Edge of the Earth Jack

Monterey Jack: Edge of the Earth Cluever

Primary clue gatherer for a two-player Edge of the Earth campaign alongside Lily Chen. Jack covers the big maps on , scoops clues on the move, and leaves the killing to Lily.

How Monterey Jack Plays

1, 4, 2, 5. 8 health, 6 sanity. 30 cards: Rogue 0, Seeker 1-5, Neutral 0-5, up to 5 level 0 Seeker.

• The ability measures distance, not moves. At the end of your turn, 1 location away from where you started the round pays a resource or a card; 2 or more away pays both. Three moves that loop back pay nothing. Route every turn to end 2+ locations from where the round began.
• The round starts in the Mythos phase, so movement there (Think on Your Feet) counts toward the distance.
• Jumps count by distance too. One Archive of Conduits teleport across the map is a full payout.
• : +1, and a resource or card if you're already 1+ away.
• 5 is your real investigate stat. Thieves' Kit and Pilfer use it; Fox Mask and Gené push it higher.
• 1 is the hole. Send willpower treacheries to Lily with "You handle this one!"; Higher Education patches it late.

Playing With Lily

• Lily has 4 and 3. She fights and soaks willpower tests; Jack avoids enemies and keeps the clue count moving.
• Pass enemies to her with "You handle this one!", step away from spawns with Think on Your Feet, and later push non-Elite enemies toward her with Gené.
• Gateway to Acheron can move Lily onto a leyline location, so she arrives at the fight without spending her own move.

Card Breakdown

Investigating

• Thieves' Kit: The clue engine. Investigates at 5 instead of 4 and refunds 1 resource per success, so the 6 supplies pay back its cost. Pick on a test where you want to commit Deduction or Perception.
• Pilfer: 3 clues on an agility test. Save it for 3+ clue locations; it costs 4, so don't fire it while you're still saving for the Archive.
• Pocket Telescope: Investigates a connecting location without moving, and peeks at unrevealed locations to plan routes. Remote investigation doesn't feed the ability, so its best early job is hitting adjacent leylines for the Archive. On trial; Eon Chart replaces it if it underperforms.
• Deduction: +1 clue on your 4 investigations: basic investigates, Telescope, Thieves' Kit in intellect mode, and Buried Secrets. It pairs with Perception for the turns you're not on .

Combo: Agility Investigate and Exit

Pilfer or Thieves' Kit, plus Fox Mask, Nimble, and Quick Thinking.

1. Investigate at 5, spending a Fox Mask offering for +2 against high shroud.
2. Commit Nimble () and Quick Thinking (). Add "Watch this!" if you have spare resources.
3. Succeed by 3: take the clues, Nimble moves you up to 3 times, and Quick Thinking gives a free action at the new location.

One action becomes clues, 2+ locations of distance (full ability payout), and a bonus action. Manual Dexterity adds 2 icons and draws on the same test.

Movement

• Scout Ahead: 3 moves for 1 action, and enemies don't engage you. The most reliable way to end a turn 2+ away.
• Nimble: Converts surplus on any test into free moves. Works on Bullwhip attacks too: hit, auto-evade, then walk away.
• Think on Your Feet: When an enemy would spawn on you, step to a connecting location and leave it for Lily. The Mythos-phase move counts toward this round's distance.

Economy & Draw

• Emergency Cache: Funds the Archive setup (6 resources total) and later Gené (5).
• "Watch this!": Commit to an agility test you'll pass anyway. Spend 3, gain 6. No action spent.
• Perception: Draw on intellect tests; the Deduction partner for investigations.
• Manual Dexterity: The agility-side Perception; the better fit for Pilfer and Thieves' Kit.

The Archive Project

• Research Librarian: Tutors the Archive (a Tome) on turn one. The researched Archive is a Ritual, not a Tome, so the Librarian has no target afterwards and leaves for Gené.
• Archive of Conduits (Unidentified): Costs 2 plus 1 resource on each of 4 locations. After a successful investigation at a leyline location, exhaust it to bank that leyline (once per round). Solve it in the first scenario. Put leylines on locations you'll clear anyway, spread out so travelling between them also pays the ability. Telescope can bank an adjacent leyline without moving. Completion refunds the 4 resources and unlocks the upgrade.
• Hand slots are tight early. Archive, Thieves' Kit, Telescope, and Bullwhip all want a hand. Run Archive plus Thieves' Kit first; the Archive upgrade moves to the Arcane slot and frees a hand.

Defense & Utility

• Fox Mask: +2 or per test. Refills when you move out of a location with an enemy, which Jack does constantly. Limit 1 Mask in play; the second copy is consistency.
• "You handle this one!": Free, Fast, +1 resource. Hand Lily non-peril enemies and willpower treacheries.
• Quick Thinking: commits to any test, including Buried Secrets. Succeed by 2 for a free action.

Signatures

• Trusty Bullwhip: Fast, agility fight. On a hit, exhaust it to auto-evade or deal +1 damage. This is the escape button, not the damage plan; Lily does the killing.
• Buried Secrets: While your location can be investigated, you can't move except by scenario effects. It shuts off the whole engine, so clear it immediately. Its action is an intellect investigation at your location: Fox Mask (+2), Gené (+1), Magnifying Glass (+1), Higher Education (+2), plus Deduction, Perception, and Quick Thinking commits. Pilfer and Thieves' Kit don't help; they're separate actions. On a fail you may take 2 horror to shuffle it back. With 6 sanity, do that only when stuck.

Mulligan

• Hunt: Research Librarian or Archive of Conduits, then Thieves' Kit.
• Keep: Fox Mask, Scout Ahead, Emergency Cache alongside the Archive or Librarian.
• Ship: Deduction, Perception, Manual Dexterity, Think on Your Feet, Pilfer (its cost competes with the Archive), and Bullwhip unless the opening has enemies.

Upgrade Path

• Gateway to Acheron is Researched: buy it only after "you have identified the gateway" is in the Campaign Log. It moves to the Arcane slot. Its action moves any investigator to a leyline: Lily into a fight, or Jack across the map for a full ability payout. Remove the leyline to have them investigate on arrival.
• Gené gives +1 and +1 . After each move on your turn, pull a clue in from a connecting location, or push a non-Elite enemy off you toward Lily. Unique; the second copy is consistency. The Librarian's tutor job is finished by this point.
• Hiking Boots give +1 and a free move when you take the last clue, which is free distance for the ability. Emergency Cache's job is covered by the Archive refund, Thieves' Kit, and "Watch this!". Limit 1 Footwear; the second copy is consistency.
• Eon Chart (1) moves to the Accessory slot and frees a hand. Its Fast move, evade, or investigate is real movement that pays the ability, which the Telescope's remote investigation doesn't.
• Magnifying Glass is Fast, free, and takes the hand Telescope vacated. Think on Your Feet's escape job passes to Gené and Eon Chart's evade and move.
• Eon Chart (4) takes two different actions per secret. Upgrading costs the 3 XP difference per copy.
• Higher Education needs 5 cards in hand, which Jack's draw supports. The +2 is the only fix in the deck for the 1 base.
• Fieldwork: Fieldwork is level 0 Seeker, and the 5-card cap is full at deck creation (Librarian x2, Deduction x2, Archive). Steps 1 and 2 free three spots. It costs 1 XP per copy and gives +2 on your next test after moving to a location with a clue, which Jack does every turn.

Side Deck

• Backstab: Agility fight for +2 damage, if enemies start sticking to Jack.
• Pathfinder: A free move each turn, if Hiking Boots don't provide enough.