Investigating the Secrets of the Mind

Card draw simulator

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Tigerhuntress85 · 31

Carolyn doing what she does best, healing horror like it's her job and making a lofty income while doing it (typical Psychologist, teehee)! Carolyn is quite the atypical guardian with a low combat of only 2; however, she is still a very powerful character. I played her in a 2-player Carcosa campaign with Yorick and we had very little trouble keeping up with all the horror that was dealt.

Key Deck Combo: The Forbidden Knowledge and Peter Sylvestre duo is a key self-sufficient money making combo that really fires up the income for this deck. Free action exhaust Forbidden Knowledge, get a resource, put a horror on Peter Sylvestre, Peter heals at the end of the turn, get a resource. If you have Protective Incantation out you need to pay a resource at the end of your turn otherwise it gets discarded, why not make Peter pay for it! Peter Sylvestre also has an added benefit of giving a bonus to agility and with the upgraded version willpower as well.

** Since Peter Sylvestre heals horror so he is an acceptable card for her deck.

With the Forbidden Knowledge/Peter Sylvestre combo, combined with upkeep, this deck easily makes 3 resources a turn without taking a single actual action. Combined with Milan or Ancient Stone the potential is easily twice that, making Carolyn one of the richest investigators in the game.

Seeker cards: Carolyn is an excellent clue getter with a base 4 intellect, making her a very good choice for the primary investigator in a multiplayer game. She has access to level 0-1 seeker cards, making the usual investigating cards like Magnifying Glass and Deduction a no-brainer. I included Dr. Milan Christopher for his plus intellect. The extra income earned by investigating with his help also provided an excellent bonus (Thanks Dr. Milan, you're the best!). Mind over Matter was included to help with fighting or evading in a pinch, but I quickly took it out when I started upgrading the deck. Eureka! because it's an excellent card and also gave me card draw (great for Ancient Stone!). I chose Logical Reasoning because of horror healing and making money doing it! ...and getting rid of a terror as a side benefit. Shortcut also seemed like an excellent option and something I could stick under Stick to the Plan. And of course Ancient Stone for on tap horror healing whenever you draw a card and making money doing it (or healing/money for your friends if you are feeling generous ;)).

**I found after playing this deck that I had enough card draw just from upkeep that Eureka! was not essential, so it could definitely be substituted for a different seeker/mystic/guardian card of your choice.

**Both Ancient Stone and Logical Reasoning heal horror, so for deck building purposes, they do not count toward the 15 seeker/mystic cards allowed in the deck.

Mystic cards: Carolyn also has a respectable base 3 willpower and access to level 0-1 mystic cards, making spell options that require a mind test a reasonable choice for her deck. However, I did not include any of these options (e.g. Shrivelling) but these would not be a bad choice for her, particularly as an alternative to something like Eureka!. I included St. Hubert's Key for the additional intellect and willpower. I added Protective Incantation toward the end of the campaign when I realized how ridiculous the income is for this setup, which leads me to the conclusion that Carolyn is one of only a few investigators that could actually afford to keep Protective Incantation in play. I started with 2 Enraptured but ended up taking 1 out, later on, to make space for other cards like Protective Incantation. Enraptured is an excellent card for her since she will be engaging in plenty of intellect tests and the card effect provides additional secrets for Ancient Stone and Forbidden Knowledge (more healing and more money! can't go wrong there), as well as charges if you decide to include any cards that use charges.

**St. Hubert's Key heals horror, so this card does not count toward the 15 seeker/mystic cards allowed in the deck.

Guardian & Neutrals: I included Second Wind to offset Carolyn's somewhat low health. I originally started with 2 of these but later switched one out for a Bulletproof Vest, but this isn't entirely necessary. Dynamite Blast because why not when you have loads of money! Not only is this card super fun to play, but it is also an excellent card to help your team deal with a monster pile or shave a good chunk of health off a big baddy. Since you are pretty loaded I grabbed Keen Eye to pump intellect if needed or pump combat in a pinch. Stick to the Plan kept these three tactic/supply cards at the ready for use when needed: Dynamite Blast, Shortcut, and Emergency Cache. It is great having the extra money from Emergency Cache available first thing when you are still setting up your income engine and super poor. I chose Emergency Cache for the card draw to trigger Ancient Stone, but again this is not essential to the deck, so any form of emergency cache would be fine. Unexpected Courage cause Unexpected courage... and 2 Charisma so that your allies will stick around.

You don't necessarily need to take exactly all the cards I took or upgrade it in the order I did, but I recommend the vast majority of the cards in this deck to make a character that is great at healing horror, wealthy, and has loads of stat boosts making most tests a breeze.

5 comments

Oct 22, 2018 cb42 · 36

I don't think I understand why you have two copies of Charisma in the deck, but only two (unique) allies.

Oct 22, 2018 legrac · 115

Foolishness is an ally.

Oct 22, 2018 cb42 · 36

I stand corrected!

Nov 13, 2018 Chitinid · 14

Have you considered running Key of Ys?

Nov 15, 2018 Tigerhuntress85 · 31

Key of Ys is definitely an excellent option for her. The only disadvantage of the Key is the XP cost but it can easily be offset by not upgrading emergency cache and not getting a bulletproof vest, or just earning a lot of XP. This could be a good alternative deck using the Key of Ys: arkhamdb.com