Joe’s about being Quick! - Hemlock Start

This build is intended for the start of Hemlock with two players. (Might work for solo.). My friend and I have struggled getting clues fast enough, (on normal…) so Joe is intended to be the guardian with heavy support on clueing.

All of the below is maximum performance. Hand limits, desperate commitments, bad card draw, and unfortunate token pulls limit the potential.

Because Joe needs to get fights done quickly so he can get back to clueing, this deck is built for action compression. Since action compression never seems to be a primary discussion in deck building I thought this might be useful to share/improve on.

Fighting - (All weapons are +1 damage. ) 3 health enemies are dispatched in 1 round with Vicious Blow and Monster Slayer or with One-Two Punch. One-two punch can clean up a 5 health enemy in one action with a vicious blow added. (Up to 5 actions saved total.)

Resources - Lots of cash is built in to play gear for both roles quickly. Burning the Midnight Oil, Cryptic Writings, and Emergency Cache produce 14 resources for 6 actions. The good Dr. saves an action a round in getting a resource but who knows when he shows up and how many rounds I successfully investigate with him. . (8 actions saved total +? from Milan).

Card Draw - To get cards out quickly Joe needs to draw quickly. Preposterous Sketches, Thorough Inquiry, and No Stone Unturned yield 10 cards in 5 actions. Grim Memoir could yield another 4 free card draws (6 with Throw the book) but getting 2 over every investigate might be too much to hope for. But it could mean 16 cards over 5 actions in total. (~12 actions saved)

Investigating -"Throw the Book at Them!" + Grim Memoir saves two activations on investigating, and Deduction saves 2 more. Working a Hunch = 2 free actions with 2 clues. Up to 6 clues if the investigates are successful for zero actions. (4-6 actions saved. )

Movement - The hiking boots could show up late. (By round 8 I might have seen and drawn 15+ cards rough guess so 50/50 mid scenario?) I can tutor with No Stone Unturned but there are a lot of things competing with them. I could get a few free move actions. Hard to predict how many actions might be saved. (? actions saved)

That’s 30+ saved actions. If Hiking Boots and the good Dr. Milan Christopher come out early things look all the better. Machete, The Dr., Mirror, and the boots are the targets for the opening mulligan.

Those actions help compensate for the hunch deck which eats up activations without directly producing clues or kills.

One problem is a lack of static fight boost. With the Machete he’s a 5 fight. Physical Traininglets me boost some tests if I have extra cash on hand. (Gotta keep 2 on hand until his weakness shows up). Skill cards can fill a couple of gaps also.

The biggest problem is his low Willpower and low Sanity. Skill cards and Physical Training can help him squeak by but Hallowed Mirror would be a big get if it comes out. I didn’t make it easier by adding In the Thick of It but I wanted Versatile so I could add more skill cards and the Hiking Boots. It’s a gamble for sure.

Finally, saving all these actions requires a lot of set up - getting several toys out quickly and the hand stocked - before a tough enemy shows up. Another gamble…

Thoughts are very welcome!