[Pod 2] The Book of Nephda (Kiora the Rising Tide) - Editing
 

AQUILLA :aquilla:
NEPHDA
Nymph
Unique Hero
Protector
Inscrutable
MEDIUM 5

LIFE 5
MOVE 5
RANGE 4
ATTACK 2
DEFENSE 3

POINTS 80

CARRIED BY WAVES
All land spaces within 1 space of Nephda that are no more than 2 levels above or below Nephda's base are considered water spaces. Nephda and friendly figures that start their movement adjacent to Nephda or move adjacent to Nephda do not have to stop their movement when entering a water space for the remainder of that movement.

HEALING WATERS
After moving and before attacking, you may roll the 20-sided die for any or all other friendly wounded heroes within four clear sight spaces of Nephda. If you roll a 15 or higher, remove a wound from that figure's Army Card. If that figure is on a water space, add 5 to your roll.


Bio


Editing Checklist: https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...&postcount=262

Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: When Nephda's Carried By Waves and Re-Tak-Shi's Swamp Ooze affect the same land spaces, what do they become?
A: Swamp Ooze turns the spaces into Swamp Water.

Q: What happens to land spaces between Nephda and a Greater Ice Elemental?
A: The spaces are ice. Any land space that both a Greater Ice Elemental and Nephda are on or next to is ice, as Nepdha converts it to water and the Greater Ice Elemental converts the water to ice.

Q: When Nephda's Carried By Waves affects a land space, can I place Shadow Tiles on that space with Mika Connour's Shadow Dance?
A: No, because Carried By Waves makes that space a non-land space.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Initial thoughts:

https://i.postimg.cc/HnQ6VyBY/Kiora.jpg

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

There is definitely room for some water interaction powers on kiora. I know folks were also having fun with the idea of her being Durnipia (sp?), aka the character who gave Valguard his Lizard Arm and presumably Einar's Healer in Chief.

I personally want a healer in this set, and either Kiora, Avacyn, or Nissa look like they could play the part. We certainly only need 1 healer in the set, and we don't have to create a unit who's only trick is the capacity to heal (Kelda is already a thing, and she FLIES). Kiora's mini could give us water powers + healing. Or something else altogether, I'm not too picky as long it makes sense for the unit and MS.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'm down for a healer too, although I think Avacyn could fill that role nicely, since she is prob gonna be an elf type figure, and if anyone needs help healing its Elves, IMO since most elves have very low defense making it easy to one kill them. Any other thoughts? I'm still gonna brainstorm her today. (Also she looks more like an Aquilla folower vs an Einar follower, sculptwise. Any others agree/disagree?)

I must insist she has some type of water thing, placing water tiles is super cool! (Water teleporting is cool too, but tbh it kinda copies the water elemental which we already have now that I think of it...)

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Or here's a thought, to run with you healing thing flameslayer:

Knock out the water teleporting thing, and instead put this in:

Healing Waters:

After moving and before attacking w/Kiora, you may choose an adjacent figure who does not follow Utgar or Valkrill. Roll the 20 sided die. On an 8 or higher, you may remove 1 wound marker from that figure's Army Card. (If that figure occupies water terrain, you may remove 2 wound markers instead.)

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Way back in the brainstorming thread I had originally suggested having this character represent Durnipia, and I still think that would be a good design direction. You can read the official lore about Durnipia in Valguard's bio and the 10th Regiment of Foot's bio. Here's one possible draft for that direction that Astroking and I came up with:

I could also see a design for this figure that leans more into the water elements. I think the ideas proposed already have promise, and will throw another ability out to consider:

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I quite like the idea of basing this sculpt off of Durnipia. Even if she doesn't explicitly reference the alien lizard arm transplant, it's a fun piece of lore that fits the reptilian appearance of the sculpt. Just my :2cents:.

Mika Connour sets a precedent for referencing land spaces. We can look at cribbing the C3V wording when **-***-** releases (there are a couple of differences, but the unit should be releasing relatively soon, so I'll leave it at that until then).

If Kiora is converting adjacent spaces to water, then it's critical to add something to this effect to the power:
Because the above draft does not have Slither, it would presumably have to stop its movement after every space. Extending that movement to figures adjacent to Kiora gives her a new niche for fording rivers and prevents her from clogging up her own starting zones.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'm on the fence about terraforming here. While fake placing water spaces is a neat gimmick, does it have a good role in the MS?

One upside is this would be my favored style of terraforming (since we don't have any extra plastic hexes in the box to give away). Another is that its already likely to be a thing when the Marro Slime comes out of C3V, so there will be precedent of it outside of the Greater Ice Elemental.

A downside is that we'll have to start cribbing in things like "Slither Aura" and such, and while that isn't directly a concern, the unit might start to feel a little more bloated especially to new players.

Now, keeping in line with simplifying how does everyone feel about this:


We get to keep Slither Aura, and Healing Waters is fairly easy to use. Plus, anyone in the water has a much higher chance to get healed. We can naturally tweak the d20 roll or the heal amount as needed.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Eh.....If we are gonna do a healing ability, the description needs to be more along the lines of wording that's already in Scape, IMO.

I'm against the Vitality power as worded it feels overpowered IMO, since a recharge ability could make her super annoying in bigger battles. Although the ability to block a limited number of wounds makes sense to me, like this:

"Durnipia starts the game w/3 healing markers placed on her Army Card. When an adjacent figure you control would take a wound(s), you may remove any or all healing markers from Durnipia's Army Card, and ignore 1 wound for each marker removed."

Something like that. Also this chick really strikes me as an Aquilla person sculptwise, not an Einar person. Anyone else agree?

I'm against Water Blessing, as we have something super similiar to that via the Ice Elemental, and the Healing as currently worded feels like she's a mini Sonlen.

In order for this Healing schtick to work, I think it would be cool if the figure being healed needs to be in water terrain, going back to my water tile placing idea.

What about this piggybacking sorta' off the vitality markers thing:

Durnipia
Aquilla
3-4 life
move 5/range 1/attack 2/def. 4
points: 60-80ish range?

Healing waters:

Durnipia starts the game w/3 healing markers placed on her Army Card. Once per Round, when an adjacent figure you control who occupies Water Terrain would take any wounds, you may remove 1 healing marker from Durnipia's Army Card, and that figure ignores any wounds.

Sea is at my command:

Durnipia starts the game w/ 2 water tiles placed on her Army Card. If Durnipia ends her turn on or adjacent to an empty space, you may place a water tile from her Army Card onto the space she currently occupies or the adjacent space if the water tile fits normally onto that space.

thoughts?

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Healing and water seem interesting

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Durnipia
Aquilla
4-5 life
move 5/range 1/attack 2/def. 4
points: 60-80ish range?

Healing waters:

Durnipia starts the game w/3 healing markers placed on her Army Card. When Durnipia or an adjacent figure you control occupies Water Terrain would take any wounds, you may remove any or all healing markers from Durnipia's Army Card, and ignore 1 wound for each marker removed. (Up to a maximum of 3.)

Sea is at my command:

Durnipia starts the game w/ 2 water tiles placed on her Army Card. If Durnipia ends her turn on or adjacent to an empty space, you may place a water tile from her Army Card onto the space she currently occupies or the adjacent space if the water tile fits normally onto that space.

(My thinking here is to make her a cheap healing-one trick pony piece, instead of giving her the ability to be a primary healer, since kelda and Rhogar already fill that spot nicely.)

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'm not a huge fan of making her Einar and I don't think this is the best sculpt to make Durnipia, but that's not a choice I'm absolutely against. Healing waters is a great reference to Marro Warriors Water Clone. Carried by waves isn't too overly complex and let's us have a terrain changing ability.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'm not a fan of carried by waves power. Just one more thing to people to remember, especially if the goal of these figures is to introduce new people to the game. Actual terrain lets people know its there, IMO.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

If it helps, I can see grafting a lizard arm onto someone being a time-consuming process where as direct healing would be fairly quick.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Did some more brainstorming.

Since we already have several primary healer types in the game, I think the healing thing could be a split focus, with the primary focus being on a water themed power (or 2)

https://i.postimg.cc/RZSSY9nq/Durnipia.jpg

Durnipia
Aquilla
4 life
move 5/range 1/attack 2/def. 4
80-90ish pts?

Mental (Mystical?) Control over the oceans
(Or: vengeful ocean/waves/something, something)

Instead of attacking, If an opposing figure occupies water terrain within (6-8??) spaces of Durnipia, you may roll the 20 sided die. On a 1-9, nothing happens. On a 10-19, give that figure 1 wound. On a 20, destroy that figure. f you successfully wounded a figure in this way, you must roll 1 attack die. If a skull is rolled, give Durnipia 1 wound.


Healing waters:

After moving and before attacking, if Durnipia or an adjacent figure you control occupies water terrain, roll the 20 sided die: On a 1-8, nothing happens. On an 9-17, remove 1 wound marker from that Army Card. On a 18-20, remove 2 wound markers instead.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

If we do want her to be Durnipia, then I would be strongly opposed to her fighting under any general other than Einar. Within the classic lore, Durnipia is consistently associated with Einar, and for her to be with a different general would be a significant break in theme.

Another thing to consider if we go the Durnipia direction is that I would prefer if possible for her to have an ability that was able to "heal" (most likely represented by preventing damage) squad figures because of the way she is featured in the bio for the 10th Regiment of Foot. While I don't feel as strongly about this point, it would seem a little strange to me if Durnipia was unable to synergize with the 10th Regiment, despite being specifically shown doing that in their official bio.

All that being said, I'm not 100% devoted to having her be Durnipia either. While I think it would be a cool tie in, I would also be fine if we leaned more into the water-based elements of a potential design and just came up with an original name and backstory for her.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Well, Master Woo fights for Aquilla technically, even though his monks are Ullar. I don't see how breaking theme would be too bad here. Her sculpt feels like an Aquilla type figure, and not Einar is the thing.

In her bio, we could write she had a break from Einar or something, lol!

So long as we stick with a water based design I'm cool, in all honesty tho. Not a big deal to me changing her name/bio

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Sounds like a Sacred Band Defy Death type power. Giving something like that to a wider variety of units, especially ranged ones, should be done carefully, though.

I don't think Master Woo existed in anyone's bio before he was a figure, though, is the point. If she's Durnipia, she should be Einar. If she's some other type of water thing, then Aquilla or whoever.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Water for sure has an association with Aquilla, but the 10th reg's lore overrides that for me. I agree, if she's Durnipia, she's Einar. We need more Einar rep in the box anyway.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

While I love Einar (he's my overall fave General) I strongly think she needs a water based design. That to me is a must, in some way. I'd rather have her allegiance be Aquilla (or even Ullar over Einar) but if the entire group is set on Einar I will yield to speed up the process here.

The coral elements on her sculpt scream "Water". (Plus since most folks want to go the statue route for the rhino's, I feel the same logic needs to be applied here regrading the sculpt, then.)

Is there general consensus for her to be Einar and also a water based figure? I don't recall Durnpia's species being specified, If I'm not mistaken, so seems we can take that liberty.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

To be clear, I'm saying what you are in your last paragraph. Einar but also a water based design.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

This is a very cool direction. I would consider going for 2 wounds, like Ana Karithon did.


P.S. @Owlman , could you please just post your brainstorms as plaintext? Your cards don't show up great on my screen and it makes them harder to read (so sometimes when I see them I just skip them :oops:)

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'll just reiterate that I'm fine with either of the two directions currently being discussed, either:

A): An Einar character named Durnipia with a healing focus who may or may not also have some water-based abilities.

B): An Aquilla character NOT named Durnipia with a water focus who may or may not also have some healing abilities.

While I like Zetsubo's design, I think I still have a slight preference for the version I suggested earlier which is quite similar, albeit with some key differences:


I like how this version of healing waters makes her more unique as a healer by allowing her to heal multiple heroes at once, but I'd also be on board with Zetsubo's version which has the potential to more consistently heal a single hero.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Lol sure thing! :)

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

OK, so we're basically at a point where we should decide on if this should be Durnipia or a someone else.

I'd like to get everyone's preference real quick. If it's going to be Durnipia, then Einar as the general is the most sensible choice, and if not, then Aquilla is the most sensible choice. If most folks want her to be Dunipia and follow Aquilla, that's fine too.

Capt Stupendous: Either Way
PK: I think Durpinia
flameslayer: Either Way, leaning someone else
Zetsubo: someone else
@Confred : ???
@Amarant : ???
@Owlman : Durnipia


I also think healing for 2 would be a good dial to tune if she just isn't worth the OM but I wouldn't complain if she was ultimately a sub-100 points hero since we certainly need some of those.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'm strongly in favor of a sub 100 pt figure who can heal here and there for 1-2 wounds tops, and who can also be a tie up/annoyance around water terrain for enemy units.

I'm down for her to be Durnipia.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

That's a great draft - and yes, I'm totally good with that being Durnipia. Great way to tie it into the lore.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...ing_363197.png

I haven't been able to get on these as rapidly as I had hoped. Here's a figure cutout of her to mark my place for reminders.

She looks best in Ullar frame I think and snazzy in Jandar, but a little late to campaign for generals. I could see merfolk in Aquilla.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

My initial thoughts were
Melted Greater Ice Elemental with targeted heal on water

or Melted Greater Ice Elemental with roll heal, enhanced if on water.

So I'm glad others are converging on this design.

In defense of the water aura is the sploosh at the bottom of her base.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'd like the the other guy, the merfolk from AotP to be that figure.

What's Durnipia?

Also, fun link:
https://cgsociety.org/c/featured/flqd/kiora

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Mentioned in some bios, i know valguard is one.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

She doesn't look at all like Valguard's species.

I'd rather her be Dragonborn before that.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Durnipia is theoretically Einar’s healer, and she attached an alien arm to Valguard. Durnipia’s species was never clarified.

Valguard on the other hand, is 90% human 10% alien.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

While she does look alot like Aquilla, after looking t her bronze colored armor, she could be Durnipia/Einar after all. Einar tends to have orange/bronze colored themes.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

What is Durnipia?

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Durnipia is the name of a character referenced in the official bios for Valguard and the 10th Regiment of Foot. She is a healer associated with Einar. Other than that, little else is known about her officially.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

We just thought, in previous brainstorming, that we wanted a healer for the box and it would be nice to tie it in with previous lore.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I apologize for the slow response. I did not get an email notification when I was mentioned, but I usually do.

I'm in favor of tying her into the lore as a healer.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Following up on this, Re-Tak-Shi was recently released with the following power:
If the pod is still interested in some kind of terrain-changing ability, then something along the lines of this wording would be a good precedent to follow. It is worth noting that swamp water is also counted as water for all abilities, so Re-Tak-Shi already "helps" the Water Elementals and other units that rely on water tiles.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

Bumping. What are we feeling here?

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I think the Merfolk Hero could be the terrain changer. and Kiora doesn't need to be one

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

She looks good in Jandar.

What if the waves at her feet was actually ice?

https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...ing_854806.png

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I'd be a little hesitant to add a snow or ice terrain based power when there's not any in the set, and the fact that it is currently very difficult for new players to obtain snow or ice makes the problem worse.

Healing Prayer is an interesting take on a healing ability, although I'm not sure I like it more than the previous direction based around treating adjacent spaces as water, complimented by a healing ability that was more effective when targeting figures in water.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I agree with all said here.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I really liked Cap S's draft here. How do we feel about this as a starting point? I added a phrase to the first power, bolded.

Re: [Pod 2] Kiora, the Rising Tide - Design
 

I think this works as a good starting point, and I really like your added phrase for the most part. Personally, I would prefer the wording "Kiora and friendly figures who start their turn adjacent to Kiora do not have to stop their movement when entering a water space." I think that only applying this ability to figures who start their turn adjacent to Kiora is just slightly more intuitive than applying it also to figures who end their turn adjacent. Also, making a movement power conditional on where a figure ends their movement seems like it might run into the same problems that plague charging assault? Namely, what happens when a figure moves through water in an attempt to end their move adjacent to Nahiri, but ends up dying from a leaving engagement or falling damage along the way? All that being said, I still think your version is clear enough and would be happy to move forward with it if others preferred it as well :)

How are we all feeling about 15 as the target number for the healing ability? When I first proposed the power I hadn't put too much thought into the specific number, and basically just chose something I didn't think would be too broken.

I also think an argument could be made for giving her a range of 5-7 with her normal attack if we wanted to. Not saying that's necessarily a better direction, just a possibility to consider.