UPDATE: Upon further play, these replacement/alternate signatures are not really all that much better than the original ones.

The problem, especially at low player counts, is that most scenarios rarely have you walking around with spare clues. Typically you're spending down to 0 clues to advance the Act Deck, so the accompanying weakness is a dead draw AND gets shuffled back into your deck. Again, and again. And suffer a horror each time.

There are upsides though! This generates a clue out of thin air, which can sometimes let you ignore a challenging location.

And it’s fast, so it doesn’t trigger an Attack of Opportunity. Which allows you to hold onto this card until you get attacked at a location without clues, then play it to earn a clue (with Roland’s innate investigator power) when you defeat the enemy.

Prior reviews focus on the goal of using this for extra clues in a multiplayer setting.

I tried this with Roland in a true solo deck that features Steady-Handed in order to help trigger extra damage from the Katana. In true solo most locations have just a single clue. So there’s rarely a benefit to succeed by 4.

So far it’s working great! It hits the table often (because of Ever Vigilant is always handy via Stick to the Plan) and gives free draws and resources. It feels like a flexible alternative to Empirical Hypothesis.

My sole complaint is that Roland gets a fair number of clues testlessly, so it sometimes feels like it’s not worth the slot that could otherwise be used by Hallowed Mirror.

Silas Marsh can take this and completely annihilate the effect of Cursed tokens. He can simply commit it to every test (he doesn't have to add any Cursed token in the bag), draw tokens, and take it back in his hand. The Cursed tokens would still be worth 0. For the whole game. I am not sure there can be a "Cursed Silas" archetype, but this can be very handy in a duet with a Cursed investigator, or in the Innsmouth campaign with a heavily cursed bag, of if Silas has the Dread Curse basic weakness.

Rules Question: if I put this on an item like Magnifying Glass (1), which can pop back into my hand when there are no clues on my location, can I trigger the forced ability and just ditch the Vice and Villainy (and not the Mag Glass)?

(New Player Perspective)

I have played through two campaigns so far using Joe Diamond. I am playing two player with a friend who knows the game much better than me and who is using Diana Stanley. I put this card in my deck and noticed this version does not have a review yet, so I decided to remedy that by sharing my experience and why I chose this particular version.

Dream Diary in general is a really cool card. I am building my deck around Eon Chart, Pathfinder, and lots of cards that give draw or other value when committed to skill tests, so I am all about passive value and action economy. A free +2 (which can potentially be a +4) to any skill check once per round? I'd buy that for a dollar.

It can also be a great support card because you can use this to help another investigator, and it will still get the 4? if the condition is met. If you did not use the Essence of the Dream on your last turn then it can be advantageous to delay your turn so you can pitch it to another investigator, then draw it back again. This particular version has the fun flavor implications of running in to distract the monster while your teammate handles whatever else needs to be done, although obviously that one is subjective.

I don't think I've said anything groundbreaking here, but why pick this one? I chose this because I think it is the most generally applicable and helps to cover my character's weaknesses the best. I can generally bully most investigate checks into the ground by virtue of the rest of my deck, so the 4+ shroud version does not particularly appeal to me. I do not need more help with that. I could see the 8 cards version as having some appeal, but it requires a specific strategy and careful hand management.

This one is very fire and forget. You might not ever be in a location with 4+ shroud, or have 8 cards in your hand, but you will be engaged with enemies. A free +4 can really help to stick the wounds on those bigger threats when going all out, or be the difference between having to use your limited ammo vs just punching lesser threats.

Anyway, thank you for making it this far. I am sure there is a lot more about this game that I have not learned yet, but I hope this proves somewhat useful and entertaining. Have a great day!