Eliandra's Best Character Ever: Erasmus

Friday, February 9, 2018

We continue our series of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game fans telling us who the best character ever is. One of our playtesters, Eliandra Giltessan, gives us a sneak peak at the iconic medium from Occult Adventures Character Deck 2 that has her over the moon.

People who know me may be saying, "What?! I thought you said Alahazra was the best character!" A year ago, that was true. Alahazra was the best character ever—in a world without Triggers. I recall when Skull & Shackles' version of Alahazra hung out at the Wishing Well and took all the boons from locations decks. Or Season of the Runelords, where the Oracle Class Deck's Alahazra examined nigh on entire location decks with a Scrying and a Headdress. Sigh. Good times.

But, my friends, we live in a world of Triggers. Gone are the days of "I only need one attack spell in my deck, right?" Now when Alahazra scouts, sometimes the cards bite back. She's still great, but there's room for the new best character ever: Erasmus.

At first look, Erasmus may not look like much. All d8s and d6s, with Arcane just d8+1 and Perception (of all things!) at d6+3. Well, let me tell you, Occult characters can do more with Perception than just defeat Camouflaged Pit Traps without rolling. They can fight and recharge and tell their Dwarf Mindblade friend to go kill things for them.

Let's move onto powers, cuz Erasmus has got some great ones! I'm developing an appreciation for characters who give you something to do with the junk cards you pick up, and Erasmus can bury his to change his results after the roll. No missed-by-1's with Erasmus, and when he overkills that Pit Trap with his massive Perception, he can coax away the consequences. His next power is the one I love oh-so-much: recharging boons at the start of your turn to add to all checks that turn. Not only does this make for great deck cycling, but it really takes the sting out of those early scenarios when you have no skill feats. That last power mentions something called "Spirit Relatives," and you may ask, "What does that mean?"

Ah, well, you see, Erasmus can channel the spirits of his dead relatives, and at the beginning of each scenario, he can pick one to give him some new skills and an extra d4 plus the adventure deck number. So when Grimslakes are threatening to eat your deck if you don't make a Fortitude check, you can pick Nissa. When you need to make an Acrobatics check, or when the villain makes you cry in a corner with no cards in your hand, you can ask for Baylock's help. After a power feat, you can even help other characters at your location.

"But Eliandra," you may say. "I'm stuck with one of these spirits for an entire scenario. That's not very versatile."

"Relax," I say to you. "We need to save something for roles." You see, Erasmus's roles allow you to put more than one marker on the card. Personally, I'm a fan of the Storyteller. Bury a card for a second token? Yes, please!

After all this gushing, you may still have your doubts as to whether this all works. Can Erasmus have one deck of cards and still be effective at all his roles? Yes. His powers more than make up for the small dice size, and the cards he doesn't otherwise need at the moment become the fuel to charge them. Erasmus is the first character where I put my skill feats in different skills every time, and I love it. He's the most versatile character I've seen, and he once closed two locations in his first turn armed only with a Force Missile and a Light Crossbow.

Vote Erasmus: Best Character EVER!

Elizabeth Corrigan aka Eliandra Giltessan
Adventure Card Game Playtester Extraordinaire