From the moment I saw Forced Learning, I was curious about who would be the best user for it. There were numerous common options, but it was tricky trying to pin down who would have the right combination of effects to take advantage of it. My musings ended up leading to Roland. I considered Roland's original back with the By the Book front, but after digging further, I noticed the By the Book card pool could access numerous unique tools to take advantage of both the draw and discard. This helps enable a version of Roland which can do quite a lot, with 'setup' often actively being done through the discard.

This is the result of taking that core idea and pushing it through a few unusual options, including using the In the Thick of It/Versatile package to add a Deck Creation card - in this case, that Forced Learning which would be the key to the deck concept, and which would make Versatile even less worrisome than normal.

The current result is this version of Roland. He doesn't have the sustained focus that some builds have, but has an incredible amount of flexibility, sneaking in surprising amounts of effective bonus actions through Directive (Due Diligence) and Directive (Red Tape).

This deck has seen a number of tests, but given the large size of the deck, it is difficult to give it as much focused play as I'd like. However, it appears capable of solo play, going through the start of Dunwich on Normal, with a few surprisingly good fights coming out of it.

Forced Banks Improvisation

Roland Chews through his Deck

Primary Roles: Monster Fighter, Clue Gatherer

Strategy

Mulligan Strategy

• Always Keep - 1 Primary Weapon (.45 Automatic, Enchanted Blade, Roland's .38 Special)
• Always Keep - All Draw Tools (Deep Knowledge, Preposterous Sketches)
• Sometimes Keep - Alice Luxley (If at least 2 Clueing Tools are available)
• Sometimes Keep - Clueing Tools (Burning the Midnight Oil, Flashlight, Drawn to the Flame, Fortuitous Discovery, Winging It, Working a Hunch) (If Primary Weapon or Alice Luxley was found)
• Sometimes Keep - 1 Backup Combat Option (Guard Dog, Improvised Weapon, Toe to Toe, Winging It) (If No Primary Weapon was found)

General Strategy

Use whatever your hand allows. In general, Forced Learning means your effective draw power is incredibly high. You'll want to keep one weapon out at all times if possible, though if you find the upgraded version of Roland's .38 Special, you're probably set for a long while. If you ever find Improvised Weapon, Winging It, or your first copy of Fortuitous Discovery, congratulations - you've probably got a turn where it's easy to decide what to toss. If not, toss what you think you're not going to need in the near future, or won't be able to afford. In general, you'll want to have one or two investigation options and one or two fight options available at all times. And yes, toss Delve Too Deep if it's too early on. You probably won't draw through your entire deck, but it can be unnecessary trouble to hold on to it.

In general, squeeze whatever value you can out of Directive (Red Tape). This often means squeezing a little bit more out of a random Burning the Midnight Oil for a couple of resources and occasional free clue, Deep Knowledge or Preposterous Sketches for some additional draw, or eventually, even using Stargazing, because why not. If you happen to be engaged with something that you can reliably finish off, all the better - Directive (Due Diligence) will often turn that check from something you have no business of passing into something that you have a solid shot at, and being able to do so on a Fast card means you can do so without worrying about the corresponding provoked attack.

Need to fight? Take the safe shots you can with your weapon, and throw Overpower at whatever fights you need to. Remembering that Directive (Due Diligence) and Daring can both be used afterwards if necessary, letting you dodge the blows you and Guard Dog can't take.

Need to clue? You're unlikely to do all of the gathering in a larger game, but in smaller games, Working a Hunch and Drawn to the Flame can grab all of the clues you need from some locations, while Flashlight and Winging It can handle easier checks. Perception and Burning the Midnight Oil is there if you're trying to boost a later game Fortuitous Discovery, too.

If you're not quite sure what to do and you're not near the card cap, draw. This deck can end up going through cards very quickly if you need to boost something for commits, so having extra cards will usually be a good idea. Don't forget you can spread some of the wealth from Deep Knowledge, or help heal a bit as well using Hallowed Mirror.

Deck Variations

Initial Build

Notable Inclusions

• Fortuitous Discovery - One of the key cards that lead me toward BtB Roland for this. On its own, it's a fast investigate - not great, but solid. However, it also makes for easy discard fodder on the first instance, and a second/third instance of a fast investigate that can discover extra clues... Well, that's a lot more tempting.
• Winging It - The second of the cards that lead me towards using BtB Roland for this. A free pitch that allows for a potential bonus clue? Great!
• Improvised Weapon - Not as important as the above, but still worth consideration. In terms of raw power or consistency, this isn't as powerful, but discard fodder that becomes a fast +1 damage instance is nothing to scoff at, and it can receive support and cycle through with Overpower or Daring.
• Toe to Toe - There aren't actually that many good fight events for Roland, who has 4 and no innate boosts. Sustaining his big fights and Improvised Weapon alone will likely take most of the commits you have. However, Toe to Toe can leverage that 9/8 health pool at Fast, with great consistency.
• Guard Dog - Combines with Toe to Toe as one of the few testless damage options available, and goes well with the fact that you have some horror soak to speak of.
• Act of Desperation, Emergency Cache - Resources tend to be a little tight for this build (though you can always toss or commit high cost cards if need be). However, this better facilitates Stick to the Plan when the time comes, since that is an effect that can add a huge consistency boost the moment you get it.
• Delve Too Deep - Everybody likes bonus XP, right? If someone else can reliably end the game, play the first, then play the second as a Fast action! What could go wrong? (Everything. Everything could go wrong.)

1 XP Substitutions

Some folks might notice that In the Thick of It provides 3 XP, and only 2 XP is used to slot in Versatile for Forced Learning. So, the question remains, what do you want to do with that extra XP? There are numerous good 1 XP options for Roland.

• Sweeping Kick - The fight option. If you're having trouble in combat, Sweeping Kick is your best bet, allowing good damage and evade if appropriate. The main reason this is included in the starting deck is to give a first-change Stick to the Plan options, providing a very flexible and fast card in there from the start.
• Machete/Brand of Cthugha - The consistent fight options. If your group's in heavy need of another combat option, these will be your best bets in getting multiple shots out.
• Stirring Up Trouble - The clue option. If you want more clues, this has you covered - two testless clues as a fast action is a massive boon, and while the curses are inconvenient, the card more than has its place.
• Stargazing - The oddball of note. If you're playing Solo, the consistency of Stargazing is much lower, and that's part of why I didn't include it in the initial package. However, even if you're playing 2P, that means Stargazing has a very solid place in the deck. Under normal circumstances, sacrificing an action and card to preemptively stack the Encounter Deck would be a bit of an ask. However, here, the cost is much lower - there's a very good chance that you're going to have SOME turn where you've got nothing better to do with Directive (Red Tape). In those cases, Stargazing is well worth its weight, using up a resource that you had to spare to save a lot of pain and grant bonuses in the future, through The Stars Are Right.

Other Substitutions

• Cryptic Writings - With Crack the Case. Both cover the same role of resource generation. In the end, this ended up usable enough with Directive (Red Tape), and its flexibility and two end up being more valuable, even knowing Roland won't often get an explicit Fast trigger.
• Survival Knife - With whatever weapon you like. I chose Survival Knife as the best 'remaining' one-handed weapon, though it's worth noting that using it can be difficult.
• Preposterous Sketches - With Glory. Both are conditional effects, but I find Preposterous Sketches to be an easier condition to meet, and Glory's main upside (being fast) being a much smaller selling point here. That being said, Glory's 2 may make it better if you need to do more clue gathering on occasions.
• Working a Hunch/Scene of the Crime: Both of these are very powerful clue effects with higher resource costs. Working a Hunch remains in through the virtue of also being two tokens, and sometimes being a second fast play. Just remember that the "First Action" restriction means there's no speeding it up, so you'll want to be careful about sequencing when using it.

Notable Exclusions

• Practice Makes Perfect/Prepared for the Worst - Don't try to search through a 53-card deck for a handful of cards. It doesn't turn out well.
• Beat Cop/Grete Wagner - These are very powerful effects. However, early on, you're primarily looking at short bursts of combat or guaranteed damage, rather than sustained output. The upgraded versions are worth consideration once things are smoothed out, but the cost is prohibitive early on.
• Coup de Grâce - Having this as a Fast card makes it rather amusing if you're playing in multiplayer. However, its resource cost and its awkwardness in solo make it less ideal in the general case. If you have support in a larger game, it may be worth consideration.

Upgrade Recommendations

It is important to note that since Forced Learning is in play, Roland, in particular, will not be the strongest with single expensive upgrades. Instead, it is better to find many small upgrades which will help round out the consistency of the deck.

Important Cards

• Stick to the Plan - When you're going through a 50-card deck, having access to three pre-determined initial cards is a huge boon, allowing you to easily slot in useful tools for whatever you need. Out of the starting deck, I'd recommend keeping Act of Desperation, Sweeping Kick, and Emergency Cache as a set of options that can grant combat or resources if necessary.
• Beat Cop (2) - Directive (Due Diligence) and its restriction to two fights means that you'll want to squeeze out as much as you can out of other options. Beat Cop 2 is a great effect, adding both innate as well as allowing you to squeeze out one or two more instances of damage.
• 1 XP Options - See the above notes regarding Your Third 1-XP Card. All of these remain valuable options to slot in whenever you have the spare wiggle room.

Secondary Upgrades

• Enchant Weapon - Since you only have two fights to use and one fight may come from an event, the once-per-turn restriction isn't as big of a deal. You can use this to grant some valuable reliability to whichever weapon you choose to use as your primary.
• Enchanted Blade (3G) - Consistency! Damage! Draw! Horror healing! And it's still within your Guardian deck restrictions! What's not to like?
• "I've had worse…" (2) - It may use up one of your two card plays, but it grants valuable resources while also helping to soak some of the damage you're taking.
• Stand Together (3) - If you're playing multiplayer, this has a lot of what you want.
• Preposterous Sketches (2) - It's still fast, and now it's cheaper. Cheaper is important here.
• Charisma: Not quite as important as it is on some builds, but still a great consistency option once you start having enough to pay for multiple allies.

Luxury Upgrades

• Dynamite Blast (2) - Pretend it's Dynamite Blast (3). It's pricey, but if you need more consistent monster combat, this has you covered.
• Grete Wagner (3) - I find the price on Beat Cop (3) makes it a better option early on, but the upgraded version of Grete gives two important stats, and you may have the wiggle room for inclusion after some of the resource management upgrades.
• Sleuth - You have some tactics, and there's a bit of recursion involved, so this isn't the worst pick. It's probably not the best either, though.
• Well Prepared - You might not always find it, but Roland's .38 Special remains ridiculous with Well Prepared, and you can still squeeze out a bit of value from many of your other tools.
• Emergency Cache (2) - A card draw is a card draw.
• Survival Knife (2) - The two-fight restriction can make this more difficult to deal with, but this is a reasonable option for Enchant Weapon, and can be a good backup option for dealing with Hunters, if they are common.
• Timeworn Brand - The only level 5 weapon option you have. If you have the XP and cash, this is great. You just won't always have the XP and cash, making it difficult to swing over the Enchanted Blade (3G)
• Overpower (2) - Definitely a stretch, but an extra symbol and potential extra draw isn't a bad thing. However, you're less likely to be succeeding by the numbers which would enable it.
• Burn After Reading/Flare: Only really worth consideration in desperate circumstances or near the end of the campaign, but these are both powerful exile options with low costs, that are only boosted by a fast action.

Thanks

Thanks for looking through all of this! Thoughts and comments are appreciated! This has taken a couple of attempts and adjustments to reach, but I imagine there's plenty of room for improvement, and a deck like this certainly has enough opportunity to add or adjust some card combos, so I'd be happy to hear about any ways this could be improved!