https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/12/7/ire-of-the-void/

I would have liked to have seen his deckbuilding requirements, but still happy to have new investigator.

That doesn't mean we can't speculate on Normans deck building.

Guardian is out. So is Rogue. He could be a Survivor, but Minh makes me think that is out. Mystic would seem most likely, but Daisy is there.

My thought is that outside of Seeker, he will be able to take cards with a certain keyword. Most likely a keyword like Spell (see his signature card) up to a certain level.

This guy also makes me think the next expansion is going to be one themed around the star being in the right place...

So Arkham finally gets a Gandalf Guy. Nice.

1 hour ago, Jobu said:

That doesn't mean we can't speculate on Normans deck building.

Guardian is out. So is Rogue. He could be a Survivor, but Minh makes me think that is out. Mystic would seem most likely, but Daisy is there.

My thought is that outside of Seeker, he will be able to take cards with a certain keyword. Most likely a keyword like Spell (see his signature card) up to a certain level.

This guy also makes me think the next expansion is going to be one themed around the star being in the right place...

Science traited, perhaps? Or Miskatonic . Being an astronomer, I could also see him getting Mystic level 0, maybe level 1.

1 hour ago, Network57 said:

Science traited, perhaps? Or Miskatonic . Being an astronomer, I could also see him getting Mystic level 0, maybe level 1.

I could see Insight or Talent as well as the two you mentioned except, right now, most of the insights are already in Seeker and there are a few oddball talents for him like physical training that don't quite gel with his character. Because his signature is a spell, I could also see him packing spells specifically (which would allow him to take implant suggestion or whatever is coming for other classes) but deny him some of the mystic allies and other non-spell (mostly arcane) assets.

Ok so now they release new investigators with the books as well, not only alternative ones... really trying to get people that cannot resist having it all... interesting

2 hours ago, ParinorB said:

Ok so now they release new investigators with the books as well, not only alternative ones... really trying to get people that cannot resist having it all... interesting

Notice that his cards are replacements just like Jenny's. He just happens to be dropping before his associated box rather than after. It's probably safe to assume he's in the next deluxe (though we thought that with Marie, too...).

What's safe to assume is that he'll be in a yet unpublished deluxe, not necessarily the next one, just like Marie.

Yeah, I guess that is to be expected. And good point about Marie. So, I wasn't correct - with Marie they had released a previously unreleased investigator

By the way, does the +X for the star-token get updated after you swapped the card? The way, the sentence reads, I wasn't sure but I am expecting it should

32 minutes ago, ParinorB said:

By the way, does the +X for the star-token get updated after you swapped the card? The way, the sentence reads, I wasn't sure but I am expecting it should

From the skill test timing sequence:

Quote

ST.3 Reveal chaos token.
ST.4 Resolve chaos symbol effect(s).
ST.5 Determine investigator’s modified skill value.

You resolve the effect (optionally swapping the card), then you apply the modifier. So I lean heavily on having the modifier based on the new (visible) card (the card that was there, being in your hand, is now hidden).

The way i read it is that you get to change the card first then apply the x for the current card.

I'm surprised that the Vengeful Hound isn't " Prey - Norman Withers only." Is this an error? Unless I'm mistaken all of the other weakness enemies are bearer only.

1 hour ago, Assussanni said:

I'm surprised that the Vengeful Hound isn't " Prey - Norman Withers only." Is this an error? Unless I'm mistaken all of the other weakness enemies are bearer only.

I think Yorick is the only other investigator that has a signature weakness enemy. His does say "Prey - William Yorick only" but I guess that's not a guarantee that all signature weakness enemies will be like that.

Jenny's replacement weakness is an enemy (without a Prey instruction at all). There are also 4 enemy basic weakness, all with " Prey - Bearer only". Mechanically, Vengeful Hound's Prey instruction means that it won't ignore the other investigators, though it will engage Norman if possible.

Even though he doesn't have prey, bear in mind that Norman has an agility of 1, so if he draws his weakness and nobody is around, he's going to have a tough time dealing with it in general. I find it unlikely that he's going to evade it, (edit: move), and then it will engage someone else next turn. Functionally, he'll either have the option to kill it (if possible) or someone will have to engage it off of him anyway.

Vengeful Hound does have Prey - Norman Withers. The Hound doesn't have Prey - Norman Withers Only. Even if he evades it, it will reengage with him if he is in the same space even if other investigators are there.

It also spawns in the same space as Norman, so it will automatically engage him when drawn or at the top of deck.

I think it will be a lot like The Thing That Follows in my Daisy deck. Some other investigator will handle it for him/run intercept.

Another investigator could engage and evade it. Or you could play Mind over Matter to evade the enemy with Norman's 5 intellect. Or you could commit lots of icons (Inquiring Mind looks like a good start).

@Jobu Note that The Thing That Follows does have " Prey - Bearer only", so will completely ignore other investigators (unless they deliberately engage it).

Split the angle seems very strong. It's annoying having to buy a book to get this card. I'd much rather there was a new stand alone adventure with these new investigators.

25 minutes ago, Khudzlin said:

Another investigator could engage and evade it. Or you could play Mind over Matter to evade the enemy with Norman's 5 intellect. Or you could commit lots of icons (Inquiring Mind looks like a good start).

@Jobu Note that The Thing That Follows does have " Prey - Bearer only", so will completely ignore other investigators (unless they deliberately engage it).

I am aware since its in my current deck and didn't imply otherwise. I am saying that the card will most likely be handled the same way (other characters taking care of it for the Seeker). There are other options as well, but I think that is how it will usually play out.

He's just like Gandalf from LOTR LCG - ?

4 will and 5 intellect - very strong too.

1 hour ago, Khudzlin said:

Jenny's replacement weakness is an enemy (without a Prey instruction at all). There are also 4 enemy basic weakness, all with " Prey - Bearer only". Mechanically, Vengeful Hound's Prey instruction means that it won't ignore the other investigators, though it will engage Norman if possible.

58 minutes ago, Jobu said:

Vengeful Hound does have Prey - Norman Withers. The Hound doesn't have Prey - Norman Withers Only. Even if he evades it, it will reengage with him if he is in the same space even if other investigators are there.

It also spawns in the same space as Norman, so it will automatically engage him when drawn or at the top of deck.

I think it will be a lot like The Thing That Follows in my Daisy deck. Some other investigator will handle it for him/run intercept.

Thanks for the replies. I've just noticed that all the " Prey - Bearer Only" weaknesses also have Hunter, whereas the Vengeful Hound does not, which maybe explains the lack of an "only" in its prey instructions.

He could mirror Akachi, taking instead "Uses (Secrets)" and Science. That's a limited pool, but so has Akachi's been so far.

Edit: he seems like a pure scientist who has accidentally stumbled upon some spookier stuff, as opposed to Daisy who has delved much more deeply.

45 minutes ago, Assussanni said:

Thanks for the replies. I've just noticed that all the " Prey - Bearer Only" weaknesses also have Hunter, whereas the Vengeful Hound does not, which maybe explains the lack of an "only" in its prey instructions.

"only" has a specific rule under "Prey" in the Rules reference, and that's effectively what it means. The enemy will not move toward or engage anyone but the bearer.

This does imply that if the bearer is eliminated, "Bearer Only" enemies will no longer engage or hunt anyone, whereas Vengeful Hound will (engage, that is -- it doesn't hunt).