Edge of the Earth Lily

Lily Chen: The Bodyguard

Two-player Edge of the Earth. Lily is the fighter; Monterey Jack is the cluever. Her job is to stay at Monty's side, kill everything that shows up, and soak the tests his 1 can't handle.

How Lily Plays

Stats: 3 2 4 3 , 7 health, 7 sanity. Deck size 30.

• Disciplines are Permanent and start in play. We open with Discipline: Prescience of Fate: a static +1 puts her at 5 from turn one, no setup.
• Its gives +5 to the next skill test this turn and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Then it breaks, and you lose the +1 .
• The Broken side only flips back if you perform no skill tests for a whole round. As a fighter that almost never happens, so treat breaking as costly.
• The real way back is the : +2, and after the test you flip a Broken Discipline Unbroken. The deck is built to pull more tokens and fish for it (see Elder Sign Engine below).
• Spend the +5 on the test that matters: a big enemy you need dead this turn, a treachery that would wreck you, or a scenario-defining test. Not on a goon you'd hit anyway.
• Every 15 XP earned (not spent) unlocks another Discipline for free. Plan: → → → . Each one adds a Burden of Destiny.
• Monty's ability rewards him for ending turns away from where he started. He will move a lot. Lily's tempo problem is keeping up with him, which is why movement shows up in the upgrades.

Card Breakdown

Weapons & Fighting

• Dragon Pole: Starting primary weapon. Gives a third arcane slot and +1 per filled arcane slot. With two slots filled (Scrying + Enchanted Blade) she fights at 7 for 2 damage. Replaced by Butterfly Swords as soon as XP allows.
• Enchanted Blade: Backup weapon and an arcane filler for the Pole. Empowered it fights at 7 for 2 damage. Mystic/Guardian dual-class, so it does not use a level 0 Guardian slot.
• Bandolier: Extra weapon-only hand. Lets Pole + Blade (and later Swords + Blade) sit in play together. Also 1 health of soak.
• Prepared for the Worst: Weapon tutor. One copy, since four weapons in 30 cards usually show up in the top 9.
• Overpower: Commit to attacks you expect to land; replaces itself.

Elder Sign Engine

Lily's is the only reliable way to un-break a Discipline mid-fight. These cards increase how often you see it.

• Olive McBride: Reveal 3, resolve 2. Triples your look at the bag on a key test. If an is in the three, keep it; you get +2 and the Discipline flip. Also dodges the .
• Premonition: Fast, 0 cost. Seal a token, then it resolves on the next test (any test, including a mythos one).
  • Sealed or a good number: put the important test on it. Breaking Prescience right before a sealed flips it straight back.
  • Sealed bad token: burn it on a low-stakes test.
• Butterfly Swords (upgrade): two attacks per action means two token pulls per action, so the comes up twice as often.

Encounter Control

Lily is not scared of the encounter deck, and this package lets her decide who eats what.

• Scrying: Arcane filler for the Pole, but the real value is look at and reorder the top 3 of the encounter deck. Set up the mythos phase so Monty's card is the soft one.
• First Watch: Look at the 2 mythos cards and deal them yourself. Monty gets the enemy (you kill it), you take the treachery.
• Ward of Protection: Cancel a treachery you draw, for 1 horror. Also works on cards pulled by Drawn to the Flame and Delve Too Deep. Can't touch Burden of Destiny (it's a weakness).
• Drawn to the Flame: 2 clues for 1 action when Monty needs help on a big location. Scry first and you know what you're drawing.
• Delve Too Deep: 1 XP per copy per scenario. Both investigators draw, so Scry first and put the soft card where Monty's draw lands. Don't play it when Monty is low on sanity. The XP also pushes you toward the next Discipline faster.

Team Support & Economy

• Guts: Monty has 1 . Commit to his tests when at his location, or to your own mythos tests. Draws on success.
• Unexpected Courage: Two wild icons for whatever test needs it, yours or Monty's.
• Defiance: Ignore a symbol token, including its modifier. Placeholder until Vicious Blow (2).
• Emergency Cache: Full setup (Pole + Bandolier + Blade + Scrying) is 9 resources. This pays for it.

Signatures

• Discipline: Prescience of Fate: See How Lily Plays.
• Burden of Destiny: Choose: break a Discipline (locked Broken until the round ends), or take 1 damage and 1 horror.
  • Usually take the damage and horror and keep the +1 . The damage is non-direct, so Bandolier (and later Combat Training) can soak it.
  • Break it only if Prescience is already spent or you're low on health.

Mulligan

• Hunt: a weapon (Dragon Pole or Enchanted Blade), or Prepared for the Worst.
• Keep: Bandolier, Scrying (if you have the Pole), Emergency Cache, Olive McBride.
• Ship: Delve Too Deep, Drawn to the Flame, Guts, Defiance. These are mid-scenario cards.

Upgrade Path

Notes

• Priority: Butterfly Swords (2), then Stick to the Plan, then Butterfly Swords (5). Everything after that is optional and can be bought in any order the campaign calls for.
• Butterfly Swords (2) first. First attack at 6, then exhaust for a second attack at + (8) for 2 damage. That's 3 damage per action, and the second attack can go into a different enemy. Enchanted Blade stays as the backup in the Bandolier hand.
• Balance of Body takes to 4, which goes straight into the Swords' second attack. Its chains up to 3 different fight actions: Swords (two attacks), Blade, and a basic fight in one action.
• Disciplines unlock on XP earned, not spent, so each ★ row sits where your running total will be when you hit that threshold. Banking XP instead of spending it moves them earlier in the list.
• Stick to the Plan is 3 XP doubled to 6 for Exceptional. It holds Prepared for the Worst, Emergency Cache, and either First Watch or On the Trail. Guaranteed weapon and money in the opening hand. Swords first, because Enchanted Blade covers the weapon gap until then.
• Butterfly Swords (5): +2 on the first attack, and the second attack no longer needs the exhaust, so every fight action is two attacks. Exhaust only buys the extra damage once both hit.
• Safeguard replaces Scrying once the Pole is gone, since powering the Pole was Scrying's main job. It lets Lily follow Monty on his turn for free, which also keeps him in range for Guts and Unexpected Courage commits.
• On the Trail covers the clue role Drawn to the Flame had and adds movement. Tactic, so it can sit under Stick to the Plan.
• Level 0 Guardian limit (5): Starting deck uses 4 (Bandolier ×2, Prepared for the Worst, First Watch). "Let me handle this!" swaps 1-for-1 with First Watch. Upgrading Prepared for the Worst frees a slot, which with the First Watch swap leaves room for both Glory. Buy Glory only after step 7.
• Spiritual Resolve is late-game soak. It sits in the second arcane slot alongside Enchanted Blade, and Myriad gets all three copies for 5 XP.
• Combat Training is a last buy if XP is left over: +1 +1 (both Swords attacks), plus 3 health and 1 sanity of soak that must take hits first.

Side Deck

Upgrade targets only. No tech.