Death Slayer Yorick (Solo, Return to NotZ, Achievements)

Inspired by the Mythos Busters' Achievement Hunters podcast first episode, I decided to craft a solo deck specifically aimed at accomplishing an Achievement (or a few) in the Return to the Night of the Zealot campaign. After successfully achieving "Pinch Hitter" in Return to The Gathering, and both "...But Do I Have To?" and "The Zealot's Revenge" in Return to The Midnight Masks, it's time for William Yorick to tackle Return to The Devourer Below! No fancy achievement-related tricks this time - I'm just trying to get one of the successful resolutions, either defeating Umôrdhoth or stopping its summoning ritual. I'm not exactly best-situated for either, but let's give it a shot!

UPGRADE STRATEGY

Cards owned: all cycles through and including The Forgotten Age, plus all three Return box sets

• Add Key of Ys x1, drop Cherished Keepsake x1: So I've never actually run Key of Ys before, and this seems like as good a time as any to give it a try. Hopefully I can find it quickly with one of my Backpacks. And its discard-10-cards property will actually help me find targets for William's ability and for Resourceful. Plus, as I'm going to try to make an honest run for clues, the Key's "boost all your stats" property may be of help against Woods locations that require testing other stats.

• Add Extra Ammunition x1, drop Stunning Blow x1: It is entirely likely that my last chance to win this scenario will be to shoot Umôrdhoth to un-death using my Old Hunting Rifle and Will to Survive. The problem, of course, is the Rifle's three bullets; not enough. Extra Ammunition is there specifically to fix that problem. Thankfully, I can tutor it with Backpack, as it's got the Supply keyword.

• Add Fire Extinguisher x1, drop Handcuffs x1: A much-maligned card, but here it serves a very specific purpose. If I actually get the clues needed to advance to Act 2, I need some method to get past the four unique cultists that will be sitting in my way on the Main Path. This is that tool. Yes, Survival Instinct is much more action-efficient, but it costs 2 experience where I only have 1 to spare; plus, Fire Extinguisher can be tutored with Backpack or dug from the discard if I lose it ahead of time, and gives +3 to evade where Survival Instinct only gives +2.

Honestly, I'm not optimized for either task, so it's entirely possible this scenario will end with my feeding Lita Chantler to the beast and calling it a day. But let's strive for better. Onwards!

SCENARIO III - RETURN TO THE DEVOURER BELOW (STANDARD DIFFICULTY)

• Opening Hand: Resourceful, Bandolier, Bandolier, Backpack, Knife
• Kept: None
• Replacements: Extra Ammunition, Madame Labranche, Emergency Cache, Scene of the Crime, Baseball Bat
• Starting Location: Main Path

I was mulliganing hard for Key of Ys or Backpack to help find it, but sadly, no such luck. At least I have a couple of my staple starting assets. Having Extra Ammunition early worries me; I'm concerned it's going to get discarded to a treachery, and I can't get it back with Resourceful. Well, we'll see how things play out.

R1 (1D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 2/4 doom

• Encounter: None
• Play Baseball Bat [-2$]
• Play Madame Labranche [-2$]
• Move to Arkham Woods - Great Willow
• Draw Scene of the Crime [+1$]

R2 (1D, 0H, 2$, 0C): 3/4 doom

• Encounter: Chill from Below, 3 vs. 3 (-4): fail by 3 [discard Extra Ammunition, Emergency Cache, Scene of the Crime]
• Play Scene of the Crime [-2$] [+1C]
• Use Madame Labranche [draw Resourceful]
• Move to Main Path
• Draw Key of Ys [+1$]

Well, I certainly called losing Extra Ammunition, although I confess I didn't expect that to happen immediately. At least Madame Labranche helped me back up from having zero cards, and now I've got Key of Ys ready... if only I get a chance to play it. First, I'll have to deal with at least one enemy thanks to the Agenda flipping.

R3 (1D, 0H, 1$, 1C): 4/4 doom

• Agenda advances to 1b: encounters reshuffle, Grave-Eater spawns and engages with +1 doom; advances to 2a
• Encounter: Frozen in Fear
• Use Baseball Bat: Fight Grave-Eater, 6 vs. 3 (Cultist is -2; +1 doom on Grave-Eater): pass [+2D, defeated]
• Move to Arkham Woods - Quiet Glade
• Test Frozen in Fear: 3 vs. 3 (-1): fail
• Draw Old Hunting Rifle [+1$]

The enemy pull was as soft as it could have been, but Frozen in Fear is a real pain. I decided to move with my last action rather than take a resource with the idea that I'd spend my entire turn in the revealed Woods spot next round (taking a resource, playing the Key, trying to investigate maybe), but finding the no-clues-here Quiet Glade is less than ideal. On the plus side: gun found.

R4 (1D, 0H, 2$, 1C): 1/5 doom

• Encounter: Dissonant Voices
• Draw Madame Labranche
• Draw Take the Initiative
• Draw Will to Survive
• Test Frozen in Fear, 3 vs. 3 (-1): fail
• Draw Cherished Keepsake [+1$]
• Discard Dissonant Voices

Well, I wasn't planning to spend the whole round drawing cards, but Dissonant Voices put the kibosh on my original plan and I also realized revealing more clues wouldn't be useful if I didn't have cards to help me pick them up. Too bad I had to test Frozen in Fear before drawing Cherished Keepsake, or I'd have been able to commit the latter to help pass the former. Maybe next round.

R5 (1D, 0H, 3$, 1C): 2/5 doom

• Encounter: Umôrdhoth's Hunger [discard Cherished Keepsake]
• Play Key of Ys [-3$]
• Use Madame Labranche [+1$]
• Draw Bandolier
• Take a resource [+1$]
• Test Frozen in Fear: 3 vs. 3 (0): pass, discarded
• Draw Vicious Blow [+1$]

Finally! At least the encounter deck (mostly) whiffed. I realize belatedly that Frozen in Fear is a real problem because my deck is extremely light on Willpower icons, and the wild icons I have are conditional - and, absent Last Chance with a mostly empty hand, those conditions are not well-suited to fixing Frozen in Fear. Now that I've typed this out, of course, I fully expect the encounter deck to spit another copy back out at me. Fingers crossed.

R5 (1D, 0H, 3$, 1C): 3/5 doom

• Encounter: Dreams of R'lyeh
• Use Dreams of R'lyeh, commit Take the Initiative, 5 vs. 3 (Skull is 0): pass, discarded
• Play Old Hunting Rifle [-3$, discard Baseball Bat]
• Use Madame Labranche [+1$]
• Move to Main Path
• Draw Lita Chantler [+1$]

Well, at least Take the Initiative worked for that one!

R6 (1D, 0H, 2$, 1C): 4/5 doom

• Encounter: Chill from Below, 3 vs. 3 (Cultist is -2): fail by 2 [discard Resourceful, Will to Survive] (arrrgh)
• Move to Arkham Woods - Cliffside
• Play Bandolier [-2$]
• Use Madame Labranche [+1$]
• Play Lita Chantler [discard Madame Labranche]
• Draw On the Hunt [+1$]

What a terrible encounter pull that was. Now I have to pray for my other Resourceful. Where the heck are the Rotting Remains when you really need them? Also, I'm about to get a new weakness card thanks to the Agenda deck; the prospect of Amnesia is why I decided to play my better assets now rather than holding them back. At least I can (hopefully) hunt myself something now that can get some horror onto my Key.

R7 (1D, 0H, 2$, 1C): 5/5 doom

• Agenda advances to 2b: 3 vs. 6 (-2): fail [add Paranoia to hand, -2$]
• Encounter: Chill from Below, 3 vs. 3 (Elder Thing is -5): fail by 3 [discard On the Hunt, Madame Labranche, Vicious Blow]
• Draw Last Chance
• Investigate, 3 vs. 2 (-2): fail
• Investigate, 3 vs. 2 (Skull is 0): pass [+1C]
• Draw Gravedigger's Shovel [+1$]

Well, it wasn't exactly Amnesia, but the one-two combo of Paranoia and Chill from Below (no resources means I couldn't play On the Hunt) sure made a good simulation. I first thought I'd draw up my hand again, but upon pulling Last Chance, I decided that would be my ticket to a third clue at the final Woods location; meaning instead of drawing more, I should try to nab this slightly-easier clue now. Maybe a little inefficient this round, but hopefully it would make things more efficient next round. (Of course, now I have the Shovel option as well.)

R8 (1D, 0H, 1$, 2C): 1/5 doom

• Encounter: Umôrdhoth's Wrath, 3 vs. 5 (-1): fail by 3 [1D, 2D/2H on Lita Chantler, 1H on Key of Ys]
• Move to Main Path
• Move to Arkham Woods - Lakeside
• Investigate, commit Last Chance, 7 vs. 2 (Skull is 0, and -2): pass [+1C]
• Draw Backpack [+1$]

I took the calculated risk of tanking Umôrdhoth's Wrath on the chin specifically to put a bit of charge on my Key of Ys, and to save Last Chance for that third clue. I thought about putting multiple horror on the Key but am concerned that I'll need to tank a couple of horror hits going forward and need it to last a bit longer.

At this point, I'm fairly sure I'm not going to have time to get past the cultist hoard and finish out Act 3 (I doubt highly that I will have the time or resources to dig for it using Backpack). We'll see how next round plays out, but likely I'm going to have to make a stand against Umôrdhoth. At least my having enough clues to finish Act 1 will mean he'll only have 12 health rather than 13 (thanks to how Vault of Earthly Demise works).

I also don't want to spawn the cultists until the absolute last moment. The prospect of them sitting between me and a doom-carrying Disciple of the Devourer is quite worrying. Fortunately, if I sit in the Main Path until the last moment, any such Disciple of the Devourer spawn would be only one location away - and I can make that the 1-shroud Quiet Glade to make retrieving the stolen clue hopefully simple.

R9 (2D, 0H, 2$, 3C): 2/5 doom

• Encounter: Rotting Remains, 4 vs. 3 (-1): pass
• Move to Main Path
• Draw Backpack
• Take a resource [+$1]
• Draw Knife [+1$]

R10 (2D, 0H, 4$, 3C): 3/5 doom

• Encounter: Disciple of the Devourer [spawns in Quiet Glade with +1 doom; drop 1C on Quiet Glade] (called it!!)
• Move to Quiet Glade [Disciple of the Devourer engages]
• Play Knife [-1$] [Disciple of the Devourer attacks, 1D discards Lita Chantler]
• Use Knife: Fight Disciple of the Devourer, 6 vs. 3 ( is +2): pass [+1D, defeated], play Lita Chantler from discard, take Will to Survive from discard
• Draw Psychosis [+1$]

!!! My little dance with the Disciple of the Devourer was a calculated risk to bring Lita Chantler back to full soak value, but it paid off in even more spades with rejuvenating my Will to Survive! Now I just need to pick back up that last clue and overcome my own Psychoses before the big bad shows up...

R11 (2D, 0H, 4$, 2C): 4/5 doom

• Encounter: Frozen in Fear
• Investigate, 3 vs. 1 (Cultist is -2): pass [+1C]
• Advance Act to 1b [-3C]: Ritual Site enters play; Alma Hill, Herman Collins, Victoria Devereux, and "Wolf-Man" Drew spawn at Main Path; advances to 2a
• Discard Psychosis
• Test Frozen in Fear, 4 vs. 3 (-4): fail
• Draw Fire Extinguisher [+1$]

A little too late there, Fire Extinguisher. And my old buddy Frozen in Fear is back to throw a wrench in my plans. Not sure I can overcome that problem but we will see!

R12 (2D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 5/5 doom

• Agenda advances to 3b: Umôrdhoth spawns at Ritual Site with 2 resources on Vault of Earthly Demise
• Encounter: Ancient Evils [no effect]
• Use Quiet Glade: heal 1D
• Take a resource [+1$]
• Take a resource [+1$]
• Test Frozen in Fear, 4 vs. 3 (-3): fail
• Umôrdhoth moves to Main Path
• Draw Lantern [+1$]

At this point I'm more worried about drawing Graveyard Ghouls at an inopportune time then I am about getting more cards. I also really, really need to pass a Frozen in Fear test at some point, because Will to Survive expires before that test.

R12 (1D, 0H, 8$, 0C)

• Encounter: Grave-Eater [spawns and engages]
• Use Knife: Fight Grave-Eater, 7 vs. 2 (-1): pass [+2D, defeated]
• Use Quiet Glade: heal 1D
• Test Frozen in Fear, 4 vs. 3 (-4): fail
• Umôrdhoth moves to Quiet Glade, is engaged and attacks [1D/1H, 1H on Key of Ys, 2D/1H on Lita Chantler]
• Draw Resourceful [+1$]

Resourceful!! Two rounds of Will to Survive, maybe? Well, time for the final confrontation. Umôrdhoth has fight 7, health 12, and evade 8. Here we go!

R13 (1D, 1H, 9$, 0C)

• Encounter: Young Deep One [spawns and engages, 1H on Lita Chantler] (uh-oh)
• Play Will to Survive [-4$]
• Use Old Hunting Rifle [-1A]: Fight Umôrdhoth, commit Resourceful, 11 vs. 7: pass [+3D], take Will to Survive from discard
• Use Old Hunting Rifle [-1A]: Fight Umôrdhoth, 10 vs. 7: pass [+3D]
• Test Frozen in Fear, 5 vs. 3 (-2): pass, discarded (finally!!)
• Umôrdhoth attacks [3D/2H, 1H on Key of Ys]
• Young Deep One attacks [1D/1H discards Lita Chantler]
• Draw Emergency Cache [+1$]

R14 (4D, 3H, 6$, 0C)

• Encounter: Umôrdhoth's Wrath, 6 vs. 5 (+1): pass
• Play Will to Survive [-4$]
• Use Old Hunting Rifle [-1A]: Fight Umôrdhoth, 10 vs. 7: pass [+3D]
• Use Knife: Fight Umôrdhoth, 8 vs. 7: pass [+1D]
• Discard Knife: Fight Umôrdhoth, 9 vs. 7: pass [+2D, defeated]
• ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: EVEN DEATH MAY DIE

With his rifle out of ammo, and having just seen a lurking Deep One pounce on Lita and take her out of the fight, William summoned up the courage and Will to Survive to come at Umôrdhoth with a measly Knife, finally driving the Ancient One back where it belongs with a well-placed throw into the center of its swirling mass. Victory!!!

Scenario III: Resolution 2

• William repelled Umôrdhoth
• William receives 2 physical and 2 mental trauma
• 10 experience [0 Victory + 10 bonus]
• William wins the campaign!
• Achievements: Even Death May Die

Victory points obtained: None.

Victory points missed: The remaining four unique cultists, and Bury Them Deep.

WHEW that was a wild ride. It's been a blast playing William Yorick and squeaking by the challenges of Return to the Night of the Zealot by the skin of my (and his) teeth. What will be the next achievement-seeking challenge I tackle? I don't know yet... but I know one thing: William has earned a most well-deserved rest! (Well, I know two things. I know that Key of Ys, once it gets going (and if it can be protected), is just as effective as folks say it is.)

Thanks to all who have read these session reports. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed playing and writing them!