[NecroBlade]

One thing that stood out with the previous version (including making it once per game and/or removing the destruction of an HSG) was it didn't give the opponent any interesting choices beyond maybe trying to kill them before they brought a Hero back. That's where our further redesign comes in. I will post it shortly...




Captain Stupendous and I spent some time discussing the issues with the current/soon-to-be-previous (we hope) version and working on a new power(s). Here are the highlights of what this new card accomplishes (he can chime in if I leave anything out, but I'm sure he'll share his thoughts either way).

Guiding Lights: The power name speaks to the guiding (pun intended) thematic principle behind the redesign. In no way, shape, or form did the previous version feel like it was guiding anything.

Once per game: Although the previous version had a limit (usually 2, sometimes more with glyphs that bring figures back), it necessitated a negation clause, which by and large was disliked. This change gets rid of that text and sets a hard limit.

Unique Human Heroes: As I'll note with other changes, some figures would be problematic with this version. Restricting it to Humans solves that, and also lets us remove the small or medium limitation, making Sir Dupuis happy!

Revenant: Giving the figure a designation helps streamline some of the other text and is a nice callback to the ancient artifact glyph.

Remove all wound markers: Leaving the figure with 1 Life was a wordy patch to previous issues, while simultaneously leaving the revived figure vulnerable to being killed easily and making the whole affair pointless. Since this figure is now at full health, Raelin reared her ugly head, hence the aforementioned Human-only. In some way it's sort of sad to lose the Alastair/MacDirks and Scarcarver synergy, but at the same time with full life you can better make use of the full figure and all its powers, so they're not actually left out in the cold.

Place the Revenant adjacent to a Soul Guide: Since the power is once-per-game, it's not necessary to sacrifice a Guide. More on this below.

After revealing an Order Marker...: Bonding! HSGs move first, then the Hero, who they're actually guiding now. Again, more below.

Last Will: Splitting the power into two helps it flow better and it's easier to make sense of the timing and intent of this particular sentence.

After taking a turn...: Here's where the last two points about Guiding Lights come in. By not sacrificing a Soul Guide, you keep both as the place for the OMs for bonding as well as options for where your Revenant can end its turn. If it doesn't do so safely, well, its Last Will was fulfilled and the whole crew fades away into the æther. This applies to any turns the Hero takes, whether it's through Guiding Lights, some other form of Bonding, or just getting its own OMs. This is also what gives the opponent some agency in disrupting your plans. If the Hero is too tough, taking out the two Soul Guides means it will follow them after its next turn. If you could somehow separate them and lock them down, that would also do the trick!

Levitation: This was floated as a possibility before and we think it helps this version for a few reasons. First, it removes a bunch of words from the card, which is always nice, especially in this Master Set. Second, Velkhor is already looking like one Stealth Flying unit for the set, we don't necessarily need two. Third, along with once-per-game and the Revenant needing to actually be guided by the HSGs, keeping them terrestrial helps keep their points in check.

I'm looking forward to discussion of this version of the card!