Asset. Arcane

Item. Science.

Cost: 3.

Seeker

Only the first copy of each card in your hand counts toward your maximum hand size.

After you draw a copy of a card that is already in your hand, reveal both copies and exhaust Dream-Enhancing Serum: Draw 1 card.

Dani Hartel
A Thousand Shapes of Horror #159.
Dream-Enhancing Serum

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Q: Per FAQ 2.0 entry 2.2.1 Treachery Subtitles we are told to interpret Whispering Chaos and Whispering Chaos to be copies of the same card. Does adding another copy of the same treachery trigger abilities on player cards, specifically Dream-Enhancing Serum? Does the same apply to hidden enemies such as Nyarlathotep? A: FAQ 2.0 codified the rule that “drawing” a card versus “adding it to your hand” [Drawing Cards, final bullet] are distinct triggering conditions. Dream-Enhancing Serum can only activate when you draw a copy of a card you already have in hand, but both Whispering Chaos and Nyarlathotep are cards that are added to your hand.
Last updated

Reviews

This thing is extreemely annoying, I looked at the first mechanic, not liking it for the price, then looked at the draw mechanic, started loving it. Tried it and realized that very typically if i'm seeing a second copy of a thing, the first copy is in play or in the discard pile, so I came back to realizing that it's all about that first mechanic... Which I didnt like.

So. Big hand characters like this, Higher Education + Extensive Research, characters in strategies that make having cards in hand a distinctly useful effect.

Cute combo: With this in play and using Old Book of Lore you can snipe secondary copies of cards intentionally to artificially boost your drawspeed. HELLO Daisy.

This is a good card, it's just extreemely unrewarding if you try playing it outside it's niche.

Tsuruki23 · 2514
COMPOUND SUMMARY Muscimol Cite Download PubChem CID 4266 Structure Muscimol_small.png Muscimol_3D_Structure.png Chemical Safety Acute Toxic Laboratory Chemical Safety Summary (LCSS) Datasheet Molecular Formula C4H6N2O2 Synonyms muscimol 2763-96-4 Agarin Pantherine Agarine View More... Molecular Weight 114.10 g/mol Computed by PubChem 2.2 (PubChem release 2021.10.14) Dates Create: 2005-03-25 Modify: 2024-07-20 Description Crystals. Formerly used as a sedative and an anti-emetic. (EPA, 1998) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1998. Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS) Chemical Profiles and Emergency First Aid Guides. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. CAMEO Chemicals Muscimol is a member of the class of isoxazoles that is 1,2-oxazol-3(2H)-one substituted by an aminomethyl group at position 5. It has been isolated from mushrooms of the genus Amanita. It has a role as a fungal metabolite, a GABA agonist, a psychotropic drug and a oneirogen. It is a member of isoxazoles, a primary amino compound and an alkaloid. ChEBI Muscimol has been used in trials studying the treatment of Epilepsy and Parkinson's Disease. DrugBank View More... Contents Title and Summary 1 Structures Expand this menu 2 Names and Identifiers Expand this menu 3 Chemical and Physical Properties Expand this menu 4 Spectral Information Expand this menu 5 Related Records Expand this menu 6 Chemical Vendors 7 Drug and Medication Information Expand this menu 8 Pharmacology and Biochemistry Expand this menu 9 Use and Manufacturing Expand this menu 10 Identification Expand this menu 11 Safety and Hazards Expand this menu 12 Toxicity Expand this menu 13 Associated Disorders and Diseases 14 Literature Expand this menu 15 Patents Expand this menu 16 Interactions and Pathways Expand this menu 17 Biological Test Results Expand this menu 18 Taxonomy 19 Classification Expand this menu 20 Information Sources 1 Structures 1.1 2D Structure Structure Search Get Image Download Coordinates Chemical Structure Depiction Muscimol.png Full screenZoom inZoom out PubChem 1.2 3D Conformer PubChem 2 Names and Identifiers 2.1 Computed Descriptors 2.1.1 IUPAC Name 5-(aminomethyl)-1,2-oxazol-3-one Computed by Lexichem TK 2.7.0 (PubChem release 2021.10.14) PubChem 2.1.2 InChI InChI=1S/C4H6N2O2/c5-2-3-1-4(7)6-8-3/h1H,2,5H2,(H,6,7) Computed by InChI 1.0.6 (PubChem release 2021.10.14) PubChem 2.1.3 InChIKey ZJQHPWUVQPJPQT-UHFFFAOYSA-N Computed by InChI 1.0.6 (PubChem release 2021.10.14) PubChem 2.1.4 Canonical SMILES C1=C(ONC1=O)CN Computed by OEChem 2.3.0 (PubChem release 2021.10.14) PubChem 2.2 Molecular Formula C4H6N2O2 Computed by PubChem 2.2 (PubChem release 2021.10.14) CAMEO Chemicals; PubChem — Quantallar · 7

Printing this card was a mistake, it's very overpowered. By itself, this card theoretically allows a player to have about half of a 30 card deck in their hand, and that's without looking at Laboratory Assistant (multiples with Charisma), Arcane Enlightenment, or myriad cards.

So what's wrong with that? Well, once a huge chunk of an investigator's deck is either in their hand or played on the table in the form of assets, there are few remaining cards in the deck, allowing powerful card draw tools like Mr. "Rook", Cryptic Research, or The Necronomicon to quickly cycle through what's left and play power cards repeatedly. The 1 horror penalty for reshuffling the deck can be dealt with by soaking on an ally and replaying it (Laboratory Assistant or Mr. "Rook" are perfect for this).

The ridiculously overpowered The Necronomicon is a prime candidate for this type of abuse, but there are many other cards that become overpowered when played repeatedly, 3x Three Aces which also fuels the draw/cycle engine with resources and cards while auto-passing any test, Segment of Onyx/Pendant of the Queen, Extensive Research (0 cost with this strategy), or Ancient Stone are other possible examples of strategies that subvert the chaos bag by being testless ways of solving problems presented in Arkham Horror. Even merely good level 0 cards such as Shortcut (take repeated extra move actions), Mind over Matter (make any Fight or Agility test an Intellect test) or Deduction (pick up clues twice as fast or three times as fast with Deduction) become degenerate.

On the other hand it’s impractical to hold your entire deck in your hand without incurring tons of horror and having to continually deal with weaknesses. DES seems fine to me- Pendant and Necro however should probably be looked at, as should Mr Rook who assembles these combos too easily. — StyxTBeuford · 12971
We've already seen decks in the past that cycled repeatedly, pre-Taboo there were infinite action decks using either Ace in the Hole or Quick Thinking + Double or Nothing and horror didn't prevent those decks from working. All those cards are on the Taboo list now, I definitely think Dream-Enhancing Serum is a problem. — republiclifehuman · 48
Third on it not being OP. Sure in concept I guess you could intentionally build a deck where you hold 20 cards in hand so you can sprint through the remaining 10, but that’s a minimum of 7 actions *just* drawing cards you don’t intend to use, and that’s assuming you have this card down turn-1. In practice this card is fun but honestly underwhelming, the draw is less likely to trigger than you’d think, and otherwise larger hand size is not really a practical benefit. This card subtly rewards you for keeping cards in hand, but hoarding resources is just not a practical way to win at Arkham unless it has secondary benefits — Difrakt · 1278
I think it feels OP because there's a bunch of other cards right now that enable this thing to be set up so easily. Again, let the next round of taboos hit and then we can revisit this thing. Until then, if it feels problematic, don't run it. It also sounds like you used it in Three Aces Mandy, which is about the most broken deck that exists right now and definitely does not require DES to get there. — StyxTBeuford · 12971
I'm not sure I see how this breaks the game. I mean, I hear you on the theoretical nature of it, but doesn't this mean it needs to be tested? Build a deck with this card in it and see if you can break the game. Then come back and let us know. I'm curious. — LaRoix · 1643
There are some videos at https://www.twitch.tv/cuherdirah/ that show how degenerate holding most of your deck in your hand can be. — republiclifehuman · 48
So, I watched one of those videos (Threads of Fate), and the player actually ended most of his turns with like 8-10 cards in hand maybe. You can already do that with Lab Assistant. I think the most broken-seeming card being used there was actually the Necronomicon. Combined with Sleight of Hand and KiP you can accomplish a ton of stuff actionlessly. It did convince me that Rogue Mandy is the most OP character though. Pre-taboo Rex doesn't even come close (though to be fair, he was probably never much good in true solo). — Zinjanthropus · 226
I also dont think this card is OP. Its a combo piece, but doesn't do a lot alone and costs 3 ressources which is much of a seeker. Combined with rook it gets much better, porentially drawing a card each time you use his ability, but rook alone is already pretty OP. I also played rogue Mandy through the dreamers campaign and she's totally nuts with these 2 cards. I think i got 3-4 times though my deck each scenario, including the first. — Django · 5032
Yeah, like I said originally. Three Aces Mandy, and really Mandy in general, is beyond broken right now. DES might help maintain her, but it certainly isn’t the most problematic card there- Rook, Necro, 3 Aces, Pendant all should be looked at. — StyxTBeuford · 12971
@StyxTBeauford: Sucks if they nerf Three Aces, though, as it's really only crazy good with Mandy. I've used it in Winifred, and it's okay because she can usually assemble it on her second go through the deck pretty reliably, but it really did not feel broken at all. Can't really argue on those other cards, though. — Zinjanthropus · 226
I rescind my original judgment- DES is ridiculous even without search support and makes any deck dedicated to drawing cards- eg any potentially degenerate Seeker deck- just way too strong. The rate of recycling is so high with the big hand size. I fully agree DES needs a taboo target if not a straight up ban. — StyxTBeuford · 12971
Yes and because ffg thinks this is a big problem, they are releasing a full suite of cards dedicated to support or profit of a big hand size in the Seeker Investigatir Starter... They want this to be a thing! They will not be tabooing DES anytime soon. — Skeith · 2355
I think its strong in fair way — Makaramus · 5
I think its strong in a fair way considering it can never benefit to itself but if you get 1 you get the synergy much harder.Also this is forcing you to play in specific way to benefit too. To benefit from this card you need to play in certain pattern or you wont benefit from it. Currently I am using it in my dunwich campaign with daisy I am playing bunch of unique allies that I wont benefit from it and everything else stays in my hand to make it look bigger for my hand size depending cards — Makaramus · 5
Honestly hope this isn't taboo'd to cost xp or put on a forbidden list or smth. It only becomes op in these dEgEnErAtE decks that look to break the game to begin with. I'm already annoyed Knowledge is Power is on the forbidden list just because Necronomicon exists — flamebreak · 19
I’m just going to add one comment from across the table. When someone else is playing all of these things to break the game it takes its toll on the other players. Who wants to watch another player search and draw half their deck every turn and then reshuffle and reshuffle again after every action? — Staticalchemist · 1

Anyone with big hands need this card. I feel its hard to change anything else after you start your deck building with this so it can be limiting to adapt but no doubt its powerful Really strong enabler for forbidden tome and also very good with characters like Daisy. At dunwich legacy this card... Ughh.... Lets say at dunwich legacy use with caution if you are new :D

Makaramus · 5
??? — MrGoldbee · 1436
The review seems clear enough to me. They’re saying 1) It is a good card for big hand decks, 2) since it is a level 0 card, you are kinda committing to a big hand build right off the bat, 3) see (1), and 4) there are good reasons to not play big hand in TDL. :D — Death by Chocolate · 1409
It's been edited & punctuated. — MrGoldbee · 1436
yea I made it easier to read he is telling truth — Makaramus · 5
Three Aces Wini might want to YOMO this — Zinjanthropus · 226
What does YOMO mean? — Lateralis · 7
It's an abbrevation for "You owe me one". — Csys · 1
@Zinjanthropus yes three aces would be very good with it if you find means to put them in your deck :D — Makaramus · 5

I never found out what "reveal" means on this card. It doesn't say "play" or "discard" and revelation effects are exclusively on encounter cards. So I only used it as a hand size increase. What do I do with the cards in the second ability here?

Belo · 1
Reveal is literally just showing that you drew the second copy to the other players at the table. Hands are usually private but reveal helps show that you aren't just drawing randomly. Obviously the reveal step for solo is a little pointless so effectively it just reads "Exhaust and draw a card whenever you draw a copy of a card in your hand". — SorryLaurie · 569
"Reveal" as an action simply means to show all players otherwise hidden information -- in this case, the identity of a card you just drew and the other copy already in your hand. "Revelation" effects, interestingly, don't happen when cards with them are "revealed", but when they are drawn. — Thatwasademo · 56