The Beyond

EDIT: This original review contained misinformation about the spirits you could attach to The Beyond. After reaching out to FFG, I have added some of their rulings about the card.


Official rules response from FFG:

  • Q: Do Jim Culver's spirits attached to The Beyond count towards ”synergy” traited cards like Close the Circle?
  • A: Yes; Jim controls The Beyond and any spirits attached to it, so they count for Synergy cards such as Close the Circle.
    • Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist
Calprinicus · 6105
You seem to have missed that the Spirit deck requires 10 *different* allies. — Eudaimonea · 5
Helping Hand

While the name suggests otherwise, I find it hard to help others when only being able to commit either this card or another, not both. I think they should have added an exception for the "commit one card to other investigator's skill tests" rule here, because this one doesn't do anything by itself.

Of course, you can commit it to your own tests to have more control over it, or instead use existing combos (which there are some, like Anything You Can Do, Better, etc.), but personally I am still disappointed not being able to pair Helping Hand with another skill as a support-committer.

AlderSign · 309
I think the designers learned a lesson from Double Or Nothing and try to keep the ceiling pretty low for level 0 skill cards. I can't think of anything in the current card pool that would break if you could commit a second skill card with this, but it might have implications for future card design. The card pool already has a couple of shotguns and we're seeing more scenario effects that care about how much you over succeed. It's probably good future proofing to limit level 0 cards that can potentially blow out a skill test. — Pseudo Nymh · 61
Bianca "Die Katz"

About The British Bulldog: Bianca is not an enemy. Don't build your entire strategy on failing parley tests on Bianca to play the bulldog, because that does not work. Writing this here because I got caught into "wow here are 2 cards released in the same cycle with an obvious combo between them but actually no.)

Actually, I build my deck around this 'Enemy-Bianca' thing but I didn't focus around playing British Bulldog even I included it in my deck. — Laika_Young · 1
I'm not following this. The card clearly says 'Enemy' in bold print. — tasman · 1
I think what's meant is that you can't play the Bulldog by failing the parley test on Ally-Bianca (which I overlooked as well). Once she's transformed into Enemy-Bianca, THEN if you fail any Parley tests you can play the Bulldog. Sadly, Enemy-Bianca doesn't come with a built-in failable test the way Ally-Bianca does. — HanoverFist · 739
British Bull Dog

About Bianca Die Katz: she is not your enemy. Don't build your entire strategy on failing parley tests on Bianca to play the bulldog, because that does not work. Writing this here because I got caught into "wow here are 2 cards released in the same cycle with an obvious combo between them but actually no.)

Mariner's Compass

Out of various Dark Horse luxury upgrades, this sure is one.

To be fair, it's not a bad upgrade - a cost of 2 instead of 3 means that if you plan ahead with Madame Labranche, you can play this in one turn once you're able to keep Dark Horse flowing. In addition, the ability to ready the card when you fail means that you can commit cards or use other boosts to make a second attempt after you've spent your resources on the first one.

That being said, this doesn't particularly push the boosts or efficiency of Mariner's Compass beyond the baseline, nor does it gain anything which would push it to the (admittedly high) level of Fire Axe. This works fine as a luxury upgrade for the Dark Horse package, but it's still very much a luxury upgrade. If someone didn't want the level 0 version, I don't think this gives enough to make it worth taking in comparison.

Ruduen · 1010
An extra clue a turn isn't an upgrade? — MrGoldbee · 1471
If you add effects that repeat the test like live and learn or token of faith 3 you can get 4-6 clues per turn — Django · 5108