The Book of Karnak
 

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Character Bio - When Karnak’s parents saw what the Terrigen Mists did to Karnak’s brother Triton, transforming him into a scaled amphibian incapable of living outside of an aquatic environment, they begged Karnak not to go through the Terrigenesis Process himself. Accepting his parents' wishes, Karnak instead became a monk in the Tower of Wisdom. Through years of training, Karnak honed his body into a deadly weapon, becoming one of the most powerful master martial artists ever; but more impressive was his extrasensory ability to perceive the flaws in any object, person, or idea. With his intensely analytical mind and vast strategic knowledge, Karnak joined the Inhuman Royal Family and became the royal adviser to his cousin, King Black Bolt.
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Marvel figure, Karnak has these Marvel Synergies.
• As a figure with a secret identity, Karnak has these Secret Identity Synergies.
• As an Inhuman, Karnak has these Inhuman Synergies.

Outgoing Synergy:

• Inhumans adjacent to Karnak may add 1 die to their attack and defense.

Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses:

• As a figure with a secret identity, Karnak interacts differently with these special powers.
• Karnak's Calculated Counter Strike special power can be bypassed by special attacks.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: Viegon
• Second playtest: johnny
• Third playtest: Ronin
• Fourth playtest: Lazy Orang
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by japes
• Karnak created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
• Comic art by Andie Tong

Card Updates:
7 March 2021 - Class changed to Strategist

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

NAME = KARNAK
SECRET IDENTITY = KARNAK MANDER-AZUR

SPECIES = INHUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = STRATEGIST
PERSONALITY = PRECISE

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = 190

INHUMAN TACTICIAN
Inhuman figures you control adjacent to Karnak add 1 die to their normal attack and 1 die to their defense.

ASSESS WEAKNESS 8
Before moving with Karnak, you may choose a figure within 2 clear sight spaces and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 8 or higher and Karnak attacks the chosen figure with his normal attack this turn, it subtracts 3 from its Defense number, or 6 from its Defense number if it is a destructible object.

CALCULATED COUNTER STRIKE
When rolling defense dice against an adjacent normal attack, if the number of shields you roll is equal to or greater than the number of skulls the attacker rolled, the attacking figure receives one wound and its turn immediately ends.


ORIGINAL DESIGN:

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

This is a bit of an older write-up of mine for Karnak; I like it, but I’m also open to suggestions and ideas. The two points I feel like we need to hit are 1) his ability to assess weaknesses and see the flaws in pretty much anything, and 2) his advisor role for the Inhuman Royal Family and his extreme tactical mind.

Both of those can be covered in a bunch of different ways though. I contemplated simplifying Assess Weakness and and Calculated Strike into one power (the chance to subtract defense and deal an additional would could be a bit much…), and also adding in a way for him to use his ability defensively (reuse Defensive Premonition from Batgirl? Or Precognitive Strike from Gorgon (mutant)?). Inhuman Tactician covers the second point very elegantly, but is maybe too bland? We could go for a farther reaching power, like a cross between Oracle’s Secret Attack Plan and Brainiac’s 12th Level Intellect?

Thoughts?

OTHER COMIC ART:


MINI BACKGROUND:


MINI PICS:

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

Is being able to remove OMs from a Squad using Calculated Strike intentional? Like he has calculated it for maximum shock value or something?

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

I really like Inhuman Tactician here actually. It's a simple power but a useful one. And there's a lot of ranged options for the Inhumans in the long run, so it should be fairly useful.

I'm pretty happy with the package overall, but I do feel that Calculated Strike is the weak link. It covers a lot of the same territory of Assess Weakness thematically, while being a bit more vague mechanically to my eye. Some sort of a Counter Strike mechanic definitely feels up his alley.

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

I like the general ideas here. The first power is spot on, when standing next to an inhuman he helps them fight better. The second one seems fitting for his ability to assess weaknesses. The 3rd one however might be a little bit of overkill. When combined with the second power it results in a -3 def. plus the ability to deal an extra wound. That would have him cutting through any low level figures with ease. So maybe drop the 3rd power for something else.

As for stats, since he never went through with the Terrigen Mist transformation and he is essentially just a well conditioned human, I'd think 4 life rather than 5 and 5 defense instead of 6. Other top human close combat fighters have either 5 or 4+1 defense.

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

YK's points about his stats makes sense, though I'd be fine with 6 Defense.

I definitely like Inhuman Tactician and Assess Weakness. :up: Not as sold on Calculated Strike, but I don't have any great suggestions for alternatives right now.

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

I'm pretty sure (though I could be wrong) that the Attilan Inhumans are stronger/faster/tougher/etc. than normal humans, including the ones that don't go through terrigenesis. That said, his stats could still probably come down some.

I'm definitely leaning towards cutting Calculated Strike. What do people think about replacing it with Precognitive Strike (and lowering his survivability accordingly)?

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

I do kind of like Johnny's suggestion of a counter strike type of power and that would fit the bill. Would any future Inhuman figures be able to manipulate d20 rolls?

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

None that I can thank of off the top of my head. At least not the main ones.

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

Some of the new ones introduced in the past couple of years might be able to, but I don't believe it'd fit for any of the iconic ones.

Re: The Book of Karnak - Breathing Period
 

Anything introduced in the past couple of years I wouldn't know anyway...:)