Vorteil. Verbündeter

Verbündeter. Miskatonic.

Cost: 2.

Sucher
Health: 1. Sanity: 1.

Nachdem Forschungsbibliothekar ins Spiel gekommen ist: Durchsuche dein Deck nach einer Buch-Vorteilskarte und füge sie deiner Hand hinzu. Mische dein Deck.

„Es hat Probleme in der Orne-Bibliothek gegeben, wie wir beide wissen, wenn man Armitages üblen Zustand bedenkt, und diesen anderen … Zwischenfall vor ein paar Jahren, der damit nichts zu tun hat …“
Tomasz Jedruszek
Grundspiel #32.
Forschungsbibliothekar

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Reviews

Oh, you bespectacled, bookish, innocent old man. You harmless, selfless, peace-loving soul! How much you have been made to suffer in your Arkham career! It makes me shiver to think of it. The investigators use you, and then they lose you. They send you into the stacks for that all-important tome that only YOU know how to find. Then they whisk it from your hands and, by way of thank you, kick you, screaming, into the jaws of the next ghoul who wanders by. You serve the investigators, and then the investigators serve you (to the ghoul, that is).

I cannot save you from your fate, you bow-backed bringer of books, you ambler of aisles, you sorter of scrolls and meal of monsters. But I can honor you by providing an updated review of what you add to our decks, all while receiving nothing -- oh, worse than nothing! -- in return.

LikeAssur's review below was right for the moment (three years ago), but since then much has changed, and the humble research librarian has become an increasingly excellent asset. Here are the main changes:

1) We now have quite a few very high-powered tomes. Pnakotic Manuscripts and The Necronomicon occupy the top shelf of the updated tome library. The new Old Book of Lore is also quite good. These tomes cost quite a bit of XP, so it's be a shame for them to molder at the bottom of your deck all scenario. Research Librarian prevents that from happening. Think of it this way. You know that granddaddy of all search cards, No Stone Unturned. It costs a gigantic 5xp. If the best couple cards in your deck happen to be tomes, then in many situations the research librarian is just as good, at 0xp! If you don't have an ally out, he's actually better, crazy as that sounds. In the past he may have only been able to find you, at best, the Encyclopedia. But our man ain't dealing that weak sh*t anymore. Like that kid in Breaking Bad, he's got the REAL stuff now. It ain't always blue, but it IS always magic.

2) There is an easy, SO easy way to offset the Research Librarian's 2 resource cost. Just stick a copy or two of Astounding Revelation in your deck. Since the RL searches your whole deck, Astounding Revelation is guaranteed to trigger every time you play him. I do hesitate to recommend this strategy on humanitarian grounds, though... I really don't know how many mind-blowing revelations this poor guy can take. It just seems mean, every time you send him for a tome, to also demolish all his safe assumptions and confront him with the terrifying magnitude of the mythos.

3) The Research Librarian can now be recycled. If you have him in your deck, also consider a copy or two of Calling in Favors. This card lets you pull the librarian back to your hand, and go fishing in your deck for a stronger ally, offsetting the cost of the new ally by two. Thus, the RL not only lends you sweet books for free that you, because you're a crappy friend, never return; he'll also introduce you to his cool best friend Dr. Milan, who, because you are a REALLY crappy friend, you'll start hanging out with separately.

There are two takeaways here. 1) The Research Librarian is a giving, lovely person who makes our decks better in so many ways. 2) We do not deserve him! The RL deserves an investigator willing to invest in a committed, long term relationship. I will be that investigator! When I get around to it, I'm going to post my Literary Lives Matter deck to Arkhamdb, which will have the research librarian as the only ally, NO tomes because, seriously, he's an ally, not an errand boy, and two copies of Trusted, so my man knows he's appreciated.

10/10 review. That poor Research Librarian deserves so much more respect from people — Zinjanthropus · 223
We all must make some sacrifices for the greater good — Django · 4859
I always knew Django was a front for Carl Sanford... — Mordenlordgrandison · 424
The research librarian is hard done by, but at least this review gives him the recognition he deserves. All hail the research librarian! — SGPrometheus · 745
Interesting read. I definitely think you've nailed the head on the coffin with this one. I think cards that search your entire deck are VERY powerful and I am always wondering if we will get upgrades for cards like Flare or Prepared for the Worst that will expand to search more cards, if not the entire deck. However, I got to ask, is he any good with Mandy? Because Mandy's treachery shuts down the search, doesn't it? And it's bound to be there if you're searching the entire deck (unless you've managed to discard it I suppose). — LaRoix · 1627
@LaRoix I'd include the librarian in Mandy even without any tomes - specifically to force her weakness and make all future searches safe. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
I prefer rook in Mandy. Just 1 more resource for 2 soak, 3 searches and weakness removal — Django · 4859
@TheNameWasTaken So I like the idea of getting a treachery over and done with but... are you saying you'd play Research Librarian for the sole purpose of removing Mandy's signature weakness? Because Shocking Discovery will prevent you from getting the tome. So if you play Research Librarian turn 1, you are effectively spending a card, an action, and two resources for a 1/1 soak and an encounter card. I'm usually all for getting rid of weaknesses so I don't have to worry about them, but man. Guess it comes down to how important it is to get rid of Shocking Discovery vs improvising if it ruins a search mid game. — LaRoix · 1627
With Protecting the Aniriq, the dream of protecting our boy has finally come true. — suika · 9247

For most card players, getting the ability to search your deck for something and putting it into your hand is pretty awesome. For some CCGs, cards that do just that are more expensive just because they do that. It's a fantastic advantage to have.

But this isn't a CCG, it's Arkham Horror LCG.

On paper, Research Librarian seems perfectly suitable for any would-be Tome user:

  • At 2 resources, it's a really good 1st action, 1st turn play.
  • He comes with 1 health and 1 sanity, so he acts as a nice shield.
  • I can't emphasize how crazy some people get over tutoring for a card.

So he should be an auto-include for someone like Daisy Walker, right? ...Eh, kinda.

Research Librarian's greatest strength is also his downfall. Should you happen to draw your tomes before him, he just becomes a very flimsy 1 health/1 sanity shield, which, for 2 resources, is not very efficient. He also takes up the ally slot, which could be better used to fit whatever you're building toward.

His only usefulness is, like I said, on action 1 of turn 1 to search for your tome. After that, feed him to Forbidden Knowledge or shield some of that Dynamite Blast you had to use. Otherwise, keep him in your hand for that agility test. He's a one off at best, at least in my opinion.

LikeaSsur · 43
So Roland Banks actually used a poor research librarian as a human shield to save himself from a dynamite blast he set off himself? Damn.... Guess I know now how "cover up" became his signature weakness ;-) — Heyenzzz · 6373
One-off, absolutely - but do one or two of these mean you don't have to have second copies of valuable tomes? That could be quite appealing. — AndyB · 929
I could see the appeal in using these instead of having multiple tomes (especially for Encyclopedia and other XP tomes to be released). That's not something I considered, thanks! — LikeaSsur · 43
I don't find your argument very compelling. Research librarian only gets bad if you've drawn ALL the tomes in your deck (you don't put tomes you don't need into your deck). If you have all the tomes you need for the moment, it still draws a card which is still very good value! On top of this it is tutoring which really and definetely is very powerful. Compare this to arcane iniate which can draw multiple cards, but only searches three cards of your deck. It gets a doom token to balance it's effect! This card does not really take your ally slot, since it frontloads its whole power. You can discard it afterwards and you're still fine. I think an evaluation of this card needs to look at the available tomes first and foremost. — Nils · 1
I dont really agree with this review. For Daisy Walker having tomes in play is every bit as important, even moreso, as having weapons is for a combat character. Combat characters jump through hoops to have enough weapons or to be able to tutor their ideal weapons. And just like for combat characters, once you've got your main weapon on the table, the rest become redundant and so do the tutors. Even if you dont need the tomes and play this guy purely for tank reasons you still get to filter out some unneeded books and heighten your draw chances for more useful cards. — Tsuruki23 · 2469
The value only goes up if you have some Tome Options in your deck, if you have a copy of Ecyclopedia as well as Tome of Lore. — Tsuruki23 · 2469
This is also a rare occurrence of a "search your deck" which will trigger all Research options. Using it with Mandy will immediately fetch her weakness which can be good to get it out of the way — Shiver · 1
I'm not fond of using this in Mandy unless you have appropriate Tome options included. Yes, it can get your weakness 'out of the way' - but so do most of Mandy's other search options, since they let you choose when you want to take the risk and respond accordingly. In addition, Mandy's weakness is very likely to trigger before you ever pull this, meaning it can 'whiff' the same way as if you've already pulled Tomes. You don't even need it for triggering Research - it may be a guaranteed trigger, but Mandy decks have enough searches that you'll tend to trigger all of your Researches without it, so the 'guarantee' isn't worth the other costs. — Ruduen · 890
I do still like this in Mandy, but only if I'm also running Calling in Favors and other allies. Assuming Rook gets taboo'd- which seems very likely- Librarian, Favors, and Old Book of Lore might see more play. — StyxTBeuford · 12917
The downside is that it discards Dr. Milan Christopher if you've already played him. — shenaniganz11 · 28