Jenny's Retribution | Chapter 2 Starter Guide

Jenny's Retribution

This series provides 10 playtested decks using the Chapter 2 Core and new Starters, with each deck compatible for two player with at least 7 others (and working well at high player counts). Here avenging Izzie heals both damage and horror through skill tests on Mystic assets, which allows her to readily soak attacks and so dish out Retribution. #Justice4Jenny

If you want to support my work, give it a like ❤︎ and a favorite ★ on here!

At a Glance

Stats
Clue-finding:	★★★☆☆
Consistency:	★★★★☆
Enemy Management:	★★★★☆
Encounter Defense:	★★★★★
Survivability:	★★★★☆
Simplicity:	★★★★☆

Overview

• Witchy healing: This deck heals both damage with Cosmic Guidance and horror with Fearless on tests, and Izzie can commit these from her discard pile with her ability. Cosmic Flame and Second Sight allow for persistent Willpower tests, boosted by Jim and Bloodstone. Retribution is your payoff for keeping healthy, allowing Izzie to avenge her sister by dealing large amounts of testless damage against bosses.

• Smooth consistency: Arcane Initiate tracks down your spell assets and events, while Favor of Baalshandor acts as a psuedo-Emergency Cache. The damage from Favor isn't ideal, but it's not direct and so it can go on an Initiate, Jim, Bloodstone or yourself if you have Cosmic Guidance handy. Isabelle's Twin .45s and an Old Compass provide back-up assets.

• Skillz gallore: In addition to Cosmic Guidance and Fearless, this deck has a load of other useful skills. Eldritch Whispers can provide asset recharging with a bit of luck, with Izzie's ability meaning you can play Whispers semi-frequently and so improve your chances. Guts gives card draw, especially with your and Jim. Timely Intervention can boost failures into successes retroactively, offering a godly +3 to any test when it's in hand.

• Encounter management: The tried and true Ward of Protection is in this deck, and Timely Intervention generally covers your ass too. Upgraded Levelheaded gives you the means to tackle agility treacheries, as the deck is otherwise sparse on icons to commit.

• What to mulligan: You want spells, Arcane Initiate (if you don't have any spells), resource cards and Bloodstone - probably in that exact order. Jim and Timely Intervention are very handy as well. If you're missing these cards, you'll have potentially drawn a backup non-spell asset to help in the meantime. While you can't run Jim and an Initiate in tandem in the 19 XP deck, you'll usually kill your Initiates before too long so slot clash isn't a problem.

_{Thank you: 5argon and their thumbnail tool; Valentin1331 for his support over the years; the community creators of Arkham.Build (Felix), Arkham Cards (zzorba) and ArkhamDB (kamalisk) - linking their Patreons!}

Explain Yourself!

This setup resembles my original Chapter 2 core box deck, and for good reason. Actionless healing for Izzie is so strong that for me it can't be ignored, making Cosmic Guidance a must - and realistically it works best with Mystic spell asset engine. Bloodstone is also a huge help, patching up your low health generally while boosting to boot. Retribution provides a fun payoff for your healing tech, setting Izzie apart from true Mystics investigators who can't recur healing quite so readily. Arcane Initiate also helps to find Retribution given it's a spell, so a single copy is recommended early (which you'll still see often enough courtesy of Initiate) and then the final copy later.

In terms of omissions, Scrape By is on Miguel's deck - thereby making these fully compatible. While Izzie might fail tests, Timely Intervention and Levelheaded make this less likely, and Ward of Protection can banish treachery tests you don't want to take. Loner is also better used in the Miguel deck to drag enemies into traps at empty locations (making it a bonafide combo in that deck, rather than just a nice-to-have like it would be here). I was tempted to leave Soul Link in the deck (especially as it's a spell and so can be drawn with Arcane Initiate) but I think the horror received between it, your ability and Ward of Protection then becomes a little much.

Campaign starter and planned progression

0 XP deck is below (and link here):

A recommended order of purchases/upgrades is:

• Soul Link → Fearless

• 1 x Cloak of Resonance → 1 x Retribution

• Timely Intervention → Timely Intervention •••

• 1 x Levelheaded → 1 x Levelheaded •••

• 1 x Levelheaded → 1 x Eldritch Whispers

• 1 x Unexpected Courage → 1 x Eldritch Whispers

• 1 x Unexpected Courage → 1 x Retribution

Post-19 XP suggestions are:

• 1 x Charisma

• 1 x Old Compass → 1 x Old Compass ••

• 1 x Relic Hunter

Compatability Matrix

Everyone likes a good matrix! Below are all the decks that are compatible at two player using one Chapter 2 Core and one 2026 Starter Deck set:

For higher player counts I've not 'compatabilized' the basic skills (Overpower, Manual Dexterity, Guts, Perception and Unexpected Courage). There are only 4 copies of each in the Chapter 2 core, enough for any two decks. If playing 3+ players and there's a clash, you can either:

• Swap with an appropriate level 0 class skill which that deck can use (e.g. On the Brink for Unexpected Courage).

• Swap with a class event or asset with matching or similar symbols (e.g. Working a Hunch for Perception).

• Swap with a different underused basic skill you still believe would be useful for the deck (e.g. Guts for Unexpected Courage).

• Proxy however you see fit (especially if you own Chapter 1 cards, just use the old school versions and remember the slight difference around who draws the card).

I empower you to do sensible things!

Final thoughts

Comparing to my first Chapter 2 core only series, some of these decks provide a new playstyle for the core investigators while others will hone what was already there - in this case, it's very much the latter! Honestly, Cosmic Guidance and bigger, bolder Timely Intervention were far too good to pass up, and leaning Mystic means more consistency (especially with Arcane Initiate) and discounts (from Favor of Baalshandor). Retribution is the nice - yet dangerous - icing on the cake, very fitting for an investigator who wants to make evildoers "pay in blood". #Justice4Jenny

Any thoughts - drop them below!