I’ve seen probably a dozen home made solutions on the .Geek. I’m amazed how much effort folks invest in pimping their games. But they sure look great.
I think I’m the only person allergic to board gaming videos. Text any day of the week.
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Sorry, it’s only +1 will (like I said last night, I didn’t have the card in front of me at the time). But that head icon at the upper left, just under the EVENT text, is definitely a Will buff unless I don’t understand the card symbology at all.
Ah. Well, I think you’re understanding the card symbology, but not the function of the icons on the left side of each card. Those are Skill Icons and only come into play if you play the card to modify an existing skill test. So, if you were required to do a skill test, you could discard Dynamite Blast and get +1 to your Will test. The active player can discard as many cards as they like, whereas the other players may only discard 1 card when it’s not their turn.
Page 8 of the LtP:
Modifying Skill Value for Skill Tests:
Before drawing a chaos token for a skill test, the investigator may boost his or her skill value. There are two ways to do this.
First, the investigator may commit eligible cards from his or her hand to the test. An eligible card bears one or more icons matching the skill type of the test being performed. A wild icon (?) matches all skill types. Each matching icon committed to a test increases the investigator’s skill value by 1 for that test. The investigator performing the test may commit any number of cards from his or her hand to the test. Each other investigator at the same location as that investigator may commit 1 card from his or her hand to help.
Do not pay a card’s resource cost when committing to a skill test…
Thus, that icon does nothing if you’re playing Dynamite Blast as the event “Dynamite Blast”, it only comes into effect if you want to discard it to boost a Will skill check. This is the most “gamey” part of the design, because it keeps all investigators involved even when not their turn and offers some difficult decisions. You really need to pass this Will check, but you had plans for that Dynamite later. Do you discard it, or take your chances without the +1 on the Will check? It becomes an even harder decision when it’s not your turn and the other players do not know what cards you have in your hand. They may beg for some help on a Will check, and you’ll have to tell them you can’t because you REALLY want to use the Dynamite next turn. Fun stuff.
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Misunderstanding the rules like this is exactly why we need a digital version…
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I agree and you should code it, Gary. 
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That icon does nothing if you’re playing Dynamite Blast as the event “Dynamite Blast”, it only comes into effect if you want to discard it to boost a Will skill check.
Hmm, wow, got it I think. So I suppose based on the way you stated that, that it also applies to skill buffs on Asset cards? That is, even after you’ve paid the resource cost to put an Asset card into play, the only way you can use its upper-left-corner skill buff is to discard it? That makes the game a great deal more evil than I’d supposed on my first playthrough 
This seems like a pretty serious documentation fail though. I certainly didn’t get that tradeoff out of reading the LtP book, and the Rules Reference seems utterly uninterested in explaining strategic tradeoffs.
That is, even after you’ve paid the resource cost to put an Asset card into play, the only way you can use its upper-left-corner skill buff is to discard it?
It’s even more evil…one you’ve played it as an Asset, you can no longer discard it for that icon. It’s one or the other, making for some very tough decisions.
You’re right about the documentation fail. I would have missed it to if I hadn’t watched some “how to play” videos before I sat down to play the first time (actually, I stopped in the middle of my first game to watch them because it didn’t feel right…it wasn’t, I was messing a bunch of stuff up). That said, once you “get” the rules it’s a much simpler and less convoluted game than AH or even EH (both of which I love, btw.)
I’m of the opinion that Gary should code everything, just start at BGG #1 and work your way down. Well, actually, considering the #1 is Pandemic Legacy, you can skip that one.
I have no doubt it’s a wonderful game – and it’s cool we have a connection to it though @Zebracadabra – but it’s at least 10 years too late for me.
I just don’t “do” rules any longer, especially after my children were born. Plus, so many good games coming out over the years on iOS has made me totally lazy. I want my rules enforcement done for me, please and thank you.
It’s a complete 180 degrees from when I was a lad. I used to spend hours makign sure I was playing Advanced Squad Leader the right way.
I knew Netrunner had one (or several), but so does Arkham Horror: https://arkhamdb.com/
Helps with the deckbuilding.
Thanks for that! Just what I needed.
I don’t blame you for a second. When they were young, they took total and absolute precedence. I even gave up my NY Ranger season tix. And the only rules I read were games they could play.
[quote=“Zebracadabra, post:33, topic:276, full:true”]
When they were young, they took total and absolute precedence. I even gave up my NY Ranger season tix.[/quote]
I would hope you got the Ranger seats back once they started publishing their own games?
Nah. The kids took up a lot of time for a lot of years. Sports, Scouts, trips, vacations, even weekends to take them to places like the fish hatchery. Omg, a thousand different places. I never missed the Rangers. The kids were way more fun. The only problem was they grew up.
Funny. The day they turn 13, you become dumb as shit and they are the smartest people in the universe.
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I’ll recommend Hand of Glory, a short story found in The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, a collection by Laird Barron. It’s a Lovecraftian tale of a gangster in the 1930s, and the sort of thing I imagine O’Toole got up to. There’s also Bulldozer, in The Imago Sequence, about a Pinkerton chap. Not quite Roland Banks, but close.
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Okay, so I’ve got a newbie question. I understand the benefit of the coin holders; they make the chits feel more substantial. But card sleeves for this game, why? It seems i’ll need about 250 sleeves and spend about $25 or more for the sleeves. The game itself cost me $32. Why make such a substantial investment when if the cards end up messed up, I could just buy another game. I don’t think I’m that hard on cards.
Are there cheaper sleeves? Am I being penny-wise and pound-foolish? Will I be disappointed that I didn’t sleeve these cards? In addition to the coin holders (about $22), I’ll be spending more for the plastic protection than the game itself.
With you. I’ve seen some people suggest that they wanted card sleeves for the investigator decks, so that they would remember to swap out a card each time they added one. But I didn’t sleeve anything.
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I sleeve some games, usually if I know I am playing with my wife or others who aren’t always good to the cards. I also sometimes sleeve shuffle-heavy games or games where it is vital that a card not show wear, like a hidden-role type game. Penny sleeves are nice if you need a quick solution, but they feel super cheap. I sleeved a full Pathfinder adventure with penny sleeves for a weekend of camping, fishing, and gaming.
Would it be worth getting any expansions before starting the game primarily for a greater pool of investigators to pick from?