The Black Book

The Black Book

I haven't seen many reviews for story assets so I figure I'd throw in my two cents here. I'm currently playing through The Circle Undone for the first time in my group using Carolyn Fern. While I can't speak to how good it is on other characters, I would like to point out the following interaction I had in my build:

Stick to the Plan, Ever Vigilant, The Black Book

Y'all. Ever Vigilant tells you to play the cards one at a time, meaning with the nut opener you can drop Black Book first, then just sink a ton of horror into the next asset you play using the ability. And then you get to repeat it each turn.

While playing as Carolyn, the built in resource generation from healing horror - and the fact that, of course, you'll be healing horror - means that the chances you actually die from using the ability is slim to none. And you'll still be able to afford other expensive cards sooner rather than later. And the stats that it gives are great for the campaign. I didn't believe anyone when they said you'd need for TCU, but yes, you absolutely do.

And look at those ICONS! Wow! It seems too good to be true.

TL;DR this is amazing if you're playing Carolyn Fern - definitely pick it up. Addendum: we aren't done yet so if you get massively destroyed for taking it in the campaign I'm sorry, I didn't know...

DanPyre · 61
This can be a great pickup with other characters as well, in general characters that have a large sanity pool and rely on intellect, willpower or both will love it. I recently took it in a TCU run with Luke and Tony and Luke used it to sling lots of events without losing tempo. Jim is also a big fan, because taking it adds another Skull token to the chaos bag. — PowLee · 15
It was fantastic in Calvin as well, for obvious reasons. — Death by Chocolate · 1485
The question is always -- do you want this enough for another Skull? Skull tokens aren't insanely bad in TCU (in the last 2 scenarious they start adding up), but it's a consideration. But, yes, it fuels Carolyn, who really suffers if no one will tell her their woes.... — LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
I would say a Skull is in some ways a net benefit as it dilutes the chance of a bad token slightly, like the autofail or a large negative number. Depends on TCU’s skull effects though. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I used this with daisy and it was amazing, combine with Ancient stone - Minds in Harmony to heal up. The icons are also great for scavenging! — Django · 5108
I dont want to write review so just drop here:Trading sanity for resource doesnt worth it considering how expensive it is to heal. BUT! This is only if you are gonna die — Makaramus · 5
mmmm I pressed enter again... Well continuing. All you have to do is make sure you will not die from horror and this card is in theory in worst case free. Trouble begins after you start taking trauma wich reduces value a lot and making it a bad draw . Stats are still good I suppose but uses hand slot — Makaramus · 5
Also works great with Diana Stanley + I've Had Worse. Tap the Black Book to play a card, then play I've Had Worse to cancel the horror, then slide card under Diana. Very powerful. — micahwedemeyer · 60

Ancient Covenant

Ancient Covenant

This seems extremely good, as long as you have some way of getting Bless tokens into the bag. It’s potentially one auto success per Round as long as you can pack the bag with good stuff. And, as a Permanent and no slot requirement, what do you have to lose?

Obviously, this is dependent on how easy it is for Survivors to get bless tokens in the Bag.

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
Survivors do not need to be the ones getting blesses into the bag... they can pair with Sister Mary or any other player able to get tokens into the bag. — FBones · 19189
Father Mateo just get better and better. — rexhaha · 1
Well, you got 2XP to lose, but as a permanent it's guaranteed. Feels like it's best in 3+ player games; more likely to trigger. — fiatluxia · 66
But if you are drawing a bless token you are pretty likely to be succeeding at that test anyway (depending on how many bless/curse token are in the bag). It's main advantage is that it stops you drawing loads of bless tokens for one test and it's good for investigators who want to succeed by high numbers, eg Rogues. — EnglishLord · 1
@EnglishLord. Drawing a bless token will not be "pretty likely to succeeding" in forced tests against your lower stats, like that ones from treachery cards. I think those tests that would be the better cases for this card. — Venti · 1
I'm running this in a Stella deck teamed up w/ a Father Matteo who leans hard into the Blessed token tech (and has the Sacred Covenant), and it's been great. — KillerShrike · 1
I agree with EnglishLord, this probably does nothing most of the time. An extra +2 should make you suceed even on a test where you're +0. So it saves blesses on a potential double bless pull. — Nils · 1

Overpower

Overpower

I am not sold on this suite of cards, but others seem to love them, so let's discuss why. Three icons is a great boost, for one. 1-2 card draw is nice in Guardian, whose decks tend to be slow (Tommy, I am looking at you). Although, to be fair, spending 2 XP on a card with a chance of drawing two cards by overblowing a test seems... inefficient? 2 XP will get you Vicious Blow (2), which trades an icon and card draw for extra damage, or Leadership (2), if you prefer janky buffing of your fellow investigators. Don't tell me you love this card because of Practice Makes Perfect; all three level-2 Guardian skills are Practiced! Of course, Overpower (2) helps you land Vicious Blow (2) for bonus damage and cards, so, maybe if you have the XP, buy them all?

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
To be honest I do love this card because of Practice Makes Perfect. Think about it: you PMP to draw this, commit it, succeed by 2, then draw 2 cards PLUS you draw this to commit to the next fight test. From PMP you manage to boost 2 fight tests by 3 each, and if you didnt need most of the boost, you draw up to 4 more cards. Now pretend you’re Joe Diamond and you also have Perception 2 for the same reason (run alongside Deduction, Vicious Blow, and maybe Take the Initiative to ensure you hit your targets). Or maybe you’re Mark Harrigan who can either PMP into this or The Home Front, either way a huge boost. The Practice trait matters a lot here. It will also matter a lot for Amanda Sharpe. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I agree that the Practice Makes Perfect is a huge selling point, although I wouldn't count on it unless you do have a couple other Practiced Skills because PMP only searches I think 9 cards, is it? Overpower is particularly good for a Shotgun build where every skill icon could potentially be damage. The 2xp might feel a little steep, but it is a boon for any sub-class gators. — LaRoix · 1645
I've typically done PMP searches with somewhere around 4-6 potential targets per test- the 10 skills I take with Joe for example only have 6 valid targets as some are for investigates and some are for fights. 6 seems to work fine. For Mark Harrigan you could take Overpower, Vicious Blow, Take the Initiative, and then you also have The Home Front. A solid 7. So yeah, if you're running a PMP build you definitely have to lean into more than just Overpower, but Overpower is still a really good target in that build. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
The thing with fighting is that it’s usually time sensitive. Committing to a test so that all non-af tokens pass may often be worth it. For this reason a card which both gives you an excess of icons, and turns a succeed but two into a small refund is actually quite good. — Difrakt · 1311
Another point towards PMP is that, sure Leadership is Practiced too, but you don’t just want Practiced skills for PMP - you want consistency in the Practiced skills you run to fill a similar roll - i.e. strong investigation boosters or strong combat boosters. Overpower pairs well with Vicious Blow (and The Home Front) for consistent, thick, combat boosts. — Death by Chocolate · 1485

Boxing Gloves

Boxing Gloves

If you are going with Boxing Gloves, you might as well go all the way. With an extra + and an extra 3-card dig for your next Spirit, who wouldn't like this? To be fair, anyone with a burning need for a hand slot, but you knew that when you started down the boxing path.

It's sad that "Ashcan" and Calvin can't take them, but then, Nathaniel doesn't complain that he can't buy a Chainsaw, does he?

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
Here's a wild thought, how about these packed into a lvl 2 bandolier? There is a +2 fight and a +1 heed for 4/5. Costly, but yum. — Gentleman Robot · 1

Dynamite Blast

Dynamite Blast

Fast and flexible, this furious force will frighten, fluster, and even finish foul fiends!

I mean, you like the level-0 version a lot; I've seen your decks. A lot of you upgrade to the level-2 version. For just one more XP, you can lay out the same old hurt on a pile of enemies, but now you can do it in any fast action window -- you can kill or weaken a big enemy just before your Seeker has to pass through that location, you can finish off a VP enemy and still sprint to the Resign location, you can make the Royal Emissary regret moving next to you.

If you like blowing things up, this lets you blow them up just a little faster. If you don't have anything to blow up, the double icons are a nice backup (although spending 3XP for double icons is a bit much).

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
Probably the best thing about this is that you can use it during the enemy phase after a hunter enemy moves, allowing you to "bunch up" an extra enemy. — OrionJA · 1