Skill

Innate.

XP: 1.

Survivor

Max 1 committed per skill test.

You may commit Gumption to any type of skill test.

While Gumption is committed to a skill test, that test gets -2 difficulty.

"Now you listen here, mister!"
Andreia Ugrai
The Scarlet Keys Investigator Expansion #112.
Gumption

FAQs

No faqs yet for this card.

Reviews

You can see Gumption as a somewhat reverse Unexpected Courage. While UC increases your value by 2, Gumption decreases your goal by 2. Either way, you're two number better than you were before comitting the skill card. They both also have the same limit of 1 per test and are both innate (Which matters for cards like True Survivor).

So the question becomes "Why do I spend two experience to upgrade my two UC into Gumptions?" I decided to list some of the pros and cons.

Cons: -The 2 experience price (While small, it does matter for small xp campaigns where your XP needs to go to your core cards, and gumption is probably not gonna be ur engine unless you're playing a Darrel 0 skill test archetype).

-Has no icons. Therefore does not work with cards like Grimsly Totem or interactions that need you to discard card with specific items/quantity of icons (Minh's The King in Yellow.)

-Does not interact with scrounge for supplies, I guess.

-Pros:

-If you're doing a 2 skill test, you can reduce the test to 0. It then becomes an auto-win unless you draw your auto-fail token. On the other hand, 2 skill tests are usually easy enough to pass with. Which brings us to...

-Old Key Ring (Lv 3). Together with Gumption means you can reduce a 4 shroud location to 0. This is much more interesting as a 4 shroud can be difficult for most non-seeker characters.

-Combos with Shed a Light and Exploit Weakness. Although it's not the only way to achieve a 0 skill test (Map the Area, Expose Weakness, Breach the Door, Makeshift Trap) it's probably the most versatile. When you buy gumption, this is probably the deck you're running. And it's not like you can only use ONE of these methods to reduce a test value. Use them all to get to that sweet 0 when you're running 2+ tests.

-Combos with Darrell Simmons for the above reason.

-Weirdly, Combos with Grizzled if it has the "Nemesis" upgrade.

-Combos with Resourceful, if that matters to you.

Of course, you CAN run both copies of UC and both copies of Gumption. You can even put one of each in a test for that sweet +4 in whatever ya need.

tinynanami · 20
One of the overlooked advantage of reducing the difficulty test is also that it reduces the risk of all the cards like Grasping Hands that punish you for every point you fail by. You are now only risking 1 damage (or horror for Rotting Remains). — Valentin1331 · 69035
That is true. Although I wouldn't personally upgrade UC to Gumption solely for the above reason, it's certainlly a pro. — tinynanami · 20
Seeking clarity on whether or not a certain combo works. I know all cards are committed simultaneously to a skill test, but in what order are they applied during ST.5? For example, if I commit Gumption and Double or Nothing, is the difficulty reduced first then doubled, doubled then reduced, or do I choose? — Gibbs_M · 1