The Sword and The Scroll

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

dotsandwaves · 8

Design

This deck was inspired by the intersection of the Circle Undone multiclass cards. I was intrigued by the Enchanted Blade and Scroll of Secrets pivoting around the Mystic class. Both cards max out at Lola’s deck building cap of level 3, so I thought they could be a good fit for her.

Thematically, I like the idea of these cards together – a sword and a scroll in the hands of The Actress makes me think of some ancient statue dedicated to a thespian goddess.

See Starter Deck below for campaign legal modifications.

Note: I have not play tested this deck yet. I will update with comments when I do

General Strategy

This deck is all about Crisis management. You do this by either anticipating it with Scrying or hitting it head on with Mr. "Rook".

If you scry a Crisis, pace your role switching tempo so that you can hide in the Rogue role before you draw it. This build has no Rogue cards, so you won’t lose anything to Crisis. I also think this is a thematic and cheeky use of the Rogue role – it feels very in character for The Actress to use the role this way.

If you have Scroll of Secrets in play, you can knock a scried Crisis off the top of your deck with it.

Mr. "Rook" is the back up for Scrying. If you’re out of Scrying charges or don’t have it in play and don’t want to draw blind, search 9 deep with Mr. "Rook" in an effort to hit it head on. He is the only Seeker card Crisis will knock out – it’s a calculated loss.

Mulligan

Mulligan hard for either Scrying or Mr. "Rook" so that you have some chance at intercepting Crisis of Identity.

If you don’t get either, pace your role switching so that you draw in a role with no at-risk assets in play until you get one of these cards.

Comments on Some Cards

Scrying

This is your major tempo pacing card. Knowing whether your next 3 cards are safe or not helps you plan out your next few role switches. It also lets you know if you should break Dark Horse for some upcoming important plays. Prioritize finding Crisis via Scrying so that Mr. "Rook" goes from willing sacrifice to pure utility.

If you scry a Crisis, you can try to juggle it down your deck with additional Scrying charges in an attempt to find a second weakness. If you're lucky enough to find one, put Crisis on top of so that the second weakness is discarded by the Crisis revelation effect.

Try to get both copies out to maximize your tempo setting. Use freely on the encounter deck once your weaknesses are accounted for.

Scroll of Secrets

This is the icing on the cake. It’s a nice to have to knock a weakness off the top of your deck. Try to play it only after you have your Blade holstered in the Bandolier so you don’t bap a Flashlight out of your hand.

This can also be a minor tempo pacing card. If you don’t hit a weakness with Scrying, you can follow up by Scrolling the bottom of your deck. If your bottom card also isn’t a weakness, you can put it on the top of your deck so that your next 4 card draws are known. This is a more viable strategy with Scrying (3) which saves you an action.

Like Scrying, use freely on the encounter deck once your weaknesses are accounted for.

Mr. Rook

The martyr backup for Scrying. Your starting hand and the scenario will largely dictate what cards you want to search for. However, as a general strategy try to use to him to get Scrying, the Scroll once you have Scrying out, or Dayana Esperence if you have a spell in hand to load her with.

Astounding Revelation

This is a multipurpose card. In part, it’s a consolation prize for Mr. "Rook" dive bombing Crisis. It can provide just-in-time resources for Rook's searched card to get you back to Dark Horse mode faster, or an extra secret on Dayana, Scroll, or Rook.

Note that Scrying does not activate Astounding Revelation, so you're not missing out on anything due to Lola’s activation role restriction.

Enchanted Blade

This build is designed to make big sword swings with your Guardian skills. However, as a multiclass card you can also use it from Mystic if your circumstances require it.

Dark Horse

The lone Survivor card in this deck. It is best played via Improvisation so you can use Lola’s character card ability to get back to a main role the same turn. Plus, Dark Horse is free when played via Improvisation.

Vicious Blow

Perhaps a bit obvious, but I think it’s worth mentioning that these are essentially two extra Enchanted Blade charges. You can also role shift during a Spectral Razor skill check to commit for big damage.

Deduction

Can commit to Read the Signs with a well-timed role shift for a big clue scoop.

Starter Deck

In the Starter Deck, you cannot discard Crisis of Identity off the topic of your deck with Scroll of Secrets (0). Rely on drawing Crisis in Rogue or hitting it with Mr. "Rook".

If you absolutely must dispose of a weakness, use Alyssa to put it on the bottom of your deck and then sweep under the rug with Scroll of Secrets (0) (the original inspiration for this deck). Just be sure to mind the doom. You could consider replacing Scroll of Secrets (0) with Moonlight Ritual or Calling in Favors to take the doom off Alyssa once she buries a card, but Rook will just make you shuffle your deck.

Note that Scroll of Secrets (0) will also be a target for Crisis in you Rook into it.

Upgrade Path

The relative priority of upgrading the Starter Deck should look something like this:

2 comments

Aug 20, 2020 alexalansmith14 · 692

Thank you for posting this link on reddit! It's a shame I can't try the deck yet (don't have all expansions needed), but I really liked the theme & idea. One question thought — do you really need bandolier in this deck?

Aug 20, 2020 dotsandwaves · 8

thanks for checking it out! the bandolier can probably be replaced - here are my initial thoughts behind it:

1) extra health, which never hurts given lola's pretty dismal 6

2) would let you hold your sword, flashlight, and scroll of secrets all at the same time.

Regarding 2), there's only 1 copy of the scroll, so you may not get it every game, and if you do it may be possible to play it on top of a used up flashlight.

i'll see how often i feel pressured to juggle things in my hand slots when i play test this build. if it's a rare occurrence, i may swap it for higher health/sanity soak.