All this stuff started in a random conversation with Avi, but I think could be an interesting point of debate for many of us, so... which are the characters you think people believe to be losers (or play them not in the proper way, according to Tibs' statistics) but have a great potential instead?

I had to revise the opinion I had of Amanda and Bob.

Amanda is amazing in the moment you start buying her two skills. Clearly, the money of the party should be used for her, but then she could be a game winner by her own. Just focus on one sector (combat, for instance) and try to give her two skills related to the same sector. Her ability should make this more likely to happen, and with four skills she can be truly impressive, and versatile

As for Bob... he has great stats, and once he passes his PS, it's enough feeding him with money (even by taking a Bank loan) and he will be able, all alone, to seal three gates. In a team strategy wherre other investigators clean from monsters the path he has to walk, he's quite unstoppable

Has anyone figured out a good strategy to play other theoretically low profile characters? George for instance?

I once was playing Bob with completed personal story and an item which once per turn increased gained clue tokens by 1.

2 clues per upkeep for filty 3$ was hardcore.

I second the comments regarding Bob: once Innsmouth came out, I'm always happy to see him in a game. With his starting $ and then $15 for passing his story, he's got 8 clues locked down.

I just want to clarify that I'm not necessarily recommending sinking 16 bucks into Amanda ;') that's a major investment that I'd only be willing to make in certain circumstances (where I thought an enhanced investigator would be necessary to winning a game), but she can be a fairly powerful character if you do so (I still prefer Lola though).

I think Dexter's underrated. Sure, he sucks at combat, but, he starts with a Shrivelling— which he's better off giving to another investigator, it's a bit of a red herring. I think he's good for finding a useful non-combat spell and really capitalizing on it, plus he's got good speed. The mistake people seem to make with him is *wanting* him to be a fighter, and honestly, he sucks at fighting.

I <3 Bob, but, you know, platonically.

I like Akachi Oneyle.

MyNeighbourTrololo said:

Definitely, but I don't think she's ever been considered undervalued.

Grudunza said:

No one ever mentions her.

I like Bob, he was the only investigator in my first ever game of Arkham (solo) And he won, against Ithaqua in final combat! Granted, he had a shotgun. That's what makes him great, he usually has enough money to become a walking tank.

Grudunza said:

Yeah. Undervalued, not "underevaluated". Sigh. Need to check the dictionary more often, sorry guys...

MyNeighbourTrololo said:

Well, I don't know about that, but to me she's definitely one of the best. Sealing with only 4 Clues is huge, IMO, as is the +1 to close/seal. Starting with a Gate trophy is very useful and her stats are all solid (5/4, 4/4, 5/3). Her 1 Focus and 3 Stamina are the only real drawbacks, but other characters have that (or 1 Sanity) and are weaker otherwise. Her PS has a nice benefit and not a bad penalty, really. I think, if anything, she's borderline overpowered. Not as bad as Patrice, but quite strong.

I know she's strong, I know why. All I'm saying that's for all time being on this forum I never saw a single word about her.

Also, you forgot to mention that she needs other investigators to not spend their gate trophies or else she fails.

I think there are two reasons why people here don't seem to get too excited over her. One, she is a powerful asset, but she supports and requires support to really be effective. Not quite as fun as most of the other second tier investigators who are self-sufficient. Two, and this might be more controversial. She's the hardest investigator for most people to roleplay or imagine scenarios for (or so I'd imagine). She's an African Shaman (in 20's America). I can't imagine what that would be like, I can't even imagine an African Shaman in 20's Africa.

One other thing is that, for me, she's actually too specialized. If I'm playing with a generalist like Amanda, or Jenny, say, there's no telling what sort of game I'm going to have; in fact, we'll probably end up shifting roles a few times as circumstances dictate. Akachi, on the other hand, is like Hank or Daisy: she's by far the best at one particular thing, and worse at everything else. As a result, one mostly plays her by rote; unless her spell draw is especially unusual, the only non-automatic elements of her game have to do with how long it takes to get her in a gate and what happens to her once inside.

One character who's already been mentioned elsewhere along these lines is Mark Harrigan. who at first sight seems like an across-the-board crappier version of Michael McGlen, but, if you find him a motorcycle or something, his higher Sneak can make a huge difference in terms of getting his firepower where it needs to be. Meanwhile, his three clues and immunity to delay also make him a surprisingly passable gate-sealer, or, in an emergency, can keep him from being driven insane in one hit.

And another who doesn't come up too often but whom I've been meaning to put to the test ever since IH is Diana Stanley; handing over five clues to pass her PS is pretty painful, but if she can take the time to farm Inner Sanctum encounters, she'll get all sorts of opportunities to manage gates, monsters, and the mythos deck, and, perhaps even more importantly, search for spells and items. (This probably wouldn't work, but I'd be curious to see it in action.)

subochre said:

Good to hear this. It's very rare I have time, in my games, for Inner Sanctum encounters. I started playing Diana lately especially for this reason. And in my last game (to be completed tonight) an Inner Sanctum encounter seems to be the key for beating quite a challenging game

Good point about Akachi being more specialized. I still like her a lot as part of a team if I'm playing solo, but I guess I might not be as excited to play her as my only character in a multiplayer game.

I always liked Diana Stanley, especially if she can get something to boost her Speed/Movement.

I've ALWAYS loved Amanda. It took Glaaki to kinda crystalize that; when Amanda ended up the only Investigator with a Skill left, it finally clicked that Skills are so RARELY discarded. Sure, the Madness/Injury deck saves our items now (at a price), and Allies are mostly protected (until we want to pass a Rumor or Dam wants to call "Joining the Winning Team" a solo-player win), but it takes a pretty rare card to lose a Skill. And Amanda starts with TWO of them. (Granted, years later, Finn did too, but I'm not shy about saying I love Finn WAY more than Amanda.) Now that I've gotten in the practice of getting Amanda a Bank Loan and buying a third skill by Turn 2, I can usually make up for her alleged "averageness" in no time. A little trading or shopping, and she's fantastic. Her Personal Story is a little challenging to pass ("Heeere, Mi-go, Mi-go, Mi-go!"), but fairly difficult to fail as well.

I've always loved Bob too, not just because he has a great capacity to farm the Common Deck for some truly useful possessions, but because he has all the Stats you want: good Fight and Luck, great Speed, superb Will. He has fantastic starting possession potential for anyone who hates Lore and Spells. If he has any drawbacks, it's his low Focus (like you ever need to slide Bob that much anyway), low Sneak (I posit that Bob has better combat survivability than low-San fighters like Mike or Mark, so how quiet does he need to be?), and his low Gate Checking (like there aren't a million ways to compensate for that). His Personal Story, like Roland's, is, without question, outstanding: passed in an eyeblink, failed so so rarely.

The reason no one talks about Akachi is because she's NOT controversial. Once Innsmouth came out, she was judged spectacular by...everyone...within two or three weeks. Once everyone says something's great, threads devoted to it kinda die off happy: "She's great!" "I agree!" "Me too!" ........>yawn< Everyone would rather go find a Dexter or Mary thread and join the never-ending war. The Internet thrives on CLASH. You want Akachi to get some attention? Start a thread that she sucks and sound convincing.

jgt7771 said:

This suddenly got me wondering exactly who has the "best" stats. So I glanced through them, first eliminating anyone with a speed that tops out at 4 or less, and then looked at who had good Luck, who had a better Will than Fight, and so on. Here's what I've got: Bob, Ursula, and Lola are all really similar, and all great. Max 5 speed, 3 sneak, 4 fight (readily improved with their starting items). Bob's Will is best, Ursula's is worst, but Ursula's Luck goes up to 5, which makes up for that somewhat (as do her balanced hit points; she can afford to get spooked by a Dhole; Bob can't). I'm giving it to Bob over Lola, just because his extra Will is probably a bigger deal than her Lore, unless her starting spell is both useful and has a reasonable modifier. But if Ursula didn't have slightly-lower-overall numbers, she'd beat them both in a heartbeat. She might anyways.

An alternative approach exists in the super-fast-and-sneaky duo, Wendy and Finn, whom I'm regarding as runners-up (so to speak). God help 'em if they ever need to check Fight or Will, but who needs to when you can move like that? Wendy's even Lucky, and her Focus lets her easily adjust her movement to exactly what it needs to be on any given turn. Pity about that Max San/Stam...

Of course, Wendy's special ability essentially means she flattens Finn movement-wise, since she has basically no reason not to always keep her Speed maxed out and, well, she almost never has to worry about monsters.

subochre said:

Nah, it's Lola. You buy her a second skill by turn three. She then has two skills to cycle around with for two awesome skills during the game. She pulverizes anything. The only character who is sometimes more brutalizing than Lola is Daisy (when given multiple Voices of Ra). I mean, it might take her a bit of time to become something truly terrifying, but it usually doesn't take *that* long. By turn three she has already potentially searched through 5 skills. By turn five (by which time she's probably going to have to start helping out with sealing), she'll have gone through 7 skills.

subochre said:

suborchre,

Have I got a story for you...my latest game included Diana Stanley, who passed her Personal Story within the first few rounds. Toward the late game, she proved critical to the team's success. I'm in the throes of writing-up the Session Report which will end-up serving as a short story...

The Professor

yesssss

Avi_dreader said:

think new orleans.. perhaps. i don't know.

Despite the fact that Rita Young can have a bad attitude, others seem to treat her kindly in Ghouls of the Miskatonic . Amanda Sharpe is her roommate.

I've used this term before, but... anachronistic .

Well, you can hardly blame the author. Considering Lovecraft's racial views, I suppose it would qualify as a sort of literary affirmative action.

Taurmindo said:

Please do not throw beads at the African Shaman. And we wonder how negative stereotypes about Americans get started... Sigh...