Nevermore (Arkham Champions)

For the companion article to this decklist, complete with short fiction and more character depth, go here: https://strengthinnumbersarkham.wordpress.com/2022/04/28/arkham-champion-nevermore/

And for an explanation of the Arkham Champions concept, go here: https://strengthinnumbersarkham.wordpress.com/2022/04/22/the-index-of-arkham-champions/

Intro

By day, she's mild-mannered, sunny waitress Agnes Baker. But when night falls on Arkham, this hero dons her unsettling avian mask and becomes the unhinged vigilante Nevermore! Using a mixture of spellcasting, her corvid familiars, and the wicked arthana she calls Talon, Agnes teeters on the edge of sanity, wielding the cracks in her own mind as weapons against all whose dark magic would threaten the peaceful sleep of Arkham's residents.

Deck Breakdown

Hey everyone and welcome to the first in my Arkham Champions series, which ports the concept of superheroes into 1920s Lovecraftian Arkham!

Today we're getting to know Agnes Baker, a.k.a. Nevermore. This bird-themed knife-wielding death-witch is definitely one of the darker heroes on the roster, a fact that is represented throughout her deck. From her ability to interrogate the spirits of the deceased to her excessive violence, you do NOT want to be on the wrong end of Nevermore's knife!

The mechanical core of the deck is based around her mask of choice, the Medico Della Peste. As with most Champions, the mask is a central part of the character's theme and playstyle, and Agnes is no different. Once you have dug out the mask using Backpack, you can cycle it from play to discard to play again using the upgraded Scavenging, without even needing to waste an action. To make sure you pass the test, you can either discard the mask itself to use Will, or rely on Sixth Sense.

Once you have Sixth Sense and Scavenging set up to loop the mask, you can start spending it on other tests–story/scenario-related ones, evasions (prior to playing Blur), or (most importantly of all) fighting with Talon!

Although the Meat Cleaver doesn't usually achieve a high enough combat value (except during the final round of each agenda, where your Blood Pacts promise +6 to any Will or Combat test), by discarding the Medico you can replace that pitiful 3-4 Combat with a more consistent 5-6 Will. Add to that the horror you take to increase the damage, and you have an unlimited-use 3-damage weapon at the low low price of 0 XP! Plus, each time you recur the Medico you heal back the horror you took to boost your damage in the first place.

In addition to this core hybrid loop of damage, clues, and healing, Nevermore is packing a few extra tricks for both theme and function. To supplement her Scavenging setup, she has defenses both mental and physical she can replay for free.

She also has a sideline in Mysterious Ravens, which she can discard at fast to deal one damage and discover one clue. But these aren't ordinary ravens, and they have a tendency to come back either on their own or with a little dark-magical help.

Last but certainly not least, Nevermore is a skilled sorceress, and since she spends most nights hunting and killing dark mages throughout Arkham, she needs to be prepared for any eventuality. Her array of countermagic lets her disrupt enemy sorcery just long enough for her to close and put their schemes to rest with her knife.

In Action

Nevermore works equally well in solo or any level of multiplayer. As a solo deck, you may want to include extra copies of Meat Cleaver or some alternative combat options, such as Spectral Razor or combat spell assets, just to make sure her combat comes online in time.

At higher player counts, she'll behave more like a flex, able to easily kill smaller enemies and contribute chip damage and evasion to bosses, while Sixth Sense makes her a consistent backup cluever to support your main investigator.

She also makes a solid tank at any player count, able to take a lot of punishment and then heal back up.

Most importantly, she FEELS like the spooky badass that she is. Whether you're sticking to the shadows and stalking rings around hapless enemies with Blur, taking the hatchet to thralls and Deep Ones with Meat Cleaver, or assassinating cultists with your spectral ravens, you'll put the fear of BIRD into the hearts of your enemies!

Finally, her nemesis weakness is the Silver Twilight Acolyte, representing the efforts of Carl Sanford to apprehend her and interfere with her vigilantism. The acolytes are a dangerous threat if they can ever get a hit off, particularly combined with Nevermore's overuse of dark magic–fortunately, allied heroes can help, and Nevermore herself can easily strike down these pathetic excuses for warlocks with one blow from Talon.

Conclusion

Importantly, the Medico Della Peste is NOT necessary in order for this deck to function, and function well. You can switch out Meat Cleaver for a second Sign Magick and add combat spells, or keep it in and run skills that make passing combat tests easy like Strength in Numbers or Promise of Power. If you do choose to play Carnevale and acquire it, though, or simply grab the Medico before a campaign (I won't tell if you don't!), it really makes the deck sing.

If you haven't already, I strongly encourage you to check out the articles linked at the start of this deck description–both feature Nevermore in all her freaky, wonderful glory!

I hope you enjoyed this deck breakdown and that some of you take Nevermore for a spin and unleash her on those human monsters that plague Arkham. Stay tuned for more decks exploring synergies with the Carnevale Masks, and more stories about Roaring Twenties superheroics–all that and more is yet to come!