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Q: I would like to ask you about Parallel Skids' deckbuilding and Underworld Support. Skids deckbuilding rules say: "When you upgrade a Fortune or Gambit card, you may instead pay the full experience cost of the higher level version and leave the lower level version in your deck (it does not count towards your deck size or the number of copies of that card in your deck)." Underworld Support says: "Your deck cannot include more than 1 copy of each non-weakness, non-signature card (by title)". How does the "does not count" interacts with this limit? Can Skids have Lucky (0), Lucky (2) and Lucky (3), for instance, under the premise that the first two do not count towards his deckbuilding? A: Skids O’Toole’s “Additional [Deckbuilding] Options” does not contradict or override the “cannot” on Underworld Support. If you purchase Underworld Support for your deck, you cannot include more than 1 copy of each non-weakness, non-signature card, including any higher- or lower-level versions of that card, meaning you’re locked out of using Skids’ Additional Deckbuilding Options. (Rules Forum Answer, July 2024)
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Q: Can parallel investigator Skids O'Toole activate his ability by spending 0 resource to make a difficulty 0 test? A: No; to use Parallel Skids’ ability, you must spend at least 1 resource. (Rules Forum Answer, March 2025)
"Skids" O'Toole
The Ex-Con
Investigator
Criminal.
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Spend up to 3 resources: Test a base skill value of 3 against a difficulty equal to the amount of resources just spent. If you succeed, gain twice the number of spent resources. Only and skill icons may be committed to this test. (Limit once per round.)
effect: +1. Choose a level 2 or less card in your discard pile. Add the chosen card to your hand.
"Skids" O'Toole - Back
Deck size: 25.
Deckbuilding Options: Rogue cards () level 0-5, Fortune cards level 0-3, Gambit cards level 0-3, Neutral cards level 0-5.
Deckbuilding Requirements (do not count toward deck size): On the Lam, Hospital Debts, 1 random basic weakness.
Additional Options: When you upgrade a Fortune or Gambit card, you may instead pay the full experience cost of the higher level version and leave the lower level version in your deck (it does not count towards your deck size or the number of copies of that card in your deck).
Investigator Cards
- On the Lam (Core Set #10)
- Hospital Debts (Core Set #11)
- On the Lam (All or Nothing #9)
- Hospital Debts (All or Nothing #10)
Deck Building
Search for cards usable by this investigatorRelated Cards
- "Skids" O'Toole: The Ex-Con (Core Set #3)
- "Skids" O'Toole: The Ex-Con (Revised Core Set #3)
FAQs
(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)Reviews
The parallel version of "Skids" gives him a few distinct advantages that help him stand out from other rogues:
Deck Size
His small deck size of 25 makes him much more consistent at finding important cards in his deck. Bewitching can reduce that by a further 3 cards. With Underworld Support, you can reduce it by another 5 for a final total of just 17 cards! That last one does slightly decrease consistency as you can no longer run duplicates, but significantly increases your chance of finding one-ofs, including the powerful Exceptional rogue assets.
Below are some examples of how likely you are to find specific cards in your deck based on deck size. Note that each deck is actually one card larger than listed to account for Skids' signature card.
| Hard Mulligan target | 30 cards | --25 cards | --22 cards | --20 cards | --17 cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 copy of an Exceptional card (e.g. The Red Clock) | 32% | 38% | 43% | 47% | 56% |
| 2 copies of a Build-around card (e.g. Well Connected) | 55% | 63% | 69% | †47% | †56% |
| 4 copies of two similar cards (e.g. two different weapons) | 81% | 88% | 92% | †74% | †81% |
† These probabilities are lower because of the singleton rule
Because his small deck size is one of his strengths, his parallel back deckbuilding ability to keep additional copies of Fortune or Gambit cards can be a trap.
Gambling winnings
Skids' innate gambling ability lets him gain an inconsistent trickle of resources. The odds of gambling depend on the chaos bag contents, but generally gambling 3 vs 1 will on average net you ~0.75 resources per turn. If you boost your skill value by committing skill cards or using effects like Well Connected to get at least +2-3 skill value, you'll be netting closer to ~2.5 resources per turn. Add a Stylish Coat and you're making almost as much money as The Millionaire himself!
High Roller looks like a natural fit, but the possibility of drawing the auto-fail token and losing 3 extra resources ends up lowering the expected return in most circumstances.
You do still have to consider how bad the symbol token effects are before gambling. Failing a gambling test and losing 1 resource is okay, but failing and getting attacked by the boss is a lot more punishing.
Gambling skills
After Winifred Habbamock, Parallel Skids is the best user of the Rogue skill suite. He can commit every skill with or during any player window. This allows him to use Nimble, "Watch this!", or Manual Dexterity to move, gain resources, or draw cards at any moment, while also increasing his odds of making money.
Skids' gambling test can also be set to 0 difficulty when he needs to oversucceed at a test to trigger cards like Lucky Cigarette Case or Quick Thinking. This can also be used to create a test that other investigators can use to minimize the chances that their important skills like Resourceful are wasted.