Jack and his Doggies

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
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qualis · 49

After I got the Edge of the Earth investigator expansion a while back, I quickly caught on the nice combination of using dogs to move multiple locations in a single action, and have that trigger Jack's ability. Him slowly turning into a led me down the clue finder path.

I've tuned this deck based on running it through Edge of the Earth as main clue finder in a 3 player game, and co-clue finder with Bob Jenkins in the fan made Call of the Plaguebearer campaign. In both instances, he did very well. He moves around a lot, picks up clues, is rarely starved for cards and usually has a reasonable amount of cash at hand.

My card pool at the time of writing Core Set, Dunwich, Carcosa and EotE so that's the collection this deck is built on. If you have cards you think fits better in your selection, go for it!

How it works

TLDR; Move, pick up clues, gain benefits. Occasionally dodge or fight to get out of trouble.

Sled Dog - these are simply amazing.. Already at 0 xp, you can have two of these which lets you move twice for a single action, maxing out Jack's ability. They also take 2 mental or physical damage to kill, which makes the great for soaking damage without being discarded. As we're a Lone Wolf, we need to be able to tackle things on our own. Finally, once you've got Charisma and move towards the end of the game and managed to have 3 or 4 of these out, you have a pretty hard-hitting punch awaiting the end-boss. You got all the clues, then you came in and slew the tentacle beast at the end. Who doesn't want to be a hero, hm?

Magnifying Glass - investigator staple, nuff said.

Flashlight - improves cluefinding without eating a card slot.

Lone Wolf - as he'll be moving around a lot, chances are he's in uncharted territory, alone, so why not reap the benefits.

Fieldwork - as he's constantly moving around, we can usually boost skill checks on the new location. Primarily aiding in clue finding, but can apply to any check.

Archive of Conduits - this is a bit of a wildcard. Being a singleton, chances are you won't draw it every game, so you might not solve it until later in the campaign. The investigate upgrade nets you 4x teleport + investigate actions though, so it is a great card once you have it. If all else fails, it is a decent skill card with , or later on.

Quick Thinking - we're a bit low on clue acceleration, so this is one way to get two clues in one action. Overcommit to the first investigate and take another investigate action unless you fail. The card is flexible and has other uses of course, but this was the main idea.

Double or Nothing - clue acceleration, or whatever else need doubling. It truly is a wonderful card. (note, this card is taboo, but my playgroup plays with the printed text on all cards and ignores the taboo-list)

Backstab - this is just a great card to fall back upon if in need. If all goes well, it doesn't see play.

Scout Ahead - movement, movement, movement. Good for when you need to get somewhere far away and still need the dogs to fight.

Think on Your Feet - a bit neat to dodge an enemy and then move right away as that move during the mythos phase still counts towards your ability at the end of your turn.

Narrow Escape - mostly a filler card, but a decent enough rouge thing to start out with.

Trusty Bullwhip - this is a pretty decent weapon, but I've found that I rarely actually end up using it. It will depend on scenario and playgroup though, so decide there and then.

Guts, Perception and Unexpected Courage - speak for themselves.

Starting out, the deck is tiny bit slow at gathering clues. Jack's intellect, at 4 , is ok, but he needs a bit of help to pick up stuff, hence the assortment of assets. This improves as he levels though.

Upgrade path

5 xp

You have got to keep moving, so the very first thing we need to buy is Pathfinder. With two of those in play, Jack can get the full trigger on his ability every turn. Secondly, we'll want to fit more dogs, as this is another way to help us move around.

9 xp (total: 14 xp)

If he's going to be the main clue finder, he'll have to be able to tackle shrouds of 5 and 6 more consistently. Higher Education is a great card to beef and assuming Jack's been moving, he'll have money to spare. Scientific Theory is also a great card, boosting and as a fallback resource sink if we fail to have 5 cards in hand to feed Higher Education. Scientific Theory is also fast and costs 0, so it can be dropped into your play area without any cost. An easy boost.

6 xp (total: 20xp)

We're now good at finding clues, so we need to find more clues faster. Eon Chart gives us 3 investigates over three turns for 2 resources. As its ability is , we can activate it right away, effectively giving us 2 free investigates for 2 resources. Deduction is just a great card to get more clues.

6 xp (total: 26xp)

These are just good upgrades, buy them whenever you feel like it. They're listed here because at this point in the progression, most weaknesses are shored up pretty good.

10 xp (total: 36xp)

This is where the ultimate power play comes in. You move around the board and open up 6-8 locations, then need 4 to solve the Act. Perform a free move with Pathfinder, tap Fieldwork for +2 , spend enough resources into Higher Education, commit Double or Nothing and grab 12-16 clues in one go, while also clearing all those pesky Victory 1 locations.

Ok, this doesn't happen all that often, but when it does, it is pretty cool...

6 xp (total: 42xp)

If there's xp to spend, lets improve our charts so we can move and/or investigate even more.

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