Jenny is a Ghoul's Best Friend (Solo, Achievements)

My third attempt at soloing through Return to the Night of the Zealot's achievement list will be with Jenny Barnes - an investigator whom I've never played before. I was intrigued by Croaker13's solo "Don't Test Me" Jenny decks for Expert difficulty - one for Dunwich, one for Carcosa - and decided to tweak/combine the two for use with Return to NotZ on standard. I'm also specifically aiming for the "defeat no ghouls" achievement on this run. Some specific deckbuilding thoughts, on where I've varied from Croaker13's setups:

• In the first scenario, the only enemy I will be fighting is Swarm of Rats. On Standard, I'm comfortable relying on Jenny's raw 3 to dispose of those. So I've cut .41 Derringer, Knife (and, with them, Backpack), and Overpower in favor of more events. In particular, I want to try Think on Your Feet (knowing when/where some of the guaranteed enemy spawns will take place) and Slip Away (a Forgotten Age card not available when Croaker13's decks were made).

• I took Dynamite Blast instead of Drawn to the Flame because I want some extra burst damage for the Scenario III Main Path. I could Adaptable them in later on but I expect to be squeezed for experience (especially being stuck at a maximum 4 for the first scenario, since I can't kill any ghouls) and would rather not spend that point if I can help it.

• Without Drawn to the Flame, I'm trying another Forgotten Age card to help with cluevering: Eavesdrop. Yes, it's quite situational and a better fit for Finn Edwards, but there's a perfect target in Scenario II: the evade 1 Hunting Nightgaunt. That enemy, along with the need to avoid killing various other evade 2 ghouls (and the 50% likelihood I'll be facing the evade 2 The Masked Hunter) is also why I'm running two copies of Stealth.

• I am genuinely wondering whether relying solely on Jenny's double-resource-gain will be enough to fund this deck. I've tried to keep the cost curve equivalent to the Carcosa version; we will see how it performs.

• My goal for Scenario I is to secure both location Victory points and then resign (since I can't kill the Ghoul Priest). 4 experience will net me Streetwise and either a Cat Burglar or a set of Lockpicks for Scenario II (I haven't decided which).

Here we go!

SESSION REPORT

SCENARIO I - RETURN TO THE GATHERING

• Opening Hand: Coup de Grâce, Guts, Calling in Favors, Backstab, Perception
• Kept: Perception
• Replacements: Elusive, Dynamite Blast, Backstab, Narrow Escape

I kept Perception to have a reasonable shot at the Study clue while I'm still there. The replacements are... not what I was hoping for, frankly. Let's see how things play out.

R1 (0D, 0H, 5$, 0C): 0/3 doom

• Encounter: None
• Investigate, commit Perception, 5 vs. 3 (0): pass [+1C], draw Slip Away
• Move to Guest Hall
• Move to Bathroom
• Draw Coup de Grâce [+2$]

R2 (0D, 0H, 7$, 1C): 1/3 doom

• Encounter: Acolyte of Umôrdhoth spawns and engages
• Evade Acolyte of Umôrdhoth, commit Backstab, 4 vs. 2 (): fail (sigh)
• Play Slip Away [-2$]: Evade Acolyte of Umôrdhoth, 6 vs. 2 (+1): pass+ [evaded, won't ready next upkeep]
• Investigate, 3 vs. 1 ( is -2): pass [+1C, 1D, turn ends]
• Acolyte of Umôrdhoth doesn't ready
• Draw Guts [+2$]

At least Slip Away did what I wanted it to do: let me evade something when I have to stick around in its location for another turn, so I don't have to re-evade it next turn when I go to leave.

R3 (1D, 0H, 7$, 2C): 2/3 doom

• Encounter: Grave-Eater spawns and engages
• Play Elusive [-2$]: disengage and move to Study
• Use Study: draw Slip Away, Eavesdrop, Unexpected Courage
• Move to Guest Hall
• Acolyte of Umôrdhoth readies
• Draw Narrow Escape [+2$]

Feels weird to use Elusive so early but man, I need more tricks in my hand to proceed. Hoping the two-actions-for-three-cards Study tradeoff works out.

R4 (1D, 0H, 7$, 2C): 3/3 doom

• Agenda advances to 1b: [2H], advances to 2a
• Encounter: Grave-Eater spawns and engages (what the heck, encounter deck)
• Play Slip Away [-2$]: Evade Grave-Eater, 6 vs. 2 (-2): pass+ [evaded, won't ready next upkeep]
• Move to Bedroom
• Investigate, commit Unexpected Courage, 5 vs. 2 (0): pass [+1C]
• Grave-Eater doesn't ready
• Draw Dynamite Blast [+2$]

R5 (1D, 2H, 7$, 3C): 1/7 doom

• Encounter: Chill from Below, commit Dynamite Blast and Dynamite Blast, 5 vs. 3 (-1): pass
• Move to Guest Hall
• Advance Act to 1b [-3C]: Hallway, Parlor, Attic, and Cellar enter play; move to Hallway; commit Guts, 5 vs. 4 (): fail by 4 [discard Narrow Escape, Eavesdrop, Coup de Grâce, Narrow Escape] (arrrRRRRRRgggh)
• Move to Attic [Field of Graves enters play]
• Move to Field of Graves, 3 vs. 4 (): fail by 4 [nothing to discard] (pffff ha ha ha ha ha)
• Grave-Eater readies
• Draw Jenny's Twin .45s [+2$]

That was a downright comical sequence of events. Hooray, my rat-killing guns are available now?

R6 (1D, 2H, 9$, 0C): 2/7 doom

• Encounter: Swarm of Rats spawns and engages (as if on cue!!)
• Fight Swarm of Rats, 3 vs. 1 ( is 0): pass [+1D, defeated]
• Investigate, 3 vs. 2 (-1): pass [+1C, +1VP]
• Move to Attic
• Draw Eavesdrop [+2$]

R7 (1D, 2H, 11$, 1C): 3/7 doom

• Encounter: Ancient Evils [+1 doom]
• Move to Hallway
• Move to Cellar [Ghoul Pits enters play]
• Investigate, 3 vs. 2 ( is 0): pass [+1C]
• Draw Coup de Grâce [+2$]

Where the heck are those Flashlights and Art Students? They would be really helpful right now.

R8 (1D, 2H, 13$, 2C): 5/7 doom

• Encounter: Chill from Below, 3 vs. 3 (-4): fail by 3 [discard Jenny's Twin .45s, Eavesdrop, Coup de Grâce] (again! everything discarded! for the second time!!)
• Move to Ghoul Pits, 3 vs. 3 (0): pass
• Draw Art Student (finally!!!)
• Play Art Student [-2$, +1C, +1VP]
• Draw Elusive [+2$]

And just like that, victory is suddenly within my grasp. Maybe. We'll see in a moment.

R9 (1D, 2H, 13$, 3C): 6/7 doom

• Encounter: Icy Ghoul spawns in Cellar
• Play Elusive [-2$]: move to Hallway
• Take a resource [+1$]
• Take a resource [+1$]
• Take a resource [+1$]
• Draw Flashlight [+2$] (ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA AH HA HA AH ha)
• Advance to Act 2b [-3C]: reveal Parlor with Lita Chantler, Ghoul Priest spawns and engages

At least I didn't last-minute draw Searching for Izzie!!

R10 (1D, 2H, 16$, 0C): 7/7 doom

• Agenda advances to 2b: encounters reshuffle, Corpse-Hungry Ghoul spawns in Bedroom
• Encounter: Swarm of Rats spawns and engages
• Move [Ghoul Priest and Swarm of Rats attack, 2D, 1D/2H discards Art Student] to Parlor
• Use Parlor: Resign

No resolution

• Jenny's house is still standing
• The Ghoul Priest is still alive
• Lita Chantler joins Jenny
• 4 experience (2 Victory + 2 bonus)

That was... kind of hilarious the entire way through. Hey, can't complain with the final result. On to the real test in Scenario II!