Adaptable

Asset

Talent.

Cost: –. XP: 1.

Rogue

Permanent.

In between each game of a campaign, you may swap up to two level 0 cards out of your deck in exchange for an equal number of level 0 cards. (You must still follow all deckbuilding rules for your investigator).

Jeff Lee Johnson
The Miskatonic Museum #110.
Adaptable

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)

  • Q: How do Adaptable, Down the Rabbit Hole and Arcane Research interact with Innsmouth scenarios and interludes where experience is not allowed to be spent? A: You can use Adaptable in between any scenarios in Innsmouth. You cannot use Arcane Research or Down the Rabbit Hole during times you cannot spend XP – essentially, you are unable to “upgrade” cards at these times, even at a discount.

  • Q: In our playgroup, we are discussing how the interaction between Adaptable and Down the Rabbit Hole works. When a scenario ends, is it possible to swap a card in the deck for a new card with Adaptable and immediately upgrade it to a higher level version, reducing its cost with Down the Rabbit Hole? A: Yes. Down the Rabbit Hole creates a lasting effect from the end of one scenario to the beginning of the next. Once you’ve swapped the level 0 cards with Adaptable, you can upgrade those cards with a discount using Down the Rabbit Hole’s ability. (Rules Form, December 2023)

  • Q: How does "Adaptable" work with level 0 tabooed cards that have increased experience costs? Do you need to pay the additional experience to swap these cards, or does the swap ignore this? A: If you want to use Adaptable to swap in a level 0 card with an increased experience cost, such as Scavenging, you will need to pay the additional experience cost for that level 0 card. (Rules Form, July 2025)

Last updated

Reviews

There are quite a few people that I have already heard giving this a sub-par rating, but I couldn't disagree more. I think that this card is an auto-include in any rogue deck that can pick up a level-1 upgrade such as "Skids" O'Toole, Wendy Adams or Jenny Barnes.

If you are going to swap out a single card (ever) this has already paid for itself. You can put off paying for it until you are going to want to swap things out, but honestly there should always be considerations of swaps in decks after you start playing it. No one's deck and design comes out perfect. Decks start out with certain themes and elements and should always find tweaks and personal preferences.

As we are playing, new packs come out all the time. With those new packs come other level-0 cards that you will most likely consider. And when you can swap them in for free with your current deck on the fly with those releases and become much easier to get those new shiny toys interacting with the cards you have been building around.

So far, it has already saved me 4 experience. Would all of those been done if they weren't for free; no (perhaps 1 or 2). It lets you be "adaptable" and improve yourself. Challenge your deck after every play through and every pack release. I think this is amazing. And paired with Charisma coming out in the new pack, I will likely use Adaptable again to build some additional allies themed into the deck after this purchase so that I can get a nice array of different characters for my Jenny Barnes deck and build on a nice new style of play. So, while others are seeing this as mediocre, I wanted to put my opinion out there. I think this card is amazing.

Bronze · 187
I could see a strong use for it in multiplayer, where a poopular unique asset belonging to one player gets dropped from their deck as time goes by. The rogue can then pick it up later on for free. — Calden · 2
Coudnt agree more.... An auto include if the deck building rules for an investigator will allow you to use it. Becomes even better if you play a campaign after the first run, if you know what you can expect this cards lets you make the neccecary minor tweaks to a deck at a great discount. — Heyenzzz · 7568
Agreed, much better in practise than theorycrafting would suggest. — The_Wall · 289
I think this card will shine later in a campaign. As you upgrade cards, you change your deck and some of the level 0 cards no longer pair as well with the higher xp cards as they did when you build the deck to begin with. Now you can make all the necessary changes for just 1 xp. — Lord Elros · 1
OP's description is spot on. If you're ever going to swap out a card EVER during a campaign that isn't a straight upgrade from one level item to another, this is pretty much a no-brainer include. — Trilkin · 3310
This looks useful for Lola honestly — SilverMagpie · 1
Can you instantly swap two cards right after you buy this ? Or do you have to wait until after the next game ? — Darkangel23 · 1
One really basic application is money cards. Stuff like Well Connected and Money Talks get better once you have high level rogue economy cards — Zinjanthropus · 231
there is only only bad thing about this card .. its not neutral — miraculix · 1

The previous reviewers have stated the benefit(s) of this card: providing versatility and the ability to make changes in your deck later in a campaign. A good example someone gave is with Sleight of Hand. Until you spend the xp to get Lupara, you don't need Sleight of Hand yet.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Adaptable also lets you swap out the out-of-faction cards in your deck too!

For example, the Dunwich Legacy cycle investigators (Jenny the Rogue) are allowed up to 5 level 0 cards outside their faction. With Adaptable, you can choose those 5 colors to serve a particular purpose (maybe, make Jenny into a decent clue gatherer with Seeker cards). Then, once you have the xp for the amazing Rogue clue-gathering cards (Lola Santiago, Lockpicks), then you can substitute those Seeker cards for different cards (maybe something to make her more able to handle enemies so she can investigate locations alone).

TLDR: Adaptable lets you swap around level 0 cards, across ALL factions that investigator is permitted to include in their deck. Versatility, from being "Adaptable", can improve efficiency and survivability.

VanyelAshke · 195

The card is nuts! I always buy it if I can.

If your deck-building game is strong you can probably go without it. But when I play with my GF we never spend much time on building a new deck. We grab all the cards we consider good for the build and go with it without a second thought. Of course we never have clear idea about what upgrades we will make. This means rarely sub-par cards are taken with the idea they will shine once certain upgrades are done. And having to spend XP on level 0 cards we failed to take initially is a major pain.

Here comes Adaptable! You can start with whatever cards you want and once you grasp the dynamics of the investigator and the team needs , you can make changes accordingly. Last time I played Finn, I started with 25 unique cards (single copy). With Adaptable I easily got second copy of what proved good, and dropped the useless.

Why take Sleight of Hand from scenario one? Why not take the Luparas/Typewriters/Derringers first and swap cards that help more in the early campaign?

Lots of freedom to change your deck at little to no price. For me that card is pure value and if you are not playing it - you should!!! There is not a single drawback I see.

Bonus point: thematically it makes perfect sense rogues to have adaptable decks :)

vvi1g12 · 22
your first sentence is wrong, you don't buy this card in standalone. I agree with every other part of this review though — aurchen · 314

Almost everybody can take Down the Rabbit Hole now using Versatile and In the Thick of It. Though you don't purchase the cards you swap you should be able to swap Down the Rabbit Hole on and off your deck.

During upgrading you can first upgrade your cards with reduced xp cost, then swap Down the Rabbit Hole for another card an then buy new cards.

During next upgrading do the other way round, first buy then swap and upgrade if necessary.

You could even use Adaptable twice to do it on the same turn.

Or am I wrong and abuse this too much?

GrueneLupenAufheben · 144
This had been declined in the FAQ: If I purchase a permanent card for my deck, like Charon’s Obol ( 308), can I later remove it from my deck? Not unless an effect explicitly allows you to do so. Generally cards are only removed from your deck if you purchase a new card and must swap out an existing card in order to reach your investigator’s deck size. However, since Permanent cards do not count towards your deck size, they cannot be swapped out in this way. There is no rule which allows you to remove cards from your deck at will. — Susumu · 383
However, with Versatile it still might work. Let's say, you have access to neither Mystic nor Seeker cards level 0. Then you might be able to swap out DtRH for "Shrewd Analysis", because that becomes your one leagal "other class" card, and you have to remove DtRH for it. Any opinions on that? — Susumu · 383
Instead of trying to be clever, why not just give your investigators +10 XP at the start of the campaign? It's your game and if you want to break the rules, go for it. And if you want to play by the book, remember that the design intent of cards that reduce XP costs or give you XP (ie. In the Thick of It and Arcane Research) has always been to slap them with a hefty downside. Besides, Susumu is right. 'Permanent' is almost as absolute as 'cannot'. — thinsilver · 14
The more I think about this, the more I'm convinced that it works (but is clearly not an intended use). Adaptable gets around the "no way to remove permanents" restriction (which isn't really a restriction; it's just an observation about how the rules don't intrinsically provide a way to remove permanents) because it is an "effect that explicitly allows you to do so", as per the FAQ. Also, since 'swap' is distinct from 'purchase', I see no reason why versatile shouldn't be able to add an EotE permanent to your deck inbetween any two scenarios. — Tynian · 1
Err, sorry, when I said "no reason why versatile", I meant "no reason why adaptable". I always mix them up... — Tynian · 1
The rules state "A card with the permanent keyword still counts as being part of your deck." Adaptable lets you "swap up to two level 0 cards out of your deck." The rule mentioned by Susumu is generally for normal upgrades. The card rules always overwrite the rule book. Therefore Adaptable should let you swap permanents out for other cards. — SpicyNugy · 2
I am not sure how this works with Down the Rabbit Hole though. Can you chose the order these cards resolve? Can you use Rabbit Hole to upgrade a spell, switch Rabbit Hole out with Adaptable, upgrade another card at no penalty, switch Rabbit Hole back into the deck, and upgrade a second spell discounted? This obviously feels way too silly to be allowed. It is a fun thought experiment and the rules should be clarified. — SpicyNugy · 2
This is now explicitly covered in a "Rulebook Errata" FAQ entry (v. 2.0, p. 2, emphasis mine): Add the following bullet point: “Once added to your deck, permanent cards cannot be removed from your deck **or swapped out of your deck** unless explicitly stated otherwise.”" — JoshWVS · 9

Being able to switch in and out of 2 level 0 cards in between scenarios was incredibly to slot in specific situational tools like Fine Clothes to deal with Parley (lots of that in Carcosa!). It also allowed me to trial in and out a few other cards. For 1 XP it gave me a lot of value.

Foodie_Monster · 382

I feel like this game doesn't facilitate tinkering with lvl 0 cards once you are in campaign.

However this card can offer some investigators at least 5 XP discount for doing so. (Basically swapping a total of 6 cards) I'm in search of truth here and hopefully I can shine a light on Adaptable.

I have been delving in the deck-building of this game for a long time now and here's where it lead me:

4 investigator have a particular predilection towards a card like Adaptable. (Technically 5 - Lola Hayes - Unfortunately I have no desire to play her)

  1. Jenny Barnes can take any 5 lvl 0 cards and at early levels she doesn't have the support of Lola Santiago. Once she gets there, 2x Art Students and 2x Working a Hunch are no longer needed. And we can swap those for 2x Deduction. And since there are two spots open for any class cards, why don't we protect a rogue with 2x Ward of Protection? The last two were tricky to figure out and took me by surprise. 2x Daring Maneuver were in a pool of cards I couldn't quite place. Why would anybody use them instead of any Neutral skills? Well, .41 Derringer allows you to take additional actions if you succeed by 3 or more. So with cards Sure Gamble and Daring Maneuver we can ensure we get there. Hence this is a later swap.

  2. "Skids" O'Toole. I'm currently returning to Carcosa with him and Patrice Hathaway, and I have always underestimated "Skids" O'Toole as a potent investigator. I playtested him a bunch and he is not the worst by any means. Cat Burglar is the first guy he meets walking out of prison. And somehow he get's interested in ancient relics such as Ornate Bow. A small tangent. The first two cards I would instantly want is Venturer and Bandolier. To carry Lockpicks with a Bow. (Venturer instead of Contraband which was used with .35 Winchester) 2x Narrow Escape and you can safely reload Ornate Bow in front of an enemy (I also suggest using Crystallizer of Dreams here). Again the last two came quite late. Swapping 2x Scene of the Crime for 2x Followed gives us a variety of options when and where to find clues.

  3. Leo Anderson. Here is a similar trick as with "Skids" O'Toole. As soon as we get M1918 BAR we would want to supplement it with 1x Contraband, 1x Venturer and 1x Bandolier. M1918 BAR provides us with just enough damage, yet the bonus of strength is not the best against low health enemies. 1x "Eat lead!" can go a long way to handle that problem. Swapping 2x Scene of the Crime for 2x Followed gives us a variety of options when and where to find clues. Same as Skids.

  4. Finn Edwards is a juicy one. He is closer to Jenny Barnes with the ideas. He wants a great rogue ally to fight like an assassin. Delilah O'Rourke! Early we want neutral skills for more consistency - 2x Manual Dexterity and 2x Overpower. Once we get the boosts from out fellow assassin we can branch in better lower value skills such as 2x Hatchet Man and 1x Opportunist. And we are in Syndicate now so we need a proper Trench Coat too. All of this is supported by Streetwise and 2x Pay Day. Early in his life Finn was getting 2x Lucky! with his drinking (Liquid Courage). Once he graduated to Liquid Courage he chose his own path of staying sane (above 5 sanity). So 2x Lucky! swapped for Fight or Flight and Practice Makes Perfect. 2x Momentum are Practiced skills as are 2x Hatchet Man.

ambiryan13 · 179
Bob Jenkins is also a very interesting target for Adapatable. As you upgrade your 5 rouge cards you can convert your survivor cards to new level 0 rogue cards. — tdctaz · 49
Question: in The Feast of Hemlock Vale Campaign, Adaptable triggers between the end of a prelude and the next scenario, right? (since it's a new game) — Losty · 1

Question: in The Feast of Hemlock Vale Campaign, Adaptable triggers between the end of a prelude and the next scenario, right? (since it's considered a new game, with setup and everything, except some steps skipped)

Losty · 1
I don’t think so. — Eudaimonea · 6
Yes, technically it's new game (hence the setup). If it was supposed to be the same game, they would use interludes. — Rotzi · 1
This is not correct. The devs have asked us to treat preludes as agenda 0.5 of the following scenario. We leave blesses and curses in the chaos bag, and "once per game" effects used during the preludes do not refresh. We don’t have an opportunity to change our decks and so can’t take advantage of Adaptable. — Eudaimonea · 6
Where is the official errata or FAQ about this? It's very hard to believe since it's clearly not an agenda 0.5 (you lose resources, cards and assets). In the meantime, the only rules available define preludes as separate games. See for instance this rule : "When setting up the next scenario, skip steps 1-8 of ‘Setting Up the Game” on page 27 of the Rules Reference." If it was the same game, it would not be called "the next scenario" and there won't be a setup for a new game... (your remark about the chaos bag is covered by the skip of step 6) — Polar · 1
This might be a case of unlucky wording, since at the time Adaptable was printed the only "game" that existed was a scenario. But yeah, needs a clear ruling. — AlderSign · 435
There is not an official errata or FAQ about how to treat the preludes, which are admittedly a mess. It’s unfortunate that so many rulings trickle out from the devs’ Discord conversations rather than official channels, but that’s where it comes from. In defense of their interpretation, I’ll say I find it strange to imagine you’re forced to keep the same hand but not the same deck from prelude to scenario. What would you assume happens to the player who changes, say, 3 of the cards that are in his or her opening hand? Likewise it seems exploitative for a player who drew into all his resource cards for opening hand to adjust the cost curve for the remaining deck, or vice versa for, say, a fighter who didn’t draw his weapon in opening hand but did draw his ally to remove duplicates of the ally and add additional weapons. In short, both by the letter of the developers’ (inefficiently communicated) intent and by principles of fairness, we shouldn’t be adjusting our decks between preludes and scenarios. Nevertheless, my initial response of “I don’t think so” is probably best because it allows those players who understandably don’t live on Discord to make their own interpretations based on the wording of the actual rules in the FAQ and campaign guide, which are admittedly ambiguous. — Eudaimonea · 6
You're telling me that this card can give its owner some advantages? Yeah, that's the point of a card ;) (and for me, you can replace cards in your hand, like you can replace permanents) — Polar · 1