Last week, we covered the glorious dice-heavy game Too Many Bones, but really only spent time talking about the contents of the base game. If you’re a fan of Too Many Bones and are looking to increase your gameplay options, there’s plenty of expansions on the market with a few more to come.

While we won’t get into the campaign content of expansions like Too Many Bones: Undertow or 40 Days in Daelore, we wanted to talk about all the optional character packs. Chip Theory Games’ online store provides a broad description of each expansion character’s general playstyle but not enough in my opinion to let consumers know what they’re really buying. So as fans who have collected all the currently available characters, we put together this helpful list to help players decided which Gearlocs are most interesting to them to help inform who they may next want to add to their party.

Boomer

Starting Stats:

Health: 3	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 2

Type: Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 2
Solo Complexity: 3
Play Style: Slow but massive area damage.
General Overview: Boomer, included in the base game, is the group’s explosives expert. While it takes her some time to scrounge up the components necessary to build a bomb, once she has them in her possession, she can easily clear the board of the pesky Baddies wearing down the rest of the party.  
Innate Skill: Boomer’s Scavenger skill allows her to start with one of each of the component skill dice need to make a bomb. The upgraded version of this skill allows her to add one additional of each of the bomb components whenever she rolls a component die to gain components. This also includes when she rolls bones while attempting to gain components. 

 

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Throw Odds – Deal one damage to target Baddie.
• 2 Bones: Search Again – Re-roll any unused Scavenger die. 
• 3 Bones: Bluff Bomb – Choose any occupied space on the board and move the unit in that space to an adjacent one.
• 4 Bones: Throw Ends – Deal three damage to target Baddie.
• 5 Bones: Hide – Give Boomer the Untargetable status.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Grenadier – Grenadier Profession skills are where Boomer learns to build all of her damage dealing explosives. These skills are essential for players looking to maximize Boomer’s destructive abilities. Naturally, the use of these skills consume one of Boomer’s constructed bombs.
•  Scavenger – For Boomer, the Scavenger Profession dice are innate dice that are used as counters to represent each of the three components needed to build bombs, as well as one die, the Boom Counter, that keeps track of how many constructed bombs she has at her disposal. 
• Utility Bomber – Utility Bomber skills are all status effects that can be applied to a constructed bomb. Using this will force Baddies to miss their attack, temporarily disable an enemy, or remove negative status effects from her party. However useful these abilities may be, they too consume a constructed bomb. 
• Keen Eye – Where the Utility Bomber Profession of skills lets Boomer play with negative status effects, Keen Eye skills are her buffs. Using these she can boost health, find new components, upgrade some grenades, and possibly even find some Element 325.

Consumables

• Bag’a Booms – A bag of bomb related goodies like components, and sometimes a fully constructed bomb. 
• Holy Hand Grenade – No explosives based character is complete without a Holy Hand Grenade. This grenade doesn’t cost reduce Boomer’s bomb counter. If Boomer also has Element 325, the Holy Hand Grenade can deal twice as much damage.

 

 

Dart

Starting Stats:

Health: 2	Attack: 2
Dexterity: 4	Defense: 1

Type: Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 3
Solo Complexity: 3
Play Style: Lots of light ranged damage. Massive damage outburst once per encounter.
General Overview: Sold as a separate character expansion, Dart is the only character with a double-sided player mat. Her standard side looks similar to other characters where her skills focused around light ranged damage to multiple targets and debuffs can be found. Once per encounter, she can go into Dangerous Dart mode, represented by the other side of her dashboard. Using Boar’d, Dart’s Pigadillo mount, she can deal massive damage across the board, but will quickly wear herself down in the process.
Innate Skill: Dart’s innate skill, Pigadillo Wrangler, lets her start with Boar’d die in play. At the start of an encounter Dart rolls Boar’d’s die and places him on the the board with health equal to his die roll. Her improved version of this skill, Pigadillo Master, you choose what you want the result of that same die roll to be.

 

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Recover – Restore one health point to Dart.
                    Danger Zone – Trigger Dart’s Dangerous ability.
• 2 Bones: Biding Time – Add one Bone to Dart’s Backup Plan. Using this ability does not cost Bones but simply requires Dart has two available.
• 3 Bones: Quick and Painless – Roll an Agent from Dart’s skills area and apply it to any unit in play.
• 4 Bones: No ability.
• 5 Bones: Fortunate Discovery – Gain Dart’s Bandolier consumable.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths:

• Bioweapon – The Bioweapon Profession refers to Boar’d’s abilities and boosts his abilities. 
• Pharmacist – Dart’s bioweapon skills allow her to inject allies with useful buffs that allow them to boost their Backup Plans, heal each other, re-roll die, and prevent skills from being exhausted.
• Toxicologist – Toxicology skills are all about wearing down the Baddies. Using these skills, Dart can reduce her enemies’ ability to attack and move, or force them to take damage when they do so.
• Pathologist – The Pathologist skills let Dart inflict negative status effect on her enemies or bypass their defenses altogether. 

Consumables

• Bandolier – This die is rolled when players first acquire it and is then placed in the Locked slot. When players attack, they may exhaust the Bandolier die and add a number of Attack die to their roll based on the results of the Bandolier die roll when it was first obtained. 

As part of Dart’s Backup Plan abilities, she can go into Dangerous Dart mode by spending one Backup die. In this mode, players flip over the board and can Rampage by sprinting around the board, dealing 1 damage to adjacent units and displacing opponents from their space.

 

Duster

Starting Stats:

Health: 3	Attack: 2
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 1

Type: Melee – Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 1
Solo Complexity: 2
Play Style: Survival tactics and status effects while a wolf companion does the slaughtering.
General Overview: Originally a Tyrant Baddie players hunted in the core game, fan favorite Duster was added as a playable character as part of the campaign expansion, Too Many Bones: Undertow. Whether it means crippling her enemies or staying undetected altogether, Duster is a survivalist who will do whatever it takes to stay alive. Whenever she’s in trouble, Nightshade, her ferocious wolf companion comes to Duster’s rescue. Whenever Duster ends a round at less than full health, Nightshade will appear at fight alongside her. 
Innate Skill: Shadow-Dweller lets Duster start an encounter in any position on the map. It also gives her Nightshade’s initiative die as a starting skill. Her upgraded innate skill, Shadow-Caster gives Duster all of the aforementioned but also lets her start the encounter with the Untargetable status. 

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Pack Mentality – Move Duster or Nightshade to a position next to the other. Duster can also switch targets.
• 2 Bones: Backstab – Stab a Baddie adjacent to both Duster and Nightshade for two damage.
• 3 Bones: Cry Wolf – Lose two health points to place gain the Untargetable effect.
• 4 Bones: Fortunate Discovery – Gain one of Duster’s consumable die.
• 5 Bones: No ability.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to next level. 

Core Skill Paths

• Assassin – Assassin skills are Duster’s damage dealing abilities. None of them are particularly strong, but they can inflict Bleed or deal extra damage to Krelin and Mech enemies when she’s in possession of D-cells.
• Survivalist – Duster’s two Survivalist abilities let her stay on her feet longer or heal any of her allies, including Duster.
• Gadgeteer – Duster’s Gadgeteer abilities show she can be just as skilled with tech as she is as a beast-handler. These skills grant Duster the ability to disable her opponents, become untargetable, or gain D-Cells to boost attacks with. 
• Wolfsister – The Wolfsister skill Profession represent Nightshades devastating damage dealing abilities.

Consumables

• Scrag Roots – This handy consumable prevents Duster from being inflicted with status effects and is reduced by 1 each time it’s used.
• Blade Dip – The Blade Dip consumable applies the poison status effect up to a value of three to Duster’s target. 

 

Gasket

Starting Stats:

Health: 1	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 4	Defense: 4

Type: Melee – Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 3
Solo Complexity: 2
Play Style: Re-use of skills at the cost of a push-your-luck method of stamina management. 
General Overview: Gasket is a clunky-but-deadly robot powered by a combination of steam and hydro power who is sold as a separate character add-on. As a result, it doesn’t get exhausted the same way as other Gearlocs might, and neither do its skills. Easily my second favorite character, Gasket’s skills don’t exhaust after use like its counterparts. Instead, Gasket has to manage Hydro Cannisters. Players controlling Gasket must roll its Hydro Valve die every turn, which has a 50% chance in leaking water out of Gasket. Gasket also has to lose water for every Destroy and Derail Profession skill it uses on its turn. The first skill costs one water, the second skill two, and so on. If ever Gasket runs out of water, it takes one true damage at the start of its turn, ensuring its inevitable destruction. 
Innate Skill: Thanks to Gasket’s Steambot ability, its abilities to not exhaust after being used. Gasket is also able to gain a shield value of half its abilities rounded up at the start of each encounter. Gasket’s upgraded ability, Steambot Pro, allows it gain its full defense stat in shield value.

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Hotfix – Add or increase a Defense die by one.
• 2 Bones: No ability.
• 3 Bones: Dehumidifier – Gasket gains one Hydro and gains or increases a Defense die by one.
• 4 Bones: Reprogram – After applying all Directive dice, Gasket rolls and applies all available Directive dice again.
• 5 Bones: Power Spike – Deal three damage to an adjacent unit. All units adjacent to that one take two damage and units adjacent to that one take one damage.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Hydro-powered – The Hydro Powered dice aren’t skills in the same way that other Professiones are, but instead, are additional Hydro Cannisters that will increase Gasket’s ability to stay in the battle.
• Mode: Derail – The Derail skill Profession is one of the two Professiones of skills that will cost Gasket Hydro for each of its abilities. Mode: Derail are all abilities that dish out both melee and ranged damage and increase Gasket’s mobility to give it incredible control of the battle map.
• Mode: Destroy – Gasket’s Destroy skills are the second Profession that cost Gasket additional Hydro to use. These are its status effect and Baddie control abilities. These skills inflict the Bleed effect and then dish out added damage for anyone who has the effect.
• Mode: Direct – Mode: Direct skills are referred to Directives. These skill dice don’t cost dexterity or Hydro to roll. However, Gasket must execute whatever the dice results are, even it its not in its favor. Some results will force Gasket to move closer to a Baddie that will cause him harm, while others might restore Hydro or grant a free attack.

Consumables

• Power Converter – Once charged, this consumable can restore one health per use.

 

Ghillie

Starting Stats:

Health: 4	Attack: 2
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 0

Type: Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 3
Solo Complexity: 2
Play Style:  Traps and Animal Summons
General Overview: Ghillie is the party’s trapper and is sold as a separate character expansion. Ghillie uses his years of experience hunting in the woods to ensnare his enemies in bear traps and nets from afar. After years in the woods, he’s managed to make allies of a few dangerous woodland creatures that he can call to his aid in battle. 
Innate Skill: Ghillie’s innate Scout ability lets him reveal a Baddie on the top of any stack before battle. If he so choose, he can move that Baddie to the bottom of the stack. Once upgraded to Scoutmaster, Ghillie will be able to do the enact the same ability on two Baddies.

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Switch Targets – Change Ghillie’s intended target before applying any dice results this turn.
• 2 Bones: Split Targets – After applying at least one die result to Ghillie’s target, Split Targets lets Ghillie apply the remaining die to a different target Baddie.
• 3 Bones: Fortunate Discovery – Gain one of Ghillie’s consumable skill die.
• 4 Bones: Lure Away – Remove any five point Baddie from the board and place them at the bottom of the Baddie Queue.
• 5 Bones: Broadhead – Deal five damage to target Baddie.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level. 

Core Skill Paths

• Trapper – The Trapper ability allows Ghillie to set traps onto the battlefield ahead of the start of battle. The effect of the traps are immediately triggered whenever a baddie may land on the trapped space. 
• Ranger – Ranger abilities display Ghillie’s extensive experience and allow him to displace enemies and force them into a new space (possibly even a trap), or dish our damage by hitting multiple targets with the multi-arrow or marking a Baddie for double damage in the future. 
• Marksman – Marksman abilities let Ghillie upgrade the amount of damage he can deal with his archer abilities by dealing extra damage when specific conditions are met. 
• Zoologist – Ghillie’s Zoologist abilities are, in my opinion, the heart of his character. While Ghillie can deal small bit of damage here and there and booby trap the field, it’s his animal companions that make hi so fun to play. The Zoologist skills let Ghillie call for aid from a Falcon, Tiger, and Wolverine. The result of their skill die roll will determine how much strength and health they will have, as well as whether or not each ally will cost dexterity points to keep on the board each round. Each of these allies act on their own volition before Ghillie, moving up to two spaces and automatically dealing damage equal to the attack value on their skill die. Ghillie’s fourth skill in this Profession, Command, allows him to issue additional attack commands to this pets and show Baddies just how dangerous the woods can be.

Consumables

• Extra MechLeg – This is a bit of an unusual skill die as the only effect it has it awarding Ghillie with more Bones for his Backup Plan. The Extra MechLeg awards one to four additional bones and is then discarded.
• Camo – When rolled, Camo will give a result of one, two, or three, and is then placed in the one of Ghillie’s locked slots. Before the any battle, Ghillie can discard the Camo die to increase or decrease the number of Baddie Points for the next fight by the die result.
• Bait – Bait lets Ghillie re-roll any of his Pet die to potentially get better stats from them. 

 

Lab Rats

 

Flan

Starting Stats:

Health: 3	Attack: 2
Dexterity: 2	Defense: 0

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Big Bolts – Place Poison 1 effect on any two Baddies.
• 2 Bones: Bat Scan – Transfer a Defense die from any unit to another one.
• 3 Bones: Bat Bites – Place Poison 2 effect on any two Baddies.
• 4 Bones: Discover a Lab Rat – Locate another Lab Rat not yet in play. Set their chip at full health and put their mat in the prep area as they are now available to Tag In. 

Innate Skill: Resourceful – On each of your turns, you may re-roll one unused die. 

 

 

Gerbil

Starting Stats:

Health: 3	Attack: 2
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 0

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Swipe Left – Deal one True Damage to an adjacent Baddie.
• 2 Bones: Incision – Add a Bleed Effect to an adjacent Baddie.
• 3 Bones: Swipe Right – Heal any Inactive Lab Rat to full health. Immediately Tag in the healed Lab Rat. 
• 4 Bones: Discover a Lab Rat – Locate another Lab Rat not yet in play. Set their chip at full health and put their mat in the prep area as they are now available to Tag In. 

Innate Skill: Surgical – Gain one Bone each time a Baddie is defeated.

 

 

Helix

Starting Stats:

Health: 4	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 2	Defense: 1

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Improvise – Gain two Bones
• 2 Bones: Equipment Mod – Change the results of any two unused dice rolled this turn to results of your choice.
• 3 Bones: Steal Tech – Draw a Loot.
• 4 Bones: Discover a Lab Rat – Locate another Lab Rat not yet in play. Set their chip at full health and put their mat in the prep area as they are now available to Tag In. 

Innate Skill: Ambidextrous – Skill dice do not cost Dexterity to roll. 

 

 

Slank

Starting Stats:

Health: 3	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 1

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Minor Repair – Gain a #1 skill die.
• 2 Bones: Handy – Immediately set the Round Counter to Fatigue.
• 3 Bones: De-escalate – Place a Stun effect on any five point Baddie.
• 4 Bones: Discover a Lab Rat – Locate another Lab Rat not yet in play. Set their chip at full health and put their mat in the prep area as they are now available to Tag In. 

Innate Skill: Ignore Malfunctions.

 

Co-op Complexity: 3
Solo Complexity: 4
Play Style: Skill/Character Swapping
General Overview: The Lab Rats are a weird bunch. The four of them were previous interns at a science facility and and were put through abusive hours as they tested new equipment. When they left, they took as much experimental tech as they could and fight as a group to get by. 

They are just as strange to play. Whomever choose to play as the Lab Rats, will choose two of the four possible characters to start with and the other two will be set out of play for the time being. Each of the characters have their own base stats and Backup Plan but otherwise, the Lab Rats collectively share their skill and stat upgrade dice. Regardless of how many Lab Rats the player has available to them, only one Lab Rat is allowed in play at a time. As long as there is a Lab Rat who hasn’t already battled during this encounter, the active Lab Rat can Tag Out and let the next one step into battle on their behalf. All Lab Rats have the same four cost Backup Plan which allows the player to chose one of the out of play Lab Rats and add them to the player’s prep area so they may be Tagged In. They also have the unique Malfunction mechanic that means the die result must be applied, but instead of exhausting the skill, it Malfunctions and must be returned to storage where it will need to be re-learned before it can be used again. 

Core Skill Paths

• Slank – The Fixer – Slank’s Bladerator skills are about dealing perpetual damage to Baddies and provoking them behind Slank in the Initiative order.
• Gerbil – Biotechnician – Gerbil uses her Electroscalpel skills to add bonus damage to her Attack die or move the Active Lab Rat to any unoccupied space on the board. 
• Slank/Gerbil Contraption – Slank and Gerbil fuse their weapons into the powerful Electrobladerator which combines their two attack bonuses and adds the additional Execute function which instantly kills Baddies who are already afflicted by Slank and Gerbil’s other effects.
• Flan – Ebonologist – Flan’s Restorator restores health and removes status effects from any other unit, even Inactive Lab Rats.
• Helix – Safety Analyst – Helix’s handy Sonic Distorter skills can deal retaliatory damage as well as award the Active Lab Rat with Defense equal to the amount of damage they take.
• Flan/Helix Contraption – Flan and Helix fuse their weapons into the powerful Virtual Redistorter Boy 2000 which combines their skills and give the Lab Rats plenty of access to healing as well as the bonus effect of becoming Untargetable.

Consumables:

• Silver Adhesiverator – This consumable has a fifty-fifty chance of either granting the Active Lab Rat with three Bones for their Backup Plan or Duct Tape which ignores any Malfunction die roll results.
• Rejuvenator – The powerful Rejuvenator has a fifty-fifty chance of restoring all Lab Rats to their full health or allowing a Lab Rat who has already participated in battle to be Tagged In again.

 

 

Nugget

Starting Stats:

Health: 4	Attack: 2
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 1

Type: Melee – Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 2
Solo Complexity: 2
Play Style: Loot discovery and Luck
General Overview: Nugget is a treasure hunter and a skirmisher who is sold as a separate character expansion. While she may not hit very hard, she’s skilled in striking at a safe distance and finding useful loot while she does it. 
Innate Skill: Nugget’s innate Treasure Seeker skill lets her draw and additional Loot card whenever Loot is earned as a reward for an encounter. However, Nugget can only keep one of these Loot cards until she’s earned the Treasure Hunter ability. 

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Collect Stones – Increase Slingstone counter by one.
• 2 Bones: Revitalize – Restore two health points.
• 3 Bones: No ability.
• 4 Bones: Disable – Inflict Disable on an adjacent Baddie of five points or less.
• 5 Bones: Coup De Grace – At the ned of the round, place Nugget’s initiative die at the top of the initiative track.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Gifted – Nugget’s gifted abilities are all special skills that can be triggered when specific battle conditions are met. If there are more Baddies on the board than Gearlocs, Nugget can use the Wildborn skill to temporarily remove one from the board. Or she can earn stats bonuses with her LUcky skill any time she rolls her skill die and doesn’t get a Bones result. 
• Keymaster – Keymaster Skills are all about the glory of treasure hunting. These skills can earn Nugget extra Loot, or even help her lockpick the even more valuable Trove Loot.
• Propellist – What’s the point of uncovering old Gearloc technology if you can’t use it? Nugget’s Propellist Profession skills are her combat abilities that let her attack Baddies and hinder their attack and movement talents. A well placed hit with her dagger can inflict the Bleed status and additional damage. 
• Sword Dancer – Treasure hunters have to be fast on their feet when escaping with the goods so bringing that into combat is natural for Nugget. Her Sword Dancer skills give her increased mobility, boost her initiative, and possibly even gain an extra turn. 

Consumables

• Scrambler – The Scrambler is an extra die that can be rolled and used as an additional Intuition die during a Lock Picking attempt during the game’s recovery phase.
• Gem Decoy – Everyone loves Loot, even Baddies. Nugget will use her Gem Decoy to distract even the biggest of Baddies and draw their attention away from the Gearloc party.
• Slingstones – Slingstones let Nugget use her slingshot to attack Baddies from afar. 

 

 

Patches

Starting Stats:

Health: 5	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 2	Defense: 1

Type: Melee
Co-op Complexity: 1
Solo Complexity: 2
Play Style: Healing support and damaging status effects.
General Overview: Patches is the resident sawbones of the Gearloc party and is part of the core game. While his main function is to support and heal the group, Patches is well versed in the use of toxins that will wear down his opponents. 
Innate Skill: A medic is only useful to the group if they can stay on their own two feet. Thankfully, Patches has the Recovery innate ability which allows him to heal himself for one health at the start of his round. When upgraded to Major Recovery, Patches immediately gains a permanent one point boost to his health. With Major Recovery, Patches can choose to heal another Gearloc in his party for one point at the start of his turn instead of himself. 

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: No ability.
• 2 Bones: Heal Gearloc – Heal any Gearloc for one health point.
• 3 Bones: Needle Jab – Deal two damage to target Baddie.
• 4 Bones: Fortunate Discovery – Gain one of Patches’ consumable skill die.
• 5 Bones: Overcharge – Reduce E-Cells value by one. Electrify any Baddie for four True Damage.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths 

• Combat Medic – Patches’ Combat Medic skills are all of his healing and damage dealing abilities. While Patches can’t deal much damage by outright attacking, but he has a great deal of healing skills in this Profession that will aid the party in their time of need.
• Forester – The Forester skill Profession is small and varied, but valuable for anyone who plans to use Patches as an attacker. His Nutrients skill gives him the ability to reroll and of his healing die but his Toxins skill is where it’s really at. Toxins allows Patches to put Poison up to a value of three onto target Baddies.
• Stim Stacker – It’s all about risk vs reward with Patches’ Stim Stacker skills. All but one of these skills has die results that will deal True Damage to Patches. The rewards however offer health buffs, re-rolls, extra damage, and if you’re lucky, even permanently increase their health stat. 

Consumables

• Liquid Life – Liquid Life give Patches the ability to revive an already KO’d Gearloc. If the Gearloc hasn’t been knocked out yet, it can be pre-emptively applied to a specific Gearloc and automatically kick in when they get KO’d.
• Poison Dart – The Poison Dart lets Patches place the Poison effect on a Baddie at any range, and is then discarded. 
• E-Cells – These handy cells are necessary for Patches as they power his Zappack skill and Overcharge abilities, which are his two greatest assets for dealing direct damage.

 

 

Picket

Starting Stats:

Health: 5	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 2	Defense: 2

Type: Melee
Co-op Complexity: 3
Solo Complexity: 3
Play Style: Defensive Tank
General Overview: Picket is the defensive powerhouse of the core game party. Not only can he apply heavy defense to himself, but he can put himself between his Gearloc allies and the Baddies, providing essential cover for this rag-tag crew. His Shield Bash ability can deal massive amounts of damage by removing all Active and Locked Defense dice and dealing damage equal to the total Defense value removed. 
Innate Skill: Picket’s Shield Wall ability lets him roll all of his Defense dice at the start of battle. The caveat is Picket can’t use any Bones rolled as part of his Backup Plan. Once upgraded to Gearloc Wall, Picket can also place Defense dice into his Locked Slots during battle, increasing the amount of armor he can have at any given moment.

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: No ability.
• 2 Bones: Shield Bash – Remove all Defense dice and deal damage equal the total value of the removed dice to the target Baddie.
• 3 Bones: Do Over – May immediately re-roll any number of rolled dice one time.
• 4 Bones: Benevolence – Restore two of Picket’s health points and add two Defense dice to his Active slots.
• 5 Bones: Shield Shock – An improved version of Shield Bash that also inflicts Stun to the target. 
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Captain – The Captain skills are a great one to start with as they grant Picket with consistent abilities like health regen, additional movement, or Taunt.
• Hero – This Profession is where most of Picket’s shield stats come from. Defense earned using these skills can also be applied toward Picket’s Backup Plan ability, Shield Bash. 
• Protector – The Protector skills allow Picket to choose a fellow Gearloc and take damage and effects on their behalf. Thanks to his high level of defense, it would be entirely possible for him to use the Protector skills without him taking any damage himself. 
• Warden – Picket’s Warden skills work quite well with his Hero abilities. Warden skills give Picket increased mobility and allow him to move quite quickly across the battle map, a great way to make your best defend Gearloc the target of Baddie attacks. 

Consumables

• Orcish Ale – If Picket is on the edge of getting KO’d, Orcish Ale is a great way of buying some extra time. When using Orcish Ale, Picket sets his health to one point. Depending on the result of the die toll, Picket can’t lose or gain health for one or two turns. 
• Gobby Jerky – Consuming Gobby Jerky will restore health equal to the die roll results. 

 

 

Stanza

Starting Stats:

Health: 5	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 1

Type: Melee
Co-op Complexity: 4
Solo Complexity: 3
Play Style: Ongoing effects resembling a Bard Profession.
General Overview: Stanza is combat seeking traveling musician and Duster’s counterpart from the Undertow expansion. She’s a much more complex character to play on account of her unique mechanics. Most of her skills are in the form of songs which require Focus. Each of Stanza’s skills/songs do not exhaust and can be advanced by spending focus to advance them to the next Section, increasing their effects. If Stanza should ever roll a Vamp result on one of her die, her song is paused for the round and must either be exhausted or restarted at the beginning of her next turn.
Innate Skill: Stanza’s Songsmith ability grants her with her Luitar die granting her a starting amount of Focus at the start of each battle. The upgraded version, Song Weaver, allows Stanza to improve the result of her Luitar die roll by one.

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone:  Tune Up – increase Luitar or Amplifier die by one.
• 2 Bones: No ability.
• 3 Bones: Add Distortion – Intro, Advance, or Vamp an Active Song. Focus requirements must still be met.
• 4 Bones: No ability.
• 5 Bones: Luitar Smash – Stanza destroys her Luitar to deal damage equal to half her current Focus value. Exhaust all Profession dice. 
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Folk Singer – Stanza’s Folk Singer abilities provide buffs to her and her party members. These songs will increase Gearloc Dexterity, Health, Cleanse status effects, and boost movement. 
• Music Therapist – Music Therapist skills offer healing, Baddie Queue manipulation, and more importantly, grant additional Focus, giving Stanza the chance to advance songs to their more powerful Sections. 
• Emo Screamer – Plenty of Baddie debuffs can be found among the Emo Screamer skills. The loud vocals of Stanza’s songs can slow, disable, and even harm target Baddies. 
• Metalhead – Stanza’s Metalhead skills are all about putting her axe to use. Each of these abilities deal direct damage to Baddies, but also have the potential to Poison or deal Electrical damage as well.

Consumables

• Luitar Strings – Luitar Strings, like Ghillie’s Extra MechLeg, serves only to boost Stanza’s Backup Plan Bones. Stanza will gain three to four Bones making it a faster journey to upgrading her Innate Skill and her Luitar Smash.
• Amplifier – Consuming the Amplifier grants Stanza anywhere from two to four additional Focus. 

 

 

Tantrum

 

Starting Stats:

Health: 4	Attack: 3
Dexterity: 3	Defense: 0

Type: Melee
Co-op Complexity: 4
Solo Complexity: 3
Play Style: Offensive Tank/Beserker
General Overview: Tantrum is the beserker Profession character included in the Too Many Bones base game. Tantrum can be a difficult character to manage. He starts the game with a RAGE! die that is set to its lowest value of 1.0. Each time Tantrum deals or receives damage, he increases the RAGE! die by 0.2 (to the next die face). At any time, Tantrum can exhaust his active Rage die to gain the benefits of the showing die face. The higher the Rage value, the higher the reward. But if Tantrum ever let’s the Rage value get too high before advancing to the next tier of Rage dice, he has a Breakdown and resets the Active Rage die back to 1.0. 
Innate Skill: Tantrum’s Rage skill gives him the RAGE! die at the start of the game. Before each battle, RAGE! is place in one of his active slots and set to 1.0. Tantrum’s upgraded version, Fearless Rage allows Tantrum to continue to gain the benefits of RAGE! but nullify the effects all Breakdowns. 

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Get Angry – increases Tantrum’s Active Rage die by 0.2.
• 2 Bones: Calm Down – decreases Trantrum’s Active Rage die by 0.2.
• 3 Bones: No ability. 
• 4 Bones: Axe Collector – set Axe Collector die to three.
• 5 Bones: Recoup – Heal Tantrum for four health points.
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Zerker – The Zerker Profession skills are where the higher tiers of Tantrum’s Rage dice can be unlocked. The Anger Management skill can be used to help Tantrum advance to the next die without needing to take or deal damage.
• Mimic – The Mimic skill Profession lets Tantrum prepare for additional damage in the future. Using these skills, he can deal retaliation damage or status effects, as well as add an axe to his Axe Collection.
• Skirmisher – Tantrum’s battle condition skills all live under the Skirmisher Profession. Unlocking these abilities lets him boost his initiative, disable Baddies, and modify his own and Baddie attacks stats.

Consumables

• Axe Collector – Use of the Axe Collector skill allows Tantrum to deal two damage to a Baddie anywhere on the battle map. His ability to use this skill is limited by the number of axes Tantrum has obtained using his Mimic Profession skills.  
• Horn o’ the Zerker – Horn of the Zerker can be spent to rally the troops. Sounding the battle cry can inspire the party and boost their initiative or stun all Baddies worth five points or less. If neither of those roll results appear, Tantrum will be granted a set of Reusable Bones for their Backup Plan.
• Body Count – The Body Count die starts in Tantrum’s possession at the beginning of the game. For each Baddie he kills, the value of the Body Count die gets increased by one. Tantrum can reset this die to zero to recover health equal to the die’s value.

 

 

Tink

Starting Stats:

Health: 3	Attack: 1
Dexterity: 1	Defense: 1

Type: Melee – Ranged
Co-op Complexity: 2
Solo Complexity: 4
Play Style: Wide area of influence
General Overview: Tink is a master Gearloc engineer that’s sold as a separate character expansion. Tink doesn’t like to run into the fray of a battle, but his Bots sure do and they pack much more of a wallop than the mechanic himself would. When Tink deploys his Spiderbots, he assigns them an orientation. Anything in their directional line of fire is sure to be devastated. But no engineer’s work is complete with the original version. As Tink gains new skills, he’ll learn how to construct deadlier weapon attachments to three different versions of Spiderbots while they cleanup the battlefield so he can step back and admire his work.
Innate Skill: Tink’s Innate Bot Builder Skill lets him start with the Build 1.0 skill die. When upgraded to Wise Bot Builder, all Bots start with one additional Battery Power.

Backup Plan Skills:

• 1 Bone: Bot Mod – Heal an adjacent or diagonal Bot for one health point or exhaust 1 Attachment on an adjacent or diagonal Bot to attach a different learned Attachment.
• 2 Bones: Pull Start – Tink restores an adjacent or diagonal Bot to its starting Battery Power.
                     Hot Gasket – Bot burns all adjacent units for one damage.
• 3 Bones: Self-Destruct – Bot hits all adjacent units for three damage. Bot die is immediately removed for the board and exhausted.
• 4 Bones: Hammer Time – Tink may smash and adjacent Baddie for three True Damage or restore three health to an adjacent or diagonal Bot.
• 5 Bones: Spiderbot 3.0 – Place Spiderbot 3.0 onto Tink’s character mat to represent that it’s available for use. 
• 6 Bones: Upgrade Innate ability to the next level.

Core Skill Paths

• Machinist – Tink’s Machinist abilities really display how little he wants to be involved in the battle. His Small Profile Skill lets Tink hide and become Untargetable while his Cog ‘n’ Spanner ability will stun most Baddies, but not deal any damage to them.
• Robotics – Tink’s Robotics skills are the heart of his talents. Using his years of experience as a mechanic, Tink can build biggers and stronger Spiderbots that occupy the board and do the fighting for him. His Build 1.0 skill only allows his Bots to attack in one or two directions, but once he learns the Build 2.0 skill his Bots can attack in up to five as they absolutely dominate the map. 
• Accessorizer – Tink’s Accessorizer Profession allows him to create Attachments that can be applied to Spiderbots, making them event more deadly. There’s a wide range of skills that can inflict added damage, boost armor, displace enemies, and restore Battery Power. Since multiple Attachments can be applied to Bots, there are many ways for Tink fans to wreak havoc upon their enemies. 

Consumables

• Gizmo – Gizmo is a consumable that can be used by a Bot to restore health points. 
• Spiderbot 3.0 – The most powerful version of Spiderbot in Tink’s arsenal. Using this consumable makes Spiderbot 3.0 available to Tink for use in the battlefield. 

 

These are all the Gearlocs available for now, but Chip Theory Games is adding five new Gearlocs through the Too Many Bones: Unbreakable crowdfunding campaign. Naturally, we’re eager to dive more into the weird world of Dealore and add a few more dice to our already obscene collection, but we’ll sadly have to wait alongside everyone else before we can update this list with Gale, Figment, Carcass, Polaris, and Static to the level of detail that we’d like. In the meantime, keep on enjoying the fight for Daelore.