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So Lem gets to choose his favored card type when drawing his starting hand. I'm assuming it has to be declared in advance, rather than drawing a starting hand, deciding it sucks, and picking again.
What favored card type do you all recommend for him? Even though he only gets one weapon, making sure he has it in hand at the start of the adventure seems like a good plan. Or I could see picking spells, though he will often have such a mix that this might not provide him with something immediately useful. Blessings are usually generically useful, so maybe that's a good way to go.
What do the rest of you usually choose when you play him?

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Weapon. Everytime. He only has 1 in his character deck, and weapons, IMHO, are some of the better cards in the game because they can be revealed to add to a roll that you have to do a lot. Plus, unless he uses it for any other power on the card, it doesn't matter that he doesn't have the Weapons power. Heck give him a Greatsword and have him go to town!

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While the sling gives him the option of discarding it for another d4, he's much better off keeping it in his hand to continually gain the d6 on Combat checks. Since he's likely to keep the weapon in his hand all the time, you might consider the light crossbow instead, since that will give him a d8 on Combat checks every time. If you plan on using the sling's secondary power a lot to get the bonus d4, however, I'd go with that, as d8+d6+d4 is way better than 2d8 (avg 10 vs. avg. 9).

6randmaster |
Apparently I'm in the minority here, but I vastly prefer to play Lem towards spellcasting, to give the fastest exploration and deck recharge.
your approach should certainly adapt to the party. if you need to be able to combat, definitely choose weapon and pick a location with monsters. If you need to explore, get some crafty spells and go for a location with a smaller monster count and no punishment for undefeated monsters.
One of the coolest things about this game is that you don't just need to worry about beating monsters, you have to worry about beating the clock too.

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1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Russ, heavy crossbow isn't basic, so Lem can't start with it; he'd have to find it in the course of adventuring. That said, once he has it, it's a no-brainer to swap it in for the light crossbow. There's really no downside to it in comparison.
Also, Lem is always going to be magic-heavy, simply by the nature of his deck allotment. Choosing weapon as his favored card type means the player always gets to start with a weapon as a backup for when his spells aren't going to cut it in combat. With nearly a third of his deck spells, he's likely to always have at least one in his hand, even if it's not his favored card type.

Nullpunkt |

Sorry for casting raise thread on this but I have a question that falls under the exact same heading.
When exactly does Lem state his favorite card type?
For example, is the following possible:
Lem draws his first hand but can't find his sling in there. He calls "weapon" as his favorite card type and draws again. This time he finds the weapon but he has not a single blessing and doesn't like those odds. He now calls "blessings" as his favorite card type and draws again.
Or do you have to name the favorite card type before you draw your hand and stick with it for this scenario?

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You can min max all you want, but the logical answer is that you call it before you make your first draw. Also, you would reset it after you won the scenario. Mostly because after your first draw, the favorite card doesn't mean anything.
BTW, the easiest way to do it if you are naming Weapon as the favorite card, is to just take the 1 weapon card out, draw 4 more cards and then put the weapon card in your hand. Technically not following the rules, but really speeds up the start of the game and is the same outcome. The 1 weapon in your hand with 4 other random cards.

Nullpunkt |

Thanks for the reply. But why do you consider that the logical answer? So far, we've been going with the ruling you described but I think it could be very well in the spirit of the bard to change his mind on a whim and get the exact hand he likes.
I'd be very interested in what is the intended way to play that ability.

Mike Selinker Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Designer |

Or do you have to name the favorite card type before you draw your hand and stick with it for this scenario?
This.
Accept the Consequences of Your Choices. In this game, choices have consequences. Once you choose cards for your character, you can’t just trade them in for other cards whenever you like. If a location makes you choose between attempting a check or banishing a card before closing it, you can’t attempt the check and then banish the card if you fail. If you roll too low on a Combat check, it’s too late to play a Strength spell to improve your result. Once you choose one side of a role card, you can’t switch to the role on the other side. If you encounter something that kills your character, your character dies. Every choice you make matters, so take your choices seriously.