Skill

Practiced.

Seeker

If this skill test is during or before the first action of this turn, Plan of Action gains .

If this skill test is between the first and third actions of this turn, draw 1 card if it succeeds.

If this skill test is during or after the third action of this turn, Plan of Action gains .

Xia Taptara
The Innsmouth Conspiracy #24.
Plan of Action

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Q: What's the interactions between Carson Sinclair's ability and Plan of Action? Let's say that Carson gives an action to Silas Marsh, and commits Plan of Action on a test Silas is performing, will it gain icons? If so, which ones? Does "your turn" on "as if it was your turn" refers to "the turn you are playing this round"? In that case, it would depend on the number of action that Silas has performed. A: When Carson uses his ability to grant another player an action, he does so during his own turn. The type of icons that Plan of Action would gain in your proposed example depends on how many actions Carson has taken during his turn. (“This turn” = “Carson’s turn.” Though Silas is “taking an action as if it were his turn”, it does not mean he is taking a turn.)

  • Q: If I commit Plan of Action to a skill test during the Mythos Phase, would it only commit for ? A: No; if you commit Plan of Action during the mythos phase, you would give it .

Last updated

Reviews

Here's a review of the card as it actually works. No, you don't get extra icons in the mythos phase ("of this turn" implies that an investigator must be taking their turn, as compared to "of this round"). No, you don't get 2 icons and get to draw a card.

This card is a deck slot filler.

Treat this as a de-facto cantrip with restrictions on when it can be committed, and it's not that bad a card to include in a 0xp deck. Especially if it's a deck that runs Practice Makes Perfect but doesn't have enough Practiced trait skills (e.g. only Deduction and Perception). Better that a Practice Makes Perfect hits this card than nothing at all.

In a very situational pinch, this can act as an unexpected courage if the window is right — practically, a boost to your first evade or last investigate isn't terrible if you really need it and haven't gotten a chance to commit this on a test on someone's second action.

Practically speaking, a skill card that gives +1 draw on succeed is very usable, even if it has commit timing restrictions. Of course it's completely almost completely outclassed by Eureka! for the same effect, so most of the time you want Eureka! before you want this.

suika · 9392
Not completely outclassed by Eureka! since Eureka! cant be committed to combat checks and isn’t Practiced, but otherwise spot on review. Plan of Action is a perfectly respectable PMP target for some investigators, particularly ones that don’t have enough other Practiced skills to run at level 0 (mostly true of Rogues). — StyxTBeuford · 12985
he fact, that it is a wild also makes it better for investigators with PMP, if they aren't a specialist. If you run PMP on a fight action and only find "Deduction" or "Perception", the search will wiff. This card will always be commitable. — Susumu · 366
The current FAQ on this page now clarifies that this card does gain icons during the Mythos phase, for anyone who happens to come across this now. — Courier_Snow · 1

This is a good card.

That's my opinion to begin with. It's good. Not exceptional, not great, not an auto-include. And yet, I've seen this card on a list of worst cards in the game, and I've seen people argue it isn't even worth running with Practice Makes Perfect despite the synergy. Naturally, I disagree.

Obviously, the reason people are so down on it is that it compares poorly to Eureka!, to Perception, to several other excellent Seeker skills, and even to Unexpected Courage. The problem is, while Plan of Action is good, those are great, excellent, or auto-includes. It can be a Perception, with one less icon, with a limited window to be committed. It can be an Unexpected Courage, but not in the mythos phase, and not if you want to test certain skills first or last. Eureka is almost a wild icon, and does better than draw you a card.

However, while you could simply see it as a worse Perception, Eureka, or Unexpected Courage - something I generally agree with - it is important to note that it is all those things simultaneously. If you need a worse Unexpected Courage, it's there. If you need a worse Perception, it's there. Is that versatility worth a deck slot? Maybe. Is the versatility worth anything if you're only planning to use it as a deck-filling cantrip? I think so.

Talking theoretically, we can imagine a practiced skill with a single that draws you a card if you succeed. This card would be objectively a worse Perception, and yet I think it would still see some play in a number of Seeker decks. I would certainly run it on occasion. Expand this out to be a icon instead, and it this theoretical card would be a much more likely include. It would still mostly get thrown onto investigates to be a +1 in most of the decks it ended up in, but it would be a skill that competed with Eureka - a worse draw effect, but its ability to be committed to , and its traits would see it out. And there's no reason you couldn't run both. This theoretical card is still not objectively better than Plan of Action. It does have less versatility, and it isn't hard to engineer a second action investigate in Seeker. Any deck that would run this theoretical card - at least at level 0 - has a reason to consider Plan of Action. Any deck that wants to go skill and draw heavy for whatever reason should at least consider it.

And if you need to fill a 45 card deck with as many cards that replace themselves as possible, you can do a lot worse.

SSW · 209
Also a great card to give a teammate who's just looking for that "anyone got 1 icon" to get to whatever golden number they need then just get a free draw. — Zerogrim · 292
I totally and completely agree. Utility is a good thing, and it’s not hard to make this a cantrip if you need it to be. — StyxTBeuford · 12985

Ruling from Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist via the official rules question form:

Question: If I commit Plan of Action to a skill test during the Mythos Phase, would it only commit for one wild icon?

Answer: No; if you commit Plan of Action during the mythos phase, you would give it 1 willpower and 1 agility icon.

GeneralXy · 39
That ruling is the direct opposite of the one we had before, which said you don't get icons during mythos phase. But i like it, it should give those icons to make it even slightly playable, so i'm glad they changed it! — Blood&gore · 419
This card should have worked like that since day 1 — Jota · 6
I hope they release an errata for this card then. The text on the card is fairly clear: "during or before the first action of __this__ turn". In the mythos phase you're not within any "turn", so this ruling is a direct contradiction to the text on the card itself. — snacc · 981

Ruling from Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist via the official rules question form:

Question: Hello! How many icons does Plan of Action have during the timing window after my turn but before my partner investigator’s turn?

Answer: Plan of Action would have 1 combat icon and 1 intellect icon.

(I won't speculate how the question would be answered if we reversed whose turn was over and whose was yet to begin.)

Holy Outlaw · 268
The answer would be exactly the same, it is actions this turn, not your turn — fiatluxia · 65

Hm so looking at this its either a weird unexpected courage with incredibly restrictive icons OR its an amazing unexpected courage that also lets you draw.

The key difference would be if during your first and third action you are "between" them as well, if we can trigger the middle effect AND the first and third effect I can see this card being very useful, but if its just +2, or +1 wild draw I don't think its worth the hassle of finding the timing on this over unexpected courage or Inquiring mind.

Side note: it is fun bringing back Trish's flavor of swapping around her stats all crazy like in the board game.

Edit: Given a year with this card, I include in basically any deck that can run it, 1 wild icon draw a card is just such a handy effect so frequently that it is worth the tiny amount of effort it takes to make it work. The me above is an idiot, ignore them, and enjoy having like 20 skills in your deck that all replace each other muahaha!

Zerogrim · 292
Between isn't during, so this is either +2 OR +1 and draw. It does seem tricky to use, but it seems super interesting for Amanda Sharpe, who basically gets three effects over the course of her turn. Other than that, it seems kind of wonky. — SGPrometheus · 809
For Amanda it's 2 icons (for exemple for evading), then 1 icon and a crad draw, then 2 icons. And for her too, only one wild icon. So even with her, I prefer Unexpected courage. — AlexP · 248
So I don't see this being an Amanda or a Trish card, what I actually see is a third and fourth perception in Harvey, triggering a free draw on him is pretty nice, and it still gives you +1. — Zerogrim · 292

I don't think this card is quite so limiting as all that.

For Minh, this card is essentially a +3 during Mythos phase, or Unexpected Courage + card draw on her second action. For any user of Tooth of Eztli, this card basically ensures you pass any will or agility treacheries (and get the card draw), and otherwise functions as the seeker version of Quick Thinking - by which I mean rogues get ? plus an action, where seekers get ? plus a card.

It does seem that its best function is either going to be before your first action (during Mythos) or as your second action (for the card draw), although many with access to 0 seeker will find times for the third action use as well.

I see a lot of arguments against skill cards by comparing them to Unexpected Courage. I have never understood that, as there's no reason you can't have both.

Time4Tiddy · 245
As far as I have heard this is not a wild+will/agility in the mythos phase given you aren't in a "turn" at that point, but otherwise yea, one wild draw a card is still really nice. Anyone who hasn't tried harvey with a ton of draw a card skills like this give it a shot, its great. — Zerogrim · 292
the problem with the wild+draw is that it's only during the second Action of your turn whereas the qt extra Action works whenever you commit it. So it's less controllable. I think it's possibly a good amanda card however (although it shows Trish). — PowLee · 20
This thing is only a wild in Mythos because it is no one’s turn. — StyxTBeuford · 12985
And why would that be? Where on the card does it say that it meeds tp be anybodies — Skeith · 2381
Turn. It reads before the first action of your turn, which the mythos phase arguebly is. So is every other test a preceeding investigator takes. The same is true for taking the iniative, that retains all its icons during mythos because everything happens before the first action of the turn. Otherwise both cards would surely read "only commit during your turn" or "durinf the investogation phase". — Skeith · 2381
It reads, "first action of THIS turn", implying that you must be in a Turn, which only occur in the investigation phase. Since this card chose not to say "this round" or "this phase" (which, btw, is what Take the Initiative says), it seems likely that you only get the bonuses during a turn. — Hylianpuffball · 28
I'm open to better understanding on this one - what are examples of skill tests taken during your turn but before your first action? — Time4Tiddy · 245
@Time4Tiddy For one, it could be treacheries in your play area that make you do tests at the start of your turn. Or it could be fast abilities/events that start tests, such as the Cryptographic Cipher. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
One example would be Garrote Wire, which initiates a fight without taking an action. That can be done during your turn before your first action. — StyxTBeuford · 12985
Hmm ok granted it doesn't say phase. I would still like official ruling on thst one seems needlessly complicated. — Skeith · 2381
No official ruling is needed. The word turn makes it explicitly clear that this does not have extra icons outside of your turn. — StyxTBeuford · 12985
Okay, while I still believe the wording on this card is NOT clear, review of MJN clarification on Quick Learner leads me to RAI only empowered during an investigator's turn. Putting will and agility on the front end of this card seems to be designed for treacheries. — Time4Tiddy · 245
Will is good for spellcasting and some treacheries' action triggered abilities. Agility is good for evading (something you want to do at the start of your turn) or indeed some treacheries' action-triggered abilities. Or free-triggered abilities, lately... — Yenreb · 15
@Time4Tiddy I mean, ruling aside, this card literally uses the word turn. Turn is defined in the rules and is completely explicit and transparent. No clarification is needed- it’s just a wild outside of someone’s turn. — StyxTBeuford · 12985
Well, it sounds like they have clarified that this was intended (or perhaps has been retconned) to work during mythos, and my review is back in business. :) — Time4Tiddy · 245

If you follow the reading on Abandoned Mine or The Lonely Tree, it is two icons + draw on your first and third actions this turn, an icon and a draw on the second action and two icons during the mythos and other phases.

Good card.

madcircus · 122
MJ has said that’s not how this card is meant to be read. Between X and Y cards/resources and between X and Y actions might not be the same (inclusive or exclusive). — StyxTBeuford · 12985
If it's not a turn, it's not "during or after" or "during or before" any action of "this turn". So in the mythos phase, enemy phase, or upkeep phase, or even in the investigator phase but between turns, it's just a wild [unless someone is doing something 'as if' it's their turn]. — Yenreb · 15