Sticking with one Investigator per player

[TheFool 11]

When I look at the way this game works, pretty much like an RPG with spending experience between missions, I just want to pick one Investigator and make them my own.

 

... which unfortunately means that I have to wait until the release of The Dunwich Legacy, because the five starting Investigators don't give enough choice for my group of four!

 

Does anyone else plan on sticking with just one character? The idea to 'reset' every 8 or so sessions doesn't seem that interesting to me.

[Doma0997 72]

Well, as trauma builds up, you will lose that one character or they will become next to unplayable. I actually don't expect a single character to survive an 8 scenario campaign... heck, there are already ways to just outright die in the story, so don't get too close to your investigator...

[xuzuthor 10]

Especially tough for any investigators that are low on either health or sanity as it makes it that much closer to death to begin with!

[mulletcheese 689]

I'll play solo with 2 investigators, there are some tactics and cards that work best with multiple investigators.

I'll also play hardcore and retire investigators when they die/go insane until I've played through all the investigators.

[rsdockery 537]

Well, as trauma builds up, you will lose that one character or they will become next to unplayable. I actually don't expect a single character to survive an 8 scenario campaign...

 

You should be perfectly capable of surviving a campaign (unless you die in the final resolution, of course). Remember, you normally only suffer one point of trauma per scenario, so even unbalanced characters need to get eliminated five times (each targeting the same stat) to suffer permadeath.

 

(Obviously, Roland's an exception, since his Weakness gives him mental trauma, which a low-Sanity guardian can ill afford, but everyone else so far is fairly safe, barring nasty mid-campaign resolution effects.)

[Doma0997 72]

 

Well, as trauma builds up, you will lose that one character or they will become next to unplayable. I actually don't expect a single character to survive an 8 scenario campaign...

 

You should be perfectly capable of surviving a campaign (unless you die in the final resolution, of course). Remember, you normally only suffer one point of trauma per scenario, so even unbalanced characters need to get eliminated five times (each targeting the same stat) to suffer permadeath.

 

(Obviously, Roland's an exception, since his Weakness gives him mental trauma, which a low-Sanity guardian can ill afford, but everyone else so far is fairly safe, barring nasty mid-campaign resolution effects.)

 

I'm fully expecting the campaigns to be mean and out to kill you. Maybe you'll make it all the way through the 8 scenarios, but I imagine it will spiral out of control at some point. There's already mandatory trauma, weaknesses, and insta-death, as well as conditions in previous scenarios making future scenarios tougher. And that's only in a three scenario campaign. I'm wondering how many people will end up fudging results and repicking choices just to keep their favorites alive. 

[mulletcheese 689]

There will be other ways of gaining trauma and dying.

I think the side mission has a resolution that kills a character.

[Doma0997 72]

There will be other ways of gaining trauma and dying.

I think the side mission has a resolution that kills a character.

There is a way to kill every character in the party in the opening scenario. Granted, you have to work hard to get it, but this game really doesn't mess around.

[rsdockery 537]

There will be other ways of gaining trauma and dying.

I think the side mission has a resolution that kills a character.

 

It does not (well, not an investigator, anyway); it does, however, add a weakness to an investigator.

 

And as for death and trauma due to scenario resolution, here's all the ways that can happen in core (spoilers):

• Spectacular failure in the first scenario (you have to let the agenda complete before you've even beaten the second act)
• The final scenario, at which point the campaign is over anyway. It's quite harsh (resolutions range from two mental trauma apiece to a total TPK), but it's more of an epilogue than anything else (unless you, like the OP, wanted to chain multiple campaigns together).

I'd consider both to be exceptional cases. Investigator death should be possible, but by no means inevitable.