I like the spy. So I will throw my support behind her here, I suppose. First, she starts with plenty of stuff. On the poorer side, but that cigarette case will come in handy when you make the wrong choice with your sliders. Second, with Breaking the Limits, she has the highest stats in the game bar none, so if you need to, you can really wreak some havoc. If she bumps them all the way up, for instance, 4/4 fight/will, with six sneak and 5 lore. This could go with 3 speed/2 luck (at the cost of 3 sanity/stamina) so she could sneak some troublesome monsters, then assassinate something she's equipped to deal with (perhaps with a spell). I can see her as a really good spellcaster, if she comes across some. Especially with the expansions, spells can shore up many slider issues anyway. Sure, if she's a spellcaster she'll have issues with Breaking the Limits, but I think that's a fine cost for such amazing flexibility. I mean, just the ability to have her fight and will both at max puts her on relatively even footing with the best fighters. I definitely applaud the bold choice, and I think they handled it fine (play pending). She's definitely not for beginners, at any rate. I can't wait to see what she can do.

As far as the chef goes, I think I like her too. Mechanics aside (and they are good), even knife-wielding maniacs would have some stake in keeping the world around. As long as they aren't disciples of Azathoth, I mean. If you belong to a group of roleplayers, doesn't at least one of you want the chance to play that?

Also of note, the character markers at the top are not all of the characters they previewed. Zoey is one, but the man in the middle is not Silas, and the one on the left is our violinist.

i can't belive people don't like the spy. she's frikkin awesome, in fact i cant belive some of the general negativity in people looking at the last four previews. this game rocks and the designers are doing a fine job. could you do better?

the new expansion brings change and some people need to embrace change rather than put up barriers against it. don't forget these previews are out of context to the rest of the expansion and are only snapshots of the wider picture. the designers have to pay attention to game balance, game mechanics and theme and thats difficult to do.

silas is not expansion dependant for example as has been said, he works better with the expansions but can still be played without them. as in the real world and in the stories themselves investigators aren't omnipitant, having some weak abilities in the mix balances the strong abilities.

the man in the middle is the gravedigger

Gravedigger sounds so cool! My guess: Arkham Encounters: Instead of having an encounter in the graveyard, roll a die. On a 1, you are arrested . Otherwise, draw a monster trophy from the cup and keep it even if it has endless.

Graksnor said:

Wouldn't that be a grave robber? Grave digging would be a legitimate profession, but I'd bet he'd know things! I wonder where his home start will be. St. Mary's? Or his he the odd man who'll start in a non stable location?

I want to know who's going to use the rifle, carbine, brass knuckles, .357 magnum, & crowbar now that we have the cavalry saber and knife in someone's hands.

I like the sailor best. I don't quite yet feel the spy makes sense, thematically. I'd certainly play the chef with zest. Reminds me of the butcher in The Mist.

Something's amiss! Something's in the Mist!

I only have the base game and hadn't planned on getting any expansions as AH isn't one of my better games. But, Innsmouth would definitely be the one I would get. The creepy factor of the Innsmouth Look and the new and freshly-thought-out characters (from what we've seen so far) has got me looking forward to hearing more.

I can almost feel the suction-cupped tentacles wrapping around my brain stem...

A question had been raised as to the level of "brokenness" of the Innsmouth investigators. Would they imitate the Kingsport investigators in power level, or would they go back to the level of the original investigators? What are people's opinions with these three?

Zoey seems legit, with the original number of stat points and posessions, and a great but not over-the-top ability. Indeed, this is someone for whom 3 sanity makes sense. And makes me want to run away.

Silas has a bonus point. It remains to be seen how useful his aquatic expertise shall be, and just how likely he is to obtain deadly Innsmouth Look cards. Perhaps this point is deserved, but perhaps many of the investigators are of this caliber.

Trish has an extra point of stats, due to her lack of normal focus. The general opinion of this board doesn't seem to like her anyway, so that doesn't matter yet. I maintain that she can be a contender, and more skills only help her out.