Agnes Baker
La Cameriera

Investigatore

Stregone.

Mistico
  • 5
  • 2
  • 2
  • 3
Salute: 6. Sanità Mentale: 8.

Dopo che 1 o più orrori sono stati collocati su di te: Infliggi 1 danno a un nemico nel tuo luogo. (Limite di una volta per fase.)

Effetto di : +1 per ogni orrore che possiedi.

"Ricordo un'altra vita, fatta di stregoneria e conquiste."
Magali Villeneuve
Scatola Base #4.

Agnes Baker - Retro

Investigatore

Dimensione del Mazzo: 30 carte.

Opzioni del Mazzo: Carte Mistico () di livello 0-5, carte Sopravvissuto () di livello 0-2, carte neutrali di livello 0-5.

Requisiti del Mazzo (non considerati nella dimensione del mazzo): Cimelio di Hyperborea, Ricordo Oscuro, 1 debolezza base casuale.

Agnes Baker sarà anche soltanto una modesta cameriera in questa vita, ma in una vita precedente, in un tempo e un'epoca mai immaginata nel mondo moderno, era una potente strega. Tutto iniziò quando trovò uno strano artefatto, una sorta di chiave, in una polverosa collezione di cimeli di famiglia in soffitta. Quando la toccò, i ricordi riaffiorarono, assieme a una parola: "Hyperborea". Più scavava nelle visioni e nei ricordi della sua vita passata, più l'intensità dei suoi poteri cresceva... e più tutto questo la spaventava.
Agnes Baker
Agnes Baker
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FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • You cannot use Agnes' ability if you assign horror to an asset.

  • Q: Which triggers first: Parallel Agnes Baker ability or Heirloom of Hyperborea? What about Crystallizer of Dreams? A: An event card is placed on top of its owner’s discard pile during step 4 of the play/initiation sequence, so any effect that modifies where the event goes (such as Parallel Agnes Baker or Crystallizer of Dreams) must occur during that step. An effect that triggers “after you play” an event but does not modify where the event goes (such as Heirloom of Hyberborea’s ability) would naturally trigger just after step 4. - FAQ, v.2.0, August 2022

Last updated

Reviews

Can I play with Agnes?

Give me the sense to wonder

To wonder if she’s free

Give me a sense of wonder

If they’ve picked her before me

Give me the strength to hold my hand out

And pick that youthful face

Don't need xp to unlock this deck

Gonna play through it all

Break me into that bad place

[Chorus]

Can I play with Agnes?

She’d look so cool with a crystal ball

Can I play with Agnes?

Her evasion’s rather small

Can I play with Agnes?

The players looked at me and laughed at me (ha ha) they said:

Can I play with Agnes?

Use blinding light, its fine, you`ll seeee

Woah, they said use blinding light you`ll see

I stared hard at the encounters

I said I'll Scry, I'll see whats below

We can prepare for this mischief

For two cards and the next

Oh then I fixed them with a freezing glance

You could see the fear in their eyes

I said you wanna know the truth son?

Well I’ll show you the truth

Its an agility test needing five or higher

[Chorus]

Listen to me, said the players

[Chorus]

Can I play with Agnes?

StartWithTheName · 63216
Jesus, that is beautiful! — lukas · 14
Can I hit the like button multiple times please? — m3Ss1 · 1
Awesome Iron Maiden reference! — Felagund · 532
Great. Now I gotta record a cover song and blast it everytime somebody pulls out an Agnes deck. — H0tl1ne · 81
Thank you so much for this work of art! Up the Irons. — humbas · 21

Agnes Baker is one of the most powerful investigators out there and here's why:

  • First of all, with her 5 , she can withstand most of the treacheries requiring skill tests the encounter deck throws at her.
  • Her other stats are quite low, but the class has so many ways to hande that, that it is not really relevant in the end.

With the solved, she just needs way to mitigate her 3 other low stats. And ways there are in the class card pool, most of them Spells that can be triggered using her strongest stat .

  • Her 3 is already quite acceptable, considering you won't be using it much, except to sometimes, in an emergency, evade an enemy if you can't currently kill it or blind it.
  • Her 2 may be the most difficult stat to balance, if you're playing solo. If you're playing multiplayer, you probably want to focus Agnes on killing the damn enemies. Back to solo then. Again, cards have so many ways to mitigate that: Drawn to the Flame, Rite of Seeking, maybe use that "Look what I found!", and the neutral cards Flashlight and Perception.
  • Her 2 may be the easiest stat to balance, right off the bat with Shrivelling and later on with Shrivelling (3), Shrivelling (5) and Song of the Dead (2). What's more, all those Spells have a strong synergy with Agnes' ability, dealing even more damage to the enemies you're attacking.

Finally:

  • The ability of Agnes is very reliable, as lot of things can deal damage to Agnes: treacheries, enemy attacks, even her own Spells. She also has access to ways of mitigating the sanity hits: Fearless and Peter Sylvestre.
  • Her modifier is quite good too, for the same exact reason.

With the mulligan rule in this game, grabbing a Spell in your starting hand is not that difficult, and you still have the Arcane Initiate to help you out.

Here is a (solo) sample deck: arkhamdb.com

banania · 392
You mention Peter Sylvestre, but if you're assigning horror to him then you can't use Agnes's reaction. Am I missing something? — micahwedemeyer · 59
I imagine banania means if the Sanity hits start to get out of control. A couple is great, too many will take her out just like any other investigator. — whisp · 1
Yep, exactly — banania · 392
Also, there's no benefit to more than one horror taken per phase, so Peter can take the extra. — Time4Tiddy · 230

Review of parallel Agnes. I played her for 3 scenarios as cluer (our campaign isn't finished) and found her new ability better than i had expected.

Parallel Agnes can be found here. I created alternate weaknesses for all parallel investigator, based on the boss of each adventure which can be found here. Except the weakness for daisy, i haven't playtested them yet so changes are possible.

Stats

Base stats remain the same, but her HP and Sanity have been swapped. High means she excels when using spells and resisting many treacheries but her low other stats mean she can't do anything without spells.

Higher HP allows for more uses of her new ability. When the game was new, needed sanity to endure side effects of Shrivelling. With the addition of new asset spells like Azure Flame or Eye of Chaos that's not necessary anymore.

Ability

Her new abilites read:

  • As an additional cost to play a Spell event, you may take 1 damage. If you do, reduce the cost to play that event by 2, and you may shuffle that event back into your deck instead of discarding it.
  • effect: +1. You may heal 1 damage.

Like her old ability, it is both a blessing and curse because liberal use can kill you (enemy attacks, trecheries, location effects, Azure Flame,...). Her new ability is more flexible and gets better with new spell events. cards tend to be expansive and with limited charges so the first part of her ability really helps going all out on events. Shuffling them back into your deck is also a huge boon, as you might draw it again (i think i used read the signs 4-6 times in one scenario). Though it makes drawing other cards less likely.

As of writing this review, i'm not sure you can use her ability on spells that cost 0 ressources to shuffle them back into your deck. I'm assuming yes.

New is a straight heal, keeping her alive and allowing for more uses of her first ability. If you make liberal use of her first ability like i did, you will need this. Also note that it heals you if the test fails (so combos nice with fail to win stuff).

Deck Building

Similar to parallel Skids. When upgrading spells (not limited to events), you may keep the lower level version in your deck, which does not count against your deck size. For 2 XP each, you can have 20 Ward of Protection so you never need to worry about treacheries anymore (but the horror...).

Spells events of note LV 0:

  • Blinding Light: Evade with and 1 damage. Potentially lose 1 action, which is why i dislike this.
  • Deny Existence: Avoid some nasty effects and damage/ horror. Very scenario dependant.
  • Ethereal Form: Evade with + , very high chance of success and can't be engaged. Recommended.
  • Hypnotic Gaze: Very costly Dodge, may damage enemy. Enemy attacks can be avoided with tactics and effect is not reliable. Not recommended.
  • Moonlight Ritual: Useful in doom based decks. Take 1 damage to shuffle into your deck.
  • Open Gate: Qualifies for your ability, 1 ressources may not be worth 1 damage. Scenario dependant.
  • Read the Signs: Investigate with + , very high chance of success, gain 2 clues and ignore some effects. Recommended.
  • Spectral Razor: Fight with + , very high chance of success, included engage action and 3 damage on non elite. Recommended.
  • Storm of Spirits: Damages all enemies at your location. Recommended for 3-4 players.
  • Tides of Fate: Lots of / tokens. Use only if you need them for other cards.
  • Voice of Ra: Qualifies for your ability, so can be shuffled into your deck. Not recommended unless you need ressources.
  • Ward of Protection: Cancel a treachery that would ruin your day. Qualifies for your ability, so shuffle it into your deck. Recommended.

Agnes looses access to survivor lv 0-2 but gains Spells lv 0-3 and occult 0-3. Note that these spells are not limited to events.

This includes the following cards, at the time of writing of this review:

  • Hallowed Mirror: Your relic slot is heavily contested (Holy Rosary for more ), but bonded Soothing Melodys heal is very helpful. They're also spells for Arcane Initiate and your ability. Pay 1 damage, heal 2 damage and shuffle it back into your deck?
  • Hand of Fate: Very costly Dodge, may add . Not recommended, unless you need for other effects.
  • Blood Eclipse 1, 3: Take damage to deal more. 1 xp version is relatively efficient but i'd not recommend 3 xp version. I'd only take this if you're the groups fighter.
  • Radiant Smite: Combo with Tempt Fate for max damage. Rather unreliable unless Sister Mary is in your group, not recommended.
  • Obfuscation: Spell asset that ignores 3 OAs. Not recommended.
  • Suggestion: Spell asset that evades with + . Use events or some of the with extra effects instead, not recommended.
  • Archaic Glyphs: These require tests, but with her 2 base i wouldn't consider these.
  • Cryptic Grimoire: This card's upgrades have not been released as of writing this review. Tempt Fate and Tides of Fate may help to translate the grimoire.
  • Both versions of Feed the Mind require tests, so you're bound to fail.
  • Occult Lexicon: Hand slot that adds draw/ discard/ damage events.
  • Occult Invocation: Fight and discard cards for more damage. Arcane Initiate should keep your hand full, so recommended.
  • Segment of Onyx: Another contestant for relic slot, so very XP intense (Relic Hunter). Does nothing until you have all 3 parts and needs search effects to work (Backpack). 3 desk slots you lose for spell events. Not recommended.
  • Gaze of Ouraxsh: Testless damage, depending on blurse tokens revealed. Use only if your deck is built around that mechanic.
  • Alter Fate 1/ 3: Discard nastry treacheries. Scenario dependant.

In short, her new deckbuilding offers access to more combat spells and blurse tech. However lv 0-2 gives her access to cheap soaks and fail to win combo, which means card draw. Some of note:

Combos

Django · 4859
I saw someone in real-time use Hypnotic Gaze on a boss enemy and followed up with 4 Eldritch Inspirations to insta-kill it. — toastsushi · 68
Yowch. I think parallel Agnes is good, but that sounds broken. — SGPrometheus · 745
It needs XP and right cards to pull off. Also when using gaze, you need to pull one of the right tokens (or more cards to improve your chances). It also depends on the boss's damage/ horror (on upgarded gaze). It's definately a strong combo, but i don't think it's OP. In comparison, Shotgun can also deal 18 damage in 1 shot wtih 2x upgraded vicious blow and double or nothing. Any rogue with timeworn brand, leo and haste can attack for 10 damage with 5 actions. — Django · 4859
All the examples you have described all require XP as well as the right cards. Also I don't think it's worth considering a card like donut since that pretty much skews all other forms of what constitutes a boss-killer. — toastsushi · 68
Yeah, I'm not sure how many cards it would take for 10 actionless,testless damage to be considered broken. One definitely, but five is a lot of cards. I agree that we can dismiss DoN on the grounds that it's legitimately broken (citation: taboo list), and the rogue example you give takes 3 cards, 7xp, 13 resources, and 5 actions, all of which require tests. Agnes' combo takes 5 cards, 2xp, 3 resources (using her ability to cast Hypnotic Gaze), 1 damage to you, and no actions at all or tests. The hilarious part is, if you don't draw a spooky token on the evade, you just shuffle it back into your library and try again later. — SGPrometheus · 745
It actually costs you 3 xp each for the Ward of Protections. 2xp to upgrade from 0 to 2 and make the level 0 copies not count against card limits and another 1 to replace the level 2 WoP with fresh level 0 versions. Level 0 cards still cost 1xp to add to your deck unless you are filling a gap left behind by Exiled or otherwise permanently removed cards. — Death by Chocolate · 1364
Could you not just go Eldritch Inspiration (0) -> Eldritch Inspiration (1) -> WoP (0) for each WoP you need, for 2xp each? — suika · 9247

Since the reviews of this character were close to the game's release, they don’t mention the absolute perfect partner for Agnes: Carolyn Fern. In a duo that’s closer to a psych study than an adventuring party, the waitress can take horror four times a turn and the therapist can keep up and grow rich. (Every phase? Yes, because of the quick trigger of forbidden knowledge, and the fact you can have two. As well as pain pills. Of course, you won’t have to do this every turn unless you have a truly wretched encounter deck, bonded enemies, and weaknesses that spawn foes.)

If you’re going this route, ancient stones and solemn vows, as well as the big man on campus, allow a tremendous amount of healing. The new book of psalms means you can even fill the bag with beneficial tokens while getting paid.

It’s a breath of fresh air if you’ve ever played Agnes before, being torn between the horror you get from the encounter deck, shriveling, and enemies, and your natural urge to use your power. Send your foes packing as you spin into your delusions of being an ancient witch from an era undreamed of.

(For a really nifty combo, you can use dark horse and the resources Carolyn gives you to play costly cards on your turn, and get plus one versus anything in the encounter deck. It also gives you an outside chance of passing agility checks, which most campaigns have a few of.)

The duo can easily become a trio or quartet, but fill your ranks with saner investigators. You’re going to need a lot of personalized attention, and remember a therapist’s hour only lasts 50 minutes.

MrGoldbee · 1388
I'm running these two right now! My Carolyn deck took a couple scenarios to really get going but has ramped up significantly after stick to the plan and some xp healing items like Ancient Stone. — iguanaDitty · 5
Dont forget you can get two Ancient Stones for the price of 1 on Carolyn with Shrewd Analysis, since she only has one legal upgrade target! — Death by Chocolate · 1364

Just finished the Path to Carcosa campaign. Got a cheeky idea for next run ... play Agnes Baker and "accidentally" speak His name aloud once a phase. Get horror each time → deal damage to an enemy at your location. :D Need to pack some horror heal/soak though :))

TomLady · 10
and carolyn can heal all horror — elkeinkrad · 468
It's also fun if you are running key of us to play it down and then say his name thrice to summon great power — NarkasisBroon · 10
Yeah, I finally got to that resolution in Carcosa as well. (Was always defeated in the Asylum on my previouse runs.) I thought as well, this would be great for Agnes. Calvin could also abuse it. — Susumu · 329
Nothing is quite as fun as swinging a 20 combat Timeworn Brand as Calvin — StyxTBeuford · 12917
We did exactly this on our blind run of Carcosa. We didn’t know about the rule until we got there but... Jim had just met an unexpectedly final end in the preceding mission and our team suddenly had an opening for a new Mystic, so... Hey Agnes, wanna come to France with us? We referred to this strategy as ‘Candlejacking.’ — Death by Chocolate · 1364