The Book of Ghostface

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

What about just making the whole first power only work while the Obsession is on the battlefield? Shouldn’t change the way you play him much, but it could “justify” the effect a little more.

I think that tracks. If their Obsession is dead, they shouldn't be so stabby anyway. Maybe if their Obsession is destroyed, remove the markers from the game?

[Arkham]

I suppose that's an option if necessary. Though it starts to feel a little overly complex/convoluted at that point, and a bit heavier on text?

We could also take a different approach:

KILLER OBSESSION
At the start of the game, choose an opponent's figure to be Ghostface's Obsession. After Ghostface's Obsession takes a turn, even if Ghostface is destroyed, place a black Stab Marker on this card, to a maximum of 2. After attacking with Ghostface, you may remove a Stab Marker from this card to attack the same figure again.

SCREAM
Ghostface never takes leaving engagement attacks. Immediately before rolling for initiative, you may place Ghostface on an empty space within 2 spaces of a figure. If you do, the player who controls that figure subtracts 2 from their roll for each of their Order Markers not on its card. If they lose initiative, that figure rolls 2 fewer defense dice for each Stab Marker on this card when attacked by Ghostface this round.

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL
At the end of the round, if Ghostface is destroyed while his Obsession is not, and there are 2 Stab Markers on this card, remove all Wound Markers from this card and place Ghostface on an empty space on the battlefield.

One additional plus of this approach is that it makes a little more thematic sense that the person he's targeting specifically is the one who he catches off guard and thus lower on defenses. His Stab Marker gains are also keyed into his Obsession's actions, fueling his urge to kill, which also feels fitting. Then of course he can continually come back until they're gone, or they stop taking turns etc.

Otherwise, we're looking at this if we want to stay the course with the tweak:

KILLER OBSESSION
At the start of the game, choose an opponent's figure to be Ghostface's Obsession and place 2 black Stab Markers on this card. While his Obsession is on the battlefield, figures defending against Ghostface's attack roll 2 fewer defense dice for each Stab Marker on this card and, after attacking with Ghostface, you may remove a Stab Marker from this card to attack again. If Ghostface destroys a figure, place all previously removed Stab Markers on this card.

SCREAM
After Order Markers are placed, and before rolling for initiative, you may place Ghostface on an empty space within 2 spaces of a figure. If you do, the player who controls that figure subtracts 2 from their initiative roll for each of their Order Markers not on its card. Ghostface never takes leaving engagement attacks.

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL
Once per game, at the end of the round, if Ghostface is destroyed and his Obsession is not, remove all Wound Markers from this card, then place all previously removed Stab Markers back on this card, and place Ghostface on an empty space on the battlefield.

[IAmBatman]

I like the top option there. Really sells the picking off one by one thing.

[Lord Pyre]

I like that top option!

I've only seen the first one, so I'm not sure how the "character" evolves through the sequels. But it seems thematic to what I remember. Fun parody-ish movie.

Definitely squishy though, I imagine he'll only get a good turn or two before he's wiped off the board. I assume the Slashers have enough bonding with Pinhead to make him worthwhile? Still haven't played them.

[Arkham]

Yeah, he'll certainly be squishy, but with the possibility to keep coming back being a nuisance as long as his Obsession remains. Being the most average human(s) of the current crop, that feels appropriate.

The benefit of playing with Pinhead and the others is that you won't need to risk an OM on him to take turns with him, there will be other figures that may help take the heat off of him based on what they're doing(Pinhead, Jason, Creeper, Freddy if he's on the board, Sadako, Myers, Chucky etc. all demand their own priority at times), and Pinhead can resurrect him if needed.

[Arkham]

Sounds like that's it for current thoughts, so I updated the SP.

I propose a vote to move to Initial Playtesting.

[tcglkn]

Yea

[Arch-vile]

yea

[MrNobody]

Yea

[Ronin]

yea

I like that he's a bit of a counter to Avengers Hawkeye + Ozy/Oracle type shenanigans where you're swapping out attacks from a utility figure.

[Arkham]

This passes.

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Ghostface

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Army Test 1
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Ghostface(95), Pinhead(335), Jason(175), Freddy(175), Michael(135), Chucky(85) (1000)
vs.
Luke Cage(190), Iron Fist(260), Moon Knight(150), Cap(220), Ronin(180) (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:
3 wounds on Cap(-4). (+1 from height)
2 wounds on Cap(-2, botch), kills him. (+1 from height)
1 wound on Moon Knight.

KILLER OBSESSION:
Chooses Luke Cage as his Obsession.
Places a marker after Cage takes a turn.
Places a marker after Cage takes a turn.
Removes a marker to attack Cap again.
Places a marker after Cage takes a turn.

SCREAM:
R2: Places himself adjacent to Cap.
-8 to Cap's initiative. Gets the win.
-4 to Cap's def
-2 to Cap's def
R3: Places himself adjacent to Moon Knight.
-8 to Moon Knight's initiative(unneeded). Gets the win.
-4 to Moon Knight's def
-2 to Moon Knight's def

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL:


Notes:
Avenger markers on Iron Fist and Ronin.
Myers' Victim is Moon Knight.

R1: Freddy puts a wound on Cage. Jason puts 2 wounds on Ronin(botch). Michael adds a marker. Fist puts 2 wounds on Jason. Jason puts 1 wound on Fist with RA. Fist heals. Michael adds a marker. Jason kills Ronin. Michael adds a marker. Fist puts 3 wounds on Jason. Fist takes 1 wound from Jason's RA. Cage takes a wound from LEA.

R2: Freddy puts 1 wound on Luke Cage. Fist avoids LEA, puts a wound on Pinhead. Fist heals. Pinhead puts a wound on Cage with HCM. Fist puts 3 wounds on Pinhead. Cage puts a wound on Pinhead. Fist kills Pinhead(botch). Jason kills Luke Cage with RA.

R3: Fist kills Jason. Chucky puts a wound on Fist. Fist takes a wound from LEA, then heals. Myers removes 3 markers and puts 2 wounds on Moon Knight. Fist puts 2 wounds on Michael. Jason fails to come back.

R4: Michael puts a wound on Fist. Michael adds a marker. Fist kills Ghostface. Fist heals. Freddy puts a wound on Moon Knight. Michael removes marker and kills Moon Knight. Michael's new Victim is Iron Fist. Iron Fist kills Myers(botch). Jason fails to come back.

R5: Michael comes back. Michael adds a marker. Fist puts 2 wounds on Myers then heals. Chucky puts a wound on Myers. Myers removes a marker to put a wound on Fist. Fist kills Myers. Chucky puts a wound on Fist. Jason fails to come back.

R6: Fist heals. Fist puts 3 wounds on Chucky(botch). Chucky puts a wound on Fist. Fist kills Chucky.


Iron Fist with 2/5 wounds. (3 life)

Made a misplay here, allowing Denizens of Hell rolls continue after Pinhead was killed off. That aside, Ghostface managed to dominate Cap pretty hard from height, and the initiative subtraction was nice, but after that he got decimated. With his Obsession taken out mid game, he was a sitting duck. Overall even match though.

___________________________________________________________

Tweaking Killer Obsession to only allow additional attacks if he didn't destroy a figure.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 2
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Ghostface(95), Pinhead(335), Jason(175), Leatherface(95) (700)
vs.
Professor X(220), Psylocke(250), Phoenix(230) (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:
1 wound on Phoenix(botch).
1 wound on Professor X(-4).

KILLER OBSESSION:
Obsession is Psylocke.
Gains a marker after Psylocke takes a turn.
Gains a marker after Psylocke takes a turn.
Gains a marker after Psylocke takes a turn.
Gains a marker after Psylocke takes a turn.

SCREAM:
R2: Places himself next to Phoenix.
-8 from her initiative(unneeded). Wins.
-4 to her Def
-2 to her Def
-2 to her Def
R3: Places himself next to Professor X.
-4 to his Def

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL:


Notes:
R1: Phoenix puts 3 wounds on Jason. Psylocke puts a wound on Jason. Phoenix takes a wound from Jason's RA. Leatherface takes a wound from himself. Phoenix tosses Pinhead and Leatherface, putting 1 wound on Pinhead, then attacks Pinhead for 1 wound. Phoenix takes 1 wound from Jason's RA. Psylocke puts 2 wounds on Pinhead.

R2: Ghostface and Pinhead take a wound from PF. Phoenix tosses Pinhead to his death. Phoenix puts a wound on Ghostface. Psylocke kills Leatherface. Jason kills Phoenix. Psylocke puts 2 wounds on Jason.

R3: Professor X reveals X to stop Ghostface's turn. Professor X puts a wound on Ghostface. Psylocke kills Jason. Professor X kills Ghostface.


Professor X with 1/4 wounds. (3 life)
Psylocke unwounded.

Decent match that saw Pinhead get taken out before he could really do much, and the Mutants had solid defenses.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 3
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Ghostface(95), Pinhead(335), Jason(175), Leatherface(95), Malice(300) (1000)
vs.
Green Arrow(210), Black Canary(220), Hawkwoman(260), Wonder Woman(310) (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:
2 wounds on Black Canary(+1, -2, botch), kills her.

KILLER OBSESSION:
Green Arrow is his Obsession.
Gains a marker after Green Arrow takes a turn.
Gains a marker after Green Arrow takes a turn.
Gains a marker after Green Arrow takes a turn.

SCREAM:
R2: Places himself next to Canary.
-6 to her initiative. Wins.
-2 to her Def
R3: Places himself next to WW.
-6 to her initiative. Wins.
-4 to her Def
-2 to her Def

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL:


Notes:
R1: WW removes a marker. Malice places a bubble on Canary. Jason puts 2 wounds on Canary. Malice takes 1 wound from Canary Cry, and her OM3 is removed, and bubble returned. Green Arrow puts 4 wounds on Jason in 3 attacks.

R2: WW removes a marker. Hawkwoman takes a wound from LEA. GA removes a marker to take a turn. Malice places a bubble on Hawkwoman. Jason is killed by Hawkwoman's AA. Leatherface wounds himself. Hawkwoman kills Leatherface, puts a marker back on WW. GA removes a marker to take a turn. Jason fails to come back.

R3: WW removes a marker. Hawkwoman takes a wound from LEA. Hawkwoman puts 3 wounds on Pinhead, puts a marker back on WW. GA removes a marker, kills Pinhead in 2 attacks, then 2 wounds on Ghostface on his 3rd attack. Malice puts a wound on Hawkwoman with the bubble. Malice takes a wound from Hawkwoman's AA, returning the bubble. Hawkwoman kills Malice(botch). WW kills Ghostface.


Hawkwoman with 3/5 wounds. (2 life)
Wonder Woman unwounded.
Green Arrow unwounded.

Rough game for the Slashers. They were doing solid when taking out Canary pretty quickly, but quickly fell apart when Pinhead got rushed by Hawkwoman and Green Arrow.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 4
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Ghostface(95), Pinhead(335), Jason(175), Leatherface(95), Malice(300) (1000)
vs.
Star-Lord(250), Nebula(240), Gamora(300), Nightcrawler(210) (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:


KILLER OBSESSION:
Chooses Gamora.
Adds a marker after Gamora takes a turn.
Adds a marker after Gamora takes a turn.
Adds a marker after Gamora takes a turn.
Adds a marker after Gamora takes a turn.

SCREAM:
R2: Placed next to Nebula.
-6 to her initiative(unneeded). Wins.
-4 to her Def
-2 to her Def
R3: Placed next to Nightcrawler.
-6 to his initiative(unneeded). Wins.
-4 to his Def
-4 to his Def
R3: Placed next to Nebula.
-4 to her initiative. Loses.

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL:


Notes:
R1: Malice puts 4 wounds on Star-Lord. Gamora puts a wound on Jason. Nebula puts 3 wounds on Malice(botch). Jason kills Star-Lord. Malice puts 2 wounds on Gamora.

R2: Gamora puts a wound on Malice. Gamora kills Malice(botch). Leatherface puts a wound on Nightcrawler and himself. Gamora kills Leatherface and puts 2 wounds on Jason.

R3: Gamora puts 2 wounds on Pinhead. Pinhead kills Nightcrawler with 3 successful HCM rolls, removing 3 wounds from destroyed Leatherface. Gamora kills Pinhead.

R4: Gamora kills Jason. Gamora puts 3 wounds on Ghostface. Nebula kills Ghostface.


Gamora with 2/6 wounds. (4 life)
Nebula unwounded.

Another rough match for the Slashers. They took out Star-Lord quick, but after that everything fell apart.

___________________________________________________________

Removing the "lose initiative" requirement on Scream, and the "2 Stab Markers" requirement on Ya Gotta Have a Sequel since he's underperforming.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 5
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Ghostface(95), Pinhead(335), Jason(175), Freddy(175), Michael(135), Chucky(85) (1000)
vs.
Wasp(160), She-Hulk(370), Spider-Woman(250), Hawkeye(220) (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Attack Damage:


KILLER OBSESSION:


SCREAM:


YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL:


Notes:



.

.

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY:

[Arkham]

After playing a few games with him, he's underperforming and feels maybe a bit overly complex in design for what he's actually able to accomplish.

There's also the factor that the faction in itself is pretty complex in terms of moving parts and things to remember. So I'm thinking going simpler here would benefit him.

YA GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL
At the start of the game, choose an enemy figure to be Ghostface's Obsession. Once per game, if Ghostface would be destroyed while his Obsession is not destroyed, remove all Wound Markers from this card instead, and place Ghostface on an empty space on the battlefield.

SCREAM
Ghostface never takes leaving engagement attacks. Before rolling for initiative, you may place Ghostface on an empty space within 2 spaces of an enemy figure. If you do, the player who controls that figure subtracts 2 from their initiative roll for each of their Order Markers not on its card. If they lose initiative, that figure subtracts 2 from its Defense number when attacked by Ghostface this round.

DEADLY STRIKE
When attacking with Ghostface, each skull rolled counts as an additional hit.