Geas

Promise to break the promise if you just want 10 curses:

If you want to keep it, the promise only matters on your turn.

  • "play" is during your turn, i can't think of a way around that (rogue cards like Quick Thinking specify "...like it's your turn")
  • "Draw" is hard outside your turn cause most rogue cards do so during your turn like Pickpocketing or Lucky Cigarette Case. All In, Manual Dexterity could work
  • "Commit" should be easiest, during mythos or other player turns.
Django · 5148
You can play fast events outside of your turn pretty regularly. With Chuck, you can do it at least once per round. — SGPrometheus · 841
If you want to get a bit more janky, you can use this to set up the flute. — Zinjanthropus · 229
> — 1337duck · 1
I cannot edit my previous comment - oops. — 1337duck · 1
D'oh. 2x. Anyways, I'm not sure you are allowed to draw in any way on your turn since it doesn't specify draw "action". Hence, stuff like Pickpocketing, Lucky Cigarette Case, All In, and Manual Dexterity would break the promise. — 1337duck · 1
Geas

Usually I build decks focused on 1 or 2 skills so I'm not interested in having a bonus to all the 4 skills. Plus you now have to stop drawing / playing / committing.
But rogues have a few events that let you add up 2 skills (for example Slip Away) and now you have a +2 bonus which is quite nice ! And a +4 bonus to the basic action (considering that the average basic skill value is 3). For example Jenny Barnes investigates as a basic action with an intel value of 4 but if she plays Breaking and Entering she does with a value of 8, which means she probably can do without committing a skill.
An other interesting thing is that the Winifred Habbamock pack contains upgraded versions of the "2-skills events" that can return to your hand at the end of the turn (Cheap Shot, Slip Away) and so ensure you to get these great bonuses more than once per copy of the card.
Now, which investigators are the most interesting to play Geas with this in mind ?

Finn Edwards plays these events with a skill value of 9 or 10 (3 + 4 or 4 + 4 and then the + 2 from Geas), and up to 12 if playing Lola Santiago. Plus the evade event (Slip Away) can be played as a free action.

"Skids" O'Toole has a 10 total skill value for the 3 non-willpower skills (compared to Finn's 11) but he has the advantage to be able to play Chuck Fergus and these events have the Trick trait ! Most of the time, Chuck will probably not be used for the +2 bonus but to make the event both fast and 2 resources cheaper which makes them free fast events played with a skill value of 9 (+ other passive bonuses) that can potentially return to your hand.

When checking cards containing "add your" to find events adding to skills I also found Ethereal Form, Read the Signs and Spectral Razor so we can look at the 2 rogue/mystic investigators: Sefina Rousseau and Dexter Drake. The first has already the possibility to play an event several times but she can achieve a really high value only with Read the Signs. The second one is likely built around assets.

Wendy Adams has access to this card and can also probably be played without committing cards thanks to her ability to re-draw chaos tokens (and so to try to achieve a less high skill value in the first time). She can play Cheap Shot and Slip Away with respectively a skill value of 7 and 9 and could also use Suggestion with a skill value of 10 in a deck trying to limit the amount of fights. She can also play On Your Own to decrease the cost of survivor events to keep the resources for the rogue ones.

Of course other rogues and Lola Hayes can also play it but I'm not trying to be exhaustive, only to describe which decks I'm the most interested in trying this card in.

And I have not discussed the 2 other possibilities (not drawing and not playing): not drawing seems limiting in case you end in a situation in which you need a card still in your draw pile, and not playing would require committing a lot (with I usually do in Minh Thi Phan's decks) and/or relying on your assets (so no munition, supply, key, ...).

AlexP · 268
I quite like this on Sefina, either choosing not to draw or commit depending on how set up she is. Sefina usually runs skill light (due to packing so many events) and draw light (due to her weakness), and can use Scroll of Secrets to "draw" without running afoul of the geas. — suika · 9498
You don't have to not draw/play/commit at all, right, just not during your turn? So you don't have to completely stop doing that stuff, just do it in other people's turns or other phases? That makes it a bit easier, I guess.. — bee123 · 31
Yeah, you can still do what you promised not to do as long as it's not your turn. Honestly this is maybe my favorite card from this pack. — SGPrometheus · 841
I really liked this in a Sefina blurse deck with Geas, Tristan, and Eye of the Djinn, with a bunch of the Mystic and Rogue stat adding events. Testing at like 8-13 stat value is nice for getting filtered draw from LCC (3), as well as not minding as much when you draw the curse tokens and get an extra action from the Djinn. Not sure how campaign-viable this deck is (was playing standalone), but I'm going to try it. — Zinjanthropus · 229
A Watchful Peace

This card finally confirms my suspicions that Silas in a shirt is a force stronger than the woodwinds used to keep the Blind Idiot God asleep or a legion of federal marshals at your back.

I love this game, but I'm not sure how this card made it to print. As others have pointed out, I think this would be perfectly fine if it had a Remove From Game clause attached to it--though even then I think it'd be a steal. Hell, I think this card would see play if were exiled after use and max once per game like a certain other red-flavored card. It's that good.

I'm playing Mary in my blind run of Innsmouth and one of the other players is running Silas. On a whim he grabbed a couple copies of this, and, without any real attempt to abuse it, we nearly trivialized the first scenario it hit the table. About halfway through that same scenario we agreed to house-rule the RFG clause, because it's just too easy for survivor to keep this jank going, even for a bunch of scrubs like us. If I can break it, I know we're in trouble.

Anyway, looking forward to the taboo version of this otherwise quite fun and powerful card. My OCD, though, will remain forever tweaked that "RFG" was never properly printed on this card. Somehow.

Sandmole · 46
A Watchful Peace ironically has caused quite an uproar! — StyxTBeuford · 13043
I just wish it were due Silas' stunning physique and wistful gaze, not a degenerate game effect! — Sandmole · 46
To be fair, I think it was equally lauded for it's sex appeal as it was panned for it's bustedness — Zinjanthropus · 229
A Watchful Peace

This card does seem like it will be highly OP in most cases when there is no VP in the encounter deck. Our group would do everything possible to get every VP that comes onto the table, even if it has not been drawn. For those scenarios when all VP is in play, this would be great late game. I do agree that using it constantly like Big Iron mentioned would make it boring, to a degree, but having other ways to mitigate the encounter deck is always a plus. This would make TCU significantly easier now since only one person can start with this bad boy off the bat. I am happy my boy Mateo just getting more cards from other classes he can use with reliable use.

Funny enough I was thinking about how WP as a powerful, taboo worthy card might not be used as much just because of groups who want to comb through the encounter deck to get all the VP possible. I do think the utility of never drawing though outweighs the additional XP, but for high score games the extra VP is desirable in its own right. — StyxTBeuford · 13043
One nice elegance is that in big groups, where this is best, you also have the best change of finding all the VP enemies anyway — NarkasisBroon · 11
You can still Delve Too Deep to get extra xp and at last draw some cards from the encióounter deck — vidinufi · 69
Another Day, Another Dollar

I think the other review of this card is a little harsh. While it is true that Hot Streak and its ilk do gain you more total resources, the main advantage of this card is that it is always active from the get-go, and doesn't have to be drawn or played. Using Versatile to grab an Astounding Revelation with Stick to the Plan is a tried and true combo (on Guardians not named Roland, Carolyn or Zoe) despite the drawbacks of extra deck size precisely because of the initial boost (in a class that is much more starved of resources, to be fair). But having 7-9 resources to start shouldn't be slept on, it gets assets down faster, or provides a bigger starting base for core pieces of certain "pay-to-win" combos, most notably Lola Santiago and Delilah O'Rourke. Sometimes you will be in tight situations where spending actions for big resource gains is simply not feasible. The fact they're permanent and don't take a deck slot is also nice, as it means your deck potentially has more space to support your combo, than needing to contribute slots to resource generation for additional set up. Obviously these are always nice as a luxury late game upgrade, but I think they have a substantial amount to offer in the middle of a campaign if the conceit of your deck requires expensive pieces such as the aforementioned duo, Leo De Luca, or Double, Double (one copy of this card in particular is great for a doubled big money Sefina deck, as it allows you to play Double Double and Hot Streak from the get go). Don't sleep on ADAD, they don't look high impact, but they can really smooth over early game set up bumps.

(Or named Carolyn) — Death by Chocolate · 1488
Is Versatile/Astounding/SttP that beneficial? I'd thought that the increase tempo from resources was not worth the lower chance of seeing your big gun after the mulligan and the lower chance of Prepared for the Worst finding it. — suika · 9498
I have yet to try, if it's worth a Versatile for investigators that can't take it. But one thing, that's beautiful about the combo is, that you can get up to 10 resources cost worth of assets into play with "Ever Vigilant" into play turn 1. This makes it more likely to use that card to full value. Not saying, that ADAD is worth nothing, it is sure a reliable way to get a faster setup for rogues. But at 3 XP more, guardians get sure more value from SttP. It's normally at least 2 resources saved with EV, even without AR. Plus (if not paired with "Versatile"), it adds a lot of consistency. — Susumu · 381