discarded".
This seemed ....wrong to me...since it seemed like I would be able to say, "Well I will just Discard (put into the owners discard pile) the Ravager, and keep my Undercover Security".....effectively Destroying the Ravager with a single Blind Submission card. If this is accurate, then a similiar deck with Demon Lovers (exhaust to reduce a character's Skill by -2 per Demon Lover used)....and Blind Submissions would be particularly ridiculous as just one -for example - could reduce the Skill of someone like Y'Golanac to 2 (from 4 natural) ....and you could then "Blind Submission" them over, then discard them because you have a Heroic character on your side...allowing you to effectively destroy Invulnerable Ancient Ones in such a sneaky fashion. . . ?
Did I miss something obvious here ? -
Thanks for the good commentaries. I just found it should be highlighted because, for example, Hellfury (who I think has played the game for a time - probably more than me, for sure !) - himself seemed a bit suprised that the FAQ had clarified this in such a manner. Even Professor (IIRC) said he had always been playing it with you NEEDING a Resource Match to use those special ways to put into play.
So the idea / big news - that you do NOT need it...well, I thought that should be emphasized !
It means you can do a lot of "surprise !" - type stuff on your opponents....and they must constantly be on-guard for such "suprise" cards like Eibon and Terror of the Tides, etc.
The reason - only big reason - why I would like Terror over Descendant (don't be mad at me Hastur ! = Jim Black
) - and ONLY in this circumstance, is that it has Terror + Combat...and only costs you 3-Resource to put into play from the hand....while d'Eibon needs you to throw away 2-jeton de reussite (did I say it right ? ) ....to use his "Surprise !" - ability. -
Why is it "10 minutes before the bell strikes" .... ? Is there some time FFG has said they will tell players when the next AP-thing will be ? Forgive me if I do not yet know this (common ?) knowledge ...
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It looks like what happened is - I came home yesterday....saw Manitou's reply (regarding Short Fuse and a few other things) - so I started composing my reply to him....I took a bit, as I was doing other things at the same time....and when I finished, someone else had posted a reply - BEFORE - I had a chance to post mine.
Usually the FFG-system tells you "hey, someone has posted since.... do you want to post your thing anyways ?" - but this time, I don't think it did. So I finally posted...and it was meant to be to Manitou...but looked like it was in response to Investigator !
In any case, thanks for the interesting suggestions Investigator - and your deck idea.
I'm still thinking of how we could fit some anti-invulnerable type stuff into the deck - if we made it all Agency ? That's why Deep One Assault is so appealing to me - cause it can Ancient Ones like they were Patsy's - !
Chris "Cannon" Long has said frequently on BoardGameGeek boards that, "Deep One Assault is the best card Cthulhu has or will ever have...." - which, I think, goes to the point of how powerful / flexible it can be (note we could also use it to take out Support cards like 70-Steps, or other problem ones).
* - note that Behind Bars is pretty good since it can, effectively, handcuff those Invulnerable guys - allowing you to only worry (in theory) about their damage-able cohorts.
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I would think the issue though - even with the useful Silver Key (which, I have to confess - I haven't looked at enough to fully understand how it's supposed to work and what benefit - overall - you (the controlling player) are supposed to be getting for having it in play.....) .... is the fact that one has to have a particular deck with specific cards to MAYBE stop a deck that can do well against almost ANY deck - just by default.
There's not much to say though - except that maybe they went too far with Magah Birds ?
They probably should have just costed 0- and been "Fast" - without the "find another two of them" mechanic - all for the cost of....1... with them, I can have 3-Birds, and another guy like Paul Lemond - AND Steps - on the first turn, before the opponent has even played anything. Steps - itself - cannot be the problem....I think.....or is it ? Nobody complains about 700-steps...because it is used "defensively" when you are behind - but rather, they point out 70-steps because it is much more aggressive and designed to help you get the early lead.
What about using 700-steps to counter 70-steps players when they get that 2nd story ? Or is that too late...because they can score both stories (needed for the win) in the same round, negating the impact of 700 ?
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So...continuing on from the theme of the thread titled "Paying Card costs" - appx wording - in this same sub-forum (check that one out too, and comment if you find it interesting !)....I was continuing to consider cards that allow for "put into play" effects as was of getting them in the game.
Since, as Dadajef pointed out quite clearly, the FAQ says you can "bypass the need for a .... resource match" when you play such cards, it means that all such cards can (barring a few exceptions like The Thing Behind You - which needs you to bounce a Hastur character back to hand when putting it into play from your hand, with the reduced cost method) be put into pretty much every deck in the game, so long as you intend to always play them "from the hand" - using their special "Enters Play" abilities.
As noted in that thread, the most obvious and powerful one would be The Terror of the Tides, for the sheer "Suprise" factor and strength of the card....but also, consider a Dreamlands Fanatic in an Agency deck ?
He's normall a 3-cost character (if played naturally) for Cthulhu, with 1-Terror, 1-Arcane and 2-Skill. He also sports the "Fast" keyword/ability. But it's his special way to get into play that interests us here:
Response: After an opponent's character leaves play, put Dreamlands Fanatic into play from your hand.
Imagine turn 1 as Agency....you play Paul Lemond and an Agency Medic.
The opponent goes...puts down something like a Servant of Nodens or some other opening game character. Your turn, you play "Small Price to Pay" and drive the Medic Insane, to Wound the Servant of Nodens. He has left play, so you can trigger the Response ability for the Dreamlands Fanatic you have in hand, and he gets put into play automatically - bypassing the need for any Resource matches ! Now you have a Fast - Terror causing character - with Arcane...in your AGENCY deck...on Turn-2...you probably also resourced again and laid out something like Undercover Security.. now you can promptly take 2-3 Success Tokens at ALL THREE STORIES.....on Turn-2.
AWESOME
There are probably a few other cards that function like the Fanatic and The Terror of the Tides...but I can't think of any right away...does anyone else know the full list of them ? (those characters that can be put into play by paying some alternate cost - without the normal Resource match way of playing ?)
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I dunno if anyone noticed, with Jhaelen's reply - but I'll restate from my above-listed-post - since I think it's incredibly noteworthy, if we are interpreting the FAQ entry correctly:
Wow....great point Hellfury. Since Terror of the Tides sucks for 6-cost (well...not sucks, but is fairly underwhelming if you actually spent the time piling up 6-resources on a single domain, just to bring him out) .....I almost always play him as the 3-cost version with Terror-Combat-Combat- 2-Wounds - 4-Skill...which is an absolute STEAL ...not to mention the "SURPRISE" factor of tossing him out in "reaction" to opponents declaring who they are sending to what story....being able to surprise them with him, and have him drive insane or kill a valuable enemy who thought they were safe is extremely handy.
But if the FAQ is saying what it's saying....then, as Hellfury points out....this is a huge semi-revelation.
It means I should basically put 3-Terror's of the Tides in EVERY deck I have...no matter what faction I'm using !!! Not needing any Cthulhu resources means I can surprise foes with him, even when playing a milksop rabble like Miskatonic ! Surprise ! Terror...in Miska !? Oh....yeah....FAQ-IT BABY !
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I am sure when you are focused on summoning forth foul creatures from beyond our reality, and setting free their even more dreadful great masters, getting a suit specially tailored with pockets wherever you want them is not an issue !
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Off topic a bit - but vive la france ! - my friend at work is learning French and has gotten really good at it - he reads the French papers (he gets them from somewhere, I think Air France flight crew give them to him when they are done with them - lol) - and can understand entire articles about Art, Politics, Economics, etc - - I like the way the French translates to English - you can see what they are saying, even though the Thought Expression is constructed differently. :-O And the Wine Review section is not to be missed !
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I have to say...the first part was interesting and I got it...the second part (the big paragraph) I didn't really follow....but I think - overall - you were talking about tons of old cards from the old CCG game I am not familiar with - that you are saying they could remake for HOST - and it would fit - but you end by saying "don't have a cost 6 neutral pick a card" - appx - which, again, I am not sure what card you were even talking about.
- but I'm sure it was a good one, from "the good ol' days" of CCG. -
Yes, but Dynamite requires us to have a Character in play...then attach the Dynamite...then send the character to a story...and hope the opponent blocks it with something...then blow the Dynamite, most likely killing our character, and possibly an enemy one....but it has zero effect (or very minimal effect) on any enemies with Toughness+ - whatever... whereas Short Fuse utterly destroys any character in the game that is not Invulnerable !
Deep One Assault costs X = cost of character. So to blow away a G-Men, which costs 6...you need a "Loyal" - 6-stack of Cthulhu resources with DOA. Short Fuse accomplishes the same thing (with a huge explosion !) - for only 3...half the cost in this example...and can be any resource mix (so long as one is Agency, of course). This seems to be overlooked by those that dump on Short Fuse.
If we (players) are willing to pay 2-for A Single Glimpse - and don't think that it's a crappy card (also played in Ops Phase - true, forces Sacrifice, but opponent gets to choose, so limited targeted effectiveness) - then why downplay the potential impact of a 3-cost Short Fuse (also in Ops Phase), which can destroy anything in the game that can be wounded ? (Hastur (all forms), Bokrug, Ghanathoa, T-Men, G-Men, Hired Muscle, Terror of the Tides, Hideous Guardian, Hydra, etc. - etc.)
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And we did mention Lightning Gun....but it costs (2) - I think ....and only (really) helps us in the combat struggle....we were generally talking about a deck that didn't bother with actual struggles, except when it had to - but instead just blows away enemy defenders // opposing characters with a deluge of direct damage or outright destruction. Lightning Gun doesn't (directly) do that - though it IS an awesome card in "normal" decks, no doubt.
For purposes of Prize Pistol, for instance, you'd be better off packing 0-cost 45. Pistols which also give +1 Combat Icon (expanding the range of targets for the Pistols).
Some characters that I was thinking we'd want to include (and the numbers of them) might be:
3 x Deep One Rising
2 x T-Men (enters play, wound a target of your choice)
2 x James Logan (enters play, search deck for up to 2-attachments and put them on Logan....essentially for free, as it ignores their cost ! - put Prize Pistol and / Shotgun / Dynamite - etc. on him)
2 x Monster Hunter ?
3 x Terror of the Tides (see our other discussion threads on this one ....basically, with the FAQ revelation, on top of the general utility...there is no reason any deck ever made should not feature 3 of these guys ! FAQ-IT and WEEP opponent !
3 x Diseased Sewer Rats
....what other cheap options would we have ? Undercover Security would be good for the 2-cost early effect of Combat + Investigation....so maybe 3 of them...and how about 3 of the Keeper of the Golden Path and 3 Brood of Yig - both have 2-Terror Icons which would serve us well with Pulled Under - if we went with that card also.
Any ideas on "Cheapish" - 1-cost characters for Agency or Cthulhu that would be handy as well ?
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I'd like to see that Court of Ytilll - thing for Hastur reprinted - in this big Ebay win I got a few days ago (well, it arrived a few days ago from Canada) - the guy had an "Eldritch Edition starter box" with two pre-set 50-card decks. They are all old CCG-black border ones - but some of them look really cool, like Nephren-Ka (Nyarlathotep's Avatar = ie, "The Black Pharaoh") - and this Court of Ytill thingy....If I remember (the cards are put away now) -it's effectively a "Support // Location" that can exhaust to be a Disrupt like Power Drain.....pretty amazing - if my recollection is correct. Anyways, there seemed to be many "cool" cards with powerful effects that would be useful in the LCG game.
I don't know that any of them were particularly "overpowered" -either....and no....no Ghoul Khanum, in case you were wondering - ! (what the heck was it supposed to be anyways...? Some sort of "Super Ghoul" or "King of the Ghouls" ? - why was it's card made so powerful ?)
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Wow....great point Hellfury. Since Terror of the Tides sucks for 6-cost (well...not sucks, but is fairly underwhelming if you actually spent the time piling up 6-resources on a single domain, just to bring him out) .....I almost always play him as the 3-cost version with Terror-Combat-Combat- 2-Wounds - 4-Skill...which is an absolute STEAL ...not to mention the "SURPRISE" factor of tossing him out in "reaction" to opponents declaring who they are sending to what story....being able to surprise them with him, and have him drive insane or kill a valuable enemy who thought they were safe is extremely handy.
But if the FAQ is saying what it's saying....then, as Hellfury points out....this is a huge semi-revelation.
It means I should basically put 3-Terror's of the Tides in EVERY deck I have...no matter what faction I'm using !!! Not needing any Cthulhu resources means I can surprise foes with him, even when playing a milksop rabble like Miskatonic ! Surprise ! Terror...in Miska !? Oh....yeah....FAQ-IT BABY !
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Ooh...that's a nice concept there.....I didn't think of putting two on a single character, but if you are feeling confident and doubt the enemy has any direct destruction effects (like DOA) in hand, then it would be quite lethal.
So...if we were to expand on this concept and begin rummaging around in our imaginary supplies of cards (assume we have 3 of every card in the game)....how might we actually put together this ultimate destruction deck ?
I can presume the following "Destruction Cards" - but would love to hear ideas on possible characters we would want to include.
Events:
3-Deep One Assault
3-Sacrificial Offerings
3-Shotgun Blast
3-Small Price to Pay
3-Short Fuse ? (possible)
3-Flanking Maneuver
3-Torch the Joint
Attachments ? - 3-Shotgun, 3-Prize Pistol
Support- 3-Beneath the Burning Sun
NEW FACTION!
in CoC General Discussion
Posted
Well thanks for explaining, Hell.
I would say though, aren't some of the creatures of the Mythos - at times - doing things that COULD be considered "helpful" - at least to a certain person at a certain time - even if the motives are mysterious and for a hidden purpose or one that cannot be gauged by humans ? I mention some story another poster told me - I forget who - where Randolph Carter was being taken by some creature to Azathoth's Court...where, I guess he would be destroyed ? - but someone (Nyarl ? or was it Yog-Sothoth ?) - intercepted the creature and ordered it to take him somewhere else instead (where he did not die, etc).
Granted, it's only one example - but maybe it illustrates that these creatures do things on a level of "reason / purpose / goal" - beyond what humans are capable of understanding......to a point. Some of them, like Nyar....are apparently quite "twisted and evil" - by mortal standards - and generally don't care at all about humanity - unless it serves their purpose to "appear" to care at a certain point time.