Sister Mary has always been one of my favorite investigators, even before we added personal stories in the mix. She's pretty challenging to use, and there's nothing sweeter than a nun shotgunning shoggoths from a motorcycle. However, after just finishing a conversation with a friend, I realize I might be mistaken about something. The text on her victory card says: Once per turn, Sister Mary may exhaust this card to re-roll a die rolled during the Upkeep Phase. Is this limited exclusively to dice she rolls herself, or can she use it to give other players the re-roll? I question this, because judging by other cards that affect other investigators, it seems it should say something like: Sister Mary may exhaust this card to re-roll a die rolled by an investigator during the Upkeep Phase. We've been playing that she could grant the re-roll to whomever she pleases, because it just seems to fit, given that the condition for passing requires other investigators to get blessed, and the card is about maintaining blessings and such. It has teamwork written all over it. Besides, some players might not want to spend their trophies on a blessing without the insurance that they'll be able to hold onto it a little longer. Without Mary's personal story coming into effect, our group mostly views blessings as a waste of trophies, preferring to spend them on clue tokens, deputization, or allies.

So have we been doing it right, or is the card limited to herself only? She'll still be one of my favorites either way. It'd just be nice if she could continue to spread the love around is all.

Erm, I actually play that it applies to anybody. I agree that "a die rolled..." is unclear, but I regard one of Darrel Simmons's dice as "a die."

Presumably it's anybody. Unless the card was written badly.

Funny. Sister Mary is my least favorite investigator. No money, generally useless ability, barely any items, 4 lore for a spellcaster...

I had interpreted it the same way as you guys, but now that I think about it, doesn't the game terminology imply that players only ever roll their own dice? (e.g. Mandy doesn't re-roll the dice herself, but allows the target investigator to re-roll, the Lucky Cigarette Case can presumably only be used on one's own checks, etc)

Okay then, seems everyone has the same idea. Thanks for the input. Until the upcoming FAQ says otherwise, we'll continue to play as we have been playing.

kroen said:

I'll be the first to say that Sister Mary is far from the best investigator. Her usefulness is basically hinged on how long you can hold onto that blessing. I must be incredibly lucky or something, but I've only ever lost her blessing a handful of times, and only after a decent number of turns have passed. But the reason I like her isn't just because of game mechanics, I like her because of her character. I like the flavor she has. She's an underdog! And I love playing as underdogs. And then her personal story makes me like her even more, especially now that I've received verification that I've been playing her correctly. Her just being there encourages others to get blessed, and once enough of them do get blessed, she herself gets another blessing if she lost it already, and then she can help everyone hold onto their blessings. Sister Mary is a team player.

My other favorite investigator is Luke Robinson. He's still not the most powerful, but his ability is considerably better than poor Mary's. His speed is shabby, but he can use the gates to get around thanks to his Gate Box. His personal story lets him fish for any ally in the deck, so he can pick up one to amend his stats as needed. And if he becomes Captain of the White Ship and/or gets his hands on a Find Gate spell, he turns into a clue-churning, gate-sealing dynamo. But on top of that, I love his back story. He's from the Dreamlands! That's awesome! He reminds me so much of the protagonist from 'The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath.' And, seeing how the Underworld and Unknown Kadath are both otherworld locations in the Kingsport expansion, this only encourages that idea.

Luke is actually very powerful. He technically needs only 3 clues to seal a gate- his ability would grant him the other 2 clues. Also, as you said, with Captain of the White Ship that guy is INSANE. you can basically travel back and forth between the first areas of good other worlds, hoarding clues and sealing gates.

p.s. small question regarding Captain of the White Ship: can you move to the same first area of other world you're in? so if at the beginning of your movement you're in dreamlands area 1, for example, can you move to dreamlands area 1? if the answer is "yes", will such act grant Luke a clue token?

Oh, I'm well aware that Luke is powerful. I just wanted to state that while I love his ability, it's not the only reason I enjoy playing him.

The White Ship states that "If you are in Arkham or an Other World, you may move to the first area of any Other World instead of your regular movement." So technically yes, you could use the White Ship to stay in the same first area of a single Other World. However, Luke's ability is triggered when he enters a new Other World area. Since he's already there, then no, he would not receive the clue token. What you'd basically be doing is delaying yourself. Luke doesn't receive clues every round he spends in an Other World area, only whenever he moves to a new one.

However, you could allow yourself to progress to the second area of the Other World. Then, instead of returning to Arkham the next turn, you could move back to the first area of that Other World. In such a case, Luke would receive the clue token.

I thought that if you use the white ship to move to the same area of the same other world then you basically re-enter it. But as you said it doesn't matter, he can still spend the enire the game in the dreamlands once he has the white ship, collecting clues and getting out to any gate in arkham and sealing it. pretty potent.

I would have thought that 'Sister Mary may' implies that it only applies to herself.

kroen said:

I wouldn't necessarily call her ability generally useless... It's not that great, but it comes pretty handy in a game against Yog-Sothoth. I lost a lot of investigators by being knocked out or going insane in an other world until I drew Mary.

how can she cast spells, anyway? isn't witchcraft forbidden in the bible?

[Kroen]

It's not for real, it's just some brain chemistry actually

And when god sees Cthulhu, he allows his personal followers to use all it need to defeat that big green stinky creature.

A nun's gonna do what a nun's gonna do !

[/kroen]

I apply Sister Mary's PS only to herself.

kroen said:

Probably. But, many people with mundane occupations somehow start with spells (the physician starts with two, as though magic is more reliable than medical treatment), so I guess you have to take some things with a grain of salt. It's a way of life in Arkham.

Technically she should have cleric spells, but the last thing I want is a new deck of cards

I suppose you could restrict Mary to only "Christian type" spells, such as Heal, Bless, etc. You could also throw in Cloud Memory, Greater Banishment, Revelation of Script, and maybe others. Just make a house rule that says whenever she draws a spell, she draws until she find the first "allowable" spell. It might actually make her more powerful.

avec said:

That's a pretty interesting idea. I'll have to try that out sometime.

I duno in the Lovecraft universe there is little proof that God actually exists. Besides the church and sorcery have gone hand in hand for centuries, it's not always been the churches policy to stamp out that type of thing and a lot of the attitude towards magic can change when you ask which church you happen to be looking at.

However you slice it, a nun in 1926 New England who goes around summoning Shantaks is weird. Also, even if God doesn't necessarily exist, it's "proven" that you can get a blessing at the South Church that really works. And Mary's guardian angel is real.

To be fair anyone summoning shantaks is weird

Who knows, maybe in Arkham that sort of thing doesn't even raise an eyebrow

"A Shoggoth on the roof
Sounds crazy - no, certifiably insane!
But here in our little village of Arkham, Massachutes, you might say every one of us has a Shoggoth on the roof
And I'm not speaking of metaphorically!
It's not easy having a... malevolent shapeless monster like that, hanging over your head, but there it is!
Arkham is the home of many strange things
A big monster like that on such a pointy roof
You may ask: How does it stay up there, if it's so difficult?
That, I can tell you in one word: Tentacles!"

Veet said:

They're so cool... purring in the moonlight...