Zealot Revenger Yorick (Solo, Return to NotZ, Achievements)

Inspired by the Mythos Busters' Achievement Hunters podcast first episode, I decided to craft a solo deck specifically aimed at accomplishing an Achievement (or a few) in the Return to the Night of the Zealot campaign. After successfully achieving "Pinch Hitter" in Return to The Gathering, William Yorick here is ready to attempt Return to The Midnight Masks. I'm hardly optimized for this scenario though, so I'm aiming to knock out "....But Do I Have To?" now, recognizing staying at Your House for three whole rounds will likely result in a decidedly sub-par resolution. Still though, there's always the possibility of putting Lita Chantler and the Ghoul Priest back together to achieve "The Zealot's Revenge," or maybe even "Do You Get It Now?" if the random-spawning elite cultists cooperate. Let's get some upgrades and get to the adventure!

UPGRADE STRATEGY

Cards owned: all cycles through and including The Forgotten Age, plus all three Return box sets

• Add Old Hunting Rifle x1, drop Baseball Bat x1: Upgrading from one two-handed weapon to another. This will be my primary difficult-enemy-defeating tool in both this scenario and the next. Keeping one Baseball Bat for backup.

• Add Newspaper x1, drop Knife x1: I'm taking a chance going down to only four weapons, but with my two Backpacks I'm hoping to find them quickly (and Lita Chantler herself is essentially an extra fifth weapon). The upgraded Newspaper is perfect for the "keep spending 2 clues" Midnight Masks. I'm keeping the rest of my clue-gathering tricks as well (Scene of the Crime, Flashlight, Lantern, and Gravedigger's Shovel).

• Add Will to Survive x1, drop Take the Initiative x1: This is more forward-looking for Scenario III, where I expect a final-round burst will be most important to victory; but hey, if I draw this during Scenario II I can certainly put it to good use. This card is also why I took two Resourcefuls at the start of the campaign.

Here we go!

SCENARIO II - RETURN TO THE MIDNIGHT MASKS (STANDARD DIFFICULTY)

• Opening Hand: Resourceful, Bandolier, Bandolier, Backpack, Knife
• Kept: Bandolier, Backpack, Knife
• Replacements: On the Hunt, Lita Chantler
• Starting Location: Your House

Only a backup weapon to start, sure, but with Lita available from the start and On the Hunt, the chances of securing The Zealot's Revenge have just skyrocketed. I may focus on accomplishing that while waiting in William's house for three rounds. Plus the Backpack should help us find some more useful tools.

R1 (1D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 0/6 doom

• Encounter: None
• Play Backpack [-2$] {attach: Lantern, Baseball Bat}
• Play Lita Chantler
• Use Your House: draw Cherished Keepsake [+1$]
• Draw Madame Labranche [+1$]

Might as well leverage William's house for extra resources and card draw while I'm staying here. Got two more of my primary tools this round, plus a backup for when Lita inevitably nobly sacrifices herself to keep William alive.

R2 (1D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 1/6 doom

• Encounter: Mask of Umôrdhoth [draw Disciple of the Devourer, spawns in Northside with +1 doom, Mask of Umôrdhoth attaches to it]
• Play Baseball Bat from Backpack [-2$]
• Play Cherished Keepsake
• Use Your House: draw Emergency Cache [+1$]
• Draw Graveyard Ghouls [spawns and engages, +1$]

Disciples spawning that I can't go chase means that the first Agenda is going to flip extra early. That's an unavoidable consequence of going for the stay-at-home-for-three-rounds achievement. At least I'm well-equipped to take out these leftover ghouls that just snuck out of my house.

R3 (1D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 2/6 doom [+1 on Disciple of the Devourer]

• Encounter: Disciple of the Devourer [spawns at Downtown with +1 doom]
• Play Bandolier [-2$, discard Backpack and Lantern] [Graveyard Ghouls attacks: 1D on Lita Chantler, 1H on Cherished Keepsake]
• Use Baseball Bat: Fight Graveyard Ghouls, 7 vs. 3 (0): pass [Lita Chantler, +3D, foe defeated], play Lantern from discard [-2$]
• Use Lantern: Investigate, 2 vs. 1 (-4): fail
• Draw Will to Survive [+1$]
• ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: ...DO I HAVE TO?

Yup, the agenda is going to flip after next round. At least I'm prepared now to deal with the Agenda 1b unique cultist. I thought briefly about attempting the "don't defeat any unique cultists" achievement but I think that's better tackled by a different future investigator with a lot more mobility options.

R4 (1D, 0H, 2$, 0C): 3/6 doom [+2 on Disciples of the Devourer]

• Encounter: False Lead [surge]
• Encounter: Masked Horrors [+1 doom, Agenda advances to 1b, all doom cleared]
• Agenda 1b: Narôgath [spawns and engages], advances to 2a
• Use Baseball Bat: Fight Narôgath, 7 vs. 3 (0): pass [Lita Chantler, +3D]
• Use Baseball Bat: Fight Narôgath, 7 vs. 3 (): pass [Lita Chantler, +3D] [take Backpack from discard]
• Use Baseball Bat: Fight Narôgath, 7 vs. 3 (-1): pass [Lita Chantler, +3D, foe defeated, +2VP]
• Draw Take the Initiative [+1$]

Well, that was eventful. At least I didn't have to deal with Narôgath combined with another foe or treachery. I also hadn't realized before that Narôgath is a Monster and so is vulnerable to Lita's damage boost effect.

At this point, the possibility of interrogating any of the other unique cultists seems quite remote. The shroud 1 Graveyard seems my best bet, with Lantern in hand, both for its Victory point and for two clues.

R5 (1D, 0H, 3$, 0C): 1/8 doom

• Encounter: Hunting Shadow [1D, 1D on Lita Chantler]
• Move to Rivertown
• Move to Graveyard: commit Take the Initiative, 5 vs. 3 (Tablet is -3): fail [1H on Lita Chantler, 1H discards Cherished Keepsake]
• Use Lantern: Investigate, 2 vs. 0 (Tablet is -3): pass [+1C]
• Draw Bandolier [+1$]

Could have gone better, could have gone worse. Now's I think a good time to fish for the Ghoul Priest.

R6 (2D, 0H, 4$, 1C): 2/8 doom

• Play On the Hunt [-1$]: encounter Ghoul Priest [spawns and engages]
• Use Baseball Bat: Fight Ghoul Priest, 7 vs. 4 (Skull is 0): pass [Lita Chantler, +3D], discard Baseball Bat
• Fight Ghoul Priest, commit Bandolier, 6 vs. 4 (Skull is 0): pass [Lita Chantler, +2D, defeated, +2VP], play Baseball Bat from discard [-2$]
• ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: THE ZEALOT'S REVENGE
• Use Lantern: Investigate, 2 vs. 0 (-4): pass [+1C, +1VP]
• Draw Resourceful [+1$]

That was quite the effective and eventful hunt! I especially enjoy the mental image of William breaking his Bat over the Ghoul Priest's head and having to resort to whipping a spare Bandolier around it, to restrain it just long enough for Lita Chantler to score the finishing blow. This kind of emergent storytelling, I think, is where this game shines. Beautiful.

R7 (2D, 0H, 2$, 2C): 3/8 doom

• Encounter: Crypt Chill, 3 vs. 4 (-1): fail [discard Baseball Bat]
• Use Act 1a [-2C]: draw Ruth Turner [spawns in St. Mary's Hospital]
• Move to Rivertown
• Play Knife [-1$]
• Draw Resourceful [+1$]

R8 (2D, 0H, 2$, 0C): 4/8 doom

• Encounter: Locked Door [attaches to Your House]
• Use Lantern: Investigate, 2 vs. 0 (0): pass [+1C]
• Move to Miskatonic University
• Play Emergency Cache [+3$]
• Draw Old Hunting Rifle [+1$]

Am I really going to go shoot a mortician in the head? Am I really going to play Will to Survive solely to clear Miskatonic University of its clues and Victory point? Only the next (last) couple of rounds will tell!

R9 (2D, 0H, 6$, 1C): 5/8 doom

• Encounter: Masked Horrors [+1 doom]
• Play Will to Survive [-4$]
• Use Lantern, Investigate, commit Resourceful, 3 vs. 3: pass [+1C], take Will to Survive from discard
• Use Lantern, Investigate, commit Madame Labranche, 3 vs. 3: pass [+1C, +1VP]
• Move to St. Mary's Hospital, Ruth Turner engages
• Ruth Turner attacks [1D]
• Draw Last Chance [+1$]

R10 (3D, 0H, 4$, 3C): 7/8 doom

• Encounter: False Lead, 2 vs. 4 (Cultist is -2): fail [drop 3C on St. Mary's Hospital], +1 doom on Ruth Turner
• Take a resource [+1$], Ruth Turner attacks [1D]
• Play Will to Survive [-4$]
• Evade Ruth Turner, commit Last Chance, 6 vs. 5: pass (evaded, placed in display, +1VP)
• Use Agenda 2a: Resign

In the end, William's doubly-strong Will to Survive successfully convinced Ruth Turner that he and Lita Chantler represented their collective Last Chance. Off they race into the night, knowing full well that the majority of the cult's leaders lay in wait for them at the ritual site...

Scenario II: No resolution = Resolution 1

• Cultists William Interrogated: Narôgath, Ruth Turner
• Cultists Who Got Away: Victoria Devereux, "Wolf-Man" Drew, Herman Collins, Alma Hill
• The Ghoul Priest is no longer alive
• 7 experience [7 Victory]
• Total trauma: 1 physical, 0 mental
• Achievements: ...But Do I Have To?, The Zealot's Revenge

Victory points obtained: Narôgath, the Ghoul Priest, Ruth Turner, the Graveyard, and Miskatonic University.

Victory points missed: Northside, Downtown, Easttown, the remaining four unique cultists, and Bury Them Deep.

Not bad for spending what turned out to be all of Agenda 1 staying home. Even if I'd had a better start, I wouldn't have been able to bring together the Ghoul Priest and Billy Cooper because Billy wasn't even in the randomly selected unique cultist deck.

Onwards to the final scenario! Will William manage to stop the ritual from its seemingly-inevitable conclusion? Will he, fueled by a tremendous Will to Survive, somehow bring the mighty Umôrdhoth to its nonexistent knees? Or will he take the coward's way out and leave Lita Chantler to her likely fate? Only time will tell.