Jenny Barnes elite cluever/evader feat Alice Luxley

I had so much fun playing Jenny in Dunwich with only the Dunwich cards. Jenny killed everything with her Jenny's Twin .45s but times have changed. Jenny (and "Skids" O'Toole) are probably the two most impacted investigators by the full card pool expansion after Dunwich. From now on any reference to Jenny will also include Skids.

If you just have Dunwich, then Jenny's middling trait line of 3/3/3/3 allows you to create a solid all around deck in everything but she isn't great at anything. I made Jenny my strong fighter and alright cluegetter and had so much fun doing it but started to realize that her 3, lack of Rogue boost options and +2 weapon boost just weren't good enough for reliable damage.

The following cards have changed Jenny into an elite cluegetter

1. Lockpicks in Carcosa
2. Suggestion(1) in Return to Carcosa
3. Lola Santiago in FA
4. Intel Report in TCU
5. Other cards have continued to strengthen a rogue's ability to gather clues and evade enemies easily but these are some of the strongest in my opinion.

Unlike most of my other decks this deck really suffers if you don't have all of the expansions. I think the deck starts to work if you have Dunwich, Carcosa (and Return to Carcosa) and Lola Santiago but more expansions are better.

As a note this deck is not built to stockpile dozens of resources like some decks. It is designed to make a lot of resources and then spend them just as quickly.

A variation of this deck went through Carcosa on Hard Mode with Leo. Leo did great but Jenny was one of the most dominant investigators that I have played yet (HM to Ornate Bow Rita). It did take her a few scenarios to reach that point but she just cruised through the scenarios (except Pallid Mask where everything fell apart).

Another BIG Combo Alice Luxley is basically an unplayable card for almost every investigator that can use her. Most Guardians want to kill the enemy that just spawned instead of getting clues first. And many Guardians aren't built to get clues. Jenny however can evade at will with Suggestion(1) and then pick up clues easily with Lockpicks, Lola Santiago or various cards that buy clues. Alice can easily chip in 5+ pts of damage if you get her out early in the game. Lola Santiago's value still exceeds Alice due to the silly number of actionless/testless clues that Jenny can buy but Alice is awesome in the deck.

Clue Getting

You will mostly want to use Lockpicks each round or buy clues with Lola Santiago, Scene of the Crime, Working a Hunch and Intel Report. And if those aren't options Jenny can reach a 5 intellect with both allies out and pick up clues the old fashioned way. As a bonus there are several cards that gain clues without provoking acts of opportunity and can trigger Alice's ability without needing to evade first.

Evading

Suggestion(1) ends up being an almost auto evade card for Jenny but she will use up the charges if doesn't have some of her boosting assets out. Cheap Shot is a card that I greatly underrated since I focused on the 1 damage that it did. The more important part is that it also can evade at a +2. This can be used as a backup plan if you haven't drawn Suggestion yet.

Combat

Jenny is a girl that avoids direct combat. She has her friend Alice hit her enemies for a point of damage when she calls up for help. She also hits them with Cheap Shot and Sneak Attack for a few points of damage. And if all else fails she chugs a little whiskey and smashes the bottle over their head. You will definitely want to have a fighter to handle most of the combat but Jenny can take care of herself with evasion and a little testless damage here and there.

You will be able to use Jenny's Twin .45s if you have to but Lockpicks are far more important for her so they will likely only be used for the skill icons.

Economy

Jenny is rich. I mean really rich. This deck doesn't focus on making Jenny silly rich like others do but Jenny can usually buy clues or play assets each rd. Or both.

1. Her special ability puts her way ahead of other investigators
2. Lone Wolf is fantastic in 1 or 2p and will usually net her 3 resources each rd. This should probably be swapped out for another card in a 3 or 4p game.
3. "Watch this!" will usually be successful when you tack it onto the Lockpicks or Suggestion skill tests
4. Emergency Cache - this might be unnecessary and might get taken out for useful cards or just wait to upgrade to Hot Streak(2) or (4)
5. Pickpocketing(2) will become nearly automatic any time an enemy engages with Jenny once Suggestion(1) is out.

Upgrades

First, the highest priority cards to really make Jenny awesome - 14XP

1. Suggestion - Jenny needs Suggestion after the first scenario in order to take care of herself
2. Lockpicks
3. 1x Lola Santiago
4. Charisma
5. 1x Lola Santiago
6. 1x Ace of Rods - one more potential boost

The next upgrades are less urgent and Jenny can splurge on some novelty cards

7. Adaptable - nice to switch cards in as the deck changes - like Backstab
8. Pickpocketing - draws cards and gains resources quite often with her evasion at 7+ with Suggestion or Cheap Shot
9. Hot Streak(2) or (4) - Jenny loves spending every resource that she has.
10. Sneak Attack - not as necessary of an upgrade because Jenny can evade so easily.
11. Ace in the Hole - extra actions are awesome
12. Elusive (taboo) - still a really strong card at 2XP
13. Cat Burglar - a very underrated ally that works well in this deck but there really isn't room.
14. The Gold Pocket Watch - Sure Gamble - Cheat Death - Double, Double are some very strong cards if you have earned silly XP

Cards That Will Get Cut For Upgrades

Some combination of these cards would be cut

Manual Dexterity - Tennessee Sour Mash - Narrow Escape - Emergency Cache - Flashlight

Some Notable Cards Missing

1. Investments - a great alternative economy card that I don't have yet
2. Backstab - could be added with Adaptable later but Jenny won't have the early in the game to succeed at the test
3. Double or Nothing - I probably should play with it but there aren't any big targets to play it with here. I could pick up a second clue with my Lockpicks that had "Watch this!" bet on it I guess.
4. Charon's Obol - this deck kind of plateau's after the first 14XP are spent. It would set Jenny back after the 1st scenario, be break even after the 2nd and finally be ahead after the 3rd.
5. Leo De Luca - an extra action each round would be great but it would require another Charisma since I really want Lola and Alice in play together.
6. Well Connected - this deck is designed to spend resources really fast and this wouldn't yield the same benefit as other Jenny decks
7. Track Shoes - Love this option to boost but no room in the 5 splash cards for this
8. St. Hubert's Key - a great skill boost and horror management card. It just isn't as strong as buying clues though.
9. Trench Coat - is a nice option early in the campaign to improve her evasion but it would get replaced at some point
10. Art Student - a nice way to buy clues and get a little soak but there isn't room in the splash cards