The Book of Super-Man

[IAmBatman]

Yeah, if you keep it as is, a normal attack restriction is probably a good idea (might be a good idea for either version).

[LordVenoc]

I'm generally more concerned with his extra resilience to magic getting represented there, so that was part of the appeal with the adding the same dice schtick, as that felt less wonky with Special Attacks.

[LordVenoc]

Alright SP updated with the All-Yin/All-Yang approach. I propose we move Super-Man to initial testing.

COMPETITIVE REVIEW BOARD CHECKLIST

Spoiler Alert!

Efficiency- Check to see if your design is providing armies with turns/moves/etc. to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to keep up with your output.

1. Does your design allow itself or figures to move/attack/take a turn/etc. instead of/in addition to your normal turn for revealing an Order Marker? Is it granting these benefits to too broad a range of units? Does it combine with other powers to create overly long or powerful chains of actions?

Nope

2. Does your design allow you to take actions during an opponent's turn? Can it combine with other powers to create tediously long reactions to enemy actions or a restrictive environment?

Nope

3. Does your design allow you to rearrange your Order Markers or otherwise bypass the costs of Order Marker requirements on the special powers of other figures?

Not as far as I can tell.

4. Is your design doing anything outside of a player's turn, at the start or end of the round? Is the effect too powerful by itself or when combined with other powers?

Not really.

5. Does your design have any powers that trigger anytime it moves as opposed to only when it moves normally on its turn? Will it be too efficient when combined with figures that grant extra moves to figures?

Nope.

6. Is your design adding or subtracting from initiative rolls? Will it pair too easily with other figures that alter initiative or have powers triggering on the results of initiative rolls?

Nope.

Potency- Check to see if your design is wounding/removing/etc. enemy figures, increasing the chances of other figures in your army doing so, or otherwise directly effecting the number of figures available to players to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to recover from.

1. Does your design have a chance to inflict wounds or destroy figures? Is it getting these chances too frequently or having to high a chance of success? Is the power balanced against expensive targets that can cause a massive swing in the game when destroyed?

It can deal autowounds if blanks are rolled on his attacks, 1 figure receiving per attack.

2. Is your design adding to the stats or 20-sided die rolls of other figures in your army? Is it a boosting a broad enough range of units effectively enough to become a 'mandatory' draft or inhibit future design space? Can it be combined with other boosts too easily?

Nope.

3. Will your design benefit from stat boosts or other enhancement to an overpowering degree? Will it restrict future growth within its faction or point cost by limiting available boosts to others?

Can like it as it can maybe give him more shots for blanks on autowounds, but not something I'd build around.

4. Does your design take control of enemy figures permanently or temporarily? Is it too difficult to for your opponent to regain control of their figure or recover from the losing the figure? Does the method of taking control expose the enemy figure to the powers of other figures in your army that can easily destroy it?

Nope.

5. Can your design heal itself or others or revive itself or others? Is it doing so in a way that an opponent cannot hope to overcome in certain scenarios?

Nope.

6. Does your design place enemy figures on its card or otherwise have an unconventional method of temporarily removing enemy figures from play? Will it guarantee your victory against a single remaining enemy figure?

Nope.

Chicanery- Check to see if your design is preventing your opponent from taking actions with too much ease or is otherwise causing negative play experience through tactics that make your opponent feel you're 'not playing fair'

1. Does your design restrict the movement of enemy figures, or allow you to move enemy figures? Can it do so in a way that results in an unwinnable scenario for your opponent if they are down to one figure, posses only figures with a range of 1, etc.? Can your design easily combine with other figures to greatly impede enemy figures or otherwise gain an excessive advantage?

Nope.

2. Does your design effect/change the placement of an enemy's Order Markers, or remove their Order Markers entirely? Can it force Order Markers to go onto cards that have no figures on the battlefield? Can your design easily combine with other figures to completely dictate the placement of an enemy's Order Markers or remove all of their Order Markers?

Nope.

3. Does your design inhibit your opponent from attacking your figures or make attacking a losing proposition? Are there scenarios or combinations that make your opponent totally unable to harm your figures through attacking?

Not really? Him getting to add dice responsively might be tough against a few figures, but not overpoweringly so.

4. Does your design directly negate the powers of enemy figures or otherwise ignore them in a way that can completely disrupt the opponent's strategy or leave them feeling like they are stuck playing figures without special powers?

This take does not.

5. Does your design become overly powerful in a podded group of figures, or provide significant benefit to your army without leaving your Start Zone?

Nope.

6. You can attack your own figures in Heroscape, does your design have any powers that will trigger off of doing so or otherwise wounding/destroying your own figures? Is this intentional on your part? Will the design be too efficient or potent when doing so?

Nope.

CONSISTENCY CHECKLIST (SHORT FORM)

Spoiler Alert!

Consistency Concerns
Name and Identity
Verify character is named in a way that is clear, accurate and feels consistent with the way other characters are named.

Unless people prefer the Americanized way to say his name (Kenan Kong vs Kong Kenan)

Uniqueness and Type
Verify that the power text reflects the listed uniqueness and type, that the uniqueness fits the character, and that squad size is listed for squads.

Yep

Left Box
If the character's species, class or personality is reused, verify that the character feels thematically consistent with other figures that have that species, class or personality. If they are not reused, verify that there is no pre-existing species, class or personality that would make more sense.

Reuses galore there.

Size and Height
Verify that the listed size and height are accurate. Standing the mini up next to a stack of tiles, and a few other minis of various sizes, is encouraged.

Yep.

Super Strength and Flying
Verify that these special powers are present if they make sense, and not if they don't.

Bueno here.

New Powers - Names
Verify that any new powers are not using power names identical to, or very similar to, pre-existing powers. Verify that any new powers are actually new and not old powers with new names.

All-Yin takes from Intangibility and Reverse Flash's phase attack. Kryptonian Qi uses a little bit of Kryptonian DNA, with a mystical spin added.

New Powers - Effects
Verify that the effect and timing of all new powers is clear. Verify that any logical immunities, benefits, or weaknesses (whether those be necessary for thematic or mechanical reasons) are implemented: consider whether defensive powers that work against normal attacks should also work against special attacks, whether or not a power has an elemental component that some figures should resist, and whether or not unliving figures (such as Undead and Androids) should be affected.

Could probably make it a bit more clear that you can't All-Yin and All-Yang on the same turn, but the words are there.

Reused Powers
Verify that the design is reusing powers in place of creating new ones, where reused powers could implement the same theme and mechanics with no differences or only trivial differences. Verify that any reused powers have the correct text.

Yeah no real way to refold these into preexisting I think. Kryptonian Enhancement could kinda replace the first, but it misses the Special Attack stuff which I felt was more important.

Power Level
Verify that the character's movement, attack, range, and defense (in conjunction with any special powers that enhance those stats) feel consistent with the capabilities of characters with analogous powers and abilities. Verify that the character falls into a similar point range to characters with comparative powers and abilities.

He's got the Qi of Superman, he definitely hits hard and strong. Could potentially argue for stronger stats here, but I've felt he was a little closer to Kon than Kara strength-wise because of his newness.

[Arch-vile]

Yea

He’s definitely a glass cannon. Neat design.

[tcglkn]

Yea

[IAmBatman]

yea

[Spidey'tilIDie]

SO happy to see this guy getting done!

[Lord Pyre]

I really dig the new direction. Much cleaner, and the choices seem more solid. And I love the balance mechanic

Yea

[LordVenoc]

This passes.

Thanks all! And thanks Spidey for the chime of support! Definitely appreciate all feedback from those familiar with him. He's one of my favorite recent characters so really excited to get rolling with him.

[LordVenoc]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM
NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Super-Man
Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Super-Man (270), Superman (Family) Superboy (Jon), Krypto (900) vs Star-Lord, Baby Groot, Rocket Racoon, Drax II (900)
Unit Summary
Damage: 6 wounds dealt.
Abilities: Added to defenses 2 times.

Spoiler Alert!

General Flow:
R1: 3 wounds put on Star-Lord. Super-Man tanks a fair bit.
R2: 1 more wound on Star-Lord. Drax kills Krypto. Drax puts 3 on Kal after Kal kills Star-Lord, Super-Man fails to hurt Rocket. Kal gets 3 back on Drax. Rocket blows Bombs to put 1 on Super-Man and 1 on Superboy.
R3: Kal and Kenan kill Drax. Rocket manages to down Jon, but Groot is also killed.
R4: Kal puts 1 more on Rocket, and Kenan finishes the fight.
General thoughts: Rare game where I gelt like Jon was kinda dead weight. Solid win for the Kryptonians, but in a straight up dice fest I’m not terribly surprised. I’m not always the best at keeping Star-Lord safe at this size, and losing the dice for Drax made it a lot harder to take out Kal, and those earlier attacks probably should have been directed toward him ultimately as the rerolls made Kenan a tough nut to crack.
Unit Summary:
R1 T3: 1 Auto on Star-Lord with All-Yang. Adds 1 to Defense against Rocket, and 2 against Drax. No wounds received.
R2 T1: All-Yin doesn’t manage any on Drax.
R2 T3: All-Yang deals no wounds.
R3 T1: All-Yin allows the kill on Drax (2 skulls v 1-1 Shields)
R3 T3: All-Yang deals 1 auto to Rocket, but no regular.
R4 T1: All skulls on All-Yin is doom for Rocket (2 wounds dealt)


Who won and how many wounds did they have? Kryptonians win. 1 wound on Super-Man, 3 wounds on Superman.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Super-Man (270), Superman Family, Superwoman (Lana), Streaky (1000) vs Fan 4 (1000)
Unit Summary
Damage: 5 (+2 Overkill) wounds with normal, 3 with All Yang (Subtract 6 total Normal Attack wounds in the redo.
Abilities: Never had to add to defense in normal, added twice in redo (to not a lot of avail)

Spoiler Alert!

General Flow:
R1: Superwoman throws Reed around some, but it comes back to haunt her when she takes 4 wounds from Thing.
R2: Superwoman and Superman only get Reed to 1 life remaining this attack. Thing kills Superwoman and puts 3 on Kal. Kal can’t kill Reed, but Super-Man comes in to finish him and put 1 on Torch with All-Yang. Super-Man puts 1 on Sue, but Kal finishes her off when she whiffs the defense.
R3: Torch Flames on putting 2 on each of the Supers. Kal puts 1 wound on him, as does Streaky. Super-Man risks it on All-Yang, giving Torch one auto, but not completing the kill. Torch Supernovas, which only does 1 to Streaky and Superman. Super-Man kills Torch.
R4: The Supers kill Thing.
General thoughts: Poor Order Marker placement in Round 3 was the main culprit here. Had I put the 2 on Thing, things might have played differently. So I ran that. In that version, Thing immediately kills Super-Man on Turn 2 of Round 3, but whiffs on Superman. Initiative win gives Fan 4 the advantage, and Thing wipes out Supes and Streaky. Overall, I dig how that ultimately played out like that, especially when Superwoman is a fairly strong Fantastic 4 counter with her ability to pull things from Sue’s aura (or just plain throw them right at Sue).
Unit Summary:
R2 T2: Attacks Reed with All-Yang. 1 Auto to Reed and Torch, no regular wounds.
R2 T3: Puts 1 on Sue with All-Yin.
R3 T1: 1 Auto on Torch with All-Yang.
R3 T2: Attacks Thing, hoping for a blank to finish Torch. No blank, and hurt by Rock Wall.
R3 T3: All-Yin allows for 2 hits on Thing.
R4 T1: All-Yin gets 4 skulls vs 1 shield (subtracted to 0) on Thing, allowing for the kill and 2 overkill wounds.


Who won and how many wounds did they have? Supers win. Superman 7 wounds, Super-Man with 3 wounds, Streaky with 1 wound.

Redo Rendition, Fan 4 wins Thing with 1 wound, Torch with 4 wounds.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Super-Man (270), Superman (Family) Superboy (Jon), Krypto (900) vs Peter Stanchek, Kris Hathaway, Torque, Faith Herbert, Charlene Dupre (900)
Unit Summary
Damage: 0 Damage dealt
Abilities: Never got to attack.

Spoiler Alert!

General Flow:
R1: Armies move up, Jon puts 1 on Pete and 2 on Faith. Kal is blocked by Pete.
R2: Pete Stings Kal and Kenan, putting 1 on Kenan in the process. Kal gets down to 1 life remaining as Jon was unable to do much at all.
R3: Renegades win initiative again, as Pete stings Kal and puts 2 on Super-Man. Kal whiffs a defense roll and is killed by Torque. Faith throws Kenan for 2, then Torque kills Kenan.
R4: Jon goes down.
General thoughts: Trying this as just the no bonus dice instead of him getting some to simplify a bit, meanwhile gonna check how frequently my potential tweak I’d be interested to see comes up. The thought (If Super-Man rolls the same number of shields as the attacking figure, then he takes no wounds) would have come up twice, but ultimately probably would not have saved this match. The Supers got absolutely steamrolled here. If he had been rolling the extra dice (I tracked it) it ultimately would have only led Charlene having to finish him instead of going for a hit on Jon in Round 3.
Unit Summary:
R1 T3: Moved up.

Who won and how many wounds did they have? Renegades win. Pete and Charlene with 1 wound each. Faith with 2 wounds. Torque and Kris unwounded.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Super-Man (270), Superman (Family), Lois Lane (800) vs Wrecking Crew (800)
Unit Summary
Damage: 1 dealt with Normal Attack.
Abilities: All-Yin used once. Never prevented bonus dice.

Spoiler Alert!

General Flow:
R1: Wrecking Crew takes 10 turns on OM 1, killing Lois, and getting a total of 4 wounds each on Superman and Super-Man. On turn 2, Thunderball manages to kill Kenan (whiffed defense, reroll from Supes allowed for 1).
R2 and 3: Superman puts up a solid fight, but eventually is killed.
General thoughts: Don’t know what to say here. Wrecking Crew gon wreck some times.
Unit Summary:
R1 T2: Puts 1 on Bulldozer with the help of All-Yin.

Who won and how many wounds did they have? Wrecking Crew wins. Wrecker with 2 wounds, Thunderball undwounded.

_____________________________________________________________

Version Tested:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = SUPER-MAN
SECRET IDENTITY = KONG KENAN
SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = CHAMPION
PERSONALITY = DETERMINED

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 6

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

POINTS = 270

BALANCED KRYPTONIAN QI
Super-Man has the species of Kryptonian in addition to what is listed on this card. When rolling defense dice for Super-Man, if at least one blank was rolled and Super-Man rolled the same number of blanks as the attacking figure, Super-Man receives no wounds.

ALL-YIN FOCUS
Super-Man can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement when using All-Yin focus. When Super-Man attacks with a normal attack, if he moved through the defending figure this turn, after defense dice are rolled, you may subtract 1 shield from the roll.

ALL-YANG FOCUS
When Super-Man attacks with his normal attack, if he did not move with All-Yin Focus this turn, after rolling attack dice, you may choose one adjacent figure for each blank rolled. Each chosen figure receives one automatic wound.

SUPER STRENGTH
FLYING

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Super-Man (270), Superman (Family) Superboy (Jon), Superboy (Kon), Kelex (1100) vs Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Black Adam (1100)
Unit Summary
Damage: 7 damage dealt.
Abilities: Never successfully protected with defensive power. All-Yin used twice, All-Yang attempted twice.

Spoiler Alert!

General Flow:
R1: Poor Jon is one shot in the first round by Black Adam rolling all skulls. Kon takes some damage, but Kenan and Kal eliminate Black Adam. Lex gives Sinestro Kryptonite to end the round.
R2: Kal punches the Kryptonite away from Sinestro. Kon fails to hurt Sinestro, losing a marker, then is killed. Grodd gets 1 wound, then 4 more wounds on Kenan. (No blanks either attacks)
R3: Luthor kills Kenan.
R4: Luthor and Kal duke it out, and Kal gets with win.
General thoughts: Defensive power never really came up here, but I think I saw a twist that would work (and only would have come up once here). Instead of negating, giving him a most wounds is 1 shtick might be a good middle ground and a bit better of a mystical callout here.
Unit Summary:
R1 T2: 1 on Black Adam with All-Yang.
R1 T3: 4 on Black Adam with All-Yin (4 Skulls v 1-1 shield).
R2 T3: 1 Damage to Grodd with Normal (no blanks)
R3 T1: 1 Damage on Grodd with All-Yin (3 skulls v 3-1 shield)


Who won and how many wounds did they have? Kryptonians win. 3 wounds on Superman. Kelex unwounded.

_____________________________________________________________

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: The defense power ultimately feels a bit lacking, even adding dice effect. I do think a swap to that will help even him out more. Game 2 felt fairly in the ballpark, and three and four felt like swingy armies at their best.

[LordVenoc]

Potential tweak I'm thinking here:

Originally Posted by LordVenoc

NAME = SUPER-MAN
SECRET IDENTITY = KONG KENAN
SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = CHAMPION
PERSONALITY = DETERMINED

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 6

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

POINTS = 270

BALANCED KRYPTONIAN QI
Super-Man has the species of Kryptonian in addition to what is listed on this card. When rolling defense dice for Super-Man, if Super-Man rolls the same number of shields as the attacking figure, Super-Man receives no wounds.

ALL-YIN FOCUS
Super-Man can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement when using All-Yin focus. When Super-Man attacks with a normal attack, if he moved through the defending figure this turn, after defense dice are rolled, you may subtract 1 shield from the roll.

ALL-YANG FOCUS
When Super-Man attacks with his normal attack, if he did not move with All-Yin Focus this turn, after rolling attack dice, you may choose one adjacent figure for each blank rolled. Each chosen figure receives one automatic wound.

SUPER STRENGTH
FLYING

Could also make it same number of blanks, or even just more blanks. I like the equivalent schtick and leans his survivability in a different direction that isn't so "moar dice" in its approach.

[MrNobody]

Blanks makes more sense in conjunction with All-Yang Focus and other Kryptonians, but either way it's a cool effect.