Miss Barnes Gets Mad (Complete Carcosa with Spoilers)

Let me share with you the sad story of Miss Barnes. I was no friend to her and haven’t the right to call her Jenny.

Things started, as they often do, well enough. I bought Hour of the Huntress and thought it a lark to run a double-signature Hard campaign in Carcosa. Miss Barnes' sanity failed her in Curtain Call, but things got better from there. Never easy as the Sacrificial Beast constantly turned up to dry up her supply of resources shortly after the Green Man Medallion came out, but scenarios were passed and victory points accumulated.

Then Phantom of Truth happened. With Searching for Izzie on the board and one sanity remaining with a single round remaining, Miss Barnes could have resigned and taken the one trauma. She thought herself better than that and went for it only to be immediately knocked out by the encounter deck.

Combined with torching the party and failing Curtain Call, Miss Barnes was now on four mental trauma. A nice, ordered plan of upgrades was scrapped as she entered survival mode. She burned her Sure Gamble victory points on an Elder Sign Amulet and second Adaptable, to bring in Cherished Keepsake and the Desperate skills.

Though they almost got her through the Pallid Mask and she ultimately failed at Black Stars Rise, it was my favorite solo run thus far. Things went awry and I had to adapt. I love that my deck building became a story itself and was forced to deal with the reality of the trauma situation and not follow my deck theories. It was an experience I imagine few games could offer.

Following you can find some recaps with spoilers of the individual scenarios.

Curtain Call: An inauspicious start for Jenny. Had a nice set up with a first-turn Leo De Luca and Lone Wolf and cleared the first three clues alright. Even added some offerings to the Green Man Medallion. Then it all fell apart. Kept pinging horror from the encounter deck, and the Sacrificial Beast froze out my extra money. Didn't have the skill to investigate the Man in the Pallid Mask and waited to draw into Dynamite Blast. By then the Emissary had arrived. I thought I had a chance to get the Man and maybe resign on one remaining horror with "I'm outta here!", but then I read the Emissary's text and learned I had been defeated a turn earlier. Lame.

Last King: I need to shuffle better. Very similar early turns. Leo de Luca and Lone Wolf dropped on the first turn, and the Sacrificial Beast followed a few turns later. At least Leo made interviewing Ashleigh easy. Threw money at the Constance problem with help from Streetwise, but the Beast froze me out from talking to Perry and I couldn't draw Fine Clothes. Ended up ping ponging around the house until the transformed Moreau and Perry forced me out. Did get to chuck a Dynamite Blast at the transformed Moreau, Man in the Pallid Mask and a cultist. That felt good.

Echoes of the Past: Even easier on single player. Cultists came late and gave Jenny free reign to run around and scoop clues. Nice to know about the victory point in the Hidden Library beforehand. Leo de Luca, Green Man Medallion and Sacrificial Beast all came out early again. I don't know. I'm writing this two months later, but it was a walk. Took the Onyx Clasp?

The Unspeakable Oath: Switched out Leo de Luca for Cat Burglar before the scenario, and that was the right choice. I don't think I killed a single enemy. I just kept ducking and weaving and letting all the not Hunters sit on their thumbs. Timely pulls helped a lot in some sticky situations, the Medallion earned me three victory points and I escaped with Daniel Chesterfield. Nice.

Phantom of Truth: So close. Took a mental trauma at the onset from burning the party, but I was doing fine scooping clues and keeping my distance from The Organist. I was picking damage and horror from treacheries but felt good. Then Searching for Izzie dropped. One doom to advance and finish the scenario, and I went for Izzie with one sanity remaining. Bad treachery and worse chaos pull to take a sanity defeat, and I end the scenario with three mental trauma, four total. Time to spend those xp on Elder Sign Amulets and Adapt in some desperation skills.

Pallid Mask: Even closer than Phantom. Literally one more turn from victory (or at least not ignominious defeat). I played it out and everything after throwing enough clues at the Man in the Pallid Mask. Escaped the Narrow Passage and Cat Burgled past the Poltergeist and out the Blocked Passage and everything. But I didn't have that turn and took a physical trauma and read the second act of the King in Yellow instead. Of course it doesn't help when you draw four of the five weaknesses in your deck (only missed out on Searching for Izzie) and lose all that tempo. Would have helped, too, to not find the Tomb of Shadows in the very last Catacombs. I led two Corpse Dwellers and the Spectre of Death on a merry chase. Didn't catch me once.

Black Stars Rise: Once again I was one round from victory, and once more I was felled by my own hubris. I don’t even know what I would have done with that fifth victory point. I was rolling. Fast advanced the right agenda, Alyssa kept the weaknesses at bay, Cat Burglar kept the distance from byakhee and I drew all the Hot Streaks and Sure Gambles, but I failed that last treachery and ate three horror, all that it needed to kill me after four mental trauma. So close.

13th Vision is the weakness