Jenny From the Block Starting Position

I've been playing 'My Jenny Deck' now for many campaigns, and this is my current way of starting her out after tweaking things in and out over time. I also wanted to write all this out in case people have any ideas or thoughts they had on the deck they wanted to share, and to also explain my thought processes to see if maybe they are faulty :D Also, I only ever play on 'Standard' difficulty, so the deck is framed around this setting.

The idea isn't unlike other Jenny decks.. basically, pump resources into skill checks, profit. I imagine her as being a very flexible investigator that can handle clue-finding, fighting, and evading depending on the situation. It isn't broken and probably not highly optimized, but I enjoy playing it. She really comes into her own once she gets 3xp and Streetwise is acquired. I like that she can handle lots of different situations, even if she isn't overpowered at any one thing. If Jenny isn't always poor, then the deck is being run wrong. :D

Off color cards (Guardian core): Two Fire Axe Two Madame Labranche One Prepared for the Worst

I'm probably not the only person playing Jenny with a Fire Axe, but I enjoy having a way to pour resources into Str checks and a possible damage bonus. Madame Labranche is not the #1 ally for the deck, that would be Leo, but the ability to deplete the Fire Axe then exhaust Labranche for an extra Str boost and damage bonus is nice, plus she is a cheap 2/2 health/sanity soak. Fire Axe is so integral to the way I enjoy playing Jenny, that I also put in one Prepared for the Worst just to fish for it, though sometimes the Twin .45's are better.

Initial cards that are high priority for being swapped out later (Early game combat/cluefind): Two Fine Clothes Two .41 Derringer Two Flashlight

Fine Clothes - I can't help but notice that parley checks occur in most (all?) early campaign scenarios. I haven't played Forgotten Age yet, but even without the foreknowledge that parley checks are going to happen, Fine Clothes really fit Jenny's style. As parley becomes less of a likely useful option later in the scenario, these can easily be swapped out to make room for leveled cards.

.41 Derringers - These are here to help with early campaign fighting in case Fire Axe does not show up, increasing the odds of having some kind of offensive answer. Just the +2 fight is why these are here, and if the damage bonus triggers, so much the better.

Flashlights - Before Streetwise can be purchased, these help Jenny get the clues necessary to get past the first scenario.

Other cards (Flex):

Two Leo De Luca: Just an amazing ally providing an extra action, 2/2 health/sanity, and also an easy way to get Jenny poor to help proc Fire Axe damage(hopefully quickly in the scenario).

One Liquid Courage: Gaining sanity is often necessary, and it can be shared and even cheated out with Sleight of Hand.

Two Lone Wolf: Because Jenny is very flexible, she can generally safely venture on her own. I often pair with another hybrid-flexible type, or guardian, so this is usually a safe gamble. She pours a lot of resources into checks, and having an extra one sometimes makes things just a little easier to squeeze in a Streetwise investigation along with a Fire Axe attack, or similar.

Two Elusive: Great for traversing the map and getting out of really hairy situations. Basically get of jail free cards.

Two Sleight of Hand - Several cards can be cheated out using Sleight of Hand, most notably Flashlights, Lockpicks, Derringers, Liquid Courage, Luparas, and to a lesser extent, Fire Axe and Fine Clothes... maybe even others depending on your upgrade path, such as the Thompson.

Two Narrow Escape - I mainly run this as a way to cheat a difficult skill test or simply get an easy +2 bonus to test, or to refuel the Fire Axe without taking any damage from Emergency Cache while simultaneously getting a bonus for the Axe that is about to swing again.

Two Emergency Cache - I run two mainly as a way to pump resources for the Twin .45's in case something big needs to drop, and to refuel the Fire Axe, often in conjunction with Narrow Escape.

Two Guts - The only stat the deck can't pump. I know a lot of decks run Arcane Studies to get around this, but I don't like the setup time. Guts help shore up the biggest weakness with the deck in a game devoted to sanity loss.

Two Unexpected Courages - Often two unexpected Guts, but for my money, the easiest auto-include card in almost any deck.

Two Quick Thinking - This deck can often pull off extra actions using this card, but a free wild icon is also helpful regardless of the extra action.

Upgrades (Cluefind core, world-is-your-oyster)

The only real upgrade the deck needs to all come together is Streetwise for 3xp, and as soon as you can get it. At that point, Jenny can reliably clue as she gets 2 resources every upkeep phase. Then, get a Fire Axe in her hand and she can handle a lot of things.

So, where do you go from here? After Streetwise is paid for, I'm often at a loss where I want Jenny to go. It's not that the deck is so great you don't need leveled cards, but at least on Standard difficulty, she doesn't rely on them. Charisma is great if you pick up some story-asset allies (i.e. Armitage), or decide to get the Red Gloved Man. Lockpicks are very good at helping Jenny investigate after she's exhausted her resources, though you may find Sleight-of-Hand + Flashlight just fine. Luparas or leveled Derringers or even the Thompson are fun upgrades over the .41 Derringers. Upgrading Leo is also a cheap way to make the deck perform better as well.