How to Create a Custom Character for Arkham Horror

v1.09.03.23: by Squashua - Adjusted based on feedback received from Kevin Wilson, FFG.
Preface All rules for creating a character were generated using the characters found in the 2005 Arkham Horror game box as examples. Rules may be disregarded or changed based on future published characters or logical general consensus. A document history discussion ends this text, and should be required reading before generating your own character. Definitions The following terms are used in the document Skill Category: Referring to Movement, Combat or Non-Combat Movement Skills: referring to the sum of Speed + Sneak. Combat Skills: referring to the sum of Fight + Will. Non-Combat Skills: referring to the sum of Lore + Luck. Skill: Referring to any of Speed, Sneak, Fight, Will, Lore, Luck.

Step 1: Determine Character Concept, Profession, & Background

The system presented in this document was reverse-engineered from the characters found in Arkham Horror, and though quite technical, this does not mean that it is above imagination. The basis of any true character is the concept driving him. Selecting the name, profession, and background of your character will aid and inspire you during his development. Your character should be tied in some way to the Cthulhu Mythos; there must be some underlying reason driving him or her to battle the unknown. Decide if your character is a train-hopping hobo with a knack for finding trouble, a homemaking, baking maven who discovered an old journal, or an architectural genius who has counted too many angles. Once this is established, assigning points and choosing items becomes childs play. Example: The running examples will explore the abilities that comprise Nigel Beauwater, a philanthropist who recently bought his way into what he presumed was a "Gentlemens Club", but is actually nothing of the sort. Now trapped with knowledge of ancient secrets beyond his ken, he realizes that the general mucking-about by these human children who think themselves gods is drawing too much attention to his hometown. He knows he must stop this madness before it spreads.

Step 2: Determine Sanity and Stamina

Each character receives 10 Points to distribute between Sanity and Stamina and they must allocate all 10 Points. It is encouraged to not set a value less than 3.

Example: Nigel is going to needs his wits about him more than his health; Sanity will be 6, and his Stamina will be 4.

Step 3: Distribute Skill Points to Categories and Focus

Each character receives 17 Skill Points. These points must be distributed across Focus and the three Skill Categories of Movement, Combat, and Non-Combat. The following rules apply: 1 : Focus must not be 0, unless an Exception from Step 5 is met. 2 : No Skill Category can total less than 3 3 : No Skill Category can total more than 7* * This rule is a guideline based on existing published characters, and may be disregarded based on future published characters or logical general consensus. Example: Nigels points are distributed as: Movement: 3, Combat: 5, and Non-Combat: 7. This leaves him with a Focus of 2.

Step 4: Scale Skill Category Totals across Skills

The total spent in each Skill Category must be split between the two Skills it represents, and the opposing Skills must scale four times in opposite directions. From left to right, the first Skill (Speed/Fight/Lore) increases, as the opposing Skill (Sneak/Will/Luck) decreases. For example, if a Movement Skill Category total is 5, then 5 points are split between Speed and Sneak. A character could have Speed|Sneak of (5|0, 4|1, 3|2, 2|3), (4|1, 3|2, 2|3, 1|4), or (3|2, 2|3, 1|4, 0|5). The following rules apply: 1 : No Skill can be less than 0. 2 : No Skill can be greater than 6* 3 : Should not have more than one Skill at 6 or greater.* * This rule is a guideline based on existing published characters, and may be disregarded based on future published characters or logical general consensus. Example: Nigel Beauwater was never much for fisticuffs, but his strong Will and Lore should be enough to fight the evil that is afoot. His Skill Points are distributed thusly: Movement: 3 - Speed|Sneak (0|3, 1|2, 2|1, 3|0) Combat: 5 - Fight|Will (0|5, 1|4, 2|3, 3|2)

Non-Combat: 7 - Lore|Luck (3|4, 4|3, 5|2, 6|1)

Step 5: Adjust Focus

An adjustment to Focus may be made if the character qualifies for either or both of the following exceptions: Low Skills Exception If no Skill is ever greater than 4, add +1 Focus. Published Character Amanda Sharpe has this Exception. Weak Character Exception If Combat + Non-Combat totals 8 or less, add (9 - (Combat + Non-Combat)) to Focus. Published Character Joe Diamond has this Exception. Example: Our philanthropists Lore maximum is 6, so he does not qualify for the Low Skills Exception. His Combat + Non-Combat adds to 12, so he does not qualify for the Weak Character Exception. His Focus remains at 2.

Step 6: Select Equipment

Each Character begins with 1 Skill Card and $25 in Development Funds. Development Funds may be spent with the following costs and purchase limits. Unspent Development Funds become starting $. The initial, free Skill Card cannot be exchanged for additional Development Funds. Starting Cash $1 (Limit 10): $1 each Clues Clue Tokens (Limit 4): $2 each Items (Total Starting Item Limit: 4) Random Common Item (Limit 2): $3 each Specific Common Item (Limit 2): Item Cost or Item Cost + $1 if Item Cost is $6 or greater. Random Unique Item (Limit 2): $5 each Specific Unique Item (Limit 1): Item Cost or Item Cost + $1 if Item Cost is $7 or greater. Spells Random Spell (Limit 2): $4 each Specific Spell (Limit 1): $4 + Sanity Cost + Casting Modifier For Casting Modifier, use the absolute value (the positive value). If the value is "Special", use a value of 0. For example, Voice of Ra (-1 Modifier/1 Sanity) costs $6, Bind Monster (+4 Modifier/2 Sanity) costs

$10, and Mists of Releh (Special Modifier/0 Sanity) costs $4. Skills Random Skill: $10 Specific Skill: $12 Allies (Total Starting Ally Limit: 1) Random Ally: (Limit 1): $12 Specific Minor Ally (Limit 1): $10 Specific Major Ally: (Limit 1): $15 (optionally $10, see Rationale: Allies) Other Blessing: $10 Curse: -$5 (optionally -$10, see Rationale: Items) Retainer: $6 Silver Twilight Lodge Membership: $6 (optionally $10, see Rationale: Items) Purchasing Limitations 1 - A maximum of 7 purchases (not counting Starting Cash) may be made. 2 - Up to 4 Items (Specific/Random, Common/Unique) may be purchased. 3 - Spells require a Lore Skill of 4 or higher to be purchased. 4 - Only 1 Ally (Specific/Random, Minor/Major) may be purchased. 5 - A Minor Ally grants a +1 Bonus and can be discarded for an additional bonus (examples: Duke or Sir William Brinton). 6 - A Major Ally grants a +2 Total Bonus and may have additional abilities. 7 - Starting with a Curse gives the character an additional $5 to spend. Note: The above purchasing limits and rules were determined using existing published characters, and may be disregarded or changed based on future published characters or logical general consensus. Example: Nigel Beauwater is a member of the Silver Twilight (Silver Twilight Lodge Membership - $6), knows a few inexplicit secrets of spell casting (2 Random Spells - $8), and his background establishes that he has a few clues so far (3 Clues - $6). This leaves him with $5 to start the game, plus his starting Skill.

Step 7: Select a Special Ability

The following Special Abilities are available. Select one or create your own. Abilities marked with an asterisk (*) were newly generated by this author and might not be balanced for game play. Shrewd Dealer When drawing one or more cards from the Common Items deck, draw one extra card and discard one of the cards. This includes initial cards. Recommend designing character to start with 2 Random Common Items.

Archaeology When drawing one or more cards from the Unique Items deck, draw one extra card and discard one of the cards. This includes initial cards. Recommend designing character to start with 2 Random Unique Items. Magical Gift When drawing one or more cards from the Spell deck, draw one extra card and discard one of the cards. This includes initial cards. Recommend designing character to start with 2 Random Spells. Studious When drawing one or more cards from the Skill deck, draw one extra card and discard one of the cards. This includes initial cards. Recommend designing character to start with 1 additional Random Skill. Scrounge Draw from the top (random) or bottom (known) of the Common Item, Unique Item, or Spell deck; may look at the bottom of any of these decks at any time. Recommend designing character to start with at least 1 Random Common Item, Unique Item, or Spell. Hometown Advantage When drawing location encounters in Arkham, draw two cards, then choose whichever encounter desired. Psychic Sensitivity When drawing gate encounters in Other Worlds, draw two qualifying cards, then choose whichever encounter desired. Physician Restore 1 Stamina to any investigator (including self) in current location during Upkeep. Psychology Restore 1 Sanity to any investigator (including self) in current location during Upkeep. Research Any Phase, force all unsuccessful dice in any skill check for any investigator to be re-rolled, once per turn. Hunches Roll one additional die per Clue Token spent. Science! Gates and monsters cannot appear in the characters location. Monsters and gates do not disappear if the character enters their location; monsters can move into the character location as usual. Strong Body Reduce all Stamina losses suffered by 1, to a minimum of 0.

Strong Mind Reduce all Sanity losses suffered by 1, to a minimum of 0. Guardian Angel Never Lost in Time and Space; go to Asylum if Sanity is 0, Hospital if Stamina is 0, or South Church (or specify other non-Gate location). Trust Fund Gain $1 on Upkeep. Astral Awareness* When drawing one or more Mythos cards from the Ancient One deck as First Player, draw one extra card and discard one of the cards. If "The Story Continues..." is drawn, it must be played; re-draw as above. Martial Mastery* Attacks made by character are not affected by Physical Resistance. Arcane Knowledge* Attacks made by character are not affected by Magical Resistance. Charming* Basic expenses to obtain an Ally are at half cost/expense, rounded up. At Mas House, character spends only 1 gate trophy or 5 toughness worth of monster trophies to gain an Ally. Frugal* Cost of any expense is $1 less, to a minimum cost of $1. Bank Loans, penalties, and thefts are not affected. Forbidden Knowledge* Character requires one less Clue Token when sealing a Gate. Investments* Roll a die on upkeep; if a Success is rolled, gain $2, otherwise gain nothing. Affected by Blessed and Curse. Example: Lodge member Nigel Beauwater is privy to all sorts of secrets, including Forbidden Knowledge.

Step 8: Find a Home

The character requires a home location to start. This can be any Arkham Location. If the character starts on a Gate Location, they automatically begin with 1 extra Clue Token at no additional cost. If multiple

characters begin on the same Gate Location, the First Player determines which character receives the Clue Token. Note that the Special Ability of Kate Winthrop, the only published character who starts on a Gate Location, is to negate Gates. Consider this when determining where to place a custom starting character. A character starting on a Gate Location could begin with the Gate Box Unique Item ($4) or the Find Gate Spell ($5), or enough Clue Tokens to seal the Gate and/or Forbidden Knowledge. Lost in Time and Space is a viable option, with the exception that the character should not be eaten on his first turn if Yog Sothoth is the Ancient One. Starting in an Other World has potential, but if there is no relevant gate out, the character will end up Lost in Time and Space unless special rules are created to accommodate this feature. Example: As a member of the Silver Twilight Lodge, it only makes sense for Nigel to begin the game at that location. Assuming no one else begins the game there, Nigel starts the game with the extra Clue Token normally found at that location, for no additional cost. If a gate and monster appear there on his first turn, that is the risk of keeping such poor company, but Nigel has Forbidden Knowledge and starts with 4 Clue Tokens, so with a little luck, he should be able to take care of himself.

Step 9: Summary
Your character should now be complete. Read on to see how the mechanics were derived. Example: Nigel Beauwater, Philanthropist, has the following statistics: Sanity: 6 Strength: 4 Focus: 2 Speed: (0 | 1 | 2 | 3) Sneak: (3 | 2 | 1 | 0) Fight: (0 | 1 | 2 | 3) Will: (5 | 4 | 3 | 2) Lore: (3 | 4 | 5 | 6) Luck: (4 | 3 | 2 | 1) Home: Silver Twilight Lodge Fixed Possessions: $5, 4 Clue Tokens*, Silver Twilight Lodge Membership Random Possessions: 2 Spells, 1 Skill Special Ability: Forbidden Knowledge - requires one less Clue Token when sealing a Gate. * Do not place a Clue token on the Silver Twilight Lodge at the start of the game.

Document History I discovered a document discussing how to create your own character in the Board Game Geek repository for Arkham Horror. As a game deconstructor and all around "fair play" advocate, I realized the document was quite general in its assessment, failing to properly take into account the majority of the characters that came with the Arkham Horror game.

I am used to point-allocation games, like GURPS, but as many Arkham Horror players know, Call of Cthulhu characters are based on randomness - you roll dice to determine your attributes, which ultimately determine your skill point totals. Mr. Kevin Wilson has responded to an early draft of this document and confirmed a number of points, and it has since been adjusted and points have been recalculated. In fact, this document was the catalyst for additions to the official Arkham Horror FAQ regarding adjustments to 2 Arkham Horror characters. Rationale: Skills The rules for setting Skill values and Focus are quite simple and obvious, but additional research was needed for Joe Diamond and Amanda Sharpe, who both have Focus of 3, but are otherwise incomparable. An additional +1 Focus bonus for Amanda became clear once I established that Amanda was the only character who did not have a Skill maximum above 4. This is the "Low Skills Exception". Joe Diamond took a bit more work. Initially, I tried to explain it by adding it in to his "purchase plan", using $ normally spent for items to purchase additional Focus, but a +1 Focus kept putting Joe over the top. I determined Joe must have a Skill Category-based reason, and realized Joe is the only character in the initial set whose Combat plus Non-Combat totaled 8. Combat and Non-Combat Skill Categories are more valuable than the Movement Skill Category, therefore, that must explain his +1 Focus. One could extrapolate if Combat plus Non-Combat totaled 7, a +2 Focus bonus would be in order. This is the "Weak Character Exception". The upper limits for Skills are based on observations of the character values used; no character had a Category total more than 7, or a Skill value greater than 6 - there is not a single 6/0 in the set. This is not to say a custom character could not be created with a 6/0, 7/0, or 7/1, but there should be some restriction. Rationale: Items The prices for the random Items come from an average cost of those items; Common Items average cost was $3.045, rounded to $3, and Unique Items (counting duplicate cards) averaged $4.8, rounded to $5. For specific items, I used the basic cost, but also toyed around with basic cost + $1. The majority of characters ended up with $24, or $23 plus 1 Clue Token. This, plus additional Clue Tokens, helped determine that with a total of $25, all Clue Tokens cost $2. There seemed to be a call for restrictions, otherwise why wouldnt most characters start with more items or less money, or at least 1 Clue, so that is why I tried to locate or invent restrictions, such as the "Requires Lore of at least 4" restriction for purchasing Spells, and the 7 Purchases limitation. Some costs could not be determined, while others did not have well-defined examples. Random Skill, Bless and Retainer only had one example each; Bless ended up costing $10 and Retainer ended up costing $6. Silver Twilight Lodge Membership of $6 is double the $3 cost found on the cards, which seems fine since it is not a very advantageous or unbalancing bonus. Technically the opposite of Blessing, Curse is a limitation and therefore provides a $5 bonus, not quite the $10 Blessing costs, but my opinion is that having Curse should never be advantageous. Other gamers may decide otherwise and may set Curse to

$10, equaling Blessing. Kevin Wilson has noted that he charges $10 for the Silver Twilight Lodge Membership. As it stands, Membership is not worth $10 - it is not very useful, you only have one chance to get it, and when you use it you have a chance to lose it or $3. Should future supplements alter the value of the Membership, I'll change the value as appropriate, but until then it remains at $6. Rationale: Allies and Skills There are two types of Ally cards, Minor and Major. The Minor Allies are Duke and Sir William Brinton. They add a small bonus and can be discarded for a different bonus. Duke calculated to $10, the cost of a starting Random Skill, so I set Brinton to his equal. The Major Allies grant a +2 Bonus and usually a gift of a card; therefore they should cost more than a Minor Ally. Prices for Random Ally, Specific Major Ally, and Specific Skill are fair estimations, as there are no published examples to work from. Kevin Wilson noted he provides no distinction between Minor and Major Allies, so if you agree with his assessment, charge only $10 for any starting Ally. Rationale: Spells Random Spells needed to cost more than Common Items, and the totals bore out a cost of $4 each. Dexter Drake is the only example of a specific Spell, and he ended up with $4 left over, so that is how I based the Specific Spell. It is my opinion that Specific cards should generally cost more than Random cards, so I selected Sanity Cost and Casting Modifier as the expense factors. Dexter Drake has Shriveling, with a 0 Sanity Cost and 0 Casting Modifier, therefore the cost is $4. I selected 0 to represent the value of a Casting Modifier of "Special"; it did not seem worth the trouble to use any other value. For non-mathematicians, Absolute Value refers to the positive value of a number; Casting Modifier can be positive or negative, so Absolute Value just refers to the number itself, as a positive number. The Absolute Value of both "+2" and "-2" is "2". Rationale: Special Abilities Abilities marked with an asterisk are home-brewed, derived from existing abilities of certain Allies, certain Skills, or are logical extensions of existing concepts. I'm certain many more Special Abilities can be made available, but these seemed fair and balanced. If you find my ideas unbalancing, then do not use them. The idea that any Special Ability might be better than another has truth. behind it. "Research" and "Hunches" can be seen as more advantageous than "Studious". Unfortunately, this adds too much complexity to the reverse-engineering process. It is recommended that if you create a character with a "Draw Two X cards and choose one" advantage, make sure the character begins the game with two X cards, allowing a choice of two cards from four. Rationale: Home

I noted the specifics regarding Kate Winthrop, since she would not add up with that additional Clue Token. Only characters with "Science!" or an equivalent Special Ability should begin in potential gate locations. I took the idea of "Lost in Time and Space" from an excellent "Evil Dead" Ash write-up floating around the internet, and member "Hellraiser" on the FFG boards has been helpful with a number of additional ideas. Rules Discrepancies According to the rules above, and assuming they are correct, the following alterations should be made to existing characters for balance purposes: Jenny Barnes The Dilettante is shorted $3. This could be supplemented either with an additional $3 starting cash, or (recommended, since there is a $10 Starting Cash maximum) 1 additional Random Common Item. The official AH FAQ has been adjusted, and since v1.1 adds an additional Random Common Item to Jenny. Bob Jenkins The Salesman is shorted $1. This could be supplemented either with an additional $1 starting cash, or (recommended) with $7 and a Clue Token to start. The official AH FAQ has been adjusted, and since v1.1 adds an additional $1 to Bob.