My first real deck. A Work in progress. I would appreciate comments.

Setting of use

This deck was built to play with two other friends. One is playing Zoey Samaras focusing on fighting, while the other is play Daisy Walker focusing on investigating. The intention of this deck is to play a supporting role in fighting and investigating, but also running a lot of cards that I can commit so the whole party deals with checks better.

I focus on role-playing when building the deck.

Role-play

• Pete has a four-legged friend named Duke.

• Pete is poor, so his cards require few resources to play (Dark Horse and Peter Sylvestre are the most expensive cards in the deck).

• Pete isn't violent by nature, so to protect himself he is uses what he can find at hand (Fire Axes and Baseball Bats seem plausible enough). His Leather Coat keeps him warm on cold nights.

• He relies on luck ("Look what I found!", Lucky!, Rabbit's Foot) and wits (Scavenging)

• His dreams are true so I assume he is relatively attuned with the world (Hyperawareness, Perception). (Note: Arcane Studies would be better, since eventually, with Scrapper, this would cover all skill attributes. However, I felt that Hyperawareness made more sense in role-playing terms.)

• He is tracking down clues to put together hints from his dreams and needs some attention to details in his surroundings (Magnifying Glass). (Note: I admit Newspapers would perhaps be more plausible from a role-playing standpoint - but when I've used them in the past I have really hated them. Upgraded Newspapers aren't bad, but I don't own them.)

• These cards round out Pete's character a bit: Pete can surprise himself (Unexpected Courage, Rise to the Occasion, Overpower) and, being an unknown, has capabilities that are unknown to others (Dark Horse). He has also seen some shit (Liquid Courage). (Note: you may consider First Aid instead of Liquid Courage, but in my case another party member is using it.)

• Honestly, Pete's relation to Peter Sylvestre require a just-so story for it to make sense. Maybe they bond on having the same name... Also - he can be Fred (explanation below).

(The team as a whole may be a bit like the characters in Scooby-Doo -- but if they were in a dark survival horror:

• Pete + Duke = Shaggy + Scooby
• Zoey = Daphne
• Daisy = Velma
• Peter Sylvestre = Fred - I know I'm pushing it here

)

Strategy

Dark Horse:

This card is worth calling out on its own since it is so strange. I often wonder if I am forcing this card into the deck, but my attempts to use it as I've put this deck together have shown that it can be really effective.

If it is in play I will probably still opt to take resources, but probably only up to 2-3 so I can get rid of them easily. Therefore this card isn't meant to help in the mythos phase (since I'll have resources then), but more with passing checks I make during the action phase.

I need to have cards around that let me blow all my resources in case I need the bonus. For this there is Fire Axe and Hyperawareness (eventually Scrapper, which will start in play).

Fighting:

Early game, I depend on Duke, ideally with Fire Axe as backup. Baseball Bat isn't ideal because I can't use Magnifying Glass with it.

Ideal situation is to have a Fire Axe with Dark Horse in play. If I have 1-2 resources I can spend them for +3-5 and +1 damage (Dark Horse is adding +1 to fight here). Any additional attacks could be made with Duke with a +2 fight + 1 damage (Duke's bonus + Dark Horse) or with the Fire Axe still at +1 fight and +1 damage.

Zoey is the parties primary fighter, and won't be too good at much else. Pete isn't intended as the primary damage dealer, but he can handle a good number of enemies.

Investigating:

I've found that it's easy to use Duke to move and investigate - even unrevealed locations - and if the check passes get a clue, and if it fails and I have "Look what I found!" even better - I get two clues. Daisy will handle a lot of investigating. I have played with Drawn to the Flame, but Zoey is using it since an enemy encounter would actually often be a boon for her.

Evading:

Pete may be more likely to fight things out, and isn't going to be great at evading. However, I don't mind spending points for agility on hyperawareness, since I don't need many resources (and maybe Dark Horse will be in play and give an additional +1). Peter Sylvestre gives Pete a decent agility of 4, and in a pinch I may be lucky enough to have Unexpected Courage or Rise to the Occasion.

None of our party members are really great at evading.Zoey and Pete can hopefully kill everything outright with only a little help from Daisy in some cases.

Passing Tests Generally:

The deck has 8 skills for this purpose (10 if you count Lucky!), and a bunch of other cards that add bonuses. Half are to help myself and team mates with fighting and investigating, the other half are all wildcard bonuses (Rise to the Occasion and Lucky! can only be played on my own checks). I don't mind blowing my resources on Hyperawareness to help investigate/evade, and if all resources are used and I have Dark Horse, then I get an additional +1.

Pete is there to help other party members to pass tests, too, so I may want to conserve Unexpected Courage, Perception and Overpower to use for other party members.

Resources/Card Flow/Action Economy:

I don't worry about getting resources - the deck even performs better in certain circumstances with low or no resources due to Dark Horse.

I can get some cards back with Scavenging, which is helpful in the early game because I may discard a lot to ready Duke for investigating (there are 12 item cards in the deck - so chances are high of having one to discard).

This deck is pretty good at passing tests, but even when I fail Rabbit's Foot can make me feel at peace with it.

Duke helps with action economy getting clues and revealing locations.

Dealing with damage/horror:

Duke, Peter Sylvestre and Leather Coats soak damage. I can recover sanity with Liquid Courage. Both of my allies have something for helping to recover health/sanity (Medical Texts and First Aid).

Possible Upgrade Cards

1 Scrapper (3xp) (Doesn't count towards deck size)

• Great for Dark Horse, because you can always burn all your resources
• Role-play: Pete gets a bit more used to having to defend himself in a pinch

1-2 Try and Try Again (3-6xp OR 1-2xp) (replace one Scavenging, Hyperawareness or one Rabbit's Foot)

• You can take more risks with committing cards
• Role-play: Pete learns from his failures
• I don't own the card level 1 version of this card, which may be better

1-2 Lucky! (2-4xp) (upgrade)

• Help card flow a bit

1-2 Rabbit's Foot (3-6xp) (upgrade)

• Depend on luck a bit less

1-2 Peter Sylvestre (2-4xp) (upgrade)

• Peter can help soak more sanity damage without dying
• Role-play: Peter gains some more experience adventuring with Pete

1-2 Moment of Respite (3-6xp) (replaces Liquid Courage)

• Can't help others as much, but helps card flow
• Because it is neutral, would free up some space for out of class cards
• Role-play: Pete finds religion and stops using alcohol to cope

1-2 A Chance Encounter (2-4xp) (replace one Scavenging, Hyperawareness or one Rabbit's Foot)

• If Duke dies, this is a way to get him back
• Role-play: Pete relying on luck

Cards I Don't Own But Are Good

2 Gravedigger's Shovel (instead of Baseball Bat).

• I won't need to choose between Magnifying Glass and Baseball Bat in the start of the game - and I can discard it for a clue if I happen to get a Fire Axe.
• Role-play: a shovel is about as common an object as a baseball bat, but how frequent does one find a gravedigger shovel? (Is this even a special kind of shovel?)

1-2 Madame Labranche (instead of Peter Sylvestre)

• This seems great for use with Dark Horse, a shame chances aren't super for pulling Dark Horse in play every game
• Role-play: just as sketchy as Peter Sylvestre

2 Newspaper (4xp) (Replace Magnifying Glass)

• Getting two clues at a time almost makes up for it not being useful after
• Free up a non-Survivor card slot
• Role-play: Makes more sense than Magnifying Glass. Pete can sleep under his Newspaper on a cold night.