18 minutes ago, CSerpent said:

She's a Grotesque Statue only better.

That's a bit harsh - she looks quite pleasant on her artwork.

2 minutes ago, dysartes said:

That's a bit harsh - she looks quite pleasant on her artwork.

I did say "better".

As promised, our first >3xp Survivor card:

Huh. So, someone explain to me how that is worth 4 XP? Especially as that also seems to hit every skill test you do during the mythos phase.

5 minutes ago, Eldan985 said:

Huh. So, someone explain to me how that is worth 4 XP? Especially as that also seems to hit every skill test you do during the mythos phase.

I think its only supposed to apply during your turn, not outside of it (like enemy or mythos phases).

It's effectively +1 on your first action and -1 on your last.

12 minutes ago, Eldan985 said:

Huh. So, someone explain to me how that is worth 4 XP? Especially as that also seems to hit every skill test you do during the mythos phase.

Though it doesn't say it, I assume it only affects tests during your turn. So it would affect treacheries and other abilities that trigger at the start of your turn (they exist).

Which is not to say it's worth 4XP. It's very tailored to Stella's extra action if she fails.

4 minutes ago, Magnito said:

It's effectively +1 on your first action and -1 on your last.

Stella will often have a fourth, plus treachery tests (e.g. Frozen in Fear)

3 minutes ago, Magnito said:

I think its only supposed to apply during your turn, not outside of it (like enemy or mythos phases).

It's effectively +1 on your first action and -1 on your last.

Agreed. Your turn is part of the investigator phase, which is part of a round. So, this only has an effect during your turn.

It's an interesting card... 4 xp does seem steep, though.

7 minutes ago, Eldan985 said:

Huh. So, someone explain to me how that is worth 4 XP? Especially as that also seems to hit every skill test you do during the mythos phase.

First of all, note that it is not Exceptional , so you can take 2 copies.

Assuming you're happy to be weak in the Mythos phase (and bear in mind that Stella has a mighty 8/8 health/sanity, Survivors in general are very, uh, survivable), that means your first action will be at +2 difficulty - not an issue if your first action isn't a test, or you're happy to either overcommit to pass or fail; and then your third action and any additional actions are stronger.

So if you're Stella and you're investigating a location or shooting an enemy with the Derringer, your first test is probably gonna fail - but by failing, you gain an extra action and you could use Take Heart or Drawing Thin.

Then second action is neither here nor there.

Then the third and fourth actions are at -2 difficulty, potentially allowing you to almost guarantee success on tests with base 2 difficulty.

Or take it on Wendy, fail your first test, then have Leo de Luca for 2 tests at -2 difficulty, then commit Quick Thinking for another action...

6 minutes ago, CSerpent said:

Though it doesn't say it, I assume it only affects tests during your turn. So it would affect treacheries and other abilities that trigger at the start of your turn (they exist).

Which is not to say it's worth 4XP. It's very tailored to Stella's extra action if she fails.

It would also beneficially affect treachery tests you have to make at the end of the turn... looking at you, 'Frozen in Fear"!

It's also good for all those encounter cards that you test at the end of your turn (Frozen in Fear, etc). Having all of those be -1 difficulty would be great for some characters.

3 minutes ago, KBlumhardt said:

It would also beneficially affect treachery tests you have to make at the end of the round...

Correct, I was suggesting what tests before your first action might be. But Frozen in Fear, half the cards in TCU, lots of targets for after your third.

Just now, CSerpent said:

Correct, I was referring to tests before your action. But Frozen in Fear, half the cards in TCU, lots of targets for after your third.

I understood... I just meant to point out that those cards (the ones at the beginning of your turn) would be somewhat balanced out by the ones that happen at the end.

34 minutes ago, Allonym said:

First of all, note that it is not Exceptional , so you can take 2 copies.

Assuming you're happy to be weak in the Mythos phase (and bear in mind that Stella has a mighty 8/8 health/sanity, Survivors in general are very, uh, survivable), that means your first action will be at +2 difficulty - not an issue if your first action isn't a test, or you're happy to either overcommit to pass or fail; and then your third action and any additional actions are stronger.

So if you're Stella and you're investigating a location or shooting an enemy with the Derringer, your first test is probably gonna fail - but by failing, you gain an extra action and you could use Take Heart or Drawing Thin.

Then second action is neither here nor there.

Then the third and fourth actions are at -2 difficulty, potentially allowing you to almost guarantee success on tests with base 2 difficulty.

Or take it on Wendy, fail your first test, then have Leo de Luca for 2 tests at -2 difficulty, then commit Quick Thinking for another action...

It looks like it would dovetail with Granny Orne who could modify the test in either direction.
Also, unless I’m reading it wrong, (and as you well know, I often do!) since it says “during or before your first action each skill test you perform gets +1 difficulty”, your second action is still at a +1difficulty right? It isn’t until your third action that it goes down.

How do you see this card with Patrice?

all right, my man Harvey Walters is in the house...

makes me think we have less campaigns to come than expected? Less investigators needed in there?

9 minutes ago, Krysmopompas said:

all right, my man Harvey Walters is in the house...

makes me think we have less campaigns to come than expected? Less investigators needed in there?

Not from what they said in the beginning of the broadcast. They said they the model for how expansions are released isn’t changing, that there will be lots of new player cards in them and that there is no concern about running out of content for this game. I can’t remember how Matt put it, but something like “the design space for this game is pretty unlimited.”I would expect to see 5-6 investigators in Innsmouth, but my guess is they would be established ones.

26 minutes ago, Mimi61 said:

Not from what they said in the beginning of the broadcast. They said they the model for how expansions are released isn’t changing, that there will be lots of new player cards in them and that there is no concern about running out of content for this game. I can’t remember how Matt put it, but something like “the design space for this game is pretty unlimited.”I would expect to see 5-6 investigators in Innsmouth, but my guess is they would be established ones.

That's very close to what he said. He was very clear this would not change how cycles were released.

There is just so much to unpack here. I could talk for hours about these. So here's some initial thoughts, in no particular order.

I don't know how good Nathaniel will be, given that he'll be rather reliant on having events in hand and being able to play them, but the engine with events and Boxing Gloves will make for a really fun guardian archetype where you see what you draw into in order to work out what you do on each turn, rather than having your .45 Thompson or Flamethrower or Machete and that being your one and only way to do your job. I really want to play him, and those events seem to strike a good balance between being excellent for Nathaniel and still worth considering for others ("Get Over Here" is absolutely nuts).

Harvey Walters looks cool, I like the way his ability has value even from the first scenario but scales up as your deck and card draw options improve. The "cards in hand" archetype is potentially very fun, but I worry that it might be a bit dull as the benefit all comes in the "back end", giving you passive bonuses rather than enabling different playstyles. However, the Cryptic Writings effect of playing when you draw it in the investigator phase could be really fun if found on other cards, letting you do things like play Cryptic Research in search of cards to trigger and help you out - a fun gambling effect tacked on to the seeker card draw effects.

Winifred Habbamock is so cool. Why yes that is SIX wild icons on her signature skill; I love the rogue skill archetype. The Beretta M1918 and Mauser C96 are actually good rogue cards, that both work with rogue archetypes and synergies but also let you have relatively consistent combat options. The art and flavour on those cards is utterly amazing, she looks like she will be able to pull off some ridiculous plays. And it's lovely to have a more varied cast of characters.

Jacqueline Fine is pretty good, though not something I'm primarily interested in. Having an in-build multi-token draw effect is very potent and could make the cards that benefit from certain tokens (e.g. Song of the Dead) far more viable. She makes Jim Culver feel quite inadequate now. Crystal Pendulum is both a reasonable replacement for Holy Rosary and potentially could work alongside it with Relic Hunter for loads of passive bonuses. Makes St Hubert's Key more niche - now you only want the Key if either you want the intellect or you want to exploit the lower max. sanity. Robes of Endless Night help solve three different problems for Seekers - resource economy for spells, the problem of having Shrivelling in hand and needing to take AoO to play it, and the problem of low health totals. Azure Flame and Clairvoyance are basically the same sort of thing as Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking, meaning that you could take 2x Shrivelling and 2x Azure Flame to increase your chances of drawing a "weapon".

I'm really pleased to see Stella, and not only because it's great to have a more diverse cast and more survivors - her backstory is awesome and her ability is really cool, synergises with effects like Take Heart and "Look What I Found!", but also is just a nice consolation prize if you fail, encouraging you to take tests that you are only somewhat likely to pass. The same is true of the .18 Derringer and Old Keyring, which encourage you to take tests that you aren't guaranteed to pass. The Survivor cards here are just amazing - I cannot wait to try them out. Granny Orne is potentially great for Patrice with that willpower boost (expensive, though). Stella seems a lot like Patrice, in that she has a real "survivor" feel of muddling through and making progress in spite of lower stats.

Lesson Learned is an amazing card - worth using for anyone as a means of gathering clues but also has excellent synergies, such as with Heroic Rescue or attack cancellation (Diana will really love it).

It's interesting to see level 0 versions of levelled cards - A Test of Will (0) and Disc of Itzamna (0) are both strong.

It's also interesting to see Manual Dexterity (2) as a levelled, class-restricted skill - it might be a unique thing since the "succeed by x" archetype is particularly rogue-focussed, but it might also mean that there's one for every class - Guardian Overpower (2), Seeker Perception (2), Mystic Guts (2) and possibly Survivor Unexpected Courage (2)? The fact that Manual Dexterity (2) retains the Innate trait means that Silas will like it.

What's even more interesting, however, is how the investigator design strongly redeems previously bad cards - Nathanial Cho is likely to get a lot of use out of the previously near-worthless Monster Slayer, Harvey Walters and the Cards in Hand archetype might benefit from Feed the Mind (3) (though it's more likely that you'd save up for Glimpse the Unthinkable), Opportunist (0) and (2) goes from absolutely worthless to a near-staple for Winifred, the benefit-from-token effects and Seal of the Seventh Sign are great for Jacqueline, and Stella gets particular benefits from Oops! and Dumb Luck.

The penalty for drawing an Elder Sign, +1 or 0 is a curious one - more likely to happen on lower difficulties, and generally better because it means that you might be getting the backlash but you're at least likely to have passed the test - but it also makes for interesting choices when using multi-draw effects - do you take the 0 to pass the test, or the -6 to fail but not take the backlash? We need a generic name for the Elder Sign, 0 and +1, similar to how Elder Thing, Skull, Cultist, Broken Tablet and Auto-Fail are referred to as "symbol tokens" or "BS tokens" - I would suggest "nice tokens" (e.g., "If you draw a nice token, take 1 horror"). In addition, the cards that give a penalty for drawing a nice token make effects that seal the nice tokens away (Shards of the Void, Crystalline Elder Sign) potentially have a niche.

1 hour ago, Mimi61 said:

It looks like it would dovetail with Granny Orne who could modify the test in either direction.
Also, unless I’m reading it wrong, (and as you well know, I often do!) since it says “during or before your first action each skill test you perform gets +1 difficulty”, your second action is still at a +1difficulty right? It isn’t until your third action that it goes down.

How do you see this card with Patrice?

So the way it works is: If you have not yet completed the first action on your turn, any skill test you make has +1 difficulty. So, once that first action has been completed, regardless of what it was, the penalty goes away. Then, once you have initiated the third action on your turn, any skill take you make has -1 difficulty. So anything that happens during the second action is in neither category and therefore has no penalty or bonus.

What isn't clear is whether the bonus/penalty apply outside of your turn. Is the Mythos phase "before your first action of your turn"? Arguably yes, but then it's also arguably "after the third action of your turn". What I imagine will be the case is either that Quick Learner is reset at the end of the round, meaning that the penalty applies in the Mythos phase and the bonus applies in the Enemy and Upkeep phases, or that it only applies during your turn and/or during the investigator phase (which would make the most sense with the wording). This will need clarification.

Update: Apparently, Matt has clarified unofficially that the effect only takes effect during your actual turn in the investigation phase, so no penalty for the Mythos phase. Which is good, but really needs to be clarified in the FAQ...

As for synergy with Granny Orne, I don't see it being particularly synergistic since Granny Orne modifies your skill value rather than the test difficulty - it might help you achieve "fail by 2" effects but the same is true of a static bonus. She's more about either getting a floating +1 to a test each round to pass or reach "fail by x or less" thresholds, or boosting effects like Lucky Rabbit's Foot (3) which provide benefits "for each point you fail by". Note that she doesn't help you trigger Eucatastrophe, since her timing point is step 6 of a skill test (determine success/failure) whereas Eucatastrophe's is step 3 (reveal chaos token).

Okay, so here's what we know so far, based on the video and article (feel free to point out anything I missed):

- Note I based these numbers on the designers' confirmations that we'd see 'full playsets', so I assumed 2 copies of all player cards except Necronomicon and obviously 1 copy of each signature card other than Stella's 'Neither Rain nor Snow'. I'm only counting cards we have at least names of , so I'm not counting the basic weaknesses since we don't know what they are.

Nathaniel - 19 of 60 cards revealed. 1 Reprint (Physical Training). No Upgrades/Downgrades revealed

Harvey - 18 of 60 cards revealed. 1 Reprint (Lab Assistant). 1 Upgrade (Mind over Matter). 2 Downgrades (Disc of Itzamna, Feed the Mind)

Winifred - 17 of 60 cards revealed. 1 Reprint (Daring Maneuver). 1 Upgrade (Manual Dexterity)

Jacqueline - 23 of 60 cards revealed. 2 Reprints (Ritual Candles, Astral Travel). 1 Upgrade (Recharge). [Robe of Endless Night has a lvl 0 and upgrade in the pack]

Stella - 25 of 60 cards revealed. 1 Reprint (Rabbit's Foot). 1 Downgrade (A Test of Will). [.18 Derringer and Granny Orne have lvl 0 and upgrades in the pack]

So... all in all, we got a lot of info on the contents of these packs today!

Incidentally, while I'm still not convinced by the distribution model (and I'm sad that the hypothesis that there would be new scenarios was unfounded), I'm far less down on this than I was with the original Instagram post, since we're seeing a lot of new investigators and they seem to have an excellent balance between straightforward deckbuilding and easier upgrade decisions and still having depth and interesting and unique mechanics. After all, it would be very easy to make a straightforward and boring investigator (cough Rex cough) who is simply Good At Their Job, but a number of people I play with who are less into deckbuilding love playing the game but get very frustrated with all the possibilities for building decks, and it is good to be able to hand players who are not used to - or not as interested in - the deckbuilding aspect characters with a strong mechanical feel that nevertheless allow them to focus on the part of the game they do enjoy.

Plus the card art is amazing.

3 minutes ago, Allonym said:

Incidentally, while I'm still not convinced by the distribution model (and I'm sad that the hypothesis that there would be new scenarios was unfounded), I'm far less down on this than I was with the original Instagram post, since we're seeing a lot of new investigators and they seem to have an excellent balance between straightforward deckbuilding and easier upgrade decisions and still having depth and interesting and unique mechanics. After all, it would be very easy to make a straightforward and boring investigator (cough Rex cough) who is simply Good At Their Job, but a number of people I play with who are less into deckbuilding love playing the game but get very frustrated with all the possibilities for building decks, and it is good to be able to hand players who are not used to - or not as interested in - the deckbuilding aspect characters with a strong mechanical feel that nevertheless allow them to focus on the part of the game they do enjoy.

Plus the card art is amazing.

Well, nothing was going to please everyone... and I appreciate that they explained the logic behind these packs (and that said logic seemed reasonable and not, as some people immediately insisted, just a 'cash grab').

2 hours ago, Eldan985 said:

Huh. So, someone explain to me how that is worth 4 XP? Especially as that also seems to hit every skill test you do during the mythos phase.

Lola, who can get an absurd number of actions in a turn, would abuse this card deeply. All permanents Lola is TFA hard mode viable already. "Omg, Lola" was my first thought when I saw this card, my second thought was, "oh wait 4 exp."

Rita might still be able to capitalize on it.

2 hours ago, Allonym said:

not an issue if your first action isn't a test,

Holy crap, this hadn't even occurred to me. Moving, engaging, various others get around the deficit. Survivors who can take Leo (which is at least Wendy and Ashcan, off the top of my head) get very strong ends of turns. Wendy can also take a lot of Rogue cards that give her even more actions.

I'm starting to see 4xp being right.

3 hours ago, Allonym said:

Update: Apparently, Matt has clarified unofficially that the effect only takes effect during your actual turn in the investigation phase, so no penalty for the Mythos phase. Which is good, but really needs to be clarified in the FAQ...

I wonder if it works for treacheries like Frozen in Fear, that test at the end of your turn. My interpretation is that it would.

2 hours ago, Kafitrar said:

I wonder if it works for treacheries like Frozen in Fear, that test at the end of your turn. My interpretation is that it would.

Since it happens 'at the end of your turn' and not 'after your turn ends', I'd say it definitely does.