While this is of course nice to take on test → fail-by, test → flat damage / horror, those treacheries can get help with commit from friends as normal game rule. Instead of using 3/3 on those tests, I found Obsidian Bracelet at its strongest against a category of damage/horror treachery that has no test :

1. "You are not prepared" : With out any warning, if you are currently in an unfortunate state, take damage / horror.
2. "Dilemma" : Revelation that offer a choice between bad things (if able) or take damage / horror. Sometimes you can only choose the damage / horror.
3. "Endure this attachment" : They are attached for you to clearly see. Decide between taking damage / horror and ignore it, or use effort to fix.

(Does not work on damage / horror effects printed on Location cards, or Treachery that cause enemy to attack you since the effect of treachery is just causing the attack to begin, not straight up dealing damage / horror.)

I noticed that the fallback case is often damage / horror unless the designer gets very creative. Obsidian Bracelet allow you to just select the fallback case willingly regardless of your health / sanity distribution. These are quite a lot but you often remember the fail-by kind more vividly due to its maximum potential damage / horror. In fact I just noticed how many these helpless-testless kind are littered everywhere only after playing with this card.

I had run this through Dunwich Legacy, Forgotten Age, and The Scarlet Keys. Here are some examples (spoiler protected so hover to see cards) that may convince you that this thing can be one more reason to not run your favorite OP 2-handed weapon sometimes to patch up these sucker punches.

• Core Set : ___.
• Dunwich Legacy : ___ (the first time I felt like I had counterplay), ___, ___ (actually saved someone), ___, ___ (great way to "remove"), ___, ___, ___, ___. (Some more in Return To version : ___, ___ (easy discard), ___ (love it!))
• The Forgotten Age : ___ (what a sucker punch damage!), ___ (what a sucker punch horror!), ___, ___ (this one was funny), ___ (can be the bait, sidestep Peril), ___ (sidestep Peril), ___.
• The Scarlet Keys : ___, ___, ___, ___, ___, ___, ___, ___, ___.

Both versions has two "may". In the Lv. 0 version you can choose to not disengage but choose to move to drag it away one location, for example if it has some kind of same location ability and you want to get it away from friends. Inversely, likely you always choose to perform the move, because if not moving away you became engage with it again and it hits you since it didn't exhaust.

(Some niche situation you may choose not to move? e.g. Disengaging Aloof and let it go. Change engagement to the fighter that is already here while stay around to help commit a card. Wanted to perform some combo that triggers on engaging?)

In this Lv. 2 version, the exhaust all effect add more dimension to the "may move". It is now more strategic to not move in order to stand ground and fight since Enemy Phase damage / horror is now likely none. In effect this is a much more fighter-oriented card than Survival Instinct (0) as you even get full set of actions to go at them next round without wasting the move. Enemy phase same location effect that is only activated when ready is also all gone.

"............................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... .......................................................it hurts a lot." -Yig

I think that the text added with the taboo list is wrong. Exhausting him shouldn't prevent him of repeating the ability since exhausting it is not part of the cost. It should say limit one per round or turn.

Well, know that I think of it, Scavenging works similar without the taboo too.

Darrell is a remarkably powerful investigator. It’s not just a five in his main stat, it’s that he’s the epitome of the 'reduce difficulty' archetype.

This makes him a great support character, and he’s probably better in duo compared to solo. The Kodak can trigger on the monsters that your guardian draws or grabs off of you with guard dog(2), or 2 action-to-remove treacheries.

With Hawkeye folding cameras in each hand, you’re generating evidence like no one’s business. And there are some really brutal tests in this game with low difficulty that you’re not gonna pass on expert. (For example, a check not to fall off a train headed to Dunwich.) Even without survivor tech, the ability to lower difficulties means that things like rotten remains can do one horror max, because you can only fail a difficulty one check by one.

Most of seekers’ best cards are level zero. Considering the modern card pool, and an effective evade of five, the photographer is able to carry a companion who is a slow starter. He does require more micro than the average investigator, because you’ll be placing and removing tokens multiple times a turn, but the man is top-tier.