What makes a good HS Custom?

[LilNewbie]

What makes a good HS custom? This is a very subjective question and would like people to discuss what they look for in a custom. What is it that makes you want to bring it to the drafting table? Possibly we can all take something away from this discussion as we design customs.

Here are somethings that I look for in a custom (not in any particular order or should this list be consider all inclusive...I might add more points as time goes on) :

1. Nice looking card-presentation is important but included in this is readability and ease of information flow.

2. Obtainable figures-I don't mind repainting plastic figures for HS but I tend to shy away from metal figures or figures that are very expensive and hard to obtain.

3. Well-thought out abilities-I don't care if abilities on a card are not something earth shattering. I'm fine with a unit using all standard HS abilities as long as those abilities fit the idea of the unit. New and unique abilities are cool but not a necessity to me.

4. Balanced unit-I never liked the idea of unbeatable units. What's the point of playing if a unit is so perfect that nothing can hurt it and it destroys everything easily...yawn.

5. HS Themed-This is not 100% important but I do love customs that seem to fit the overall HS feel. This is very subjective but sometimes you see a custom and go "wow, that would work good with X official unit."

6. Reused figures-It does not bother me when someone uses a figure or figures that have already been used as another custom. I just think it's a better deal. Two customs for the same price as one. When drafting I'll just place both cards by the figure(s) and remove the card from drafting that isn't chosen or if enough figures are available, I'll just differentiate them somehow (usually with colored rubber bands) so both can be used during the same battle.

Please add your list to what you look for in a custom and please keep the flamewars to a minimum.

Newb.

[CupidsArt]

Anything made by Atmospro, j/k

Honestly there aren't many things that I need on a list to play a custom.

#1 the Figure, something that grabs my imagination. I like Zombies (hex,doc), Historical figures (mainly Eastern Asian), earth based units (ents/elves) or something that is just weird/wicked (blix/lily).

#2 Low cost, I really like a variety in my armies most of the time. A figure that fits a cost around 70 to 130 points really apeals to me.

#3 Not being a superhero. Hero Clix are awesome but I don't want to play Spiderman I just want to read his comic (no offense Truth, )

[justjohn]

I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head with your synopsis of what it takes to have a "good" custom unit.

One difference for me, is I don't personally care for the suped-up looking cards. I appreciate the amount of skill that is needed for creating cards that look like Atmospro's awesome creations (his cards are beautiful). But I want my cards to look the same as the rest of my cards. It is silly, but that's just how I feel, I want customs to look like official cards, or as similar as possible.

Great thread.

[skyknight]

For me it is just easily playable figs. I agree every critter does not have to be a behemoth. I like it when people release just regular joe units. Superheroes, sportstars and many other pop icon stuff I do not like either. Well except for Annerio's Roland, but that holds a special place for me :P

[reapersaurus]

For me:

1) Balanced costs and abilities.

2) Creative abilities.
I much prefer unique, HS-expanding abilities than stock, off-the-shelf, put-in-a-grab-bag-and-slap-on-your-figure's card efforts.

3) Thematic abilities.
The number of units that match abilities to the theme of the CHARACTER I think I can count on 2 hands. It is rare to see an ability that matches the character that meets my first 2 criteria.

[Fallen Templar]

Mods this really should be stickied.

Wow you hit the nail on the head it really just clarified everything new custom creator should know.

For me

1) Playability, ability dont have to unique just fit the custom. Balanced Cost also

2) Creativity, New abilitys that work within the game. Mercenaries and Fantasy units are great

3) Figure, The figure has to look good and prepainted. I hate painting figs don't have the time or patience. If the figure is not prepainted it really has to scream awesome so people will devote time and money to paintinng and buying the figure. for example look at atomspro's work

4)Pizaz, make the card look good and appealing

[Widigo]

Good Customs are custom. They are not D&D minis they are not WizKId products, they are one of a kind, unable to be found anywhere else in one piece, CUSTOMS. If I can buy it in it entirety painted and ready to go then it is not custom. That is not to say paint is bad, but if I can buy what you just changed bases for then you have not done something custom you have done, something you have cut, glued, and painted.

Don't get me wrong I love some of the "customs" on this site, but they are not custom is all I am saying and we need more custom figures. I even play with a MechWarrior piece, he is one of my first draft picks, but I never said he was a custom.

Overall: A Custom is unique and unbuyable. A custom must be made. What I most commonly see on this site are additions, thing that improve the game, but can be bought off of EBay and at your local Comic Shop.


My Not-So-Humbel Conclusion!
Widigo

Edit: Now that i have steped off of my soap box, I may say.

1) Playability - A Unit should be simple enough for the Layman player, but strategic enough for the Hard-Core

2) Abilitys should match there chairacter, no Marro Drons, using Shot Gun Blast, no Syvarris using Marro Swarm.

3) Unique Stats are always a good thing. I profer them, but can live without them.

4) Truly Custom Figures - I oftin ignore figures that are not in the HAll or made from customs. (Orks are an acception, but thats just 'cause I have this thing for Orks and Dwarfs, but Dwarfs desurve custom figures.)

Widigo

[justjohn]

Widdy, you're kind of stepping on toes here. Your idea of what a "custom" is flies in the face of almost 3 years of us having our idea of what a custom is. Some of us have been making custom cards for heroscape for nearly that long (myself included). These ARE custom cards, whether you want to accept it or not. They are custom in the sense that we are taking something that does not belong to this game, and customizing it for play in a game where it did not originate. Is the actual figure used always customized in some way? Not at all, but the cards are customized.

There are customizations,where people have taken existing figures and modified them, painted them, what have you, and I think that is what you are hitting on here. If you stop by the contest forum, you'll see some of the customizations that people on these boards are capable of, you can also find these in the custimization thread, as you will see, there is a separate forum for what you are talking about.

I think it's kind of rude for you to ask us for help (in your original help thread, not here) and then bash what we consider customs.

[Doc_Savage]

Widigo is entitled to his opinion... That is what this thread asked people to do, express their opinion.

What do I like in a custom?

Playable and thematic. Can I understand the powers and do they fit the theme of the figure. Do I like the theme?

Fun. Does it seem like it would be fun to play the figure.

A nice looking card. Would I like to see this card at my game table.

Balance is important, but since I play with my 7 year old son and his friends, sometimes point balance is hard for me to tell and the first 2 catagories above are more important.

The Silverstoner and Euryon and Atmospro cards are beautiful and some of them are just awesome. The deviation from the norm doesn't bother me at all. I like HeH's cards, but his early stuff varied wildly from the usual template. I liked that about them. I tend to make my cards fit the standard templates, but not always.

Playing the generals is less common in my games. We mix up the characters a lot, so I don't care if the custom follows a general or not.

[Widigo]

I am sorry it took so long to post I forgot I was talking in the thread until I searched Mechwarrior and found my own post.

I was a Little mad that day; let me change a few things. I have come to accept the definition of Custom, I never said that I dislike the figs on the site (how can anything I ever do compare to a WK Blood Mage, It can't).

I do not honestly care what you play with; I have a habit of stressing my opinion to the point of annoyance. I am saying that any army (card and Figure) voted for should not have a figure that can be bought. If you are voting on an army cards brilliance, then who gives half a **** about the figure. If you are doing things the other way around then why even have a card. Either way I am sorry if I offended anyone. I understand and respect you all for the time you have put into the game and do not mean to dis any of you.

Don't Call Me Widdy. It is not rude for me to ask for advice, if you read my forum you will see that I am not asking for help with making my own customs (at least I only ask for custom help from those I know make customs), I ask for help in making terrain and finding Wound Markers, I might even ask for suggestions as to what figure I should use as my base (the unmodified fig I start the project with) figure, but never do I ask how to exchange the bases on a figure. Now again I do not give a **** what figure you use, I promise from now on to vote for custom Figures as the deserve it and custom cards as the deserve it, never will my opinion of one spill over into the other, this should save some toes.

[skyknight]

Hey Wididgo I may have started that little backlash you saw. While I do not mean to do it, I meant to nudge you a little. I actually agree with many of your statements and I like to see some extra creativity go into figs as well. But it was kinda getting to the point if I saw a custom fig/rebase, and then your post I could almost guarantee what it was going to say. You are by no means the only one who gets on one track and stays there. Recently I saw a bunch of folks ask someone to STFU about where people were buying their HS stuff. It got to the point where people were not enjoying his threads and it was to bad because he is a good poster. I do not want to see the same thing happen to you.
I think you should continue giving constuctive criticism when people are trying to make actual customs like I do. You find odd spots to interject sometimes your love for real custom work. I would do it more though in the forums where people are doing all sorts of custom work. Many people who are making cards do not want to talk about the fig as mush as the card. That is where their passion lies. I enjoy making the fig and then the card based off of the fig. Many do this the other way around.
As far as me bending things around, yeah I will probably start soon.
As far as me stopping repainting Mimring, nope, I love painting that fig and coming up with an entire new concept each time. I am working on a six on six battle of Mimrings between me and my boy. I am at like nine or so. Also I do not expect everyone is going to copy all of my Mimrings. Pick one if you like it, make it your own.
Anyeways here is to happy posting and I 'll see you around.

[truth]

Its quite simple really. If you mod a figure up and give no step by step instructions, or your step by step instructions are too lengthy or difficult, then the most that unit will ever be worth to anyone but you is the ooh and ahh factor. If I make a custom unit, and attach to it a readily available figure, then all have a chance to simply obtain the figure, print the card, and enjoy my effort in their own game. The point you were missing was that we were calling the card custom, not the figure. The figure is so that the card may be represented on the battlefield. I think what justjohn was calling "rude" was the idea of coming into an established community and telling everyone that they are ignorant. (ignorant = lack of knowledge) Where in reality the person who is only newly intergrating into the community would be the one ignorant of the terms used for various fan created material.