Death May Die is one of my favorite co-operative, dungeon-crawling board games. The episode scenarios are interesting and made more exciting by interchangeable bosses. And with each boss, the game can go from hard to insane. And some characters more suited for the challenge within the episodes.
Which brings me to the main reason for this post. How do you choose which character to play from the massive amounts of characters that are available?
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Every time I introduce someone to Death May Die, the one really intimating aspect of the game is putting 45-character sheet in front of them and telling them to pick one. Although I have played Death May Die several times, I still don’t know where to start and what to choose.
So, let’s breakdown the characters and hopefully this guide can help you find the character that is perfect for you. This guide does not include the Eddy character that was just released but I will update it once we have received it.
You can also download this PDF booklet to have something to keep with the game!
Common Traits
Each character has three traits. One trait is special to the character and will be addressed in the characters section. The other two traits are chosen from six common traits. They will be either Arcane Mastery, Brawling, Marksman, Stealth, Swiftness or Toughness.
Arcane Mastery
This skill shows have an aptitude for magic (because we wouldn’t be in the world a of Cthulhu without a little magic). This trait allows character to treat the star symbol on the dice as if they were a success, which increases your chances of rolling successes. The ability converts more stars into more successes and eventually will allow you to even heal when you roll the arcane symbols.
Brawling
This skill shows your skill for getting up close and punching the monsters in the face. The first level of brawling will give you a bonus to attacking enemies in your space. And soon you can unleash the fight on more and more targets. No sane enemy would want to be in your space.
Marksman
This skill shows your ability to use a gun or weapon that is able to reach enemies at a distance. The marksman trait allows your character to attack enemies in adjacent spaces (which normally is not possible). Or, at higher levels, shooting even farther and gaining strength to each attack for targeting those farther away.
Stealth
This skill shows your talent for sneaking past the enemies and moving around the map undetected. A base level, you are able to sneak past one enemy without being detected but as you progress, you can sneak past more and more. And perhaps do some damage while you’re sneaking as well.
Swiftness
This skill shows off your speed letting you move farther than other characters. The base level of this skill will allow you to move one extra space, and additional levels will give you additional actions. This may seem mundane but more actions can make your character become extremely powerful.
Toughness
This skill reflects your characters strength and ability to avoid damages from the outside. At base level, your character can reroll dice to reduce the successes for enemies have rolled. At increasing levels, your character will be able to negate damage from different sources.
If you don’t really care about the special traits of characters and are only looking to find a combination of two basic traits, check out the chart below to find some characters you may be interested in! The parenthesis next to each name tell you which box the character is from: Base Box (B), Season 2 (S2), Extra Promos (EP), Unspeakable Box (UB), or Comic Book Extras (CBE)
| Marksman | Stealth | Swiftness | Arcane Mastery | Brawling | Toughness | |
| Marksman | – | Elizabeth (B) Ariele (S2) Fleur (UB) Maki (UB) | Mary (S2) Al (UB) Josephine (UB) | The Kid (B) Ernest (UB) Walter (UB) | Rocco (CBE) | Adam (B) Mario (S2) Allan (CBE) |
| Stealth | Elizabeth (B) Ariele (S2) Fleur (UB) Maki (UB) | – | Borden (B) Alex (S2) Olivia (UB) Tamara (CBE) | Ahmed (B) Hailia (S2) Meryl (UB) Lysa (CBE) | Margarethe (S2) Tina (CBE) | – |
| Swiftness | Mary (S2) Al (UB) Josephine (UB) | Borden (B) Alex (S2) Olivia (UB) Tamara (CBE) | – | Fatima (B) Margie (UB) Vincent (UB) | Ian (B) Scarlett (EP) Julia (UB) Jack (CBE) | Morgan (B) Sam (S2) Richard (UB) |
| Arcane Mastery | The Kid (B) Ernest (UB) Walter (UB) | Ahmed (B) Hailia (S2) Meryl (UB) Lysa (CBE) | Fatima (B) Margie (UB) Vincent (UB) | – | Rasputin (B) Adilah (S2) Maxim (UB) | Luke (S2) Bert (UB) Pops (UB) Annabelle (CBE) |
| Brawling | Rocco (CBE) | Margarethe (S2) Tina (CBE) | Ian (B) Scarlett (EP) Julia (UB) Jack (CBE) Eddie (EP) | Rasputin (B) Adilah (S2) Maxim (UB) | – | Sister Beth (B) Tony (S2) Gonk (UB) Roxie (UB) |
| Toughness | Adam (B) Mario (S2) Allan (CBE) | – | Morgan (B) Sam (S2) Richard (UB) | Luke (S2) Bert (UB) Pops (UB) Annabelle (CBE) | Sister Beth (B) Tony (S2) Gonk (UB) Roxie (UB) | – |
Base Box Characters
There are ten characters in the core box. This includes Lord Adam Benchley, Ahmed Yasin, Borden, Elizabeth Ives, Fatima Safar, Sergeant Ian Welles, John Morgan, Rasputin, Sister Beth, and The Kid.
| Marksman | Stealth | Swiftness | Arcane Mastery | Brawling | Toughness | |
| Marksman | – | Elizabeth | – | The Kid | – | Adam |
| Stealth | Elizabeth | – | Borden | Ahmed | – | – |
| Swiftness | – | Borden | – | Fatima | Ian | Morgan |
| Arcane Mastery | The Kid | Ahmed | Fatima | – | Rasputin | – |
| Brawling | – | Ian | Rasputin | – | Sister Beth | |
| Toughness | Adam | – | Morgan | – | Sister Beth | – |
Lord Adam Benchley
Fueled by Madness – Gains bonuses when hitting an insanity threshold.
Ahmed Yasin
Healing Prayer – allows healing of stress or health to self or other investigators
Borden
Savage – Deals extra damage and gains some stress when attacking the only enemy in a space.
Elizabeth Ives
Lucky – Free rerolls. All of the rerolls.
Fatima Safar
Read the Omens – Have more control over the Mythos cards which will allow you heal stress.
Sergeant Ian Welles
Vengeance Obsession – when taking damage, you can also deal damage to other enemies in your space.
John Morgan
Protector – Redirect attacks that are aimed at other investigators to yourself.
Rasputin
Unkillable – More lives. Allows you to die and come back to life instead of being eliminated.
Sister Beth
High Strung – When rolling dice, the insanity symbols will also count toward successes and healing health.
The Kid
Gate Manipulation – When on a gate, enemies that spawn in (minus the Old One) come in at half health. Gates also provide other benefits.
Season 2 Characters
There are ten characters in the Season 2 Box. This includes Adilah Vidal, Alex Parker, Ariele Venturi, Hailia Hovath, Father Luke, Margarethe Richter, Sergeant Mario Braghieri, Mary Diaz, Sam Wood, and Machinist’s Mate Tony Boyle.
| Marksman | Stealth | Swiftness | Arcane Mastery | Brawling | Toughness | |
| Marksman | – | Ariele | Mary | – | – | Mario |
| Stealth | Ariele | – | Alex | Hailia | Margarethe | – |
| Swiftness | Mary | Alex | – | – | – | Sam |
| Arcane Mastery | – | Hailia | – | – | Adilah | Luke |
| Brawling | – | Margarethe | – | Adilah | – | Tony |
| Toughness | Mario | – | Sam | Luke | Tony | – |
Adilah Vidal
Vodou – You are connected to one other investigator who can benefit from your actions and who you can take damage for.
Alex Parker
Supersleuth – Allows you to heal stress before investigating and investigate more (if possible)
Ariele Venturi
Specialist Hunter – Pick an enemy and gain advantages whenever attacking that enemy.
Hailia Hovath
Oracle – Rolling double arcane symbols will give additional benefits in regard to stress and health.
Father Luke
Smite Evil – Gives benefits against monsters when attacking or being attacked.
Margarethe Richter
Butcher – You can add insanity symbols to your rolls in order to gain additional successes.
Sergeant Mario Braghieri
Interrogation – Cultist are negatively effected and cannot spawn near you at higher levels.
Mary Diaz
Roll With It – whenever wounded, you can reduce health or increase health to yourself and the allies around you.
Sam Wood
Calm – Bonus abilities to resting in stress and wounds.
Machinist’s Mate Tony Boyle
Navigation – You are able to run farther in a safe manner and potentially gain benefits.
Extra Promo Characters
There are two Extra Promo characters. This includes Scarlett Hayes and Eddie (Coming Soon).
| Marksman | Stealth | Swiftness | Arcane Mastery | Brawling | Toughness | |
| Marksman | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Stealth | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Swiftness | – | – | – | – | Scarlett Eddie | – |
| Arcane Mastery | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brawling | – | – | Scarlett Eddie | – | – | – |
| Toughness | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Scarlett Hayes
Play the Odds – Make a guess and if you roll that number of successes you can also gain additional benefits.
Eddie
Can I Play with Madness – lose sanity to heal stress
Unspeakable Box Characters
There are eighteen characters in the Unspeakable Box. This includes Al Capone, Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Fleur Debois, Marcelo ‘Gonk’ Goncalves, Josephine Leclerc, Julia Hollister, Maki Smith, Marjorie ‘Margie’ Westmoreland, Maxim Grey, Meryl Starling, Olivia Duchamp, ‘Pops’ Duperon, Richard Irons, Roxie Mitchell Williams, Tina Macshane, Professor Vincent Haas, and Walter Bagget.
| Marksman | Stealth | Swiftness | Arcane Mastery | Brawling | Toughness | |
| Marksman | – | Fleur Maki | Al Josephine | Ernest Walter | – | – |
| Stealth | Fleur Maki | – | Olivia | Meryl | Tina | – |
| Swiftness | Al Josephine | Olivia | – | Margie Vincent | Julia | Richard |
| Arcane Mastery | Ernest Walter | Meryl | Margie Vincent | – | Maxim | Bert Pops |
| Brawling | – | Tina | Julia | Maxim | – | Gonk Roxie |
| Toughness | – | – | Richard | Bert Pops | Gonk Roxie | – |
Al Capone
Connected – Gain benefits when fighting against Cultists and deter them from attacking.
Albert Einstein
Smarts – You are able to investigate in spaces that aren’t safe.
Ernest Hemingway
Demon Hunter – Includes the ability to reroll dice when attacking monster and other benefits against monsters.
Fleur Debois
Combat Medic – When resting you can gain additional benefits and divide them among the allies in your space.
Marcelo ‘Gonk’ Goncalves
Time Management – You have more actions per turn but have restricted health. (I would not recommend this character for your first game).
Josephine Leclerc
Infinite Contacts – You can transform discovery cards into companions which will in turn give additional benefits.
Julia Hollister
Class Act – Instead of taking stress, you can deal yourself wounds and then heal yourself at the end of the turn.
Maki Smith
Resourceful – Items and discovery cards can give you benefits when you investigate
Marjorie ‘Margie’ Westmoreland
Stiff Upper Lip – Prevent taking damage from enemies and other sources by spending sanity instead.
Maxim Grey
Mad Dog – When losing sanity, you can deal damage to enemies in your space or gain other benefits.
Meryl Starling
Method Acting – Copy the other special skills of investigators at your table.
Olivia Duchamp
Unlucky – Whenever you roll no successes, you count all dice as if they were successes.
‘Pops’ Duperon
Calming Presence – Whenever with you, other investigators can choose not to activate their insanity.
Richard Irons
Majesty’s Secret Service – Gain a large variety of benefits that mimic brawling, marksman, stealth, and arcane mastery.
Roxie Mitchell Williams
Get in There! – You are able to move to other investigators when they are about to attack and potential give benefits to the attacking investigator.
Tina Macshane
Femme Fatale – You can take a wound to modify the number of dice rolled.
Professor Vincent Haas
Teacher – Whenever other investigators roll; you can spend stress for them to reroll dice or give them levels of Arcane Mastery.
Walter Bagget
Pacifist – When you attack, but do not destroy, an enemy you can push it away and gain other benefits.
Comic Book Extra Characters
There are six Comic Book Extra characters. This includes Allan Jenkins, Annabelle Laveau, Jack Munoz, Lysa, Rocco, Tamara,
| Marksman | Stealth | Swiftness | Arcane Mastery | Brawling | Toughness | |
| Marksman | – | – | – | – | Rocco | Allan |
| Stealth | – | – | Tamara | Lysa | – | – |
| Swiftness | – | Tamara | – | – | Jack | – |
| Arcane Mastery | – | Lysa | – | – | – | Annabelle |
| Brawling | Rocco | – | Jack | – | – | – |
| Toughness | Allan | – | – | Annabelle | – | – |
Allan Jenkins
Detective – Investigating will gain you detective tokens which can be spent for other benefits. This character uses extra components.
Annabelle Laveau
Channeling – At the start of your turn, you can roll a dice that is your gift which can then be added to your rolls.
Jack Munoz
Truck Driver – You are able to take other allies with you when you move spaces and then gain benefits for attacking the same space as other investigators.
Lysa
‘Malacoda” –Safe spaces will allow you to gain benefits and high levels of this skill with modify which spaces are considered safe.
Rocco
War Veteran – At full stress gain benefits and modifications to the Brawling and Marksman skills.
Tamara
Arcane Painter – Resting will place a painting token which will prevent enemy attacks and give investigators other benefits. This character uses extra components.
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