Custom Investigators and Investigator Cards

For all the Deadlands fans out there:

And on a more balanced note:

(George is the character of one of the players in my 1890's horror RPG.)

I have a question for the Bedlam character: Since you mention Deadlands and a background abillity (memory loss) which seems incongruous to the Chaos Comics! Bedlam, is he an actual character in Deadlands with that character background? Or did you just mention Deadlands because he looks sort of similar to the guy on the Deadlands artwork and improvised the background?

I improvised.
The appearance of the comic character Bedlam is really fitting for a Harrowed in the Deadlands RPG, thus I used Bedlam as a Harrowed in my Deadlands games a few years ago (with much the same story as the one I wrote down here, except that my Deadlands games took place in 1877).
So, I could've just kept the name Bainard Ferguesson, but I thought that people might recognize Bedlam's face...
That's really it.

As a side note: The Harrowed in Deadlands are people who died and were then possessed by an evil spirit (a manitou in Deadlands terminology), bringing them back to unlife. Harrowed don't need food or drink, don't breathe unless they remember to or want to talk, heal even grievious wounds in a matter of days (hence the Unnatural Healing ability) and sometimes even maifest other supernatural powers.
On the other hand, they do reek of Death unless they mask that smell (for example through consuming large amounts of alcohol - hence the Whisky Common Item) and they constantly have to struggle with their manitou for control of their body... They sometimes have blackouts (during times where the the manitou took over and did whatever evil spirits do - hence the Memory Loss Injury) and if they are greatly weakened they are in danger of losing control to the manitou for good (hence the Stirring Demon ability)

Ah I see! Thanks for the explanations!

A new Investigator I thought up. A bit anachronistic, but I like him nonetheless. Feel free to comment, as always:

I love Tom White. Though I personally don't like starting people with a Mission/Task because their values are just not "right".

I'd switch his Sta/San (or make him 5/5) and switch his fight/lore and make his starting equipment something like 3 clues, .38, 1 Spell, 1 Unique Item, 1 Skill, and possibly 1 other random item (money permitting). He seems more mental than physical.

Love the abilities. Great investigator overall.

Thanks for liking him!

I also considered SAN/STA at 5/5, but I didn't want to give him 6/4. I don't see him as a spellcaster, so I wouldn't let him start with a spell. I'll consider your other ideas, however.

Soemone ought to do the Trenchcoat Brigade - Dr. Occult, Mister E, John Constantine and the Phantom Stranger would be fun additions (and they did battle M'Nagalah, one of the ancient ones).

*mind you, John Constantine from the comic book Hellblazer, I ain't suggestin' no Keanu Reeves (okay, except for maybe in a Bill and Ted fashion).

Tom White is awesome! should be in the real game

A long time ago, I posted Fred Coleman, the Undertaker. I finally had time to do a new version, now complete with custom item:

Similar to the Safety Deposit Key, but fitting, I think.

And another item I came up with. Along the line of Telescope and Makeup Kit, but I am not sure if an item should add to Fight checks because of gate closing.

BTW, thanks to anathemus for finding Tom awesome

.

Uhm... Why is Fred called Derek in his abilities?

Apart from that, I like him (although the shovel is a mite powerful, I think).

Noshrok Grimskull wrote:Uhm... Why is Fred called Derek in his abilities?

Apart from that, I like him (although the shovel is a mite powerful, I think).

No idea, actually

I probably typed his name instead of using <name> and changed it along the way.

Noshrok Grimskull wrote:(although the shovel is a mite powerful, I think).

Consider having the investigator arrested if they fail the check, instead of gaining a Clue token.

Morgaln wrote:No idea, actually I probably typed his name instead of using <name> and changed it along the way.

Now there is a lesson for us all.

Cheers,
Chris

Now that I think I finally got the hang of how to upload some custom stuff in these forums I am going to post a few things for people to check out.
I REALLY enjoy the TV show and decided to do investigators based on the characters of that show.Here is one of them.
Let me know what you think.

I'm less than happy with how the story turned out, but hell, any investigator who lets you call federal spooks in to assassinate a Dhole who's giving you trouble is a-okay by me.

Ever wanted to play one of those immobile cannon-casters?

Edit:

Marianna's suggestions, below, seemed to suggest a spell or item to me. I actually prefer the spell.

Hi Fafnir,

Two interesting characters thanks for posting them.

IMHO the Warlock's stats are too maxed out to make him a spell casting/fighting machine. Lore 3/6 with a mutual2/5 fight/will bar is overloading. If the character is will 5 with such a high lore then I think his fight should be significantly weaker, possibly max 3.

Also his sanity is way too high for his back story, I think sanity/stamina 4/6 would reflect his character better and put a limit on his ability to use spells which I think is needed for balance.

These changes would of course make him weaker, but it seems to me that the official AH investigators are generally written up as character first, good at certain things but with in built handicaps that make sense (e.g. Dexter draws extra spells & has high Lore but isn't a particularly strong willed guy, or e.g. Diana great Lore but lowered sanity due to back story). I like the ideas incorporated in the Warlocks abilities but at the moment it looks like he is stat-ed out to maximise his efficiency rather than to portray a rounded character.

I like the idea of an investigator requiring less clue tokens to seal a gate, but I would like it to require a sanity cost i.e. may use 1 less clue token to seal a gate for each point of sanity sacrificed.

The "Investigator"'s special is intersting, but I think should only be once per game: Perhaps something like:

"Once per game if 'the Feds Raid Arkham' has not yet been played, Agent Colander may spend 2 clue tokens to chose this as the mythos card for that turn. This must be declared before the mythos card is turned over. After placing 'the Feds Raid Arkham' reshuffle the unused mythos cards to prevent foreknowlege of card order"

Or replace the opening clause with, "If 'the Feds Raid Arkham' .." In this 2nd variation then the ability may be reused if 'the Story Continues' causes the discards to be reshuffled into the mythos deck.

I think (somebody will surely tell me if I'm wrong) that all the investigators with "once per game" abilities have a second, weaker special ability. Perhaps something like:

"Official I.D.: Agent Colander is never arrested"

&/or

"Official Buisiness Agent Colander may recover 1 sanity instead of taking an encounter at the Police Station" (representing the support he can call on from the local law agency forces)

Also you need a different name for his job, "investigator" is likely to be just too confusing in game

Apologies if I sound overly critical, I like these guys but would personally make some adjustments. All IMHO (which isn't of any particular intrinsic value)

Cheers - Mariana the ex-nun cultist

Nah, be as critical as you like. To be perfectly frank, I'd much rather people excoriate everything I suggest than totally ignore it. That's no fun at all.

Re: Colander, I've updated his title to Operative. Admittedly, I should have thought of the problem with the generic Investigators title and "Investigator", but I wanted to make him seem shadier. Maybe "Operative"?

That being said, you are misremembering the Once Per Game abilities. Unless I missed someone, there's one of those, and it's on Marie Lambeau, whose ability to remove one Doom token rather pales in comparison to a third psychic hand. I'm not terribly averse to copying that format, but it would probably call for weakening the federal raid ability and giving him a more significant primary ability. Possible, but I'm not sure how I would go about that. Maybe something like "Full Sanction (Any Phase: Discard a clue token when you defeat a monster to return it to the box instead of taking it as a trophy.)?

Re: Archibald, your suggestion on his Practiced Occultist ability actually suggests itself to a spell or item (Which, unfortunately, seems to have left Archie even more one-dimensional). I'm not at all convinced his backstory suggests lower sanity - "Has consorted with horrible things" doesn't necessarily equal "Goes mad at the sight of skeletons", after all. Max 3 fight would reduce him to the level of the weakest combat casters in the game (Even below Drake), which would be slightly off of the theme of being a warlock, I think. I've reduced the overall value of his starting possessions slightly, and his new secondary presents what I think is an interesting dilemma (Tell me if you don't agree) in that sifting for spells makes him go nuts, casting them debilitates his body, and not using them at all (Falling back on that Sphere) does one or both. He's self-destructive, apparently.

By the by, you mentioned that the other characters have inborn weaknesses. What would you say are the deficiencies of the librarian or private eye?

Fafnir wrote:Nah, be as critical as you like. To be perfectly frank, I'd much rather people excoriate everything I suggest than totally ignore it. That's no fun at all.

By the by, you mentioned that the other characters have inborn weaknesses. What would you say are the deficiencies of the librarian or private eye?

Hi Fafnir,

I think they are "generally" designed in this way, there are exceptions. Most notably the librarian. whobreaks this as she appears to have been designed to max her abilities. I think she should only have the strong mind ability & start with the book of Eibon, or have the Iron Will (if that is what it is called, I mean the lowered sanity cost for spells). IIRC she also shas with an extra point in her total skills stats. She is one of my least favourite characters in the game, i'd probably only place Charlie & Lily below her.

The Private Eye is also a stronger than average character but IMHO he isn't imbalanced to the same degree as Daisey. Joe still feels to me like a reasonable write up of a character rather than a one-dimensional maxing out of a concept (e.g.Daisey as spell caster). Joe sucks at Lore/Luck, not a crippling handicap but still a handicap. I think I would rather he didn't get the extra focus point despite meeting the formula used by Kevin & (Strange Aeons). I never play with the final battle in mind, so I don't run into the problem of Joe being a GOO killing machine through use of clues then. (My personal opinion is that special abilities should not be used in the final battle: no Mandy rerolls, no Joe clue binges etc).

Again, just my (highly subjective) 2c - Mariana the ex-nun cultist

I Lol'd, also my first attempt at making something on eons.

The story behind him, I love "Ashcan" Pete, and I usually play him with the enchanted blade and 45. guns, and I run around killing stuff, yelling look at me, I'm Dante. After a week or two my friend did the exact same thing

. So in an attempt to also form better bonds in our group and also increase my friends interest in Arkham I made this for him. (Eons says its balanced

...But we know better).

I intend to switch his starting position to the "Another Time" other world first area. When I get the respective expansion, so his story would be more plausible. Also I dunno when Dante was born, or how much he lives :-??...so I just assumed he went back in time to stop anyone who tries to enter and disturb the human world.

only makes sense if you use these rules: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffgforums/posts/list/14506.page

Here is another investigator that I made.
Comments are always welcome.
Enjoy.

Re: Dante - I realize this is supposed to be a joke entry, but really, even Strange Eons doesn't think this is balanced (Although it would if that extra point of sanity weren't there). Even then, the character has no shopping ability, can't cast spells, and starts with the exact same loadout every game. His player would get to play him exactly one way, every time, no matter what. I am actually a little confused as to the random extra sanity being necessary - the man is immune to Horror checks, more or less, and has really good Will. Personally, I'd give him some random equipment, possibly in exchange for the Motorcycle (He doesn't have that thing in-game most of the time, yeah?), possibly in exchange for downgrading his "Starts with the perfect weapons" to a .38 and an enchanted knife, or some such. There has to be SOMETHING to look forward to.

Also, Dante is going to get eaten by Yog-Sothoth like 95% of the time. Starting in another world works for the Dreamer 'cause he starts with a Gate Box.

Re: Brother Arazeth - I'm amused by a character designed with an antagonistic role in mind from the outset, but Joining the Winning Team is frankly not going to be won without significant help. Without the encounter-sifting ability or starting ally powers other investigators get, Arazeth simply will not get the right sacrifices in order to summon the Ancient of his choice, and that's sad.

Since "Has Seen Things" is usually the professor's ability that doesn't work vs. Ancients, maybe you could give him something else that helps on JtWT. Maybe he can take Cultists as allies instead of monster trophies, for instance. You also might contemplate giving him something similar to "Trusted Sister" from Diana.

Re: Gordon Morris - Okay, first off, that fellow is covered with blood, wielding a bonemachete, and is vivisecting monsters for practical application. I think you can safely call him a Mad Doctor instead of a "Mad Doctor."

I like the idea of gaining clues from killing monsters, but saying that he gets one any time ANY investigator drops a creature is going to prove insanely powerful - much stronger than the Reporter from Kingsport, who starts out permanently cursed to compensate for how strong his power is. His secondary ability is not quite as thematic, and plays like a combination of three skills (From Dunwich, I think?), except that they have to be triggered prior to failure. I'd personally like to see an ability more in line with the 'creepy dissection artist' angle - perhaps he could trade monsters in for clues on the fly, or maybe even other investigators can trade him monster trophies for clues. If he had both, there could be a cooperative theme going on with people giving him bodies to dissect, which could be nice. Just a suggestion, though.

Re: Dante - I realize this is supposed to be a joke entry

Doh, I said its only to amuse my friend

And actually Strange Eon's Didn't seem to mind, sure it suggested some things but it didn't call the character unbalanced, the extra sanity also costs some $ in strange Eons but meh, First I wanted to give him a bit more sanity since, lol...dante has seen some stuff in his life, I mean even he can transform in an ugly thing, then I realized it would be better fitted as an ability and also made his will big (making clear his pretty much immune to horror checks

, since frankly I donno what would scare Dante...)... Motorcycle I agree on that but meh, only for laughs and so my friend would move around the map even faster (anyway we already ruled out he can't actually play the character, but his pleased to have the sheet

, and I also shared the concept with you guys for feedback).

And yog-sothoth is my way of saying to my friend "some times is best to play the game the way its meant too"...I was dying to see his expression when he gets killed. XD (also correct me if I'm wrong

is it Illegal to post "joke" Investigators here?)

No offense intended, Star. There is, of course, nothing wrong with posting whatever sorts of characters you want to post, serious or not.

I just ran your stats through Strange Eons again, and I get a great red "Unbalanced" stamp across my version with your stats. +1 Sanity costs $8 in my version, though, so that could be it. I also might be misidentifying something - your character is very, very small, and some of the text is hard to read.

I still think your biggest issue is starting with a perfect set of standard equipment, though. He's going to have an incredibly dramatically higher Fight score than anyone else right out of the box, but it's always going to be identically higher because of the absence of random gear. Coupled with his extremely rapid movement and ability to flatly ignore the first Horror check of every turn, there's only going to be one way to play him, and that is going to get boring pretty quick.

This isn't intended to be a joke (maybe not serious) investigator so any comments on balancing him would be appreciated. I want to stress that the special ability is for beneficial and detrimental losses. Any item, encounter, or ability that involves sanity loss is closed to The Terminator. This means that Lightning Gun, Elder Signs, all Spellcasting, Rumors and Missions involving sanity sacrifice, and tomes are all closed to him. Also, although he effectively ignores horror checks, he still must make them. This means that if Will is not raised then Shans and Yithians can be especially deadly.

The Genealogy Research task is part of his flavor (haven't written yet) but The Terminator is in the 1920's because he is destroying all records of the Connor family. I usually play the character like a machine, single-minded, going straight to the next place on the task even if there is a gate there, until it is complete.

This has been great fun for my group because we spout off Terminator and Arnold S. quotes whenever we pull him out. He is especially good at keeping monsters down (imagine, a Terminator good at killing) but whenever the sanity sacrifice rumor comes out, everybody groans. Also you can play an evil terminator by simply changing Genealogy Research to Choosing the Right Team.