"I'll see you in hell!"

This card is quite effective to "make use of" your ample 9 health, escaping defeat by horror. In Carcosa campaign that the card came with it is actually hard to try to get killed by damage when all hope is lost as you are trying to choose the right kind of trauma.

Also cannot be overlooked is how Mythos Phase draw is reduced once you are gone. If the works are already done then the game could be easier with you (and perhaps some enemies) out of the way, it is suddenly more peaceful. You can have a more deterministic last few turns where you are gunning for extra VP as well as getting out alive at the edge of doom clock.

However, if the remaining investigator can't win on top of your sacrifice, you may doubly suffers new trauma (could be horror still) from the campaign resolution in addition to 1 physical trauma printed on this card. Yikes!

Also sometimes the campaign booklet prepares extra detailed resolution for investigator who were defeated and who weren't, so relying on the remaining player to drag your dead body to finish line requires some scenario knowledge. Card is better on Hard / Expert and with campaign knowledge.

It is also possible that a new player joins mid-campaign with 0 XP (or existing player got asked by the campaign to choose a new investigator) and this card can be quite strong for such an investigator coming in with underpowered gears but with fresh trauma. I'm glad the game has some niche solution for niche situation.

5argon · 10754
I remember this can also be use on Broods of Yog-Sothoth — liwl0115 · 41
Hard Knocks

I'd have to provide an alternate view of this card, and endorse that it's actually a very good card in the right deck and investigator, which is a primary rogue fighter.

If you're playing Tony Morgan, one of the strongest investigators in the game, as your primary fighter then this card becomes invaluable, particularly as your first upgrade. +2 fist icon every turn (the resources on the card replenish each round) along with Tony's natural 5 fist icon means you're succeeding most fight skill checks. As rogue, if you're playing staple cards such as .41 Derringer, Lucky Cigarette Case, Quick Thinking, then the +2 fist icon is going to be important for you to trigger the conditions on those cards.

This card also synergizes well with Tony's signature cards Tony's .38 Long Colt and Bounty Contracts, since you're quickly generating more resources than you can use, so it's good to have a resource dump card like Hard Knocks to utilize your accummulated resources. Add to it the fact that the card is not unique and you can have two SLOTLESS copies of this card on the table at the same time means you can have a free +4 fist icon to any fight skill check you want PER TURN and more if you decide to pump your own resources into the card's ability.

Lastly, the card's ability to boost foot icon is nothing to sneeze at. Since Tony is at a measly 2 foot base (a rarity for rogue players), you can easily boost his low foot score with Hard Knocks to get him to pass his foot skillchecks for treacher cards such as Grasping Hands. Also, I added a pair of level 1 Lockpicks to my Tony Morgan deck, and I can boost Tony's foot icon with this card to ensure both success with the investigation as well as preventing the lockpick from losing a resource by succeeding by at least 2.

Solid card for the right investigator, a rogue who is a primary fighter.

I think this card is wonderful at allowing Winnifred to flex, especially now with the release of thieves tools. Giving yourself +2 or even more gives her a great way to cycle money every round, and you can build a deck of nothing but things that intersect with that: guns that succeed by two and pay you, Gregory who wants you to succeed by x, quick thinking, Pickpocketing(2), watch this… suddenly, having a low combat bonus is Irrelevant. You turn the two free resources into money, and who wouldn’t wouldn’t like two free bucks a turn? If you’re building a rich deck that doesn’t necessarily need to hold to wealth, this card gives you FLOW. — MrGoldbee · 1471
I completely agree! — Innsmouth Conspirator · 63
All of the 4 XP recurring-credit assets are great, in the right decks. You have to plan around the deck space and XP cost (plus resource flow if you are starting with the lower-XP versions), but that's what we call deckbuilding, right? — LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
My review is in direct response to the previous review from TheDoc37, where he concludes "I'd steer clear of this variation of Hard Knocks. The upgrades to this suite are meant to save you resources and make the card trigger more often as a result, but this is just the wrong class for this sort of an upgrade." His original position was that this upgrade was for the wrong class, and I offered a counter-position that it is a good Rogue class card for the right investigator such as Tony Morgan. Right? Right? — Innsmouth Conspirator · 63
Gené Beauregard

With Kymani Jones, an allready great card got even better. Intellect and agility just so happens to be the stats Kymani likes. The ability to pull enemies into your location means you can save your coplayers from further away. Move within 1 location, pull away the enemy that bothers your comrade, and take it out with a quick evade+evade. By drawing the foe away from your friend, you'll save an engage action, meaning you'll get even more out of a Grappling Hook. This seems like an auto-include when playing Kymani!

Scroll of Prophecies

Rules answer from FFQ: All aspects of an effect have timing priority over all "after..." triggering conditions that might arise as a consequence of that effect. (For example, if an effect reads "Gain 3 resources and draw 3 cards," resolve both aspects of the effect (gaining resources and drawing cards) before initiating an ability that reads "After drawing a card...")

So if you use this with no cards in hand, draw a card like cryptic writings or Winds of Power (1), you may be forced to discard cryptic writings or Winds of Power. These can't be triggered from discard pile.

Django · 5108
Occult Evidence

Does it work when you search your deck due to a weakness or another scenario card effect, not triggered directly by your cards or assets in play? Can't think of other examples besides Through the Gates right now, but nonetheless.

chrome · 59
Yes. Be delighted, should you ever draw "Through the Gates" as Mandy's RBW. It's search can even be canceled by "Shocking Discovery". — Susumu · 371
I find the wording confusing. I assume the way it plays is that, when you draw it, you shuffle it back into your deck immediately (so it is dead draw). If you uncover it during a search, you find a clue, then shuffle it back into your deck. Is this interpretation correct? — LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
No, shuffling it back is not immediate. While it's in your hand, it can be played for 0 resources as an action to reshuffle it. If you find it during a search, you get a clue; then, you can spend an action to put it back, to find with another search. — zrayak · 86