Since no-one seems to have noticed, ill just point out that this card fits perfectly into any deck using Dark Horse, where it's restriction is suddenly "at least 1 higher". For Dark Horse Duke ("Ashcan" Pete), This is basically the perfect skill card to go with all your passive stat boosters.

Of course, Even for Dark Horse its basically a 3rd and 4th copy of Unexpected Courage.

Sealing specialist(s) - Can be splitted between two players, only the reloads should be combined on one player:

• Arcane Slot 1: Seal of the Seventh Sign (5). Seal the auto-fail token.

• Arcane Slot 2: Protective Incantation (1). Seal the worst non-auto-fail token.

• Hand Slot 1: The Chthonian Stone or The Chthonian Stone (3). Seal the second worst non-auto-fail token.

• Ally Slot 1: Twila Katherine Price. Return a charge to the Seal if it is triggered.

• Hand Slot 2: Book of Shadows (3). Use actions you don't need to the Seal. Get an additional arcane slot.

• Arcane Slot 3: 2nd Protective Incantation (1): Seal the fourth token.

• Accessory Slot: Shining Trapezohedron. Pay the costs of 1 protective incantation per round, because it's a resource cost on a spell.

Events:

• Recharge (2) or Recharge (4). Place new charges on the Seal.

Qualified investigators:

• Akachi Onyele: Extra charges.
• Jacqueline Fine: Cancel revelation effects.
• Jim Culver: Leave the skull with value 0.

Works well with:

• Ancient Covenant + Blessing Generator
• other mystics with spell assets and events with negative side effects on symbol tokens

I had a friend play this tonight when we were playing the second scenario of Forgotten Age, and he had a pretty clever use for it: he took the last clue off of a high shroud location (shroud 5) and put it on a slightly lower shroud location that had just been revealed (shroud 4). Why was this clever? Because the location we took the last clue from was worth a victory point.

Now, you can obviously use this card to lower the shroud of a location and make it easier to investigate for a turn, but I don't think that's terribly relevant. Why? Because, except for a few corner cases where people have extra actions, you are, at best, going to get two investigations with -1 shroud.

I think the best use of this card you are going to regularly get to use is taking clues from locations you don't want them and moving them somewhere else. And I don't just mean from high shroud locations. Some locations inflict a penalty for trying to move on to them or for trying to investigate on them. And I can think of three locations from that scenario alone that would fit the above description.

But the times you will be most proud of yourself will be the times when you spent one resource and net your team a victory point.

Hypothesis: Backpack is what's finally going to start pushing this card into relevance.

Analysis: There are two major issues with Relic Hunter that have always left it in the shadow of Charisma.

The first is that allies are just inherently more useful than most of the accessories. Holy Rosary sits alone atop it's throne for 0 XP accessories, whereas 0 XP allies includes powerful staples such as Dr. Milan Christopher, Peter Sylvestre, and even allies like Alyssa Graham or David Renfield that provide a flat stat boost along with a modest amount of damage/horror soak. Even Beat Cop (0) puts in big work, soaking one damage and one horror while providing the same +1 stat and while also having a useful sacrifice condition.

Those are just allies that provide at least one damage worth of soak and a +1 stat bonus too. That's not mentioning the more disposable ones like Art Student, Research Librarian, or even Arcane Initiate (0).

The second is that accessories haven't had quite the same support that allies have for a good while. Calling in Favors may not have been around for that long, but it's still a massive boon to Charisma decks. Again, even though we've had A Chance Encounter (both versions) for less time than Scavenging they're also just easier to use. The ally support also seems to consistently put the ally into play whereas item/accessory support doesn't.

Now however, we finally have Backpack. It doesn't dig as deep, nor does it put your accessories straight into play, but it does do something else important. It finds you multiple types of cards--and no, I don't just mean it finds you the types item and supply. It will help you dig up Flashlights, Lockpicks, or Magnifying Glasses so you can investigate, maybe help trigger that Scavenging easier? It can also help you dig up a weapon with which to defend yourself--and this is all in addition to helping dig for your accessories to put into play.

The only problem? We still don't quite have accessories on the same power level as we do allies. We don't have accessories with upgrade paths the way we do with allies. We don't even have anywhere close to the same pool of unique cards to choose from that aren't signature cards. There are only three accessories that offer any amount of horror soaking, and one of them costs a fair bit of XP. None of them offer damage soaking, which admittedly is fair from a flavour perspective (that's what body slot items should do). Even with how nuts Key of Ys is when powered up, you still defend it with allies. That card isn't that unfair compared to The Red-Gloved Man given the support that it has from the rest of the card pool.

Conclusion: We have the support we need for accessories in cards like Charles Ross, Esq., Backpack, Relic Hunter, and Scavenging. What we lack are the accessories that are worth supporting with these cards. Until that changes, accessories will be relegated to set and forget all-stars like Rabbit's Foot and Holy Rosary, with brief appearances from Cherished Keepsake or Elder Sign Amulet to help patch up the sanity of investigators vulnerable to horror.

Most grievously for Carolyn's deck, 'To Fight the Black Wind', presumably a metaphor for clinical depression [or for some convulsive disorder of the bowels?] makes many demands of her admirers in AH:TCG. Nestled furtively within lies power - to overwhelm and destroy!

Consider, first, "1 direct horror" discharged so stickily upon her when revealed [in such moments one imagines a sound as of a strained grunting] - the Forced is satisfied and the redheaded doctor is stricken with the "horror...assigned to an investigator this round" (that is to say, not to an asset). Doom is come. Absent an extravagantly drawful deck, the greater portion of investigators' draws dribble from upkeep. That is too late in the round for undoing Carolyn's distress. Were it an agenda's final round (by doom-allowance) no matter, but in likelihood Carolyn's bosom campaign-ions will submit to the indignity of an entire round per-scenario being taken from them, the price the woman charges for a grouping with her.

Little cost-effective remedy is to be had. Should it be the final horror necessary to defeat her, 'Cheat Death' would solve the problem - but what of that, unless it be thought a practical business to take a 5XP card to intentionally suffer 5 horror and hold your lingerings furtive on just 1 sanity remaining, until 'To Fight the Black Wind' is announced. Creative minds calling upon, say, 'Ancient Stone (Minds in Harmony)' or 'Key of Ys' will find no relief. Timing betrays the former, for that card's heal-on-draw reaction-trigger is realised "when" drawing; thus after the draw but before its' impact on the game-state resolves (that is to say, agenda-attachment and 1 direct horror to Carolyn) - and for the latter, the very distinction between assignment and placement that adjusts the destination of direct horror assigned to Carolyn to be placed on 'Key of Ys' ensures the Forced effect of 'To Fight the Black Wind' still dominates.

Some options:

• i) Extra draws each time you take a turn with her, reducing the risk of 'To Fight the Black Wind' coming when hardest. Suggested deck options might be: No Stone Unturned/Eureka (when ready to receive it, intentionally pull it into your hand); Lab Assistant/Preposterous Sketches.
• ii) Purpose to appoint when the card will come, swallowing slots of deck, of assets, of max. 15 Seeker/Mystic, and taking in resources, actions and cards in hand; and all of this for one task only and even that without surety. Say, of Carolyn, that she with 'Scrying' closely examines one's own deck; 'Alyssa Graham' goes down in play to keep looking at the top, riskily adding her own count of doom when the time comes. A mighty strain.
• iii) Forswear her fully.
• iv) Shrug the shoulders. Embrace damnation - and the doom-ation in whose company it travels. It's 1 doom.

Rounds yet to be played in the agenda bear the risk of additional doom; more serious, naturally, when attached earlier in its' doom-allowance. Obvious wisdom can be seen in keeping horror-heals ready [via assets in play / events in hand], especially multiple-target heals [e.g. 'Kerosene'/'"If it bleeds..."'] and/or action-conserving heals['Ancient Stone (Minds in Harmony)', 'Fearless'], but also there is prevention to consider - e.g. 'Brother Xavier' to be assigned horror suffered by team-mates; 'Dodge'/'Hypnotic Gaze' for cancellations of attacks, both against yourself and team-mates - and more importantly still that all investigators take account, action-to-action, the heightened consequences of choices that risk horror being dealt to them.