Alice Luxley

In search of a good home for your Fearless Flatfoot? Then give some consideration to everyone's favourite Heroic Hobo, "Ashcan" Pete.

The key element that makes this pairing good is Duke's combined Move and Investigate ability. When Pete uses his best friend to sniff out some info, he triggers the action at his current location, provokes attacks of opportunity at that location, then moves, and investigates his new location without provoking opportunity attacks. This is a fairly decent method of triggering Alice's ability safely in multiplayer; There are definitely going to be times when you and your team mates are split up, one of them has drawn a monster and there are clues at their location (the cluever was in the middle of investigating, the fighter was exploring, etc.), and they want you to come help them out. Alice and Duke's teamwork lets you do that: the move action you'd have had to spend getting there anyway becomes a combined move and investigate with a free testless damage if the investigation lands. As an extra bonus, if the enemy is engaged with your friend then you can deal this 1 point of damage without any risk to them, since it's both testless and not triggered by fighting. If all that's needed is 1 damage (perhaps to help your fighter reach a higher total when he takes his own turn, or to finish a battle that he started) then considerations like whether or not to spend an action engaging the enemy first are left entirely to the wayside; not bad.

However, there's a lot more to this match-up than just the Duke trigger that enables it!

First off, Alice gives a static +1 Book, and Pete jams on static intellect boosts, since they work with Duke's nose. If you were considering Dr Milan Christopher for this reason, then Alice Luxley could be a fun alternative.

Second off, Pete has a minor niche as "that guy who can soak damage that tries to go to specific non-investigator cards first", and while Alice can only take 1damage and 1 horror safely and that's nothing to write home about for a four-cost asset, it still plays into that niche. Want to keep your Plucky around for longer, or keep that Helpless Passenger alive? Alice aids in that goal.

Thirdly, since Alice exhausts to use her ability, Pete has the option to use his own power to ready her for a second bite at the cherry. Adding "investigate; deal 1 damage to an enemy at your location" to the options that Duke already gives him for value from his card discard ability is solid and broadens an already broad toolkit. Pete can certainly provide the tech to pull off multiple successful investigates in a turn, such as part of a Will to Survive turn.

Fourthly, if you need to make Alice's damage more reliable, red cards have got you covered. You can help yourself succeed with the likes of Lucky!, or discover clues even if you fail your check with the likes of Look What I Found!

Fifth, Pete's status as a Dunwhich investigator means that he can not only take 2x Alice, but any other three level 0 cards he might want, some or all of which can be strong tech for Alice from any sources Pete prefers. Scene of the Crime is probably the stand-out option here; Alice normally is of use to Pete as an offensive option, but Scene of the Crime is perfect for letting him use her on the defence. Since Pete can typically only fight with Duke at most twice in a turn anyway, giving up his first action to pull two clues and deal a testless damage is unlikely to bother him/ be unattractive compared to getting a third fight action in, and it reinforces his strengths as a hybrid.

Sixth, the unusual match up of cop and homeless man provides added benefits to some potential red jank that could be a lot of fun to play. If you can secure yourself a means of over-succeeding an evasion test then Belly of the Beast becomes a power move with Alice on the field - evade an enemy, discover a clue, and deal 1 damage to the enemy you just evaded! Hybrid perfection. Or, again assuming you can pull of an evade (perhaps you took that Plucky after all?) then you can Bait and Switch an enemy on to a location with clues from a location with none, setting yourself up to Duke on in there and bring the hammer down.

So, if it's synergy you want, and perhaps something slightly off the wall, then Alice, Pete and Duke are ready to protect and serve.

Law of 'Ygiroth

This set of cards are in the running for "Most Annoying Treacheries in the Game." Sure there are cards that will kill you faster (e.g. Rotting Remains), wreck your entire scenario if you have low , (e.g. Frozen in Fear), kill off your allies (e.g. Centuries of Secrets), but these damn Laws always cause me to exclaim "Not this bullshit again!" which my play partner immediately understands, then we both realize that I have violated the Hidden rules, and it's all bad.

More seriously, there are three possible scenarios for each:

  • You have a card that matches the requirements in hand, and you don't mind losing it, lose a card and an action
  • You have a card that matches the requirements in hand, and you do mind losing it, lose a valuable card and an action
  • You don't have a card that matches the requirements in hand, so you have to dig for one, lose a card and at least 2 actions

Meanwhile, you are constantly checking the unreasonable rules to remind yourself what you can't do, which just adds insult to injury. So, not the objectively worst thing the Encounter Deck can throw at you but a very unwelcome guest nevertheless.

I fully agree. The treacheries in TDE A are my least favorite in the game, and this set is one of the major reasons why. — StyxTBeuford · 13043
I should have added that, once you clear one, you have an approximately 65% chance of drawing another the next turn, rising to 95% if the deck has reshuffled. These may be the lightest cards in the Encounter Deck, floating to the top like stinging jellyfish. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083
Yeah, Laws of 'Ygiroth are annoying AF. — Zinjanthropus · 229
@LivefromBenefitSt Ancient Evils is lighter. My play group routinely sees all three copies after only two rounds. — SGPrometheus · 841
I just encountered (ha) this set while testing a solo Silas deck that happens to have just *one* card in the whole deck with even printed cost (the harpoon), and only three even number of skill icon cards. So yeah, this set pretty much shuts down my whole deck with no way out of it; not fun at all. I understand the idea of building your deck to mitigate encounter deck impact if you have low will, sanity or whatever, but this even-odd gimmick seems arbitrary and overall quite absurd to me. — bnvt · 6
Guidance

Let’s say you have Farsight. Use that to play a free event every round. You choose this. Free team action! I’ve taken a few minutes to give you guidance, but now you can take an effective action and take this old classic out of the binder.

MrGoldbee · 1484
I used this when I did Wini+Harvey 2-handed. Also YOMO can be used if Harvey needs more actions and Wini does not. Both have good icons, even. — Zinjanthropus · 229
Threads of Reality

Clarification from FFG regarding activating encounter cards from other players:

Question: An encounter card attached to a player card is not considered to be in your threat area, but can it still be activated by another player? I.e. is an encounter card attached to a player card considered to be "a scenario card that is in play at the same location as the investigator"? (Rules Reference "Activate Action" p. 4)

Answer: Yes! It may not be in your threat area, but it is still a treachery at the same location, and therefore may be triggered by any investigator at that location.

Jeko · 14
So who discards the "asset you control"? Is it the player who controls Threads of Reality or the one triggering the ability? — Nenananas · 267
The investigator triggering the ability discards an asset he/she controls. — Jeko · 14
@Nenananas I recommend reviewing the FAQ expanded definition of 'you/your' as it lays out how to interpret 'you' based on game context. — Death by Chocolate · 1488
Hello! Can you share and forward the official ruling email (including questions and answers) you received to drawntotheflamepodcast@gmail.com? This is the mailbox of Frank, the official FAQ maintainer, and he will update the verdict you received into ArkhamDB! — Jacksonsu · 1
"Get over here!"

Can I choose an elite enemy at my location to engage and attack him or the text saying non-elite apply also to the engage/fight words ? I would say yes but i'm not sure. This is expensive just to win an action but it could help sometimes.

eldiran · 8
You cannot play it without choosing a legal target (the legal target being a non-Elite enemy at your location or a connecting location, which you can do at least one of "move it to your location", "engage it", or "attack it" to. — Yenreb · 15
) — Yenreb · 15
This card is pretty awesome in my opinion provided that you have enough combat to land basic fight actions. The big benefit is for aloof enemies like Whipoorwhills but it saves you an action against Hunter enemies that will move into your location next turn and attack you. Usually you have to move to their location and then you only have two actions left to fight them. Another really useful benefit is when you have 3 enemies at one location that you have to go to. You can move one of them into your location and fight it this round and then jump into the fray. — The Lynx · 993
Thanks Yenreb for the rule point — eldiran · 8
So for cards like this or similar events (Clean them out, One Two Punch, etc.), can your fight from this card be the triggered ability on a weapon asset you control like a gun? — robo224 · 1
@robo224 No, those actions are separate and cannot be combined with these events. — natronics · 1