Who Ate all the Stones?

[Je ne c'est LaCroix]

So I'm struggling with my Stones.

All of the wisdom I am taking in from the writings and audio musings would suggest that the professional verdict is - don't run into an encounter with the bad guys without 6 or 7 Stones in your pocket.

But I find this impossible. If there's not another Bayou Gremlin to be squeezed in, a delicious Stuffed Piglet, or at the VERY least a Dirty Cheater for those remaining 3/2/1 stones, I almost ALWAYS end up with just the clothes on my back and the cache of my Master (usually 3-4).

Yet it feels like every time I'm headed into turn 4 with an empty pocket, rueing the decision to turn up under-Stoned.

So how do you go about the build, allowing yourself a 6-7 starting Stone cushion? How do you leave that last Stuffed Piggy at home? Do our Gremlins really need 6-7 Stones?

I'm mostly running at the moment with Zoraida, Somer and starting out with Wong. Zoraida I've been scraping by ok but may start introducing Francois into my Zoraida builds so want more cover for him (+ Stilts + DC I know will also eat my last rations). Summoning Somer sessions feel under-Stoned, particularly if he leaves Sammy behind to do the grunt-building work. Wong I don't know yet but I know I'll find it hard to resist the urge to add Stuffed Pigs to the ever-exploding fray. I feel like I may spend too many of my resources on restocking my fate hand as I seem to do that more than my opponents.

Can anyone throw me a Stone?

[Four_N_Six]

I suppose it depends on the crew.  With Wong I definitely say to cram those stuffed pigs in.  Even if they just sit around waiting for a dumb couple of models to come by, Wong can capitalize on a few extra.  I don't know that I'd use them in other crews as SS filler, but I tend to go right up to 50 with models and upgrades anyways.  Very rarely am I trying to make sure I have 7 stones available.

That being said, I also run Old Cranky with Wong, Mah Tucket, Ophelia (sometimes), Ulix, and Som'er most of the time.  There are rare games when Som'er's Skeeters are a better idea, but generally speaking those 4 Masters bring Cranky.  Not only does he give you a great  Df, and a +1 Wp, but in a perfect world, +4 Soulstones.  Up to +5, but it's relatively unlikely turn 1 unless your opponent is feeling especially suicidal.  With Cranky around, it's much easier to ignore that starting 6-7 Soulstone pool.

[Dogmantra]

When I started out and played Outcasts (specifically Von Schill), I used to always go for a 7 stone cache.

Nowadays, I barely ever go above my master's cache (thanks gremlins for being allergic to having fewer than ALL THE STONES for master caches) and I only sometimes feel like I want more. Really it's about identifying a use for the cards. 90% of my stones go towards card cycling. Old Cranky helps offset the need for stones not just because he can give you more, but also because he can cycle one card a turn (and with Sammy it's two).

However I don't think he's quite as much of an auto-include as Four_N_Six does, at least not with Som'er (I gotta agree with Wong & Mah that 99% of the time I'm bringing him over their totem). I'd say the balance between Old Cranky and Skeeters is much closer to 50/50. Sometimes I think it can actually be good to play Som'er specifically for access to Skeeters. For example, in Reconnoiter and especially Interference, they're amazing to engage enemies, and if you're doing Sammy summoning, a skeeter to stay back and hand out the mask is very useful (and with any summoning, having a skeeter is insurance that you won't BJ your Do It Like Dis flip) and both of those save you a ton of stones. Plus being able to drop the No Trigger aura at a range is something to remember when you're up against e.g. Rasputina where everything has that flipping end your activation trigger, or Colette who is pretty much exclusively triggers.

 

I don't think Som'er needs more than his cache to work well. Maybe a fifth stone just in case, but generally he doesn't want the stones for damage prevention or defense flips, since his Loudest Squeel is so accessible (you might want the odd stone to add a mask, but he's so difficult to pin down that I find often my opponents won't even try). Normally imo you're looking at one stone per turn or two in order to fish for required cards (face cards and rams for aggressive som'er, 8+ and masks for summoner). If you're wanting stones for s on actions a lot, I'd definitely put Encouragement on either him (if your henchmen are often using them) or Sammy (if Som'er himself is using the stones), since wounds are a much more prolific resource than stones. And if you feel like you often need initiative, there's always Trixiebelle.

Other masters I'm less confident about, but I generally don't feel like I need any more than 4 stones on Zoraida either. For Zoraida I'm looking at one very high card every couple of turns to guarantee a hem, any crows for the Nurse to use and 7+s for Obey. Bewitch also helps for card draw (Bewitch into two Obeys is pretty fun). She doesn't really need any specific suits either, and if you grab Animal Shape she can get out of danger pretty easily (although IMO she doesn't really need to be that far up), plus inherent s to attacks on her is pretty nice. Stones on her are more for initiative or your henchmen IMO.

 

Now Henchmen can suck up stones, particularly Mancha Roja and Francois who love to use them for damage prevention or defense duels, and occasionally for suits. But I think that you can certainly mitigate some of that with clever upgrade grabbing and crew composition. Lenny and Old Cranky help here to buff their defenses, but you are gonna want a good way to move them up. Mah is quite good at that, but obviously she's a master and you could also do it with Trixie, or the Saddle upgrade, or even a piglet for either Truffles or the Bowled Over trigger if you're okay taking a little damage (it will move you further than Truffles), and don't forget that Lenny can toss Old Cranky up the field too. Upgrades are good too. Generally when I run Francois I don't just take Stilts, I often also take On Yer Tip Toes, and that often also goes on Mancha Roja if I'm running him instead. On Yer Tip Toes helps to stop you from getting obliterated by one unlucky joker flip (or cheat), which I've found is often the reason Francois goes down. You could also use Dirty Cheater to pretty great use. Francois's (0) is pretty hard to get off, needing a 5 and isn't often the most useful ability. But an upside of it is that if you have any garbage card in your hand and Dirty Cheater, you can (0) and cheat whatever in for 1 wound healed. I've not really found that either of them use stones for attack flips, so the defensive tech is normally what helps them to save stones.

 

Another tactic for saving stones on Francois would be swapping him out for Burt. Obviously they're not exactly the same, and Francois's melee potential damage is higher, but Burt is a lot more durable just due to a slightly higher Df, a pretty nasty trigger to dissuade enemy attacks, and Slippery + HtK. They fill a similar role too.

[Four_N_Six]

I can agree on the Som'er thought with the 50/50 Skeeters.  I've only run him two or three times, so I haven't had enough testing to get more use from Skeeters.

I agree about Henchmen, though.  I see myself stoning for prevention on them more often than my masters.