This is my favorite level 0 weapon in the game. But it's a combo card. With the right investigator and team, this is enough damage to last for some time, and you can spend your XP on other nonsense (more likely on other cards to make sure this one works). Since you're looking for positive or 0 tokens, you don't need to worry too much about increasing your number either. Is this build as good as set-it-and-go weapons like the .45 Thompson or the Cyclopean Hammer? Probably not. But it sure is FUN.

As other reviews have pointed out, this is really only viable on taboo with tokens, or maybe Jim who is all in on fishing for skulls. With enough tokens in the bag, you don't HAVE to guarantee drawing those tokens, it's okay to pull and try to get lucky every now and then, but you really need to play some other cards to help you draw that non-negative token, ideally more than once a turn on 3-4 player:

• Olive McBride is essential. You'll need to resolve two tokens, but if one is non-negative you'll likely pass. And if you fail, not a huge loss.
• Nkosi Mabati is very helpful, too, if you've named or for Jim. Even better, someone ELSE on your team can run him, and trigger his ability, saving you from taking Charisma for Olive's spot
• "Eat lead!" -- I don't recommend this card. You need the ammo.
• Grotesque Statue, good, but take up a handslot.
• "Hit me!" -- this is excellent because you can play it AFTER you've revealed a token. So it'll sit in your hand until necessary.
• Favor of the Sun -- congratulations, you found a non-negative token!

I really like Zoey Samaras for this build since she can take all of the above cards, and also Contraband to get a ridiculous number of ammo on the gun. With the -token build, she should also take Sacred Covenant and Blessing of Isis to keep the in the bag and turn some of them into her , to deal 4 damage with one shot. It's a chunk of deck space to try to make this work, so hopefully you can leave the generation to someone else on the team, but this is absolutely effective on higher player counts.

With the recent tabboo list this guy will now cost 2xp. Personally, this is a mistake for my group and we will NOT abide by this rule. We use complete tabboo list, but this change we will simply ignore. Reason why he is coming on the list is because we are getting a rogue card that lets you put an ally into play and return it back at the end of your turn. Same like Sleight of Hand but for allies. And again just like with that card, they are not changing the card that makes the problem, but the payoff card. Just like nerfing Three Aces or Pendant of the Queen or something similar when it was clear that Mr. "Rook" and Mandy Thompson were the problem, or million cards that were abused with sleight of hand, my group simply will not play another year or so with this sour taste in our mouth knowing that they again made the same mistake but since it is just getting released they will wait a year or so before nerfing that rogue card. Kirby is not so strong, yes maybe draw 4-5 cards is a lot but my group does not play game breaking decks and after what, 6 years?!?! they gave us an ally that managed to squeeze out famous Dr. Milan Christopher from every damn seeker deck. If we stick to the tabboo list, again it will be just milan over again, so we decided to just say screw it. It is your call to make folks, but i just wanted to share how the thoughts of my group went. Cheers!

This card is quite effective to "make use of" your ample 9 health, escaping defeat by horror. In Carcosa campaign that the card came with it is actually hard to try to get killed by damage when all hope is lost as you are trying to choose the right kind of trauma.

Also cannot be overlooked is how Mythos Phase draw is reduced once you are gone. If the works are already done then the game could be easier with you (and perhaps some enemies) out of the way, it is suddenly more peaceful. You can have a more deterministic last few turns where you are gunning for extra VP as well as getting out alive at the edge of doom clock.

However, if the remaining investigator can't win on top of your sacrifice, you may doubly suffers new trauma (could be horror still) from the campaign resolution in addition to 1 physical trauma printed on this card. Yikes!

Also sometimes the campaign booklet prepares extra detailed resolution for investigator who were defeated and who weren't, so relying on the remaining player to drag your dead body to finish line requires some scenario knowledge. Card is better on Hard / Expert and with campaign knowledge.

It is also possible that a new player joins mid-campaign with 0 XP (or existing player got asked by the campaign to choose a new investigator) and this card can be quite strong for such an investigator coming in with underpowered gears but with fresh trauma. I'm glad the game has some niche solution for niche situation.

I'd have to provide an alternate view of this card, and endorse that it's actually a very good card in the right deck and investigator, which is a primary rogue fighter.

If you're playing Tony Morgan, one of the strongest investigators in the game, as your primary fighter then this card becomes invaluable, particularly as your first upgrade. +2 fist icon every turn (the resources on the card replenish each round) along with Tony's natural 5 fist icon means you're succeeding most fight skill checks. As rogue, if you're playing staple cards such as .41 Derringer, Lucky Cigarette Case, Quick Thinking, then the +2 fist icon is going to be important for you to trigger the conditions on those cards.

This card also synergizes well with Tony's signature cards Tony's .38 Long Colt and Bounty Contracts, since you're quickly generating more resources than you can use, so it's good to have a resource dump card like Hard Knocks to utilize your accummulated resources. Add to it the fact that the card is not unique and you can have two SLOTLESS copies of this card on the table at the same time means you can have a free +4 fist icon to any fight skill check you want PER TURN and more if you decide to pump your own resources into the card's ability.

Lastly, the card's ability to boost foot icon is nothing to sneeze at. Since Tony is at a measly 2 foot base (a rarity for rogue players), you can easily boost his low foot score with Hard Knocks to get him to pass his foot skillchecks for treacher cards such as Grasping Hands. Also, I added a pair of level 1 Lockpicks to my Tony Morgan deck, and I can boost Tony's foot icon with this card to ensure both success with the investigation as well as preventing the lockpick from losing a resource by succeeding by at least 2.

Solid card for the right investigator, a rogue who is a primary fighter.

With Kymani Jones, an allready great card got even better. Intellect and agility just so happens to be the stats Kymani likes. The ability to pull enemies into your location means you can save your coplayers from further away. Move within 1 location, pull away the enemy that bothers your comrade, and take it out with a quick evade+evade. By drawing the foe away from your friend, you'll save an engage action, meaning you'll get even more out of a Grappling Hook. This seems like an auto-include when playing Kymani!