Celtic Rising: Overview and Advice

Introduction and Themes

This guide is a largely spoiler-free guide that talks about the general mechanics of the Celtic Rising custom campaign made by Qggone. If you're interested in learning what the campaign's unique mechanics are, and hearing suggestions for investigators and cards that are particularly well suited to the campaign, read on!

In Celtic Rising, investigators head to Ireland to come to the aid of friends of theirs who collect magical relics and are in trouble. Along the way they'll have to contend with a variety of mythological creatures, and even get their hands on some relics of legend.

General Mechanics

Compared to a lot of campaigns, Celtic Rising isn't as overwhelming with any one specific mechanic - while I mention a lot of things here, none of them feel as important to focus on as in most campaigns - there's no theme that can hurt if you don't keep it in mind, like evasion in The Forgotten Age or deck milling in The Dunwich Legacy.

Agility Treacheries

Celtic Rising has a pretty even amount of Agility and Willpower treacheries, so picking an investigator with a good mix of the two, or who has high Agility can get a little more use out of it than they normally would.

Direct Damage and Horror

The Ancient Evils equivalent in this campaign gives you the option of taking 2 direct damage and 2 direct horror instead of adding doom to the agenda. If you've got a low health or sanity value, you'll want to make sure you bring some extra soak or healing for your lower stat so you don't have to suffer the doom.

Gift of Gab

There's a new stat for Celtic Rising, "Gift of Gab", with investigators starting at different amounts according to the campaign guide. Gift of Gab tests are scattered throughout the campaign, both on actions you want to take on enemies or locations, as well as treachery cards. Importantly, you can only commit wild icons to these tests - so make sure you have some skills with wild icons, or other ways to generically boost any skill test.

Parley

As you might expect from a campaign with a "Gift of Gab" stat, there's more than a couple Parley actions throughout. It's not enough to make the Parley boosting cards a must have on their own - but if you're running a Parley focused investigator, there's a few times you'll be happy for the bonuses that Fine Clothes and Well Dressed can give you.

Weapon Endurance

Enemy health feels on the low side in the campaign, with a lot of 2 health enemies. However, they are a lot of them, and a lot of "boss enemies" you have no choice but to just fight. Weapons that won't run out of ammo are preferable over guns, but if you're using weapons with charges, make sure you bring enough to last you for dealing with a lot of enemies.

Deckbuilding Advice

The suggestions below aren't by any means required, or even characters I've necessarily played the campaign through. Rather, these are just observations of characters who might be particularly well suited to the campaign, including things that might not be top tier, but have a very strong synergy with the campaign mechanics.

Suggested Investigators

Carson Sinclair: There's a lot of scenarios in the campaign where funneling actions into certain players can especially help - from people needing to time "burst turns", to moving to/from important locations, or even just whoever has an important story asset needing to complete a task.

Zoey Samaras: With lots of enemies to engage, Zoey can get a lot of money - and her 4 combat doesn't feel as bad when the enemies have low combat values themselves.

Ursula Downs: Most of the seekers have a pretty low Gift of Gab, but Ursula has 3. She's also got a power that can be especially useful in the scenarios that have an overemphasis on movement.

Vincent Lee: Small enemies are easy for Vincent to pick off, and on turns when none appear, he can easily gather clues. Better still, his healing effects can help negate some of the nasty damage treacheries, and On the Mend can help ensure passing Gift of Gab tests.

Alessandra Zorzi: If Parley is mentioned at all in the description, you know she's going to show up. Alessandra doesn't have a listed Gift of Gab yet, but it's likely to be at least 4 - and when it comes to the many Parley tests in the campaign, she's sure to ace them.

"Skids" O'Toole: Or at least, the parallel version. He's got 4 Gift of Gab, big money style ensures he can pass any kind of test thrown at him, and switchblade and katana are two solid weapon options that can help fight through the numerous weak enemies.

Dexter Drake: As one of the mystics with the highest Gift of Gab at 4, Dexter also is able to get more longevity out of his attack spells than most mystics by swapping them out when they go empty or make use of rogue weapons.

Lily Chen: One way of having your fighter not have to deal with "Ancient Evils or 2 damage + horror" is by having your fighter bring Wards of Protection. Tanky and good with melee weapons, Lily can deal with what the campaign is throwing at her, and is one of the best Butterfly Swords users.

"Ashcan" Pete: Pete is a strong flex who can use Duke to handle fighting, and doesn't need to set-up. While Duke isn't strong enough on his own in most campaigns to serve as a primary weapon, the early enemies here are soft enough he can stand on his own - and Duke's ability to move and investigate in the same turn has a few scenarios where it's a lifesaver.

Patrice Hathaway: It's not just that Patrice has a Gift of Gab of 4 - she also likes to run cards like Cornered, which give her bonuses to any tests. Many of the unique story assets play well with her, too, especially if she brings some extra money.

Notable Player Cards

Butterfly Swords: In addition to being good at taking down low health enemies, there's some campaign mechanics that will really appreciate Butterfly Swords' multiple attacks.

Bestow Resolve: With the ability to turn any commit icons into wild icons, Bestow Resolve will let you help the entire party pass Gift of Gab tests.

Ancient Glyphs (Guiding Stones): A few scenarios force you off of locations you'll want to investigate quickly - being able to compress how much investigating you need to do at each location can really help.

Map the Area: The campaign has several "boss fights" that are focused in one location. Map the Area provides a good way for seekers to make everyone's fighting better.

"You Owe Me One!": While most of the rogues have a pretty good Gift of Gab stat, "You Owe Me One!" ends up being a great off-class card for those who don't have the stat as high - and allows you to focus the campaign Gift of Gab stat boosts in fewer investigators.

Well Connected: Well Connected is one of the best ways to deal with Gift of Gab tests, as it's a large, generic bonus on-tap.

Dragon Pole: Mystic combat specialists might struggle with running out of charges against the number of enemies in the campaign - given that, going for a reliable melee weapon can really help out.

Drain Essence: While an event like this won't be able to cover all the combat on its own, the variety of damaging effects and 2 health enemies make Drain Essence a good pick-up to serve as a heal and a quick kill.

Cornered: With the ability to turn any card into an Unexpected Courage, Cornered can help ensure you're not at a loss when Gift of Gab tests come around.

Newspaper: The later end of the campaign has lots of scenarios that involve spending clues, or allow you to spend clues freely at no real cost - giving Newspaper a lot of use to help accelerate clue gathering.