Torrent of Power

Torrent of Power

Torrent of Power single handedly justifies the inclusion of spells that HAD been very fringe prior to its release.

You see, before this card, any spell outside of Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking was considered "filler". I am thinking of Scrying, Rite of Seeking and Clarity of Mind.

This card lets you turn those slots that had been inefficient into a bank for these cards.

This card is particularly good because it is modular. You CAN spend an extra charge off of your key spells (Shrivelling and ROS) to get a slightly more powerful Unexpected Courage, but it really doesn't do this card justice.

No, to get the most out of it, you will have to play some other spell and let it sit out as a bank for this card so you have the potential to just blow a key test out completely.

This card is also fantastic on higher difficulties as you can reliably spend up to what you need for those key tests.

I would consider this card in most Mystics, but it will require that you include a third spell into your builds aside from Rite of Seeking and Shrivelling in order to really get the most out of it.

Myriad · 1226
We really need Spell cards that benefit from having extraordinarily high success results (think a Shotgun spell of sorts). Torrent of Power'll shine when something like that exists in the card pool. — Darthcaboose · 286
This spell could go a ways to justify the much derided Book of Shadows (3), as an extra arcane slot would be a big benefit to this skill. — bern1106 · 2
edit "I meant skill" — bern1106 · 2

.41 Derringer

.41 Derringer

The Derringer caught a lot of flak for being "Unreliable" and honestly, it is probably deserved. When you include a weapon in your deck you count on that +1 damage so that you can reliably keep up with threats as they emerge from the encounter deck.

The upgraded .32 is a vast improvement over its predecessor, requiring only a +1 over your value is not only easier, but REASONABLE. Most tests you attempt succeed by at least 1 (if you succeed), which means statistically you will do the extra damage.

But lets just say you are swinging for the fences and the chips are down and lady luck smiles on you and you get that coveted +3 or +4 over the test. Go ahead and take another action!

The ability to gain an action is HUGE. That means if this triggers once, you made back the cost of "playing out" the derringer.

If you combo this card with sleight of hand or a skill like vicious blow you also might get a turn where you just blow out a test, do a ton of damage and get a follow up action.

For most rogues, this card is worth checking out, especially if you are already packing Sleight of Hand OR Extra Ammunition.

Also, Lola Hayes likes this card quite a bit as it is a great little weapon in her hands.

Plus, who doesn't secretly want to just slap down two pistols and pretend to be Jenny Barnes? Pew-pew!

Myriad · 1226
Also, while it would require a good fight or flight turn, Wendy could use this with Will to survive and just KO alot of boss monsters in 1 turn. Zzzzzip! — CecilAlucardX · 10

"Watch this!"

"Watch this!"

This card was enough for me to fall in love with rogues.

The icon spread deals with the three attributes that rogues care about. All rogues like the willpower and agility and MOST rogues will make some fight tests.

Oh and you only need to succeed by 1 or more to get a return on your "gamble" of up to three resources.

By itself, it will probably accelerate your resources from 3 to 6, making it a skill equivalent to Emergency Cache.

But it gets better. The card has a few other delicious combos!

The best and probably most powerful combo is using double or nothing to turn your net gain from +3 credits to +9 credits. That is quite a resource swing!

You can also use it with Alchemical Transmutation to get a similar "burst". Add in Double or Nothing to gain a potential of 18 resources from a single test (albeit with a three card combo).

The card is really good. All Rogues like money and most investigators ALSO like money. So long as you have something to spend your fat stacks of cash on, this card will serve you well. Slot it now and thank me later.

Myriad · 1226
Wouldn't it be 12 resources with Double or Nothing? Commit 3 and gain twice 3 - twice. — mgorka · 1
Yeah it would be 12, but taking the 3 spent as an additional costs that makes a net gain of 9 — witchfan · 49
I desagree. 3 resources are spend as a base cost for commiting Gambit. You are not doubling commit costs already invested only gain effect. Ofc 12 minus 3 invested means you gained 9 if that is what you've ment. — Bany · 14
When you compare this to emergency cache, don't forget that "Watch this!" doesn't actually cost an action ;) — Palefang · 72
But will I flip the table over when I play this, then draw an auto-fail? — bigstupidgrin · 84
the rogue life does involve a lot of table flipping, especially where tentacles are concerned — Zinjanthropus · 231
So... what's the common opinion? Playing with the Taboo list (Double or Nothing is illegal), is this card worth playing? Is it a good way to get cash fast? Or is the gamble not worth it? (I've got my eye on you, auto-fail tentacle token....you always pop up when we are counting on a particular effect. haha) — VanyelAshke · 194
It's a good card. 3 actionless resources is good. You won't always win, but if you're careful you should most of the time. I think it does have competition from a number of more recent Rogue econ cards, though, particularly Gregory Gry and Faustian Bargain. Also Easy Mark for only 1 additional XP. — Zinjanthropus · 231

Shortcut

Shortcut

So, remember how Pathfinder is a good card right?

What if I told you, that there was a version of pathfinder that was fast and could be used by your whole group?

Well, this card is as close as it gets and depending on the scenario and the player count it might JUST get you to that level of efficiency.

Add to this fact that Seekers typically have some extra experience to play with and I think this is an auto include in most seeker builds.

Myriad · 1226
Note that Level 2 Shortcut is inferior to Level 0 Shortcut in one critical point - it does not 'move', but instead activates a 'Move', and therefore provokes an attack of opportunity. Attaching the Shortcut to the location does not, of course, since it is a Fast. — Cluny · 52
Cluny- that is incorrect: "Attacks of Opportunity are only triggered when 1 or more of an investigator’s actions are being spent or used to trigger an ability or action. abilities with a bold action designator do not provoke attacks of opportunity." — lunaticcalm · 1
Worth noting that Roland Banks can attach this card to 'Stick to the Plan' in order to ensure it can be played early for good value. — Low_Chance · 14

First Aid

First Aid

Does your group have their act together as Mark Harrigan? Find yourself with an occasional action and not sure what to do with it? Well, this card is probably the way to go.

The sad part? Where will you find the XP? For 1 more XP you could play the mighty "I've Had Worse", which allows you to dodge damage AND gain cash for FREE.

But lets say for arguments sake you want to play an asset heavy build and you have allies that can potentially benefit. Or you have XP coming out of your eyeballs.

Mark Harrigan definitely likes this ability and it is pretty close to playable. If it didn't take an action or you had someway of using it once a turn for free it would be far better.

Still, it might be worth trying out if your group is ally heavy.

Just don't skip out on the best stuff for this. This card is a second or third tier pick at best.

Myriad · 1226
Or you are Yorick and have no monsters to fight. Concieveably with enough time you can just keep everything and everyone at full at all times. — CecilAlucardX · 10
...except that Yorick can only use Guardian cards up to level 2, and this is level 3. It might shine in a Carolyn deck, however. — SGPrometheus · 855