Well Connected High Roller

Fairly thematic Jenny deck which focuses solely on damage dealing. On hurting people. Or creatures. Or monsters. Not their feelings, but physically, dealing pain. KILL 'EM, GIRL! KILL 'EM ALL!

Most players build Jenny as a "jack of all trades, master of none". My goal was to create a standalone deck which can bear the Guardian role for two-player team. This deck is specifically designed as a supplement to my thematic Wendy deck "Abandoned & Alone on Her Own", so you can use them both without proxying anything. Bonus — both decks are Taboo-compliant!

An angel with filthy soul.

Jenny is all about money. The niche of success-buying investigator is occupied by Preston, but I believe that if you complement Jenny's ability with some handy tools, she'll be able to perform in a similar manner.

Same as with Wendy, the core engine of this deck consists of two talents - Well Connected & High Roller. If played right, both basically grant Jenny a free Unexpected Courage once a round. To enable this feature for Well Connected you need to pile up at least 10 resources in your "trust fund", which should not be a problem with the money-making instruments this deck contains.

What about the money you owe me?

Aside from Jenny's ability you're very welcome to use the following cards to fund your operations:

• Decorated Skull - It's a bit slow and requires an action to install, but since you'll be killing things and doing basically nothing in between the fights, you should have enough spare actions to get a profit from Jenny's shiny toy. Bonus - it provides a card draw too!
• Act of Desperation - It's always nice to have a 100% cashback on your unloaded gun. Friendly reminder - it doesn't work with Jenny's Twin .45s, but feel free to use it on other firearms. Bonus — it provides a potent attack!
• Emergency Cache - A staple of any non-Dark Horse deck. You may ask: "Why do you need it in this deck, aren't other instruments enough?", but believe me... It's fine.
• Hot Streak - Oh, yes. Basically, Jenny's signature card. Look at this art! Also very useful for stockpiling the resources.
• "Watch this!" - Basically 3rd & 4th copies of Emergency Cache. Don't you dare to use it for 1 or 2 resources! Jenny always goes "all in".
• Sleight of Hand - This card does not provide you resources by itself, but it provides you a possibility to unload a Lupara or two for free. Money saved means money earned, right? Also, Sleight of Hand allows you to create money from thin air - put the gun in play, unload it, then play Act of Desperation and enjoy the cash! Of course, you'd better not to pull this stunt with your only gun, but with many firearms in deck you'll be able to perform it from time to time.

I believe you... But my Tommy Gun doesn't.

So, back to the point of the deck — how can an investigator with mediocre 3 be a primary fighter of the team?

Well, aside from core talents, which can grant you lots of wild icons each round, you need some static buffs. Trully well connected, Jenny has friends on both sides of the law. Don't be shy to call for help from your friends from law enforcement or just pay some tough guy to bodyguard you.

But don't get emotionally attached to your allies, remember — they are expendable. You'll be able to afford a new one if something happens on the road. And you should be able to find a new one with the little help from your friend Yorick (not William!)

You have enough guns in deck to always be Prepared for the Worst. In case if your talents don't show up, you have lots of icons - special shoutout for Coup de Grâce, which can help you to save some precious ammo and deal a testless last hit (bonus card draw!)

Keep the change, ya filthy animal!

Since icons are stealing the show, you may wonder how exactly will Jenny defend herself from the encounter deck?

Well, again, the deck relies on talents a lot. You need Well Connected / High Roller on the table ASAP even if there's nothing to fight yet. Also, once you pile up some resources, don't hesitate to use Money Talks in defence purposes. Sitting at 10 resources basically grants you another 2 Unexpected Courages for treachery tests.

Also, use your allies to absorb the excessive damage & horror. A dead friend means another charge on the skull... Yeah, I know, this Jenny is truly ruthless & merciless. Sometimes she scares me (don't tell her!)

Basically, that's it. This is the Jenny Barnes who fights and throws money on her problems. The deck is very asset-heavy and requires some time to set up, but with the time passing it shines more & more.

Campaign starter

I'm not sure this deck will give you desired consistency on the level 0, and I've not tested it this way, but you're very welcome to try if you want to! For legal campaign starter I'd suggest to replace the following:

• Lupara .41 Derringer
• Hired Muscle Dario El-Amin
• High Roller Unexpected Courage
• Hot Streak A couple of cards of your choice from the next section or just Guts if you don't want to overthink it.

Cards for consideration

I don't own full TCU (only the deluxe box)/TDE/TIC yet, so I can't really advise on its cards, but from what I see here on arkhamdb, you might be interested in the following:

• Delilah O'Rourke - The best ally for offensive Rogue, but costs 3 XP. Anyway, I'd try to add her even by a cost of another weakness in standalone mode.
• Lonnie Ritter - buff, lots of soak, also can occasionally help your friends. Nice!
• Garrote Wire - Conflicts with shiny Skull, but can be bought later in campaign with the help Relic Hunter. Can replace Coup de Grâce — you'll miss the icons, but will be able to finish off those odd-health enemies for free from time to time.
• Sneak Attack & Small Favor - more testless damage is nice.
• Intel Report - If you want some occasional clues.
• Followed - Same if you want to use the beat up fella before finish him off.
• Narrow Escape - Nice to have if you don't want to carry a gun in your hands before the bad guys show up. Basically this card is Dodge + Unexpected Courage which is pretty bonkers for level 0 card.
• Cheap Shot (and upgraded version) — As mattastrophic pointed out in comments, you can compress two or even three actions into one with this card, which is pretty valuable effect.
• "You handle this one!" - Sometimes you don't want to deal with those pesky treacheries, right? Also it grants a resource, so...
• Easy Mark - she's might look like one, but she's definetely not the one... Resources + card draw are cool!
• Swift Reload - Won't work with twins, but saves you money on Tommy gun reload.
• Quick Thinking - Additional actions are always nice. Works best if you play on Easy/Standard.

Why not include ...?

• Investments - I don't own this card yet so I wasn't able to play around it, but the deck is already so asset-heavy... I'd settle with Decorated Skull because it provides a card draw too.
• Leo De Luca - Leo is the one of the best allies in the game, but we need disposable allies who provide static combat bonus, so no space for Louisiana Lion, I'm afraid.
• Lone Wolf - The deck cries for this card, but too much assets already, unfortunately.
• Lucky Cigarette Case - I was deciding between the Case and the Skull and settled with the latter. Skull is slower but more reliable in my opinion.
• Double or Nothing - I love this card, but apparently mr. Newman does not :/ If you don't play with taboo, you may enjoy a 6-damage Lupara attacks. Illegal guns were never so cool!

Missing a pack or two?

• Blood on the Altar - So, you're not prepared for the worst, right? That's okay, include one copy of .45 Automatic. It will serve the same purpose, it's faster (you don't need to search for a gun), but you'll miss out on icon. Another options can be Enchanted Blade or Machete, but remember - if you play with Taboo, Machete costs additional XP to add to your deck (even though it stays 0-level card, so Jenny can take it).
• Path to Carcosa - The absence of Sleight of Hand won't hurt much, you can include any other cool event on your choice (check two sections above).
• Pallid Mask - "Watch this!" is not integral for this deck money-making, but it's very fun to play. If you don't mind to add any more assets, use Burglary and steal from this shroud 1 locations.
• Dim Carcosa - I consider Lupara more as an event than as asset, because usually it works during one round only. Upgraded .41 Derringer is nice if you have Pallid Mask.
• The Forgotten Age - The solution is simple, swap Decorated Skull for Lucky Cigarette Case if you have it or include one of the powerful Rogue accessories (Lucky Dice or The Gold Pocket Watch) if you don't mind taking more XP and an additional weakness.
• The Depths of Yoth - Swap Coup de Grâce with one of the testless damage dealing events you own.
• The Circle Undone + The Boundary Beyond - I'm not sure you'd want to play this deck without its core cards, so... No luck here.
• The Secret Name - Without .45 Thompson you have to go for Chicago Typewriter, which will make the deck much more XP hungry and also will make it even more hard to play 0-level version of this deck.