Ascetic

I feel like I have been sucked into a parallel dimension or something. This card has some restricted uses but it isn’t good guys, what are you on about? "Not having to care about XP", like one review suggested is not a pro, you can “not care about XP” if you want and you will outpace Ascetic very fast just from incidental XP, there is no need to take this card for that. All the other XP cost reduction cards you can "combo" with Ascetics you can just run without it and you will outpace an Ascetic deck in one two scenarios max. Also 10 XP makes scenario 1 easier and then by scenario 2 you are level with the intended difficult more or less, so it does a super poor job of frontloading anything, you guys are jumping through some serious hoops to find value on a meh card. It's inventive, it helps groups going into the last stretch of a campaign after having an investigator go insane or die and its great for new players joining late into a campaign, and that’s it.

In my current TDC run we were so unlucky that our experience gains in the first 4 scenarios were 3, 1(!), 4, 8. In our case, not even the first 3 would have been covered by Ascetic. It can happen. What's more, not having to care about victory and therefore playing safer is one thing, but in many campaigns there is progression in addition to victory, which you can focus on more if you are not putting all your resources into clearing victory. — AlderSign · 435
You can do that regardless of Ascetic, that's a playstyle choice, has nothing to do with the card. Also, anecdotal evidence of bad luck does not make this card any better, Drowned City is a campaign that on average a group will get 6XP on scenario one and will have around 18XP at the end of scenario 3. You can get 8XP scenario one if its done perfectly, 10XP in exchange for never getting any other XP is a very poor value proposition. Again, you guys are just doing mental gymnastics to find hidden value where there is none. — DakonBlackblade · 16
What are you talking about? If it's a playstyle choice this card is good for me, thus it has everything to do with it. — AlderSign · 435
What are you talking about? You don't need the card to play that way, just play that way if you feel it makes the game better, or makes it easier for you to win or whatever. Even playing without going for XP you will still get XP, they are in locations you will grab clues from naturally, enemies you need to kill and that randomly pop out from the encounter deck, resolutions you get etc. Acetic is bad for that playstyle as well. That aside the card isn't enabling a new playstyle, playing that way was always a possibility. — DakonBlackblade · 16
Locked and Loaded

Hell yeah

Hell yeah — PaxCecilia · 426
Hell yeah — dscarpac · 1263
Hell yeah — fylion · 1
Hell yeah — Will.I.Game · 30
Hell yeah — loglady · 20
Almost as good as getting two clues from Evidence — michael921 · 1
Two clues?! From fucking evidence?!? HELL YEAH — MouldOfMlem · 148
Hell yeah — MrGoldbee · 1502
Hell yeah, so amazed that my Old Shotgun enters play with an ammo — liwl0115 · 48
Hell yeah — 5argon · 11637
Hell yeah — Nenananas · 273
hell yeah — Pawiu14 · 208
Sawed-Off Shotgun

I feel like Robert Castaigne can breathe new life into this card. Whether you're Tony Morgan or Michael McGlen, you can have it sit in your hand and fire it once per turn as a fast action.

I wouldn't be shocked if Robert ends up with a similar taboo to something like Sleight of Hand, limiting the level of cards he can affect - although if he does, it'll impact the Remington Model 1858 that pretty much feels like it was designed to work with him. That, or a taboo saying "actually no you do have to actually play or discard the card".

nictron90 · 12
9xp combo tho. Pricey. — MrGoldbee · 1502
Honestly, I think Robert would be a lot more balanced if he gained his level 0's "Does not provoke attacks of opportunity" and got the Rook treatment (turning from a fast trigger to an action). — NightgauntTaxiService · 466
Say Your Prayers

Using this on Michael McGlen right now. Gosh is it great. I imagine that's also the case with Silas Marsh, Roland Banks, and Rita Young

The theory is simple: if you have a max sanity of 5, take a Say Your Prayers and after taking two Sanity damage this card is up and running. The prereq for using this card is quick to fulfill, and it'll work for you when you precisely need it. Some use cases include:

  • Acting as an important skill booster against head checks threatening sanity damage/mythos cards.

  • At a whopping +4, it allows you to flex head later in the game: useful for parleys and act/agenda advancements.

  • With no "only commit to a skill test you're performing", it can greatly aid other investigators (especially mystics!).

I think it's an elegant card paired with low sanity users: just mulligan it away in a starting hand. And if you draw it too early hang on to it like a talisman.


"Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong."

- 1 Corinthians 16:13

CyanideLock · 14