Chaos Highlander Wendy Returns to the Gathering (Solo)

Time for my next Return to the Night of the Zealot solo achievement run. This time, I'm trying for Line in the Sand: win the campaign with three Ultimatums. I'm taking the Ultimatum of Finality (defeat means killed/insane), the Ultimatum of Chaos (random deck!), and the Ultimatum of the Highlander (no more than 1 of each card in your deck). I used this website's Chaos deck build function first, then deleted all duplicates and rerolled randomly other available cards not already in my deck to fill out the space. (Turns out I actually only had one double in my Chaos deck - Stealth - the second copy of which got replaced by Hard Knocks.)

As to investigator, I know I said I'd try Leo Anderson in my last writeup, but after pulling a Chaos deck for him stuffed full of Rogue cards leveraging the he doesn't have, I decided to rethink. And I thought: "Which investigators are best situated to make do with a Chaos deck?" And the answer I came up with: "Investigators who can make use of cards even if they're not otherwise useful cards." And I just finished a run with "Ashcan" Pete, so time to use the other investigator in my collection who can discard cards for benefit: Wendy Adams. Here we go!

SESSION REPORT

SCENARIO I - RETURN TO THE GATHERING

• Opening Hand: Burglary, Lantern, Manual Dexterity, Reckless Assault, Hard Knocks
• Kept: Lantern
• Replacements: Resourceful, Knuckleduster, Gravedigger's Shovel, Perception

A couple of key assets here make for a good start. Really, this Chaos deck feels surprisingly balanced, with a reasonable assets/events/skills ratio and not that much "dead space." Though perhaps that's a testament to Wendy Adams being able to make good use of pretty much everything in her cardpool. Onwards!

R1 (0D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 0/3 doom

• Encounter: None
• Play Lantern [-2$]
• Play Gravedigger's Shovel [-2$]
• Use Lantern: Investigate, commit Perception, 5 vs. 2 (-1): pass [+1C], draw Winging It
• Draw Smoking Pipe [+1$]

R2 (0D, 0H, 2$, 1C): 1/3 doom

• Encounter: Frozen in Fear
• Move to Guest Hall
• Move to Bedroom
• Frozen in Fear: 4 vs. 3 ( is 0): pass, discarded
• Draw Rise to the Occasion [+1$]

R3 (0D, 0H, 3$, 1C): 2/3 doom

• Encounter: Ancient Evils [+1 doom]
• Agenda advances to 1b: discard Resourceful
• Use Lantern: Investigate, 3 vs. 1 (-2): pass [+1C]
• Move to Guest Hall
• Move to Bathroom
• Draw Sneak Attack [+1$]

R4 (0D, 0H, 4$, 2C): 1/7 doom

• Encounter: Frozen in Fear
• Use Lantern: Investigate, 3 vs. 0 (+1): pass [+1C]
• Move to Guest Hall
• Advance Act to 1b [-3C]: Locations enter play {Hallway, Parlor, Attic, Cellar}, move to Hallway, commit Smoking Pipe, 5 vs. 4 (, discard Winging It to retest, is 0): pass, Act advances to 2a
• Frozen in Fear: 4 vs. 3 (-1): pass, discarded
• Draw Lucky! [+1$]

Even though Frozen in Fear has slowed me a down a bit, frankly everything has run suspiciously smoothly so far. No enemies yet for me to swing my Shovel at, and I'm happy to keep it that way.

R5 (0D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 2/7 doom

• Encounter: Crypt Chill, 4 vs. 4 (0): pass
• Move to Attic [1H]
• Play Winging It from discard [-1$]: 3 vs. 0 (+1): pass [+2C, +1 Victory], Winging It reshuffled
• Move to Hallway
• Draw Think on Your Feet [+1$]

R6 (0D, 1H, 5$, 2C): 3/7 doom

• Encounter: Rotting Remains, 4 vs. 3 (-2): fail by 1 [1H]
• Move to Cellar, Ghoul Pits enter play
• Move to Ghoul Pits, 4 vs. 3 (-3), play Lucky! [-1$], pass
• Draw Bait and Switch
• Draw "Look what I found!" [+1$]

After burning Lucky! to stop from being swarmed by Rats in the Ghoul Pits, I decided to stop for some cards. I need a full hand to deal with the Ghoul Priest anyway. While I could always discard my Gravedigger's Shovel to get this shroud 4 clue, I would rather hang on to it for enemy encounters. And with "Look what I found!", I now have another option available.

R7 (0D, 2H, 5$, 2C): 4/7 doom

• Encounter: Swarm of Rats
• Use Gravedigger's Shovel: Fight Swarm of Rats, 3 vs. 1 ( is 0): pass [+1D, defeated]
• Draw Burglary
• Use Lantern: Investigate, commit Burglary, 4 vs. 3 ( is -1): pass [+1C, +1 Victory]
• Draw Stunning Blow [+1$]

I was prepared to use "Look what I found!" but am even happier to save it to commit to the parley test for Lita Chantler. With Stunning Blow, I now have a 1-2-3 knockout plan for the Ghoul Priest. Just need to put it in motion.

R8 (0D, 2H, 6$, 3C): 5/7 doom

• Encounter: Chill from Below, 4 vs. 3 (-2, discard Bait and Switch to retest, -1): pass
• Move to Cellar
• Move to Hallway
• Draw Wendy's Amulet
• Draw Run For Your Life [+1$]
• Advance Act to 2b [-3C]: Parlor revealed with Lita Chantler, Ghoul Priest spawns [play Think on Your Feet [-1$], move to Parlor] in Hallway

I thought about stalling to look for Victory point ghouls, but really, Wendy Adams is not the best investigator to embark on that adventure. Better I think to rush the finish and use all of my limited combat tools in one fell swoop to take out the boss.

R9 (0D, 2H, 6$, 0C): 6/7 doom

• Encounter: Obscuring Fog attaches to Parlor
• Parley Lita Chantler, commit "Look what I found!" and Wendy's Amulet, 7 vs. 4 ( is -1): pass, Lita Chantler joins
• Draw Opportunist
• Draw Stealth
• Ghoul Priest moves to Parlor, engages and attacks [2D/2H]
• Draw Winging It [+1$]

And now it's time for a Knockout in Three Steps!

R10 (2D, 4H, 7$, 0C): 7/7 doom

• Agenda advances to 2b: encounters reshuffle, Corpse-Hungry Ghoul spawns in Bedroom
• Encounter: Grave-Eater spawns and engages
• Use Gravedigger's Shovel: Fight Ghoul Priest, commit Rise to the Occasion and Stunning Blow, 8 vs. 4 (0): pass [+2D, evaded] (step 1)
• Play Sneak Attack [-2$]: +2D to Ghoul Priest (step 2)
• Discard Lantern: +1D to Ghoul Priest, defeated, +2 Victory (step 3!)
• Act advances to 3b: Resolution 1

Resolution 1

• Wendy's house has burned to the ground
• Lita Chantler joins Wendy
• +1 mental trauma
• 6 experience (4 Victory + 2 bonus)

That actually makes for the quickest "winning" finish I've had yet to this scenario on my solo adventures. Time to think carefully about upgrades given my Highlander ultimatum restriction. It's looking to be a fun challenge in Return to The Midnight Masks!