Learn True Solo with Roland Banks - limited card pool

Learning to Play Better

Here's a great deck for playing true solo that only uses Core + Dunwich + Carcosa. The main idea here is to focus on all of the interactions and bonuses for being on clue locations. Also it eschews tests in favor of testless clue collection.

It has good odds on succeeding in Night of the Zealot and uses input from my recent less-than-successful run through Dunwich.

Manage Roland's Horror with Red Shirts, Not Blue Bloods

• It's tempting to include precious Milan Christopher for the free income and bonus... but his cost slows the tempo. Also he's fragile, useless as a soak asset, and vulnerable to certain ubiquitous treacheries

• Instead we include "red-shirt" allies that are cheap and disposable to mitigate Roland's pitiful horror

• Given Roland's low horror, it won't be long before you're desperate and able to use Say Your Prayers. Allocate your first 2 horror to yourself to enable this card, then dump additional horror on allies. If you have access to a wider card pool consider alternatives like Take the Initiative

End Roland's Turns on a Location With Clues

• Rush to clue locations, but don’t be in a hurry to grab the clues! Park on top of the clues as you equip, draw, etc. Save the Investigate action as the last thing to do before decamping to a spot with fresh clues.

• Your signature asset benefits greatly from being on top of clues when you fight

• Inquiring Mind is an improved version of Unexpected Courage… but only when there’s a clue located there

• Your innate clue-finding ability relies on being on top of clues when an enemy is defeated

• Since you can't wait forever for enemies to spawn, On the Hunt speeds that up. It's very likely you'll find an enemy, plus you'll avoid the treachery you otherwise would have drawn (especially a dreaded one). It might even help you find a Victory Point enemy!

• Since you're already setting up situations to fight on top of clues... Evidence! finds a second clue. It saves an action and avoids a test in locations with two or more clues. You're already doing everything to set up this card! Or commit it for the bonus late in a scenario

• Shortcut move you and an engaged enemy to a clue location while avoiding Attack of Opportunity. Don't waste it just to move unless you can get a similar big benefit!

• Advanced technique: use Dr. William T. Maleson to drop a clue in order to trigger these features. After victory you'll automatically recover the clue!

One-Of Cards

• These are situational cards that can't rely on drawing every game. But you can't play a card that's not in your deck, and the powerful effects justify the deck space. If you don't like them by all means swap something else in!

• Prepared for the Worst digs for a vital weapon when you'd otherwise be empty-handed

• Dodge should be saved for an enemy that inflicts significant horror

• Logical Reasoning is a versatile alternative to Guts. It provides the same for skill tests. Instead of a bonus draw for passing the test (not a sure thing against stuff like Crypt Chill) you gain the option to remove a Terror treachery or recover precious horror.

• Deduction started in this deck with two copies, had both removed, then I settled on a one-of. There really aren't a lot of locations with multiple clues that you want to test Roland's mediocre ! Most of the time you're grabbing a pair of clues via heaping Evidence! on top of Roland's innate ability. Deduction is mostly at a low-shroud location to deal with Cover Up

Coping with Cover Up

No doubt the downside to a campaign with Roland is that when you're defeated and haven't cleared Cover Up things go from bad to worse. Each point of mental trauma only exacerbates your already weak horror.

If things go south with clues remaining on Cover Up, prioritize clearing it over other goals. This can salvage your long-term success in the campaign.

If things go south late but Cover Up still in the mostly-depleted draw pile, seriously consider resigning or purposefully being defeated before drawing it and hamstringing yourself going forward.

Experience Ideas

• Ever Vigilant (1) saves actions and alleviates early cash drain. swap out an Emergency Cache

• Next I advocate saving up for the powerful Stick to the Plan (6), which lets you start every scenario with Ever Vigilant (1), Emergency Cache, and Prepared for the Worst in your pocket

• Shortcut (2) is often regarded as something only for multiplayer, but I bet it would shine for Roland. In my play through Dunwich there were plenty of scenarios that feature a central location, and it can placed on Stick to the Plan to guarantee it's used early

• Charisma (3) lets you keep a useful ally (Beat Cop (2) or a campaign ally) on the table while you also have a disposable soak ally out there.

• Beat Cop (2) is a great addition after you have Charisma (3). You can have him and also the revolving-door-of-redshirts. His on-tap bonus damage can really save actions.

• Police Badge (2) is an overlooked defensive card, and in a pinch you can discard it for two free actions.

• On the Hunt (3) is a luxury idea for late in the campaign, paying you to do what you're already seeking to do

Credit to @DadouXIII for his Roland decks, they helped tweak some of the card choices here.

Please comment to let me know how this deck fares in any scenarios you try, and any alternate card selections!