Stick to the Plan

Asset

Talent.

Cost: –. XP: 3.

Guardian

Permanent. Exceptional.

Before you draw your opening hand: Search your deck for up to 3 different Tactic and/or Supply events, and attach them facedown to Stick to the Plan. Shuffle your deck.

Cards attached to Stick to the Plan may be played as if they were in your hand. As an additional cost to play an attached card, exhaust Stick to the Plan.

Stanislav Dikolenko
Black Stars Rise #264.
Stick to the Plan

FAQs

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

  • NB: ArkhamDB now incorporates errata from the Arkham Horror FAQ in its card text, so the ArkhamDB text and the card image above differ, as the ArkhamDB text has been edited to contain this erratum (updated August 2022): Erratum: This card's $reaction ability should read: "... attach them facedown to Stick to the Plan." - FAQ, v.2.0, August 2022

  • "As If": This was added to the FAQ (v.1.7, March 2020) and then amended (v.1.8, October 2020). You can read the October ruling on the ArkhamDB rules page here. (I'm adding a hyperlink rather than retyping the rules in case in future the ruling is changed or amended - at that point, the rules page will be updated and all ArkhamDB FAQ entries will link to the correct ruling.)

Last updated

Reviews

Here's a handy link to a search of all the plans that can be stuck with: arkhamdb.com

Enjoy your plans. Plans are good. Plans are nice. I like plans. Am I over 200 characters yet?

Dedalus · 6049
Sorry, that link doesn't work. It's here: https://arkhamdb.com/find?q=k%3ATactic%7Csupply+t%3Aevent&sort=name&view=list&decks=player&spoilers=hide — Dedalus · 6049
The link works fine for me. Maybe you fixed it since then :P — TheDoc37 · 468

Edit (7th Feb 2023): The original post below is no longer valid. As Killbray pointed out in the comments, the latest FAQ (2.0) clarified this:

(1.26) Searching During Setup
If an investigator is instructed to search a deck for 1 or more cards during setup, abilities that trigger when a deck is searched (such as Mandy Thompson’s reaction ability or abilities on Research cards) cannot be resolved, as the game has not yet begun.

Original (Outdated):

One extra cool thing about Stick to the Plan that nobody else seems to be mentioning here:

For Roland Banks, Zoey Samaras and Carolyn Fern - you can include one copy of Astounding Revelation in your deck. This will trigger when you do your initial search with Stick to the Plan, causing you to consistently start every scenario with 2 extra resources (and your deck is thinned by one extra card!). This is equivalent to having Another Day, Another Dollar, for free!

snacc · 980
That's fair. It is discussed in a few Astounding Revelations reviews, but none on Stick to the Plan. I'm a big fan of using Zoey's 5 flex slots on 2x Rook and 3x Astounding Revelation, especially with how strong her signature asset is and the value of improving the consistancy of finding it. But 1x splashes of Surprised Rabbi is just very powerful with Stick to the Plan for those who can take it. It might even be worth considering Versatile as a budget Another Day Another Dollar if you don't mind adding the other four cards to your deck. (trading resource consistancy for card consistancy) — Death by Chocolate · 1440
I'm assuming that this also means Stick to the Plan cannot have duplicates of any card under it? Just thought I'd ask since I didn't see it clarified elsewhere. — LaRoix · 1643
STTP says "different" events so you can't stick the same card twice. — Django · 5070
Don't forget the lovely Lola Hayes! — Redwardian · 10
@Redwardian Lola can't use Stick to the Plan at all - by the time when the reaction would trigger, she isn't in any role at all but her limitations are already active. And even if she could somehow choose the guardian role in time and trigger the reaction, she couldn't then trigger the Astounding reaction due to not being a seeker. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
Unfortunately since August 2022 with the new FAQ (2.0) released, this Astounding Revelation trick is no longer possible. This is because the newly introduced rule states that abilities that trigger on searching the deck do not work during scenario setup, they can only be used after the game has started. — Killbray · 11474
Thanks @Killbray, I've edited the review so it's clearer. — snacc · 980

Like most Permanents, Stick to the Plan is really good. It basically says you start the game with three extra good cards in your hand. What's more, you can choose cards to let you consistently execute specific strategies. Here are some possibilities for our three Guardians (not all of these cards are legal for all of them):

Prepared for the Worst: If you put this under Stick to the Plan, you're vastly reducing the chance you'll be stuck without a weapon.

Emergency Cache, Ever Vigilant: These cards are very powerful on turn 1 as they let you set up far faster. Now you can start with one (or both) every game. Ever Vigilant, in particular, is a gamechanger for asset-heavy Guardian decks. Guardians have (except for Zoey) hitherto struggled to pay for all their powerful, expensive assets; with Stick to the Plan I think those struggles are mostly a thing of the past.

Extra Ammunition: Starting with this is a huge boon to any investigator who's running a Lightning Gun or Shotgun deck, since it basically doubles the power of those (already very powerful) cards. Goes well with the two options above, since Prepared for the Worst will help you find your gun and an economy card will help you afford it. Then you can load it up. Zoey could even take Contraband for even more ammo, theoretically. You can fetch the upcoming "Eat lead!" to complement your Extra Ammunition, too, if you want.

Shortcut: The upgraded Shortcut just dominates certain maps, especially those with a central nexus location you have to travel through repeatedly. With this Roland can always get the upgraded Shortcut down on turn 1.

Elusive, Dynamite Blast: These are really powerful but slightly situational events, and they're pretty nice things to have in your back pocket. If you have foreknowledge of the scenario, you might know in advance if one of them is going to be needed.

6 XP is a lot, but I think this card offers so much power and consistency to a deck that most Guardians will want to pick it up sooner rather than later.

CaiusDrewart · 3125
Not sure how to report it, but the card is incorrectly showing up in the deck and counting towards deck size, despite it being a permanent. Also, due to timing, it doesn't look like Lola could trigger this since she won't be in any role at the time this would trigger. — slothgodfather · 7
Note that Stick to the Plan exhausts to use one of the hosted cards, so you cannot Emergency Cache + Ever Vigilant turn 1. — Barif · 2
You can do Emergency Cache plus Ever Vigilant if you buy 2 copies of Stick to the Plan and attach those cards to different copies. — timzania · 6
You cannot bui 2 copies of Stick to The Plan because it's an Exceptionnal Card ! Only one by deck per the Rule — halrik · 1
Good write-up. Thank you for listing the cards it can fetch. — Ohnomycoco · 2
Now thats a darn good plan! Zoey with her plan. Lighting gun + ammo + contraband. 12 ammo of pure UNLIMITED POWER! — Euruzilys · 14

Re: Lola and this card, confirmed from Fantasy Flight rules enquiries: "...though Lola technically has access to Stick to the Plan, at the time its ability would be triggered, she has not yet chosen a starting role and therefore cannot trigger the ability on Stick to the Plan (rendering it rather useless for her). Matthew Newman."

Cluny · 51
It is possible to add two copies of the same card? For ex. 2 copies of shortcut and 1 of elusive. — alberttrombone · 45
Yea that’s my question too. Stick two Emergency Cache or two Prepared for the worst certainly changes whether or not I’ll shelve out the exp for it. Ideally, you’ll have 3 cards in mind to attach to it every scenario, although I suppose I could see myself changing it up depending upon the scenario. — LaRoix · 1643
No, it says 3 different - so all three must have different card names. — Death by Chocolate · 1440
@DeathByChocolate Where did you find that "different ... events" means differently named cards? So not allowing for example Emergency Cache (0) and Emergency Cache (2). Is there some general ruling on the word different? I didn't find a reference. — Kvothe · 2
@Kvothe "Different cards are cards with different titles (excluding subtitles). (e.g. two copies of Ward of Protection are not considered to be "different," even if they have different levels." - from the FAQ — Emelka · 1

One of the absolute best things Tommy can stick to the plan at the moment is a flare.

If you manage to flare an agency backup into play early, you are set for quite some time.

But with enough targets in your deck, you aren't going to be disappointed to flare into play a beatcop or brother xavier.

pm86 · 7
Better: get 2 agencies with flare and Mandy — Django · 5070

6 XP feels substantial, but if you stick 3 high XP event cards on it, now it is like you no longer need to buy 2x copies of them. The more expensive, the more XP savings.

Even if they aren't quite adding up to 6 XP, still 2x copies won't offer perfect consistency. (but offering a chance to potentially use the events 2 times, as opposed to buying 1x to stick.) Even, even so, 1x copy to stick has an advantage that you have more deck space to do something else, and these 3 event cards are thinned out immediately, then improve consistency of the other 2x copies / your signature card a little bit.

(Underworld Support thins out 5 cards on highlander penalty and you can feel the impact of finding signature/exceptionals/1x purchases faster, this card which thins out 3 could also be think of as a lite version.)

5argon · 9631
Why 6 XP? Doesn't it cost 3 Xp? — Dancar · 1
@Dancar the card has the trait Exceptional, so you must spend double the experience points — An_Undecayed_Whately · 1187

If Mandy Thompson is teamed up with a Guardian investigator, would that investigator get to draw 4 cards to put under Stick to the Plan? Edit: I have found out. At the time when you draw your opening hands, you haven’t yet read or set up the scenario so aren’t yet at a location. I think.

Phoenixbadger · 197
I read that question somewhere else and i think the answer was "no cause mandy is not at your location during setup". — Django · 5070
Additionally since FAQ 2.0 abilities that react to searching the deck (and Mandy Thompson's ability is mentioned as an example) do not work during setup. — Killbray · 11474

If the Cards attached to "Stick to the Plan" may be played as if they were in your hand,but why them must facedown to "Stick to the Plan"？I have no idea,because i can't confirm those cards in "Stick to the Plan".

zhy · 1
You can always look at facedown cards, and return them facedown after looking. For reason why it was errata-ed to be facedown, they don't want those Event cards to be considered in play, even though they are relatively useless even when faced up (rule says Event cards can only be played from your hand), it still could future-proof unintended interactions. For example, if they aren't facedown you could use SttP to instantly gain many "different classes you control" from your Event cards for Synergy cards (like Gang Up). Or you can also trigger the reaction in Delay the Inevitable without playing it, and must resolve the Forced effect too. — 5argon · 9631
Take a look at Backpack, if Item Assets were attached and not being told to facedown that'd cause serious problem as in this game attachments are all fully functional. This design is used to create cards like Abigail Foreman, Trigger Man, Elle Rubash, Quickdraw Holster (which you can still use the gun after the holster had been exhausted). Also take a look at Tool Belt, which take different approach of just blanking the text box except Trait instead. Allowing interaction like discarding your tools in the belt for Crypt Chill, make them count for Synergy cards, or Kate Winthrop able to move her clues to Science / Tool assets in the belt. — 5argon · 9631