So I am seeing that there are replacement cards included in the hour of the huntress. What exactly does that mean? Not just alternate art but different abilities or something?

Is this the only case of gameplay affecting things not being sold in packs? Or are there other books out there with cards stuck inside? Or some other way I managed to miss out on?

The Alt art investigator cards are just that: alternate art. The printed stats, abilities, and deck building guidelines remain the same. The backstory on the back is the only other thing that is different. On the Alt art cards, the background text mirrors the matching books description.

The player cards are signature cards with the "replacement" keyword. In the case of Jenny Barnes, you can either use her default signatures (Jenny's Twin .45s/Searching for Izzy), her replacements (Green Man Medallion/Sacrificial Beast), or all four cards. As it stands right now, if you were to build a Norman Withers deck, you can only use his replacement signatures (Split the Angle/Vengeful Hound). This is because deluxe expansion with Norman is not yet released with his default signatures listed on the investigator card (Livre d'Eibon/ The Harbinger).

There was also a special offer for the Investigators of Arkham Horror book preorders that gave a Marie Lambeau card (she hasn't turned up in the "official" game yet.

My completist-collector side really hates promos distributed like this.

So are the marie Lambeau cards replacement ones as well? Or were they just more of a preview than anything else?

Looks like I got to do some hunting down of books I guess

56 minutes ago, taylorcowbell said:

So are the marie Lambeau cards replacement ones as well? Or were they just more of a preview than anything else?

Looks like I got to do some hunting down of books I guess

Marie is just a preview.

Not too hard to hunt down - shops should have them, or they're available to order direct from FFG (although a lot of people find their shipping costs obnoxious).

5 hours ago, Buhallin said:

Marie is just a preview.

Not too hard to hunt down - shops should have them, or they're available to order direct from FFG (although a lot of people find their shipping costs obnoxious).

I believe the Marie Lambeau preview cards are for the Investigators of Arkham Horror pre-order only. The pre-order has bonus material. However, Marie Lambeau should appear in a forthcoming deluxe expansion box. Also, if the novellas do well enough, there will be more back story and replacement cards coming, I would assume.

3 hours ago, Syrmon said:

I believe the Marie Lambeau preview cards are for the Investigators of Arkham Horror pre-order only. The pre-order has bonus material. However, Marie Lambeau should appear in a forthcoming deluxe expansion box. Also, if the novellas do well enough, there will be more back story and replacement cards coming, I would assume.

We already know of five titles thanks to a leak from a Russian (?) distributor. Roland (The Dirge of Reason) is known thanks to some of his cards included in Jenny's book in error. The other two are To Fight the Black Wind and The Deep Gate. Someone else put forward a solid argument that Black Wind is Akachi, and my half-assed guess is that The Deep Gate is Silas Marsh.

I hope that Marie Lambeau is part of the next cycle. I only found out about Investigators of Arkham after I missed my chance to get her as a bonus card. That did nothing to stop me from buying the book.

I have mixed feelings on the alternate investigators with the new books. I'd buy the books with or without the card so they just end up being a nice bonus for me. But it sucks for those that want the cards but have no interest in reading. They end up paying more than a mythos pack just for a single investigator.

The situation with the latest book is even worse since it is the only way to play as Norman Withers. It would suck to find out the only way to play your favorite character, for an unknown period of time, is by buying a book to get them. But that probably isn't that big of a deal since people would probably want to buy the book since it has the favorite character as a lead.

I'm hoping the next cycle will include Marie, Norman, and one completely new investigator along with two more established ones.

On 28/12/2017 at 3:10 PM, BD Flory said:

We already know of five titles thanks to a leak from a Russian (?) distributor. Roland (The Dirge of Reason) is known thanks to some of his cards included in Jenny's book in error. The other two are To Fight the Black Wind and The Deep Gate. Someone else put forward a solid argument that Black Wind is Akachi, and my half-assed guess is that The Deep Gate is Silas Marsh.

I was really hoping there would be a skids book. He needs help more than any other gator, a new sig could be great for him.

He’s also the only ‘traditional’ rogue type we have so far (i.e. sneaky criminal scoundrel type), which would be great flavour for a book.

It would be really cool if the current line of novellas highlighted an investigator from each class.

On 1/1/2018 at 4:36 PM, TechnoGolem said:

I hope that Marie Lambeau is part of the next cycle. I only found out about Investigators of Arkham after I missed my chance to get her as a bonus card. That did nothing to stop me from buying the book.

Dido to all of this.