The Ghostbusting Bootlegger | HC 7.5k Guide

The Ghostbusting Bootlegger

I'm continuing my series after a long (long) hiatus, with three more decks to post using the Drowned City cards. Here Finn starts ghostbusting with his buddy Alton, reducing shroud by up to -4 to allow for free clues from the ghost hunter and Lola Santiago...

Overview

• Alton O'Connell and Lola Santiago are the key combo here, pairing to Flashlight and tech like Matchbox and Old Keyring to reduce shroud to 0 and get free clues. With two Matchboxes in play you can reduce shroud to -4 with the Flashlight or Keyring, activating Alton and Lola in the window of those tests. Even if you don't get shroud to zero, Alton will accrue evidence from time to time so at a shroud of 1 you can still nab a clue or two combined with Lola.

• Combat is the standard Finn combo, with .25 Automatic •• and Dirty Fighting. Overpower is included to help against bosses where their fight value is high. Use your free evade to blast away enemies - or don't, if you want to conserve ammo.

• Backpack •• finds your shroud reduction assets, Lucky Cigarette Case, Smuggled Goods, as well as your weapons - and so is very useful for engine assembly.

• Bewitching ring fences Dirty Fighting, "I'll take that!" and Easy Mark, thinning your deck and rewarding you for what Finn wants to be doing already - (engaging and) evading enemies.

• Pickpocketing •• and Easy Mark provide both cash and cards, while Lucky Cigarette Case provides cards, and Faustian Bargain plus Bank Job cash. If card draw lets you down and you don't manage to fully assemble your difficulty reduction combo - that's fine! Difficulty reduction is a strong strategy so even a little of it goes a long way.

Campaign starter and planned progression

In the Thick of It makes this a 29 XP deck (taking physical trauma). I had considered Shed a Light on this deck, but to create space for it you'd need to trade out a card that offers a persistent benefit (e.g. Alton O'Connell) so I gave it a miss. I also had Contraband in here for a time, but it was too pricey to be worth it. 0 XP deck is below (and link here).

A recommended order of purchases/upgrades is:

• 1 x Pickpocketing → 1 x Dirty Fighting

• Streetwise

• 1 x Bank Job → 1 x Lola Santiago

• Charisma

• Bewitching (load with Easy Mark, "I'll take that!" and Dirty Fighting)

• 1 x Pickpocketing → 1 x Pickpocketing •• (19 XP here for standalones)

• Backpack → Backpack ••

• .25 Automatic → .25 Automatic ••

• "You handle this one!" → Counterespionage

Final thoughts

I think the core combo here is fun - both Alton O'Connell and Lola Santiago like to get shroud to zero, and they both boost agility, so having them on a Rogue makes a lot of sense. While Jenny could also run the same cards as this deck, Finn has a stronger statline and an arguably better ability. Honestly I'm a huge fan of the usual Finn Dirty Fighting combo, so it's nice to pair this to a new investigation combo which adds value. Enjoy!