I personally think that a Norman deck should be running Eureka, Foresight, Parallel Wills, and Scrying because there's just so much synergy between those cards and his ability. That said, it won't always be possible but you would be able to get around Harbinger if you ever caught it in a scry or parallel wills - make sure to Eureka when you know it's in the top 3 cards and name it with Foresight ahead of time (per FFG it looks like for Foresight and "Search and Draw" effects they want the timing window to be prior to the search part). If it gets to the top of your deck normally you can't Foresight it since it prevents itself from being drawn, but if you can draw it from inside your deck that bypasses the limitation and Foresight cancels it before the Revelation effect would put it on top of your deck.

That said, if you know it's coming you can also just prepare for it and time the "draw" when you know you can spare the two actions, but that combination of cards does let you skip having to deal with that and is worth noting I think.

A very good upgrade in more ways than one to a card that's normally used for its high soak.

The first change we see is that you can now use this ability on ANY investigator rather than just yourself, which includes not having to be at their location. Just like Ward of Protection (2) this means you can always be ready to counter the Ancient Evils that the Guardian at the other side of the map drew.

Now for the real boost. The lv 0 version allowed you to draw a card, say "yikes!", shuffle it into the encounter deck, draw another card, and if you were unlucky say "even more yikes!" and wish you hadn't used the ability. And to make things worse you're simply postponing the danger as the first card is still in the encounter deck.

This card, however, gives you the choice between the two so you will ALWAYS negate the "even more yikes!" encounter card. Either you negate the first card that was bad enough for you to use this ability, or you negate the second card which would have been even worse. Dr. Billy T-M never misses! Additionally, the lv 2 card actually "cancels and discards" the card you choose. You don't shuffle the lit fuse into the encounter deck like before, it simply discards.

So not only does it supercharge the original ability, it also allows it to be used on the rest of the map. The downside compared to similar cards like Forewarned is of course that you (or your ally) must still resolve the lesser of the two evils. But this is a fair price to pay for an ability that can be triggered every mythos phase.

But why would you choose Billy over other cards that doesn't take a hotly contested ally slot like the previously mentioned Ward of Protection, Forewarned, and A Test of Will? The reason is that Billy doesn't care about your revelation effects. Billy doesn't care that there's a "Surge" written above "Revelation". Billy doesn't care that enemies aren't revelation effects. Billy sees a card he doesn't like and cancels it.

As for the cost, placing a clue down, it's not all downsides. Crack the Case, Hawk-Eye Folding Camera, and cards that only work while standing on clues like Inquiring Mind and Preposterous Sketches are easier to trigger. Not to mention Research Notes from the same expansion.

Incredible encounter deck manipulation. Billy has indeed been "Working on Something Bigger".

You can see Gumption as a somewhat reverse Unexpected Courage. While UC increases your value by 2, Gumption decreases your goal by 2. Either way, you're two number better than you were before comitting the skill card. They both also have the same limit of 1 per test and are both innate (Which matters for cards like True Survivor).

So the question becomes "Why do I spend two experience to upgrade my two UC into Gumptions?" I decided to list some of the pros and cons.

Cons: -The 2 experience price (While small, it does matter for small xp campaigns where your XP needs to go to your core cards, and gumption is probably not gonna be ur engine unless you're playing a Darrel 0 skill test archetype).

-Has no icons. Therefore does not work with cards like Grimsly Totem or interactions that need you to discard card with specific items/quantity of icons (Minh's The King in Yellow.)

-Does not interact with scrounge for supplies, I guess.

-Pros:

-If you're doing a 2 skill test, you can reduce the test to 0. It then becomes an auto-win unless you draw your auto-fail token. On the other hand, 2 skill tests are usually easy enough to pass with. Which brings us to...

-Old Key Ring (Lv 3). Together with Gumption means you can reduce a 4 shroud location to 0. This is much more interesting as a 4 shroud can be difficult for most non-seeker characters.

-Combos with Shed a Light and Exploit Weakness. Although it's not the only way to achieve a 0 skill test (Map the Area, Expose Weakness, Breach the Door, Makeshift Trap) it's probably the most versatile. When you buy gumption, this is probably the deck you're running. And it's not like you can only use ONE of these methods to reduce a test value. Use them all to get to that sweet 0 when you're running 2+ tests.

-Combos with Darrell Simmons for the above reason.

-Weirdly, Combos with Grizzled if it has the "Nemesis" upgrade.

-Combos with Resourceful, if that matters to you.

Of course, you CAN run both copies of UC and both copies of Gumption. You can even put one of each in a test for that sweet +4 in whatever ya need.

Good in Wendy?

I'm experimenting with this in Wendy Adams right now, and it's been OK when her Amulet is on the board.

Level 2:

• Sharpened Talent: +2 on whatever test I make with the action
• Situational Awareness: "" (I know it's not really a Free Action, which is why I put it in quotes) Investigate (+4 with Old Keyring: -2 Shroud and +2 skill)
• Killer Instinct: "" Fight (total of 5 with .18 Derringer (2) or 7 with Cheap Shot) or Evade
• I can also just take the free action on a 3+ success or when the Agenda or Act advance, but I look at this the same way I look at A Test of Will: I'll hold onto it for when it matters, and I think it matters most you can scoop up some easy clues or attack (or evade) an enemy that just engaged you. Unless it's REALLY important to Move, I'm not using this card for that.

Wendy's Amulet makes it interesting because I can commit it for or discard it for her ability and still play it while it's the topmost event.

Is this worth 4XP?

• Maybe (probably?) not, but Survivors are typically looking for ways to spend XP by the end of a campaign anyway.
• You can get an extra action every turn with two Leo De Luca (for consistency) for 0XP or two Leo De Luca (1) for 2XP, but you really want Peter Sylvestre (2) in your ally slot. So just buy Charisma and have both in play. This will cost 3XP (or 5XP if you've upgraded Leo) for an extra action every turn. This is also getting you some extra soak at the cost of 6 or 5 resources. That's probably a better use of the XP, but Leo is expensive, even at level 1.

_Almost_ a [Lucky!](/card/01080)

• For 1 resource it's an extra action and +2 to a skill test (with Sharpened Talent), so it's almost a pre-test Lucky!. Two Lucky! (2) will also cost you 4XP and they replace themselves, but you're probably running them anyway.
• You can also look at it as a (situational) "" test with an Unexpected Courage, which event-heavy Wendy decks might not include.

So is it good in Wendy?

I think it's ok+ to good- in Wendy as long as you have her Amulet out because of the event interaction. When Abandoned and Alone does inevitably hit, you'll start to see this card more often (as long as it wasn't in your discard pile) because your deck will be thinner.

This enemy has a combination of rule that maybe problematic for an inexperienced player like I was.

• Massive :
  • A ready enemy with the massive keyword is considered to be engaged with each investigator at the same location as it.
  • An enemy with the massive keyword cannot be placed in an investigator's threat area.
• Hunter :
  • During the enemy phase (in framework step 3.2), each ready, unengaged enemy with the hunter keyword moves to a connecting location, along the shortest path towards the nearest investigator. Enemies at a location with one or more investigators do not move.
• Prey :
  • If an enemy that is moving towards the nearest investigator has a choice between multiple equidistant investigators, that enemy must select among those investigators the one who best meets its "prey" instructions.

So

• Prior to this point it looks like Hunter enemy stops moving because someone move it from the map to threat area, which is intuitive to understand. In this case Massive monster does not enter anyone's threat area, but still Hunter stops working due to Massive "considered" engaged.
• If the lowest tries to lure it away, but there is someone with higher nearer, Prey does not matter and it moves to the nearest investigator anyway. (With large map like The Midnight Mask a misunderstanding like this goes uncorrected, until this scenario.)