Carolyn the Psychonaut: Mind-Transcending Everything Bagel

The Story So Far:

In the famished field that is pre-Horneyian psychoanalysis, Dr. Carolyn Fern has been practicing her own form of hypnotherapy long enough to know the breadth of its potential, as well as its frustrating limitations and downsides. Recent scientific trials exposed the dangers of planting false memories through hypnosis, as well as its inefficacy against an increasingly lengthy list of severe psychoses. Having exhausted modern science in her search for better treatments, and with Europe's universities besieged by the sycophants of a mommy-obsessed Austrian with more pet theories than actual solutions, she turns toward the spiritual, the ancient, the arcane. And so, rather than abandoning hypnotherapy altogether, she adopts a more intense form of it: Psychonautics.

With the aid of powerful hallucinogens, sensory deprivation techniques, and ancient rituals (in this case stolen and compiled from native American and Far East traditions by careless white academics), a psychonaut communes with a willing subject to enter their mind and journey through it, seeing their dreams--and nightmares--made manifest.

Where before Carolyn could only imagine what was happening in the mind of her patients as she entranced them--sitting there with her pen and paper in one hand and hypnotic instruments in the other--now, she could be there, with them.

It was every therapist's dream, to be able to literally delve inside the mind of their patients, see what they see, feel what they feel, walk among their memories like paintings in a gallery, to view the inner workings of the prefrontal cortex from the inside out, and to hunt down the disorders and excise them. Perhaps with this exciting new technique, she thought, I could finally cure these invisible ailments once and for all.

It was every therapist's dream, she thought. But Carolyn Fern knows better than most that dreams and reality never turn out quite the same. She found that some trauma is everlasting, and that some inner demons can never be fully conquered--and a few, for lack of a more scientific term, truly were demonic.

Worse, she learned that occupying another's mind for an extended period of time comes with lasting consequences. The more she delved, the more she brought back with her. First there were the memories that weren't her own--little things at first, like the names and faces of loved ones she had never met. Then bigger things, like suddenly recalling passages in books she had never read, and places she had never been, in vivid detail. And soon after, multiple personalities, all with their own life stories and defects, started to conflict with her own. Through willpower and constant focus, Carolyn has been able to keep these mental passengers at bay, but it is a constant strain on her mind. After a particularly disturbing and disastrous session, where the patient was left in a vegetative state and she barely came back up with her own mind intact, Dr. Fern has taken an indefinite sabbatical. Although she survived, she fears that this time she brought back something darker, wholly inhuman, something from a true nightmare.

Returning to the ancient texts and stone rubbings she studied to learn her new techniques, she saw the warnings she had so arrogantly ignored before, of what happens to the mind of one who meddles too much in the minds of others. She was past the point of no return, but not all hope was lost--she learned that with discipline and practice, she could call on some of that which she had brought back with her in helpful ways. Her patients had come from all walks of life--disturbed artists, globetrotting scholars, violent criminals, and even members of a local secret society that was rumored to be practicing witchcraft. To her astonishment, she found that she could now knock men out cold that are twice her weight or more, notice details invisible to the untrained eye, navigate streets and wilderness anywhere she went without seeing a map, and even commune with the earth to protect and heal herself and others.

Moreover, with so many new perspectives in her head, she began to see the world around her that much closer to what it truly was. It was clear to her now that humans are an intrepid blip in the cosmos, that not all places and beings are bound to the same physical laws, and that forces beyond our comprehension, driven by motives too alien to fathom, often threaten the domain of humankind. Persevering as she did before to use her knowledge and talents to help and protect others, she has sworn to fight back this darkness wherever it shows itself. But for how much longer can she go on fighting battles against the unknown, both in the world and within her own mind?

I'm excited to present this deck which has been sitting in my private list for a while, ever since Edge of the Earth came out. It was just waiting to be played, which is why you aren't seeing any TSK cards. I do think Carolyn has quite a few fun toys from TSK that I'm excited to try (Power Word seems incredible for her), but as I finally had a chance to play this deck to see if it was any good, I didn't want to try to change it.

This deck is designed ideally for a 4 player campaign on Standard difficulty or lower. While the focus of the deck is making all these fun synergy tricks work, fundamentally it's a secondary clue-gatherer with limited combat capability and loads of heal support. If you'd like to tweak it a bit to be more combat-oriented, I've included some suggested substitutions later on.

My main inspirations here are:

• The usability of the Synergy suite in Carolyn. Her deckbuilding makes her one of a very small number of investigators who can really hit the ground running with this archetype, and she has access to some of the best Synergy cards. Everything else about the deck is kind of built around that, getting it online and making it work, with some other solid combos on the side.
• Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Just an incredible film with a very bold sci-fi premise, which, with some tweaking to meet Carolyn's backstory halfway, kind of led to this thematic concept of an unlikely nerd hero who can call on these alternate memories to do things that would normally take lifetimes of practice and dedication.

Permanents:

• In the Thick of It (2 mental trauma): There's still a lot of debate around this card, but it can't be denied that for Carolyn at least it's very serviceable. This gives her not just starting XP but starting mental trauma, which she can readily heal and turn into resources without much effort. Spend the 3 XP on two copies of Ancient Stone and one copy of Earthly Serenity.
• Shrewd Analysis: With no downsides other than the limited deck slot it takes up (which isn't a problem for this deck), we're taking this for two reasons: 1) it gives Carolyn the icon that she needs for Synergy, and 2) though this is old news to some, there is a hack for Carolyn where using this always gives her a guaranteed free second copy of Ancient Stone (Minds in Harmony), since it's the only upgrade she's eligible to take (it also happens to be one of the best horror healing cards in the game).
• Arcane Research: And here she can get another mental trauma and a icon, leaving only two class icons she needs to fully power up her Synergy cards. Carolyn's targets for the discount are Earthly Serenity and Deny Existence. You don't really need a second copy here; 3 starting mental trauma is about as far as you can safely push it, you only need the class icon once, and you only have 4 spells for the discount.

Level 0 Card Choices:

• 2x Ancient Stone: See Shrewd Analysis above.
• 1x Magnifying Glass: Still one of the single best cards for passing investigate tests. When your Ancient Stone runs out, it's good to have one of these on hand to make use of the free slot.
• 2x Pocket Telescope: One of my basic philosophies when tuning this deck was to have at least 4 cards each with and class icons, but which would also hopefully at least be useful in their own right. This is not only great for avoiding face-checking on a blind run of a scenario, but also saves actions, AND it works with Magnifying Glass.
• 1x Earthly Serenity: Providing that essential icon and being one of only a few Spells Carolyn can upgrade, this has proven to be very strong for general healing (especially when upgraded), and can be activated in a pinch with Close the Circle as the situation demands.
• 2x St. Hubert's Key: Just a very strong card for Carolyn that provides a static boost to her two most used stats, and doesn't take up a limited slot thanks to its "heal horror" effect.
• 2x Peter Sylvestre: Not breaking any new ground here, Peter is just a solid include for any Carolyn deck, providing great drip economy and a nice static boost, and here providing another icon.
• 2x Liquid Courage: Mainly here to provide 2 more icons, but it's also not bad for horror healing in a pinch, especially early on before you get your stronger cards.
• 1x Painkillers: This is mostly a placeholder for your second copy of Earthly Serenity, but it's also a decent enough card for safeguarding your low health, especially with Peter out to take the horror for you.
• 2x Deny Existence: Everyone with ought to have some type of encounter card mitigation. As Carolyn can upgrade this one, it's an easy pickup.
• 2x Shortcut: A stand-in for Join the Caravan, but universally useful.
• 1x Stand Together: Although Carolyn has great economy through healing horror, she sometimes needs a little help getting off the ground. This does that, while also cementing her role as a support.
• 2x Toe to Toe: A stand-in for Gang Up but once again a pretty strong card, especially for Carolyn's low , allowing her to deal with squishier enemies without too much hassle.
• 2x Enraptured: Allows you to replenish charges/secrets on Ancient Stone, Close the Circle, and Earthly Serenity while investigating. Close the Circle is the primary target here, that's generally where you'll get the most value.
• 2x Guts: Especially after getting Close the Circle, you'll be making a lot of tests.
• 2x Perception: This gets phased out as you upgrade your deck and isn't quite as necessary between a high base and boosts, but it's still a good include early on to make sure you're passing essential investigate tests.
• 2x Steadfast: Carolyn is good at staying healthy, and this provides more as well as for situations where she might need it. This one is a keeper, as Gang Up does not work with Close the Circle and even with its full bonus might appreciate a boost.
• 2x Unexpected Courage: Useful in every deck, here as a stand-in for Close the Circle, when you'll be able to filter more tested actions into .

Upgrade Map:
As presented here, after all discounts, the deck takes 37 XP to fully upgrade, which is pretty achievable by or before the end of most campaigns. These are listed loosely by priority. Don't sweat the order here, upgrade what you feel you might need first, and also don't worry about hitting your / splash limit as that's impossible with these card choices (you might hit 15 if you upgrade Close the Circle early, but it never goes above that).

• 2x Ancient Stone -> 2x Ancient Stone. Make it a priority to identify the stone during the first scenario. Don't feel the need to test against a massive shroud; using the on a 2 shroud location gives you 5 secrets, which is still really good value. And remember, Shrewd Analysis makes upgrading the second copy free, so this is only a 3 XP upgrade.
• 2x Peter Sylvestre -> 2x Peter Sylvestre. Between Earthly Serenity and Close the Circle, you're going to be making a lot of tests, so it pays to upgrade Peter early.
• Painkillers -> Earthly Serenity. Painkillers is really just a substitute here for damage healing, until you can buy your 4th target for Arcane Research.
• 2x Earthly Serenity -> 2x Earthly Serenity. Remember to upgrade these one at a time between scenarios so you can get the full discount from Arcane Research.
• 2x Deny Existence -> 2x Deny Existence. Same as above.
• 2x Unexpected Courage -> 2x Close the Circle
• 2x Perception -> 2x Call for Backup
• 2x Shortcut -> 2x Join the Caravan
• 2x Toe to Toe -> 2x Gang Up
• Keen Eye. You may often find yourself with excess resources, and with a lot of skill cards getting replaced, boosting can go pretty far.
• Stand Together -> Stand Together. This should make up a bit for the loss of card draw from trading out Perception.
• Magnifying Glass -> Magnifying Glass. It's mostly an afterthought, but the withdraw ability gives you more flexibility with your hand slots without sacrificing your clue gathering power.
• (Feel free to upgrade to Liquid Courage as well if you feel the need. If nothing else it's another commit.)

Strategy:
Outside of upgrades and specific uses of cards I mentioned above, there aren't really any tricks to playing this deck; set your assets up early, make sure you have all five class icons on the board, and just investigate, heal, and respond to unexpected situations as your hand allows.

Combat Variant:
If you think you'll be getting into more than your fair share of tussles, you might consider the following substitutions. Just understand that while it's viable (in lower difficulties at least), you'll be going against Carolyn's natural strengths, and slightly sacrificing some consistency in getting Synergy fully powered up.

• 2x Peter Sylvestre -> 2x Lonnie Ritter
• 2x Pocket Telescope -> 2x Meat Cleaver
• 2x St. Hubert's Key -> 2x Heavy Furs
• 1x Liquid Courage -> 1x Hallowed Mirror

This is closer (though not exact; I cut both copies of Liquid Courage to keep St. Hubert's Key) to what I played in an Easy difficulty Carcosa campaign where we needed a little more enemy management, and while it was fun and worked okay I believe the deck is much stronger and more cohesive if it's built for investigation, and these subs probably wouldn't be as viable at higher difficulties.

This is my first deck that I felt was unique and fun (and perhaps strong?) enough to be worthy of publishing, so I hope anyone out there wanting to give this a shot has fun with it, let me know your experiences in the comments, what you feel worked and didn't work. And whatever you do, always pay your taxes!