Well, I'm about to crack open The Circle Undone again IRL, and go for a 2-investigator team with me playing the monster manager who can still get clues, and my mate will be doing the flip of that - since TCU feels better when folks can do a bit of everything along with their main role.

I want to be able to play Alter Fate at some point as I remember that card will get a lot of use. And since Survivors are super fun to play but I haven't played one in this campaign yet, I thought I'd throw it open to the boards.

The Survivors I haven't played in a while or at all include Calvin and Patrice. Add those to the Mystics that can use Alter Fate, Marie and Mateo. Don't want to play Mateo here, so in all likelihood my choice will be one of the other 3 mentioned.

Any thoughts on using Calvin, Patrice or Marie as flex fighter "A"/clue "B" investigators for this campaign? I'm gravitating to Calvin as his Haunted fits the inevitability of doom in this campaign, but forget some of the nuances in this one so if it's fresher in someone else's mind, would love to hear some thoughts.

Marie seems like a poor choice, since she has pretty low combat potential - her ability would let her use Shrivelling once more per round, I suppose, but she's not much good with Spectral Razor and her deckbuilding doesn't help either. Obviously any mystic can kill things but she's probably the weakest at it - instead she's a great clue-gatherer with her high intellect.

What do you mean by Calvin's Haunted? Haunted is a basic weakness that anyone could have. I don't have much experience with Calvin so I can't give much advice there - he certainly can turn his hand to both clues and fighting but he lacks for survivability as a primary fighter.

I can recommend Patrice as a monster-hunter - I've played her with success as the team's primary fighter in a 4-player game, using Fire Axe and events to kill things. She's very strong with Alter Fate, since the loss of a card to play it isn't much of a downside for her. You are probably best off taking Shrivelling to start and dropping it after you get some experience, keeping Spectral Razor, Improvised Weapon, Brute Force and maybe Stunning Blow for the entire campaign.

12 hours ago, Allonym said:

Marie seems like a poor choice, since she has pretty low combat potential - her ability would let her use Shrivelling once more per round, I suppose, but she's not much good with Spectral Razor and her deckbuilding doesn't help either. Obviously any mystic can kill things but she's probably the weakest at it - instead she's a great clue-gatherer with her high intellect.

What do you mean by Calvin's Haunted? Haunted is a basic weakness that anyone could have. I don't have much experience with Calvin so I can't give much advice there - he certainly can turn his hand to both clues and fighting but he lacks for survivability as a primary fighter.

I can recommend Patrice as a monster-hunter - I've played her with success as the team's primary fighter in a 4-player game, using Fire Axe and events to kill things. She's very strong with Alter Fate, since the loss of a card to play it isn't much of a downside for her. You are probably best off taking Shrivelling to start and dropping it after you get some experience, keeping Spectral Razor, Improvised Weapon, Brute Force and maybe Stunning Blow for the entire campaign.

Hey thanks for thoughts. RE: Calvin I meant part of his backstory, and his card designation as "The Haunted"; kind of fits the inevitability of annihilation that is present in TCU. I've dabbled with Calvin and he's actually not a bad fighter once he gets going, but Return to Forgotten Age is close so I think I'll save him for that.

Interesting on Patrice, I may well give that a shot...although I'm now looking at Joe Diamond again...so many choices and they keep coming!

Ah, of course! I keep thinking that Calvin's title is "The Cursed". Certainly makes thematic sense, at least if you Accept Your Fate (not that I ever recommend doing so).

I have finally managed to have fun with Joe Diamond and he's definitely a huge thematic win, though he'll struggle with all the willpower treacheries (at least earlier on - you could make a beeline for Higher Education if you use that card)

I've played Calvin through the dreamers campaign, his playstyle is definately different from anyone else. You can't do much when you start out, but the more damage/horror you have the better you get. Being permanently 1-2 damage/horror away from defeat is hard to get used to. Each time you draw an encounter card might be your last (auto damage/horror) so it gives you a rush of adrenaline.

Having many soaks is mandatory and ward of protection for direct. We also had Carolyn Fern in our team, she was a big help with healing. Or moving damage and horror around with solemn vow (she and calvin can play it) and placing it on Peter or Jessica.