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Mark Molnar
Dziedzictwo Dunwich #26.

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FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • First determine the results of the successful test (including any additional effects provided by cards, e.g. bonus damage, effects of committed skill cards, etc.), then resolve these effects twice.

  • For Blinding Light and similar cards, the "if a special symbol is revealed..." part will not be doubled, because it is not the effect of the successful test.

  • Do not double any Reactions to a successful skill test (e.g. Dr. Milan Christopher, Scavenging).

  • All cards committed to a test are committed simultaneously. This means you cannot use Double or Nothing to double the difficulty of a test and then commit Rise to the Occasion based off the doubled difficulty of the test.

  • Q: Does Double or Nothing work with extra action effects like Quick Thinking or the level 2 .41 Derringer? A: Double or Nothing works with both of those effects! Those effects indeed trigger during step 7 [of a skill test], and then create a delayed effect which grants the extra action(s) after the test resolves.
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Reviews

Double or nothing is now nothing. As the first forbidden card, the creators acknowledged that all the times you might want to use this it either blows up in your face or succeed so well it wrecks the scenario. Instead of designing around it for the rest of time, they’re telling you not to use it.

Which is fine; since core has come out, rogues have many, many ways to gamble. But the day is destroying a campaign and boss with one shotgun blast may be over. You might have to, tragedy of tragedies, use both barrels and even a spell!

MrGoldbee · 1388
I'm really not sure why the developers didn't just mutate it to say: "double 1 of the effects of the successful test twice". I guess that would make it less fun than it has been but there's nothing less fun than not being able to play the card at all. — LaRoix · 1627
Because even doubling one effect requires making sure that all future printed effects that work with Donut dont break the game. I am fully in support of the Donut ban- it’s a card that is not fun to play but is so egregiously powerful that you are forced to take it at any xp cost. Mutation is also a much less clean solution, as its not written on the card. — StyxTBeuford · 12917
Couldn’t agree more. Also since Winifred Habbamock came out it actually became so easy to build a deck that just endlessly loops with Quick Thinking and All In, which absolutely breaks scenarios. Try it out once if you feel like it, but it for sure makes the game kinda boring... :D — Scarx · 38

There's an obscure theorem that I feel I should bring to your attention:

Finn's Law

For any card in Arkham Horror CG, if the card's combo potential with Double or Nothing is part of what makes it exciting, then that card is actually very boring.

Double or Nothing depends on being played with just the right card in just the right circumstances in order to accomplish anything. The effects of this card can certainly be spectacular, but spectacular does not win scenarios - utility, efficiency, and reliability do.

sfarmstrong · 266
I can sympathize with the attitude towards spectacular vs steady, but Double or Nothing is NEVER just a ? because it always increases the difficulty. Unless the difficulty was 0, in which case you traded a card for an action, which isn’t terrible. — Death by Chocolate · 1364
Right, I apparently have trouble even thinking of this as a skill card. Making the correction. — sfarmstrong · 266
Ever collected 20 clues with guiding stones? That’s spectacular and wins the game. Seeker can help you search for missing combo pieces. — Django · 4859
Oof this review couldn’t be further from the truth... there are many, many situations where you can commit DoN to make significant gains with minimal risk. Shooting some spheres or avian thrawls for an extra 2 damage, testing against low-shroud locations or having your high-int investigator use her stacked up into cards to pass a parley twice. These opportunities pop up many times throughout a scenario. It’s just a matter of recognizing that seductive power-turn plays aren’t the only way to use this card. — Difrakt · 1267
I can respect that, even if I'm not convinced. I can't say I've come across many situations myself where I really wish I'd drawn Double or Nothing instead of, say, Quick Thinking, Narrow Escape, "Watch This!", or an innate skill. Of the situations you've listed, picking up multiple clues in a low-shroud location is the only one that you can be sure will come up at some point (and that's a pretty weak benefit unless you combine it with e.g. Guiding Stones or Deduction), and apart from that I would dispute your "many times" assessment. I think you'd average maybe one situation per scenario where Double or Nothing is unambiguously BETTER than its alternatives, and I just don't think that's good enough to justify running it. — sfarmstrong · 266
Considering Rogue’s biggest weakness is not being able to do one thing quickly enough (esp gathering clues and conserving limited ammo) you’re missing opportunities. There’s times where you need to clear two clues off a 3 shroud location right *now* and this at its very weakest enables that. A card which it’s biggest condemnation is ‘at worst it’s a free action’ is a very, very good card. — Difrakt · 1267
Maybe I'm not understanding your argument. Wouldn't Doubling a 3-shroud location effectively bump it up to a 5-shroud location, once you factor in the ? symbol? At best, that seems like a lateral move. Plus, it seems like virtually all the situations you're describing would be more efficiently addressed by playing Sleight of Hand on a firearm or Flashlight. What am I missing? — sfarmstrong · 266
I don't know, Double or Nothing and Sure Gamble or Stroke of Luck can be awesome. A DoN, Vicious Blow & Stroke of Luck attack by Duke does 6 damage. That is pretty spectacular, and it helped with the scenario. (Yes, it did take a bit of setting up) — AndyB · 929
@AndyB, I guess it's just that I'm suspicious of anecdotes as an argument for analyzing a card that's the poster child for "occasionally spectacular." Anecdotes, or idealized examples, put a bit too much emphasis on "spectacular" and not enough on "occasionally." I wonder if I'm allowed to post a second review for the same card, because I'm honestly seeing a lot more pushback than I expected to, and I think I'd have a strong case for Double or Nothing being the most overrated card to date if I could delve into this more seriously. — sfarmstrong · 266
@sfarmstrong I can agree partly with you. When the situation does not come up or your deck isn’t built around it, this can be a dead draw for a long time. But once your seeker had archaic glyphs and Milan out... or guardian a big weapon, you get plenty moments to double up. — Django · 4859
I think this card is a bit better than you're giving it credit for. Remember that you can commit this to an investigate test of a 1-shroud location (or a 1-2 shroud location with Flashlight) and it basically becomes Deduction. That's fine right there and requires minimal support. Add in that there is also serious combo potential in the late campaign, and I like the card quite a bit. In the late campaign you can take cards that basically give you an autosuccess (Seal of the Elder Sign, Stroke of Luck, etc.), plus cards that give outrageously good effects on success plus large boosts to the tests (Lightning Gun, Shrivelling V, Rite of Seeking IV.) These cards are all excellent with Double or Nothing, and the best part, from my point of view, is that you wanted these cards anyway. They are all great on their own, and just so happen to go great with Double or Nothing. So, I like the card. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
That said, I do think this card is a bit overrated, especially within the Rogue faction. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that this card can be the centerpiece of a good Rogue deck. I don't really agree. This is a one-time effect (I don't believe there is any way to recur this card at the moment) and difficult to set up. I think the upside means the card is worth including, but I wouldn't base my whole deck around it. Second, you'll notice that none of the cards I listed as going great with Double or Nothing are Rogue cards. That's not a coincidence. Despite the great Rogue theme, I think DoN is much stronger with cards from other factions. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
Well argued, but I've been thinking through the range of interactions with Lightning Gun, Rite of Seeking IV, Shrivelling V, and... I'm actually more convinced than ever that DoN isn't just overrated - it just outright sucks. NONE of the examples any of you have listed seem to amount to a compelling case for Double or Nothing, as they all hit some combination of "too awkward," "too expensive," "too risky," or, most often of all, "too little payoff," compared to its alternatives, and those are in situations where it's even PLAYABLE. It looks like I'll have to write up that lengthier review at some point, after all. If I can't post a second one, I'll have to amend this review instead. — sfarmstrong · 266
Hmm. The combo with those cards has been pretty good with Double or Nothing in my experience, and not that hard to set up. After all, you were going to play a Lightning Gun or Shrivelling V or Rite of Seeking IV anyway. It's not like you're purchasing and playing these cards just because of the nice interaction with DoN--they were going to be the centerpieces of your deck anyway, and you were going to put them into play and use them as much as you could anyway. Within that framework, DoN only costs one card, and getting 6 clues or 6 damage in one action is really sweet and not all that hard. That's been my experience. I've especially found the 6-clue interaction with Rite of Seeking IV to be really good. (The 6 damage is quite a bit finickier due to a lack of good targets.) But I'm willing to listen to your arguments otherwise! — CaiusDrewart · 3004
Deduction II would be another nice target that's fairly easy to set up (assuming we're talking about a game with a high player count) and that would also fall into the category of a card you already wanted to be running that combines nicely with DoN. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
Tbh, I run DoN but also "combo" parts like Watch This. Most of the time, when I have DoN without other pieces I don't even wait for them. I always have to commit Don by itself pretty fast ^.^ Of course, Streetwise helps. — Palefang · 68
Seems like 2 years later "just the right cards in just the right circumstances" causes this cardqqqq to be the first banned in — Skeith · 2233
Arkham History. I thoroughly enjoy the irony. Also dont post from cells. It leads to double posts... — Skeith · 2233

The real problem with Double or Nothing is that the "doubling" effect is mandatory when you use it.

The doubling effect is circumstantially useful, providing action compression on low difficulty skill tests.

Kill a 2 HP enemy in one action before you've drawn your weapon!

Gain 2 clues with one action at a low-shroud location (especially when combined with Flashlight, which can reduce the skill test requirement to 0, eliminating the doubling downside entirely)!

Add two clues for the price of one while Disrupting the Ritual!

Do 6 damage with a single attack using Backstab or the new Flaregun!

However, as with other circumstantial cards, the opportunity to use this effect won't always come up in a game, and you DO still need to pass the test. One the fun things about Netrunner is that even when a card can isn't immediately useful, you can often pitch it for the icons. Not so with this one. Too often have I found myself in a tight spot, staring longingly at the wild icon on this card, unable to use it without making things worse.

HollowsHeart · 17
"One the fun things about Netrunner is that even when a card can isn't immediately useful, you can often pitch it for the icons." Er.... :P — unitled · 2238
...oops — HollowsHeart · 17
Play this card in wendys deck together with "will to survive" to guarantee success. — Django · 4859
I kept up with Netrunner for a bit and I don't remember any card pitching. Conquest, on the other hand... — Pizzagoat · 7

For the longest time I feel like this card never really hit its full potential because the game designers were afraid of printing something that would be too powerful with Double or Nothing. For example, I don't think it's a coincidence that the only 2-class combination that hasn't been used yet is Rogue/Seeker. The card combined with a Fingerprint Kit and a Deduction allows you to potentially scoop up 8 clues in one action, and with stuff like Higher Education boosting you it's not very difficult to pass the doubled test on any shroud location. Finn Edwards could pull a weaker version of this off, but he had to settle for level 0 Deduction and had to dedicate his limited off-class slots to it and he lacked the card draw that Seekers had. But now that Mandy Thompson exists, you get access to scooping 8 clues a turn and are able to piece that combo together very well due to her amazing card searching.

Additionally for the longest time using Double or Nothing on a big-deal combat attack sounded like a pipe dream because it was generally very difficult for you to be able to boost your combat high enough to be able to safely pass the doubled test, and many of the common Rogue weapons relied on you succeeding by 2 or more to have full effect. Now that Tony and his incredible 5 base combat exists though, that dream is a reality. Daring and Momentum both help as well, meaning that if you really want to go wild, you can throw in an All In to the test and get tons of cards out of the deal as well.

With those investigators and cards being printed, I don't think it's entirely surprising that Double or Nothing got nerfed on the optional Taboo list. Even without those cards, I've always felt like it was pretty good just because of its combo with Quick Thinking and "Watch this!", but now you can do far more than gain 2 actions and net 9 resources with the card. Even at 3 XP, I think the card is definitely worth considering in the right decks.

Sylvee · 99
Update: Double or Nothing has been executed by the most recent taboo list :) — TheDoc37 · 466

This card has really grown on me since play it in a few games of multiplayer. The key to it being that it doesn't just have to be your own skill check (unlike many Rogue cards). Especially nice when you have a Daisy Walker with Encyclopedia running around or one of the pump cards that a Rogue player would be keen to include.

Zail · 4
My favourite scenario on using this card: Mark Harrigan uses Shotgun + Vicious Blow 2 X2 + The Home Front + Double or Nothing + Seal of the Elder Sign/Eat Lead. That's 20 damage altogether and it reassurely hits!!! — matt88 · 2960
Does this have any effect on the new rogue card, Slip Away? Would it mean 2 upkeeps instead of 1? Thanks! — crymoricus · 233
I agree. The utility goes up significantly in multiplayer high-clue scenarios. It combos great with Deduction and/or Rite of Seeking for getting 4-6 clues in a single action. — micahwedemeyer · 59

With the Quick Thinking limited to once per round and Three Aces taboo'd to RFG, I think the ban on Donut could be revisited. The abusive edge cases are pretty much all gone at this point. Donuting Momentum or "Watch this!" is perfectly fine, as is committing it to an ally's check.

I think the game has room for some version of Double or Nothing in it. My humble proposal would be, at 0xp:

Double the difficulty of this skill test. If this skill test is successful, resolve the effects of the successful test twice. Then, remove Double or Nothing from the game.

suika · 9247
In my opinion the taboo is justified. If I imagine a Rouge with lockpicks and an upgraded deduction on a two shroud location this means 4 clues. And with each commited skill card this combo gets much better. And if you are afraid of drawing a autofail you can play justify the means. — Tharzax · 1
Spending 6xp and 3 cards and adding 4 curses to get 6 clues once per game doesn't seem out of line to me for the 3 cards 6xp spent, considering that it's just a single action saved over investigating twice with Deduction (2). — suika · 9247
The issue with DoN is that on its own its a good card (double difficulty for a rogue deduction or a vicious blow without any combo's) its that plus the extra effects of making any card they design possibly broken if you double it, even if no card that currently exists was broken DoN needs to be out of the game to allow cards that would otherwise not ever be printed. Removing it from the game is just a limiter on breaking the game only once, which is a speedbump and still doesn't open design space. — Zerogrim · 284
An alternative taboo that I got from a YouTube channel that I really like: No other skill cards can be committed to the same test as Donut, preventing you from simply using Three Aces to automatically succeed. Donut can be allowed back into the game, future design space is still left open, and Travis will finally be able to try out Donut + Shotgun. — NightgauntTaxiService · 265
Please tell me how to calculate correctly? If I add Double or Nothing and Quick Thinking to the skill test, then I need to pass double the difficulty of Double or Nothing and also exceed the test by +2? To make Quick Thinking work? For example, I pass a 3 vs 3 test, I add Double or Nothing and Quick Thinking and have my skill 5 (3+1+1=5) vs 6 (3*2=6) and draw a +1 counter and it's 6 vs 6, I double checked but still get Am I +2 actions from Quick Thinking? or should I have had 8 vs 6??? — LTT · 1
@LTT You do exactly as the cards say. The test would become 6 dif. Your token and skill are also 6. You succeed. Now you check the skill resolutions that hinge on success. Did you beat the 6 dif test by 2 or more? No. You would only get double the result of the test (like 2 clues if investigating.) — Robax · 1