Power Word

10 XP for a card that can't target elites? Can someone convince me this is a good card to pick up? It is obviously less optimal than Cyclopean Hammer, but I don't think it can even compete as a late-game enemy management because it can't interact with Elite enemies.

It can interact with elite enemy's, just not directly — Therealestize · 48
You can't attach this card to elite enemies, but with distract, you can Evade any enemy withe the same or lower. Which is okay, it's not the best,bur this is a card you look at and go "do i want this? I want this." And it definitely not a stable by any means. — Therealestize · 48
1. basically turns hard to kill 3~4 hp enemies into assets that heal, gets clues, etc 2. great target for arcane research, since this is a spell you can dump 10 exp onto it. — gyrjsrla · 15
This isn't a combat card. It's a clue card that just happens to come with healing and free enemy management attached. You just drop this on any medium-sized enemy and it immediately becomes an asset for you instead. Power Word is ridiculously good with Thrice Spoken and Tonguetwister. Note that exhausting enemies does not disengage them, so you can drag around your army of helpless clue-finders for the entire game. If you haven't tried it, you are missing out. — Soul_Turtle · 114
The Skeleton Key

Remember that skeleton key sets the shroud location to 1, after modifiers. This means that you can't use other effects that reduce the test further to further reduce to 0.

I think this card is as such still too expensive (both in actions and experience) to use for most classes.

drjones87 · 111
It's noted that the shroud value cannot be reduced, but the difficulty can be reduced. "Difficulty 0 test" can be generated with the following cards: Map the Area, Quick Learner, Flashlight(3 level only), Gumption... — elkeinkrad · 422
Drawing Thin

Drawing Thin is a type of card I often dislike and worry about. I can see the designers really tried to balance the cards as much as possible and on the face of it spending a card and an action for cards in the future seems somewhat balanced. They certainly got the balance better than other games in the past!

However, the problem cards like this have is they only get included in decks where the effect is going to be abused, otherwise you won't bother with the card. If you make the card weak enough to not be abused it is far too weak to be considered in another deck so either you see the card in a deck where it is a major engine for limitless resources, or you don't see it at all.

Titar · 3
Darrell's Kodak

Only a subset of encounter cards remain in play. Many have a revelation effect and are immediately put in the discard pile. For this reason, Darrell can get a lot more use out of his camera in higher player count games where more encounter cards are seen each turn.

The fact that he can place the evidence on enemies and treachery cards that investigators drew at any location (That hopefully have clues on them!) makes multiplayer the place that this card shines.

Finally, don't forget that many weaknesses are treachery cards so you can benefit off of your allies' misfortune. ;-)

david6680 · 43
Royal Emissary

Funnily enough, if this guy is in the Theatre and you are in the Balcony, you won’t be able to hear it sing, as the Balcony is not a “connecting location”. (Compare the wording to that of the Abbess from Carnivale of Horrors, for instance.)

Superstar · 3
Everyone knows the balcony is the worst spot to enjoy a performance — Nenananas · 224