Jeremiah Kirby

Firstly, I assume the FAQ will state that - is neither even nor odd, nor are uncosted weaknesses.

It is also important to remember 0 is an even number for lots of reasons and if it isn't in your local reality I am sorry and you contact your local Old One to offer your service to them, because the structure of the universe has already broken down to the point math is starting to fail. This can have big ramifications that push you towards 'even' due to cards like emergency cache and just because there are a LOT of 0 cost events, which is nice for synergizing with card draw.

Jeremiah is very interesting because he encourages you to play a deck that leans towards evens or odds. If you play him in a deck that is split right down the middle between your desired result of evens or odds, vs odds or evens depending on what you picked as well as all your skills and uncosted weaknesses, you are going to expect an average result of 3, rather than the 2.5 you might expect, due to the fact 0 is a possibility here and thus we are dealing with a range of 6 results rather than 5. However, how extreme the results can swing vary with how depleted your deck is. If your deck is split after mulligain and you play him turn 1, you have a 15% chance to get 4 cards or 1 card, and a 2% chance to get 0 or 5, and a 33% chance to get 3.

However, if it has been a few turns and you have drawn a couple cards and somehow managed to stay perfectly even (which is unlikely, but your deck will try to 'push' towards an even distribution because of hypogeometric probability: Your more likely to draw cards that are over-represented which means they get less over-represented) and you are down to 18 cards with 9 skills, undesired results, or weaknesses vs 9 of your desired 'hits,' you will find that you only have a 1.5% chance of the super extreme 0 and 5 results, a 35% chance to get 3 cards, and a 35% chance to get 2 and 4! This is because of that aforementioned hypogeometric probability kicking in 'harder:' if you drew 3 'hits' already, there are 3 hits already gone and now its really 6 'good' cards vs 9 'bad' ones.

So, on average this is proooobably drawing you 3, and it gets less stable as time goes on. But a 4 cost ally with poor soak potential (especially if they are your main lore buff!) who is netting you +1 investigate is merely sufficient. Our good old buglover probably still is beating out Kirby at that expected result: Seeker has a lot of good draw already, which can be used to assist allies after your set up, and while resources are generally less valuable seeker has a lot of expensive effects that can benefit from an extra cash a turn if your constantly investigating. If your going more testless seeker then draw helps more but the lore doesn't. He is a great stepping stone to other cards, but doesn't shine at those results. You could use charisma to run both, which I find questionable because seeker doesn't need THAT much help with lore tests and they do have some other great options for boosting them, but we can loop back around to that in a hot second.

But what if we slanted our deck towards even or odds? Lets say we make our deck almost entirely evens or odds cost cards, so that after our opening draw we have 20. How good is he then? We now get 4 cards around 40% of the time if we open with Kirby, 3 cards 30% of the time, 5 cards 15% of the time, 2 cards 10% of the time, 1 card 1% of the time, and 0 cards essentially never, with that result occurring less than 1 in 1000 times. This isn't a big gain in our expected upper limit (you should still probably plan for 3 most of the time), but you will 'brick' less often and draw 2 or fewer way less, making a more consistent rollout, and you probably care way more about NOT drawing 0, 1, or ideally 2, than you do about getting lucky and drawing 4 or 5, so it isn't too terrible that this mostly mitigates the disaster scenario and ensure you have some stuff to commit to tests or get you out of a pinch, rather than pushes the upper boundary of excess cards you might not need.

Is this worth it? Well Seeker has a LOT of really good even cost cards, so I would not be shocked to see an evens seeker: Glyphs and its upgrades, upgraded magnifying glass, Dream Diary,, book of old lore, encyclopedia,, occult lexicon AND the blood rites it adds to your deck, shortcut the list goes on and on. There are some power players in the odds slots, for example Necronomicon comes to mind, but its not too critical to avoid getting ANY odds, just not too many, so if you want the odd strange solution it isn't the end of the world.

Oh, and also, he apparently is good pals with a certain bug doctor which means he can self accelerate you into getting two ally slot lore boosts, which combined with some of the rest of this package may result in a neat "Clue Shotgun Daisy" build where you stack as many bonuses as you can to fire off guiding stones.

The big draw for odds I think would be that Kirby can help you snag up some segments of onyx, which is a big concern for any seeker and a huge reason to run card draw and deck search. Overall though, the odds slot seems a bit of a weaker pick for him (Which is why I think he was made an even card himself!), because while there are a LOT of good odds cost cards, they are often more utility based than deck defining and its harder to really stuff em in there. The lack of 3 cost events and the fact that most of the 1 cost events are more situational really hurts aligning towards that, and honestly it isn't too anti-synergistic with onyx because drawing cards still helps your future searches for onyx, especially if those drawn cards further accelerate you through your deck. Of course, this could all shift on a dime depending on your off class, and I am sure someome smarter than me will make a really great 'odds' deck down the line.

Finally, there is the third, secret, 'get thrown out of the O'Banon Casino for counting cards' deck strategy of just remembering what is in your deck, figuring out what you need and what you are likely to get, and deciding on the fly, which makes this a triple threat of a card: It is fine if you just play it and kinda forget about it as long as you have a good grasp on your deck's current state, it could be a fun deckbuilding challenge that forces you to try to 'figure out odd mystic' or figure out how many fast effects or good commit symbols you could stack in a certain cost bracket, or it could be an in game skill testing card where you need to weigh maximum card draw vs trying to 'target' cards you need!

As such, while he may not be razzle dazzle, Kirby is a worthy inclusion into the Arkham Card Game, simply because he is likely going to be REALLY fun to toy around with for a LOT of nerds like me who really like to bust out the abacus. He has a lot of depth that is hard to touch upon in this one review, like his synergy with fast actions or other ways to dump your hand out faster, or how he interacts with every other class, or how he changes the value of certain upgrades and will now make the difference between 0 and 1 cost waaaaay bigger for some characters, or how you might use this as a pseudo tutor by trying to make sure at the very least all of your 'deal with X situation' cards are even or odd together so you can always panic draw for them, or how a lot of staple seeker combat tools are odd cards and thus this encourages seekers to be more helpless.

A++ design, if nothing else, for just the sheer puzzle that was placed into every seeker's lap. And good seekers LOVE puzzles.

dezzmont · 222
Greed

I was scared of this weakness at first, but it's actually not that bad. It's mid- to low tier, albeit a bit more dangerous in the more horror heavy campaigns such as Innsmouth Conspiracy.

First, try to avoid being reduced to 0 resources during your turn: [...] Upkeep phase: 4.4 each investigator draws 1 card. Once those cards have been drawn, each investigator gains 1 resource. So staying at even 1 resource turns this card into, well, an unlucky Rotting Remains. Our Bob wont like it, but he does start with 8 Sanity so he can take bit of mental anguish over his finances.

Now, a personal weakness like this kinda forces your hand abit when it comes to deckbuilding, because you can never afford to go too low on Sanity. You could include an Cherished Keepsake but Bob really like the card draw from either Lucky Cigarette Case or intially Rabbit's Foot. You might want to invest in Relic Hunter early, or you could go for Peter Sylvestre as your first ally. He'll keep you sane enough to handle Greed when it hits (as well as boost your mediocre Agility score).

Eventually upgrading the deck into a big money-Bob deck will neuter the weakness completely. So that's certainly an option, and it feels like that's what Bob himself would have wanted. But there's lots of ways to soak Horror in this game; you just need to plan ahead a bit.

Last, Greed reminds me of Harvey Walters' Thrice-Damned Curiosity. Harvey's curiosity punishes him for having lots of cards on hand. Bob's greed punishes him for spending all his cash on items. And both feel a bit contrary to the character designs.

olahren · 3586
Agree all around, and interesting how Harvey's weakness is so much worse than this. Harvey's weakness is basically "The better you play, the harder you'll fall", full stop- holding back on card draw protects him, but also doesn't advance his position. Whereas with big-money Bob, saving a little money both protects from the weakness AND advances his position. Even their desired permanents- Studious for Harvey, Another Day Another Dollar for Bob- will increase & decrease their liability, respectively. — HanoverFist · 756
Why this card has three different amounts listed? It's just clear that when there is 10 and less resources you take 1 additional horror. Why to list 5 and 0? — Kuciapka · 1
You have to take +1 horror for EVERY condition that's true, which is what makes it threatening- the less money Bob has, the more horror he takes. (e.g. If Bob has 12 resources, none of the last three lines activate, and he takes only 1 horror. If Bob has 4 resources, then the 1st and 2nd conditions- LessThan10 and LessThan5- are both true, so Bob takes 1 +1 +1 = 3 horror.) — HanoverFist · 756
Think on Your Feet

A card that's largely been decent but fairly niche up to now, but I think with the release of Edge of the Earth, this may have found a character who considers it very strongly. Monterey Jack's ability draws him a card right at the end of any turn he wishes to use it - which, if playing solo or just taking your turn last, is a bit of an issue for weaknesses like Mob Enforcer or Stubborn Detective which will both immediately hit you for a damage and stick a tough enemy on you, Your Worst Nightmare, which will then immediately hit you for two horror in the enemy phase (though thankfully can't be drawn in solo), or worst of all Silver Twilight Acolyte, which will hit you and immediately place a doom on the agenda. But holding this in hand, you can just completely negate this aspect of threat from them, meaning there's little need to play around having Monty go first, or stick near to the fighters just in case he drew one of his worse weaknesses.

And what happens if you don't draw one of those weaknesses? Well, it's still a strong enough card. His ability checks where you were at the start of the round, rather than your turn, so it effectively just shunts you away from a monster and pays for itself (or gets you a draw). And if the monster spawned is a hunter, you can then just move during your turn and get a resource and a draw. You might not carry it through too much of the campaign, as it still generally loses out to more consistent movement tech from seeker, but it's still very much worth including at deck creation.

SSW · 217
Unearth the Ancients

Unearth the Ancients (0) was one of those cards that everyone wanted to try out when it was released in Forgotten Age. Some players here thought it was decent, others thought the card sucked and heated argumentes followed. Three years later, Unearth the Ancient (0) is practically never played, apart from the odd Ursula deck as her free, once-per-round investigation action makes it... less bad.

But now we have an upgraded level 2 version! The difference between the level 0 version and this is ...drumroll... you can now put TWO items into play rather than just one! The skill test is the combined cost of both. Plus, it's free to play now at 0 resources and yeah, they added a single icon and you'll get a clue now if you suceed at the test.

But is it worth it? I don't think so. Yes, the payoff can be great, but there's quite a few pieces you need to line up here. First you need to have the card in hand, along with TWO assets, hopefully relics, that you want to get into play. That's three cards. It should ideally be early-to-mid part of the scenario too, because that's when you usually need to play assets. And the assets really can't be too expensive because you need to be able to pass that skill test. The card gets less reliable on harder difficulties and in scenarios with evil special tokens.

And remember that the intial payoff is resources saved. You spend one card and one action, the reward is two assets put into play for free. Seekers have plenty of good economy cards, such as Crack the Case, so these are the cards we need to compare Unearth the Ancients (2) to. The exception is if the assets are relics, since card draw is always good.

TL;DR: This card is often bad, unless you can count on passing the test and you have a clue you want to find and and at least one of the cards put into play are a relic. Then it's good. It's just that you need a rather specific type of deck and quite a bit of luck to get there. Me, I would rather spend those 4 experience points on something less risky and more generally helpful.

olahren · 3586
Notably you get a clue if you succeed with the leveled version. I don't think you need both the cards to be relics either, spending one action to get a clue and place two assets for free is incredibly efficient. — Vultureneck · 74
"up to 2" assets, you can pick 1, and its unclear if you can pick 0 assets to set the shroud to 0. — Zerogrim · 296
As I know, you can pick 1, but not 0 as in third bullet of target rule. However, you may set 0 test by Choosing 1 level Magnifying Glass if necessary. — elkeinkrad · 498
Target rule does not apply here. Playing the event still changes the game state by triggering an investigate, even if it would be a normal investigate at DC 0. — suika · 9507
Quite sure that you can pick 0 assets by this card, the word "up to 2" clear that. — doldol161 · 53
For one card you 1) get a clue; 2&3) put 2 assets in play; 4&5) draw 2 cards; 6,7,8,9,10...) save (so gain) that many resources. You play one card that gives you 6 to 8 actions at once, I don't think that can be bad. Sure it requires some buildaround but if you're playing relics it's a no brainer. Even putting a single relic in play is going to be worth 4-6 actions. — Oriflam · 207
Comparing the card to 'crack the case' is bs. Crack the case is a really good card i'd gladly pay an xp for, and there aren't many other resource cards out there if you're not the discover or hand size seeker, so this makes perfect sense in an asset focussed deck as a very much needed 3rd and 4rth crack the case — steventjes · 1
Join the Caravan

I think this card is strong, and going to be pretty popular (as long as you're playing anything more than a monoseeker deck).

While Seekers do get a number of cards that let them be nippy - Shortcut, Pathfinder, this card has three things that make it worth the cost.

  • Firstly, it's a fast. This is great for both action efficiency and as a panic button (cause it doesn't provoke AoO).

  • Second, it's move to any revealed location. This is obviously why it has a chunky cost, but by hokey I think it's worth it.

  • Third, the cost itself. The XP cost is real low at 1, so it's not a hard card to slice in, and any investigator that can splash low-level seeker can take it (Poor Norman Withers, he's just not that nimble). And the resource cost is almost...a trick? It's real unlikely to cost you 5 because you're damn sure to have at least 1 Seeker card out - the only exception might be very near the start of the game, in which case you're also not likely to have explored many locations so the card isn't real useful. So, a realistic cost of 4. And with the Edge Of The Earth's cardbase encouraging multiclass card splashing with the synergy keyword and a new host of multiclass cards - on top the existing fact that of a lot of decks already have two class cards in. So outside of EotE a likely cost of 3, and in EotE (especially if Bob Jenkins is around) possibly even 2 or 1.

I'll mention that it has a single intellect and agility icon, which is something I guess if you really need them. But you'd never want to throw this into a skill test.

In conclusion, 1xp and 3ish resources for an instant "get me anywhere" card feels like a solid and powerful card. It's not cheap, and you might only pack a single copy. But. It lets you to flash to support any other player, to flash to any player to get support, or the safety to stay in a location to get that final clue. The list goes on. In short, it gives you a lot of options to capitalise on, and big ol' safety net to boot.

knockthrice · 57
It gets even better for Joe. With the insight trait you can play it fast often for only 1 ressource — Tharzax · 1
"the only exception might be very near the start of the game" You mean, if you are Lola, and did not take "Shrewd Analysis"? All other investigator control at least one class card: their Investigator card. — Susumu · 382
According to https://arkhamdb.com/rules#Ownership_and_Control you control all the cards in your hand, deck and discard pile. — david6680 · 66
Yes, David. But also, see RR on Ability: "Card abilities only interact with other cards that are in play, unless the ability specifically references an interaction with cards in an out-of-play area." That's why control of cards in out-of-play Areas does not "synergize" with this card. — Susumu · 382
I like all the synergy cards to play with the Dunwich investigators and the new level 0 permanents. In Rex Murphy I had three different permanents out, so never paid more than 2. With things like Eon Chart, Ice Pick, Professor William Webb or Crafty I even got down to pay it for free. — Miroque · 25
Luke can use it to exit his weakness. — MrGoldbee · 1494