Dynamic Duo - Bob and Dexter

Bob Jenkins and Dexter Drake

Dynamic duo!

This deck is part of a dynamic duo series, and is meant to be played together with Dynamic Duos - Dexter Drake. It works just fine when paired with other investigators too, of course, but some cards might be less effective.

Premise

Two asset focused tricksters on the romp! Bob will find clues and help play and pay for Dexter’s items. The free actions items is in turn a huge tempo boost for Dexter. Dexter will in turn take care of most of the monsters and funnel money over to Bob when needed with Faustian Bargain.

Synergy

My version of the Drake is more dependant on items than usual, items often played as an extra action by our dear Bob. Often financed by Bob as well; Schoffner's Catalogue work wonders here. Yes, Drake can play his own items at a discount, but Bob can help him get items into play that Drake then can transform into spells and allies.

Weakness: Not many, really. It's always a bit scary relying on a mystic to do all the fighting. But Dexter with a hammer is a truly a force of nature. Bob is a competent if not stellar clue finder at 0 Xp, but he'll manage and Dexter will help him out with Read the Signs and eventually Divination. And Bob will improve quickly with Xp.

Upgrade path

Adaptable is a good start for any rogue, but espescially for Bob. Then Charon's Obol if you dare. Bob can be frail (with that personal weakness of his and a Willpower of 2) but the extra Xp is extra useful and Dexter will be able to take some hits on Bob's behalf. Then two Lockpicks , because they will allow you to find clues you would otherwise have trouble with. Unbuffed Bob has a + of 7, which is just about enough. 8 with Peter, 9 with Track Shoes.

I feel that Haste is the third most important upgrade for our Bob. Haste will allow you to either (basic) Investigate an extra time per round or (more likely) activate an item an extra time. Old Keyring, Old Keyring Lockpicks , activate Scavenging to pick that keyring back up from the discard pile, then play it as a fast action, move to the next location. Rinse, repeat. Or, you know, just abuse that Lantern.

You can then go to the dark side and buy Drawing Thin via Adaptable. I personally feel that Drawing Thin is overplayed, but it's great for with Bob. He can use Drawing Thin on a Track Shoes test - or one of his extra Haste actions. It's just so darn useful for someone who needs both cards and cash.

From then on, I prefer to go for two copies of Gené Beauregard. Then two Lucky Cigarette Case and then two Backpacks.

Then either Well Connected and resource cards such as Unscrupulous Loan or go straight for expensive items such as The Red Clock and The Black Fan. Or eventually both. I think taking the Well Connected route first is the safer path, giving Bob some way to boost his Willpower when needed. But the The Red Clock is such an amazing card.

Important upgrades, in my order of priority

• 1 Charon's Obol (if you dare)
• 2 Haste (replacing Live and Learn and 1 Shovel)
• 2 Lockpicks (replacing one Live and Learn)
• 2 Gené Beauregard (replacing the Track Shoes (unless you wanna go Drawing Thin. Then replace Scrounge for Supplies and one Peter Sylvestre.)
• Drawing Thin (Again, not the biggest fan but it deserves a mention since Bob is the best user case since Stella. Replace one shovel and one "Look what I found!".
• 2 Lucky Cigarette Case (replacing both Rabbit's Feet)
• 2 Backpacks replacing the old backpacks.

Other upgrades (in any order you’d like)

• Consider a single False Covenant. Dexter and Bob have 6 curse generating cards (possibly more in time) and 2 Xp is a fair price to pay for not have to worry about errant -2 tokens. You might want to skip the Covenant, but it's not a bad option, believe me.
• Unscrupulous Loan My new favorite economy cards for investigators that aim for a resource build. One is enough however. As for other picks, you're spoiled for resources cards. I prefer Another Day, Another Dollar. It's simple, it's a permanent and it combos well with Geared Up (if you went that way). But you have two other great options; Pay Day will combo with both extra actions from Haste and Bob's investigator ability, so you can easily get 5 resources from it. But with Adaptable/Charon's Obol, Short Supply and Geared Up as permanents, you could also buy Cheat the System for a 1 Xp a pop; as a fast version of an Emergency Cache.
• Well Connected is a way to make tests. A mere 12 resources means +4 to one test each. And you can pay to ready it too, so it's a way to spend superfluous cash.
• Charisma if you get an excellent story ally (Dr. Henry Armitage <3) or just feel like having Peter Sylvestre around more. Or Lola Santiago if you wanna go crazy.
• Black Market is an interesting card. I didn't like it at first, but then I realized it's a rougish tutor. Ala No Stone Unturned but more versatile. Use it to find important items, such as Dexter's Cyclopean Hammer . It's also just plain fun card to play, and there might even be a few cases where Bob can borrow a Divination or a Ward of Protection.

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  Tips and advice

  Feel free to skip the In the Thick of It, Versatile, Geared Up combo. I love it, not so much for the unlimited play actions but for the resources saved. Note that you will still have your investigator ability play action, so you can play an item for a friend. I'm not sure if you get the 1 resource discount from Geared Up for that action as well, but I think you do.

Bob's extra action is an action, so playing items will trigger attacks of opportunity. But it will also count as an action for cards such as Pay Day, so it's not all bad.

Also remember that Dexter can help pay for Bobs items too (once a round, when played with Bob's ability, if at the same location). Dexter only needs just enough resources to get by (and he has David Renfield), so having Dexter spend a resource here and there on Bob's items it a neat way to transfer resources from Dexter to Bob too.

About the five level zero rogue cards: I went for "You handle this one!" to redirect evil Willpower tests (such as Frozen in Fear) over to Dexter. The Faustian Bargains are great, but can be replaced with Cheat the System for 2 Xp. You'll lose the ability to directly give resources to Dexter, but that's no biggie, and you can use Adaptable to get new level 0 rogue cards. My last pick is the Pocket Telescope because it works well with Haste and because it can save you quite some time in most campaigns.