Do you mean Jim Culver?

He and Dexter are among the most sought-after investigators in my playing crew!

And I like them a lot too!

I always liked Dexter- my favourite magic user indeed, even before than Innsmouth and personal stories were released!

Gott said:

Yeah. 3 Clues is nice for Jim and the Trumpet is tradeable, but beyond that, meh. His Undead ability comes into play very rarely (meaning his PS isn't that useful even if you do Pass it), the OW ability helps mostly on -2 mod gates, which he struggles to close often.

Dexter, ugh. No Clues, San 5, hate his Lore/Luck slider. Haven't had him in 5 games using IH thus far (using the 40 investigators, drawing 4, or 2+2, at random, only mulligan if investigator X was in the previous game), so can't say about his PS. Pass requires drawing 2 Tomes? Or reading?

Sister Mary was and is my #1. Trish (whom I haven't gotten yet) is my #2 (pre-playing of course). Minh Thi Phan made an excellent showing today, prime reason me eeked a draw vs Nyogtha. Will see if she remains that good in the future, I was drawing plenty of Tomes, so managed to pass her PS, she also got 1 Ally from Dhol Chants and a 3rd from an Urban Environment (stop at Train Station).

@God: I don't allow Daisy to take spells from other expansions than Kingsport when using that tome. She's still strong then, but not stronger than certain other investigators, IMO, and it doesn't take aeons for a player to choose a spell. ^^

Dam said:

It's ok if he deforms my user name, it's not supposed to be meaningful, anyway.

Dam said:

You know, Dam, I used to be right there with you. I didn't think the single unluckiest character in the game had much to offer me. Horrible at encounters, and incompetent at combat if you're unprepared. But a few good games were enough to change my mind. True, he can be very reliant on equipment, but play your cards right, and he can be so good with it. The other thing, I really don't like the options he has in the base game, but with the expansions, things get so much better.

First thing to do, get him into circumstances where he can draw spells. Seems basic, I know, and doesn't always happen. That's when he's bad. Spending your first turn at the magic shop may not always be the best idea, either. Sometimes, the Curiositie Shoppe might be better, looking for tomes. This goes double with his story.

As far as selection, 0 sanity spells are obviously great. As are spells that help shore up his deficiencies. Find Gate and Astral Travel allow him to skip encounters. Cloud Memory and Feeding the Mind are wonderful, especially in tandem with Heal. Between evasion spells and his decent speed/sneak slider, he can usually evade monsters when he needs to. Alternately, he can use any number of spells to help out his horror or combat checks. If he puts his mind to it, he can pull out anything, and it's stunning to watch. He is truly a thinking player's character.

Not only do I agree with flamethrower49 about Dexter's growth as an awesome Investigator, but I find that has happened with me on quite a few Investigators that have gotten better as new materials became available:

God, did I hate Mark. For a soldier, he's a lousy Lovecraft fighter. Can't survive a Horror Check for spit. But suddenly, Kingsport is all about delayed, and Innsmouth is all about arrested. And thus, Mark became a SURVIVALIST, not an infantryman. To hell with his Flamethrower: get him a Map or a Motorcycle, and he can spend the game hiding and sealing with Wendy.

A couple Investigators with lousy Special Abilities are now cherished merely for having "differently awesome" Skill Stats. Ashcan Pete's Sneak is a LOT more useful in Innsmouth since he also has excellent Will and Fight. Pete is one of the best Innsmouth Street Sweepers, especially if he still has Duke. Rita is just as effective as an Innsmouth Sweeper, and a hell of a lot faster.

Sister Mary? Two words: Personal Story. 'Nuff said.

flamethrower49 said:

Jeff's first character was Dexter. He got drunk (both Jeff and Dexter) and managed to win a fist-fight against a Flying Polyp. He loved the character ever since, and has requested that one of his characters be Dexter on more than one occasion.

this might sound like a silly question, but we have all the expansions and we have a slight disagreement. Do we add all the expansion cards in, or just the ones relevant to the expansion that we are playing?

Mordak said:

Official Answer: Whatever you want! There are many people who play with all of the expansions they own, and there are just as many who only shuffle in one set at a time. Or they may play with all of the investigator cards, but tailor the mythos for theme. Still others cut cards they don't like out of different decks.

This is just one of the benefits of this almost infinitely customizable game. The downside, of course, would be setup time, if you alter it drastically from game to game.

I own the three small expansions, and typically play with all of the cards. I pretty much always intend to play with all the investigator cards, even if somewhere down the line I don't include the mythos or encounter cards from different sets. I did cut a few cards out of the unique item deck.

Thanks, I guess we take a vote then and see what everyone want to do.

Great game, we haven't stated the campian yet, playing through the dungeons first.

I've got all the expansions apart from Dark Pharoh. Innsmouth Horror I think is my favourite. Kinsport I least like.

We play with all the expansions I own, apart from Kingsport which we don'tinclude very often these days. Besides, our table isnt really big enough for all the extra boards!

Oh and I enjoy playing with Dexter, I have more luck with him than most!

Ok, I'm just going to say that I personally don't feel too strongly about Dexter Drake one way or the other, but many in my group consider him to be the next best thing since sliced bread.

This is due mostly to the fact that in a handful of games he's managed to get the necronomicon, the tome that reduces casting cost by 1, and somehow manages to be in a game or situation that gets the sanity he does spend or loose reduced or replaced relatively quickly. Duke, The shrink, the horn, etc etc.

Just this last game against Tsathoggua, he ended up with the necronomicon, duke, the tome that reduces cost of cast by 1, professor armitage, jim slipped him the horn, and he got lore+1 skill and the skill that makes all lore skill successes a bit easier (the 3=4, 4=5 thing) as well as the motorcycle. (Which is a big deal since he can use the necronomicon, then move still to gather stuff or pass off the spells he's got repeats of)

Suffice it to say he was a full blown mystical beat stick.

MY personal fav character isn't an alltogether very powerful one, but one I've had a lot of good luck and good fun with. Diana Stanely. Stuff goes bad, she gets better. Can't hate that...mostly cuz stuff ALWAYS goes bad.

On Dexter Drake being awesome with a lot of loot: that much stuff would make any caster powerful. That said, I do like Dexter and he's certainly improved with his personal story, but saying that he's great when he gets enough equipment isn't saying much in his favour.