Money Buys Happiness | Chapter 2 Starter Guide

Money Buys Happiness

This series provides 10 playtested decks using the Chapter 2 Core and new Starters, with each deck compatible for two player with at least 7 others (and working well at high player counts). Here big money André makes it rain with Marcus, Sticky Fingers, Thieves' Kit, Emergency Cache, "Watch this!" and Out the Door. He then puts this cash to work, with Well Connected for boosts and Black Fan for a raft of benefits. Don't believe what they say - money does buy happiness!

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At a Glance

Stats
Clue-finding:	★★★★☆
Consistency:	★★★★☆
Enemy Management:	★★★☆☆
Encounter Defense:	★★★★☆
Survivability:	★★★☆☆
Simplicity:	★★★★★

Overview

• Baby I got your money, don't you worry: This deck is all about making bank. Marcus, Sticky Fingers, Thieves' Kit, Emergency Cache, "Watch this!", Out the Door and André's own ability all give resources. This is 34% of the deck overall, so you'll see these cards a lot! Prestidigitation also provides discounts, and returns an empty Thieves' Kit to be used again - with André being a capable clue-finder. As the deck isn't especially expensive (your most expensive card costs just 3 resources), this allows the cheddar to pile up.

• Money makes the world go round: Money switches on Well Connected, as with 20 resources you can receive a +5 boost to any test once per round. This works wonders both with André's ability and against treacheries. That 20 resource mark also powers up the The Black Fan, giving a +1 to all your stats, more health and sanity, and an extra action per turn. Easy Street is your final enabler, providing a big wild boost that plays nicely with André's "Know the..." signature cards. A single copy of Silver Tongue is in the deck to allow another use for your cash (upgraded to its better version in higher XP campaigns).

• Clued in: With this deck you'll often pivot from Thieves' Kit and Lockpicks in your hands for early clue-finding, to The Black Fan and Lockpicks later (i.e. when Well Connected can pick up the slack and boost another investigate action). Lockpicks facilitate over-success, triggering Lucky Cigarette Case alongside your ability. This card draw then helps you find Black Fan and Well Connected, giving this deck a nice arc. Lucky Cigarette Case is therefore a key mulligan target, as card draw can be tricky without it.

• Give 'em the slip: André's 5 Agility stat makes him a capable evader, especially with the many icons dotted through his deck. With André often getting an extra action per turn, this makes it easier to evade, move and then clue-find in those final two actions. You also have Right Under Their Noses to provide clues for evading itself.

• Weakness: Weight of the World is a bit of a pain, but Well Connected saves you from failure on many tough tests. Marcus Sengstacke also provides horror soak, meaning you can shoulder it better than other decks.

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Explain Yourself!

Big money is a no brainer for André. Honestly there's not too much that's surprising here and the deck does what it says on the tin. In terms of not taking Olivier, firstly it's in the Trish deck and secondly - while Olivier is great - I do like that with Marcus your sanity soak is taken care of in a single card. I have however made an alternate version of the deck with Olivier for those who are keen - link in the next section. Regarding no damage dealing options, they require a lot of space and so can be a distraction on evader decks depending on the specific focus.

I did find André's stat ratings tricky on this deck, so I wanted to explain these a little. Clue-finding is 4 ★ by dint of the actor's frequent extra action, meaning he can net 4 clues in a turn (or even 5 with The Black Fan's extra action). Despite somewhat inconsistent card draw, the 4 ★ consistency rating is due to André decently evading enemies and finding clues with or without his full engine in place - i.e. he's still consistently doing what the deck is designed to do. Enemy management is a 3 ★ as, although André is an above average evader, you're not shutting enemies down permanently like you do with a Guardian.

Campaign starter and planned progression

In terms of side deck, please follow this link for an Olivier variant of the deck. I do slightly prefer Marcus Sengstacke on this deck (makes you richer faster, and soaks horror), which is why I put Olivier on my Trish deck for this series - even so I thought I'd oblige!

0 XP deck is below (and link here):

A recommended order of purchases/upgrades is:

• Lockpicks → Lockpicks •

• 1 x Unexpected Courage → 1 x Well Connected

• 1 x Unexpected Courage → The Black Fan*

• 1 x Silver Tongue → 1 x Well Connected

• Marcus Sengstacke → Marcus Sengstacke ••

_{*Alternatively you can have The Black Fan as your final upgrade (for your second copy of Silver Tongue), as you won't see it too often. I'd upgrade Marcus Sengstacke before buying Well Connected when taking this alternate route. In lower XP campaigns though, I prioritize getting the zanier upgrade early - optimization be damned!}

Post-18 XP suggestions are:

• Out the Door → Out the Door •

• 1 x Silver Tongue → 1 x Silver Tongue •••

• Sticky Fingers → Sticky Fingers ••

Compatability Matrix

Everyone likes a good matrix! Below are all the decks that are compatible at two player using one Chapter 2 Core and one 2026 Starter Deck set:

For higher player counts I've not 'compatabilized' the basic skills (Overpower, Manual Dexterity, Guts, Perception and Unexpected Courage). There are only 4 copies of each in the Chapter 2 core, enough for any two decks. If playing 3+ players and there's a clash, you can either:

• Swap with an appropriate level 0 class skill which that deck can use (e.g. On the Brink for Unexpected Courage).

• Swap with a class event or asset with matching or similar symbols (e.g. Working a Hunch for Perception).

• Swap with a different underused basic skill you still believe would be useful for the deck (e.g. Guts for Unexpected Courage).

• Proxy however you see fit (especially if you own Chapter 1 cards, just use the old school versions and remember the slight difference around who draws the card).

I empower you to do sensible things!

Final thoughts

While this deck isn't crazy powerful in any one area, it's competent in many - which I think is exactly what you want in an archetypal Rogue (making everything about tests, or money, or both). I know some people call Rogues in this chapter "green Mystics" and, while I can see that a bit, there is some nuance with how Agility works on Rogues - e.g. they do receive innate enemy management, so their assets are weaker vs. a Mystic. This lends itself to a quantity not quality approach, which is further amped up here by André getting an extra action most rounds. The "a lot of little bites" playstyle is a fun one, so for me André is great!

Any thoughts - drop them below!