Hello.

I'd like you all to share your experience with using the Uncontrollable Urges keeper action card.

On my first play-through of Fall of House Lynch, towards the end of the game, I had a lot of unused threat tokens. I ended up using Uncontrollable Urges in combination with Command Minion to help Lynch evade the investigators until their time ran out.

It can obviously be used to split investigators from the group so you can use the maniac action card on the lone investigator. What other clever uses have you found?

Please share you clever tricks or funny anecdotes on the subject.

Thanks

Throwing Lantern at a mi-go in scenario 4, erasing the investigators' only light source in a scenario where pretty much every room eventually is in darkness ! -2 to combat made killing the investigator a lot easier.

I haven't done all this (yet?), but possible uses are:

Force Ashcan Pete to use his guitar as a melee weapon (to discard it).

Force Michael McGlen to throw away his dynamite to a space where it can't hurt any monsters.

Force an investigator with low lore to read a book he is carrying (he won't get much use out of a spell and he can't give it to someone else).

Force an investigator to use "Startling Evidence". It costs two horror and isn't worth it most often.

Force an investigator that has no attack spells and who is in the same space as a monster to drop his equipment. He either has to attack bare handed or make an evasion check just to get his stuff back (or flee) and lose the opportunity to attack.

Nico Deluxe said:

Dynamite is a Weapon, not Equipment as per the FAQ so you can't UU it anymore.

Drop Action also isn't an option with UU. You can either move an investigator or make them use an action from Spell, equipment, artifact or lore.

force an investigator to use the ceremony skull.

amikezor said:

Last time I did that, the git rolled 3 or less (having Luck 3) three turns in a row before I finally got 4 Threat . No lack of skill points for a while for that investigator.

there is no free lunch

I found out that Ashcan Pete's Jury-rigging ability makes him an interesting target for Uncontrollable Urges.

You can force him discard some or all of his equipment, tomes, artifacts and weapon cards.

This comes with a cost as Ashcan will gain 1 skill point for each card discarded. (He has a high luck score.) It is up to the Keeper to figure out which items are worth the tradeoff.

Ashcan "Hobo with a shotgun" Pete ?

Aazlain said:

Another illegal move as I see it. UU doesn't allow you to take any Action with the investigator, only those mentioned on the card (use one of the listed cards or move).

Dam said:

Absolutely right. My mistake.

Ok. I went over the cards and came up with a list of all possible uses for Uncontrollable Urges. Beside moving an investigator, it can be used to activate the following cards:

• Bind Monster (Spell) <4, 5, Gloria>
• Blood Pact (Spell) <1>
• Ceremonial Skull (Artifact) <4, 5>
• De Vermis Mysteriis (Tome) <4, 5>
• Dholl Chants (Tome) <5>
• Elder Sign (Artifact) <1, 5> Condition: There must be at least 1 monster in the same room as the investigator.
• Fire Extinguisher (Equipment) <1, 4> Condition: It may only be used in a room with a fire token.
• Guitar (Equipment) <Ashcan>
• Lantern (Equipment) <1, 4, 5> Condition: There must be a monster within 1 range.
• Nameless Cults (Tome) <1, 5>
• Saturnian wine (Equipment) <5> Condition: The investigator must have taken at least 1 damage or horror.
• Sedative (Equipment) <1, 4, 5> Condition: The investigator on which the sedative is used must have a trauma card.
• Shriveling (Spell) <5, Harvey>
• Soul Pact (Spell) <4>
• Startling Evidence (Equipment) <1, 5>
• Whateley's Diary (Tome) <4, 5>
• Whiskey (Equipment) <1, 5> Condition: the investigator must have taken at least 1 horror.

Notes:

I haven't listed items which a) don't appear in any story where Uncontrollable Urges is available as a keeper action card, or b) have neither a positive effect for the keeper or a negative effect for the investigators.

Some cards may not always have a legal target. I've listed the conditions under which these cards can be used.

I've listed between < > the story(s) in which each card can come into play.

The keeper may not use the “Uncontrollable Urges” Keeper Action card to use a spell or item that does not have a valid target. For example, he may not force an investigator to use the “Sedative” equipment on an investigator that does not have a Trauma card. (Page 11 of the rulebook)

Q: Can the keeper use Uncontrollable urges to make an investigator attack another Investigator with a weapon? What about spells?
A: No. This only allows him to use a spell, equipment, artifact or tome card. If he forces an investigator to cast a spell, he must choose a legal target. To clarify, if a spell says “choose a Monster”, it may not be used against an investigator (even if playing Story 5). As another example, the Keeper may not force an investigator to use the “Sedative” equipment on an investigator who does not have a Trauma card. (Errata and FAQ)

I hope I didn't miss anything.