Sussy Patrice: Using Her Big Brain for Ill Gotten Gain

CC is for concrete considerations. TT is for thematic ties.

TT: Patrice was always looking for a quick buck. She had various hustles from busking, to selling dubious|wares, to giving back alley tats, to being a door to door saleswoman, to selling knock off shoes to kids who didn't know better. She had a habit of borrowing money she didn't know if she'd be able to pay back.

CC: This deck forgoes the traditional route of investigating with arcane spells as a high investigator with access to . Instead we using Dowsing Rod as a way to clue with that does not consume charges and saves us move actions. This leaves our arcane slots open to stick two copies of Living Ink which each boost our and . Moonstone boosts these stats as well, and doesn't require a play action. Peter Sylvestre and Track Shoes provide further stat bumps and their own utility.

All of this gives us incredible and respectable even before commits. However it comes at an extreme resource cost. To pay for this we play two copies of Unscrupulous Loan and Schoffner's Catalogue. Loan is great because almost all our money goes towards assets, so once we have them it play we don't need to spend. Catalogue is great because if we find it after we've already used Loan we can save a teammate money.

TT: Peddling Patrice caught the attention of local cultists. Her wares, including the tattoos she inked, seemed to contain traces of mystical power. Since she seemed oblivious to her influence, who knows how strong it could be if focused, honed, they thought. They reached out to her and she was drawn to their offer, after all, if money is power then is power not money as well. Her mentor started her with simple lessons in augury, but she was soon supplied a suite of sorcery to study. "Do not let this get into the wrong hands."

CC: We play Drawn to the Flame, Read the Signs, and Burn After Reading as ways to investigate before we get our Rod. After you have Rod it's up to you if you want to use them or pitch them. Occult Theory is an amazing commit as whether we are investigating with or we'll always be testing at our +2.

TT: Practicing Patrice took to her studies quickly. Not only did she contain the suspected latent ability, but the determination and desire to delve into the dangerous dark arts. But soon she came to learn of the cult's maleficent agenda. Patrice was unscrupulous, but only up to the point where it would cause (nonfiscal) harm to others. The cult was too big to take out alone from the inside. She had to get out NOW, as her intentions could be uncovered at any moment.

CC: Patrice draws a lot of cards, so we play a lot of commits. These commits are wild symbols and a lot of them, allowing us to pass tests we normally wouldn't or greatly excel at what we do.

We play Nature of the Beast and At a Crossroads because they are events that don't consume actions or resources, and since we don't care about cards they are practically free. Nature of the Beast can certainly come at awkward times when you gain no clue from it, but the downside is very insignificant. You give the easiest of three encounters to the investigator who excels at dealing with them, this can even sometimes be an upside believe it or not. At a Crossroads lets us trade a card, which once again we don't care too much about, for an action. The other side of it isn't very good for us, but both sides tend to be great for others so this functions as a good support card as well. There is also a very sweet interaction with this card, where we can take one action where we can hopefully pitch all our cards (remember you can always investigate or use Track Shoes or both by using Rod) leaving only Watcher from Another Dimension in our hand to discard it randomly!

TT: Plucky Patrice formulated a ritual that would sew chaos while she fled. In the ruckus she made a scramble for the exit of the lair. In a final bout of courage she turned back to face her mentor who was now climbing the staircase in pursuit. Now adept at the arts, she affixed the access to the abri with an aegis aurora, and absconded from the atrocious bunch.

CC: Two other pieces of tech for Watcher are Cunning Distraction and Grizzled. We shouldn't have to use Distraction, but it commits for so it's never a bad card for commits, and could be clutch in a dire scenario. Grizzled is nice because we not only get it back when we draw our weakness, but when we draw most treacheries as well, giving us even more cards to work with. You can add Extradimensional to Grizzled if you want, though you'll get it back less often then.

A Test of Will and Ward of Protection help us help others with their treacheries. We'll often not need it for ourselves since our defensive stats are good, but it's always amazing to stop an Ancient Evils or one of its incarnations if we draw that.

TT: Unfortunately for her she not only had the ire of the cult to deal with, but also that of their extradimensional benefactor. She'd always be on the run, but with her quick wit and stolen knowledge she'd always be able to find a way out of a bad situation. At least, that's what she told herself.