Dr Dolittle

What can you say? The man loves animals, some even wonder if he loves them more than people - Mrs Dolittle certainly thinks so. But, by god, when Charles Dolittle graduated animal medical school, he made an oath he would never let a creature come to harm and he isn’t about to give that up now.

But recent happenings have made him question everything he knows. When a mysterious stranger dropped off an injured guinea pig, Dolittle was shocked to find it wasn’t a guinea pig at all - but rather a fierce tentacled beast! It attacked him and it was only with the support of the other animals in his care that he defeated the monstrosity. When the Dr regained his bearings, the stranger had disappeared.

With a newfound resolve, Dolittle grunted, “Huh - I guess some creatures in this universe do deserve to be put down.” He rose, his loyal squad of animals by his side, determined to defeat the abominations of the mythos.

Strategy

The approach is simple - talk with the animals, walk with the animals, fight, and evade, and get clues with the animals.

At Level 0 this deck has 4 Ally slots, so with Sled Dogs taking effectively 1/2 a slot you can have up to 6 Allies in play from the get-go. This alone will allow you to exhaust for up to +6 in any skill (that’s not even accounting for the icon bonus). Mulligan hard for any Creatures, your loyal assistant Bonnie, or Calling in Favors to fish out your favourite pets as you go.

When enemies show up, Sled Dogs will be your best friends to deal higher damage, as well Vicious Blow. With base 1s across the board, Rise to the Occasion will always be an option to boost. Inspiring Presence and Bonnie Walsh can help to re-ready for multiple uses.

If your Sled Dogs can’t take out your enemies, retaliate with Guard Dog - or better yet 2 Guard Dogs. Chuck a Trusted on them to get extra uses and heal them with Inspiring Presence. With so many Allies around the man soaks like a sponge but, if you do find yourself about to take undesirable damage, simply throw a Stray Cat at them during the enemy phase.

Outside of regular investigating, the Raven can get you a testless, action-less clue. You can always throw the 1 horror onto Familiar Spirit or an ally with Trusted. Use A Chance Encounter to revive your Raven, exhaust it for it your next skill boost, and then discard it again for another free clue.

Basic resource generation should be strong enough to pay for all the animals. Find an Emergency Cache from time to time, or use cards like Calling in Favors or Motivational Speech to rally your furry friends, the latter making any of the included Allies free.

You can get some extra card draw from Rabbit's Foot - not that you’ll be failing any tests!

Upgrades

If you thought having 6 animal friends sounded nice, how does 10 sound? Once fully upgraded with Rod of Animalism and Charisma x2 the deck has 6 basic Ally Slots, plus 2 more Creature slots when the Rod is in play. All up you can have 10 allies in play (6 allies + 4 Sled Dogs). Need to pass a big test - no problem. Or if the stakes are lower, simply take a move and investigate twice at 6 per test!

The Rod will make Creatures even more affordable, with Stray Cat, Mysterious Raven, and Miss Doyle becoming free. Speaking of Miss Doyle, 1XP to add 4 more cats to your posse - need I say more? The other edgy option is to give "Devil" a run, but he may act out and turn on your Sled Dogs (it’s not his fault, he’s a rescue).

The Rod will compete for the Accessory slot with Rabbits Foot - consider Relic Hunter or swap out Rabbits Foot and add alternative card draw options if this becomes an issue.

If all is going well, simply beef up Guard Dog and upgrade Inspiring Presence or Motivational Speech, and you’re on easy street.