"Skids" Evades and Events deck

Poor "Skids" gets a bum rap, which seems very unfair to our very first, core set, rogue. Granted, he lacks Jenny's dramatic flair, Finn's tough-guy act, Preston's steady pile of inherited cash, or Sefina's artistic talent, but dismissing "Skids" really is a mistake for a number of reasons. Chief among the reasons is that, as the original core set rogue, he initially suffered from a comparatively weak set of deck-building options, as rogue cards really only came into their own with the Carcosa cycle. This led, from my experience, to people playing "Skids" as a poor-man's guardian with a little added action efficiency. Often, this would produce disappointing results and a sense that rogues, as a class, were not particularly fun or competitive to play.

If we re-evaluate the tools now available to rogues, post-Forgotten Age (I don't yet have enough play-throughs to comment on Circle Undone cards yet), then I think we develop a very different picture of what "Skids" can do. Keep in mind that I am still trying to keep this deck fairly inexpensive for newer players so that only two choices are drawn from non-"big box" sets. If we really delve into all of the available card options, then 2019 "Skids" becomes a complicated, but highly rewarding rock star of an investigator. That's another build, though. Here, I'm trying to keep it fairly simple just to provide a solid deck that most players will be able to build that also allows "Skids" to really shine.

Let's start with the basic outline: "Skids" is going to evade. A lot. Ideally in a multi-player group, he is going to engage an enemy, evade it to exhaust it, then get in an attack before dashing off a different location and repeating the cycle again next turn. While "Skids" can take a few hits, he is not an investigator who really wants to (a la Mark or Calvin). Still, the unexpected does happen, so this deck is designed to roll with a few punches. With this is mind, "Skids" is going to have to be the group's designated hero; the cluevers like Rex and Ursula or the very "swingy" mystics like Agnes cannot be effective unless "Skids" keeps the enemies off of their backs. With this in mind, let's take a closer look at my card choices.

1. Dodge -> this is really at the heart of what "Skids" should be doing, keeping enemies from landing hits on other investigators. With his action economy and some neato movement shenanigans, "Skids" can cover a lot of territory quickly, such that he is able to reach an isolated investigator who is in danger of being attacked and halt that attack. A key card for this play-style.

2. Elusive -> from time to time, you are going to bite off more than you can chew. Elusive allows you to easily recover from bad luck or bad choices.

3. Narrow Escape -> again, this is all about avoiding damage and/or allowing you to take some additional actions without painful consequences if you cannot evade; I also include this card because of the two evade boosts which are invaluable against agile enemies

4. Guts -> since you are, by definition, going to be looking for trouble, you have to provide some way to deal with it when you find it; "Skids" is notorious for failing treachery card willpower tests (and with 2 willpower, is this really a surprise?). In order to avoid the worst of these (things that trap him in place or deny him the ability to play cards), two copies of Guts are included in this deck.

5. Sneak Attack -> if you are playing "Skids" in the way that I outline here, you should be engaging and exhausting enemies during your turn; once exhausted, you might as well try to remove them permanently so that you don't have to keep dealing with them; enter "Sneak Attack."

6. .45 Automatic and Machete -> "Skids" is not a monster killer like Mark, Zoey, or a well-equipped Finn or Jenny. Instead, he should "lend a hand" to the designated monster-killer by nibbling at more powerful foes with the .45's (via Sleight of Hand) while dealing with rats and inconvenient hotel guests with the Machete (or Sneak Attack). This keeps the "little" enemies under control so that they don't interrupt the cluevers and support investigators, while still allowing you to help out against the "boss" enemies.

7. Decorated Skull -> if someone is going to bother killing monsters (either "Skids" or one of his teammates), then "Skids" should at least profit from it. What could be more rogue-like than that?

8. Backpack -> arguably a poor choice for this deck, but since I emphasize the need to be able to contribute to monster-hunting, a tutor card for finding .45 Automatic or Machete is really important, plus Backpack allows me to hold on to cards for later in the game with little real cost if I don't absolutely have to have them now

9. Burglary -> "Skids" needs resources for action economy and has a solid intellect skill that will let him consistently succeed at 2 shroud locations; Burglary allows you to convert those successes into resources (and, honestly, if you are wanting to perform the cluever role, there are better choices than "Skids")

10. Beat Cop/Guard Dog -> for when those inevitable hits do come, here are some loyal pals to take them for you; also, in the event of an emergency, you may sacrifice them to do small amounts of damage which might just be enough to finish off a powerful enemy (especially since these are automatic hits that do not require skill tests)

As for the rest, Hard Knocks and Liquid Courage are auto-include for most rogues, in my opinion. Hard Knocks lets you do what rogues do while Liquid Courage makes up for limited sanity and low willpower. Emergency Cache and Unexpected Courage are auto-include in every deck that I own. They offer great flexibility to almost every deck-build out there (save perhaps Dark Horse) and can absolutely turn a losing scenario around for you. Think of them as something of a safety-net should things go badly (as opposed to "win more" cards).

With that, I think that we have a solid, fairly straightforward "Skids" deck that most players can comfortably pilot to success in campaign scenarios. This is likely not a "top-tier" deck for hard mode single-shot scenarios, but there are plenty of deck lists out there meant for that purpose. Rather, I hope to revive interest in "Skids," especially from players who were turned-off by him after core set and Dunwich playthroughs. So, while "Skids" may not be the great generalist that Jenny is or the dedicated specialist that Mark is, most groups will find him to be a useful addition and he can provide a neat action-economy style play that I hope many rogue players will find enjoyable.