One in the Chamber

Disclaimer: Pre-Scarlet Keys release review.

This is quite a niche card. For it to work, you need a Firearm, of course, but also to be spending your latest Ammo, while still having at least one fight action to take.

That being said, I believe that we can all agree on the fact that Vicious Blow is a must-have lvl 0 card for any main fighter Deck that has access to it. So if you pack at least 4 Firearms in your Deck, meaning you will use One in the Chamber at some point, how do these 2 compare?

Vicious Blow is simple: +1 , +1 damage on success, since you add it to another Attack.

One in the Chamber is fast, adds 1 Ammo, to your gun, which means at least +1 damage to an attack that would have been performed with bare hands, and +3 .

Results: Vicious Blow saves you one action only with enemies that have odd health, when One in the Chamber helps better (more ) with 4-health enemies and bigger, or if you are playing with 3-4 investigators and there are higher chances that you have to deal with more than 1 foe at the same time.

Compared to Extra Ammunition, you obviously get 2 less Ammo, but it is fast (meaning no AoO), and gives you a significant boost for the next attack, provided that you attack the same round. I see One in the Chamber like a great placeholder for Extra Ammunition for at least 2 thirds of the campaign.

The Firearms that are happy to have One in the Chamber are:

The happy users are: Leo Anderson/Tony Morgan/"Skids" O'Toole that have access to the "Succeed by X" guns or tend to also purchase massive Firearms. After that, any that is tempted to run the Shotgun like Sister Mary, Mark Harrigan, Holy Shotgun Tommy

Conclusion: Fair card, will see use in certain Decks that plan on using the Shotgun, or the set of Succeed by X Firearms. This will most likely be a placeholder for Extra Ammunition, which makes the upgrade a lesser priority.

Valentin1331 · 74015
probably also Joe with his colts if he wants to kill an enemy and recycle an insight event in his hunch deck — Tharzax · 1
I'd add that rogues can use Double double on it for 1) get 2 ammos and 2) get a +6 for the next attack. — AlexP · 252
Autofail on your last action and last ammo is really bad cause you need to play a new gun or ammo event while engaged next round. This card combined with galvanise will save you. — Django · 5108
Existential Riddle

Hey, it's my preview card! I had a lot of fun with this one, check out my preview video if you're interested.

This is a cheap and efficent enemy management tool that won't be able to deal with everything (watch out for Acolyte), but should help with your average annoying hunter. Very good card for solo as well.

Two particular interactions I want to highlight are Trish Scarborough and Power Word (the latter isn't on ArkhamDB yet), which lets you turn your riddle-solving enemy into a source of helpful clues or other convenience.

Veronica212 · 299
Finally, an (almost) unrestricted Parlay player-card. Nearest I can tell, this is the first card that would guarantee Parlay bonuses like Fine Clothes aren't wasted (unless a mission has only Elite foes, I know there's at least 1). Not nearly enough of a reason to run either/both by itself, but a nice first. — HanoverFist · 739
Hit and Run

Disclaimer: Pre-Scarlet Keys release review.

Hit and Run is the Ally version of Sleight of Hand, a card so good that it was in the first batch of tabooed cards and had a second taboo later on. The latest version is a 0-3 Item. Interestingly enough, Hit and Run does not come with a limit. Did not learn the lesson or that the jank is more contained?

Interesting Allies to play with Hit and Run:

/Neutral Allies:

  • Gregory Gry comes to mind immediately, play him, bet the 3 resources to each test you're about to perform and get him back in your hands for another round! $$$
  • Leo De Luca is the other obvious choice, H&R Leo, play Calling in Favors and dig any other Ally from your Deck for 2 resources since you are replacing a 6-cost Ally.
  • The Red-Gloved Man seems quite sick here too! You do not have him for the Mythos Phase when doing it this way, but you still have an extra round with a 6 base stat.
  • Priest of Two Faiths why not, to add a few to the Chaos Bag.
  • Anna Kaslow to find your Tarot Cards.

Other Classes:

Who would be interested in using it?

  • Big money Decks that would like to abuse Gregory Gry, with a + for being able to oversucceed.
  • Gators that would be interested in using the The Red-Gloved Man more often.
  • Gators with or access.

Besides our Ally monster, Charlie Kane, who is for the moment not necessarily tending towards , all this tends towards Preston Fairmont benefitting the most from Hit and Run for both the The Red-Gloved Man cycling and generating more resources with Gregory Gry.

Following are Trish Scarborough, Rex Murphy and Jenny Barnes that have access to the Allies that activate when coming to play.

Finally Leo Anderson and "Skids" O'Toole also benefit from the testless clue/damage, especially as they are likely to play these cards already anyways.

Conclusion: Not nearly as busted as untabooed Sleight of Hand, Hit and Run is nice, especially in combination with Calling in Favors to turn the Ally into research and a discount. Outside of this, there are not so many outstanding targets, but I'm sure that for every new Ally there is, we'll be thinking about this card again.

Valentin1331 · 74015
hit and run also very likely will block one attack of opportunity, cause that health and sanity on the ally might as well get used. — Zerogrim · 295
There’s also painkillers, smoking pipe and forbidden knowledge to put the allies stam/ sanity to good use. — Django · 5108
Captivating Discovery

So first it's a new card that makes you search your deck and so that can trigger Astounding Revelation and Surprising Find (and Occult Evidence in a Mandy Thompson deck).
It's also a tutor among 6 cards at the cost of 1-2 clues. And technically a "pay 1 resource and place 3 clues on your location to draw 6 cards" event.

And finally I think it will be interesting in a Barricade deck (meaning a deck in which you investigate without moving from the location you played the Barricade in): you put on your location (where you an always investigate) clues that you got from other locations (which required to use cards such as In the Know or Seeking Answers) to draw cards to get the other "distant clues". With the side bonus of Astounding Revelation recharging In the Know.

AlexP · 252
And it powers Roland's gun! — MrGoldbee · 1470
Indeed. I haven't played him in a while so I forgot this possibility. — AlexP · 252
Draw cryptic writings to gain resources and get clues back fast with working a hunch — Django · 5108
Luke could combo it with Dream Gate to soft-lock a scenario! — Zinjanthropus · 229
How would it interact with Mandy ? You can go 9-cards deep but can you select one more target ??? — captainfire · 258
Mandy can't select a target ex nihilo because it doesn't let you draw a target baseline - it lets you drop a clue to draw targets instead. She resolves additional targets, not targets from nothing (So you can't draw off that one mystic card that searches and arranges like 6 cards). So mandy searches 9 and can drop up to 3 clues to draw 2 cards a clue, but can't search 6, draw 1 free. — Lailah · 1
Existential Riddle

I love playing "big hands" seeker (or other classes with access to seeker cards) decks so when I see this card I don't consider that it's a wwillpower / intel (8) test but a potential (0) test (and a (2) would already be great).

For me the best use is on a hunter enemy in a Trish Scarborough deck: you now have an aloof enemy that follows you and give you an extra clue each round thanks to Trish abiity ! And it allows combo with Eavesdrop if the enemy has a low evade value (a Hunting Nightgaunt for example).

AlexP · 252