The Agnes Baker, The Garbage Witch Cult Leader

This deck is for a 3 player Carcosa campaign with cards including the Carcosa series and everything before (including Return to the Night of the Zealot and Return to the Dunwich Legacy).

Agnes is a waitress with poor financial skills (Indebted) who needs to save the world. Time build a personal cult of doomed followers! Where will an Indebted Cult Leader get supplies? The garbage, of course!

This deck leans really hard into Agnes' special ability. The main purpose of this deck is to have actions available all the time to dish out free damage.

Obvious cards: Rite of Seeking - Agnes can't investigate otherwise

Shrivelling - Agnes can't fight otherwise

Ward of Protection - Best level 0 card in the game? What's better?

Other Assets: Holy Rosary - Boosts and horror sink. Just one copy as it is a nice to have. Can be Scavenged

Leather Coat - Damage sink that can be Scavenged

Arcane Initiate - Card draw, and 1/2 soak for 1 resource. May fall prey to Forbidden Knowledge, carcinogens, or opiates. 2 copies since Agnes can't really fight or investigate until Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking (respectively) are in play.

David Renfield - Doomed patron of our little cult. Might be saved. 2 copies so I can afford Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking as soon as possible.

Our cult is not too proud to Scavenge for supplies in preparation for the apocalypse. Only one copy as we don't need to see it early.

Forbidden Knowledge, Painkillers and Smoking Pipe do a lot of work in this deck. They trigger the Agnes' ability, and control allies when they get unruly. And they do it as actions which is great. 2 copies of each.

Logistics are key for any good cult leader. Astral Travel is a good card on it's own but in this deck, the downside is an upside. By being forced to discard an item, I can discard Painkillers and Smoking Pipe, which otherwise are stuck in play. Once I get Grotesque Statues, I'll actually be selecting for , , , and so I can recycle my drugs and tobacco. 2 copies as big move and discarding a spent Painkillers, Smoking Pipe or doomed ally is never a bad thing.

Cults need secrets to share with their followers that is why Agnes may Delve Too Deep. 2 copies for the first 2 scenarios to speed up the EXP ramp.

As a true prophet of a cult, Agnes learns mysterious truths when she is Drawn to the Flame. 2 copies as some scenarios are require rushing for clues and I don't want Agnes to be an anchor in those scenarios if you don't find Rite of Seeking.

All cults worth their salt have Emergency Caches. 2 copies because cards without money is a very sad place to be.

Sometimes we can save our cult followers with a Moonlight Ritual. 1 copy as it is just a nice to have spell.

By Uncaging our Soul, even a Indebted waitress like Agnes can gain tremendous powers. 2 copies as we want to make sure we get Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking up as soon as possible and it still has utility in the late game with Astral Travel.

Here is the upgrade path as I see it: Charisma > Maybe 2x down the road. My cultists provide money and cards so having more of them out at once is a priority.

Delve Too Deep > Peter Sylvestre: Helps with and while being a fantastic horror (damage with Painkillers sink. 4 agility is a decent evade value when the need arises. Peter Sylvestre is not in the starter deck as I wanted to get some extra XP with Delve Too Deep and ally slots are really tight until Agnes grows her Charisma.

Delve Too Deep > Grotesque Statue - Prevent bad interactions with powerful spells and trigger bad interactions with Astral Travel.

Better versions of Rite of Seeking, Shrivelling, Emergency Cache, Arcane Initiate, and Ward of Protection as experience allows. Rite of Seeking would be the priority, as Agnes can deal damage with her ability but can't investigate without Rite of Seeking.

Other cards that might make sense: Calling in Favors, A Chance Encounter (especially with Arcane Initiate), Bind Monster, Blinding Light, Recharge

Mulligan hard for Rite of Seeking, Shrivelling, and the cards that let you find/pay for Rite of Seeking and Shrivelling, which are Arcane Initiate, David Renfield, Forbidden Knowledge, Emergency Cache, and Uncage the Soul