Gamblin' and Gunnin' Parallel "Skids"

My disclaimer is that I'm not a top-tier deck-builder by any means, but I still like to share these from time to time, as I've had some great Arkham games using decks made by others. If you enjoy playing this one, leave a comment and let me know!

Intro

This self-made deck was built during an ultimately successful run of The Path to Carcosa (on Easy, though I think this would have worked fine in Standard), paired with Daisy Walker. We earned a rather paltry 24 XP leading up to the final scenario--though in a few scenarios it was certainly possible for us to have earned more--but the deck still performed to my satisfaction!

The basic goal, as with I think most Parallel "Skids" builds, is to use his gambling ability every turn (at least gambling at a difficulty of 1), both to ensure you have a bucket of cash to be able to handle your Debts and to fuel your Well Connected/Hard Knocks, which are going to help you pass tests since there aren't any static boosts here. I usually gambled at the end of my turn, but of course you can do so whenever you'd like.

In quieter moments, using a Lucky! can allow you to risk gambling at 2 or 3 and still get away with it, and using "Watch this!" on relatively safe tests also can dump a huge pile of cash in your pocket. More cash comes from Emergency Cache as well.

Finding guns is the hard part here (though the smaller starting deck size helps). They can be relatively easily reloaded once used, though, with Scrounge for Supplies, and you can also even get paid for tossing one away with Act of Desperation. Once you get higher levels of your Fortune and Gambit cards (Lucky!, Lucky!, Daring Maneuver) and/or get your Lucky Cigarette Case into play, though, you will have pretty decent card draw, which also helps compensate for the deck getting a bit bigger.

Upgrades

Level 1 (First 8 XP)

• Your first priority is to increase your fortune (literally and figuratively). Your base skills are fine but not amazing, and you will fail some tests, usually by 1 or 2. Add two Level 2 Lucky! and that's no longer as much of a problem. (4 XP)

• Add in a Level 2 Daring Maneuver to help ensure you're oversucceeding sufficiently to make the most of your Derringer shots. (2 XP)

• Upgrade one of your Level 0 Derringers to Level 2. With some good planning, this should allow you squeak out 3 extra actions during a scenario. (2 XP)

Level 2 (Next 9 XP)

• You still need luck, so toss in two Level 3 Lucky!, and in a pinch you can even share with a friend so they don't fail a crucial test. (6 XP)

• Upgrading one of your Well Connected to its Level 3 version is surprisingly strong, even if it doesn't read that way right away--it didn't to me, initially, anyway! (3 XP).

Level 3 (Next 7 XP)

• I traded exactly one of my .45 Thompsons for a Chicago Typewriter. I deliberately didn't swap both, for two reasons. One, it's a pretty high XP cost and this campaign we didn't squeeze out that many but perhaps more importantly, the Thompson (and the Derringers) can be recurred with Scrounge for Supplies or via his . The Chicago Typewriter cannot. As the Thompson is still a more consistent extra-damage dealer than the Derringers, I wanted that option still on the table if it happened to be in the discard. (4 XP)

• Upgrading a Backstab to Level 3 gives another good use for your Daring Maneuvers, as a potentially spammable source of 3 damage. (3 XP)

Beyond

I didn't get this far and/or changed my mind, but I did have some other potential options that could be fun:

• Replacing Overpower with Garrote Wire to make 3-health enemy management a bit less annoying.
• Getting your second Well Connected certainly does no harm. Getting your second Level 2 Derringer doesn't either.
• Ditto for the second Backstab and a second Daring Maneuver, the latter of which doesn't need to replace anything.
• Replacing Emergency Cache with Level 2 Hot Streak, and then later adding the Level 4 Hot Streak since it has the Fortune keyword. I rarely felt strapped for cash so didn't prioritize this, though it was part of my original plan.
• Similarly, I never really struggled with card draw/finding weapons, so I didn't upgrade into Level 3 Lucky Cigarette Case, but that is also an option.
• I originally considered replacing both of my "Watch this!" with Momentum but I liked what was happening with my economy, so I pivoted away, but the latter in particular reduces test difficulty, which makes it easier to gamble at 3 if you crush the preceding test.
• I didn't own it at the time I started play with this deck, but British Bull Dog seems a totally viable alternative to the Derringer, albeit at the cost of -1 skill value while still in the Level 0 version. Being able to cheat it into play obviously also helps keeps the ex-con wealthier.
• Bianca "Die Katz" seems a plausible replacement for Emergency Cache. Haven't played with it yet, of course, though so can't say for certain. Also would provide some soak, as this deck otherwise lacks for that.