There are many investigators a player could choose for the Arkham Horror Card game. But what do these cards actually mean?
I wanted to start doing a deeper dive into each of the classes since I previously did a quick overview but then it hit me. What good is doing a deep dive without address what a character is! So, in this post I wanted to break down an investigator into their components and go over each part. Each investigator is made up of all the same components but have different specialties and limitations.
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Stat Line
Each investigator comes with their character card, signature, and signature weakness. The character card is double sided and both sides have important information. The back, however, is mainly used for setting up while the front is used for game play.
I’m going to start with the front of the card in the upper right corner. This is a character’s stat line. From left to right, each character has a number associated with willpower, intellect, combat, and agility. The higher the number, the better that investigator is at testing that particular stat.
For example, Roland goes into the combat test 3 with his stat of 4. Right now, the test is 4 to 3 and Roland would succeed because his skill is at 3 or higher. The game does introduce randomness to roles, but I just want to define why bigger numbers are better.
I have found that the stat line is typically the strongest indicator if your character is more suited for fighting or investigators. Or perhaps both. Characters who have high willpower or agility end up using different tactics to leverage their best stats.
Character Abilities
Next, let’s look at the center section of the card. At the very top is what categories Roland falls into. In this case Agency and Detective. This might come into some importance for story flavor but hold no real hold over the game.
Then it’s time for the characters ability. This will be different for every character. Rolands is a reaction, but other characters also have fast action, straight actions, or passive abilities. This can help refine a character. And sometimes, this can really shape how you would build a character’s deck. It is something to take into consideration.
The elder sign effect will also be character specific. In Roland’s case, this is just a positive modifier. Others might have an effect that triggers from the ability. Not all modifiers will be positive although the ones that are not typically leverage the characters’ ability in some way.
Health and Sanity
The health and sanity of a character is important as each character can only take so much damage or mental attacks. Roland is a character who can take a lot of damage (up to 9) but his sanity cap is lower making him more susceptible to death by insanity.
What are the consequences if you die during a campaign? Well, worst case scenario, your character is killed, and you must make a new one. Not so worst case, your character will take a trauma. If Roland dies to insanity, he takes one mental trauma mean he start with one mental damage every scenario after.
Does this make you more susceptible to die in the same way? Yes. Yes, it does. And if you have as much trauma as your maximum health or sanity, you are killed. No one said facing eldritch abominations was going to be easy.
Flavor Text
To get a better feel for a character’s background, there are a few places where you can find flavor text. These sections will give you a better feel for the character’s background and personality. There are many a time where I have fallen back on this description during a campaign to make a decision. For me, it’s not what I would do. It’s what would my character do? Like, I might choose to set the house on fire, but Roland is an upstanding citizen and wouldn’t (unless it was his own home perhaps).
Deck Building
The last section of the character card, and arguably the most important, is the section on deck building. This is where the required cards are listed as well as what other potential cards can be put into the deck.
Roland is a classic character and can use guardian cards ranging from class 0 (or 0 exp) to class 5 (or 5 exp). And for reference, 5 is the highest level of card available. Most characters have access to the neutral cards from level 0 to 5 as well.
Although Roland is a guardian, his ability is focused on gathering clues. He’s a bit of a detective and investigating is something he can do. This is also reflected in his access to level 0 to 2 seeker cards. Seeker cards typically aid in investigating so it makes sense for him to have access. But! Since Roland is not an investigating based character, he is limited only to level 2.
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