Summoning Teddy with the Dreamer

[Ravenphoenixxx]

I'm looking at playing the Dreamer for the first time in a game tomorrow. I noticed on the Dreamer summoning card that Teddy was listed for a cost of 15. How is the Dreamer supposed to hit this target number? Is there a bonus to summoning for him that I am missing?

[Fetid Strumpet]

Mr Tannen.

[Ravenphoenixxx]

Interesting. I never would have thought about using Mr Tannen in a Dreamer crew. Thank you.

[Chris Rivers]

Mr. Tannen has an action that adds +2 to masks and -2 to tomes in an aura.  

[Treehouse]

Still only works on a 13 Mask or Red Joker if I remember correctly - but I might be wrong actually. I got the impression that Tannen only enhances actual Masks, and killing Daydreams adds the suit, which is not the same.

[Ravenphoenixxx]

So is it worth adding Tannen to a Dreamer crew? None of the lists I've seen have mentioned him. What would such a list look like? It seems like he would be dead weight except for the summoning bonus, which, while significant, only work for flipped or played masks (like Treehouse said).

[Chris Rivers]

His chatty aura shuts down interacts and cooler aura makes it more expensive to cheat.  Both useful in certain strata.

[Treehouse]

Except he might die before that as he will lose his Manipulative protection when activating.

I dunno, I just don't rate Tannen :/

 

Edit:

Or actually, I don't rate his abilities / what it takes to get them to work high enough to be bothered taking him.

[Nikodemus]

You can obey him to turn on his actions without activating him early by using obey effects. I don't know if that's worth the Obey AP but you can do it.

[Ergonomic Cat]

6 hours ago, Treehouse said:

Except he might die before that as he will lose his Manipulative protection when activating.

I dunno, I just don't rate Tannen :/

 

Edit:

Or actually, I don't rate his abilities / what it takes to get them to work high enough to be bothered taking him.

Summoning Dreamer is pretty vulnerable, because he's not taking Aether Connection, and he's trying to avoid becoming Chompy.  So things that keep him alive are important.  Enemies being unable to cheat cards in melee is pretty useful in that case.  The other thing is that you don't need to activate Tannen early *unless* you're going to use him for his ability.  Most of the time, that's either first turn, to summon Lilitu, or the turn that you get the 13 of Crows or the Red Joker.  Other turns you can probably either summon with what's in your hand, or wait until later in the turn to do the Tannen/Dreamer combo.  

Tannen also has a few other nice interactions - he can shut down soulstone use in his targets.  That's big if a master or henchman is coming for Dreamer.  And then he can make things slower.  Both are situationally useful.

And honestly, if Tannen is next to Dreamer, and your enemy is dedicating their resources to killing Tannen first, that's also a reasonable value to get out of him.  

Finally, he's a Woe.  So if you feel so inclined, you can put Depression on someone else to give him Melancholy for some activation control.  Iggy or Baby Kade are probably the best targets there, unless you've brought Candy along.  

None of those are really strong arguments to bring Tannen on his own.  You bring Tannen if you want 1. To deny interactions or 2. To do the Teddy summoning Jank.  However, if you *are* bringing him, get benefits out of him!  If you decided to go all in on Teddy, bring Baby Kade and Tannen.  If you're doing Iggy related things (either to get some conditions or protect Lelu and Lilitu) then putting Depression on him and bringing Tannen is a definite choice.

And while Tannen is squishy, your Dreamer better be reasonably safe if you're summoning.  That likely means you have some cover or LoS blocking.  Generally, I put Dreamer at the corner of a house, and then put Tannen out of sight.

Basically, the question with Tannen is do you want to spend 6 SS to get an 11 SS model out on turn 3 or 4 in most games, and possibly boost your Dreamer summoning in general?  That question mostly depends on how comfortable you are with the fact that you could well never draw the 13m or Red Joker.

[Ravenphoenixxx]

That gives me some excellent ideas for how to use Tannen. Thanks so much for the advice.