MARY POPPINS TAKES CARE OF THE KIDS — Carson Sinclair Pure Support

30 cards + a carpet bag · 34 XP · Secondary class: Seeker · Taboo on · Built for 3–4P

A HOUSEHOLD RUN WITH PRECISION

"I never lift a finger. I point it." — Mary Poppins

This deck is pretty easy and fun to run. And it plays differently, since despite the game being cooperative, generally it is about complementarity and not about convexity or enhancing. You are cooperating, but you are not only helping: you are routing, optimizing and coordinating, and the household runs the way a household should be run. You are not playing an investigator. You are playing the whole team.

Mary Poppins is 2/2/2/2, priced out of every test in the game, and this deck therefore never asks her to take one. An action spent by Mary resolves at 2s. The same action, transferred, resolves at your most violence-prone kid's 5, or your most bookish kid's 5. Damn, if her bookish kid is in a pickle with a just-spawned and particularly Alert bully, Mary can help nudge her violence-prone kid just to the right spot for some PG-approved smashing to take place.

An observant nanny knows which child shines where; properly organized, even this pandemonium can be made to work.

She does not test — maybe twice a campaign, under protest — does not fight, does not clue, and cannot solo, since her ability targets other investigators kids. She exports two to three actions a round, fields up to 28 health / 28 sanity of soak the whole class can spend, and pays the allowances. Most of what she does reads "at your location." Stay within arm's reach.

STEP IN TIME (the engine)

"Come along. It's your turn."

Mary has four actions: three of her own and a fourth that exists only to be given away. The give is a plain action: choose another investigator at your location, and they immediately take an action as if it were their turn — during hers. Once per round per child, so one give at 2P, two at 3P, three at 4P, and the deck is tuned so that whatever remains of her turn compresses into events costing 0–2 resources. Her elder sign keeps the same manners: +0, draw 1, and she may resolve it whenever a child at her side resolves theirs.

THE CARPET BAG

"Well begun is half done."

Stick to the Plan is the carpet bag. It holds more than it has any right to and produces the correct object at the correct moment. It is unpacked before the children wake — that is, before the opening hand — and it comes out holding the morning drill (Ever Vigilant), an umbrella already pointed at the door (Heroic Rescue) and a little tea for a nanny's well-deserved break (Emergency Cache). Ever-Vigilant will make your kids look in anticipation for turn 1, Heroic-Rescue makes sure they are properly taken care of and Emergency Cache is just to complement your resource stream (this is a resource-hungry deck).

Think about it:

if you land both Stand Together — Mary and a child each drawing 2 cards and gaining 2 resources per copy — then Ever Vigilant from the bag, you are in for a magical day. All events cost 0-2, so most of the resources you get while standing together with your kids will be invested in protecting them later on.

That is crazy action compression: you are delivering your kids 4 draws, 4 resources, 4 play actions and 4 additional resource actions. Not counting the additional action you will provide using your front to your not-necessarily-favorite kid.

You spent 2 cards (Stand Together's comes from the deck, Ever Vigilant is taken out of the carpet bag) and 4 actions for a 17-worth actions in your setup. Mary does not fool around.

FEED THE KIDS

"Enough is as good as a feast."

• "As you wish" ×2 commits only to a child's test: three , and somebody eats either way, the child drawing on success, Mary on failure.
• Bounty ×2 it's all laughs and giggles until somebody loses an eye. Not that you are complaining if its not one of your kids! Fast, 0 cost, up to 6 resources on a kill at your location, distributed as you wish.
• Stand Together x2 is a brilliant card that drives insane action compression (as mentioned) and let's your team focus where they shine instead of "making a resource action". The earlier used during a scenario, the best.
• Ever Vigilant x2 is another staple that let's your kids run ready to bash some cultists. Four asset plays at a -1 resource cost (with Ever Vigilant being out of Stick to the Plan) at a play action cost nets 7 actions worth of compression. This nanny IS ever vigilant.
• Cosmic Revelation x2 is yet-another staple card that let's your kids not only play any kind of stuff (not only assets), but also draw cards. 2 actions-worth of compression. Best used for the compression early on or, later, strategically by the observant nanny in situations where your kids may, for instance, be in need to play some specific tool without getting hurt by a looming bully.

NOBODY HURTS YOUR KIDS

"Close your mouth, Michael. We are not a codfish."

You are a sturdy old lass. Itemized, with The Star • XVII in play:

• Hunter's Armor x2 consumes 7 XP and is the shebang of this resistant lady: (i) Protective Runes (2) lets the coat take the children's bruises; (ii) Enchanted (1) moves both copies into the two arcane slots Mary never uses, because a body wears one coat and she owns two (iii) Durable (2) and Hallowed (2) are the wool that makes it particularly sturdy.
• Heroic Rescue ×2, with a copy in the bag: Mary steps in front of the attack and deals 1 back for the impertinence. Non-Elite only.
• Girish Kadakia: every Mary needs a Bert: he takes the children's hits too, same as the coat(s?).
• First Watch ×2: Admiral Boom fires on schedule, and a well-run house knows who braces which piece of furniture. Deal each encounter card to the child built to pass it: the willpower treachery to the stubborn kid, the agility one to the quick kid, the enemy to our in-house bully. The card caps every other investigator at one, so any unmatched surplus can land directly on Mary, whose Bracelets only drink treachery damage. Oh, and if one of your kids, despite best efforts, still fails, the Bracelets can take the hurt for them too.
• Solemn Vow ×3: is Myriad and Fast: for no action at all, every copy in hand goes to the children's boards. If they unwisely run off across the map, took the hit alone, and came home bruised, you can tend to them one damage or horror per round.
• Hallowed Mirror (3) — a spoonful of sugar, 3 XP: preferably heal 2 and shuffle the song back in and sing it again — for the child who came home crying, and for Bert, since the card reads "investigators and/or Ally assets."
• The Star • XVII is the finishing touch: it gives every asset Mary controls +1 health and +1 sanity, and, if yer lucky, unpacks itself free from the opening hand.

EDUCATE THEM

"One of me is quite enough for all of you."

• Guidance ×2: private tutoring: +1 to every skill and an extra action during the chosen child's turn, at 0 cost, without provoking. Almost an additional , but take care: if you use Guidance and your additional action on the same kid in a turn, they will not be getting +1 in any test they make using your .
• Girish Kadakia: Bert turns up wherever he's needed: Fast exhaust, +2 to any test at your location, healing himself when the kid passes. Stacks with Guidance to +3, and with "As you wish" to +6.
• Cosmic Revelation ×2: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: 0 cost, name even or odd, and each investigator either draws a card or plays a revealed card of that cost from hand, paying for it.
• Task Force ×2 — the chalk-pavement outing: two of Mary's actions (which, she knows, are not the main stars of the show) and 2 resources buy a free asset , a move, and a testless clue, which is the household's only clue access. At 4P the two-action price competes directly with gives, so take the outing when at least two legs help.
• Safeguard ×2 — kids are always running around, despite what you tell them: the level-0 fires whenever a child moves from your location, including during Mary's own turn off a given action or the outing's move leg (whereas Safeguard (2), unfortunately, only watches their turns). Two copies follow a two-step move, or two different children in the same round.

SPIT SPOT (mulligan)

"Spit spot!"

Keep two cards: The Star • XVII for the action and resource compression, Stand Together for the accelerant of a RADIANT first round. Mulligan hard for them. Other than those, it will depend on your party: if they are battered, look for heavy sinks, preferably Bert that can also moonlight as a helper and self-heals, or if they need more help setting up, Cosmic Revelation will both drive draw and plays.

SELFLESS TO A FAULT

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean."

Selfless to a Fault fines Mary 1 horror for any turn she committed nothing to a child's test, then reshuffles itself to nag again later. Satisfying it keeps it in play, permanently defanged, so feed it forever and never clear it. More than twenty cards here carry icons, Perception ×2 is dedicated fuel, and the failure mode is 1 horror into a 28-sanity buffer. She thinks she does not permit sentiment to muddle her thinking. This card disagrees.