Nightmare Bauble

It might just be me, but I never invested too heavily in the various -canceling options in this game. "It's just 1/17 of a chance," I always said. "Sure, I'll draw the tentacle a couple of times in each scenario, but them's the breaks. You're just gonna have to realize you'll fail a few skill tests in the scenario, and that's not worth investing a lot of XP and deckslots to guard against." (This goes double for the class, with all of its fail-forward schemes. You'll often be glad to see the . I wonder if that's why the token is red...)

And in truth, I largely still hold to that philosophy. My XP always goes to action-compression tools and testless autosuccesses before I spend anything on an insurance policy against failure. And let's face it, Nightmare Bauble has a hefty price to pay--3 XP and the forfeiture of powerhouses like Rabbit's Foot and Cherished Keepsake. But then I made a Rita Young deck based on Old Hunting Rifle and Ornate Bow, and in that particular case at least, my mind began to change.

When Rita's set up with Boyfriend and Adidas, she fires the Bow at a skill of 9. Depending on your difficulty, that's either an almost-guaranteed success, or at least some pretty damn good odds in your favor. The problem is that using Ornate Bow is a very action-hungry and unforgiving playstyle--if you miss a single shot, you're in a bad spot, and in this case, removing that from the equation does have real value. Similarly, the OHR can be your best friend, or leave you high and dry at the worst possible moment, so any way to prevent one of those worst-case tokens becomes almost mandatory.

So, to sum up: Nightmare Bauble could be considered when you have a specific reason to fear the , but I wouldn't find it worthwhile as blanket insurance against failure on general, ordinary skill tests.

You might have guessed that I'm speaking from experience here. Picture this: with the above-mentioned setup, I was engaged with a resilient enemy who dishes out some serious pain. But it's fine, right? I'm testing my 9 with the Bow against its 2. And.... Fortunately my evade and reload worked--but still, that's a whole turn basically lost from one nasty, extremely unlucky pull.

The problem is, I didn't have Nightmare Bauble on the table, since I typically mulligan for things like Bow, OHR, Peter, and Track Shoes. It's a "Limit 1" card, and Rita isn't strong on the card draw. It turned out to be the next card I drew for upkeep, but by then it was too late--I'm engaged with a boss, and can't spare the action to play it. So that's another hidden drawback: if you don't have this out from the beginning--which is easier said than done--you almost shouldn't bother, because you won't get repeated uses out of the Bauble, and canceling a single is the province of Eucatastrophe.

Pinchers · 133
I can relate to that last paragraph. Drew like 3-4 autofails once (it was a particully unlucky day) only to later put the Bauble into play and never drawing Autofail again --' — Nenananas · 271
I am preparing a Calvin Wright deck and I'm looking at this card to prevent the nasty autofail on a retaliate enemy for example, while running at 1-2 health and sanity. I am looking at mitigating the possibility of dying because of an unlucky pull mid-scenario. My other options are Third time's a charm, Against all odds. Both help me against -8 tokens for example, but are all preemptive, when the Nightmare Bauble is reactive. It also matters less that you may get it later in the scenario as it's only after a little while that dodging autofail matters. I am also betting on the fact that by the end of the campaign, I will have enough trauma to not need the Rabbit's foot at all anymore. — Valentin1331 · 80246
@Valentin Good thoughts. I generally skip the Rabbit's Foot with Calvin, too--but I always go heavy on the Cherished Keepsake and its upgrade. Let me know how it goes! — Pinchers · 133
The only use for this really is if you want a Pet Oozeling and you aren't Father Mateo. — Apologised · 4
I've got a question for this card: Via black market you could play a second copy of this. If you have relic hunter and the first one is still in game, are you allowed to play another one? It would be blank and kind of wasted but I thought the rules prohibt you from playing it since you cannot execute the forced effect in that case. — Scythe · 1
Nine of Rods

This card is absolutely sick. This is essentially one chance to re-draw if you get a monster. This is high-grade oil for your action economy. I wouldn't be surprised if this was released as "treachery," though that would make it a much more questionable ask outside certain scenarios.

Put this on a survivor generalist and run with a Seeker rocking Disc of Itzamna. Heck, run Gloria too for additional stupidity. Fourth slot can be Diana Stanley. The encounter deck isn't real and it can't hurt you.

Great protection in general for any investigator with a glaring weakness. Lets your redraw into something that won't be nearly so horrific. For a solid fighter, could also be used to proactively hunt the deck for a monster in the interest of VP-farming or to pull off cards that require monsters.. — Achire · 563
I really like that this is a very generalist-friendly Tarot for Survivors. Calvin loved the Five Of Pentacles, but it was really not worth the space anywhere else. OP's combos for neutralizing the encounter deck are terrific, but even without them, everybody would enjoy getting 1 saving throw vs the encounter deck per round. — HanoverFist · 756
Directive

Does this only count the basic move action, or all card effects with a "Move" effect?

For example, how does this interact with fast actions such as Shortcut? I guess that if Roland is targeted with this card, it would fail if he has already moved twice?

The other query is for vehicle assets (such as those in Innsmouth); Do they count towards the 2 move limit, and if so, what happens if a car or boat wants to leave and Roland is on board?

I assumed originally that all instances of the word "move" on a card are included, but then considered scenario effects when locations are removed from the game and investigators are "moved" to a new location by this effect, and realised that there must be at least "some" exceptions. Where are people drawing the line with this?

I can answer some of these questions. It does include all effects that move you, so shortcut for example would indeed fail to take effect if targeting Roland. As for being moved off of a location because it is leaving the game the faq features a new section which essentially says "if something is about to mean you are at no location, ignore that effect" so if your location is about to disappear from the game, you move from it even if you have this directive. As for vehicle assets, I don't have a good answer for that. I'd have to look again at the vehicle rules in the scenario to be sure. — NarkasisBroon · 11
I'm not sure but that vehicle cannot be moved due to Roland? Here are two rules with cannot: "While an investigator is in a vehicle, that investigator cannot move independently of the vehicle.", " — elkeinkrad · 498
(sorry to splited) "You cannot move". Thus, Roland cannot be moved, and vehicle cannot be moved with Roland. That's my oppinion. — elkeinkrad · 498
Related to this, would Scout Ahead count as one or three moves? It is one movement action to move 3 times. — dkilkay · 4
I guess I'd jusgrade safeguard asap.... those moves happen on another characters turn, sooooo, it's all good. Right? — tasman · 1
"Round", not "Turn." Roland is still stuck. — Lailah · 1
Well Prepared

This card was made for William Yorick with Chainsaw. Absolutely must take if you are playing him. +3 each round is amazing. Worth playing two copies so you can use it for two fights per turn.

Also, sometimes a fighter feels like they have great combat to break down those pesky locked doors (non-fight test), only to find out that it's been their weapon boosting their stat and they aren't really that strong in non-fights. This card does let you knock down those doors with ease.

If you have fighting under control you may have a pip down that you need to help pass a test.

Taevus · 783
Well Prepared is just a great card anytime you have a few double icon assets in play. A triple skill icon is great. I ran Yorick in TFA with Yaotl and 6-7 double combat cards for the exact reason that you mention. Well Prepared is almost universally useful but Yaotl requires pretty specific decks and the ally slot. I would certainly run Well Prepared instead. Or in combo with. — The Lynx · 999
Bait and Switch

Not as bad as it looks.

Compare to the effect of Mists of R'leh, where you Evade a monster then move to an adjacent space -- except it's the monster that moves. This gets you a neat turn of action compression if you're trying to stay out of the hair of a hunter, and allows you to do things like punt the baddie towards Mark and his Flamethrower.

It's also likely to set you up for a relatively clean turn of investigating the space you are on. Upgrades pretty neatly into Close Call (though, hilariously appropriate for the suit, that card is not quite as good as failing the check with upgraded Dumb Luck).

I agree... the effect is pretty good, but I really wish it gave you at least a +1 boost to your attempt. — Hylianpuffball · 29