Jim Culver - The Skull King - Hard

Jim was the last Dunwich investigator that I played partly because Mystics and their tendency to walk a dangerous line terrifies me. But I have learned how to walk that line and Jim is competing with Jenny for my favorite Dunwich investigator and Akachi as my favorite Mystic investigator. I really enjoyed my campaign with Jim.

Jim is all about getting and destroying enemies with Song of the Dead with Shrivelling as a 'backup' spell. The goal with this deck is to do a lot of damage with spells but also raise the intellect high enough that you can investigate for clues the old-fashioned way - tests.

Song of the Dead originally was a very inconsistent card that usually only dealt 1 damage per attack. It still isn't guaranteed to hit but the odds have greatly increased with the steady stream of support cards that have been released for it. This does require you to setup your entire deck and some cards might not be very useful without Song of the Dead. Other Mystics can run this (I am running it with Akachi right now) but they don't get the extra benefit of Jim's special abilities.

1. Dark Prophecy pulls 5 tokens out of the bag making it very likely that you will draw a .
2. Olive McBride pulls 3 tokens out of the bag but you have to use two of them so you will need to buff your
3. Premonition allows you to see your token and then you can choose between Shrivelling or Song of the Dead.
4. Grotesque Statue doubles your chances of pulling a
5. Eldritch Inspiration adds a +2 dmg to Song of the Dead which is awesome.
6. Seal of the Elder Sign - expensive XP but results in a guaranteed Elder Sign

Expansions Required

Most of the cards needed for the Song of the Dead combo are in Forgotten Age but Eldritch Inspiration from The Circle Undone really makes the combo a big hitter (up to 7 damage in one turn).

The and boosting combo of Hawk-Eye Folding Camera and St. Hubert's Key are in the Carcosa and Circle Undone expansions so that would weaken Jim's clue getting if you didn't have a large cardpool. Rite of Seeking works great but that creates more competition for Jim's Arcane slots. Magnifying Glass is an alternative to Hawk-Eye Folding Camera although it doesn't have the boost.

Combat

This deck is about dealing a lot of damage and you will want to upgrade to Song of the Dead ASAP and later on upgrade Shrivelling and possibly even keep a Wither or two in your deck just so you can find your combat spells quickly. Or if you are playing at 3+ players you could include Storm of Spirits. Right now I have it in the deck as a placeholder for Song of the Dead.

Investigating

Jim will typically end up with a 5 with one Hawk-Eye Folding Camera and St. Hubert's Key in play. This won't make him a powerhouse clue getter but he will easily chip in quite a few clues for the group. You could also add Drawn to the Flame for a few more clues or Alyssa Graham for higher .

Economy

This deck runs pretty cheap so Uncage the Soul should be enough. Perhaps one Emergency Cache could be included in case Uncage the Soul doesn't come up early.

Support Card Notes

1. Arcane Initiate finds your spells to improve deck consistency
2. No Stone Unturned searches your deck to setup your combos
3. Preposterous Sketches does the same
4. Deny Existence and Ward of Protection keep you safe
5. Hawk-Eye Folding Camera - This card strengthens Jim's two strongest traits and will end up making him into a solid cluegetter.
6. St. Hubert's Key - once again this card strengthens Jim's two strongest traits.

Upgrades

The upgrades for Jim are simple. Get the biggest combat spells and then keep yourself safe.

1. Song of the Dead
2. (a) Shrivelling - Jim can get two really strong combat spells
3. (b) Shards of the Void - you could go this route instead of Shrivelling or add a 5th/6th combat spell to your deck.
4. Four of Cups

Other upgrades if you have enough XP

4. Ward of Protection or Deny Existence - very strong cards if you have extra XP
5. Seal of the Elder Sign - another really strong card to combo with Song of the Dead
6. Grotesque Statue

Some Alternative Cards

1. Sixth Sense works great for cluegetting but takes up an Arcane slot and I like having a fully charged combat spell already in play and Arcane slot are always in short supply.
2. Holy Rosary - doesn't boost but is cheaper
3. Lucky! - the universally great splash card
4. Magnifying Glass - if you don't have Circle Undone (Hawk-Eye Folding Camera) this can turn Jim into a pretty good clue getter.
5. David Renfield - I would probably combo this with either Calling in Favors or Forbidden Knowledge and might even replace Uncage the Soul if I went the second route.
6. Enraptured - I don't have this card yet but it looks awesome for clue getting Jim
7. Drawn to the Flame
8. Alyssa Graham provides another boost if you want to be a stronger clue getter. I really like both of the allies in my deck though and not sure who I would drop.

Best Player Count and Role

Jim can pretty much do everything but can Jim true solo? Jim faces the issues that every Mystic does: deck consistency. If a Mystic doesn't have their spells in play or runs out of charges then they can almost not do anything. Jim can at least be serviceable as a clue getter without his spells especially once he gets an asset or two into play.

Jim's best role would be paired up a strong all around investigator like Joe Diamond or as an all arounder in a 3 or 4 player game with a clearly defined cluegetter and a fighter. This allows his inconsistency to be mitigated by the other players that are usually ready after 1 or 2 turns and then he becomes the strong end of scenario option once everything is in play or his hand.