- Q: Can Michael McGlen take Grizzled if he chooses "firearm" as its trait? Can he upgrade Friends in Low Places up to level 5 if he chooses "firearm" as its trait? The Customizable rules imply that the chosen trait is treated as being present in the text box of the card and therefore makes these cards eligible for Michael McGlen’s deck building. A: Michael McGlen can’t take Grizzled in his deck. The traits recorded on Grizzled must be present on at least one encounter card. Michael McGlen can upgrade Friends in Low Places to level 5 if he chooses “Firearm” for its trait. Unlike Grizzled, Friends in Low Places is designed to interact with player cards. And yes, purchased upgrades are considered to be part of the card they’re upgrading; the chosen trait is considered present on Friends in Low Places. (Ruling, April 2025)
Michael McGlen
The Gangster
조사자
범죄자. 사냥꾼.
- 3
- 1
- 5
- 3
After you spend 1 or more ammo from a Firearm asset: Gain 1 resource. (Limit once per Firearm asset per round.)
effect: +2. You may place 1 ammo on a Firearm asset you control.
Michael McGlen - Back
Deck Size: 30.
Deckbuilding Options: Rogue cards () level 0-3, Neutral cards level 0-5, cards with Firearm either as their Trait or in their text box level 0-5.
Deckbuilding Requirements (do not count toward deck size): "Viola" Case, Confiscation, 1 random basic weakness.


Investigator Cards
- "Viola" Case (The Drowned City Investigator Expansion #12)
- Confiscation (The Drowned City Investigator Expansion #13)
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(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)Reviews
We all know Michael McGlen is going to be very good at fighting. I will leave it to someone else to figure out the exact mix of one-handed guns, two-handed guns, and melee weapons that optimizes his kit, whether to use the "Viola" Case or not, etc.
My interest is: what else can this guy do? Compared to other Rogues, the solid 3 willpower gives him some uncommon resilience. But we've had Guardian fights for ages, many with 4/2 or 3/3 willpower and agility, and plenty of potential to carry a team through combat. The guardian card pool gives them a variety of team support options, from treachery cancelling to healing and shareable soak, plus a pretty good suite of clue events. Most guardians also have some off-class access. If your team doesn't need you 100% devoted to murder, there's no shortage of ways a guardian can contribute in downtime.
Michael McGlen's got some of the most restricted deck building ever, with only 0-3 in his main class plus trait access to the firearm trait, which is extremely one-note. And his 1/3 Intellect/agility split makes a lot of rogue staples staples hard for him to exploit. So what can he do with himself when there's nothing to kill?
Big Money Things: From a little bit of playtesting, I immediately noticed that Michael can get really rich, really fast. Most guns have ammo roughly equal to cost, so his ability looks like it just pays back the otherwise crushing cost of fighting with multiple guns or expensive reload events. But in fact, Michael can easily make a profit doing it. The Luger P08 can be reloaded with 2 bullets for 1 resource over and over. The .32 Colt is an emergency cache if you can spend bullets one by one. And the Mauser C96 and .45 Thompson already paid you for shooting them, letting you double your money on Michael. Even if you only break even on .45s and .41s, making your weapons free means you save the 3 someone else would have blown on a machete.
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Michael can easily float 10+ resource for Well Connected, bringing him up to 5 on any skill but intellect. If the scenario has many will or agility tests to progress (discarding treacheries, parleying NPC, etc.) then Michael might your guy.
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With Money Talks he can even pass book tests. It's not a great way to get clues, but it could solve other problems. The upgrade lets him bail other people out of their treacheries, too.
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If you're willing to spend down there's always Counterespionage and Intel Report
Raw Action Spam
Some scenarios have lots of straight-up action taxes. Michael probably wants at least one +combat ally, and is bullet-constrained, so I don't expect to see Leo too often. But you can make it work. More likely, Quick Thinking, Swift Reflexes, Haste, or Ace in the Hole will give him extra actions to discard weaknesses, visit distant locations to cash in objectives, and so on. Bound for the Horizon and Scout Ahead also offer ways to get lots of bonus movement, specifically.
Support the team with resources, soak, and pseudo-draw
Michael gets so rich that he can easily funnel Faustian or Bank Job money to his friends, if they need it. This can then set them up to pay for "You've had worse...", if they need it. Black Market is another easy pickup that's actually much better than No Stone Unturned when helping a friend dig for key cards.
Pre-empt the encounter deck If there's anything scary, kill it proactively with Kicking the Hornet's Nest and "Where's the party?". The former even gets you a clue. Sadly, even on 2 player, gaining only one clue usually isn't a difference maker. I'd really like to find this guy a good way to get one more clue, so he can clear a location by himself. Maybe the answer involves using a rogue parley event so a friend can commit Contemplative.
Deckbuilding for Michael McGlen was more interesting than I initially thought. His restrictions feel a bit like Charlie Kane's, only that guns are his best friends instead of actual people. In times like these, who can blame him (the 1920s, of course)?
Apart from the obvious, here are my findings so far:
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Remington Model 1858: Free actions are great, but Michael doesn't get paid for the stunt shot. Ways to still get some cash out of this are "Eat lead!" and "Eat lead!".
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Both thematically and mechanically intriguing: Playing False Surrender with his low agility in mind just to pop out British Bull Dog or British Bull Dog while the enemy mistakenly laughs at the missed shot. While not game-breaking, this can be actually useful for getting from zero to (anti-)hero, especially after an ill-timed Confiscation.
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Sad high-tech noises for not being able to profit from Hyperphysical Shotcaster or Mauser Tankgewehr M1918, since they are not using "ammo" :(
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So "where actually IS the party?" As a focused fighter it indeed makes sense for Michael to go on the hunt aggressively, even if uninvited. Having the enemy spawn exhausted makes it possible (as others have pointed out) to soften it up for "Let God sort them out...", with the card art coincidentally featuring the man of the hour himself.
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Get your Quickdraw Holster after you ditch the Hidden Pockets for maximum mayhem in the shortest amount of time, because sadly they do not go well together - it's either or.
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Speaking of time, Borrowed Time and Bide Your Time help waiting for the right moment, as well as being Hasty while finishing the job.
Have fun, bring a gun (: