Finn Edwards, Don't Overthink It

Finn Edwards, Bootlegger Extraordinaire. Rogue is a class that is notoriously underpowered, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying them. I am personally a Seeker at heart but find myself gravitating back to Rogue often. Is it the cheekiness? Is it the sweet butterfly knife trick vids? Is it the theme dripping everywhere?

Minor TFA Spoilers Ahead

Whatever your draw to the class and Finn is, I believe he's a powerful complement to a group and particularly potent in the TFA scenarios (full disclosure, my group has yet to run Threads of Fate). Acting as a devoted investigator that clears out clues to maximize your group's XP gains before saying, "I'm outta here!", Finn can operate as a more self-sufficient clue vacuum that lets his partner(s) be the same in their respective roles.

His stat line needs little commentary. Excellent Intellect and Agility. Passable Combat. Atrocious Will. This deck's solution to the gaping weakness? "You handle this one!". Guts is a fallback option but one we will upgrade out of soon. Why waste the slots on a card that will barely get us to the test threshold? We might as well lean into his stat weakness.

Finn's unique weakness, Caught Red-Handed, is very generous and often doesn't go off. I think FFG should have let hunters attack off this card as well.

The skill card selections are pretty straightforward. Maximize your strengths with Manual Dexterity and Perception. Unexpected Courage is rarely a dead draw. Guts is, as mentioned, soon to be upgraded out of but nice to have. Overpower can also hold this temporary slot.

The splash options may seem odd at first. No Hyperawareness to dump all our resources into? Without Double or Nothing and no guarantee of being wealthy for the first scenario, I argue it's best to rely on static boosts in Magnifying Glass and Dr. Milan Christopher. Christopher is your resource engine and minor sanity soak in a pinch. 5 splash cards leaves us with a lonely slot. Lucky! is a great top-deck and with only one copy, we aren't relying on or strategizing around it.

A lone Lone Wolf is a good passive generator.

Burglary and Lucky Cigarette Case are a straightforward combo, as most scenarios have at least one location with low shroud and Burglary doesn't require clues to be on a location to be used. Often, an opening hand with the two and Milan can be extremely powerful... Ex: Start with Burglary and Lucky Cigarette Case. A likely successful investigate at a starting location with 0-2 shroud. Finish with Christopher and an extra card in hand.

Coming from a Magic background and a deep love of combo decks, the best combos and synergies have pieces that work well on their own and excellently together. Burglary, Cigarette Case, and Christopher are all strong on their own, in an opener and otherwise, and synergize without interrupting Finn's game plan: investigate.

Of these pieces, Cigarette Case is easily the least potent and therefore the first to cut. But having a Pickpocketing that (often) fires and isn't limited to one type of skillcheck still seems good to me.

This brings me to Double or Nothing. In my view, this is the definition of a Win More card. Including it assumes that every game you will A. Find your Hyperawareness or have a Flashlight on a 2 shroud location B. If Hyperawareness, have a resource engine running and C. Find a skill test that's reasonable to double the difficulty of that also has a result worth doubling. It's powerful and exciting when it happens, but I've found this game to be about exploiting your minor advantages and mitigating your devastating weaknesses. Until Rogue has a better card pool, Double or Nothing isn't for me and thus Finn.*

*Despite this rant, eventually Double or Nothing will make its cameo in this deck.

Combat is not this deck's forte. Backstab and Switchblade work in a pinch, but ideally you're taking free evade actions and letting your team clean up. There are multiple upgrade paths to improve our combat options though.

So far in TFA, Vengeance adds incentive to evading until you can leave non-hunters (snakes) at emptied locations. Pickpocketing is a reliable engine for card-draw that Finn often needs. Finn's Trusty .38 is an exceptional unique because it gives Finn a combat option that doesn't require much card support. Its icons are strong, too.

When the scenario is winding down we have two exit strategies and a plan C. "I'm outta here!" or Elusive give us ways to bail or leap across to the exit location or an adjacent one. Plan C is to run like hell, taking free evades when necessary. Plans A and B are nice because they give Finn the ability to linger, cleaning up stray clues to maximize XP and drawing stray hunters away from partners that have to make a getaway the old fashioned way (the rubes!).

Upgrades:

TFA is proving to be a challenging campaign so far. So, if you're feeling cocky, Charon's Obol is potent across 5+ scenarios.

Otherwise...

Priority 1: Streetwise along with Adaptable to make adjustments.

Lockpicks are potent, tutorable via Smuggled Goods, and allow you to sub out Magnifying Glass to allow for Deduction or Logical Reasoning, depending on your needs.

Priority 2: Lola Santiago when she drops. I haven't played with her yet but the power and synergy is apparent. With Charon's Obol, Charisma could pair Christopher with Santiago early on for ridiculous results (doing Leo better than Leo).

Guts -> Sure Gamble. This upgrade path stolen from here.

If combat is an issue bring in Lupara for Switchblade and Adaptable in Sleight of Hand.

Priority 3: Pickpocketing and likely drop Lucky Cigarette Case for Hard Knocks (if Combat is an issue) or Double or Nothing if you're ready to go off.

Record Scratch

"B-b-b-but you made me read a whole paragraph about how Double or Nothing isn't a good choice!"

Yeah, well with proper support in Lockpicks, Sure Gamble, and Streetwise, Double or Nothing is no longer a dead card and makes the game exciting. We're playing Rogue after all, so let's take some risks.

Priority 4: I personally dislike the game-warping effects of Key of Ys but its power can't be ignored.

If you didn't grab it before, Lupara and Sleight of Hand should be in there by now.

Priority 5: Follow the heart of the cards at this point but some ideas...

Sneak Attack.

Narrow Escape.

Ace in the Hole.

Bulletproof Vest and/or Elder Sign Amulet.

The Red-Gloved Man for Fallout Mysterious Stranger action.

Note: This is my first deck explanation and I'm far from an expert. Shoot corrections and suggestions my way. Finn's becoming a fast favorite, so let's find his potential.