Roland Banks solo run through Dunwich Legacy

Testing out Roland Banks deck by running it through Dunwich Legacy solo.

My card pool is limited: Core + Dunwich + Carcosa + EotE

1: The House Always Wins (take 1):

Got stomped with bad token pulls from chaos bag. Defeated and suffered trauma from Cover Up.

Overhauled deck by pulling out the 5 conventional clue-finding cards [Magnifying Glasses, Bandoliers, & cut down to 1 copy of Deduction] and adding in more save-my-ass stuff [Shortcut, Say Your Prayers, .32 Colt, Dodge, & Working a Hunch]

1: The House Always Wins (take 2)

A relative cake walk. I even drew Servant of the Lurker as the abomination, which added a bonus XP. Dealt with Cover Up early on and after that drawing cards was stress-free. Did a good job ending early turns at dead-ends, which pulled the Pit Boss away from middle of map.

Lack of Magnifying Glass was not a problem; I did one basic investigate early and another when I was restricted by Dissonant Voices. All the other clues were from combat or locations!

Funny moment when Hunted Down moved a Thug right into the gaping maw of Servant.

2: Extracurricular Activities

Drew the Beat Cop (2) and the .32 Colt in my opening hand, so I had an easy time against early enemies. There was a string of Whippoorwills (fast kills and sometimes free clues), Thralls, and even a Yithian Observer. Wasn't able to find either copy of Machete, but I drew the signature .38 Special in time to face The Experiment.

Drew a plethora of allies that sat in my hand, so I might consider a second Charisma to keep them all in play! Later I had to discard some due to restrictions from Dead of Night. I couldn't even use them for soak because of Light of Aforgomon, which was in play for a long time due to the fact that the last act and agenda are persistent.

Lucked out and never drew the signature weakness. Still not suffering from cutting Magnifying Glass / Bandolier so that's good.

3: Miskatonic Museum

What started as a walk in the park turned into a painful ordeal for Roland! Grabbed an easy clue from the entryway and busted down the museum door, which sent the night watchman fleeing. In so doing I failed a WILLPOWER test because of an Arcane Barrier, which had a surprising effect of discarding Cover Up!

Ignoring the side rooms I went straight for the deck of Exhibit Halls. At the first one I encountered Obscuring Fog, and used Hunch to grab the clue without a test. How clever I felt in ignoring the fog!

Then was the classic "waste your time location", which I guess was fine to get out of the way early.

Then things went south because 1) I had to drop clues via Roland's Best Friend to avoid terrible encounters and 2) I couldn't pick up clues well. This is because this scenario totally shuts down my deck's theme of "hunt down enemies to grab testless clues". There's only one enemy, and it's not even in the encounter deck!

So the combat cards piled up, Evidence! and On the Hunt were useless. Crypt Chill and Pushed into the Beyond made me discard my weapons. And there are so many intellect tests! A few times the difficulty was compounded by Cursed Luck. Thank goodness I didn't failed tests at the Medusa Exhibit! Maybe a Magnifying Glass does deserve a card slot... as cheap fodder for Crypt Chill if nothing else! Things were looking pretty grim in the middle of the scenario.

By now my draw pile was low, so I raced it lower, used Roland's Best Friend to cancel another Beyond the Veil, and then cycled the deck safely. He's an incredible, underrated ally!

Eventually I slogged my way through the exhibits and the 5th card in the exhibit deck was the Restricted Hall, but I had no weapon! I took an AoO to draw and lucked into the gun, then used allies to soak more AoO to play Emergency Cache and the .38 Special and was able to defeat it with 1 horror remaining.

As it turned out I played the Horror wrong: I was increasing the difficulty of it every time it appeared, including via the agenda advancing. It turns out that it gets stronger only when it appears via Slithering or failing a test with triggers a failed test. When it appears due to agenda it does not get stronger

Even though it didn't hit the table until late (turn 10) the MVP card was probably Pathfinder, which saved tons of actions (and therefore time and encounters). In a great injustice this only earned 4 VP.

4: Essex County Express

At the setup for this the instructions say to add a -2 token to the bag. Which in my opinion improves the bag most of the time! I rarely test anything important unless I'm two over. So this token adds a passing outcome and dilutes the odds of the -3 or worse outcomes.

I got off to an okay start and I really underestimated how much of a tight clock is on this scenario! Wasted early actions drawing cards hoping to pull Ever Vigilant that I should've used for investigating. Took horror to a bad pull on Rotting Remains, lost Machete to Pushed into the Beyond, wasted too much cash on Pathfinder. By the time turn 5 rolled around I was stricken with Frozen in Fear that I couldn't shake, and a second Pushed into the Beyond triggered and defeated me on turn 7 from horror.

The "good news": I dodged trauma since (Cover Up was discarded by the first incidence of the Pushed into the Beyond treachery).

The bad news is a much longer list... Dr. Francis Morgan was kidnapped. I was "Delayed on the way to Dunwich". Now I have a third weakness in my deck, Across Space and Time. Worst of all, I only earned 2 VP so I'm sitting on 5 XP. Now I really wish I hadn't bought the Police Badge, since I'd much rather have Stick to the Plan at this point! So things are not looking great. Time to check into a hotel and get some much-deserved rest.

On a lark I redid this scenario for deck-testing purposes only and it did great the second time. So I'm sticking with the bad outcome but growing more confident in the build.

4 1/2: A Stay at the Excelsior Hotel

Due to a combination of bad choices on XP spending combined with the extremely stingy VP awards in this campaign, I inserted Excelsior Hotel into the campaign. Let's just say that it's my stayover near the town of Dunwich.

Great opening hand: the .38 Special, Machete, Unexpected Courage, Ever Vigilant and Evidence!

The narrative opens with Roland blacking out. When he comes to his senses he's standing over a corpse holding a bloody dagger. How did this come to pass? Classic dark, Lovecraftian stuff.

Right off the bat I hide the body and clean up the blood. I overcome a couple minor treacheries, tidy up the room, then play down Beat Cop (2) (a fellow agent who came along?) before using On the Hunt to confront the shady front desk manager. I clearly made a minor error in doing all that without a weapon in hand, so I played Roland's .38 Special and took an AoO to quickly dispatch this creep, earning free clue.

At this point a local cop and his supervisor appear. So does the first curiosity-seeking Hotel Guest, who starts nosing around. I'm reluctant to let them increase the doom but there's not a lot I can do immediately. I start scooping up clues in Room 225 and the hotel restaurant. The place getting lousy with nosy bystanders!

Soon I had enough clues to reveal both leads, which were the Tome of Rituals and Sinister Solution. So my fate was sealed, now I just to figure out what to do!

A Cultist of the Enclave spawned in the basement, so that looked like the first order of business. I intercept him in the foyer where Sergeant Monroe is watching us, then suffer an AoO to drag the mook down to the basement (so that I'm on a clue when I defeat him).

At this point I feel like I'm ahead of the doom clock and have played Pathfinder, so I start reaching for VP by clearing clues off of non-essential locations. First is the Office, and before I can get back upstairs another Cultist of the Enclave appears in the basement! I ignore them, so that I can score a free clue when they "hunt me down" on top of a clue. Using a variety of Working a Hunch, Art Student, and basic investigate actions I rack up few more VP upstairs. This almost backfired when I drew my signature weakness, but some lucky token pulls saved me and I was able to clear it.

By the time I have 4 clues the clock is nearly out and I resolve the mystery: a creepy cult is harvesting the secretions of an alien, disembodied Harvested Brain! I use Pathfinder to pop in and out of the room in order to avoid damage and I come out victorious!

6 VP earned, less the 3 VP cost nets out to 3 VP, which is a huge deal for my deck. Since I was sitting on 5 VP already so I can finally afford Stick to the Plan, and with the extras I add Magnifying Glass and Sweeping Kick! Also I get to add the Bloodstained Dagger, so I can cut one copy of Machete ... but I also have to take a fourth weakness. So there were strings attached...

5: Blood on the Altar

I had every reason to think this scenario would be a nightmare. Professor Rice had been kidnapped before we even reached town, I was "delayed" and saddled with extra doom on the agenda from the start, and the O'Bannions were on my heels. Not to mention that the title sounds scary!

In fact it turned out to be a cakewalk. Even drawing my weakness while bereft of testless clue cards didn't present a challenge when there are shroud 1 locations to exploit. It helped that the encounter deck was large and unfocused, so having William Maleson in play early helped me to avoid the worst treacheries (Ancient Evils and stuff with surge). Mostly I dealt with manageable treacheries like O'Bannion's goons and Rotting Remains.

Certainly Stick to the Plan made things easier. Right off the bat I was able to use Ever Vigilant to put the Dagger, William Maleson, and an Art Student on the first location with clues, leaving me well equipped and with $4 remaining.

Agenda 1 was long past when I used the Key to enter the Hidden Chamber, so the remains of Earl Sawyer were dribbling down the many mouths of Silas Bishop. I had zero chance of winning via clues, so I made quick work of the thing with Roland's .38 Special and a fancy move I recently learned.

It was too late for poor Earl Sawyer, the sole victim. But I was able to rescue Professor Rice, Dr. Morgan, and Zebulon Whateley who were tied up and clearly were next in line for dinner. [I'm unsure about Armitage, who I thought was safely at home in Arkham yet makes a brief speech during the interlude? Perhaps he arrived drove in while I was on the train?]

Grateful for saving his life, Zebulon decided to join me on my mission. With only 4 VP and nothing compelling I opted for a second copy of Charisma and banked 1 remaining XP. Before the Arkham professors left they concocted a batch of the Powder of Ibn Ghazi for my use.

6: Undimensioned and Unseen

What a tedious scenario (randomly moving the enemies every turn is a real chore), and what awful luck regarding my draws!

No weapons were in my opening hand, and Prepared for the Worst couldn't find any either. Weapons shouldn't much matter in this scenario (the main enemies Brood of Yog-Sothoth) can't be attacked by normal means. However I was beset upon by two Lupine Thralls and the Stubborn Detective fairly early, so I blew through skill cards that otherwise would've managed the treacheries.

Similarly I have stuff in the deck (in the form of Police Badge and Zebulon Whateley) but they too were at the bottom of the deck.

I managed to bounce between the Blasted Heath and Dunwich Village for awhile clearing weaknesses and treacheries and scooping up the necessary 4 clues. A treachery spawned a third Brood, so things were getting crowded. When the Broods meandered away I made a dash to Whateley Ruins and jotted down the Esoteric Formula. Then I used half of Powder of Ibn Ghazi to quickly dispatch one on turn 8. So far so good!

Then the wheels fall off the bus. I'm drowning in Frozen in Fear, Cover Up, and also Unhallowed Country while surrounded by 3 enemies. I'm close to playing Zebulon Whateley who might help me turn the tide. Then the agenda advances and a fourth Brood appears on top of me forcing an test with nothing much to commit. In this case I regret replacing Dodge (would have cancelled an attack) with Sweeping Kick (which can't target the Broods). Obscure but noteworthy!

Roland failed the scenario and suffered a mental trauma. Earned 1 VP. 4 Broods escaped into the wild...

7: Where Doom Awaits

A fitting description! I was beset with Light of Aforgomon again, this time both copies. In spite of that I slogged my way face-to-face against old wizard Seth Bishop. I was tragically slain as a final sacrifice to summon Yog-Sothoth, breaching the thin veil that separated our fragile planet from the all-powerful being.

*Deckbuilding Changes and Lessons

• I would've obtained Stick to the Plan earlier and benefited from that
• I shouldn't have even had access to Pathfinder under the latest taboo (!)
• I should've kept Dodge, which can evade Brood of Yog-Sothoth
• I should've held onto both copies of Shortcut and possibly upgraded one to Shortcut (2). I took many attacks of opportunity that could've been avoided!
• even a 4 wasn't always a sure thing, and the .32 Colt underperformed. Looks like the classic .45 Automatic really is the way to go?
• money got tight, probably worth upgrading to On the Hunt (3) for income by doing stuff I was doing anyhow :)
• I've Had Worse (2) would also profitably manage horror loss
• the general strategy to lean into testless clues is sound, I think it's the best way to play Roland

It was an education that's for sure! Someday I'll run Roland solo through Carcosa, but I think I'll try it with Ashcan Pete instead.