Tony Morgan is a very exciting Rogue. Not a single Rogue until now has has a higher than 3, which is strange when you consider than the class has had combat support since the core set (.41 Derringer, Hard Knocks). Before Tony, the most consistent way to build a combat Rogue was to take either "Skids" O'Toole or Jenny Barnes, upgrading into Chicago Typewriter and investing tons of resources into actions for the Typewriter or directly into Hard Knocks. Even more interestingly, Tony is the first Rogue with a stat of 5 in anything. This means the "succeed by X" suite of cards (Lucky Cigarette Case, Switchblade, "Watch this!", Quick Thinking) can trigger way more consistently in his Fight tests. And as if that weren't enough, Tony's an action economy Rogue. He gets a bonus action for fighting or engaging an enemy with a Bounty on it, which if you're conservative with your bounties will not be hard to keep up all game. Not only does that directly help with Chicago Typewriter, but it gives him the opportunity to run Colt Vest Pocket or Lupara even without holding Sleight of Hand all the time.
All of this is to say that Tony's suite of Rogue cards is fairly unique compared to his friends. There's a few Rogue staples that still work well with him, but you're not trying to turn your into damage. No Backstab, no Sneak Attack, no Ornate Bow, you get the idea. He might not be as versatile stat/test wise as Mark Harrigan, the other 5 investigator, but if you build him right, he can take incredibly long turns, fight really well, and get massively paid doing it. So with that, let me draw your attention to a few cards worth considering when building any version of Tony:
- Kukri, Switchblade, Colt Vest Pocket, .41 Derringer, .45 Thompson - These are probably the top starting weapons for Tony. Kukri is my first choice level 0 melee weapon for him. Tony doesn't mind spamming actions at his opponent until it dies, and Kukri can let you do that in less tests. Combat boosts are generally more important than damage for him, both because of "succeed by X" cards and because closing out damage is not as critical if you have spare actions. Switchblade has the advantage of being fast and cheap, and is a good way to kill something with low fight and high health while saving ammo for important fights. The blade also acts as a good sacrifice to Crypt Chill while you have another weapon out. Colt Vest Pocket is sort of like a half as expensive .45 Automatic, and even if you only get half as many shots out of it before it leaves, it'll still save you in a pinch. .41 Derringer can be used on enemies with only 1 Bounty on them that don't benefit as much from Tony's .38 Long Colt, or to set up damage for a final Long Colt shot. Finally, if you're playing at higher counts and need to more reliably have bullets ready to go, the .45 Thompson is an easy 7 and unconditional 2 damage for 5 shots. It's harder to afford on initial set up, but it gives your deck longevity it otherwise might not have.
As a caveat here, I don't personally recommend Knuckleduster. It offers 0 boost and the consequences for failure are quite high. Extra damage, as I said above, is not as valuable for Tony since he's fine spamming actions with his melee weapon until the monster dies. You simply can't do that with Knuckleduster without heavily paying for it in health or sanity, and there may be worse consequences than even horror in certain campaigns.
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Sleight of Hand - Not a requirement, but heavily recommended if you plan on taking Colt Vest Pocket, .41 Derringer 2, or Lupara. As an added bonus, you can use this to fire off Tony's .38 Long Colt shots to net yourself an extra bounty. If you're not playing with Taboo then you can sleight in the big two handed weapons like .45 Thompson and Chicago Typewriter, so do that.
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.41 Derringer 2, Lupara, Chicago Typewriter, Switchblade 2, Timeworn Brand - These are the strongest weapon upgrades for Tony. The Derringer can lead to even more action economy, Lupara is great burst with Sleight of Hand, the Typewriter is the closest thing he has to Lightning Gun (hey, it gets one extra shot too!) while also being able to eat the extra actions for solid reliability, and Switchblade 2 is just a fast, cheap, ammo-less .41 Derringer. Timeworn Brand is also another solid choice for Tony, though the XP investment might be too much if you're opting for a heavy Action Economy. Be mindful of your hand slots, as Tony doesn't have Bandolier access.
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Lola Santiago, Decoy, Intel Report, Small Favor - Clue getting with 3 isn't terrible, but Tony's in class clue getting is otherwise quite limited. Intel Report will get you some of the way there, but what you really need is a resource sink for all the bounties you'll be taking. Lola will let you turn kills into fast clues. The other Favor cards are also quite nice. Even Small Favor is a great way of dealing with Aloof enemies.
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Pay Day - This card is a priority upgrade for Tony. He will consistently have 4, 5, or 6 action rounds. This is the fuel for Lola and favors.
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Quick Thinking, Borrowed Time, Ace in the Hole, Leo De Luca - Action economy in Tony is already pretty solid, but you can take Leo and Quick Thinking at level 0 for even crazier economy. And Borrowed Time is amazing with Pay Day, as once it's filled it'll count as 3 deferred actions every round (aka +3 resources easy).
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Lucky Cigarette Case, Crystallizer of Dreams - If you're running Favors, the Crystallizer of Dreams can hold them once you play them, turning all of your dual icon favors into better fights, investigates, or evades (or encounter card tests). The associated weakness Guardian of the Crystallizer is also not hard for Tony to deal with as long as he has a spare Bounty. Otherwise, the Cigarette Case is a solid way to draw 2 cards a turn instead of just 1, as long as you keep up the fighting.
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Smoking Pipe, Tennessee Sour Mash - It's up to you how to counter Tony's low sanity and low . Smoking Pipe is an easy way to turn horror, especially direct horror, into damage which can easily be placed on yourself or an ally. The Sour Mash is solid for "fail by X" treacheries like Rotting Remains, and the upgraded version gains fast and another .
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Another Day, Another Dollar - Fantastic upgrade if you're having trouble setting up expensive assets like Leo De Luca and Chicago Typewriter.
Phew! That's a lot to go through. But wait, there's more! Tony gets to pick between Guardian , Seeker , or Survivor as an off class, from which he can take up to 10 level 0-1 Skills or Events. The temptation of course is to go straight to Guardian and maximize his combat potential. The trick however is to understand that he's a fairly capable fighter even just as a pure Rogue. What you really want from this suite of cards is defense and versatility. Again, let's go through a few cards for each subclass that I think are worth looking at (note any double icon card also benefits well from Crystallizer of Dreams):
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- Evidence! and Scene of the Crime are solid includes for early clue getting. On the Hunt doubles as Encounter card mitigation and a way to on demand accelerate getting bounties into your resource pool. "Let me handle this!" can be used similarly in multiplayer. Delay the Inevitable is also a solid way to completely counter decks that dish out heavy horror, and Tony's economy can support holding it up a while. Steadfast and Take the Initiative can be used on crucial tests like Frozen in Fear. For upgrades, Extra Ammunition can be great on a Chicago Typewriter or even Tony's .38 Long Colt, while Ever Vigilant is crazy good for setting up quickly.
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- Crack the Case could be used for more fast resource generation, especially if combined with Lola Santiago, Intel Report, or Working a Hunch. I would argue Logical Reasoning is a solid enough card to warrant Seeker Tony on its own. Inquiring Mind is a good way to counter a tough test, but also works in a fight. Shortcut is always a solid include, and Tony can use it to chase down his Quarry. Tony is actually one of the better candidates to get Connect the Dots to fire, as his resource economy allows for it and a lot of his clue getting is testless to begin with. For a wonky multiplayer idea Guidance can be use to trade one of Tony's many extra actions for someone else's. Your upgrades in this department are quite limited, but Forewarned is still worthwhile for really awful treacheries that stick to you.
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- Lucky! and Live and Learn are great cards for consistent fighting. Act of Desperation can be used to toss an empty gun (bonus points for tossing .45 Thompson) or just for committing 2 . If you're feeling light on weaponry, Improvised Weapon could be worth looking at. Perseverance will keep you alive if you need it. "Look what I found!" and Winging It are solid clue getting tech at 3 . The upgrades here I think are the best of all: Flare lets you put Leo De Luca or Lola Santiago right into play; A Test of Will defeats any non-enemy encounter card no questions asked; Devil's Luck is basically just better Perseverance.
With so many choices, the hardest thing about Tony is pinning down a direction. If you're playing in a group, it'll be easier as you'll just take the path most open to you. One final tip: bring some way to track your remaining actions. You will very easily lose track otherwise.
