(Edit: 12/1/19, Ornate Bow)

This card starts off fine and only grows better with time. Levelled up guns can be very powerful and this card keeps them around longer, whether its a Lightning Gun or just a .45 Automatic. Dont forget that "Skids" O'Toole can use this to fuel a Lupara or .41 Derringer. There's also the power combo of Venturer + Ornate Bow to get 2 shots without stopping to reload.

So the effect is good, worth the price even, 3 extra ammo tokens and a bit of expendable tank that you'll actually be glad to kill-off when he's empty, this means that the occupied Ally slot is less of an issue since you don't need Venturer to stick around.

To further integrate Venturer in a deck consider Inspiring Presence to speed up how quickly you reload a gun or even Calling in Favors to juggle him with Beat Cop and refund the charges. A charisma based Roland Banks deck with Beat Cop, Venturer and Dr. Milan Christopher actually plays very smoothly (And Leo Anderson similarly so with Leo De Luca).

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Obviously you need targets if you pick this for your deck, firearms are the obvious target, the less obvious ones include: Strange Solution, Lockpicks, First Aid and Flashlight. There's also Painkillers, Smoking Pipe and Liquid Courage but those usually don't warrant Venturer charges.

Strange Solution is an interesting standout in that lineup, if you're playing Rex Murphy then keep this interesting interaction in mind.

After trying this card a bit i'm actually very impressed.

This is a hybrid sort of card, it's a Tutor that actually searches for cards in bulk. That makes Backpack a weird sort of cross between Preposterous Sketches and Prepared for the Worst. So, what exactly does it do?

First off, this is a tutor effect. If you have powerful items or supply cards like Lightning Gun, Key of Ys, Strange Solution or The Gold Pocket Watch then this thing greatly hastens the rate at which you get them in play. This effect can be absolutely worth it even if you have only a moderate number of targets in your deck overall.

Second, this is a "bulk" tutor, it doesn't just hit some small and limited pool of key cards, it hits a variety of helpful cards like Emergency Cache, Knife and Flashlight, this has the double effect of A: drawing cards and thus shrinking your deck. B: Getting chaff and gunk out of your deck, thus shrinking it. The latter effect is actually better than it sounds, often you're looking to draw an important event or asset (Rite of Seeking for example or "I've got a plan!") and getting all your Flashlights and Emergency Caches out of the way can be invaluable, especially since these cards don't occupy hand space and thus don't mess with you when you're drawing aggressively.

Third, if you're looking for particular cards (as is usually the case when you slot tutors), even if you don't hit all three cards it is still probably a decent play. If you hit just one card, if that card is something like Lightning Gun, then it was still probably a fine play. If you don't draw the thing you're looking for, or nothing at all! then it was still probably a good play because at least the deck is shuffled, thus your chance of drawing the thing you need quickly is refreshed. In other words: Either you get what you wanted or you get a "re-roll" on the odds of drawing it soon.

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So, how many items/supplies do you need to warrant backpack?

I've tried some item heavy dudes like William Yorick and folks with just normal item amounts. Generally I lend higher priority to backpack when there's upgraded targets in the mix. As a rule I found that hitting just 2 targets is perfectly acceptable.

12-14 viable targets I think is the maximum in a viable deck, it'd be something like William Yorick with Cherished Keepsake and Leather Coat in his deck.

10-11 viable targets is the upper average for most decks, generally that assumes 4-6 hand items, Emergency Cache an accessory and/or some unique item like Decorated Skull or Investigator strengths.

8-9 viable targets is the absolute minimum and I'dd only recommend it if there's cards in there like Key of Ys, Strange Solution or The Gold Pocket Watch that are really powerful and can't be tutored with Prepared for the Worst for some reason.

(Updated 12/1/19: Forgotten age complete.)

----If a wall of text doesn't appeal to you, then: TL:DR: Mitigate Finn Edwards's terrible by playing Peter Sylvestre and/or Logical Reasoning, his relatively high health and low-intensity weakness combine to make him tougher than he looks.---

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Finn Edwards, this guy is so capable! Did you look at his of just a measly 1 and think "Nooo way José!"? Well take another look, you might be pleasantly surprised.

First off, this guy is the ultimate jack-of-all-trades, but he's still able to master one (or even two).

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An of 4 lets him pull up clues very quickly. Although he can't quite deck out his clue gathering the way a can he can still bring cards like Lockpicks, Flashlight, Deduction and/or Dr. Milan Christopher to enhance his ability to pry up clues quickly.

You don't even need those other cards to tackle difficult locations if you just get Streetwise, a card that can really put Dr. Milan Christopher's extra cash to use. You really can build a powerful clue-specialist Finn Edwards by leveling into Lockpicks and/or Lola Santiago and with his access to weapons and he can protect himself while he's at it.

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A of 3, like "Skids" O'Tooles, is only half-passable if you want to focus on combat, especially since you don't have access to Vicious Blow or Beat Cop. Even so, you still have access to all the weapons as well as the bow so that still means that you can do outright brutal attacks once in a while.

The "2+ above" archetype actually functions rather nicely for Finn Edwards, Daring Maneuver can trigger his effect as well as the triggers on .41 Derringer, Quick Thinking, Lockpicks and/or Switchblade and you can tie it all together with Fight or Flight to get that massive buff needed to reliably (and cheaply) trigger all those 2+ effects repeatedly in a big boss killing round (or to kill a mob of enemies, which tends to be a problem that evade-action-using investigators tend to face!).

If you want to lean into the combat role then you can level up into Lupara or even Chicago Typewriter. Remember to bring Hard Knocks if this is the route you wind up going.

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An of 4 lets you do all the fun agility stuff "Skids" O'Toole and Wendy Adams can get up to. Finn Edwards can combine the trio of Streetwise, Waylay and Backstab to eradicate some threats, access to Peter Sylvestre makes tactics even more reliable and syncs well with the free evade per round, combine Backstab, Streetwise and Double or Nothing to deal a chunk of damage to a boss.

I highly recommend a powerful deck with Pickpocketing (levelup version only! the unlevelled one is crappy). Lockspicks are an obvious choice to gain a combined base investigate value of +8. Go ahead and try Eavesdrop but honestly that card was a big Miss for me, so many stars need to align for that card to deliver the goods. Dumb Luck is a standout card in my opinion for Finn Edwards specifically, he is sensitive to bad treacheries and this way you can essentially turn your free roundly evade into a one-turn buffer against the encounter deck. It's a bit like playing On the Hunt in a Roland Banks deck.

Whether you're chasing clues or hunting enemies the free evade each round means Pickpocketing and Manual Dexterity will always be useful.

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So, that leaves us with the pitiful of 1. This number is LOW.

Most characters with such a low rely on Guts and Unexpected Courage and such to cover themselves and lessen the impact of all those "Take X horror" checks, but for Finn Edwards this is not an effective defense, especially on harder modes. A 2 character stands a reasonable chance to make a 3 difficulty check (Rotting Remains) by playing a Guts into it, and even if you get a -2 token you're still only taking 1 horror, Finn Edwards in the same spot is more likely to take 1+ damage than not, even with the committed skill cards.

So, at this point it is less important to try and make the check than it is to manage the damage, and for that we have some unexpectedly good options. Peter Sylvestre is a very efficient method to mitigate this weakness and he buffs your agility too. The other issue we might face is one card in particular, Frozen in Fear, to counteract this threat you can slot Logical Reasoning, even when Frozen in Fear isn't in play you can still use it to recover the damage you'll inevitably take, or, just use Adaptable to swap Logical Reasoning for something else when you know Frozen in Fear isn't a danger. It is a saving grace that Finn Edwards has a very respectable 7 sanity stat and his unique weakness doesn't force any on him.

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So, ability wise this dude is very flexible, depending on your card choices you can build him as a cluehound or a fighter, whatever you decide to focus on you will very probably be evading a lot in the meantime. Even as a fighter you can play Pickpocketing and use your free roundly evade to generate resources. Don't forget that leaving unimportant enemies and locations undefeated and uninvestigated is often the best course of action, especially since you can evade them for free if you need to come back to them for some reason.

The ability is frustratingly unlikely to help much, as you probably know at this point the numerical + on these abilities is irrelevant (you never attempt a test if you cant succeed on a 0 anyway!), enemies who you've evaded refresh before the mythos phase so the one time where a free + would be useful (against tests!) the + wont be around anymore, the second half (the free clue!) is the useful element of this , it doesn't trigger often but when it does you'll be ever so glad.

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Now for deck limitations. Take note that Finn Edwards doesn't have access to level 4+ cards, that means no Cheat Death and no The Gold Pocket Watch, no Suggestion and no Hot Streak, you have the unique ability to select any Illicit card which at the moment only means that you can still get Chicago Typewriter.

Out of faction you can grab some or cards, you can only pick five cards total so choose carefully.

From you can get Dr. Milan Christopher, Deduction, Shortcut, Logical Reasoning and/or Working a Hunch. In multiplayer especially it is important that you're able to pick up clues quickly and empty out 2-clue locations before you get bogged down in damage control. Logical Reasoning is worth special mention since this lone card is your only answer to Frozen in Fear.

From you can get Cherished Keepsake, Dig Deep, Peter Sylvestre, Scavenging, "Look what I found!", Winging It, Lucky!, Dumb Luck, Waylay, Fight or Flight and Survival Instinct. Obviously every card that interacts with your evasion synergizes with Finn Edwards's free evade actions but Peter Sylvestre and Fight or Flight are worth special mention, the former as a superb way to mitigate incoming horror and the latter to turn the inevitable horror you suffer into an incredible strength.

Edit: Also, heads up, Drawing Thin is not a terrible 1-of.

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As for other cards? Backpack is worth a special mention since Finn Edwards gets two separate strength cards and both of them can be hit by Backpack's tutor effect. You can easily have six hand items (weapons, Flashlights and Lockpicks), you very likely have Emergency Cache and with the strengths that brings you to 10 Items/supplies not counting backpacks themselves, a perfectly reasonable number to try and tutor. If you want to play with Leo De Luca then Charisma might be a good early choice so you dont have to skip on Dr. Milan Christopher's extra funds or Peter Sylvestre's tank, there's also Lola Santiago who sindle handedly skyrockets your abilities in the clue and Evasion departments. There's always Ornate Bow but between 3 and every single weapon I dont think it's worth both hand slots.

Talking about strengths and weaknesses. Finn's Trusty .38 isn't a bad weapon at all, the engagement requirement can be a snag though so I highly recommend you supplement this thing with other weapons. Smuggled Goods lets you fish out the weapons you decide to go with, dont forget that this card may target either the discard or the deck, and if you pick the deck you'll get to shuffle it in and play it again later, this means that you can fish out your weapon of choice (or, interestingly, Pickpocketing) and then recurse it later.

Finally is perhaps one of the most lenient character weaknesses in the game, Caught Red-Handed. If you draw this card in the upkeep phase don't forget that they wont attack you yet, so you have plenty of time to evade whatever foe you might have attracted. Also, "Connecting location" means adjacent locations, so enemies wont start scooting towards you all over the map. Dont forget that the card doesn't go into the discard unless an enemy actually moves, if an enemy at your spot readies and engages you that still wont discard the card. The only real time this card really gets you in trouble is when you draw it during your round after evading something at your location, for example after you trigger a Pickpocketing. Perhaps the most unfortunate element of this weakness is the probability that it will cost you several card draws throughout a scenario since it wont be triggering hunter moves all that often, even if it hits you two or three times in a scenario it is still probably going to be less impactful then most other weaknesses in the game.

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All in all, Finn Edwards is a powerful and flexible character, he sacrifices a particular defensive aspect but instead he's able to consistently contribute clues, neutralized threats and progress. Thanks to the fact that Finn Edwards's weakness is so manageable he can focus on mitigating the damage he takes from the encounter deck.

Jack of All Trades, Master of None, that is Jenny.

Her stats, straight 3's across the board, make this Dilettante okay at many things, but not incredibly likely to succeed at higher difficulties if she doesn't have something to support her. However, on Easy or Normal she's just one Magnifying Glass away from being a pretty good investigator, especially if she can also grab a Flashlight for those high-shroud locations.

In combat, Jenny is again decent but by no means a powerhouse. Her Jenny's Twin .45s signature card gives her a nice offensive boost, as 5 deals with most non-elites okay. She also has access to the Rogue card pool, so evading is a natural choice. With someone like a Cat Burglar watching her back, she can evade most monsters for quite a while.

The simple truth is that Jenny needs assets and other support cards to help her make skill checks because you simply can't rely on a 3 to carry you very far. However, Jenny has a major advantage in this regard: she gains double the resources everyone else does during the Upkeep phase.

Which, for example, means she can afford to buy a number of high-cost assets, and still put money into her Streetwise when she needs to make a check. In addition, Leo De Luca is a great Rogue Card that rivals the most expensive card in the game. Most players who can play Leo do so, but always have to make a bit of a sour face when they realize just how much money he costs. Jenny knows she'll have more money shortly, so plays Leo gladly.

A brief mention of Jenny's signature weakness, Searching for Izzie. It depends entirely on when it's drawn. Early in a scenario, it'll probably be fine, but if drawn near the end you are taking that trauma.

So, how does Jenny compare to the other Rogues?

• "Skids" O'Toole has higher , which is of course great for a Rogue. However, his lower and lower sanity means Skids has a tendency to get defeated by sanity damage. I think the ability of Skids to get an extra action is really powerful, but so far it's only come up occasionally because it costs two resources. I think I prefer Jenny's for reliability.

• Sefina Rousseau is interesting because she's very unlike the rest. Her ability requires loading up on events, and most of her unique abilities allow you to draw more cards. As far as her statline goes, she's much more capable of taking sanity loss, but beware of physical damage with this one.

• Finn Edwards seems like he would play the same as Skids in a ton of situations: he gives extra actions and has terrible willpower. As long as you can dodge certain encounter deck cards, you'll probably be fine.

In conclusion: Jenny has a rather different playstyle than any of the other Rogues. She does remind me a bit of the playstyle of certain Mystics, where once you have all your spells (or assets in the case of Jenny) you will perform great, but until then you are hurting.

William Yorick was a blast to play, and I recently won a two-player Dunwich Legacy campaign with Daisy Walker so here are some observations for people considering our favorite actor-turned-gravedigger. This will be a slightly biased review towards multiplayer implications, as I exclusively play in 2-player or 4-player games. Yorick has real issues with consistent clue-gathering (i.e. investigating when he doesn't have tricks up his sleeve), so I think he's a better fit in multiplayer anyways.

This is going long, so here's a TL:DR:

Pros: ability provides flexibility and value, the combination of guardian/survivor can provide great burst potential, good enough stats (in a purely bodyguard role).

Cons: not a consistent clue-gatherer. Resource economy is an issue. Card draw comes down to drawing Rabbit's Foot or using off-turns with nothing to kill (in a multiplayer game).

Now for the long version (you've been warned)

Front of the card: Yorick has fine stats except for a lack of investigation; and a decent 'fighter/bodyguard/tank's healthy and sanity of 8/6. Whether you'd rather have 9 health and 5 sanity instead of the 8/6 split is up to you and your playstyle. His ability is incredibly impactful; letting you replay assets from your discard pile when you kill enemies. This gives him tremendous flexibility to meet different challenges any given scenario can present. At 0XP; this lets you recur Leather Coat and Cherished Keepsake for defense, First Aid for healing/support. Gravedigger's Shovel gives him guaranteed spot clue-gathering, Baseball Bat can be recurred after an unfortunate chaos bag pull. Lantern is an option, but I'm not sure if it's a great one (-1 shroud isn't great, and Yorick is well set up for dealing damage). Later in a campaign, you have access to Police Badge for bursty turns. Key of Ys because... it's the Key of Ys. Yorick's ability even synergizes with the Key's penalty of making you discard 10 cards off the top of your deck if it goes away. If you aren't satisfied with Teddy bears to protect your sanity, Elder Sign Amulet is a reasonable choice, especially at a resource cost of 2 and XP cost of 3. The only downsides of the ESA are that Cherished Keepsake is free (and it turns out saving resources is really important for late-game Yorick), and Police Badge takes up an accessory slot.

And that doesn't even cover allies. You can go in many different good directions with allies with Yorick. The upgraded Aquinnah can act as his 'boss-killer', along with the combination of baseball bat + Will to Survive. Baseball Bat + Will to survive + Police badge can deal 10 damage in a turn! Brother Xavier is a great sanity soaker and chaos bag-free damage source. Both Beat Cop varieties are reasonable choices. Charisma can be a great way to go with him.

Elder sign effect: +2 and if you win you get to return a card from your discard pile to your hand: +2 is nothing to complain about, and the bonus is great for grabbing Emergency Cache, which you're going to need to keep using his ability to the fullest.

Back of the card: Guardian 0-2 gives him access to great allies as previously mentioned. You don't get access to the best guardian weapons, but Yorick has alternate boss killing options at hand. Shotgun and Lightning Gun aside, you still have a great assortment of weapons. Both .45s, Machete, shovel, and baseball bat do work, and Yorick won't have to settle for inferior options like knives or kukris. Of course, Survivor 0-5 has benefits. Lucky!, "Look what I found!" (although his low investigate skill means he can easily fall below the requirements), Will to Survive is one of the best 'clutch' cards available. And for later scenarios Survivor brings some high-powered Exile cards such as Flare, Devil's Luck to help prevent backbreaking hits to health or sanity, and A Test of Will as a form of a Ward of Protection.

Signature cards: Another place where Yorick shines. Bury Them Deep removes an enemy from the encounter deck. This is handy in several scenarios to remove a particularly annoying baddie. And extra XP are always welcome. His weakness Graveyard Ghouls is not that big of a deal; usually just another enemy to add to the pile. There are worst-case scenarios to draw it, but you can say that about most weaknesses. As long as you have a weapon out, and especially with a good ally or two, the Ghouls are very manageable.

Mulligan strategy: It's very important for him to start with a weapon, so mulliganing events (minus emergency cache, probably) and skill cards for weapons is advised. Having an ally in your opening hand is an important secondary goal. It's hard to overstate just how good Leather Coats/Cherished Keepsakes are for him; if I have a weapon in my starting hand it's a good idea to mulligan for those.

I've already gushed about his strengths, so now I'll talk about weaknesses. As previously mentioned, he's no investigator. He can dig up the odd clue or two in a pinch, but it's night and day compared to a dedicated cluver, or even most 'generalist' investigators like Rogues and Wendy Adams with Lockpicks or Mystics with Rite of Seeking. So as a solo, probably not a good choice. But in a multiplayer campaign, his biggest weakness is his resource economy. His allies and assets aren't cheap, unless you want to run with Peter Sylvestre and/or Stray Cat. Madame Labranche as a secondary charisma ally may be a consideration; I wouldn't want her over a beat cop however. A real plan b (or plan a) for allies would be to save up for The Red-Gloved Man. You could kill something and play Red Gloved Man from the discard pile to boost investigate for some sneaky weakness mitigation. Graveyard shovel and Baseball Bat aren't expensive, but replaying them can be. In multiplayer, if you're not killing something, you're often going to be trading actions for resources, instead of helping to gather clues and advancing the act deck.

You have limited card draw as well; it's just Rabbit's Foot and Prepared for the Worst. This means Yorick isn't well-equipped for poor opening draws. I found this out the hard way, mulliganing 5 cards without finding an ally nor a weapon during one scenario. It's really important in this game to get set up in the opening turn of a scenario.

In conclusion; Yorick is well-positioned in a specialist role for a 2-4 player group. You can cover for his weak investigate potential much better in that setting. Turns out the combination of guardian/survivor is incredibly good for fighting. His ability really elevates specific disposable cards, and is one of the better abilities in the game IMO. For people who want to play the monster killer/bodyguard role but want something a little different than a Guardian, Yorick is both fun and effective.