The Mound Patron Saints Database

Start at the Ox-wagon with one sentence: rain removes the firearm lane, madness poisons shared information, attrition drains the crew, or a single fatal hit would end the run. That sentence gives the Saint a job. Without it, a strong-sounding blessing can consume the preparation slot while the real blocker remains uncovered.

The database separates weapon support from recovery and information coverage on purpose. Saint Barbara, Saint Sebastian, Saint Michael, and Saint George strengthen different weapon families; Saint Eulalia answers weather; Saint Dymphna answers sanity; Saint Raphael and Saint Benedict protect different kinds of damage margin. Compare the failure they cover, not just the name or apparent power.

Keep the rest of the loadout compatible with the blessing. Saint Eulalia cannot rescue a route that has no ammunition, and Saint Benedict does not replace a missing light or return plan. A blessing is one layer of the expedition protocol, so test it against the same contract while keeping the crew and one known item baseline stable.

• Failure phraseName rain, madness, attrition, fatal damage, or weapon pressure before choosing.
• CoverageCompare what the blessing fixes with the dependency it leaves untouched.
• Compatible loadoutKeep ammunition, light, recovery, and return space aligned with the Saint job.

For a learning run, favor the coverage that makes the next observation readable. Sanity protection or a safer weapon lane can preserve information long enough to map a landmark, test a creature cue, or understand a route without spending every recovery option. The goal is a clean baseline, not maximum payout.

For a treasure or extraction run, prioritize the failure that can erase the haul. A route that depends on buried caches may need the locator and a return margin more than a damage blessing; a deep descent may value Saint Benedict or Saint Raphael when one mistake or repeated attrition is the true stop condition. The contract decides which risk is expensive.

Do not silently change the run objective after equipping. If a scouting route becomes a valuable haul, stop and restate the retreat trigger before pushing farther. When the objective changes, revisit the Saint choice rather than assuming the first preparation still covers the new risk budget.

• LearningProtect the information loop and keep the first test repeatable.
• EarningCover the failure that would erase the contract reward or haul.
• ExtractionRecheck the Saint when the route becomes deeper or the objective changes.

Record the first visible failure: the firearm was disabled by rain, the crew lost a shared reality check, the carrier ran out of space, or repeated damage consumed the return margin. Then ask whether the equipped Saint had a chance to answer that specific problem. If not, the next change belongs to the item, route, or communication layer—not necessarily the blessing.

If the Saint did cover the failure, repeat a comparable contract with the crew and loadout held steady. Change one variable at the Ox-wagon, keep the same retreat trigger, and compare the result. This prevents a lucky clear or a different weather roll from turning into an unsupported ranking.

Leave uncertain blessings visible as a recheck rather than forcing a universal answer. A public record is stronger when it says “use for this condition, verify the live effect” than when it hides the condition behind a best-in-slot label that will fail on the next patch.

• First breakWrite the earliest lost resource before blaming the Saint.
• Controlled retestHold contract, crew, and retreat trigger steady while changing one layer.
• Keep unknownsLeave patch-sensitive effects as live checks instead of inventing a ranking.