Cryptic Grimoire

Cryptic Grimoire

I have a rules question about the second action on this card. The second action does not say to only trigger "If there are 10 [curse] tokens in the chaos bag...". Rather, the first sentence is contingent on "10 [curse] tokens in the chaos bag". Can I trigger the second action without 10 curse tokens and just replace 5 curse with 5 bless tokens?

CrimsonMatt · 2
You cannot. Everything before the colon is the ability's cost; if there are fewer than ten curse tokens in the bag, you cannot satisfy the cost and therefore cannot initiate the ability. I think you're saying you could activate it with fewer than ten curse tokens and avoid discarding the grimoire, but since discarding the grimoire is part of the cost, you can't initiate the ability without ten curse tokens. — SGPrometheus · 841
Can I ignore the cost by "Knowledge is Power"? — king_doragon · 1
@king_doragon Huh. Uh... I don't see why not. Surely that doesn't work? I'd submit that to the devs; that's a good one. — SGPrometheus · 841
Yeah, that’s really awkward and definitely works as written. It should probably have that ‘if’ clause within the effect of the ability to avoid that. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
This will definitely get errata'd and/or FAQ'd real fast cause the wording is so awkward. As its stands, the second action could indeed be activated if there aren't ten curse tokens in the chaos bag. Discarding the grimoire is part of the cost only if there are 10 curse tokens in the bag. You are paying the conditional cost of discarding it and the rules regarding costs do not address this, so no other way to interpret it. — heppu · 2
I disagree and feel Knowledge is Power will not work for this. The only costs on the 2nd action are 1) the actual action cost and 2) the discard of the grimoire ; the "if there are..." line is a Triggering Condition, not an actual cost. It's like if you have a BOGO coupon for something but they only have 1 of that item; you can ignore the cost of the 2nd one, but you don't actually have the 2nd item available to complete the transaction. — Vafruvant · 1
It is not a "Triggering Condition": Triggering Condition A triggering condition indicates the timing point at which an ability may be triggered. Most triggering conditions use the word "when" or "after" to establish their relation to the specified timing point. Each eligible ability that triggers in reference to a specified timing point may be used once each time that timing point occurs. If multiple instances of the same ability are eligible to initiate, each instance may be used once. — Yenreb · 15
The "If" clause is a "prerequisite" of the ability. "If the ability has one or more prerequisites (costs and/or conditions), these are listed in text immediately following the icon. A player must always meet the prerequisites of a triggered ability in order to trigger that ability." But the instruction on Knowledge is Power is "resolve" (not "trigger") "an [action] or [free] ability," so as written I don't think the prerequisite would prevent you from choosing it. Hopefully an FAQ will clarify. — Yenreb · 15
Although the next phrase on Knowledge is Power is "ignoring all costs" -- as card text, not reminder text. The word "resolve" is used throughout the Rules Reference, but nowhere well defined; we might treat it as "do". In which case "resolve, ignoring its costs" could well mean "but still obey conditions," as you argue. No existing Tome or Spell assets have non-cost prerequisites on Action or Free triggered abilities, so it's not a question to have come up before this previewed card. — Yenreb · 15

Bedeviled

Bedeviled

Does that mean that you cannot get rid of this card if you play real solo (since you can't use the action to try to discard it, while in multiplayer, other may take that action for you)? That sounds extremely punishing...

Kisama · 2
Sure you can. You don't control treacheries, so the effect of Bedeviled doesn't apply to itself. — TheNameWasTaken · 3

Chicago Typewriter

Chicago Typewriter

Hmm... I wonder what happens if I combine this with Haste. If you use the trigger ability, it counts as activate action or Fight action? That means, I activate Chicago Typewriter -> Fight and then I spend one action to get +2. Now I can use the free action from Haste or I have to activate it again (2 times) and THEN exhaust it to get the free action. Can anyone answer me because I think this sounds like a sweet combo!

Sotosprotos · 86
I think it doesnt work because the action type for the additional action(s) isn't defined on this card. Haste didnt exist when this card was released so the develper couldnt take this into account. — Django · 5154
Can't find a decent reference to back this up, I thought it was in the faq, but I guess its just in a designer tweet somewhere and I can't find it..... Anyway. Haste is based on the number of Actions you perform, not the number you expend. When you expend multiple actions to perform a single action I am pretty sure it only counts as 1 action for the purposes of haste. So no matter how many actions you expend on the chicago typewriter you have still only performed one fight action — NarkasisBroon · 11
Agreed with @NarkasisBroon; "spending" actions is not the same as "taking" them, and Haste only cares about actions you actually take. — SGPrometheus · 841
So spending 2 actions to resolve a treachery or weakness also counts only as 1 for haste? — Django · 5154
@Django Correct. Searching for Izzy, for instance, costs two actions, but is still one investigate action. — SGPrometheus · 841
Oh, I see. Shame :( — Sotosprotos · 86
Conversely, this means that triggering Haste to trigger this card doesn't actually spend an action, so you wouldn't get the basic +2 (unless you spend additional actions, which negates the benefit of using Haste) — Yenreb · 15
@Yenreb: No that is not true. When you trigger the reaction ability of Haste, it does grant you an additional action; it's just that you must use that action right away. The official FAQ notes this, it states that "if an ability allows you to 'take an action,' it is as though you are gaining an action and immediately spending it to perform that action." — iceysnowman · 164
To be clear, this means that you would get the basic +2 from the action spent (if you're using Haste to trigger Chicago Typewriter). — iceysnowman · 164
With the typewriter that combo only works if you have Leo De Luca which grants you an extra action you get to use haste. 2 actions +4 fight and other 2 actions +4 fight and then you could activate the haste, but niw with only +2 of fight. — Tpedrosa · 1

Joey "The Rat" Vigil

Joey "The Rat" Vigil

I think Joey "The Rat" Vigil was the most unusable rogue card in the game until this version of him appeared in weaver of cosmos. Now, "The Rat" is one hell of a card, especially for Tonny Morgan. It is not only the cost that is reduced (4 to 2) but also a new fast ability that is added (Discard an Item asset from play: Gain two Resources) This new card gives a new refreshing strategy to rogues to get money super fast by discard assets from play that have no charges/supplies/ammo and play a new one (or even an exact copy of the same card from you hand) by paying the cost plus 1 resource. And it is fast! This opens a whole new world for rogues, as they can now explore a whole new bunch of cards that where never used. Such as Colt Vest Pocket. Also "The Rat" can create some sweet combos that can change the game drammaticaly - I will explain what I mean later on. I play the Dream Eaters B Campaign with Tonny and Mandy. Tonny is an amazing investigator with insanely number of actions and he is heavily combat oriented. Some weapons such as .41 Derringer and Switchblade are essential for him and other such as Chicago Typewriter not so much. He has also 2x Tony's .38 Long Colt. In his collection of guns, I have added 2x of Colt Vest Pocket and using the ability of Rat, this card has now a meaning, because it is a gun bomb which is used normally for 3 attacks (maybe 4 if you put a bounty in an enemy) and before discarding it at the end of the turn, you just discard this asset and get the money back like you have never played it. The +1 damage is sweet and the bonus +1 strength gives a great 6 to handle weak enemies like Rats, Zoogs and overall enemies with Swarming. With this combo you won't need to use your best arsenal against them and you keep bullets for the fatties. Think Rat as Sleight of Hand, but with a reward. The advantage of Sleight of Hand is that it gives you the asset again in your hand so you can circle it again, the advantage of Rat is tha he gives you resources. You can choose which scenario is better for you or you u can use both because Rat is an unlimited source of Sleight of Hand. This can literally save you when you draw an encounter card and you are low on ammo. Also, another thing is that if you want to play a new asset that takes a slot that is already occupied, instead of discard it and get nothing from it, you can use Rat's ability and benefit from both cases - get 2 resources and play this asset fast! Finally, a great combo with Rat is to circle a gun which has Well-Maintained. Just put this sweet fast card underneath the gun and when it is out of ammo, discard it, get the 2 resources and then take the gun back to your hand, to play it again (fast or not) or even commit to a test. And the best part for Rat is that both his abilities can be used UNLIMITED in the turn. You don't exhaust him!!! Combine him with Charisma and Delilah O'Rourke and Tonny becomes a killer machine!

Sotosprotos · 86
Add Scavenging 0 or 2 to get discarded assets back into play? — Django · 5154
Scavenging is great card but I think this is kind of situational depending on the investigators. I am not sure if there is an rogue investigator who has access to level 2 scavenging. Tony can get only the scavenging 0 level, but if you want to include this in your deck, you have to add #streetwise in order to benefit the most from this card. For the heavily strength oriented investigators, investigation actions are kind of limited, not to say forbidden, except if you play some events. — Sotosprotos · 86
Take note that Preston can take up to lvl 2 survivor cards. He also has access to items that cost 0 (cherished keepsake, and leather coat). Talk about free money for Delilah, Lola Santiago, and streetwise — jdk5143 · 98
@Sotosprotos Tony can only take skills and events from his off-class, not assets. — SGPrometheus · 841
@jdk5143 I haven't played Preston yet. My bad! — Sotosprotos · 86
@SGPrometheus I know that Tony gets only skills/events. Did I imply the opposite in the review? — Sotosprotos · 86
i think what SGPrometheus was saying that Tony can’t take level 0 Scavenging because it’s a Survivor Asset. — iceysnowman · 164
Also best cost:soak ratio of any Rogue ally — Zinjanthropus · 230

Monstrous Transformation

Monstrous Transformation

Carolyn Fern absolutely loves this card and it’s paired supposed “weakness.” She can clue with her base stats and then hulk out midway through a scenario to take on the inevitable enemies. Meanwhile, your likely horror-healing deck thrives off the dependable horror from the paired weakness, feeding your Keen Eye stat boosts with the generated resources.

Also, unless I screwed up the scenario rules, it lets you absolutely CRUSH one of the scenarios in FA.

cstraw · 5
This is even better if calvin teams up with carolyn and he has this and the weakness. Use solemn vow to move horror to carolyn (or her peter sylvester). — Django · 5154
It's also really good with Preston. It would be especially good if you can manage to get permanently Yithian'd. He would definitely appreciate Horror Healing Support, though. — Zinjanthropus · 230