A Touch Of Evil Heroes 02

Here are the remaining 12 heroes from the A Touch Of Evil game, starting with the four Heroes from the Something Wicked expansion set, then the four Heroes from The Coast expansion set and finishing with the four Heroes from Hero Pack Two.

At the far left of the photos above and below is Captain Meriwether Hawkins. A lifelong military man, Captain Hawkins saw much action in the Revolution and various civil uprisings since. A decorated Captain in the Continental Army, he is a man of reason and strategy  and has much experience with command. Having heard of this supposed supernatural "creature" terrorising the locals he has travelled to Shadowbrook to put an end to this nonsense and bring the community under some semblance of control... by force, if necessary.
Captain Hawkins has two Special Abilities -  Call To Arms (as an Action, he may pay 2 Investigation to place a Militia in any space on the board (limit of one per space). This may only be used if there are currently 4 or fewer Militia markers on the board. Limit of once per Turn) and Field Command (during his Move phase, he may pay 1 Investigation to move a Militia marker to any other space on the board. If there is a Minion there, he may discard the Militia and roll 1d6. On the roll of 3+ discard the Minion as well and gain the Minion's victory reward as though it was defeated in a fight.
Captain Hawkins has stats of 4 Honour, 3 Combat, 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds and 2 Spirit. His abilities to field and move Militia are very useful and once the Villain's lair has been revealed he should place a Militia there to aid the Heroes in the Showdown.
Standing next to Captain Hawkins is Brother Marcus Faugno. Journeying the countryside, Brother Marcus is far from home. His long pilgrimage has taken him on many adventures around the world but none quite so deadly as that which he faces now. Armed only with his faith and fortitude, Brother Marcus has at last found the destiny he has long been searching.
Bother Marcus has three Special Abilities - Faithful (he may not use Gun Items. He may use Spirit instead of Combat in a Fight), Mission (he starts the game at the Crossroads) and Strength of Spirit (he may pay 2 Investigation to cancel any Mystery card or Event (including an Event result on the Villain's Minion Chart) on the 1d6 roll of 4+. Limit once per Turn).
Brother Marcus's stats are a mixed bag with 4 Spirit, 4 Wounds, 3 Honour, 1 Combat and 1 Cunning. In the one game that I used him I sent him to the Monastery, where he stocked up on religious Items that made him extremely powerful in the Showdown. Try and boost his Spirit stat even higher. I got it up to 6, making him the best fighter in my party.

Moving on, we come to the first of the two females from this set, Eliza Spain the Witch Hunter. Recently dispatched to Shadowbrook from the Sanctum of the Moebius Malem, Eliza has come with a single purpose - to eliminate any and all supernatural activity with extreme prejudice. As per the guidelines of her Order, she has been granted full inquisitorial authority and has been decreed to use whatever means necessary to accomplish her mission. Any who might stand in her way are to be considered... acceptable losses.
Eliza has three Special Abilities - Zealot (she may take a wound to gain +2 Spirit, Cunning, Honour or Combat for a single test. Limit of once per test. This wound may be assigned to Militia), Inquisition (any time she reveals a Town Elder's Secret, she gains 4 Investigation for every Little Secret or Evil card revealed. Limit once per Turn), and Hunter (has +2 Fight Dice against any Demon, Ghost or Magik enemy).
Eliza stats are 4 Wounds, 3 Cunning, 3 Spirit, 2 Combat and 2 Honour. Having 4 Wounds means she can easily use her Zealot ability to boost her Combat in a fight. As is, she's okay but if you can equip her with weapons she becomes much stronger. I've only used her once but I managed to arm her with a dagger, a musket and a pistol for +4 Combat and she was unstoppable.
Last in line is Valeria the Eternal. Beautiful but deadly, Valeria has walked this Earth for millennia; one of the few remaining vampires of the ancient world. Once a noble princess of the legendary Kingdom of Pharoz, she now travels the world in secret, the last of a long dead civilisation. With the memory of a hundred lifetimes, Valeria is not interested in fame or fortune, only the fleeting joy found in hunting the most dangerous of prey.
Valeria has three Special Abilities - Vampire (automatically heals 1d3 Wounds at the end of a Fight Round in which she defeated an enemy (this may prevent her from being KO'd). Immune to Curses), Strength of Darkness (gains 1 Investigation each time the Shadow Track moves a step closer to Darkness) and Undead (may not use Gun Items and may not use or carry any items that are Holy or that gain a bonus against Vampires, including Town Elders).
Valeria's stats are surprisingly average with 3 for Combat, Cunning, Honour and Wounds and 2 Spirit. Will it surprise anyone to learn that Valeria is my favourite Hero? I thought not! Note how her name is a partial anagram of Vampirella. I have only used her once so far in a team up with two other females against the Vampire. I reasoned it would take a vampire to defeat a vampire and she did - she wiped the floor with him!

The first of the Heroes from The Coast is Doctor Jeremy Edwards. A physician from the neighboring city, Doctor Edwards has come to Shadowbrook on the behest of his good friend, Jonathan Cooke. "Come at once!" the letter had said. "Urgent need of your skills and wisdom for matters... supernatural." With haste he had set out in a coach at once, not fully understanding what dark and dangerous trouble lay before him. He owed the inspector a great deal for saving his life on their last adventure in Boston, and tonight he was not about to let his friend down.
Doctor Edwards has two Special Abilities - Field Medicine (he may heal Wounds from himself or any other Hero in his space for 1 Investigation each. This may be used at any time except during a Fight Round) and Autopsy (while in any Town space he may remove a dead Town Elder from the game to gain 1d6 Investigation).
Doctor Edwards has 5 Honour, 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat and 2 Spirit. He is just crying out to be used alongside Inspector Cooke for the original game. His most useful ability is Field Medicine, which will be of great value to any party.
Next up is Argot Blackwell the Master Hunter. A masterful soldier, scholar of dark knowledge and hunter of all things evil, Argot Blackwell has only ever known the cold realities of a supernatural world. As a young boy in distant Europe, his family was massacred by werewolves. Only he was saved by the intervention of a valiant hunter, a drifter tracking the beasts through the mountains and dispatching the entire pack single-handed. Swearing his life to vengeance upon all foul creatures of the night, Argot honed his skills over 40 years, learning everything about the dark monsters... and how to kill them.
Argot has four Special Abilities - Gruff Outsider (he does not draw an Event card for encountering a Town space), On the Hunt for Evil (he may draw an Event card any time he defeats a Minion or does a Hit to the Villain outside of Shadowbrook), Know Thine Enemy (he may discard an Event card to gain +2 Fight Dice for one attack or to prevent a Wound to himself) and Hunter (gains +2 Fight Dice against any Ancient, Beast or Vampire enemy).
His stats are 4 Combat, 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds, 2 Honour and 2 Spirit. Argot is good at one thing and that is killing monsters. If the Villain is an Ancient, a Beast or a Vampire he's your go to Hero. I like this guy!

The first of the two females from this set is Liliana Bagget the Lost Soul. Though youthful, Liliana is an old soul who was changed forever when her entire village was wiped out by a vicious creature. Swearing an oath of vengeance, she now travels the countryside hunting that very villain that savaged everything she once held dear. Her singular focus on revenge has given her strength over the years to press on, many times closing in on the beast, only to have it slip through her grasp. At last she has tracked it down once more to the small town of Shadowbrook. No more shall die by its hands.
Liliana has three Special Abilities - Shadow of the Past (she may roll an extra Fight Dice for each Hit she does in a Fight Round), Spirited (she always uses Spirit in a fight) and Loss of Faith (she may not exchange Items or Allies with other Heroes. Training Spirit at the Church requires an Honour 6+ test for her).
Her stats are varied with 4 Honour, 3 Spirit, 3 Wounds, 2 Cunning and 1 Combat. It will certainly pay you to try and increase her Spirit stat. In this set's FAQ someone asked, "does Liliana's Shadow of the Past ability stack?" Yes, it does. Any extra Fight Dice that roll Hits cause additional extra Fight Dice to be rolled until no more Hits are rolled. This really is an awesome ability!
Finally is Maria De La Rosa the Smuggler. Maria Montoya Valencia De La Rosa was born at sea. From a long family line of noble blood and a heritage of piracy and adventure, Maria became a smuggler at the age of nine during the American Revolution, helping the colonies in their desperate struggle. Now a woman of renown, she lives a life of smuggling and treasure hunting, seeking only the thrill of the chase and the beauty of ancient relics. Her latest exploits have brought her to the rocky shores of Tidewater, the haunted coast, in search of a family heirloom lost to the ages.
Maria has only two Special Abilities - Barter (Town Items cost her 1 less Investigation to purchase (minimum of 1)) and Secret Routes (she may use any Secret Passage printed on the board for free, during her move rather than in place of her move).
Her stats are an above average 4 for Wounds, an average 3 for Combat, Cunning and Honour and a below average 2 for Spirit. If you plan on buying lots of Items then it will definitely pay you to have Maria in your party.

And so we come to Hero Pack Two, starting with Frederic Leon the Foreign Diplomat. As part of a diplomatic envoy of nobility from France, Frederic Leon has become trapped in the colonies due to the revolution in his own homeland. Back in France, to be a noble is to risk losing one's head to the guillotine. It is a safer bet to continue on in his diplomatic duties abroad, in name at least, if not in action. With his funds dwindling and his personal guard growing restless, he has arrived  in Shadowbrook only to find that this new town is even more deadly than the revolutionaries who want his head.
Frederic has three Special Abilities - Escort (while in any Town space, he may pay 2 Investigation as an Action to take a Militia marker. This Militia travels with him and may only be used by him (limit of 1). There may also be up to one Militia in the space as normal), Intrigue (he may pay 2 Investigation at any time to draw an Event card) and Diplomacy (when paying to look at a Town Elder's Secrets, he never needs to reveal them).
Frederic has 4 Cunning, 3 Honour, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat and 2 Spirit. I'm afraid that Frederic is one of the weakest Heroes in the game. His stats are below average and his abilities are not that special either.
Next up is Jack Fellows the Privateer. A sailor and a privateer by trade, Jack is a free man forging his own way in the world and fighting for what he believes in. Having spent most of his life at sea, he is no stranger to the tall tales his shipmates spin on cold and foggy nights. Of ghost ships and sea monsters, they are tales told to scare younger crewmen. But in his heart, he knows there is real fear behind these tales, and real evil beneath the briny waves of the deep.
Jack has only one Special Ability - Duelist (once per Fight Round he may re-roll all of his missed To Hit rolls).
Jack has 4 Honour and 3 for Combat, Cunning, Spirit and Wounds. Jack is a one trick pony - he excels at fighting and his one Special Ability is very useful.

Third in line is Abigail Sturn the Student of the Occult. Well read in the ancient texts and tomes of occult knowledge, Abigail's studies have led her to Shadowbrook in hopes of learning more about the supernatural, first hand. Staying at a roadside Inn near Echo Lake, she spends her days exploring the surroundings while staying up late into the night to pour over her books and new found artifacts. She will stop at nothing to unlock the secrets of the occult and will open any door, no matter where it leads.
Abigail has two Special Abilities - Occult Knowledge (she may use Cunning instead of Combat in a Fight) and Student (she gains +1 Cunning for every Book she has. She also gains an extra Wound for every Occult Item she has).
Her stats are well below average with 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat, 2 Honour and 2 Spirit. However, do not dismiss her for being weak. It is well worth spending time and Investigation in buying Books and Occult Items for her. A question about her that cropped up in the FAQ asked "if Abigail has a Book that is also Keyword: Occult, does she get +1 Cunning and an extra Wound?" The answer is yes, she does. Used wisely she can end up being a real powerhouse.
And last but by no means least we come to Sara Essex the Bright Witch. Adept in the ways of Bright Magic, Sara has spent her lifetime learning to control the white auras and shimmering lights of the Tarro Wind. A student of nature, she has grown up in the rural countryside and has committed herself to preserving life and protecting the world from darkness. Sensing the evil that has crept its way into Shadowbrook, Sara has set out on a mission to save the beleaguered town and its people from a gruesome fate. But this is a challenge greater than any she has ever faced.
Sara has three Special Abilities - Strength of Light (she gains 2 investigation at the start of each of her Hero Turns (or Showdown Fight rounds). She loses 1 Investigation each time the Shadow Track moves a step closer to Darkness), Aura of Protection (she may pay 2 Investigation at any time to prevent a Wound to any Town Elder or Hero (including herself) on the 1d6 roll of 3+ (limit once per Wound)) and Witch (she may not use Guns. She gains +2 Fight Dice against Magik, Demon or Construct enemy).
Sara has 4 Honour, 4 Spirit, 3 Combat, 3 Wounds and 2 Cunning. Sara is a worthy Hero. She can stack up her Investigation tokens very quickly and use them to protect others from being wounded. She is a good all-rounder.

This brings to a close my reviews of A Touch Of Evil, a game that I have grown to love the more I play it. I do like the figures that come with the game. They are very different to what I usually use in a game but variety is never a bad thing. I know that this is one game that I will be playing for many years to come and so I consider it a very worthwhile investment.