The Shaman and the Soldier

Card pool: Revised Core Set and The Path to Carcosa cycle (Investigator Expansion and Mythos Packs) only. None of the cards in this deck are affected by the List of Taboos (version 2.0).

Introduction

Akachi Onyele is a sorcerer with a high (5), 8 sanity and a very uncomfortable of 2. Two things define her: every asset she controls that has "uses (charges)" enters play with one additional charge, and her adds 1 charge to one of those assets, so the spells she plays last longer and are easy to refill. In this guide the charges of those assets are written as base+1 (for example 3+1), so you can see the extra one that her ability adds. Spirit-Speaker, her signature, completes the picture: it lets her return a spell to her hand, with fresh charges, or cash it in for resources. This deck is built on that idea: Akachi follows her partner into each location, collects the clues, and turns her charges into whatever the situation needs.

Her role is the one that walks in second. Her partner goes into a location first, takes the hits and clears it, and Akachi follows to collect the clues. Fighting is not her job: she carries Shrivelling and Blinding Light as insurance for the moments when she is alone, but the front line belongs to someone else. In my case the partner is Mark Harrigan, a Guardian who enters first and kills, but the deck should work with any investigator who can keep the enemies off her back.

The problem she has to solve is that a sorcerer with 2 is a bad investigator. The deck answers that in two stages. In the first scenarios it uses tools that lower the difficulty or skip the test: Flashlight, Drawn to the Flame, Arcane Studies and St. Hubert's Key. From the first XP it buys Rite of Seeking (2), a spell that investigates with instead of , and from then on Akachi stops being a bad investigator. Her weak points are economy, since her best cards cost 3 or 4, and the fact that she has only two arcane slots for all the spells that she wants to carry.

Because of this division of labour, the two investigators are meant to stay together, or at most one move apart. Splitting up is the exception, and Akachi is the one who should be careful about it: she has 6 health, and several of her own cards cost her horror.

Core cards and why

The core of this deck is what lets her find clues from the very first turn and survive while she does it. Everything else is built on top of three ideas: tools for the clues, a way to pay for them, and a safety net for the treacheries and the enemies that slip through.

The first required cards, Spirit-Speaker and Angered Spirits, are not among the 30 cards, but they set the way the deck is played. Spirit-Speaker costs 2 and is a fast action: exhaust it to choose an asset with charges and either return it to your hand, or move all its charges to your resource pool and discard it. That gives you two tricks: you can replay a spell with fresh charges, and you can turn a spell into resources when you need them or when you have no arcane slot left. Angered Spirits is her weakness: it sits in your threat area, and by the end of the game it must hold at least 4 charges that you moved there by exhausting Spell assets, or you suffer physical trauma. The section on charges below explains how to deal with it.

The clue engine starts with Flashlight. It has 3 supplies, not charges, so Akachi does not get her extra one, but each supply lets her investigate with 2 less shroud, which is the cheapest way she has of making a test with 2 reasonable. Drawn to the Flame is the card that skips the test: it costs 0, draws the top card of the encounter deck and then discovers 2 clues at your location. It is the best clue card the pool has for her, and the price is the encounter card, which is why the deck wants her partner to go first. Arcane Studies lets her spend resources to add +1 or +1 to a test, which is how she turns her extra resources into clues. St. Hubert's Key gives +1 and +1 and protects her from being defeated by horror, at the cost of 2 sanity, which she can afford.

Alchemical Transmutation is the economy of the deck. It costs 1, comes with 3+1 charges, and each charge is a willpower test against 1 that gives up to 3 resources, which Akachi passes almost always. Besides, it is a cheap Spell asset to carry charges around, which is useful for Angered Spirits and for Spirit-Speaker. Shrivelling is her weapon: it has 4+1 charges, it attacks with instead of and deals +1 damage, although a bad chaos token costs her 1 horror. Arcane Initiate is a cheap ally that searches the top 3 cards of the deck for a Spell, which is how you find Shrivelling, Alchemical Transmutation or Rite of Seeking in the early game. It comes with 1 doom, so do not leave it around forever. Ward of Protection is the safety net: a fast event that cancels a treachery when you draw it, at the price of 1 horror.

In summary, the core cards are focused on three goals: finding clues, paying for them and not dying while she does it.

• 2 x Flashlight
• 2 x Drawn to the Flame
• 2 x Arcane Studies
• 1 x St. Hubert's Key
• 2 x Ward of Protection
• 2 x Alchemical Transmutation
• 2 x Shrivelling
• 2 x Arcane Initiate

A total of 15 (these ones) + 15 (the rest) = 30.

Rest of the deck and why

The rest of the cards add economy, information, a way of escaping enemies, and the skills that make her tests reliable and help her partner.

Forbidden Knowledge costs 0 and starts the game with 4 secrets, not charges, so it does not get the extra one. Each secret becomes a resource for 1 horror, as a fast action, which is a lot of economy for no cost, and with 8 sanity she can afford some horror. Emergency Cache is the plain version of the same idea: 3 resources for no cost, and two copies make the first turns smoother, because Akachi's best cards cost 3 or 4. Scrying is the deck's information card. It costs 1, has 3+1 charges, and lets her look at the top 3 cards of a deck, including the encounter deck, and put them back in the order she wants. Used before Drawn to the Flame, it tells her what that card is going to draw and lets her put a safe one on top.

Blinding Light lets her evade with instead of and deals 1 damage to the enemy if she succeeds, but a bad chaos token costs her an action. It is for the moments when an enemy gets past her partner. Uncage the Soul costs 0 and lets her play a Spell or Ritual from her hand for 3 less, so Shrivelling is free, Blinding Light costs nothing and a Spirit-Speaker played with it is free. It is also the key to the best trick of the deck: use Spirit-Speaker to return a spell to your hand and replay it with Uncage the Soul for almost nothing and with fresh charges.

The skills are chosen to keep her tests reliable. Perception has and draws a card on a success, and Unexpected Courage has , which fits any test. Both can also be committed to her partner's tests when they are at the same location, and in that case the card is drawn by whoever committed it. Torrent of Power is the deck's burst skill: as an additional cost to commit it, she spends up to 3 charges from assets she controls, and each charge gives it a and a icon. It is the way of making sure that an important test succeeds, but charges are a resource, so use it when the test matters. Guts has and draws a card on a success. It helps her own willpower tests, such as Shrivelling or Blinding Light, and it is the skill that matters most once she has Rite of Seeking, as the upgrades section explains. Perception is for the first scenarios: when Rite of Seeking is online, her investigations become willpower tests, and its intellect icons stop counting. Fearless has a icon and heals 1 horror if the test succeeds, which helps with the horror that her own cards cause. Remember that only one copy of Perception, Guts or Unexpected Courage can be committed to the same test.

In summary, the rest of the cards cover economy, information, escape and the skills that make her tests work:

• 1 x Forbidden Knowledge
• 1 x Scrying
• 2 x Blinding Light
• 2 x Uncage the Soul
• 2 x Emergency Cache
• 2 x Perception
• 2 x Unexpected Courage
• 1 x Torrent of Power
• 1 x Guts
• 1 x Fearless

A total of 15 (these ones) + 15 (core) = 30.

Useful cards

This section highlights cards that are not part of the default configuration, but that can be good replacements depending on what you want to strengthen in your own deck. For each one I suggest which card to cut. Akachi can include Mystic and neutral cards of any level, cards with "uses (charges)" up to level 4 from any class, and level 0 Occult cards.

If you want more reach. Astral Travel costs 3 and moves you to any revealed location, which can save a lot of turns when the clues are far from where your partner is, but it makes you reveal a chaos token, and a bad one forces you to discard an Item or Ally you control, or take 1 damage if you have none. Use it only when it really saves you something.

• 1 x Blinding Light -> 1 x Astral Travel

If you want to fight more. Storm of Spirits costs 3 and attacks with : if it succeeds, it deals 2 damage to each enemy at the attacked enemy's location. It is useful when your partner is not around and several enemies are together.

• 1 x Blinding Light -> 1 x Storm of Spirits

If you want more economy. A second Forbidden Knowledge gives 4 more resources for 1 horror each, and it is the cheapest economy in the pool, as long as your sanity can take it.

• 1 x Scrying -> 1 x Forbidden Knowledge

If you want more protection from horror. Holy Rosary gives 2 sanity and +1 , but it takes the same accessory slot as St. Hubert's Key, so it is only worth it if you skip the Key. A second Fearless heals more horror, and if horror is not a problem for you, the single copy can go back to being a Torrent of Power.

• 1 x Emergency Cache -> 1 x Holy Rosary
• 1 x Perception -> 1 x Fearless
• 1 x Fearless -> 1 x Torrent of Power

These substitutions do not change the core of the deck, but they allow you to tune it according to your partner and your campaign.

Upgrades with XP

This deck is meant to be played through a campaign, so it is going to grow. Below are the upgrades I would spend experience on, and at the end of the section there are two tables: one with the recommended order of purchase and the card that each upgrade replaces, and one with optional purchases. The number in brackets after a card is its level.

The first purchase is Rite of Seeking (2), for 2 XP. It is a spell that costs 4 and has 3+1 charges. As an action, she spends a charge to investigate with instead of , gets +2 on the test and discovers 1 additional clue if she succeeds. With her 5 , that is 7 before the chaos token, which turns the deck's biggest weakness into its main strength. The risk is that if a skull, cultist, tablet, Elder Thing or auto-fail symbol is revealed, she loses all her remaining actions and her turn ends. The simple way to avoid that cost is to use Rite of Seeking as the last action of the turn, so that a bad token costs nothing. Rite of Seeking has to push one card out of the 30, and I would cut one of the two Shrivelling. Akachi's job in this pair is to find clues and her partner is the one who kills, so the second Shrivelling is only a backup for the moments when she is alone, and she keeps the other copy and both Blinding Light for those moments. It also keeps the number of spells at five, which matters because she has only two arcane slots, and every spell above that is a card that waits in her hand. The price is that she loses half of her own damage, so if your partner falls often or you split up a lot, cut the Scrying instead and keep both Shrivelling. You would lose the combination of Scrying with Drawn to the Flame until you buy Scrying (3).

The second purchase is a small one, but it comes from the same change. Once her investigations are willpower tests, the icons of Perception no longer count, so one of the two copies is swapped for a second Guts. Adding a new card costs at least 1 XP even if it is level 0, so this costs 1 XP. The other Perception can stay for the first scenarios, until you decide to use that slot for something better.

After that, I would buy the cards that make the deck more reliable. Emergency Cache (2) costs 2 XP and, besides the 3 resources, draws 1 card, so it replaces both level 0 copies one by one. Ward of Protection (2) works at any location, so it also protects her partner from a treachery. Book of Shadows (3) is a hand item that gives her an additional arcane slot and, as an action, adds a charge to a Spell asset for free, which keeps Rite of Seeking loaded and solves her biggest structural problem: she has only 2 arcane slots for all her spells. Blinding Light (2) costs 1 and deals 2 damage. Scrying (3) becomes a fast action, so it stops taking an action out of her turn.

The big purchases come last. Grotesque Statue (4) is a hand item with 4+1 charges: when she would reveal a chaos token, she spends a charge to reveal 2 and choose 1, which makes every test more reliable, including Rite of Seeking. It is discarded when it runs out of charges, so you can refill it with Spirit-Speaker or her , but not with Book of Shadows, which only adds charges to spells. Arcane Insight (4) is a Seeker spell, but its charges let Akachi use it. It is a fast action that gives her location -2 shroud until the end of the turn, once per turn, with 3+1 charges. It is a spell, so it takes an arcane slot, and it only fits comfortably once Book of Shadows (3) has given her a third one, which is the reason why that purchase comes first.

Since the deck always stays at 30 cards, every new card has to push another one out. The other cards I would cut are the ones that stop being necessary when the better tool arrives: the two Perception for Guts and Book of Shadows, and the two Flashlight for the Statue and Arcane Insight, once she no longer depends on them. These are my suggestions and not fixed rules, so adjust them to what your own games show you.

As a recommended order of purchase, with the experience spent so far in the Cumulative XP column (the Alternative column points to the optional purchase of the second table that competes with that row or goes with it), I would start with the card that changes the way she investigates, then the economy and the protection, and leave the expensive cards for last:

Optional purchases (A to G):

These rows are not part of the numbered sequence: the number in brackets is the extra XP they cost, on top of what you have already spent. "Instead of" means that you buy the optional card in place of that numbered row, and "Extra" means that it does not replace any row, it is added to them.

• Book of Shadows (1) costs 1 XP and adds a charge to a Spell asset for 1 resource, but it does not give the additional arcane slot of the level 3 version.
• Spirit Athame costs 1 XP and is a hand item: when she makes a test on a Spell card, such as Rite of Seeking or Shrivelling, she can exhaust it for +2 to her skill value. It also works as a melee weapon with +2 in an emergency. It is the cheap alternative to the Statue, but it competes for the same two hand slots as Book of Shadows.
• Suggestion is a Rogue spell, but it has charges, so Akachi can use it. She exhausts it to evade, adding her to her skill value, and it loses a charge if she does not succeed by at least 2. She can also spend a charge to cancel the attack of a non-Elite enemy. With her 6 health, it is a serious defense, although it takes an arcane slot.
• Relic Hunter is a permanent talent: it starts the game in play, does not count toward the 30 cards and gives her a second accessory slot. Its use here is to carry St. Hubert's Key and the Elder Sign Amulet together, which is a late purchase.
• Elder Sign Amulet is an accessory that gives her more sanity, which is useful if horror keeps being the problem, and it needs Relic Hunter to share the slot with the Key.
• Grounded costs 1 XP: its composure forces non-direct horror to be assigned to it first, and during a test on a Spell card she can spend resources to add +1 to the skill value, which helps Rite of Seeking and Shrivelling.
• Emergency Cache (3) gives 4 resources, or places 4 supply tokens on assets controlled by investigators at your location, which can refill your Flashlight, or your partner's First Aid. The level 2 version also draws a card, so take the level 3 one only if the supplies matter to you.

Gameplay

Initial hand & mulligan strategy

The ideal opening hand has a way of finding clues and a way of paying for it. As a clue tool, Flashlight and Drawn to the Flame are what you want, and as economy, an Emergency Cache, an Alchemical Transmutation or a Forbidden Knowledge. With a full mulligan you will see at least one clue tool, that is, a Flashlight or a Drawn to the Flame, about 78% of the time. That is the ceiling with this card pool: Flashlight and Drawn to the Flame are the only level 0 cards that find clues, and the deck already runs every copy of both. The next one, Rite of Seeking (2), has to be bought with XP, and after that purchase the chance of seeing a clue tool goes up to about 86%. You will have a clue tool and an economy card at the same time about 66% of the time. These numbers count the 33 cards that the deck really has once Spirit-Speaker, Angered Spirits and the random basic weakness are shuffled in.

If you have both, keep them. If you have only one of the two, keep it and send the rest back. The cheap cards, like Flashlight, Arcane Studies or Alchemical Transmutation, let you do something in the first turn with your 5 resources. St. Hubert's Key costs 4 and Shrivelling costs 3, so they are good keeps only if you also have an Emergency Cache. Drawn to the Flame is a good keep, but remember that it draws an encounter card, so play it when your partner has already cleared the location.

The cards you should be happy to get rid of in the mulligan are Torrent of Power, which does nothing until you have charges in play, a second expensive card when you already have one in hand, and any skill that you will not need yet.

Managing charges and Angered Spirits

Charges are the resource that defines this deck, so it is worth knowing what to do with them before the first scenario. Akachi's assets with charges enter with one more, and her adds one to any of them, so she is rarely short of charges as long as she does not waste them. The things that spend them are the spells you use as actions, Torrent of Power, and Angered Spirits, which needs 4 of them by the end of the game.

To get rid of Angered Spirits, exhaust a Spell asset as a fast action to move 1 charge from it, and do it with spells that you are not going to use that round. The best sources are the cheap ones, such as an Alchemical Transmutation with its 3+1 charges, and you do not need to do it all at once. Do not feed it with Rite of Seeking, which is the one you want loaded. Spirit-Speaker does not help here, because it moves charges to your resource pool, not to the weakness.

She has only 2 arcane slots, and the list has five spells (Rite of Seeking takes the place of one of them). When you have too many, use Spirit-Speaker on the least useful one to turn its charges into resources and free the slot. If you have an Uncage the Soul in hand, you can also return a spell with Spirit-Speaker and replay it for 3 less, with fresh charges.

Early game

The early game is about setting up a clue tool while your partner clears the way. Let your partner go into the location first. When the enemies are dead, follow, use Flashlight, and commit what you need. If your partner has cards with icons, such as Perception or Unexpected Courage, they can commit them to your tests, which is the reason why those skills are in both decks. When a location is quiet and your hand has a Drawn to the Flame, that is the moment to play it: the encounter card is less dangerous if there are no enemies around and your partner is close.

Do not rush your expensive cards. A St. Hubert's Key played on turn one leaves you without resources, and a Shrivelling that you do not need yet is a card that does nothing. Use Alchemical Transmutation when you have a free action, because turning an action into 3 resources is much better than leaving the action unused. Keep a Ward of Protection in your hand for the first treachery that would hurt you, and remember that it also cancels what you draw from Drawn to the Flame.

Mid game

When you have bought Rite of Seeking, the deck changes its rhythm: every turn is built around it. The recommended order is to use your other actions first, such as playing a card or moving, and to leave Rite for the last action. That way, if you reveal a bad token, the cost of losing the rest of your turn is zero. With 7 on the test, you can afford to spend resources on Arcane Studies to make it safer.

This is also the moment for the best trick of the deck. When Rite of Seeking runs out of charges, use Spirit-Speaker to return it to your hand and replay it with an Uncage the Soul, which leaves it at a cost of 1 resource and with 3+1 fresh charges. Scrying combines with Drawn to the Flame: look at the top of the encounter deck, put a safe card on top and then play Drawn to the Flame. And keep in mind that her partner's cards also help: the damage she takes can go to an ally or True Grit if her partner is Mark, and a First Aid heals her horror.

Late game

In the late game Akachi should have Rite of Seeking, a source of charges such as Book of Shadows, and one or two of the big purchases. Grotesque Statue makes every test safer, and Arcane Insight can lower the shroud of a location by 2 as a fast action, which together with Rite of Seeking means that almost any location is within her reach.

The late game is also where charges tend to be wasted, so keep them. Do not use Torrent of Power for a test that would have passed anyway, and remember to check, before the scenario ends, that Angered Spirits has its 4 charges, because the trauma is permanent.

Final notes

Do not try to make Akachi fight. Her strength is that she is the one who collects the clues while somebody else holds the line. The more you stick to that, the better the deck works, and the more you use Shrivelling and Blinding Light as a main plan, the more you will feel her limitations.

Stay close to your partner. Many of the deck's tools are safer when the enemies have already been dealt with: Drawn to the Flame draws an encounter card, and a bad token on Shrivelling or Blinding Light costs horror or an action. Separate only when there are no enemies around and the clues are far apart.

Treat your resources and your charges as things to be spent. Forbidden Knowledge and Alchemical Transmutation are there to give you the resources that your best cards need, and Spirit-Speaker is there to turn any spell that you do not need into resources or into a fresh copy. It is much better to use them than to keep them in play at full charges until the scenario ends.

Keep an eye on horror. Akachi has 8 sanity and 6 health, and her own cards cost her horror: Ward of Protection, Forbidden Knowledge, Shrivelling on a bad token, and the encounter card of Drawn to the Flame. Fearless and your partner's healing, such as a First Aid if your partner is Mark, keep it under control, and St. Hubert's Key is the last safety net.

Finally, the number of copies of cards such as Scrying, Torrent of Power and Blinding Light is where I would look first after your first games: if you never use Scrying, cut it for a second Forbidden Knowledge, and if your partner always clears the way, a Blinding Light is probably one card too many. As long as each turn contributes to finding clues, paying for them or staying alive, the deck will do what it was built to do: let the shaman follow the soldier and take what he leaves behind.

Summary of cards

If your intention is to have this deck ready, you only need the Revised Core Set and The Path to Carcosa cycle. In addition to the 30 cards of the deck, Akachi requires Spirit-Speaker, Angered Spirits and 1 random basic weakness.

Deck (30 cards):

Asset

• 2 x Flashlight
• 2 x Arcane Studies
• 1 x St. Hubert's Key
• 2 x Alchemical Transmutation
• 2 x Shrivelling
• 2 x Arcane Initiate
• 1 x Forbidden Knowledge
• 1 x Scrying

Event

• 2 x Drawn to the Flame
• 2 x Ward of Protection
• 2 x Blinding Light
• 2 x Uncage the Soul
• 2 x Emergency Cache

Skill

• 2 x Perception
• 2 x Unexpected Courage
• 1 x Torrent of Power
• 1 x Guts
• 1 x Fearless

Cards mentioned as alternatives:

Asset

• Holy Rosary

Event

• Astral Travel
• Storm of Spirits

Upgrades with XP:

Asset

• Rite of Seeking (2 XP)
• Book of Shadows (3 XP)
• Book of Shadows (1 XP)
• Scrying (3 XP)
• Grotesque Statue (4 XP)
• Arcane Insight (4 XP)
• Spirit Athame (1 XP)
• Suggestion (4 XP)
• Relic Hunter (3 XP)
• Elder Sign Amulet (3 XP)
• Grounded (1 XP)

Event

• Emergency Cache (2 XP)
• Emergency Cache (3 XP)
• Ward of Protection (2 XP)
• Blinding Light (2 XP)

Skill

• Guts (1 XP)