This deck was built to be played in conjunction with Soldiers of the Church: Zoey Samaras.

Given Zoey's weak clue gathering abilities, Father Mateo will be doing the bulk of investigating. Mulligan for St. Hubert's Key which will give you a much needed boost to your willpower and intellect, as well as either Mists of R'lyeh or Shrivelling. Keep in mind that two copies of Arcane Research are being taken which will have us start with base stats of 6 health and 6 sanity. Playing St. Hubert's Key will bring you down to 4 sanity, which makes things interesting from the very start.

Possible upgrades

• Ritual Candles -> Arcane Studies x2 (4xp)
• Delve Too Deep -> Counterspell x2 (2xp)
• Say Your Prayers -> Seal of the Elder Sign (5xp)
• Emergency Cache -> Emergency Cache x2 (6xp)
• Fearless -> Fearless (4xp)

Upgrades to be done once per turn, discounted thanks to Arcane Research:

• Shrivelling -> Shrivelling (1xp)
• Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection (0xp)
• Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection (0xp)
• Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection (1xp)
• Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection (1xp)
• Shrivelling -> Shrivelling (0xp)

Arcane Studies should be a priority to help boost everything you use. The un-upgraded version is not included because I felt the initial cost to play was too high, so I opted to have Ritual Candles as general support. Beyond that, everything else you can upgrade in whatever order you see fit. I really wanted to find a spot to place Moment of Respite for thematic reasons but alas, I could not find the space for it. :(

Campaign Notes: Dunwich

Note: Played through with the deck Soldiers of the Church: Zoey Samaras. Mateo's random basic weakness was Stubborn Detective. No major spoilers are present below.

Notes on Scenario 1a: Extracurricular Activity

Resolution 3 was reached. 7xp was earned. We ended up going through almost the entirety of the encounter deck, which resulted in us killing all but one encounter monster that offered experience. One experience was earned from fully investigated the location that gave experience for doing so. Two additional experience came from Father Mateo playing two copies of Delve Too Deep.

Father Mateo investigated almost all the locations with the help of Flashlight, St. Hubert's Key and Drawn to the Flame. In a stroke of luck, an encounter card let me recycle a used Flashlight to get extra juice out of it. Enemies were pretty much entirely left to Zoey, with Mists of R'lyeh serving to help evade and move quickly. Two uses of Storm of Spirits were the only times Father Mateo did any damage, and they were both used in the last stages of the game and were used to hit two enemies at once.

• With the 7xp earned, two copies of Arcane Studies were purchased, replacing two copies of Ritual Candles. Upgraded Shrivelling to Shrivelling for one experience thanks to the discount provided by two copies of Arcane Research. Two experience left over.

Notes on Scenario 1b: The House Always Wins

Resolution 3 was reached. 2xp was earned. Incredibly tight finish with the investigators being one turn away from the agenda completing. Both investigators were one hit away from losing via physical trauma. Arcane Studies was used for pips in a panic. Two copies of Mists of R'lyeh and one copy of Shrivelling were completely used up. Lost St. Hubert's Key as a result of taking too much horror. Cheating occurred but we realized early on there was no other way we could have finished.

• 4xp total now, with 2 earned this scenario and 2 left over last time. Only upgraded one copy of Ward of Protection to Ward of Protection at no cost thanks to two copies of Arcane Research. Decided I would save up to buy a second copy of Seal of the Elder Sign after the next scenario.

Notes on Scenario 2: The Miskatonic Museum

Mateo was defeated by damage, Zoey resigned. 4xp earned. Some incredibly bad luck. Lost one copy of Flashlight, Drawn to the Flame, and Rite of Seeking, as well as both copies of Arcane Studies and St. Hubert's Key as a result of effects from the encounter deck. Investigating became incredibly difficult and by the time we were in the final location we were relying on Mateo being able to successfully investigate a three shroud location with only three investigate ability. And the elder sign was sealed with the Serpents of Yig at the end. An encounter card ended up spelling the end for Mateo who drew a -3 on his last turn (when he was only able to boost by two). There were only four cards left in his deck so he was close to death anyway. Zoey killed the Serpents of Yig and made a dash for the exit.

• 8xp total now, with 4 earned this scenario and 4 left over from previous scenarios. Replaced two copies of Defiance with Seal of the Elder Sign and Counterspell. Upgraded one copy of Ward of Protection to Ward of Protection at no cost thanks to two copies of Arcane Research. One experience left over.

Notes on Scenario 3: Essex County Express

Coming Soon...