Treachery. Weakness

Task.

Neutral

Revelation - Put Hospital Debts into play in your threat area.

: Move 1 resource from your resource pool to Hospital Debts. (Limit twice per round.)

Forced - When the game ends, if Hospital Debts has fewer than 6 resources on it: You earn 2 fewer experience for this scenario.

Adam Lane
Core Set #11.
Hospital Debts

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Any investigator at the same location as "Skids" O'Toole with Hospital Debts in his threat area may trigger the to add resources to Hospital Debts, as per the FAQ [V1.0, section 2.1].

  • If "Skids" is eliminated (by being defeated or taking a resign action) while Hospital Debts is in play, Hospital Debts' Forced effect triggers, as per the FAQ [V1.0, section 'Rulebook errata', topic "Elimination"].
Last updated

Reviews

I wanted to add a more recent review that adds rules citations for three important pieces of information mentioned by earlier reviews/comments. Let's read the fine print on these Hospital Debts!

First: If you draw Hospital Debts naturally as part of the Upkeep phase at the end of the round, you will not be able to sneak two resources onto it before the round ends. The rules for timing make clear that there is no ~Player Window after you draw cards.

Second: In multiplayer, other investigators at the same location can activate and pay for Hospital Debts. In the rules, Activate) Actions can be taken on "all encounter cards in the threat area of any investigator at that location," and according to the rules for Weaknesses,) any weakness with an encounter cardtype (like "Treachery") "are considered to be encounter cards [...] once they have entered play."

Third: In multiplayer, the "Limit twice per round" applies to each investigator individually, meaning that three different investigators could pay down the debts in a single turn. The relevant) rule on limits specifies "Unless stated otherwise, limits are player specific." And this is likely relevant to a number of other cards.

Again, these three points have been mentioned elsewhere, but I wanted to collect them all in one place with relevant citations. I so often find that discovering the rules behind one card makes me better understand other cards, and the game as a whole!

mistakes · 66
Thanks so much for posting this! It's always helpful to have everything in one place. Given these elements, what's your stance on the card? It definitely feels much less debilitating knowing other investigators can chip in a few dollars, and that it won't cost them an action is nice. Also great that everyone can take care of it in a pinch at the end. — LaRoix · 1643
I think the most important part of a weakness' design is the kind of tension it creates, and I think Hospital Debts is really good at that. Skids would ALWAYS be happy to spend a few extra resources on his turns, and the fact that you have to plan ahead to get your debts cleared makes for interesting decisions. The fact that other players can help doesn't water that down to me, because it still requires planning your movements and resources across the team. I also really like that this is an XP-based weakness. Skids has access to a number of very poweful 1 XP cards, so you're not totally sunk if you get caught by this...but losing out on 2 XP even once can make saving up for the big ticket Rogue Exceptional cards feel out of reach. — mistakes · 66
If any player or investigator may trigger the action, what is the point of this weakness? Since, in 3 player games everyone can freely activate this twice per player and solve it in one round. Or am I forgetting something? — condedooku · 2

Still paying the debts off of an enormous hospital bill for his dead mother. A remarkably tragic backstory. Also quite hilarious when, in the middle of fighting a horrifying creature, Skids would get a call from the Hospital to cough up some resources for the bill...

Hospital Debts is a very unique player weakness. It does not actively hurt Skids during the current Scenario (unlike other Weaknesses, such as Agnes's Dark Memory, Daisy's Necronomicon, or Jim Culver's Final Rhapsody), nor does it actively hurt Skids by Trauma, such as Roland's Cover Up, or Jenny's Searching for Izzie. Instead, it causes Skids to lose out on experience which is used to improve his deck. This card effectively slows down Skid's growth and make him less strong towards the end of a campaign. That said, 2 experience is not insignificant. For Skids, that's missing out on upgrading both his Leo De Luca, or recruiting two Cat Burglars. or picking up a Police Badget, or recruiting the much-superior version of the Beat Cop.

Hospital Debts is, perhaps, the only current player weakness with a built-in time restriction (EDIT: Read below regarding how it's not so bad in multiplayer). Due to the fast action having a built in (Limit twice per round), and Skids needing to put 6 resources on the card, it will always take 3 rounds to completely handle the debts. There are currently no cards in the player card pool that can help get around this 3 rounds restriction (aside from trying to avoid drawing it, of course). As per the timing rules, there is no player action window between when the player draws a card during the Upkeep phase, and the start of the next round. As such, the time a player draws it during the Upkeep Phase, Skids will need 3 more rounds (and, consequently, at least 3 more Doom on the agenda) to resolve it. If the game would end in fewer than 3 rounds due to the Agenda advancing, then you know that there is absolutely no way to avoid the penalty of Hospital Debts, and you may as well not commit resources to it, so at least there is that!

However, if Skids is 'fortunate' enough to draw this card during any other part of the round, such as during the Mythos (somehow) or Investigation phase, then, Skids can use that Round as part of the 3 needed rounds to finish it off (thereby needing only 2 more Rounds or 2 more Doom). This interesting interaction makes Skids one of the few players who does not mind actively drawing through his deck (that said, mind your other basic weakness). Skids should be careful not to go crazy and draw through his deck when time is running short...

EDIT: Weakness cards that are placed into your threat area can be interacted with by anyone. Additionally, the "Limit twice per round." applies at a per investigator level. Consequently, if you are playing in multiplayer, other players can trigger the free ability to help Skids pay for his Ma's hospital debts. In a 2 player game, it'll take at least 2 turns to handle it. With 3 or 4 players, it could be done in one turn. Of course, the players need to be in the same location as Skids to interact with his Hospital Debts.

EDIT MK2: Several cycles on and down the line and Skids is still a decent investigator to bring to any campaign. His ability to grab an extra action is quite valuable and encourages Skids to invest a little more heavy into resource gathering cards. The higher difficulty of latter campaigns means that he'll be pressed for time to complete this weakness if it comes out towards the end of a scenario. Expect it to hit more often than not.

Darthcaboose · 281
Other players can help pay for Skids' debts though, meaning it might take less than 3 turns in multiplayer — Orange Devil · 1
Do you have a source for that? Because I don't see why other investigators would be able to interact with Hospital Debts. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
Hospital Debts is a treachery and thus an Encount cardtype (see: https://arkhamdb.com/rules#Weakness) — Orange Devil · 1
Furthermore, section 1.2 of the FAQ says: "An investigator is permitted use triggered abilities from the following sources: (...) A scenario card that is in play and at the same location as the investigator. This includes the location itself, encounter cards placed at that location, and all encounter cards in the threat area of any investigator at that location." So, if another player is at the same location as Skids, they can trigger Hospital Debts' triggered ability. — Orange Devil · 1
Hmm, not sure about this. I call on the AH subreddit community to figure this out! (https://www.reddit.com/r/arkhamhorrorlcg/comments/5vxndl/rules_question_can_other_players_help_pay_for/?ref=share&ref_source=link) — Darthcaboose · 281
Just to terminate the discussion in the commentaries: yes, other investigators at the same location are allowed to pay Skid's debts (limited to 2 resources per round per investigator). A detailed explanation can be found at my review of the card Cover Up. — Synisill · 795