Hi fellow investigators of the mythos,

I've put a new episode up of Drawn to the Flame - episode 8, all about spells, and I thought I'd let you know. http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/episode-8-spells.html <- lots of information here, including iTunes link, direct download link, RSS subscription links, and links to facebook/twitter/emailing us. Thank you for listening, for commenting, and for being such a cool community to be a part of! *high five* *tangles with tentacle* *sucked into the void* *never the same again*

Drawn to the Flame

2 Drawn 2 Flame

Drawn to the Flame: Arkham Drift

Drawn & Flame

Drawn 5

Drawn & Flame 6

Flame 7

The Fate of the Flame

Somehow I missed the Essex County Express reaction podcast, let's go over that first!

I know it's extremely unfair to compare Frank's first reactions to my opinions with a couple of games with those cards under my belt, but here goes anyway...

Bandolier is probably the card I was most excited about in the pack, but so far it hasn't yet lived up to my expectations. It can be useful but not nearly as game changing as I expected. It's okay, maybe I expected too much.

Stand Together on the other hand is incredible. Played at the right time, it essentially saves 7 actions.

Switchblade (upgraded) is great, I've played it on Jenny and seen it on Skids, it's a nice card, handy in a pinch with a nice combat bonus. I think this is what everyone was looking for from the Switchblade.

I'm Outta Here! is a bit of an oddball isn't it? Certainly there are times when this could be really handy, but not for the majority of missions so far. I think this is a good card to run if you are also running Adaptable, so you can use it as needed and take it out of your deck when it's not useful. Without Adaptable, I don't think I put this in a deck,

Art Student I love and it goes really well in Charisma ally cycling decks. I've used her in a Jim charisma deck and found her very good as an extra source of cheap hp/sanity and as clue support.

I feel both the survivor cards are a bit of a bust. Have yet to really see the value of either one. I'd probably rather have a Magnifying Glass than a Newspaper most of the time, and Lure only works on certain enemies, and only then for 1 turn, and I have to spend an XP on it, meh.

What a shame that the spells in this pack didn't make it quite in time for the Spell podcast, because they're both fantastic. Upgraded Shriveling is wonderful, and I am a huge fan of Hypnotic Gaze, which allows your casters much greater staying power against tough enemies.

For spells I think you've hit the nail on the head most of the time, but I'll just add that I'm also sort of down on Scrying.

This is a fine example of a card that doesn't scale well. It's borderline overpowered in solo games, allowing you to know everything the encounter deck will throw at you for a full 3 turns (unless you hit a Surge card or have to shuffle or something like that). In 2 player its use is questionable, and by the time you get to 4 player you don't even get to know what the entirety of the next mythos phase is going to be. FFG has already done scaling in this game and it is working fine, with certain locations having so many clues per investigator. I don't know why they didn't apply the same logic to Scrying and say you look at 2 cards per investigator, or something.

To make matters worse, each Scrying is an action, plus the resource and action to put the card down in the first place. If you use all 3 charges of scrying you've spent 4 actions and a resource on it, which means that you almost *have* to have hit that sort of game-winning amazing scenario where your scrying saves the day, or else you are quite far behind. I would have liked to see this as a 1/turn quick action, even if that meant raising cost. It's a card that's almost great, and just misses the mark at being useful and balanced. Such a shame really. Well, there is hope for an Upgraded Scrying at some point that they can maybe fix some of these issues.

Drawn to the Flame 2: Eldritch Boogaloo

Anyways, keep up the great work, this podcast is a must listen with every new episode.

On 24.3.2017 at 6:05 PM, awp832 said:

For spells I think you've hit the nail on the head most of the time, but I'll just add that I'm also sort of down on Scrying.

This is a fine example of a card that doesn't scale well. It's borderline overpowered in solo games, allowing you to know everything the encounter deck will throw at you for a full 3 turns (unless you hit a Surge card or have to shuffle or something like that). In 2 player its use is questionable, and by the time you get to 4 player you don't even get to know what the entirety of the next mythos phase is going to be.

In multiplayer you have better change to divide those cards. Ok crasping hands goes to the fastest Person in the Group and the big monster to best fighter and the nasty treachery to the Magic user who has counterspell in her hand.

remember that you can chose to whom you deal each of those examined cards. The Scrying is definitely better in bigger parties!

@cosined thank you kindly. That's a very nice thing to take the time to say!

@Hannibal_pjv I take your point about scrying in larger groups, but in four-player, you're only seeing the top 3 cards, so the fourth player will always be going blind. Yes, there can be some treachery/enemy selection going on, but personaly I've not found it to be that impactful. Yesterday, for instance, I scried and saw two Terror from Beyond. No matter which way I organised that pair, we were going to lose hard - even cancelling one with a ward of protection wouldn't stop the other from triggering and making us lose two card types (cancellation was with the earlier player in our group). But it's a small point I think. I'm sure skilful play will reward a good scryer!

@awp832 always appreciate your comments and responses. Thank you for taking the time to write. Totally agree on Stand Together - played it four times in two scenarios a couple of days ago and just adored it. SUCH POWER. And lucky that the spells in ECE did make the spells ep, after all! As for scrying: two weenie points (and not disagreements with your comments) - 1) we know already that there'll be an investigator who can trigger spell actions for free (like Daisy can with tome actions). Its utility definitely ramps up then. 2) an upgraded scrying, allowing an investigator to see 4, 5, even 6 cards, would definitely become more powerful. If its cost remained the same (a la upgraded shrivelling) or went up by 1 (a la upgraded rite of seeking), that could be very potent indeed. But... we wait and see!

On 3/23/2017 at 9:15 PM, Network57 said:

Drawn to the Flame

2 Drawn 2 Flame

Drawn to the Flame: Arkham Drift

Drawn & Flame

Drawn 5

Drawn & Flame 6

Flame 7

The Fate of the Flame

AMAZING

9 hours ago, zooeyglass said:

Yesterday, for instance, I scried and saw two Terror from Beyond. No matter which way I organised that pair, we were going to lose hard - even cancelling one with a ward of protection wouldn't stop the other from triggering and making us lose two card types (cancellation was with the earlier player in our group). But it's a small point I think. I'm sure skilful play will reward a good scryer!

Hey, can I just confirm why you think you'd lose two card types? The reason I ask is that my regular play buddy misread this card, thinking you lost two types of card straight off. In fact, you lose one type of card only. It states that if you pull a second one in the same phase, you nominate two types of card, but that's just to stop you nominating the same type twice, thus negating the second card.

For instance, the first Terror From Beyond gets drawn and makes you choose, you pick Skills. Everyone loses their skill cards. Your next investigator pulls a second one, they pick Skills and Events, you all lose all your event cards, but you've already lost your skill cards. That's why this card is a little wonky in how it's worded.

If you knew all that already and I've got the wrong end of the stick, feel free to ignore!

On 3/24/2017 at 8:42 AM, awp832 said:

I feel both the survivor cards are a bit of a bust. Have yet to really see the value of either one. I'd probably rather have a Magnifying Glass than a Newspaper most of the time, and Lure only works on certain enemies, and only then for 1 turn, and I have to spend an XP on it, meh.

I get the meh on Lure, seems very conditional, but Newspaper could be very valuable in certain scenarios where you are spending clues as fast as you are finding them. Both Rougarou and Carnevale do this. In Rougarou you have to spend a clue to engage it and in Carnevale you have to spend two clues to peek under a masked carnevale-goer AND you have to spend a clue to flip them over when you get to their location.

1 hour ago, mwmcintyre said:

I get the meh on Lure, seems very conditional, but Newspaper could be very valuable in certain scenarios where you are spending clues as fast as you are finding them. Both Rougarou and Carnevale do this. In Rougarou you have to spend a clue to engage it and in Carnevale you have to spend two clues to peek under a masked carnevale-goer AND you have to spend a clue to flip them over when you get to their location.

haha, I don't have those packs, so I'm sure that's part of it!

9 hours ago, General Zodd said:

Hey, can I just confirm why you think you'd lose two card types? The reason I ask is that my regular play buddy misread this card, thinking you lost two types of card straight off. In fact, you lose one type of card only. It states that if you pull a second one in the same phase, you nominate two types of card, but that's just to stop you nominating the same type twice, thus negating the second card.

For instance, the first Terror From Beyond gets drawn and makes you choose, you pick Skills. Everyone loses their skill cards. Your next investigator pulls a second one, they pick Skills and Events, you all lose all your event cards, but you've already lost your skill cards. That's why this card is a little wonky in how it's worded.

If you knew all that already and I've got the wrong end of the stick, feel free to ignore!

You've got it right just not followed your own reasoning to the end. Here are the two possible scenarios:

1) I draw TfB, name skills. We all lose our skill cards. My buddy draws a second TfB & names skills and events. Conclusion: we've all lost all skills and all events.

2) I draw TfB & play Ward of Protection. My buddy draws the second TfB and, since it's the second TfB this phase (as Ward doesn't cancel the card, just the revelation effect), he still has to name two card types. He names skills and events - conclusion, we've all lost all skills and events.

In both situations the outcome is the same. You're completely right that a second player would name the same type as the first player, but in either situation we're still all losing two card types.

14 hours ago, zooeyglass said:

You've got it right just not followed your own reasoning to the end. Here are the two possible scenarios:

1) I draw TfB, name skills. We all lose our skill cards. My buddy draws a second TfB & names skills and events. Conclusion: we've all lost all skills and all events.

2) I draw TfB & play Ward of Protection. My buddy draws the second TfB and, since it's the second TfB this phase (as Ward doesn't cancel the card, just the revelation effect), he still has to name two card types. He names skills and events - conclusion, we've all lost all skills and events.

In both situations the outcome is the same. You're completely right that a second player would name the same type as the first player, but in either situation we're still all losing two card types.

Ah, I understand now, I was thinking that Ward of Protection just gets rid of the card, I hadn't realised it still counted for the purposes of a second one being drawn. Moral of the story, don't Ward of Protection TfB unless you've already seen it this phase, I guess!

Thanks for the clarification. Plus, great work on the podcast, really enjoying it!

11 hours ago, General Zodd said:

Ah, I understand now, I was thinking that Ward of Protection just gets rid of the card, I hadn't realised it still counted for the purposes of a second one being drawn. Moral of the story, don't Ward of Protection TfB unless you've already seen it this phase, I guess!

Thanks for the clarification. Plus, great work on the podcast, really enjoying it!

Thank you kindly. Yeah, full clarification of my situation: I scried with Jim, saw Frozen in Fear, TfB, TfB. I had the Ward of Protection. Zoey was going to draw before me, Duke after me. So I spent a while being what I thought was smart working out if I cancelled one TfB, the other wouldn't take out two card types. Alas, when the second one was drawn by Duke, I realised the error of my ways...

Aaaaaaand episode 9 is up, in which Peter and I talk about all of two whole cards! http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/episode-9-esoteric-devices-i.html

7 hours ago, zooeyglass said:

Aaaaaaand episode 9 is up, in which Peter and I talk about all of two whole cards! http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/episode-9-esoteric-devices-i.html

Awesome cast! Can I make a request for the next installment? The Ritual Candles. I think people don't quite understand what they're good for, or severely overestimate their power. I'd be glad to share my 20 spreadsheets of statistics for those.

12 hours ago, Network57 said:

Awesome cast! Can I make a request for the next installment? The Ritual Candles. I think people don't quite understand what they're good for, or severely overestimate their power. I'd be glad to share my 20 spreadsheets of statistics for those.

Hoooooo boy! I wanna hear your thoughts on the candles for sure - and yes, the spreadsheets would be very very welcome too. Email the podcast, perhaps?? Thanks man!

Aaaaaaand here's episode 10, in which I get my first look at the player cards of Blood on the Altar and try to make sense of them. http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/episode-10-franks-first-look-at-blood.html <- direct download, itunes, all there. Hope you like it. It's just a first impression cast, really, but I enjoyed doing it!

Love hearing your casts, as always. I'm really thrilled too about the different ways you can start to branch out now by using your first big chunk of XP, you have to choose if you want several smaller upgrades or if you want to go for a big sort of deck-defining card like Charisma or Higher Education. I'm really looking forward to playing with some of these cards too, especially the talent ones (and blood pact). And for what it's worth, I don't think you should concern yourself with remaining 100% spoiler free unless you simply prefer it that way.

Higher Education seems definitely one of the best in the pack. I really dont find it difficult as a Seeker to keep 5 cards in hand most of the time, and this is just so good on Rex who really wants to succeed by 2. but I also think this card really brings Daisy back into the mix in a big way. I think that at the Clue getting game, Daisy was largely surpassed by Rex to the extent that I hardly ever played Daisy when I chose a Seeker, but Higher Education makes Daisy's spellcasting so much more potent, she could potentially defend herself fairly well now. Rex can go Wizard-Rex too which would be interesting, but certainly it's easier to do the spellcasting thing with Daisy because she starts with those mystic cards.

The rest of them are interesting too. I like Scrapper but I'm concerned that Survivors are just too poor to make good use of it. Still quite useful but I'm not sure if I want to dedicate my first 3 xp on it over my other options. Blood Pact doesn't force an advancement of the agenda, so you can get some free use out of it on turns that you know the Agenda will advance anyway, and is also good for any sort of do-or-die moment where you either take down the boss monster this turn or it's all over, in that case you may as well go for broke and you just might save the day. I really like this one. Keen Eye and Streetwise are fine, solid skills that play to the strengths of each class.

I admit being a bit down on Preposterous Sketches, I'm sorry to say. Its cost is too much for my liking. If I have to spend 2 resources and an action (to play the card) to get 3 cards... that's not great to me. I figure that each resource is worth an action as well. So that's 3 "actions" to draw 3 cards, but I can already spend 3 actions to draw 3 cards just by doing the basic 'draw' action. I don't know if I'm making sense, I'm trying to say that the action economy you get by drawing 3 cards with Sketches is almost entirely offset by the lack of action economy innate to its associated resource cost.

Love Lone Wolf though, Rogues continue to get some amazing cards!

On 4/15/2017 at 4:59 AM, awp832 said:

Love hearing your casts, as always. I'm really thrilled too about the different ways you can start to branch out now by using your first big chunk of XP, you have to choose if you want several smaller upgrades or if you want to go for a big sort of deck-defining card like Charisma or Higher Education. I'm really looking forward to playing with some of these cards too, especially the talent ones (and blood pact). And for what it's worth, I don't think you should concern yourself with remaining 100% spoiler free unless you simply prefer it that way.

Higher Education seems definitely one of the best in the pack. I really dont find it difficult as a Seeker to keep 5 cards in hand most of the time, and this is just so good on Rex who really wants to succeed by 2. but I also think this card really brings Daisy back into the mix in a big way. I think that at the Clue getting game, Daisy was largely surpassed by Rex to the extent that I hardly ever played Daisy when I chose a Seeker, but Higher Education makes Daisy's spellcasting so much more potent, she could potentially defend herself fairly well now. Rex can go Wizard-Rex too which would be interesting, but certainly it's easier to do the spellcasting thing with Daisy because she starts with those mystic cards.

The rest of them are interesting too. I like Scrapper but I'm concerned that Survivors are just too poor to make good use of it. Still quite useful but I'm not sure if I want to dedicate my first 3 xp on it over my other options. Blood Pact doesn't force an advancement of the agenda, so you can get some free use out of it on turns that you know the Agenda will advance anyway, and is also good for any sort of do-or-die moment where you either take down the boss monster this turn or it's all over, in that case you may as well go for broke and you just might save the day. I really like this one. Keen Eye and Streetwise are fine, solid skills that play to the strengths of each class.

I admit being a bit down on Preposterous Sketches, I'm sorry to say. Its cost is too much for my liking. If I have to spend 2 resources and an action (to play the card) to get 3 cards... that's not great to me. I figure that each resource is worth an action as well. So that's 3 "actions" to draw 3 cards, but I can already spend 3 actions to draw 3 cards just by doing the basic 'draw' action. I don't know if I'm making sense, I'm trying to say that the action economy you get by drawing 3 cards with Sketches is almost entirely offset by the lack of action economy innate to its associated resource cost.

Love Lone Wolf though, Rogues continue to get some amazing cards!

Totally agree with digging the branching options for xp now. My current Walker/O'Toole run has them both with 4xp and toying between second Cryptic Research/Hot Streak for each, or doing something different around 2 - 3xp and saving a bit for after Blood on the Altar. As for spoilers - yeah, it's an ongoing thought experiment!

Higher Education - man oh man it's tasty. https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/1036/daisy-s-big-book-of-spells-1.0 <- this is Peter's Daisy deck geared towards spellcasting. Daisy has had such a boost for that as a result.

My first experience of scrapper has been a bit meh - just in that there's little flare to the card (no pun intended) but I like its reliability all the same. But streetwise, in Jenny, has been *amazing*. Definitely made me rethink the power of the rogue faction towards investigation and evasion.

I know the thinking around Preposterous Sketches. I think the power of the card is that it leverages one surplus (resources) and turns it into another (cards). Yes, you could just draw 3 cards for 3 actions, but then you'd have 0 actions left to play any of the cards you've drawn. If you're looking for a particular card (an xp card, perhaps), it helps with that search, sacrificing resources to speed up the search. But I think this game will always have people who are down on that transaction, and people who like leveraging it. I don't mind the discussion, to be honest!

As for Lone Wolf. May have to rename podcast "lone wolf" I love it soooo much. So powerful solo, and definitely will have a use multiplayer. Thanks as ever for your thoughts - always enjoy your posts!

On 4/14/2017 at 8:59 PM, awp832 said:

Love hearing your casts, as always. I'm really thrilled too about the different ways you can start to branch out now by using your first big chunk of XP, you have to choose if you want several smaller upgrades or if you want to go for a big sort of deck-defining card like Charisma or Higher Education. I'm really looking forward to playing with some of these cards too, especially the talent ones (and blood pact). And for what it's worth, I don't think you should concern yourself with remaining 100% spoiler free unless you simply prefer it that way.

Higher Education seems definitely one of the best in the pack. I really dont find it difficult as a Seeker to keep 5 cards in hand most of the time, and this is just so good on Rex who really wants to succeed by 2. but I also think this card really brings Daisy back into the mix in a big way. I think that at the Clue getting game, Daisy was largely surpassed by Rex to the extent that I hardly ever played Daisy when I chose a Seeker, but Higher Education makes Daisy's spellcasting so much more potent, she could potentially defend herself fairly well now. Rex can go Wizard-Rex too which would be interesting, but certainly it's easier to do the spellcasting thing with Daisy because she starts with those mystic cards.

The rest of them are interesting too. I like Scrapper but I'm concerned that Survivors are just too poor to make good use of it. Still quite useful but I'm not sure if I want to dedicate my first 3 xp on it over my other options. Blood Pact doesn't force an advancement of the agenda, so you can get some free use out of it on turns that you know the Agenda will advance anyway, and is also good for any sort of do-or-die moment where you either take down the boss monster this turn or it's all over, in that case you may as well go for broke and you just might save the day. I really like this one. Keen Eye and Streetwise are fine, solid skills that play to the strengths of each class.

I admit being a bit down on Preposterous Sketches, I'm sorry to say. Its cost is too much for my liking. If I have to spend 2 resources and an action (to play the card) to get 3 cards... that's not great to me. I figure that each resource is worth an action as well. So that's 3 "actions" to draw 3 cards, but I can already spend 3 actions to draw 3 cards just by doing the basic 'draw' action. I don't know if I'm making sense, I'm trying to say that the action economy you get by drawing 3 cards with Sketches is almost entirely offset by the lack of action economy innate to its associated resource cost.

Love Lone Wolf though, Rogues continue to get some amazing cards!

True, but with allies like Christopher you're getting resources anyways for investigating. so that card pretty much turns his ability into "draw a card" instead of "gain a resource"

23 minutes ago, Waywardpaladin said:

True, but with allies like Christopher you're getting resources anyways for investigating. so that card pretty much turns his ability into "draw a card" instead of "gain a resource"

Yeah, that was precisely my point above. Generally speaking with seeker, if you're running at a surplus of resources due to Dr Milan, having options to transform those resources into other things (cards, skill boosts) is useful!

On 4/14/2017 at 8:59 PM, awp832 said:

I think that at the Clue getting game, Daisy was largely surpassed by Rex to the extent that I hardly ever played Daisy when I chose a Seeker

(Note: Below thoughts are based on core+side quests, we're holding off on Dunwich until enough are out for us to play through without having to wait for more packs)

I think this is true, but Daisy can provide so much more support for the party. I've found that Rex tends to run out of steam late game, once the clue-gathering work is done. Since it often comes down to big fights, I've found that unless I'm holding onto I've Got a Plan (and it's often needed earlier) I've got no way to really contribute. Daisy, on the other hand, plays much more of a support role which holds value all the way through. Encyclopedia is obviously crazy good, but even Medical Texts and Old Book of Lore provide very solid late-game support. Both are solid choices, just with different strengths.

It's actually one of the things I like about the Seekers, they have the most distinct differences in their roles the two characters play. That's only going to increase with Minh, who is dramatically different from Daisy and Rex...

On Preposterous Sketches - as mentioned above, passive income changes the equation a lot. Dr. Milan is a staple, and should make it a solid choice. So does the Necronomicon for Daisy (the Museum asset), and a Burglary Rex typically has more money than it knows what to do with.

Here's episode 11 in case you're not subscribed to Drawn to the Flame http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/episode-11-agnes-baker.html

Maybe I'll start a new thread soon. But in the meantime, Peter and I discuss Agnes Baker...

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I've really been enjoying the show. Great format and insight!