SleightSoda · 105
This is a Jim deck I've scrounged up for a three player Carcosa campaign with Zoey and Minh in standard. The Carcosa chaos bag carries an extra skull, which suits Jim just fine.
The idea is to be supportive and "fill" whatever role needs the most help. I tested a 9 exp version of this deck with some of my planned upgrades in a standalone with Zoey and Minh in the Midnight Masks scenario and it performed well (we took down all but two cultists as well as the Ghoul Priest). In the standalone test run I mostly helped with combat, so the investigation side was neglected. I'll report back after the first scenario in Carcosa.
The design goals of this deck are to be equally good at combat and investigation in order to pick up any slack, using Grotesque Statues to enhance Jim's natural good odds. Scavenging allows the statues to be recurred, with some investigation synergy by tossing Flashlights, which become de facto copies of Perception when Minh is in the room. Scavenging will also allow me to throw Jim's Trumpet at key Will tests for three icons (four if Minh is in the room) and get it back later. Since the purpose of this deck is to support my Guardian and Seeker buddies, Emergency Aid has been added so that Jim can heal damage as well as horror with his Trumpet. No Stone Unturned rounds out his splash cards, allowing him to find a Statue, his Trumpet, Scavenging to recur them, or even just help Zoey find her Lightning Gun.
My planned upgrades for this deck include upgraded Shrivelling spells, Songs of the Dead to replace the Knives, and Jewel of Aureolus to replace Holy Rosary when Shriveling is upgraded. Of course, I will also be running Grotesque Statues, which I will likely replace my Delves with.
Updates:
-After Curtain Call
With our first big splash of exp I splurged on an ugly rock and a pretty jewel. I also purchased a copy of Fine Clothes because the game kept hinting that we needed to be dressed our best...
I got rid of scavenging after learning about Recharge from A Phantom of Truth. While the idea of endlessly cycling ugly rocks sounds fun, I've never actually made scavenging work in practice, and Recharge seems to have more targets, making it far more consistent. I haven't added Recharge to my deck yet so we'll see how I feel later down the line.
-After The Last King
A more modest 3exp this time around, which I only spent 2 of to grab a couple copies of Drawn to the Flame. I noticed that Zoey was really killing it and with my help every now and then we were getting through the monsters easily. But I wasn't doing enough investigation, as Rite of Seeking was often too slow / expensive for me to play on higher shroud locations. Enter Drawn to the Flame, taking over the no longer needed Fine Clothes and one of my Knives, which were always meant to be placeholders for Song of the Dead anyway.
-After Echoes of the Past and Unspeakable Oath
It's really feast or famine with exp in our run of Carcosa. After saving exp I ended up with 6 available to spend before paying the fee for our side-quest to Venice. I used it to buy another ugly rock and a copy of Song of the Dead. I got rid of my last knife and a Delve to free up these slots.