This is a list of characters in Eldritch Horror and its expansions.
open/close all folders
Core Set
Akachi Onyele, the Shaman
"I will journey to the lands beyond. I do not fear them."
As a young girl in Nigeria, Akachi stayed apart from other children, preferring the company of imaginary friends. Her elders feared madness, but the village dibia believed that she had been chosen by the gods. The wise old man taught her how to travel between worlds and how to marshal spirits. Now, she has become a wise leader herself, traveling across Africa and teaching others to protect themselves. She's recently arrived in Cape Town, and from here, she will track down the dark forces that threaten humanity.
Spell-caster and dedicated Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she falls into coma, from which she's likely to never recover.
- Crippling Overspecialisation: She has great Lore and Will stats, but her other stats have a lot to desire for. This may come up as a problem if she runs into obstacles which her Spells can't handle.
- Ethnic Magician: An explicit version of one, since her shamanistic powers are the reason for her gifts.
- Gaia's Vengeance: If she fails her personal story, she interprets the consequences as the Earth itself going angry.
- Junkie Prophet: If she runs out of sanity, she loses any interest to material world, with her mind being... somewhere. The investigator who checks on her takes some questionable potion to try and reach her, which, depending on their ability to pass Will test, would either result in successful contact and Akachi sharing some info, or the nightmarish visions scaring the investigator to the point that they crawls into corner, waiting till it wears off.
- Seers: Thanks to her shamanic powers, she can see the two topmost Gates in the stack; she then can put one at the top and other at the bottom of stack. This gives her limited ability to predict what to expect, and occasionally buy more time by delaying the gate which would advance Doom.
- Squishy Wizard: Has good Will, Lore and Sanity, but low Strength and Health.
- Teleportation with Drawbacks: Only after closing a gate, can she instantly teleport to any space containing a clue or another gate.
- Timed Mission: To pass her personal story, she must close 3 Gates through Other World encounters before Doom advances to 6.
Charlie Kane, the Politician
"It can be arranged. It's just a matter of acceptable terms."
When the press asks if Charlie is planning a run for national office, he smiles and says that he's focused on the important issues. The truth is that he would love to launch his campaign, but right now the most important issue is preventing the end of the world without causing a panic. To do this, he's been calling in favors across the country. Most recently, Charlie's stopped in San Francisco to visit Hearst Castle. With the help of his friends and his finances, Charlies believes he can fix this problem without sacrificing a single vote.
Mainly support-oriented investigator, who usually takes the role of the dedicated supplier for his team. When needed, he's competent researcher.— In-game bio
- Boring, but Practical: His unique abilities make him best-suited for a pure support character who spends his turns buying stuff to make the rest of the team more awesome.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets crippled and spends the rest of his days in the hospital, cared for by the stuff.
- Expy: He's based on the fictional character Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane, who was himself based on the real-life William Randolph Hearst. His personal story is even named Citizen Kane.
- Honest John's Dealership: If he runs out of sanity, as part of his insanity, he starts offering people to pay to see Atlantis, or meet the Caesar; but he's so insane by this point, he demands not the money, but things like salt shaker. And if refused, he starts threatening to make you pay... once he becomes the president of the world.
- Mythology Gag: The new ability he gains after passing his personal story (spending Clues to prevent Doom advance) is his original ability from Arkham Horror (albeit nerfed to only work once per round).
- Support Party Member: Both his abilities are support-oriented:
- He can allow any investigator to perform one additional action.
- He also can instantly give any cards he purchases to another investigator.
- The Team Benefactor: His special ability is to buy toys for other players to play with - shipping them directly to the new owner free of any charge. Oh, and his active ability? Give a player of choice a 3rd action.
- Timed Mission: His personal story requires to solve a Mystery before Doom reaches 6.
Diana Stanley, Redeemed Cultist
"The Lodge is not as innocent as they pretend. I have learned that nothing is ever as it seems, myself included."
When Diana was initiated into the Order of the Silver Twilight, she believed it to be nothing more than a community organization. But as she has learned more of its' true nature, she has become convinced that a growing evil threatens the world, and that the Silver Twilight will play a role in that threat. She believes her best chance to prevent this is to use her position to sabotage the organization from within. Carl Sanford, the head of the Order, has recognized her skills and recently sent her to Panama for additional training.
Offensive combatant/mage investigator, with emphasis on fighting Cultists.— In-game bio
- The Atoner: Her profession is Redeemed Cultist: she's trying to atone for her past as the member of the Silver Twilight Lodge.
- Cult Defector: Diana joined the Silver Twilight Lodge, and after learning the true nature of the Order, she works to becomes The Mole and sabotage the organization from within.
- Damage Reduction: She loses less Sanity from the monsters during encounters.
- Magic Knight: She's effective both as combatant and as spell-caster.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass her personal story, she has to slay monsters, with total toughness of 8 or more.
- One-Hit Polykill: If her location contains any Cultists, she can instantly discard all non-epic monsters from here (or move them to another location).
- Redemption Quest: Her personal story is about her attempts to redeem herself for past association with the Silver Twilight Lodge, by putting down whatever monsters threatening the world. She passes once she destroys enough, but fails if at least 3 Cultists spawns on the board.
- That Man Is Dead: If she runs out of sanity, she tries to completely erase her old identity and even renames herself "Iris". It's possible to resurface her old memories by telling her about past life, which results in her telling why she did this, otherwise she angrily tells her visitor to leave; regardless of outcome, she wouldn't return to adventuring.
- The Villain Knows Where You Live: If she runs out of health, the issue which gets her out of action is less her injuries (which aren't described), and more the Silver Twilight Lodge keeping a close watch over her even in the hospital, as some doctors are their agents. In order to get anything useful out of her, the investigator who checks on her has to find whom they can trust and arrange for her being transferred to another hospital, so she may lay low until she recovers.
Jacqueline Fine, Psychic
"The visions are a warning. The future can be rewritten."
At first, Jacqueline's dreams of fire and destruction seemed like a curse. Monsters ran rampant through city streets and some greater darkness loomed on the horizon. However, she has recently learned to control her visions and observe events in detail. Yesterday, she traveled from Boston to Minneapolis to explore an abandoned warehouse she'd seen in her dreams. Inside, she found evidence of a terrible cult that had practiced unspeakable rituals there. Jacqueline hopes to use what she's learned to prevent the terrible future that haunts her sleep.
One of the dedicated Clue-searcher. She's also good spell-caster.— In-game bio
- Collection Sidequest: To pass her personal story, she must obtain at least 5 Clues, then spend them after using her ability.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: She can see the future in her dreams.
- The Fatalist: If she fails her personal story, she loses any hope in fighting back the horrors threatening the world. It also lovers her maximum Sanity by 2, and makes her lose sanity whenever she gains clues through her ability.
- Mad Oracle: If she runs out of sanity, she gets put into asylum, where she talks to the visions only she can see. The investigator who checks on her may gain some info out of it, but they can't do anything to help Jacqueline herself.
- Seers: Her powers allows her to see the future. It manifests both in her gameplay, and in her story:
- Once per round, when another investigator gains a non-Common condition, she can see the other side of this card. This also gives her 1 clue.
- If she runs out of health, she somehow predicts that investigator who would try to check on her would end up in specific cafe at specific time, and arranged for them receiving her belongings. Not only that, but all people presented have contacted her at some point after her injury, and if investigator convinces them to talk, they can combine the pieces of info and learn the secret message Jacqueline tries to send.
- Squishy Wizard: She's good spell-caster thanks to her stats, but poor Health and Strength makes her struggle to survive battles. For the same reason, she's often not the good pick for Gate-closing: she's unlikely to even make it to the Gate without backup.
- Support Party Member: She can trade Clues with investigator in another space. While it works both ways, it's likely that she would give her Clues to someone, given all the ways she can obtain them.
- Timed Mission: Her personal story must be completed before Doom advances to 6.
Jim Culver, the Musician
"No, not quiet at all. Dead folks get downright rambunctious when I play my horn."
Old Jim Culver's music gives sweet comfort to the soul, and it doesn't matter if that soul belongs to the living or the dead. Folks in their graves, they love their little chats with Jim. It used to bother him, but now he's happy for the company. Lately, some departed souls in San Antonio have been all riled up about something. They're downright terrified. And anything that scares the dead deserves old Jim's undivided attention.
Dedicated spell-caster and Gate-closer, who can also provide support during battles.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets crippled, not only being unable to continue investigating, but becoming irreversibly mute and unable to play music.
- Combat Medic: His action ability allows him to heal 1 Sanity for each investigator in his location.
- Cultured Warrior: A jazz musician who gets a bonus in combat.
- Magic Music:
- His music always had a special effect, allowing him communicate with the dead. It's also likely the reason for his good Lore stat, which allows him to act as spellcaster.
- If he runs out of sanity, he can be found at the graveyard, playing for the dancing undead, clearly awakened by his magic talent.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to slay monsters, with total toughness of 6 or more. However, he fails if he loses too much Health or Sanity.
- Theme Naming: His personal story's reward and consequence have a music motif ("Sweet Harmony" and "Out of Tune", respectively).
Leo Anderson, the Expedition Leader
"Keep moving. You can die on your own time."
Leo Anderson has spent his whole life getting into the deadliest and most obscure corners of the globe. Along the way, he's lost good people. Fever takes some; others are claimed by wild beasts. After a recent, disastrous venture in the Yucatan, Leo barely made it back to Buenos Aires alive. He's sick of burying the people who trusted him. But the job's not done yet. The world is in danger, and crying in his drink won't fix that. He's picked up a little hired help here, and in the morning, he'll head back out into the wild.
All-rounder, with emphasis on working in the Wilderness (which makes him good pick for Expeditions).— In-game bio
- Adventurer Archaeologist:
- Prior to the start of the story, he was leading expeditions to the remote and dangerous corners of the world to find the traces of lost civilisations.
- His stats distribution, combined with him gaining extra die on Wilderness spaces (that bonus also applies to other players in his location), makes him well-prepared for any Expeditions, regardless of what they would throw at him.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he becomes bedridden and suffers non-ending agony, as well as lose the will to live.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to gather at least 5 Allies.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: He's experienced adventurer; so he fares better in the outer wild than most other investigators, receiving an extra die on Wilderness spaces.
- Hero Must Survive: He fails his personal story if he lets any other investigator to get defeated or devoured.
- Magnetic Hero: His ability allows him to easily acquire new Allies. His personal story requires him taking advantage of it by accumulating large amount of them.
- My Greatest Failure: The Yucatan expedition, which ended in disaster, costed many lives and nearly killed Leo himself. He has strong Survivor Guilt because of this.
- Survivor Guilt: He still can't forget that ill-fated Yucatan expedition. If one of his friend dies again (and he fails his personal story), he would suffer -1 to Will and Influence tests, as well as permanent max Health and Sanity reduction.
- This Means Warpaint: If he runs out of sanity, he goes insane, starts painting his face and talking in some tribal dialects, and, most importantly, attacks the investigator who comes to check on him. If successfully subdued (otherwise, he just runs away, never to be seen again), he ends un in asylum, where doctors manages to gain at least some insight on just what happened to him, albeit he stays here for foreseeable future.
Lily Chen, the Martial Artist
"I have been preparing to confront this evil for my entire life. My focus must be absolute."
Lily speaks rarely, and when she does, her words are measured and wise. After a lifetime of disciplined training, every gesture is graceful, uncluttered by hesitation. When she was an infant, an obscure sect of monks believed that she was born for a special purpose, to face a great evil. Now, the monks believe that the great evil is at hand, and they have brought Lily to Shanghai to begin fulfilling her destiny.
Designated fighter, who can easily be developed into all-rounder.— In-game bio
- Action Girl: A martial artist ready to fight evil. She's also one of the dedicated fighters.
- All Asians Know Martial Arts: The only Chinese person in the team just so happens to be one who knows martial arts.
- All Monks Know Kung-Fu: The Chinese player character was raised by kung-fu monks.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health and gets successfully retrieved before cultists takes her away, she gets put into hospital, where she would gradually recover, but it's specifically stated that it would take time... but the time is exactly the thing this world has in low supply.
- Cast From Hitpoints:
- She can sacrifice any amount of Health to restore same amount of Sanity, or vice versa.
- If she fails her personal story, the second improvement of any stat starts costing 1 point of Health and Sanity.
- The Chosen One: She was adopted by a sect of monks who believe she is fated to fight a great evil. Whether she lives up to their expectations depends on the success of her personal story.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass her personal story, she must improve all five of her skills, by collecting the matching improvement tokens. If particularly unluckynote , this might require travelling all around the globe, which significantly decrease Lily's usefulness.
- Despair Event Horizon: If she runs out of sanity, she decides that all the talks about her destiny were false, and she can't stop the coming darkness. If successfully convinced that she's not a failure and she started what the others would finish, she delegates her duty to the investigator checking on her, otherwise, she falls into catatonic state.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: She acquires her unique abilities through her trainings.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: She's the only investigator who can, when improving a skill, immediately improve it again for free (essentially gaining maximum improvement in one go). It does not allow her to go above the normal limit.
- Take Up My Sword: If she runs out of sanity, the investigator who checks on her has to convince her that she's not a failure and what she already did is of great value; if successful, she passes her destiny on the other investigator.
- Timed Mission: Her personal story must be completed before Doom advances to 6.
- Training from Hell: She's been training her entire life preparing to fight a great evil.
- Warrior Monk: She is a member of a sect of monks, who trained her to become the defender of humanity against the forces of evil.
Lola Hayes, the Actress
"I've played so many roles. Madness is to be expected."
Around the world, Lola has performed dramatic roles for sold-out houses. However, after being cast in the controversial play, The King in Yellow, Lola needed to "take some time" to recover for her "exhaustion." Now that she has checked herself out of the asylum, she's ready for her big comeback. But this time she'll play a different role in the fight against the horrors that threaten this world. She's started by traveling to Tokyo to track down the other surviving cast member of her previous theatrical endeavor.
All-rounder, specialising in adapting on the go to best fit the current situation.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gets injured so severely, she suffers constant heavy pain and soon dies unless another investigator convinces her to attend the hospital.
- Collection Sidequest: First time she passes a skill check, she puts a matching improvement token on her personal story card. Once she gathers all five tokens, she passes.
- Jack of All Trades: Thanks to her ability to reassign improvements tokens, she can adapt to any role.
- Magikarp Power: She starts rather weak, with only stats above 2 being Influence (good, but situative) and Will. She becomes very flexible once she obtains some improvement tokens, as she can easily reallocate them depending on the situation (she starts with one by default).
- Support Party Member: By just being present around, she allows any investigator (herself included) to, once per round, re-roll any dice. She also has good Influence stat, which, combined with her abilities, makes her good candidate for the dedicated supplier.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: If she runs out of sanity, she starts doing some deranged acting in abandoned theatre. The investigator who comes to check on her decides to play along and act as her director in hope that this would make her willing to reveal some information on what happened to her; if successful, she indeed mentions the "Tattered King" (one of the entities associated with Hastur), while the blood on her hands turns out being goat's.
- Theme Naming: Her personal story and its reward and consequence all have a theatrical motif ("In the Limelight", "Method Acting" and "Denouement", respectively).
Mark Harrigan, the Soldier
"I'm walking out that door, and I'm taking this book. Anyone who wants to stop me is welcome to try."
During the war, Mark witnessed horrors he could not explain, and he wrote of what he saw in letters to his beloved wife, Sophie. When Mark returned home, he discovered that Sophie was no longer human. One of the beasts that Mark had seen overseas had taken over her body, killing her in the process. Afterward, Mark's thirst for vengeance lead him to Helsinki, where some of these creatures had posed as German soldiers during the Great War.
Designated fighter, oriented at destroying his target as soon as possible.— In-game bio
- Big Damn Heroes: Investigators who comes to check on Mark after her runs out of health comes just in time to carry him out when the fire starts... assuming they pass a check, otherwise he suffocates due to smoke.
- Big Guy: One of the more combat-oriented investigators, starting with 8 Health, 4 at both Strength and Will, and ability to damage enemies directly at the cost of his own Health. I he passes his personal story, he gains extra Sanity, and triples the damage he deals with his ability.
- Cast From Hitpoints: His active ability allows to damage an enemy he fights at the cost of losing 1 Health. If he loses his personal story, this ability starts triggering automatically on every encounter with monsters.
- Conspiracy Theorist: If he runs out of sanity, he starts seeing disguised monsters everywhere (including his former teammates), which results in him ending up in asylum. Investigator who comes to check on him only gains any useful info (sketches of those monsters) if they manages to convince him that they're not his enemy.
- Crippling Overspecialization: His lopsided stats mean that he's good at fighting monsters, but not much else.
- Death Seeker: Becomes this if he fails his personal story; he would lose 1 Health after each attack.
- Despair Event Horizon: If one of his friends dies (which fails his personal story), he falls into despair and stops caring about own safety.
- The Lost Lenore: His wife, Sophie, was killed by Eldritch Abominations. Now, he wants to avenge her.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to slay the monsters with at least 10 total points of toughness. His reward is becoming even better at slaying monsters.
- No-Sell: He can't be Delayed or gain Detained condition unless he choses so.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His main motivation to join the team is avenging his wife, Sophie.
- Worth Living For: Realizes this if he passes his personal story. It also increases his Sanity by 2.
Norman Withers, the Astronomer
"Let them call me a crackpot! Something is happening to the stars, and I am not imagining it."
The scientific community ridiculed Norman for his claim that six stars disappeared from the sky. After exhausting every plausible astronomical explanation for answers, he took a position at Miskatonic University and began exploring more improbable possibilities in the restricted section of their library. While reading an ancient text of dark prophecies, Norman found an exact description of the phenomenon he'd observed. If the tome is to be believed, a terrible incursion into our world is imminent.
Gate closer and spell-caster.— In-game bio
- Angst Coma: If he runs out of sanity, he falls into catatonic state, failing to respond to anything. The investigator who comes to check on him may pass a check to try and bring him into a room with visible night sky, which slightly improves his condition (he would be able to communicate again), otherwise, it would only decline.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, his traumas are so severe, he can barely move.
- Cassandra Truth: Ridiculed by the scientific community for his claims, and has an influence rating of 1 to begin the game.
- Cast from Hit Points: Once per round, he can spend 1 Sanity in place of spending 1 Clue.
- Despair Event Horizon: He fall into despair if he fails his personal story. It also decrease his Sanity by 2.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: He has consistent bad luck with convincing other people that his theory is right. As result, he has the worst possible Influence stat.
- One-Hit Kill: He can spend clues to discard a monster in location containing a Gate, allowing him or his teammates free access to it.
- Squishy Wizard: He has low Health and Strength stats, but he's good magic user.
- Timed Mission: His personal story requires to solve a Mystery before Omen advances to a blue space 5 times.
Silas Marsh, the Sailor
"Leave your fears on the docks, lads. I'll not carry that cargo. The wind is up! Full sail!"
Even as a child in Innsmouth, Silas had a special connection to the sea. He's an able and well-reasoned man on land, but on the ocean he possesses a singular strength and wit. It's earned him a sterling reputation in every port across the globe, particularly in Sydney, where Silas set ashore last night. But this morning, the smell of the briny air carries dread as well as joy. There is something in his past, something in Innsmouth, that he knows will some day catch up to him.
All-rounder, with emphasis on working on the Sea spaces.- And Then John Was a Zombie:
- If he fails his personal story, instead of normal defeat he would become Deep One.
- If he runs out of sanity, he starts succumbing to his family's curse. If whatever investigator visiting him manages to convince a doctor to watch him over night, he quietly dies, but otherwise he disappears at sea, becoming a Deep One.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets crippled and only survives if found in time and put under care.
- Collection Sidequest: Each time he spends a resource, he puts one on his personal story card; once he does that five times, he passes.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: He's experienced sailor; so he gains bonuses when performing tests in Sea locations, and can travel by sea faster than other investigators.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Like all members of his family, he has some Deep Ones' blood, and has the risk of losing his humanity some day.
- Jack of All Trades: He has 3 (out of 4) in all stats except Lore (which is only 1). This makes him suitable for any task, unless it involves magic. He receives extra dice on Sea spaces, and gives same bonuses to other investigators in his location.
- Mr. Fanservice: His character art features him bare-chested.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: As per usual, he never wears a shirt.
Trish Scarborough, the Spy
"We lie all the time. But the truth is in there. You just have to know how to decode people."
Everyone expected great things from Trish when she was young. In school, she excelled in athletics and the sciences, but she surprised everyone after graduation by settling into a humble position at a commercial code company. What almost no one knows is that this particular company is a front for the Bureau's code-breaking agency, the Black Chamber. Now she finds herself in the city of Krasnoyarsk meeting another agent who has important information about an impending threat from a world beyond our own.
Dedicated Clue-searcher.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gets hospitalised and can't even stay awake for long.
- Hidden Depths: Her friends and family were shocked, as even though Trish had excelled both academically and athletically at school, she settled for what seems to be a humble position at a commercial code company. It's actually a front for a front for the FBI's code-breaking agency.
- Item Caddy: When she spends Clues to re-roll dies, she gains one extra dice. This effect applies to other investigators in her location, too.
- Room Full of Crazy: If she runs out of sanity, she ends up in asylum, and investigator who comes to check on her finds that her rooms is entirely covered in the secret codes; it's possible to actually gain some info out of those, but not to help Trish to recover.
- The Smart Guy: Her action ability allows her to find "free" clues if she has none. She's also good at Researching.
- Support Party Member: Her ability to allow any investigator in her location to re-roll two dies (instead of one) when they spend a clue makes her great supporter for other investigators who're performing important, but difficult tasks, like expeditions or gates closing. She also has good Influence, which she can use to supply the others with assets.
- Timed Mission: Her personal story requires to solve a Mystery before Doom advances to 6.
Mountains of Madness
Agnes Baker, the Waitress
"I remember another life, one of sorcery and conquest."
Once, Agnes lived quietly, taking orders and serving up food at a diner in Arkham, but one night, she fell from a ladder, striking her head. After that, she could recall a past life as a sorceress in the ancient world of Hyperborea. Her mind flooded with memories of arcane lore. Amazed by this new magical knowledge, Agnes has traveled to London, to learn more about Hyperborea, but is she driven by her own curiosity or compelled by the will of her former self?
Spell-caster, with emphasis on combat.— In-game bio
- Black Mage: She has high staring Lore, and can additionally amplify it by sacrificing Health to rolle extra dice; in combination with her already high Health, this makes her go-to choice for offensive spell-caster. Her personal story further encourages her to go on offensive; however, she must be careful, as the failing condition is her losing too much Health.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she suffers crippling head trauma, which makes her barely able to focus on anything; she wouldn't even try to see a doctor unless helped by another investigator.
- Cast from Hit Points: One of her abilities allows her to spend Health to roll additional dice when casting her spells.
- Item Caddy: Both her abilities are dedicated to making her better with Spells:
- She can pass a Lore check to gain extra Spells, making it easier to obtain the spells she needs.
- She can increase her chance at success when using the Spells by spending her Health. It's risky, however, as she fails her personal story if her Health drops too low.
- Language Barrier: If she runs out of sanity, her old self seemingly takes over, as she loses ability to speak English, switching to some ancient language instead; this becomes a problem when another investigator comes to check on her, as she struggles to share her knowledge of arcane.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass her personal story, she has to slay the monsters with at least 10 total points of toughness. His reward is becoming even better at slaying monsters.
- Past-Life Memories: After falling off a ladder and hitting her head, she begins to recall her past life as a sorceress.
Daisy Walker, the Librarian
"I know of books so powerful, they can rewrite reality"
Daisy worked in the library of Miskatonic University, overseen by the noted scholar Henry Armitage. She quickly became an expert on the school's collection of strange and occult texts, mastering the obscure subject matter and archaic languages. Through her studies, she came to believe that humanity was facing an impending threat. Armitage believes in her conclusions and has sent her to Istanbul to continue her investigation. It is their hope to discover some means of rescuing humanity from this inevitable doom.
Supportive spell-caster. Specialises in the usage of Tomes, and can help with gaining Clues, thanks to her starting Spell.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she becomes permanently blind.
- Collection Sidequest: She must obtain and spend 5 Clues to pass her personal story.
- Collector of the Strange: If she runs out of sanity, she starts obsessively collecting various texts (from books to newspapers and even menus), tearing out the pages she chooses by unknown criteria. The investigator who comes to check on her would struggle to gain any useful information out of her.
- Game-Breaking Injury: If she fails her personal story (by losing too much health or sanity), she receives Anterograde Amnesia; she automatically gains "Amnesia" condition (risk of nasty side effects whenever she uses Rest action), and whenever she gets rid of it (including after triggering it), she just gains new one, as well as loses either 1 Clue or 1 Spell. All of this makes her almost unplayable.
- Item Caddy: She can use her ability to gain Tomes "for free" (when she's on City spaces), and can perform extra actions on Tomes or Rituals whenever she Rests.
- Squishy Wizard: She is good with magic, but not very strong as a fighter, and has low Health. Additionally, her personal story's failure condition is being reduced to either 1 health or 1 sanity, which further discourages taking fights.
Finn Edwards, the Bootlegger
"Never lose track of the exit or the merchandise."
Finn was making a good living, running liquor from Canada to cities all along the East Coast. He never got caught and never lost a delivery. Now he has taken a job in Chicago and gave his word that he could get it done. This time it won't be alcohol he's delivering, and it won't be the local sheriff trying to catch him. Finn's caught up in some supernatural conspiracy, but in the end, he adheres to the same principles. Deliver the goods. Don't get caught.
All-rounder, whose ability allows him to quickly moving himself and his team around the map.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he suffers crippling burns, from which he would never recover.
- Fetch Quest: His personal story requires him doing a "Courier Run" Task (go into place X, do Y), with one extra step. This symbolises the task he was originally hired for.
- Gameplay and Story Integration:
- He's experienced smuggler, which actually manifests in his abilities:
- He knows how to sneak around unnoticed; he can allow himself and/or other investigator to move through train or ship path without spending Move action.
- He knows how to hide things; no one can force him to discard Items, Trinkets or Allies, unless he allows it.
- If he fails his personal story (by being Wanted or Detained), he becomes too notorious, and can no longer Acquire Assets or Prepare for Travel: being wanted criminal, he must avoid public places.
- He's experienced smuggler, which actually manifests in his abilities:
- Jack of All Trades: His stats distribution makes him suitable for various tasks, mainly researching, supplying and closing the Gates. If he runs into situation where he has to fight, his good Will would boost his survivability.
- No-Sell: No game effects can force him to lose his Items, Trinkets or Allies against his will.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he runs out of Health, he suddenly sends all his belongings to the other investigator who finds out about his fate; such unusual behaviour (he's not known for being so generous) alerts the investigator, who decides to find out more. If successful, they finds him burned beyond recovery, and he says that he can't complete the task he was hired for.
- Properly Paranoid: If her runs out of sanity, he decides to lay low, stopping any contacts with other humans, and only shares his old possessions with his former teammates, as well as some info if they manages to find him (one last time). Given the tendency of the other investigators' fates if they run of either health or sanity to involve being abducted, crippled and/or killed by cultists, it's fairly reasonable approach.
- Support Party Member: His ability allows him and/or another investigator to move along the Ship or Train path, which heavily amplifies the team's mobility.
- Token Evil Teammate: He is an unrepentant criminal, in the mostly heroic cast.
George Barnaby, the Lawyer
"I believe in a higher law. I believe in true justice."
As a lawyer, George had a long career holding those who deal in human suffering accountable to the law. Recently, George retired and bought a boat to travel the world with his beloved wife Maria, but everything changed one morning in Bombay. George left the boat to get breakfast. On his way back, he passed Westerners dressed in black suits, all wearing silver rings that bore the image of a skull. Inside the boat, he found Maria's body surrounded by occult symbols. His sole reason for living now is the pursuit of justice for Maria.
Mainly supportive investigator, albeit he can turn into Gate-closer or spell-caster thanks to his good Lore and Will.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he suffers crippling injuries to his hands and jaw, making him barely able to even communicate.
- Despair Event Horizon: He fall into despair if he fails his personal story, and permanently loses ability to have Allies.
- Item Caddy: Unlike the other investigators, he can spend Focus not only to re-roll dies, but also to add 1 to result of any already rolled one.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to kill or discard at least 3 Cultists.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He wants to avenge his wife Maria, who was killed by some cultists. If he passes his personal story, he succeeds.
- Sanity Slippage: If he runs out of sanity, he ends up in prison for something (it never gets revealed just what he did, or was framed for, albeit it may be related to his behaviour), and ever since then he "tries" everyone he meets and "sentences" them to death for "murder"; when visited by another investigator, it gets revealed that he's like this ever since the trial.
- Support Party Member: He can help other investigators to get rid of Debt or Detained conditions.
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist
"When I play the violin, the music echoes in other worlds."
Hailed as a musical prodigy from her youth, Patrice has performed for royalty and society's brightest minds all around the world. For years she thought that her consciousness simply drifted as she played, but she's come to believe that an intelligence exists behind her visions. Somehow the notes form a bridge between her own mind and another. The more she grasps what her music exposes her to, the more afraid she becomes. After last night's concert in Sydney, she's finally decided to take action.
Spell-caster and good Gate-closer (with her starting Spell further encouraging it).— In-game bio
- The Ace: Her personal story's passing condition is becoming this, by acquiring at least 3 improvement tokens.
- Bilingual Bonus: Her personal story's failure consequence means "Swann Song" in French.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, the injuries she suffers includes cracked skull, scarred face and permanent deafness.
- Dumb Struck: If she runs out of sanity, amongst other things, she loses ability to speak, just keeping playing music in complete silence.
- Brown Note: If she runs out of sanity, she not only becomes mute, but also starts playing her violin obsessively, and her music, reflecting Patrice's mental state, becomes creepy and uncomfortable to listen; however, investigator who manages to endure it, actually gains insight how to close a Gate.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: She can directly spend Clues and Focus tokens to improve her skills. She also gains 1 Clue and 1 Focus whenever she closes a Gate through Other World encounter.
- Mythology Gag: One of the new abilities she gains after passing her personal story (allowing the other investigators to spend her Clues, even if they're not in the same location) is her original ability from Arkham Horror.
- Squishy Wizard: She has very low Strength and low Health, but compensates for it with good Lore and Will stats.
- Timed Mission: She must complete her personal story before too many Clues spawns on the board; exact time scales with number of players.
Tommy Muldoon, the Rookie Cop
"I took an oath to enforce the law. That's what I'm doing."
Most members of the Muldoon family are part of the Boston police force in some way or another. Not long ago, the youngest brother Tommy got his badge. Armed with an eye for detail, fierce courage, and his trusty rifle Becky, young Muldoon is dedicated to law enforcement. Now he finds himself in Anchorage at the request of his cousin, the local sheriff. Something has been killing people, and off the record, his cousin says it's a wendigo. Tommy's not sure he believes any of that, but catching killers is in his blood.
Designated fighter, with emphasis on "tanking" for his more vulnerable teammates.- Big Guy: He's one of the go-to fighters, and his mere presence allows the other investigators to take encounters as if there's no monster in their location — which, naturally, leaves him as the one to get attacked.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets beaten up so badly, he barely survives (in case investigators finds him at all) and has to be given to his family in Boston to take care of him.
- Heroic BSoD: If another investigator dies, he suffers a breakdown, feeling that he's not good enough to do what he must. As result, he suffers permanent decrease in maximum Health and Sanity.
- Hero Must Survive: He fails his personal story if he lets any other investigator to get defeated or devoured.
- I Am Your Opponent: Can force monsters from adjacent locations to move to him.
- Jack of All Trades: If not counting relatively low Lore, all his stats are at 3 (out of 4), making him good all-rounder.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: If he runs out of sanity, he becomes completely unfit to continue investigation; he claims otherwise, but it's completely disproven by his obvious tremors. Unless convinced to retire, he continues the mission even in this state, but only succeeds at getting killed.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to slay the monsters with at least 10 total points of toughness. His reward is becoming even better at slaying monsters.
Ursula Downs, the Explorer
"Discovery isn't easy, but it's the only worthwhile path."
As a young girl, Ursula constantly climbed trees, scaled rock walls, and explored caves. When it came to her studies, she excelled in history and the sciences. After getting a degree in Archaeology in Boston, she began traveling the world searching for forgotten civilizations. She's an expert in both ancient and contemporary languages, and is capable of enduring the harsh environments she encounters during her expeditions. Recently, Ursula has traveled to Africa to oversee the excavation of a lost city's ruins.
All-rounder, who starts with free improvement, allowing to customise her for expected role. Due to her abilities, she's best used when dealing with Expeditions or Clues in remote locations.— In-game bio
- Action Girl: It's mentioned in her backstory that she was always the active, exploring type
- Adventurer Archaeologist: She has a passion for adventure and archaeology.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gains some "blood infection" (more likely to be a curse) which makes her wounds unable to heal at all, rendering her unable to leave the hospital.
- Cunning Linguist: She knowns several languages, both ancient and contemporary.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: If she fails her personal story, consequence's name ("Pandora's Box") implies that she uncovered something she should've never touched; it immediately advances Doom further, and spawns a monster on every Reckoning for the rest of the game.
- Dream Land: If she runs out of sanity, she becomes obsessed with exploring the other world in her dreams (given the setting, likely to be the Dream Lands), but can't progress far on her own, and needs help. Depending on the visiting investigator's ability to pass Will check, she either succeeds, and actually carries something out of the dream into the real world, or slips into nightmare and never wakes up, as if something trapped her mind.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: She's experienced archeologist who travels around the world in search for lost civilisations; this manifests as her ability to travel via Uncharted path and then perform an extra action: she's that skilled at traversing wilderness.
- Item Caddy: She can spend 1 less Focus on any effect. As the normal usage of it requires only 1 Focus anyway, it essentially allows her to use it for free.
- Jack of All Trades: Most of her stats are at 3 (excluding Influence and Will, which are at 2), and she can improve any stats of her choice at the start. This makes her suitable for any task.
- Timed Mission: Her personal story (find an Artifact and discard it on the City space) must be completed before Doom advances to 6.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: When investigators visits her in the hospital after her running out of health, the doctors says that she got some sort of "blood infection" which makes her wounds unable to heal.
Wilson Richards, the Handyman
"It's nothing a good plan and some hard work can't fix."
Wilson's a practical man. He goes where there's work. When it's gone, he moves on. Wilson finds that offering an honest deal gets him treated honestly, but since he took a job rebuilding a church in Arkham, he's had a hard time being honest with himself. Things that used to hide in the deepest pits of the earth have crawled to the surface. He cannot unsee all the things he's seen, but he can get to work on fixing the problem.
Designated fighter. When needed, also serves as the good supplier, due to his high Influence and his abilities.— In-game bio
- Almighty Janitor: His profession is "handyman".
- Almost Dead Guy: If he runs out of health, he gets buried alive in the wall. If investigator who finds him passes a Strength check, they finds him still alive to share some info, otherwise, it dies with him.
- Big Guy: Starts with high Health and Strength, and a Blunderbuss asset.
- Collector of the Strange: If he runs out of sanity, he starts obsessively collecting the shards of glass and stone, and moving them around himself in some patterns which only he understands. The investigator who checks on him may actually gain some info out of it, but that requires to pass an Influence test to reason with him.
- Item Caddy: He can use Focus more efficiently than most other investigators:
- He or other investigators in his locations re-rolls 1 extra die whenever they spends Focus.
- If he passes his personal story, he gains ability to receive Resource whenever he does Focus action, and, once per round, when he spends a Focus, he gains 1 Focus back. This makes him further specialise in actively using the Focus mechanic with maximum effectiveness.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: His special ability allows him to take one Asset with the cost of 1 without doing Influence check (even if he's in location which normally doesn't allow to purchase anything). Alternatively, he can discard any card from reserve and do an extra action.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: He always starts with Blunderbuss, which, with his already high stats, makes him devastating against most enemies.
- Timed Mission: His personal story requires successfully resolving a Rumour, by doing what's required to stop it. If it gets resolved on its own in the Mythos phase, he fails.
Strange Remnants
Marie Lambeau, The Entertainer
"I used to sing as grand-mère made potions and charms."
Marie has come a long way from the Louisiana marshes of her youth. These days, "The Smoky Velvet" sings the blues in elegant nightclubs around the world, but it was grand-mère's dying wish that sent Marie to the Kingdom of Sarawak, where an old evil had returned. Marie doesn't believe she can help, but only a fool didn't listen to grand-mère. Now memories of strange nursery rhymes she used to recite have begun flooding back. People called grand-mère a witch. Maybe Marie's got some witchcraft in her blood, too.
Spell-caster, who would also work great as the team's supplier.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of Health, she gains a scar on her throat which renders her mute. She threats it as Fate Worse than Death, becoming obsessed with listening to recording of her voice. If investigator who checks on her fails to convince her to share information, she later drinks herself to death (it's unknown what happens to her otherwise).
- Collection Sidequest: To pass her personal story, she must collect at least 1 Spell of each kind: Incantation, Ritual and Glamour.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: If she runs out sanity, she bleeds to death in some hotel, writing the message to the other investigators in her own blood.
- Damage Reduction: Whenever Spells makes her spend or lose Sanity, she loses 1 Sanity less.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed :She's likely based on Marie Laveau, a famous New Orleans voodoo mystic.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: She is the only investigator who can use the same action twice per turn.
- Timed Mission: Her personal story must be completed before Doom advances to 6.
"Skids" O'Toole, The Ex-Convict
"I didn't get out of the joint just to watch the world end."
Skids got put away on two counts of bank robbery, but he never hurt anybody. His cellmate, Brad Hollins, killed nine people. Hollins said that an alien creature made him do it. Over the years, Hollins said a lot of strange things about the "Ancient Ones." He said that he needed to get to Argentina to stop them. Skids didn't give it much thought until the night Hollins burst into flames. When Skids got paroled, he couldn't shake the thought of these "Ancient Ones."
Dedicated fighter, thanks to his high Strength and starting with an Axe. Potentially can act as all-rounder, as long as it doesn't require him to test Influence.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, her gets not only crippled, but also tried for murder. If the chargets gets lifted, he quietly retires, otherwise, he receives a life sentence without parole and dies in a prison fight.
- Face–Heel Turn: If he runs out of sanity, he turns into genuine criminal, and even him "surrendering" to another investigator as a sign of good will after long crime spree turns out to be a trap and attempt to rob them as well. It results in either investigator who comes for him winning, and Skids being arrested, or Skids overpowering them, only for police to intervene and just kill him.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: His past criminal record makes many people unwilling to trust him, resulting in abysmal Influence stat. He compensates for it with his active ability, which provides him with alternative way to acquire assets (by discarding a card, and drawing a replacement).
- Luck-Based Mission: His personal story's success or failure literally depends on a dice throw.
- Lucky Seven: On Reckoning, he must roll two dices. If sum of their results are 7 or 11, he passes his personal story; his personal story's reward is even called this.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: He can re-roll any dice which rolls 1, unlimited amount of time. If he passes his personal story, it gets upgraded to also work when he rolls 2.
- Reformed Criminal: An ex-bank robber who can help save the world.
- Spontaneous Human Combustion: His quest to find out about the "Ancient One" was kickstarted by him witnessing a guy suddenly catching fire and burning to death.
- Theme Naming: His personal story and its' reward and consequence have a dice motif ("Leave it to Chance", "Lucky Seven" and "Snake Eyes", respectively).
Tony Morgan, the Bounty Hunter
"When I find the beast, I'll trap it or put it down for good."
Tony's tracked down low-life scum in every lousy corner of the world, but nothing was quite as bad as Innsmouth. Some creep in Boston skipped bail and tried to hide with family in the small fishing village. It turned out "family" meant vicious fish-like monstrosities that left Tony bloody and half-drowned. Ever since, he's found a new kind of dirtbag to hunt. Ordinary mobster or otherworldly monster, Tony will take it down and find someone willing to pay him for it. Now he's got a lead in Bogotá. Easy money.
Researcher/combatant investigator.— In-game bio
- Bounty Hunter: He's straight up described as such, tracking people down for money; that's how he originally joined the team, when the recent target ended up something more sinister than just a criminal.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he falls into coma, and it's unlikely that he would recover.
- Collector of the Strange: If he runs out of sanity, he starts collecting some creepy "trophies", like bone chips or clumps of hair. Depending on how the meeting with another investigator goes, he may threaten to make them into a new trophy if they ever shows up again.
- Genius Bruiser: Tony combines high Observation with high Strength, which makes him capable of fighting his way to the important Clue or the Rumour, and deal with it without outside help.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to slay the monsters with at least 5 total points of toughness. His reward is becoming even better at slaying monsters. However, he must be careful, as he fails if he loses too much Health or Sanity.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
- His action ability allows him to directly convert Focus into Clues (as long as he can pass the Influence check). If he passes his personal story, he gains ability to do so without bothering with the check.
- He can directly gain Focus by defeating enemies.
- Unishment: If he somehow fails his trivial Personal Story, the penalty is completely insignificant - he can't use Resources for acquiring Assets. The other part of his penalty can be removed with easy-to-generate Clues. It takes very special set of circumstances for the Consequence of failing the Personal Story to affect the game in the slightest.
- Unstable Equilibrium: Thanks to the combination of his special abilities and starting with Handcuffs, he turns into a Mook Horror Show when there are numerous cultists sprawned on regular basis. Handcuff enemy by expending Focus, "kill" the creature, automatically regain Focus, proceed with next target. If he finishes his Personal Story (which is trivial), he is one of the most reliable Clue generators in the whole game on top of being a powerhouse in combat. And if the Ancient One is the Syzygy, Tony enters game-breaker territory.
Zoey Samaras, the Chef
"God has spoken. I will do His work without hesitation."
When Zoey was six years old, her parents were killed in a fire. As the flames consumed her home, God spoke to her. He told Zoey that she was special and that He was giving her a special task. As an adult, she now travels from city to city, taking work as a chef to support herself. When she isn't working, she stalks the night, guided by the Lord's voice. Wherever she finds wickedness, she strikes it down without remorse or hesitation. Most recently, God has called her to Rome, to dispense His righteous fury.
Fighter/spell-caster. Thanks to good Lore and even better Will, can be used as Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Big Guy: Played With. While she has noticeably low Health for a fighter, she's much more resistant to Sanity-based attacks: she starts with 6 Will (4 basic, and 2 from her starting asset) and 7 Sanity. And if she passes that, she gains huge boost to her (also decent) Strength; it doesn't matter how hard the enemy hits if it dies before it can try.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she becomes unable to walk, and has to be cared for in the hospital.
- Chef of Iron: Cooks during the day, kicks asses during the night.
- Fetch Quest: To pass her personal story, she must complete at least 3 Tasks (specifically, Unique ones). What the Tasks requires her to do? Run around the world and do encounters in randomly-determined places, close gates, defeat monsters, etc. Fortunately, her action ability allows her to gain new ones when she has too few, so she never runs out of them, and can afford to pick which ones to do.
- Glass Cannon: She has rather low Health for a fighter, but compensates for it with high Strength, which she can boost even further if she doesn't lose any Sanity during combat encounter.
- Hunter of Monsters : She's on Mission from God, which instructs her to strike the wicked and stop the forces of evil — the Ancient One and its minions. And she's more than capable of doing so.
- Magic Knight: Thanks to her good Lore, she's well-capable of using Spells to further amplify her effectiveness as a fighter or Gate-closer.
- Mission from God:
- She believes that the god gave her a mission of cleansing the world of evil.
- If she runs out of sanity, she quits investigating and retires to a church, praying non-stop in hope that the god would resume speaking with her, after abruptly abandoning her at some point after giving one final instruction.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed : Lost her parents at a young age, driven by a goal for the greater good. Hunts down the wicked at night. Sound Familiar?
- Theme Naming: Her personal story and its' reward and consequence have a religious motif ("In His Name", "Crusade" and "Gone Astray", respectively).
- Timed Mission: She fails her personal story if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, she has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
Under the Pyramids
Hank Samson, the Farmhand
"Folks are in trouble. I don't gotta be a genius to help out."
Since he was a kid, Hank has crossed the country working on farms and ranches. In Texas, he saw a giant bird-like creature tear cattle to pieces. Everyone else ran, but Hank cracked that creature's skull open with his maul. Thinking nothing of it, he included the story in a letter to his father. Now his pa is missing and folks in Dallas say someone's looking for Hank. If they thought they were going to scare him, they were wrong. Hank Samson ain't afraid of anything, and he aims to find his pa.
Designated fighter, also capable of researching.— In-game bio
- Book Dumb: What he lacks in education, he takes in natural savviness and observation, resulting in surprisingly high Observation stat (3, out of 4).
- Brass Balls: Isn't afraid of anything, and it's reflected by one of his special abilities. In combat encounters, he skips directly to Strength check, and if he passes it, he doesn't need to do Will test at all. Ability doesn't work if the enemy tests something else in place of Will during Horror test.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he suffers from blood infection, which rendered him sickly slim, frail and weak; if convinced to see a doctor, he survives and retires from adventuring, otherwise he dies.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to collect at least 3 Clues by resolving Research encounters.
- Damage Reduction: If he passes his personal story, he gains ability to lose 1 Health less from monster attacks.
- Farm Boy: A big strong farmboy with an even bigger sledgehammer.
- Feels No Pain: If he fails his personal story (by losing too much health), his toughness receives rather dark explanation: it turns out that he suffers from Congenital Analgesia
condition, which makes him unable to feel pain... and thus, much more likely to suffer serious injuries; the game actually incorporates it as mechanic, as he starts gaining "Injury" conditions for every point of Health he loses, which all but defeats him as the team's fighter. - Game-Breaking Injury: If he fails his personal story, he starts gaining "Injury" conditions for every point of Health lost, which all but defeats him as the team's fighter.
- The Last Dance: If he runs out of sanity, he ties himself in the field, like a scarecrow, insisting that he's "scaring away monsters". If investigator who checks on him fails to force him down, he dies of dehydration, but otherwise, realising that he's losing his mind, he decides to use his last chance to actually fight some monsters and does exactly that, by dealing massive damage to any monster on the field.
- One-Hit Kill: His action ability allows him to pass a Strength check and, on success, instantly destroy an enemy in his location; the better he performs, the stronger enemy he can kill this way.
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Doesn't have to make a horror check unless he takes physical damage in combat.
- Searching for the Lost Relative: His personal story involves looking for his Pa.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Hank's a simple farmhand with no training, but he's strong enough to crack a monster's skull with a sledgehammer, and he excels in combat.
Harvey Walters, the Professor
"I have experience dealing with these sorts of horrors."
In the time since Harvey Walters earned his master's degree in journalism from Miskatonic University, a lot has happened to him. His journalistic career took him into the roles of mystic and psychic investigator, which in turn led him to earn doctorates in History and Archaeology. There is perhaps no sane man alive who knows more about the occult than Harvey. Now his ongoing struggle against the darkness has brought him back to his alma mater here in Arkham.
Supportive investigator. On his own, suitable for researching and Gate-closing.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, Harvey suffers some serious injuries and decides to go into hiding, only stating that they're "severe".
- Face–Heel Turn: If he runs out of sanity, he becomes cultist and takes over the local cult.
- Jack of All Trades: His stats distribution makes him suitable for most tasks (excluding supplying, due to low Influence).
- The Smart Guy: Besides being The Professor, he's also good at Researching. If he passes his personal story, he becomes able to use a clue during tests (without actually spending it) once per round.
- Support Party Member: Can help the other investigators to improve their skills. To pass his personal story, he has to do this at least 5 times.
- Timed Mission: He fails his personal story if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, he has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
Joe Diamond, The Private Eye
"I was hired for a job. Evil gods or no, I aim to finish it."
The dame who hired Joe was square, and the job seemed easy on the surface. She paid in advance to have Joe find some codger and deliver a crate, but Joe does not walk into situations without knowing the score. This codger was a member of the Silver Twilight Lodge, and that crate had been stolen from a museum in Istanbul. Like a sucker, Joe went to the cops. For his trouble, he got a broken nose and a dead client, and somebody stole his cargo. Now Joe is ready for a little payback.
Searcher/supplier investigator. While he's not a very strong fighter, he's capable of defending himself.— In-game bio
- The Alcoholic: If he runs out of Sanity, Joe becomes miserably drunkard, to the point that investigator who checks on him requires to pass an Observation check in order to gain any useful info from what he says.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets wounded and abducted by cultists; if successfully found, he gets put in the hospital, which he wouldn't leave in foreseeable future.
- Despair Event Horizon: If he runs out of sanity, he falls into despair and develops heavy alcoholism; investigator who checks on him only tries to find out the reason for that, as Joe himself is beyond saving by this point.
- Expy: He's based on Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon.
- Genius Bruiser: Downplayed. He starts with great Observation, and while his basic Strength is low, it's offset by him starting with a gun (and he can easily obtain better weapon due to good Influence), as well as high Health.
- Item Caddy: He can discard any Ally, Service or Weapon card from reserve, and replace it with random card of same type from the deck, getting rid of useless cards to find something more useful.
- Mythology Gag: The new ability he gains after passing his personal story (re-rolling 2 dice after spending a Clue) is his original ability from Arkham Horror.
- Private Detective: He's working as private detective. It's how he originally joined the team, as he was hired for a job.
- Timed Mission: He must complete his personal story (by solving a Mystery) before too many Clues spawns on the board; exact time scales with number of players.
- Took a Level in Badass: Once he passes his personal story, he can instantly improve 2 skills. He also now can reroll up to 2 dice by spending a clue.
Mandy Thompson, The Researcher
"I will find a way to end this horror. I will not stop searching."
Ever since she was a child, Mandy would read when she could not sleep. Such has been the case on many nights. Her remarkable memory and ability to correlate facts have made her a highly sought-after researcher around the world. Over time, her work has required her to read strange occult texts. These bizarre tomes have slowly caused her to suspect that an ancient being will arise to destroy humanity. Recently, the scrolls she has been reading in Shanghai have made it clear that the world is in immediate danger.
Dedicated researcher, also capable of supplying and spell-casting.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gets crippled by the cultists who've abducted her, as a warning; amongst other things, they've removed her tongue.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Subverted; if she runs out of sanity, she starts insisting that there's a proof of some global conspiracy, which can be found by observing the money. It seems delusional at first, but if the investigator actually obtains the various currencies she requests, she does provide the proof, which is enough to advance the current mystery by 1. This doesn't mean by all means that she's sane, however, as it's stated that she's no longer capable of speaking coherently.
- The Fatalist: If she fails her personal story, she becomes convinced that defeat and death are inevitable. It not only severely reduces her effectiveness, but also immediately advances Doom.
- Make an Example of Them: If she runs out of Health, cultists cuts her tongue, but leaves her alive to deliver the message and to serve as example what would happen to whomever crosses their way.
- The Smart Guy: She is very good as the team's researcher, thanks to several factors:
- She has very high Observation stat, and gains extra Clue whenever she gains exactly 1 during research encounter.
- She can spawn extra Clues on board.
- Squishy Wizard: She has high Lore, which makes her good at using spells (albeit, due to her low Will, it may be dangerous to attempt dealing with Gates), but her low Health and Strength would make her very bad fighter. What further discourages her from taking active risks is that her personal story requires to solve a Mystery without losing too much Health or Sanity (and consequences of failure are rather harsh).
Minh Thi Phan, the Secretary
"You can depend on me to guide you through the unknown."
Phan Thi Minh's father came to Seoul from Indochina to use his diplomatic savvy in dealing with foreign business interests. Once grown, Minh proved to be just as adept in business. She reordered her name in the style of Westerners and took a job in Tokyo as a secretary to an importer of strange antiquities. More than just an employer, Mr. Thomas was Minh's friend, but now he has been murdered. Armed with only the strange text Mr. Thomas left for her and her own keen mind, Minh has vowed to find out why.
Supportive investigator. By herself, she's all-rounder, albeit initially ill-fit for combat or Gate-closing due to low basic stats.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gets grievously injured and can't even sit upright for long due to sheer pain.
- Hates Being Alone: Spending at least 3 turns without Allies or other investigator in her location (even if not consecutive) fails her personal story, and makes her sanity take massive hit, impairing her Influence and Will stats, and permanently reducing her maximum Health and Sanity. She gains enough confidence to no longer suffering this effect if she passes her personal story (by solving a Mystery).
- Jack of All Trades: She has 3 at all stats excluding Strength and Will, which makes her suitable for most tasks which don't include combat (and can do even that if she gets a boost by obtaining an Ally or if other investigator follows her).
- The Power of Friendship: Minh Thi Phan has an ability that increases all of her skills by 1 if she is in the same space as another investigator or has an Ally asset.
- Support Party Member: She boosts the other investigators by just sticking around, and can help herself and other investigator in her location to acquire tickets (saving precious time).
- Undying Loyalty: Played for Drama if she runs out of sanity: she starts obsessively waiting for Mr. Thomas, as if he would eventually return (amongst other weird stuff, like her starting talking in multiple languages, including ancient ones); given that he's dead, and her involvement in the story started with trying to find out why and avenge him, it's a clear sign of her sanity deteriorating.
Monterey Jack, the Archaeologist
"To find a treasure like that, I'll risk a few poison darts."
Young Jack traveled the world with his father's archaeological expeditions. He acquired the nickname "Monterey" after a bout of quinine-induced jaundice turned his skin yellow. Once grown, Jack became an accomplished archaeologist in his own right. Now he must explore his own past. His father was found murdered with an arcane sigil carved into the old man's forehead. Here in Cairo, he has seen men wearing this sigil on pendants around their neck. It is time for Jack to start digging.
Researcher/fighter investigator, with emphasis on Expeditions.— In-game bio
- Adventurer Archaeologist:
- He's experienced archeologist who prefers to look for lost relics in remote and dangerous places.
- Gameplay-wise, he's tailor-made for dealing with Expeditions:
- Besides optimal stats (high Observation and Strength), he also gains a free Relic once he resolves Expedition encounter.
- As action ability, he can either discard an Artifact to retreat Doom (which he's more likely to obtain in the first place), or discard the top card of Expedition encounters deck, both to move the Expedition somewhere more preferable and to gain an extra action.
- His personal story actually requires him to solve 3 Expedition encounters, further encouraging him to concentrate on those.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, all the venom he accumulated from spiders, scorpions and snakes makes her barely able to breath. He remains able to make jokes about his adventures even in that state.
- Carved Mark: If he runs out of sanity, he starts compulsively carving some occult symbols on his body, to the point that asylum stuff had to take away his belongings to make him stop (but he now tries to do it with his fingers). If successfully interrogated, he explains those as some protective symbols; he's just that traumatised by the eldritch horrors which nearly killed him.
- Expy: Based on Indiana Jones.
- Genius Bruiser: He combines high Strength with high Observation, making him capable of safely investigating in the dangerous locations, knowing that he can stand his ground if someone attacks him.
- Timed Mission: He must complete his personal story before too many Clues spawns on the board; exact time scales with number of players.
Rex Murphy, the Reporter
"My sources tell me that the world is ending. Just my luck."
When disaster strikes, Rex Murphy is usually on hand, suffering the consequences. After spending a day with Rex, even the most hardened skeptic will concede that the man is cursed. To survive, Rex has developed an inquisitive mind, trying to keep one step ahead of the next disaster. His terrible fortune has more than once exposed him to the monstrous forces that threaten this world. He hopes he can get some writing done in Alaska, far away from anything that might go too wrong.
All-rounder investigator, albeit his effectiveness is limited by unremovable Curse. Can be very good as dedicated supplier.— In-game bio
- Born Unlucky: He's permanently stuck with a Cursed condition. Even if he manages to discard it, he'll instantly be cursed again (albeit he gets rewarded with free Clue and stat improvement). If he passes his personal story, his family's curse finally gets lifted, but if he fails, it becomes even worse, as it makes him automatically flip his Curse on every Reckoning (normally, you instead do a throw to discard it).
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he seemingly recovers from his injuries (likely planning to retire), only to get caught in the gas explosion and receiving even worse ones.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to collect at least 5 Clues, and spend them the next time he must gain Cursed condition (which can only happen if he somehow lifts it). It immediately discards a Curse, and disables the ability which originally prevented him from lifting it, making this effect trigger on every Reckoning instead.
- Demonic Possession: If he runs out of sanity, some evil entity takes over, requiring an act of exorcism (which doesn't even work). The investigator who checks on him would try to help him, which, if successful, allows him to die in peace (and take that evil into themselves, doing massive Doom retreat in exchange for being Cursed), but on a failure results in Rex's soul being exiled from his body forever, leaving it an empty shell.
- Jack of All Trades: He has 3 at Influence, Strength and Willpower, and can improve any stat of his choice. This allows him to either become all-rounder, or further specialise in specific field. However, his effectiveness is limited by him being permanently Cursed (so only 6 counts as success on any rolls); due to that, he's actually poor choice for closing the Gates, despite his stats, as they're always multi-stage, requiring him to pass two checks in a row.
- Luck-Based Mission: He fails his personal story if he ever flips his Cursed card — which happens if he ever gets Cursed again.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Rather than acquire Assets the normal way, he can take any amount of Assets from reserve, if their total cost is less than his current Influence (he starts with 3). And since this doesn't count as "Acquire Asset" action, he can easily do both.
- Tempting Fate: If he runs out of health, he seemingly starts recovering and is very enthusiastic about soon being discharged, already making plans about what he would do. Sure enough, the gas explosion leaves him heavily burned and broken.
Sister Mary, The Nun
"The Lord watches over my path. I am armored in faith."
Sister Mary speaks very little of her life before taking her vows. Like so many other young girls, she came from a small town and dreamed of something greater than a small life. The Lord provided. Through His path, she has become a lion of compassion and virtue. She has a natural ability and people are often surprised how driven she is to serve God’s will. The church has sent her to South Africa to investigate a possibly demonic presence. Mary plans to approach the question as she always does, with a clear mind and an unshakable faith.
Supportive investigator. On her own, she's best as researcher or Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Is described in the game as having a beatific face.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, due to her injuries, she becomes unable to leave the hospital. She spends her days giving other patients hope they need.
- Crisis of Faith: If she runs out of sanity, she loses her faith completely. Unfortunately, the church decides to just lock her away, not allowing any visitors, requiring an Influence test to meet her and learn her story. Either way, she doesn't rejoin the investigation.
- Luck-Based Mission: All it takes to fail her personal story is her taking a Bane condition, which can happen completely at random.
- No-Sell: If she passes her personal story, she becomes immune to Bane conditions, unless she chooses to take them deliberately. She also becomes unable to lose Boon conditions against her will.
- Support Party Member:
- She can pass a Will check (which is rather easy, due to high starting Will) to make herself or other investigator in her location to discard Madness condition.
- She and other investigators in her location adds "1" to the result of each die when resolving Bane or Boon conditions, making it easier to discard the former, and keep the latter.
Signs of Carcosa
Dexter Drake, The Magician
"Do not be afraid. I have spent my entire life doing the impossible."
When the Great War ended, Dexter went from being a soldier to a stage magician. His charm and unparalleled skills quickly drew praise from around the world. As he toured the exotic corners of the world, he amassed a collection of genuine occult knowledge. Soon Drake became as much a master of real magic as he is of staged illusions. Eventually, his arcane studies revealed a dark power that is growing in strength. Now in Tokyo, Drake spends his nights performing and his days stopping the end of the world.
Spell-caster and Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Becoming the Mask: Went from a Stage Magician to becoming a real magician in his own right.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to gain at least 6 Spells; he isn't required to actually keep them after obtaining.
- Expy: He's based on Mandrake the Magician, down to the name.
- Grave-Marking Scene: If he runs out of health, he actually dies, and his funeral gets attended by his fans from all across the world, including some very powerful individuals; investigators may actually gain some info from them, reverting the Doom accumulated due to Dexter's death.
- Item Caddy: Whenever he gains a Spell by any means, he gains 1 extra for free. This can be exploited to supply the other spell-casters with required Spells, as those can't be simply bought like Assets.
- Magicians Are Wizards: Of course, the only magician in the cast is also the strong mage.
- Manchurian Agent: If he runs out of sanity, Dexter leaves some hidden messages which, once discovered, triggers the "program" he had installed into his teammate's mind which gives them knowledge and skills they didn't have before, giving them various bonuses. What happened to Dexter himself remains a mystery.
- Squishy Wizard: Dexter has low Health and Strength, making good Spells and/or Assets critical for his survival.
- Stage Magician: He was a stage magician, until he learned that magic is real, and started accumulating occult knowledge.
- Timed Mission: He fails his personal story if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, he has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
- Uncertain Doom: If he runs out of sanity, Dexter just disappears, and his fate remains unknown.
- Weaponised Teleportation: He can teleport a monster from his space into any location containing a Gate. This may be useful when you really need to clear specific location of monsters, or remove specific monster.
Jenny Barnes, The Dilettante
"My sister was taken. I will pay any amount to save her."
Born to wealth and privilege, Jenny has spent most of her young life in the most fashionable nightclubs around the world. But her life of decadence came to an abrupt halt when she received an ominous letter from her sister Isabelle. In the letter, Isabelle reported being followed by mysterious men wearing hoods and robes. When Jenny investigated, she learned that her sister had been kidnapped to an island in the Caribbean. Jenny will use her wealth and international connections to find Isabelle and punish the men who took her.
Designated supplier. Besides that, she's competent fighter who starts with a gun.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she stays under care of her parents, unlikely to leave on another adventure anytime soon.
- Crimefighting with Cash: She has 4 Influence, which makes her one of the best candidates on the role of the designated supplier. Her action ability allows her to receive 2 extra dices during Acquire Asset actions, which further encourages her to take this role. And on top of that, she starts with Asset which allows her to re-roll 1 die while acquiring Assets.
- Fetch Quest: To pass her personal story, she must do encounters in three randomly-decided places, while being on a time limit.
- Heroic BSoD: She suffers massive breakdown if she fails her personal story and her sister dies, impairing her Influence and Will, and suffering permanent decrease in maximum Health and Sanity.
- Idle Rich: If she runs out of sanity, she becomes obsessed with the Yellow Sign and stops adventuring or trying to save her sister, instead dedicating her time to clubbing. The investigator who checks on her has a chance to take away the Sign and hospitalise her.
- I Will Find You: Her motivation to join the team is to find and save her sister Isabelle, who was abducted by some cultists. When playing with personal stories, she can finally find her... in one way or another.
- Searching for the Lost Relative: Her personal story involves her searching for her sister, Izzy.
- Support Party Member: Both her abilities are dedicated to making buying Assets easier; while Jenny can benefit from those herself, they're much better to help her teammates who struggles with supplying themselves:
- While on City space, she allows herself or another investigator in same location to perform "Acquire Asset" action, with a +2 bonus. This saves actions which can be spent on something else, and massively helps investigators who have poor basic Influence and can't buy anything useful on their own.
- Once per round, she allows herself or other investigator to discard a Debt condition (which often comes when struggling to buy Assets).
- If she passes her personal story, she allows any investigator who takes a bank loan (read: gains Debt condition), it gives +3 successes instead of normal +2. And she still can help to get rid of that Debt afterwards.
- Timed Mission: Her personal story must be completed before Doom advances to 6.
Michael McGlen, The Gangster
"Don't care if it's a god. If it crosses me, it's gonna regret it."
When the O'Bannion gang needs to send a message, they send the big man, Michael McGlen. Not long ago, his friend Fast Louie Farrell was attacked by a bunch of inhuman things with ugly, fish-like faces. They sliced him up and dragged him under the water. McGlen took it personally. The word has spread: McGlen has loaded up his Thompson and everyone else had best get out of the way. His first stop is London where he intends to find out what those creatures are called and where he has to go to kill every last one of them.
Designated fighter. When needed, he's also a competent supplier.— In-game bio
- Big Guy: He has very high Health and Strength, and starts with Tommy-gun (which effectively doubles his Strength) to further amplify his effectiveness as a fighter. He becomes even stronger if he passes his personal story, and gains huge boost to maximum Sanity.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets put into hospital due to all his wounds, from which he then gets abducted by the hostile gangsters; if found in time, he turns out alive, but even more injured, otherwise, they kill him.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's avenging his friend Fast Louie.
- Face–Heel Turn: If he runs out of sanity, he finds new "boss" who wants him to join his "gang under the waves" (clearly the cultists, possibly related to Cthulhu), and his service starts with yet another robbery. There's no way to talk him out of it.
- Gameplay and Story Integration:
- He's a gangster, and thus is fine with blatantly robbing people; he can just get 1 Asset or Service "for free" without paying for them — at the cost of gaining "Wanted" condition. He should be careful to not overdo it, however, as having at least 2 Deal (including Debts) and/or Pursuit conditions fails his personal story.
- If he fails his personal story (by accumulating too many debts and/or enemies), he goes on the run. As result, he impairs his Influence twice (essentially dropping it to minimum) and forces him to move on every turn, unless something prevents him.
- The Irish Mob: He is member of O'Bannion's gang in London.
- Nominal Hero: The only reason why he joined the team is to avenge his fallen friend, Louie.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to slay the monsters with at least 10 total points of toughness. His reward is becoming even better at slaying monsters.
- Item Caddy: He has several abilities dedicated to make it easier to obtain cards without bothering with actually buying them.
- He has extra way to gain Assets or Services without bothering with Influence checks. As it doesn't count as "Acquire Asset" action, he can do both in one turn.
- His passive ability (re-roll 1 die whenever he resolves effects of Deal and Pursuit conditions) allows him to take bank loans (thus, gaining Debt) and expect that he likely would deal with it before it hurts him.
- Roaring Rampageof Revenge: Swears vengeance on the creatures who killed his friend.
- Token Evil Teammate: Most of the investigators have decent jobs in life; Michael is an unrepentant gangster.
Wendy Adams, The Urchin
"The little things are important. Grown-ups don't see that."
As far as the state was concerned, Wendy had to be placed in an orphanage. Her father was gone and her mother was insane. But Wendy knew that her mother drew sigils and chanted to hide from the nightmares that took Wendy's father. So long as she was in an orphanage, Wendy knew she was vulnerable. The only way to find her father and keep herself safe was to escape. She has one photo of her father, taken in a factory where the signs are in Russian. On the back is the message, "Soon the Red Tide rises. Stay safe, my little girl."
Dedicated researcher. When someone backs her up to deal with monsters, can risk closing the Gates.— In-game bio
- Black Eyes of Evil: If she runs out of sanity, her eyes turns pitch-black and she starts talking in inhuman voice. When talked to, she threatens the investigator who checks on her in some ancient language; if they fails to convince the doctor that they must talk, she just kills the doctor and escapes.
- Despair Event Horizon: If she fails her personal story, she loses any chance to find her father. It makes her losing Sanity whenever she fails any test, and makes her ineligible to be a lead investigator.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father is gone and no one knows about his fate. The only clue she has left is the old photo, which depicts him near factory somewhere in Russia.
- Earn Your Happy Ending:
- She has one of the most tragic backstories in the cast, which makes all the more heartwarming when she finally finds her father if she passes her personal story.
- Downplayed if she runs out of health; Wendy does find her father (or, rather, he finds her), but she still gets crippled, and the two of them have to lay low for the rest of their lives.
- Fetch Quest: To pass her personal story, she must accumulate 3 Clues and spend them after resolving a Research encounter, which reveals a new (randomly determined) location, where she has to do another encounter to finally find her father.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: She's a poor orphan and street urchin; as result, she has abysmal Influence stat. She compensates for it with ability to gain a Trinket from reserve or discard pile.
- Hope Spot: Inverted; if Wendy runs out of health, her stuff ends up in the pawnshop, brought by some older man, and investigator who checks on her requires Observation check to even find where's Wendy, fearing for the worst... but when she gets found, turns out that the man is her father, who managed to find her first, and he's ready to take her with him and lay low, but not before helping his daughter's friends at least somehow. What was started tragically, ends on a bittersweet note.
- I Will Find You: She's dedicated to find her lost father and reunite with him.
- Kid Hero: Wendy's a little kid, but would fight the monsters and save the world if she must.
- Luck-Based Mission: All it takes to fail her personal story is to gain a Bane, Illness, Injury or Madness condition, which she often can't control or even predict.
- Missing Mom: Wendy's mother went insane, unable to deal with the horrors responsible for disappearance of Wendy's father. That's why she was taken away and put into orphanage.
- No-Sell:
- Once per round, she can ignore an impairment token or a non-Debt condition.
- If she passes her personal story, she becomes immune to effects of any Mythos cards which would cause her to lose health or sanity.
- Searching for the Lost Relative:
- The reason why she starts in Russia, of all places, is because the last known whereabout of her father is some Russian factory.
- Her personal story involves her looking for her father. If she passes, they reunite.
- Street Smart: Her experience with surviving on the street made her develop cunning, observant mind. As result, she has very high basic Observation stat.
- Street Urchin: Ran away from the orphanage.
- Tragic Keepsake: An amulet with a picture of her father is the only thing she has left of her family.
The Dreamlands
Amanda Sharpe, The Student
"The truth of reason tempers even the wildest delusions. I will not fall prey to such madness."
Ever since she laid eyes upon that painting, Amanda Sharpe has been hearing voices in her head and seeing emerald cities deep beneath the ocean in her dreams. Once a student at Arkham's Miskatonic University, Amanda Sharpe opted to take some time away from school, hoping that the strange voices and visions would subside. Unfortunately, they have been getting worse, not better, and hardly a day goes by that she does not suffer from her unusual visions. Something terrible is coming, she is sure of it. The sea wakes.
Researcher/supplier investigator.— In-game bio
- And Then John Was a Zombie: If she runs out of sanity, it's implied that she heed the call of her blood and run into sea to become a Deep One; such transformations typically starts just like that, with a person suddenly walking into the sea and disappearing, and Amanda is known for her connections to the R'lyeh and sea. If she fails her personal story, such outcome becomes even more likely for her, as she starts suffering sanity damage whenever she moves by sea.
- Career-Ending Injury: Downplayed; if she runs out of health, she gets injured (she walks with heavy limp), but her injuries are noticeably less grievous than of other investigators, and she plans to retire before she "catches up" with them.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to collect at least 3 Clues by resolving Research encounters.
- Item Caddy: She can discard any Talents she no longer need to improve equal number of skills (of her choice). She can also replace improving a skill with gaining a Talent (can be used when improvement would be wasted otherwise, as no skill can be improved more than twice).
- Jack of All Trades: She already starts with high Observation, Influence and Will, and, thanks to her abilities (discard Talents to improve skills; replace improving a skill with gaining a Talent), can quickly boost the stats she's missing (relatively low starting Lore, poor Strength), or further improve Observation and Influence.
- Recurring Dreams: Sees R'lyeh in her dreams. If she runs out of Sanity, they would finally break her, leading to her running into the sea, either dying or becoming a Deep One.
- The Smart Guy: Starts with high Observation, and has starting Asset which allows her to further put it to use for the team's benefit.
- Suicide by Sea: If she runs out of sanity, she just walks into the sea and gets carried away by tide. Given her backstory and personal story in both this game and original Arkham Horror, however, it's possible that she didn't actually die, but rather turned into Deep One: it's typical scenario for their transformation, her personal story is directly tied to R'lyeh (as it's what she sees in her dreams), and if she fails it, it directly boosts her chances of doing this, due to draining her sanity whenever she moves by sea.
- Timed Mission: She fails her personal story if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, she has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
Carolyn Fern, The Psychologist
"The mad deserve peace of mind, not death of the spirit."
When Carolyn Fern's latest patient, Malachi, told her of his troubled nightmares, she never expected that he would turn up dead the very next day, murdered by the very weapon of which he dreamed. A gifted psychologist and skilled in the art of hypnosis, Carolyn has been following clues Malachi left in his diary across two continents. Convinced that Malachi's death is in some way connected to the growing unrest in the world, she is determined to uncover the truth that lies behind the murder of her former patient.
Supportive investigator, tasked with managing team's sanity and Madnesses. Other than that, she can serve as supplier or Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gets hospitalised, put out of action for at least long enough to not participate in subsequent struggle.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass her personal story, the number of Clues on board and/or in investigators' possession must be at least twice the number of players. The check for winning condition happens when another investigator Rests in her location.
- Heroic BSoD: She suffers this if she allows another investigator to be defeated by sanity loss; her Sanity gets reduced by 2, and from now on she can only restore Health OR Sanity during rest.
- Hero Must Survive: She fails her personal story if she lets any investigator to run out of Sanity. There's no consequence if they run out of Health instead, or gets Devoured.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Unlike the other investigators, if Carolyne runs out of sanity, we don't get any description of her state; only that it's so horrible, the investigator who checks on her in asylum has to pass a Will check to stay during hypnotism session in attempt to recover information about the cause of her state (which doesn't get described, either).
- The Shrink: She is a psychologist, who uses her professional skills to keep her team sane enough to survive the horrors they face.
- Support Party Member:
- She can allow herself or another investigator in her location to perform the Rest action and/or discard a Madness condition. Any investigator who rests in her location restores 1 Sanity more than usual.
- One of her starting cards allows her to spawn Clues when she Rests. And her personal story also makes her spawn Clues when she Rests, too. Unfortunately, her Observation would likely make her unable to actually collect those Clues on her own.
- Unwinnable: Her personal story requires another investigator to Rest in her location as a trigger. Even if all other conditions are fulfilled, if she's playing solo, for one reason or another, she's out of luck. On the bright side, she can't fail it either, as the failure condition is also related to other investigators.
Darrell Simmons, The Photographer
"The truth is darker than any of us know."
Darrell Simmons will never forget the night he saw an indescribable horror emerge from the shadows in his hometown of Arkham. Since that fateful night, the horror of what he saw permeates his every dream. Resolved to capture photographic evidence to prove what he saw, he has dedicated his life to pursuing rumors of supernatural sightings, the latest of which has brought him to an ancient burial ground in Indonesia. One good shot is all he needs, and there is no way he will let it slip through his fingers.
Researcher, with emphasis on working in cities. Also can be used as supplier.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he becomes permanently bedridden.
- Cloudcuckoolander: If he runs out of sanity, he starts "living" in his imaginary world, stopping responding to reality around him. He can show brief moment of clarity when visited by investigator who comes to check on him and share some info, but that's it.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to collect at least 3 Clues by resolving Research encounters.
- Item Caddy: He can check five top cards in the Asset deck, put them back in any order and then, if he wishes, discard any amount of card from reserve, knowing that those would be replaced by those new cards. This gives him control over reserve, quickly getting rid of undesirable cards and pushing something better to replace them.
- The Smart Guy: He has great Observation, and can roll an extra die during any Location or Research encounters on City spaces (which he would likely do either to search for clues, or buy supplies).
- Timed Mission: His personal story must be completed before Doom advances to 6.
- We Need to Get Proof: His personal story requires him to gather enough evidences of his claims. If he succeeds (by gathering enough Clues during Research encounters), he acquires the proofs he needs; otherwise they get destroyed and he ruins his reputation.
Gloria Goldberg, The Author
"Never underestimate the power of the written word."
For most of her life, Gloria has experienced vivid, lifelike dreams of horrifying abominations emerging from the dark places of the universe to destroy humanity. As she became older, she learned to channel these horrible visions into her writing and is widely lauded for the imaginative and detailed descriptions of the terrors she encounters in her nightmares. Her most recent nightmare ended with the destruction of not only Arkham but the entire world. If nothing else, it is going to make one hell of a book.
All-rounder with emphasis on closing the Gates.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she loses her hands, which makes her unable to either stay involved in the mission, or keep writing.
- Item Caddy: When in on the City spaces, she can gain any Tome of her choice from either Asset deck or discard pile.
- It's All My Fault: If she runs out of sanity, she becomes convinced that it's somehow her fault that all this horrors happened and it's her writings which are to blame, so she oaths to never write again and become a nun. It's impossible to talk her out of this, albeit she would share some (actually magic) books she wrote if investigator who visits her is convincing enough.
- Jack of All Trades: She has "3" at every stat excluding Strength, making her suitable for any non-combat task. Her ability encourages her to try and deal with the Gates, or at least support someone else.
- Support Party Member: By just sticking around, she makes any investigator in her location to roll an extra die during Other World encounters (read: attempts to close the Gate).
- Timed Mission: She fails her personal story (she must solve a Mystery) if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, she has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
Kate Winthrop, The Scientist
"Professor Young taught me that everything is simpler than it seems. The connection is there if you look for it."
Quiet and resourceful, Kate Winthrop has been obsessed with studying dimensional instability ever since her friend and mentor Professor Young was devoured by a beast from another world. Following a peculiar dream and a string of mysterious disappearances, Kate has come to the University of Buenos Aires to continue her research. Now that preliminary testing has been completed on her flux stabilizer, Kate is no longer content to sit idly by. She is determined to seek revenge for the death of her colleague.
Researcher/Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Collection Sidequest: Each time a Gate gets closed or discarded, it gets put onto her personal story's card. Once she accumulates at least 5, she passes.
- Heroic BSoD: If another investigator dies, she suffers a mental breakdown, and her Sanity gets reduced by 2.
- Hero Must Survive: She fails her personal story if other investigator gets defeated or Devoured.
- The Madness Place: If she runs out of sanity, she turns into Mad Scientist obsessively working on some project, ignoring the chaos around her and not recognising anyone who visits her, including her former teammates. It's possible to actually make some good out of her invention by pretending to be her assistant, but if failed, she mistakes the visitor for a ghoul instead, and chases them away.
- No-Sell: If a Gate would spawn on her place, it would be instantly discarded instead.
- One-Hit Kill: She can instantly destroy one monster in a location with a Gate, assuming its toughness is less than her Observation.
- Squishy Wizard: Her good Lore makes her good pick for a spell-caster, but she has low Health and Strength, which may end with her being killed if not careful.
- Uncertain Doom: If she runs out of health, she just disappears, with no clues about her subsequent fate; only her research notes are left behind.
Luke Robinson, The Dreamer
"The key to the Dreamlands lies within us all."
Luke Robinson, through the gift of an unusual puzzle box from his uncle, discovered the entrance to the Dreamlands many years ago, and has since then spent the majority of his days wandering the land of dreams in search of adventure. From the streets of Celephaïs to the endless mysteries of the Enchanted Wood he wanders, unraveling the secrets of both the land and the myriad dreamers who reside there. Now an ancient chaos threatens to annihilate not only the waking world but the world of his dreams as well.
Gate-closer/spell-caster.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he becomes permanently paralysed.
- Crippling Overspecialisation: He has both Lore and Will (the most common stats used to close the Gates) at 4. All the other stats are at 2, and Observation is outright 1, so closing Gates is pretty much the only thing he can do (aside from using magic). His abilities also only works with the Gates, and so is his starting Asset.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
- He starts in location containing a Gate, instead of some fixed place. If for any reason there's no Gates at all, he can spawn anywhere.
- Once per round, he can spend 1 Focus or 1 Sanity to interact with Gate as if there's no monster, bypassing the combat which he's unlikely to survive.
- Never Sleep Again: If he runs out of sanity, he develops crippling fear of sleeping, as then he would inevitably visit the Dream Lands and be attacked by Hypnos. With the help of the investigator who checks on him, he tries to cut himself from it, but the ritual can backfire, resulting in his fears coming true.
- Squishy Wizard: He has only 4 Health and 2 Strength. His passive ability allows him to avoid dealing with enemies when closing the Gate, and he needs it.
- Teleportation with Drawbacks: His action ability allows him to instantly move to location, but only to Gates which correspond to the current Omen.
- Timed Mission: He fails his personal story (she must solve a Mystery) if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, he has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
Vincent Lee, The Doctor
"I will find the answers, even if it kills me."
After the third or fourth mutilated body showed up during his time at St. Mary's Hospital in Arkham, Vincent Lee began to suspect that this was no simple case of wild animal attacks. When a young man died screaming in his sleep from a burst heart, Vincent knew for a fact that dark times were ahead. Taking a leave of absence from his position at the hospital, he has set out to ease the suffering of those afflicted by the spreading chaos, hoping that the trail of bodies will lead him to the answers he craves.
Supportive investigator, tasked with managing team's Health and Injuries/Illnesses. Other than that, he can become researcher or supplier.— In-game bio
- Ax-Crazy: If he runs out of sanity, he becomes violently insane and starts attacking people, so he has to be tied up. It's possible to gain some info out of him, which results in him screaming about impending doom, but not to help him in any way.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, even if helped with his wounds (which would otherwise kill him), it's stated that he would never recover.
- Heroic RRoD: He suffers this if he allows another investigator be defeated by health loss; his Stamina gets reduced by 2, and he from now on can only restore Health OR Sanity during rest.
- Hero Must Survive: He fails her personal story if she lets any investigator to run out of Health before he solves a Mystery. There's no consequence if they run out of Sanity instead, or gets Devoured.
- The Medic: He is a medic, who uses his professional skills to keep his team healthy enough to survive the horrors they face.
- Self-Surgery: If he runs out of health, he tries to perform a surgery on his own wounds; if discovered by other investigators, he may be helped, which, while leaves him crippled, saves his life.
- Support Party Member: He can allow himself or another investigator in his location to perform the Rest action and/or discard an Injury or Illness condition. Any investigator who rests in her location restores 1 Health more than usual.
- Unwinnable: His personal story requires another investigator to Rest in his location as a trigger. Even if all other conditions are fulfilled, if he's playing solo, for one reason or another, he's out of luck. On the bright side, he can't fail it either, as the failure condition is also related to other investigators.
William Yorick, The Gravedigger
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
William Yorick always dreamed of becoming an actor. But alas, poor Yorick, it was not meant to be. As a gravedigger, Yorick saw corpses every day, so when inhuman, monstrous corpses started turning up in Arkham, he took the bodies to Miskatonic University for study. Unfortunately for Yorick, this drew some unwanted attention, and fearing for his life, he took a grave-digging job in Sydney, far from Arkham and far from trouble—at least until the corpses started clawing their way from the ground.
Designated fighter/Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he suffers a head trauma which makes him unable to gain any new memories, which makes him unable to continue adventuring.
- Item Caddy: He has some non-standard methods of looking for Assets:
- He can discard up to two cards from reserve and immediately do an extra action. This allows him to clear reserve from undesirable cards.
- When he defeats a monster with toughness above 1, he can gain a free non-Service card from reserve. It synergises with his active ability, which helps him to "farm" for better weapon.
- Magic Knight: Unlike most fighters, he also has good enough Lore to use magic when needed.
- Napoleon Delusion: If he runs out of sanity, he gets "trapped" in one of his roles, believing that he's indeed that person; he also mistakes the investigator who visits him for someone who's killed his cousin, and attacks him. Unless overpowered (which allows to gain some info out of him), he runs into the city, where he would do god knows what.
- Heroic RRoD: He fails his personal story if he gets reduced to 1 Health or 1 Sanity prior to solving a Mistery, and suffers permanent reduction of maximum Health by 2, as well as starts throwing 1 fewer die when performing Will checks. Both effects essentially cripples him, as without Health, he can't be a good fighter, and without Will, he can't be good Gate-closer.
- Shout-Out: His entire character is one massive reference to Hamlet.
- Theme Naming: Hamlet:
- He received first name after its creator, William Shakespeare, and last name after one of characters. Additionally, he's a grave digger.
- His personal story is named "To be or not to be", and consequence of a failure is "Alas, poor Yorick".
Cities in Ruin
"Ashcan" Pete, The Drifter
"There may be dangers out there, but some souls just have to roam."
Ever since the onset of his prophetic dreams, Pete has been riding the rails with his old hound Duke. He has seen the best and worst of the world and he takes both in stride. Lately, it seems like every city he rolls into is suffering. Sometimes a flood; other times a fire. When he closes his eyes, he can hear every heartbroken soul cry for help. But when he set foot here in Oulu, he saw a city that rebuilt after their fire. Pete reckons if he can figure out the source of all this carnage, he can help those who need it most.
All-rounder, albeit incapable of buying supplies.— In-game bio
- Canine Companion: He always starts with Duke, his loyal companion and friend. If he ever loses him, he would fail his personal story, while passing it makes him unable to lose Duke against his will.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets badly wounded and only survives if discovered by another investigator, who puts him into hospital.
- Delusions of Doghood: If he runs out of sanity, he starts believing that he's a dog, wearing Duke's collar, and actually behaving like a dog. Note that there's no real Duke nowhere in sight, and it's unknown what has happened to him.
- Gameplay and Story Integration:
- As may be expected from a homeless, he performs poorly when it comes to using money or connections, as he obviously lacks either.
- It's not uncommon for a homeless to travel around on trains (as trespassers). Ashcan Pete can travel along the train paths, without spending Move action on it.
- Fetch Quest: To pass his personal story, he must do encounters in three randomly-decided places.
- Homeless Hero: He's a drifter.
- Item Caddy: To compensate for abysmal Influence, he can gain Items or Trinkets with total cost lower than his Observation; he takes the cards from discard pile, not the deck.
- Jack of All Trades: He has "3" at every stat, making him good in whatever task he's performing. The only exception is Influence, which he has at only "1". This may require another investigator to supply him with cards.
Bob Jenkins, The Salesman
"Reality is just a matter of negotiation."
According to Bob, the secret to success as a salesman is persistence. People just need to be told what it is that they want. Repeatedly. Recently, Bob came into possession of a handful of unusual golden coins, and Bob hopes that the same persistence he so famous advocates will help him to uncover their origin and purpose. His subsequent research taught him that the coins are rare and valuable, but also that some sort of curse is attached to them. Collectors refuse to touch them—but Bob is sold. He wants to know more.
Designated supplier. On his own, he's capable of fighting, due to good basic Strength and good starting weapon.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets crippled and has to ease the pain with heavy doses of alcohol.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to buy 5 assets in total, with increasingly higher cost (1 for the first card, and 5 for the last one). Note that taking bank loans is risky, as gaining at least 2 Deal conditions fails his personal story immediately.
- Fatal Flaw: Greed. If he allows it to overcome him (by accumulating too many Debts), he would fail his personal story, and would be forced to always take a Debt when offered — which becomes even more problematic due to him also reducing by 1 result of any die thrown while resolving effects of his Deals (which, with such new habits, he would accumulate a lot).
- Item Caddy: He has good Influence, and can buy cards for reduced price. Additionally, he can trade Items and Trinkets regardless of wether other investigators are in same location, or not.
- Support Party Member: He can trade his Items and Trinkets with the other investigators, even if they don't share location with him. This allows him to supply his teammates even when they're far away from him.
- The Team Benefactor:
- He's one of the go-to choices for the dedicated supplier, due to good Influence stat, ability to reduce prices on the cards he buys, and being able to trade with other investigators even if they don't share a location.
- If he runs out of sanity, he joins some "society" which makes him put all his possessions on sell for the minimal possible price, as well as everything that was in reserve (save for Service cards). While him stopping participating in adventuring (and general behaviour) isn't appreciated, the investigator who checks on him reluctantly agrees that he's beneficial to the team's efforts.
Rita Young, The Athlete
"You got a bone to pick? Fine by me. I don't need your permission to leave you in the dust."
Clocks do not lie. In the past, people said hurtful things to Rita. They threatened her. But since she started running competitively, Rita has only cared about the clock. Most of the time, it says that Rita is faster than the rest. It says she is stronger and has trained harder. Now she competes around the world and has attracted some unwanted attention. The prejudices of certain esoteric cults cannot tolerate her successes. They plan to make an example of her. But they will have to catch her, and the clock says they cannot.
Fighter/Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Big Guy: She has good Health and Strength stats, and starts with Talent which further helps with Strength checks and reduces amount of Health she loses from any sources.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, she gets hospitalised, only to then be abducted by cultists; if found, she survives, but would require a long time to recover.
- Cast From Hitpoints: She can spends Health or Sanity to gain Talents.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Due to her extensive trainings, she's more resilient than other investigators, so it's easier for her to recover from Illnesses, Injuries and Madnesses.
- Demonic Possession: If she runs out of sanity, she gets possessed by some powerful entity with arcane powers. That entity isn't hostile to the other investigators can is ready to share some of its knowledge, but it's impossible to make it release Rita no matter what.
- The Klan: At least one of the cults in her bio is implied to be the KKK.
- Mass Monster-Slaughter Sidequest: To pass her personal story, she has to slay monsters, with total toughness of 10 or more. However, losing too much Health or Sanity would make her fail it.
Roland Banks, The Fed
"Every 'i' dotted, every 't' crossed."
Even those who work closely with Roland would never say they know him well. They know he is a tireless agent for the Bureau of Investigation with a knack for conspiracies and the occult. They know he follows every letter of the law—even to his own detriment—and that his belief in the justice of the law is second to none. But they do not know him. Thy do not know the things he has seen or the doubts that cloud his thoughts. If ever his faith in the system was shaken, they would never know. He says nothing. He sees everything.
Researcher/supportive investigator.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he becomes comatose; unless helped by another investigator, he dies, otherwise, it's left ambiguous what would happen to him.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to collect at least 3 Clues by resolving Research encounters.
- Genius Bruiser: Downplayed; while there's more emphasis on intellect side, due to his high Observation and concentration on researching, he's capable of standing his ground due to starting with a gun. It's already more than most other researchers starts with.
- Item Caddy: He can set aside Service cards from reserve; those cards can later be played at optimal time by him or his teammate, instead of being used or discarded right on the spot.
- Support Party Member: One of his greatest contribution is ability to set aside Services for further use. Additionally, he can spawn Clues, or make someone else spawn.
- Talkative Loon: If he runs out of sanity, he starts talking, and talking a lot, but unfortunately, nothing he says makes any sense... unless investigator who checks on him passes Observation test to actually manage to find some useful info in the gibberish.
Masks of Nyarlathotep
Agatha Crane, The Parapsychologist
"The proof, as they say, is in the pudding."
If you had asked Agatha during her youth whether she held any stock in the idea of paranormal experience, she would have laughed you out of town. But Agatha has never been one to turn a blind eye to hard evidence, and these days, the evidence for a world outside of our perception has been piling up. Her husband, Wilbur, knows better than to obstruct his determined wife, and thus has bid Agatha a tearful farewell as she prepares for a lengthy trip to Tokyo, where she suspects she will find the answers she seeks.
Researcher/spell-caster.— In-game bio
- Collection Sidequest: She must accumulate at least 5 Clues, and then spend them after gaining a Clue from her passive ability.
- Conspiracy Theorist: If she runs out of sanity, one of the first sings of her insanity is her becoming a typical loon wearing Tinfoil Hat and talking nonsense conspiracy theories about the government, while her husband Wilbur has to care for her. It comes from a scientist, working with paranormal.
- Item Caddy: Her action ability allows her to immediately perform an action on Tome or Ritual card, with a great boost to Lore; this makes her one of the better investigators to use those. Additionally, once per round, she gains a free Clue after successfully resolving Lore check on Spell.
- The Smart Guy: Has good Lore and Observations stats, and can find clues any time she succeeds at Lore test during Spell effect.
- Spirit Advisor: If she runs out of health, she dies, and investigator who discovers her fate has to try and contact her spirit to gain some info from it.
- Squishy Wizard: She has very low Strength and Health, for which she can partially compensate with her powerful magic.
Calvin Wright, The Damned
"I can contain this darkness within me. I know I can."
Sometimes, life gives you a choice - accept the lot which is given to you, or stand up for who you are and what you believe in. Calvin chose the latter On the edge of death, bleeding out on the side of a dirt road, a vision came to him. A terrifying vision of the Earth sundered and Joao, the love of his life, turning to ash in the vortex of a blazing inferno. Then Calvin made another choice. He reached out to the darkness and pulled it within him. He would not die, not today. The world needed him - Joao needed him.
All-rounder, with slight preference for combat due to his starting card.— In-game bio
- Big Guy: He starts with good Strength (and further boosts it due to his starting weapon), as well as increased Health and Sanity. If he passes his personal story, he gains even more maximum Health and Sanity.
- Demonic Possession: If he runs out of sanity, the evil within him starts to overcome him, which makes him willingly abandon his quest to not endanger his friends when it inevitably takes over.
- Heroic Willpower: His will is strong enough to contain an evil spirit inside him. Unfortunately, keeping it inside takes so much that he can't tolerate any more without breaking. However, if another investigator dies, he would finally snap, failing his personal story; not only it would break him both mentally and physically, his ability to control this evil would weakens, and if he ever gets defeated/devoured, Doom would be increased not by 1, but by 3 points.
- Hero Must Survive: He fails his personal story if another investigator gets defeated or Devoured.
- Jack of All Trades Has 3 in every stat except Will (which is only 1), which makes him suitable for almost any tasks, albeit he would likely struggle with Gate-closing (unless he's lucky and encounter wouldn't test Will), and may have issues with some monsters.
- The Lost Lenore: His backstory mentions what his Love Interest was killed by an unknown evil force (likely that one he contains inside himself).
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: He can trade his Health and Sanity with others, and is unaffected by stats impairment reduction mechanic.
- No-Sell: His skills can't be impaired, nor he can lose improvement tokens. Instead, he would recover 1 Health and 1 Sanity.
- Not Enough to Bury: No details are provided (likely for the better), but it's stated that if he gets discovered by another investigator after running of health, little remains of Calvin himself.
- Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: He contains a great evil within himself, so it wouldn't cause any more harm.
- Support Party Member: He can give his own Health and Sanity to another investigators. He must actually use this ability to give another investigator 6 or more Health and/or Sanity in total to pass his personal story.
Carson Sinclair, The Butler
"Think of the children."
Carson still often thinks back to that fateful night when his friend and employer, one Mr. Hercule Webb, was swallowed up by a dimensional tear, never to be seen again. With Mr. Webb's disappearance, the Webb estate fell into the hands of the Webb's duplicitous business manager, a man by the name of Dupuis. As the sole provider for the Webb children, Carson has devoted himself to proving Dupuis's involvement in the events of Hercule's disappearance and to restoring the children as the rightful heirs to the Webb fortune.
All-rounder/supportive investigator.— In-game bio
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he becomes fully paralysed for the rest of his life.
- Collection Sidequest: To pass his personal story, he has to collect at least 3 Clues by resolving Research encounters.
- Heroic BSoD: Suffers breakdown if another investigator dies; his Health and Sanity gets reduced by 1, and he can't roll more than 3 dice during any test.
- Item Caddy: His action ability allows him to perform "Acquire asset" action, and then do another action. This allows him to always being ready to buy new cards, without fear of wasting limited number of actions on it.
- Jack of All Trades: He starts with 3 at Influence, Observation and Will, and an item which allows him to add "1" to result of any die during a test, once per round. All of this makes him capable of adapting to any task.
- Support Party Member: Whenever he or other investigator in his location performs "Prepare for travel" action, one of them gains extra ticket on their choice.
- Undying Loyalty: Until Hercule Webb disappeared, he was his loyal butler; now, he's the sole provider for his children, and helping them, as well as punishing the person responsible for disappearance, is his main motivation. Their fate plays major role in all possible outcomes Carson may suffer:
- If he runs out of health, helping to support them in his stead is required to gain any info out of him, while failing (which makes them homeless) makes him so angry, he would refuse to talk to you for the rest of his life: he's just that angry at you for letting him and them down!
- If he runs out of sanity, complete absence of the children is one of the first clues that something is really wrong. Then turns out that Carson is insane, and now works for the person who was his worst enemy (and, unless Carson is convinced to quit, actually makes him disappear, too).
- Passing of his personal story requires him tracking down the person responsible for the misfortune of Webb family, while if someone dies on his quest, the reason for his breakdown is that he feels that he failed yet another friend.
Daniela Reyes, The Mechanic
"Relax, tough guy. I'll handle this. You stand over there and look pretty."
Daniela has never been one to sweat the small stuff. Everything seems big today will be small tomorrow, and it's the little things in life - fast cars, pretty girls, and home-cooked meals - that make it worth living anyway. But that was before. One night, a strange noise prompted her to leave a glass of water behind the door to catch evil spirits like her mama always said - a glass of water that, in the morning, she found shattered into a thousand pieces. Something is going on, and she is going to find out what.
All-rounder, with emphasis on combat.— In-game bio
- Collection Sidequest: Whenever she spends resource, she puts one on her personal story's card; once she accumulates 8 resources this way, she passes.
- Item Caddy: She can spend Resources to gain Clues; with her extremely low Observation, it's likely the only way she would gain Clues at all. Once per round, after spending a Resource while acquiring asset or resting, she regains one.
- Jack of All Trades: She has "3" at every stat, excluding very low Observation. This makes her suitable for any task, unless it involves researching.
- Nervous Wreck:
- If she runs out of health, she becomes afraid of literally everything, and wants to just lay low and completely forget about her past misadventures or people who may remind her about it. If investigator who checks on her fails to convince her to at least share some info, she breaks into wordless sob.
- If she runs out of sanity, she starts obsessively covering her house with superstitious trinkets, in desperate attempt to wander off the eldritch horrors. Then she attacks investigator who comes to visit her, and even if she briefly comes to senses, she refuses to return to her old life.
- Timed Mission: She fails her personal story if at least 10 monsters gathers on the board at the same time. To buy extra time to complete her personal story, she must actively fight them.
- Wrench Wench: She is the Mechanic, and can use her skills to easily acquire a lot of resources.
Father Mateo, The Priest
"You need only look in your heart to find proof of the divine."
For all his life, Mateo has been a devout believer in a power greater than himself. Even as the political situation in Mexico reached a boiling point and violence erupted across the country, he maintained his faith in a just and benevolent creator. But when the bodies began to show up in his hometown, limbs mutilated and skin torn to shreds by some unnatural beast, Mateo started to wonder if there was any goodness left in the world at all. Now, Mateo is in Rome, seeking guidance and answers from the Vatican itself.
Gate-closer/supportive investigator.— In-game bio
- Black Mage: His high Lore makes him good spell-caster, while high Will (further boosted by his starting Asset) ensures that if he goes to battle, he would live at least until he actually attacks.
- Crisis of Faith: He loses his faith if he runs out of health, and decides to abandon the quest. When talked to, he flat out says that no one can help you but yourself.
- I Reject Your Reality: If he runs out of sanity, he starts preaching in some abandoned church, to non-existent listeners. If pressed, he tries to ignore the visitor, by averting his gaze and even increasing the volume, but ultimately breaks down and admits that what he survived brought him on the brink, implying that it was escapism attempt.
- Item Caddy: He gains free Boon condition whenever he closes a Gate during Other World encounter, unless he already has one. When needed, he can trade it to someone else in the team, even if they're not in same location.
- Squishy Wizard: He is good at magic, but has low Strength and Health.
- Support Party Member: Can give his Boon conditions to other investigators. Doing so 3 times is the passing condition of his personal story.
- Timed Mission: He must complete his personal story before too many Clues spawns on the board; exact time scales with number of players.
Preston Fairmont, The Millionaire
"My money, my legacy, my problem. Let me handle it in my own way."
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Preston was doted upon by his parents, and by all account should have lived a prosperous life free of worry and hardship. When his father died, he inherited an unimaginable fortune, but there are some things money can't buy. Downtrodden and depressed, Preston wasted money on gambling and women, until one night a seance performed by one of his girls brought him into contact with the spirit of his father - and shed a disturbing light on the source of the family income.
Dedicated supplier.— In-game bio
- Affluent Ascetic: Exaggerated; if he runs out of sanity, he deliberately decides not to touch his fortune, and become a beggar, thinking that the money only brought misfortune to him and his family.
- Career-Ending Injury: If he runs out of health, he gets put into hospital due to all the injuries he sustained, and falls into despair; if convinced that not all hope is lost, he recovers and starts a charity, but doesn't return to adventuring.
- Crimefighting with Cash:
- Other investigators, at best, have 4 Influence; he starts with 5. And he can improve it even further.
- His personal story requires that any investigator has 8+ assets total after Acquire Assets action. One of the best ways to do is to put his high Influence to good use and just buy those.
- Crippling Overspecialisation: He has the best Influence stat in the game, but has low Lore and Observation. He has high Strength, but can't put it to much use with only 1 Will and 5 Sanity, making it very possible to go insane before he actually attacks someone.
- Greed: Succumbs to it if he fails his personal story; once it kicks in, he longer can give any of his assets to another investigator (making him useless at the one thing he's doing the best), and would lose 1 Sanity when any other investigator would Acquire Assets.
- Upper-Class Twit: Until he learned the truth about his family's income, Preston was simply wasting money on gambling and women. Now, he's concerned with saving the world, at any cost.
Sefina Rousseau, The Painter
"Art is a window into a reality beyond our knowing."
Though a gifted painter, Sefina's talents have more often than not been capitalized upon to create forgeries of the works of others. One such commission - that of a surreal alien cityscape titled "Carcosa" - tested Sefina's abilities to their limits. Determined to recreate the work exactly, she worked obsessively until its completion, at which time she was suddenly whisked away to the world of the painting. Waking hours later, covered in paint and blood, Sefina has become determined to discover the secret of the painted city.
Researcher/Gate-closer.— In-game bio
- Anomalous Art: Her last work, Carcosa, turns out to have magic capabilities. Not surprisingly, given what Carcosa is.
- Career-Ending Injury: If she runs out of health, a nasty concussion renders her blind, effectively ending her career as the painter (not to mention, an adventurer).
- Master Forger: She specialises in creating forgeries of the others' paintings, despite being able to draw her own.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: After passing a skill check, she may spend Focus to immediately improve it. Due to how easy it's for her to improve a stat, she can spend improvement tokens she can spare to gain 1 Clue, 1 focus and 1 Resource (and she must do it three times to pass her personal story).
- Sanity Slippage: If she runs out of sanity, she abandons her quest and starts painting, while acting weird and creepy, ignoring her surroundings, and speaking some weird prophecies.
- Squishy Wizard: She has good Lore and Will, making her good spell-caster and Gate-closer, but suffers from having only 4 Health and 1 Strength. Not letting monsters catch her unprepared is imperative for her survival.
- Teleportation Misfire: If she fails her personal story, after every Other World encounter she resolves, she would teleport to the random location.
- Timed Mission: She fails her personal story if there's at least 5 Gates on the map at once. To buy more time, she has to close the Gates which are already spawned.
