Norman Withers's Super Seeker Party: I Am Become Mystic!

It's a super Seeker party! What would a four man party of the men and women of that orange/yellow faction look like, knowing that they'd all have to work together?

These decks are made with the intention of playing through any campaign on Hard difficulty. Some minor changes should be made depending on which campaign you are picking (Fine Clothes is almost mandatory for Carcosa).

Norman Wither's Role

Norman's a Mystic in Seeker's clothing. Don't be fooled though; at 4 Willpower, and 5 Intellect, he can perform the functions of both of those classes admirably, though not exceptionally.

Norman's deckbuilding restrictions, as thematically awesome as they are, really puts a crimp on his ability to perform well on Hard. With no access to higher level Seeker cards, Norman'll never get his hands on Higher Education, which would have been excellent for both of his intended classes.

Norman's ability lets him go through his deck slightly faster than the average Investigator (though probably nowhere near as fast as Minh cycling through all her skill cards), and so to take advantage of that, Norman certainly wants a deck full of Assets and Events he can play. Having a Skill card on top of his deck effectively shuts down his once per round ability, unless he chooses to draw (or Daisy helps him out with a use of Old Book of Lore).

As Norman slowly turns into a full-fledged Mystic, he'll be picking up plenty of great assets from the Mystic class, like higher level Shrivelling and Spirit Athame. Consequently, his deck starts off light on assets and heavy on helpful support events.

Deckbuilding Considerations

Since (almost) all the Seekers have access to all the Seeker cards, it really comes down to two things:

1. Who takes the unique assets (Ally assets, and particular unique assets like Disc of Itzamna?

2. What out-of-faction cards can this Investigator bring in to the group?

Unique Allies

Like Minh, none of the Seeker allies seem like a great fit for him. He only has access to 5 level 0 Mystic cards, so it is between Alyssa Graham and David Renfield. Going with David Renfield might also mean going for Moonlight Ritual, which is not too shabby. Instead of getting the extra Willpower through David, he'll lean more heavily on Minh to support his spell-casting tests.

That leaves Alyssa Graham, who helps to boost Norman's Intellect to a dizzying 6 (possibly up to 8 with the two magnifying glasses, more than enough for most locations in the game). Her ability can also be useful to help filter out any nasty encounter cards that Daisy (who will act as lead investigator) will encounter with her use of both Ward of Protection and Dr. William T. Maleson.

There's a strong argument to be had for Arcane Initiate, as Split the Angle is also a spell, but those five level 0 Mystic card slots are tough, and there are far better choices out there.

Out-Of-Faction Cards

Like Daisy, Norman has access to Mystic cards. Unlike Daisy, he is limited to just five level-0 Mystic cards, but has access to all the juicy Mystic cards (but none of the Seeker cards). What cards best support the Super Seeker Party?

Well, Alyssa Graham is a unique ally that helps Norman out with his investigating ability, without the mandatory Doom downside that David Renfield would bring to the table.

There's also a consideration to be had for picking cards that won't be easily upgraded, since that means you are then losing out on those five level-0 Mystic slots. This rules out Shrivelling at level 0 as Norman would like to upgrade that to its level 3 version (Shrivelling) fairly early on. Also, while Ward of Protection does have a higher level upgrade, it is hard to justify spending 5 experience on something like that!

As to the others:

• Delve Too Deep is too good a card to pass up in the Super Seeker Party. Yes, everyone drawing Encounter cards is painful, but Seekers really do much better when they get all their Solutions and Glyphs identified/translated. While Norman can't directly benefit from these powerful cards, he can certainly support the team (along with Daisy) in boosting their total Experience gain from each scenario. Delve Too Deep costs 1, which means it's a 0 resource event when played off of his deck with his once per round ability, very nice!

• Ward of Protection: Norman's agility of 1 is extremely low, and can really cause serious problems if Norman draws nasty damage dealing Encounter cards. As great as Holy Rosary is in boosting Norman's Willpower, it seems like he really needs some form of protection to keep him safe. Can also be played (for 0 resources) if it shows up on the top of his deck.

Seeker/Neutral Cards

Normans wants lots of assets and event cards to work with his ability. However, he still wants a few of those juicy skill cards to help out with the Willpower-boosting problem.

• Magnifying Glass helps Norman investigate. He has two of these, but may likely upgrade these into Spirit Athame.

• Fieldwork is a way to help boost Norman's skills and help supplement his Willpower checks.

• "I've got a plan!": Helps Norman do a lot of damage with his high Intellect of 5/6 (depending on if he can get Alyssa out). With Minh's help and a skill card helping him out, he has great odds of pulling out 4 damage with the card.

• Logical Reasoning: What a great multipurpose card. Can either be used to heal horror (though maybe not necessary in the Super Seeker Party), or remove those really pesky Terror treachery cards (Frozen in Fear be gone!), or act as a pseudo-Guts.

• Mind over Matter: Sometimes Norman just needs to evade a tough enemy on him. Mind Over Matter does the most work for Norman (+3 to Combat and +4 to Agility), and is an easy two-of in his deck.

• No Stone Unturned: Alright, meh. Not a fantastic pick, but one of these can help the other Investigators set up or find a critical piece they are missing. Daisy can find her Tomes, Rex his allies, and Minh her Fire Axe / Dark Horse / Madame Labranche. Norman can also use it to cycle through the top card of his deck.

• Shortcut: Still a great card. Though Norman can't upgrade it, the Level 0 version is just too good to pass up.

• Working a Hunch: The only Seeker in the Super Seeker Party packing Working a Hunch, and it works because Norman can discount the cost of it by one if it appears on his deck. Also helps to turn on "I've got a plan!" and Logical Reasoning in a pinch.

• Deduction: You can argue that Daisy should be packing these instead of Norman, but Daisy just does not have the room for it all. While there'll be moments where Deduction will clog the top of Norman's deck, it is a great skill card to help out when he or Rex needs to clear out the clues from a high-shroud location.

• Emergency Cache: Norman's assets are going to expensive what with Shrivelling and Spirit Athame. Norman needs extra resources to make it all work!

• Guts: Mandatory to help boost Norman's Willpower even higher.

• Unexpected Courage is, still, the best skill card in the game. Two of these for everyone!