Going to start a new campaign soon with 2 players, probably core including POD side scenarios. The other player has never played this type of game before so for them I want to construct the easiest to play deck that has the most visible effects so they can see their contributions, and a second deck for myself that will compliment it. Which Investigators and cards would you recommend?

I would definitely put Roland as one of the 2 as he can both Investigate and Fight quite well.

The difficulty there is that I would recommend him as the new player as he is easy to use (already has good stats in Combat and pretty good Investigation - awesome if he also has a flashlight or an ally to boost his stat). Also, since they are good at both, it gives them more options and allows them more options while playing - without needing to rely on their hand.

I'd also recommend you playing him as he's capable of running the show on his own so you can do whichever action the other player isn't doing or whose character isn't great with.

What I typically do is let them pick a character (if they don't want to read them, I just tell them to pick whichever looks the most fun or has the best story!). If they don't choose Roland, I choose him. If they do, I choose Agnes as I love spells.

If you are planning to give them the option to choose, you may be best off taking Skids and Daisy out of the mix unless you have a 2nd core set since Roland and Skids both use Guardian cards and Roland and Daisy use Seeker cards and a single core set is not enough to have such overlap - without expansions.

But, if they typically love spellcasters, they'll be fine playing Agnes as you'll be able to pick up the slack. And, it lets them have fun with those spells as they'll have a little more wiggle room. (Daisy is fine here instead of Agnes, but you'll need a second core set if you are playing her with Roland at the same time since they both use Seeker cards).

I have nothing against Wendy. I just haven't played with her yet - only one I haven't played with. I dislike that she has such high Willpower without access to Mystic cards though. I understand why she does since her ability is so great, but it definitely makes her tougher to play well.

So, in summary - I prefer Roland/Agnes or Roland/Daisy or Roland/Wendy with new players - with Roland/Agnes being my personal favorite for playing with new people.

Since I have 2 core sets and quite a bit of experience, I let them choose any (even Daisy or Skids) and will choose Roland if they don't (Agnes or Daisy otherwise).

And, sorry for going so hard on the investigator choices, I didn't even mention the options!

I actually go against the rules for this one.

I either construct a deck for them that I feel is pretty good and varied enough to get a taste of most types of cards or I just make them the recommended starter deck since it is the most varied.

The 2nd option is actually my preference (starter deck). If you do not have a 2nd core set, you wouldn't have many options until Dunwich anyway. Plus, it lets them experience as many different cards as possible.

Then, once the first scenario completes, I let them fully reconstruct their decks for the 2nd scenario since they now have a feel for it. The upgrades are still handled the same way.

So basically, for that first scenario, I let them swap level zero for other level zero cards without spending experience (usually costs 1 xp per level zero swap). It lets them make the deck their own. They have no idea what is coming in the next couple of scenarios, so I find it really does not have much of an effect while playing the base game. Plus I only let them do this after playing that 1st scenario.

That way, they also get to experience created a deck (instead of just swapping out a single card).

43 minutes ago, xuzuthor said:

And, sorry for going so hard on the investigator choices, I didn't even mention the options!

I actually go against the rules for this one.

I either construct a deck for them that I feel is pretty good and varied enough to get a taste of most types of cards or I just make them the recommended starter deck since it is the most varied.

The 2nd option is actually my preference (starter deck). If you do not have a 2nd core set, you wouldn't have many options until Dunwich anyway. Plus, it lets them experience as many different cards as possible.

Then, once the first scenario completes, I let them fully reconstruct their decks for the 2nd scenario since they now have a feel for it. The upgrades are still handled the same way.

So basically, for that first scenario, I let them swap level zero for other level zero cards without spending experience (usually costs 1 xp per level zero swap). It lets them make the deck their own. They have no idea what is coming in the next couple of scenarios, so I find it really does not have much of an effect while playing the base game. Plus I only let them do this after playing that 1st scenario.

That way, they also get to experience created a deck (instead of just swapping out a single card).

I have all sets, although only 1 core as I am filled with intense rage at the thought of having to buy an entire game a second time in order to play it because FF couldn't be bothered to included $0.10 more cards in it.

I like the idea of changing the deck after the first scenario, but it won't work in this case. If we go on to Dunwich they should have enough experience by then to enjoy the deck crafting and be not horrible at it.