Charon's Obol

Charon's Obol

I'm starting to hate this card. First, it's Exceptional so it costs 4xp, you won't take any advantage of it until advancing to 5th scenario. Second, it is a selfish card: if you are defeated you are killed, that probably means that you broke the whole campaign. In my case, I've used it twice playing with two friends (I own the game so I'm the host)

  • In the first campaign I was defeated in the first scenario after purchasing it (prior, I couldn't upgrade my deck bc I spent all XP in this card). So, what do you do after that? what do you tell your friends?
  • In the second campaign, after the feeling of the first time, I decided to resign too early so my partner was defeated.

This is not risky, it's selfish unless you plan to ignore the "killed" side of the effect.

joster · 108
4 XP? It's 2 XP, isn't it? — Kendro · 1
1xp is doubled to 2xp, not 4, so you should be able to take it after the first scenario. Also, it's a rogue card: it's supposed to be selfish. If your character got murdered mid-campaign, just roll a new one; I reject the assertion that that would break the campaign. The obol is both risky and selfish; in short, it's a rogue card. — SGPrometheus · 857
Rolling a mew character mid campaign isn’t inherently going to end the campaign. Plenty of gators do well at level 0. You take Obol when your build that you have planned out requires more XP than can be reasonably provided by the campaign. The big catch with Rogues is low sanity and low willpower, so it works best with some defense put into your deck, which inherently makes you less likely to to die in a scenario, which is ironically more helpful for the rest of the team. — StyxTBeuford · 13072
New* — StyxTBeuford · 13072
And yea, it’s 2XP. Which is a low price for the 14 it gives back, net 12. — StyxTBeuford · 13072
The net value is actually 10. It doesn't provide XP after the first scenario, and the XP from the last scenario come too late to be of any value. Thus, you receive 12 XP from the six scenarios in between. But you also have to pay 2 XP for the card itself. Thus, you gain 10 XP net (without including any side quests of course). — Kendro · 1
Fair, most investigators stick within one campaign. Still net 10 is nice. — StyxTBeuford · 13072
Also, apart from TFA, how are you supposed to get all those sweet high xp Rogue cards without this? — Zinjanthropus · 233
If you feel duty bound to generate as much XP as possible, yould could pack in some of the side adventures. Which, I admit, rarely makes narrative sense to me -- "Hey, we just finished the Depths of Yoth, but let's do a side quest to Venice and then a hotel!" It takes me back to those JRPGs were you would often take time off during the apocalypse to level up ypur master weapon or do a couple of sidequests...." — LivefromBenefitSt · 1100
And is it actually selfish? Rogue has arguably the strongest upgrade pool out of any faction. Filling your deck with cards and combos that win games is anything but selfish. — MiskatonicFrosh · 365
Most campaigns have one or two points where side adventures can be fit thematically. True, after Depths of Yoth it doesn't make sense to visit Venice. But you could visit Venice, the Hotel, that weird asteroid impact, and then hit up New Orleans on your way to Mexico all after Threads of Fate. — Yenreb · 15
Sorry, I misread the card's level so it's 2xp expensive. Yes you can play another investigator, but it'll be very weak in the begining. And what happens with the story assets you'd have in your deck? — joster · 108
My understanding is that upon being killed, those story assets are lost. There is no general rule saying that they would be given to your new investigator, and story assets can only ever be added to your deck when a campaign guide instructs you to do so. However there are some campaigns that tell you specifically that if an investigator with a story asset leaves the campaign for any reason (including death or insanity), that card must be added to someone else's deck. — MiskatonicFrosh · 365

Sword Cane

Sword Cane

My first impression was the same as SGPrometheus'. Isn't this card kinda broken? I mean, mystics have all kinds of ways to use their will stat in place of others, but this single, level 0 asset let's them (for most intents and purposes) replace TWO stats with will. And it does it on the cheap. And it does it with great action efficiency. But then I thought to myself, how many mystics are going to be running neither a combat nor an evade spell? Because if you have, say, Mists of R'lyeh in your deck, or Shrivelling, or any number of such cards, then only half of the Sword Cane's effect matters to you -- unless you're taking it as a backup card until you find your main tool. Now it seems less attractive... I think it still has a place, but a narrower one. If you are a mystic using your two arcane slots for spells that neither fight nor evade, then this is a lovely little trick to have up your sleeve. It lets you do a bit of fighting and evading, enough to get you out of a pickle, while you focus on investigating or scrying or whatever it is you do. If you are a mystic who likes to mix it up with the baddies, chances are you're packing heat that, when you put it on the board, will make the sword cane largely a dead draw.

Mordenlordgrandison · 468
Having a reasonably reliable way to deal 1 damage is a good way to save charges on your 2 dmg spells mid game when three health enemies are common, but it also means you have a decent escape mechanic to evade non hunter enemies and bugger off. It could save you a fair few charges and actions in the long run. Is it broken? Not so sure. Is it worth playing with high will characters? Most likely. — Vathar · 3
I would consider this as a backup option for Mystics that are packing a big combat spell as well as an option to deal the odd point of damage save charges or to do a simple evade and not need to include an evasion spell. The multifunctional and versatile aspect of this card is outstanding. — The Lynx · 1024
I agree with the comments here about getting that last point of damage in. When I played combat Diana, her knife was great for that. — PanicMoon · 2

Ever Vigilant

Ever Vigilant

In case it wasn't obvious, this card has great synergy with Backpack (especially Backpack (2). You can play the Backpack as the first or second asset installed by Ever Vigilant, resolve the Backpack's install reaction (searching the top of your deck for up to 3 more items), and install one or two of the items from the Backpack at a discount with the remaining Ever Vigilant install(s).

Generally, it's most optimal to install items from the Backpack rather than your hand (especially duplicates), to preserve cards that you can commit and free up your body-slot as quickly as possible.

Wastekase · 9
I'm having trouble digesting this. So Backpack lets you play cards as if they were in your hand and Ever Vigilant plays cards from your hand. These are different things, are they not? — Lateralis · 7
The most recent FAQ did a lot to clarify the vagaries of the rules phrase “as if.” At present this card, and farsight from Harvey Walters starter deck plus joe diamond’s hunch deck are still two significant open questions. There isn’t firm consensus on either interaction but my 2 cents is that this is an intended combo. These cards are considered in your hand for — Sycopath · 1
Purposes of “playing cards” which ever vigilant does. It’s not altogether clear how narrowly the as if ruling is — Sycopath · 1
To be interpreted (characters characters, why is go so easy to hit on mobile, characters) — Sycopath · 1
I don't find a clear info, does this card triggert 3 attack of opportunity if you set 3 assets with it? — el_kloklo · 1
@el_kloklo No, the attack of opportunity would only trigger once, before any of the effects of the action (in this case, playing Ever Vigilant to play 3 assets) resolve. — Steights · 1
separate issue. can a triggered effect (backpack enters play) interrupt the resolving effect like that? can anyone point me to a ruling to that? I think the timing is that you have to finish playing 3 assets before you search for your backpack. It combos fine if you play backback before hand but not as the first asset you play from this card and two subsequent cards from the backpack pile. — theatog · 1
@theatog it specifies one at a time, meaning you do place them in an order. I believe as soon as you place backpack (which happens while this cards resolving), you search for items and place them in the backpack. A ruling that wouldn't let you search would be if the card placed all three assets at the same time. — Vultureneck · 74
How is this even possible ? Ever Vigilant requires to spend an action to play (it's an event with no "Fast"). So you can't play 3 assets that turn, but only 2. Am i missing something? — Therion · 28
Never mind, i read the card text better. Silly me. — Therion · 28

Dendromorphosis

Dendromorphosis

Pretty nasty basic weakness that sends any item that takes a hand slot directly to the discard pile.

This guy, and many combat oriented investigators, hates it with a passion.

The only way to protect yourself is to have an asset in play that increases your hand slots.

Icing on the cake, you can't really discard it if you only have 1 health left, unless you can last until the end of time.

Kwaice · 7
I saw Tommy being quoted and I had this chaotic thought of him shuffling it back into his deck. — toastsushi · 69
You can assign damage normally on it (like you would on any damage soaking assets). The Free trigger ability on it is just there so if you need your hand slots immediately you have the option. — ak45 · 475
For Mystics, this card can actually be quite helpful! They usually have no need for their hands lots and the extra health this Asset is pretty useful since Mystics tend to have low health. — Nenananas · 273
Because it's in your threat area, other investigators can trigger the ability on it, right? I also assume that even though it's in your threat area, it can still soak damage for you because it's an asset, but I could be wrong about that. — ArkhamInvestigator · 316
It's in your threat area, but still under your control, so yes you can just block an attack with it. And, since it's in your threat area, abilities on it are available to investigators at the same location. — Thatwasademo · 59
Also yeah, this card is hilariously easy to deal with if you're not using your hand slots -- mystics have a few hand slot items that are fairly common, but most builds could easily just replace those when upgrading; I also tend to run Preston Fairmont without hand items. — Thatwasademo · 59
Somewhat counterintuitively, Dendromorphosis being in a threat area does not allow other investigators to trigger it's ability. Rather, investigators may trigger abilities on *encounter cards* in other player's threat areas, and Dendromorphosis, having a player cardtype (asset), is not an encounter card. The relevant rules are in the FAQ under (1.2) Triggered Abilities and (1.12) Weaknesses with Encounter Cardtypes. — Spritz · 69
This is definitely a rough weakness (though the impact varies quite a bit, Mystics bit using hands being the obvious example), but it's definitely not a boring weakness. Also, guardians can at least make their weapons Well Maintained to protect them somewhat) — Zinjanthropus · 233
This isn't bad for a lot of survivors. Some don't use hands too much anyway, and those that do have cards like Resourceful, Scrounge for Supplies or inherent abilities to just pick up what they had to drop off, sometimes with full ammo again. — Krysmopompas · 367
Great combo with The Star • XVII! — AlderSign · 447

Eye of Chaos

Eye of Chaos

If i'm reading this correctly, if you reveal a curse token during this investigation, regardless if it succeeds or fails you can discover a clue at a connecting location or place 1 charge on Eye of Chaos? That's a nice way of mitigating potential curse token downsides, and it makes Eye of Chaos useful even without curse tokens, as unlike the other spell-based searchers it has no downsides for drawing specific kinds of tokens. (Outside of sixth sense, but that's inherently slower without the additional clue clause).

RobSan770 · 2
It has no downsides for drawing specific kinds of tokens, right. But costing 2 resources more for 1 charge less is a considerable downside compared to "Shrivelling" and "Azure Flame". — Susumu · 383
Ouch, forget, what I wrote. It's an Investigate spell. Still, 1 resource more expensive than RoS or "Clairvoiance". I think, this is a fair trade off. — Susumu · 383
Susumu, you can recharge it using [curse] tokens, if you have the right deck/chaos bag composition you can get extra uses out of it. — agentwestmer · 1
Yes, I agree, this looks like an interesting card. My comment was more on your sentence about using it without curse tokens. It has the downside of being more expensive in that case, and I think that balances it out pretty well. It's also likely we will see a share of upgrade cards for this, as well as fight and evade versions. And then it might be even more interesting to go for curses also in other campagns. But right now, we don't know, how rewarding that might be, in particular in multiplayer, when others might curse about you making the bag worse for everybody. — Susumu · 383
More importantly... does it happen everytime a curse token is revealed? I mean the trigger is "if a curse token is revealed". What if I draw three from a pool frontloaded with curse tokens? All other token depended effects speak of "if a symbol is revealed" this explicitly says token. — Skeith · 2498
Answer to an "If' question si ALWAYS only yes/no — Adny · 1
Otherwise it would say "for each curse token revealed", see for example Jim signature weakness "Final Rhapsody", or "Voice of Ra", or "Shards fo the Void"s — Killbray · 13139