I'm not sure why the designers felt compelled to break with the typical Composure design on Grounded, but it makes it markedly worse than the other four Composure cards released in Echoes of the Past. In most respects it is identical to the others. However, instead of having 2 skill icons and boosting 2 different skills for any skill test, Grounded has only 1 icon () and can only be used for skill tests when casting Spells. Most importantly, this means that, unlike the other Composures, Grounded can only be used on skill tests you initiate, not those required by treacheries, etc. This is a huge drawback, relative to the other Composures.

Additionally, the condition of all Composures that horror must be placed on it before being placed on your investigator is more or less mutually exclusive with Agnes Baker's innate effect. Essentially, you must decide either to not use her innate horror-for-damage effect--a key aspect to playing her--in order to use Grounded or Plucky, or discard the Composure and the benefit of its bonuses in order to use her effect.

Maybe if the designers had lowered the cost of Grounded to 0, and/or gave it 2 icons, and/or gave it 1 health instead of 1 sanity (though, that wouldn't really fit the theme), it would be a little more worth it. Or perhaps in the future there will be treacheries with the Spell trait, or Spell assets/events that use a skill other than that can benefit from Grounded. Even then, though, I'm not sure it would compensate for not being able to use its bonuses on treacheries or other non-Spell skill tests. Time will tell.

Eschatology

plural eschatologies 1 :a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind 2 :a belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humankind; specifically :any of various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgment

"You found the murderous purple meteor? I'll be there in 5 minutes!"

Some of you who remember the wonderful Maniac Mansion know how a simple item like a lost police badge can save an atomic plant from immediate self-destruction!

In Arkham the threats are seldom as grave, but the Police Badge is still a mighty object. Firstly, it grants you a permanent +1 Willpower boost, while secondly, for guardians, it does not take a valuable slot in their inventories. Granted, there exists the Holy Rosary as huge competitor, but Police Badge is in-faction for guardian characters. Besides, as a third and maybe it's biggest pro, it instantly grants you or another investigator 2 additional actions to pull off a mega combo.

On it's own, the badge is like some extra ammunition in your pocket - nice to have, but it feels like there are plenty of more useful assets to solve the problems at hand. But in multiplayer and with a plan in your mind, it gives you a passive bonus while your team works hand in hand towards the same goal, Police Badge enables epic stories. A dedicated 5 actions token-free turn perhaps? Maybe empty Shrivelling in one turn on one target and cast Blinding Light as a finisher? With thoughtful planning, the badge is great, if you play with a new (group of) player(s), do not spoil the fun and deliberately try to make one up!

Pros

• Permanent +1 Willpower boost
• Fast ability can target other investigators at the same location and is not subject to Attacks of Opportunity.
• Occupies the accessory slot, which is uncontended for in-faction.
• Enables various comboes.
• Nice icons to commit to skill tests.

Cons

• If anything expensive asset, Roland will have trouble to afford it.
• Can not be tutored for.

"Hey, Mischa, any chance you could use these for your Lightning Gun?"

Most people would argue that Extra Ammunition is a superfluos card and add an extra weapon instead. While most people are not wrong with their assumption, real heavyweights would sneer at their faint-heartedness and put in the Extra Ammunition anyway.

Extra Ammunition does not do anything on it's own, it costs 2 resources and 1xp. Compared to Contraband it not only saves you 2 resources while providing roughly the same effect, as most firearms bring 3 initial ammunition, but, even better, playing it is not time-sensitive. You can restock an empty firearm as well as a fully loaded gun, bringing it above it's initial value.

The Shotgun is unquestionably the most economic use for Extra Ammunition, closely followed by the Lightning Gun. Then there is also this unique combo from FBones, the only deck here on ArkhamDB that heavily relies on reloading the Chicago Typewriter. The more expensive the weapon, the more value extra ammo gives you!

And, of course, Extra Ammunition gains a little extra value in multiplayer games where you can charge your fellow investigators' weapons!

Pros

• Cheapest and most reliable ammo boost available (at the time of this writing).
• Can target other investigators at the same location.
• Best for sniper decks, there is a fine pool of firearms: list

Cons

• You have to find a firearm before this event becomes playable.
• Reloading your gun is no fast action, so it is dangerous to do while under attack.

Recursion of things in any game is incredibly important and always worth looking at.

Resourceful is such a great card. Being able to recur any Survivor card of your choice back into your hand is just amazing. The fact that it applies +1 to three stats means it can be flexibly thrown into just about any skill check (short of helping Mystics out with their spells or trying to avoid most Encounter cards).

Resourceful acts as copies number 3 and possibly even 4 of your favorite cards. More Lucky! to help spike tests you are just about to fail? More Look What I Found? for fast clue gathering? More Will to Survive for even more insane turns? Actually, the best time to use Resourceful is right after you play Will to Survive to guarantee you can pull it back into your hand for the next turn.

Resourceful has a slight bit of trouble with Wendy's Amulet, as her Amulet will force event cards to the bottom of her deck. Timing when to play her amulet can be tricky given the presence of Resourceful. Regardless, you shouldn't anticipate this to happen, and should even use it if just to pull back other skill cards or asset cards that she can use to boost more stats.

Worst case scenario, you can throw this into a skill check to pull back another card with the intent of throwing it into another skill check. Sometimes, when you're low on cards, being able to push through a little more value in your tests is worth it.

EDIT: Is your name Silas Marsh? Do you sometimes draw Elder Sign chaos tokens? Do you just want to absolutely destroy the game? Talk to your Mythos Doctor and ask if Resourceful is right for you (Spoiler Alert: It is!).