Look at the top Card of the Deck before Searching? Or 3 Health Boxes with Youth?

[Twilight_Sonata]

Hello! My friends and I actually decided to start trying original home-brewed Heroes at our next get-together, and I've had two big ideas that I'm trying to balance properly and decide between. Allow me to introduce Abigail and Isabella. Please let me know what you think!

ABIGAIL
Retired Librarian

Teacher - Strange - Female
"It's real... I can't believe it. It's all real."
START: Library
Special Rules
RESEARCH - May look at the top card of the Hero Deck before deciding if she wants to Search, if able. While in the Book Store or Library, may look at the top two cards.
(WOUNDED) (WOUNDED) (DEAD)

Abigail is a retired history professor that moved to Woodinvale from the city last year after finding some cryptic old files that her late husband had apparently been researching. Having secured a job as a librarian, she has been secretly working to uncover the town's mysterious past. Only her niece, a certain investigative reporter, suspects a thing.

Abigail's big thing game-wise is that, similar to how all Heroes get to roll their Movement Dice before deciding whether or not they want to Move, she gets to look at the top card of the Hero Deck before deciding whether or not she wants to Search. As useful as this sounds, it is worth remembering that she was probably going to Search anyway most times the ability is used (sort of like how Jake Cartwright only actually takes the second card half of the time or how Billy gets that +1 Movement all of the time even though it rarely actually makes any difference), especially considering that Event cards don't belong to any particular Hero. The real strength of the ability comes when she decides not to Search, meaning that all of the Heroes also know exactly what they'll get if they Search. This can be useful, for example, for getting a weapon or first aid item to a character across the board that desperately needs one.

As well as being thematically fitting, I added in the bit about getting to look at an extra card while in one of those two buildings because she seemed just a bit lacking when I did some preliminary testing. Despite the fact that those are only present on two of the existing fourteen boards, there is actually a slightly higher than 50% chance that at least one of them will appear on the board, even higher if playing with one of those non-standard board shapes using six corner pieces rather than 4.

ISABELLA
Army Brat

Military - Student - Female
"I don't go down that easy, puta!"
START: High School
Special Rules
YOUTH - May give up a Move Action to Fully Heal.
(WOUNDED) (WOUNDED) (DEAD)

A former army brat, Isabella is well known as the toughest chick in school. It's rumored that she destroyed boot camp, and she puts even the football jocks on guard, but she's proven a fiercely loyal friend to those that have gotten to know her. She was excited when another army brat moved into town, but the new girl was a bit too rebellious even for her.

Isabella's main draw is, of course, that she has an extra health box over the other students (just as the Military adults have an extra health box over the other adults) while still retaining the Youth ability, allowing her to actually Fully Heal more than a single wound. Balance-wise, this character can best be compared to the other three "tough chicks": Sally, Amanda, and Jade. After all, think of how many wounds these three avoid taking in the first place because they made the Zombie re-roll or because they cancelled the Fight or because they rolled doubles even though they lost. If it helps, pretend that she has two health boxes, just like the others, and that her ability is actually that she starts with the Recovery card and regains it every time she uses Youth, except that she can only use the card on herself. In other words, what I'm saying is that the feature counts as being "used" only whenever she takes her first wound from full health.

I've actually tested this out a bit, and it really does come out about on part in usage and effect with those other three characters (less than Amanda but more than Jade), believe it or not. In fact, I really want to give her another feature, albeit a very minor one, just so that she has something more unique to call her own. I've considered letting her re-roll Fight Dice rolls of 1, but I'm afraid that may be too powerful (despite being statistically less useful than the ability to win on ties). I've also considered more narrowly applicable abilities, such as the ability to try to Fight in place of another Hero in her space (4+ before Fight Dice are rolled?). Or maybe the ability to take a Wound to try to prevent a Wound done to another Hero in her space (3+?). Or maybe she gains the ability to re-roll one of her own Fight Dice as long as she has another Hero in her space. Really, anything dealing with helping out or better defending other Heroes in her space would be great both for being narrowly applicable so as not to overpower her and for reflecting the character's loyalty.