PK's customs MK. III - 3/20 - Empyrean Issue 2: Imperiled

[flameslayer93]

Alright, lets see what we've got.

Bolt Gruts-
I see they are kinda like the "improved" Arrow Gruts. Their powers are identical to the Arrow Gruts, but they have much higher stats. I think the swog riders aren't as neccesary for them to actually deal damage. But, they can still be helpful. Odd to see them as a 2-man squad, but figure restrictions do exist. Only having 2 attacks may also help them from being overpowered, so there is that. Mimring probably loves them, since they have a great range too. Any figures he can burn in a fireline may find themselves being hit again.

Jakkar-
Nice scout unit! Pathfinder is a helpful power on some maps. Also, does it allow him to walk on water? It would be pretty cool to see a figure who finds creative ways to get over the water. I'd either up his price or drop his life (or both). He might only get 1 attack per turn, but it is a stronger one. One that might be worth more than 20 points... Perhaps 30 points would be better for him.

Sultan al-Rashid-
The giant cobra looks cool, especially since he has the power to take temporary control of a figure. His defensive aura is nice too, and while it isn't a guarentee by any means, its an alternative to +2 defense dice. I'm not certain on his price. 110 is as good a guess as any, only gameplay will tell.

Microcorp Trooper-
I saw a prototype of this guy before. He's a helpful, thematic unit. Great as a supporting hero. His free activation power has been improved since I saw him. 80 points feels fair for this defender.

[Pumpkin_King]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Yeah, the Bolt Gruts are 2-man entirely because of figure availability. If you find another model of an orc with a crossbow, I'd love to make it a 3-man.

For Jakkar, I based his cost on the fact that Kira Jax has almost identical stats and a less universally useful power. Grapple Gun might push him over due to, like you said, having basically 4 attack in most cases.

Water...that's a...good question. I'm going to say yes, that it would allow him and his allies to move through water. I'm going to try and edit the wording on his card, maybe bump him up to 30 like you said.

[Pumpkin_King]

Went ahead and made some adjustments, made the wording clear, bumped him up to 30.

[Pumpkin_King]

Zornak

Figure: Orc Archer, Legends of Golarion - D&D miniatures

The magic of Grut is simple, brutal, and violent. Simple but gory blood rituals are common, binding the life force of blood to the caster's whims. Zornak the archer would be known as an Enchanter on any other world, but on Grut he is known as a Bloodbinder, enchanting his arrows with the power to seek the hearts of his enemies. Before Valhalla, he was content to bind the blood of enemy orc clans and wolfen to his arrows, but now he is more than happy to focus on the noble, powerful blood of those who follow Jandar.



Garlow

Figure: Armodax - Monsterpocalypse

Garlow hails from a world that is almost entirely a desert. His people are the Terrakhan, a large species of lizards, capable of reaching running speeds unheard of. They have evolved a noble way of life, a code of honor, and a respect for prey that can be a challenging hunt. To Garlow, there is no honor in fighting a defenseless enemy.



Anchor

Figure: Modified and painted Victoria JAton - WoW miniatures game

All Warforged pride themselves on being strong and resilient, but it's Anchor who could back that up the best. She is immovable, strong and stronger still when she takes a moment to gain her footing.



Brother Rokhan

Figure: Red Wolf - Heroclix

All his life, the young warrior Rokhan believed he had a guardian spirit. The spirit watched over him, helped him in the hunt, in life, in battle. His tribe lived in what is now the pacific northwest, and had a strong tradition of helpful animal spirit guardians. Rokkhan felt his was special, however. More powerful. It wasn't until that he was summoned to Valhalla that he found out he was right.



Brother Wolf

Figure: Red Wolf - Heroclix

Unbeknownst to Rokhan, Brother Wolf, his guardian spirit, watched over him from the spirit realm. On different planes but inextricably connected, when Rokhan was summoned, so too was Brother Wolf. The two became inseperable, fighting side by side. They only met when Aquila brought them to her Wellspring, but they had known each other for decades.

[Athallo]

What figure did you use for Eliza?

[lefton4ya]

Always enjoy your cusotms.

Really like Anchor - really solid hero, Warformed needed another hero and also a female to boot.

Brother Rokhan & Brother Wolf seem like a fun combo - kinda like a milder Cyprien & Sonya or like my Dinosaurs with Nurtured power, but I love the double-bonding; makes order management both easier and more complex.

Zornak gives some much needed love to Arrow Gruts - nice to add another Orc Archer Hero in addition to recently released Hrognak

Garlow is fun. I do not like the wording on Unmatched Speed, maybe just use disengage with contingency, such as:
"If Garlow moves at least six spaces during his move, Garlow is never attacked when leaving an engagement."
Also with Honorable attack, it pretty much brings him up to a 5 attack, 5 defense figure with 4 life - which makes him the best standalone Hero for 80 points, but almost too great as an addition to a Fyorlag Spiders build, as he also has the speed, but spiders are not that competitive so might help boost them.

[Pumpkin_King]

Whew, took me a while to post here! Lord. Sorry about that.

Athallo: Eliza's figure is Kayleitha from World of Warcraft miniatures. Very cheap, I'd recommend CGCastle.com.

Thanks for the feedback, L4OY! That really means a lot that you look forward to them.

Anchor is kind of a favorite design of mine, ever since I saw the mini. She was an easy mod job, too, and a blast to paint.

Garlow is...tricky. I went back and forth on designs for him. The wording on Unmatched Speed was meant to make him immune to abilities like Cyberclaw and Engagement Strike if he simply moved past them, without directly contradicting the wording of any of those powers. (In the way that Kira Jax is immune to Cyberclaw without being 'immune to cyberclaw'.) Unfortunately, I think it ended up being more weird and hackneyed than anything. I may revisit his design, but in the meantime I'm open to ideas, and I may have to just give him a conditional Disengage.

My brother and I are working on close to 15 Ullar units, and we're going to go on a bit of an Ullar tear. The first of those will be posted in a juuuuust a few minutes.

[Pumpkin_King]

Gor'Mok Fire Watchers

Figures: Gungan Infantry, Gungan Soldier, Gungan Artillerist - Star Wars miniatures

The world of Gor'Mok'Thal is covered in water. Its oceans are immeasurably deep, and there is very little land to be seen. The landmasses that do exist are almost as wet, consisting mainly of swamps and bogs covered in primitive swampland trees. IT is here that the Gor'Mok live, in the series of swampy islands that stretch in a great chain across the oceans of Gor'Mok'Thal.

The Gor'Mok are a proud people, and their way of life revolves around their discovery of simple magics that allow them to create orbs of volatile but controlled energy. This energy allows them to defend their lands from encroaching attacks from the oceans around them, as well as develop their nascent science and magic.

This 'plasma' energy needs a spark, however. By some accident, hundreds of years ago, the first flame on Gor'Mok'Thal was sparked by a thunderstorm. The Gor'Mok quickly learned that water would snuff out this dancing and flickering new power, and they ordered their society to protect and learn from the flame. Now, their culture is based on the worship of fire as a powerful force of nature, holding torches high above the wet swamps, keeping smoldering embers in emergency stockpiles, and preserving balls of plasma energy for the particularly wet rainy season. The Gor'Mok's warriors are known as Fire Watchers, dedicated to the preservation of the flame as a symbol of the Gor'Mok people.



La'Pok

Figure: Gungan Shieldbearer - Star Wars miniatures

La'Pok is a champion of the Gor'Mok people, a master of manipulating the plasma energy they are just beginning to understand. His shield is unbreakable, defending his soldiers against the explosive attacks of the deep-sea creatures that arise from the ocean floors with blinding bioluminescence. Recently, however, it has shielded them from attacks closer to home. A cult of Gor'Mok from a far island have declared that their people should give up land, give up fire, and return to the sea. Armed with enslaved sea creatures, the Cult of Water has declared war on the flame of the other Gor'Mok tribes, and it was in a battle with the Cult that La'Pok and his fighters were summoned from certain death.



Thuk'Ya

Figure: Gungan cavalry on Kaadu - Star Wars miniatures

Thuk'Ya is a young, reckless scout of the Gor'Mok. She is one of the first to master the art of taming and riding the Yon'Tar beasts native to the southern swamps, and she is also one of the first to warn of the flames of southern settlements being snuffed out by the Cult of Water. The southern lands are her territory, and she is dedicated to purging those lands of the Cult's influence, and reignite the ancient flames of her people.



Private Earl Porter

Figure: Gabriel Jones - Heroclix

Having had success with the reliable and disciplined soldiers of Earth's wars, Jandar attempted to summon another. His visions came upon Earl Porter, a private in the American army in Earth's World War 2, in the famous 92nd Division, deployed to fight the fascist forces in Italy.

Once summoned, and once told of his predicament, Porter was in shock. One moment he was setting up barbed wire, and the next he was in this magical realm called Valhalla, being watched with interest by Jandar, Ullar, and Drake Alexander. Alexander explained that Porter had been in the sights of a sniper, and that Jandar had saved him from a swift death.

This was all a bit much for Porter, who asked for a few moments alone. Strangely, it was Jandar's ally Ullar who best talked to the shellshocked soldier. Jandar's proud bluster had unnerved him, but Ullar's softer-spoken ways immediately gained the soldier's trust. Jandar quickly saw the situation, and allowed Ullar to take the soldier into his own army. Now, Private Earl Porter serves Ullar with pride, utilizing his skill with barbed wire (and an enchanted thornvine medallion given to him by his Valkyrie) to set up obstacles to protect his comrades.

Spoiler Alert!

[Pumpkin_King]

When the Soulborg Uprising began, the scientists stationed at the Dynaco Experimental Nest feared the worst. They would not be touched by any direct violence, no - they were much too far in the wilderness for that. There was and days of travel between them and the "outside world," and the D.E.N. was on strict maximum black top secret back at Dynaco. There would be no way for the Soulborgs to know about them. They would be safe.

However...the facility relied on the transfer of food and other goods from the outside. Without the regular shipment...they would wither away.

The scientists resolved to set their experimental creations free. Their own Soulborgs, untouched by the madness and programmed to mimic the animal life around them (if a good deal more intelligent)....they would live on beyond them, their Von Neumann systems running, allowing the creatures to live, adapt, and thrive in the new, robot-ruled world.



UR54

Figure: 164 Ursa - Mechwarrior

UR54 was created to be the matriarch of the facility, a guardian of all the other Soulborgs. Over time, she became much more than that. As her matrix developed and learned, her tactical senses evolved, networking with the other Soulborgs in the facility. She became their protector, oftentimes outmaneuvering the scientists and preventing them from performing experiments on the robots. Though their weaponry was disabled until they were released, UR54 was by no means defenseless as long as other of her 'children' remained nearby.



J4GU4R

Figure: Jaguar 50 - Mechwarrior

Developed to be the most immediately combat-ready Soulborg, J4GU4R was equipped with the latest AI learning technology, as well as tracking rockets that could follow their targets even as J4GU4R moved. He became one of UR54's most trusted companions, outfoxing Dynaco's scientists at every opportunity.



W1D0W

Figure: 143 Stalking Spider - Mechwarrior (this one is tricky to base, so beware)

Designed as a guard and specialized weapon suppression, W1D0W took to her designated role with remarkable aplomb, often hiding so well that she wasn't seen for weeks at a time. She adapted her own suppression technology - though her weapons were disabled, the nanofilament web she could spray was coated in a neuro-disruption compound that made it hard for opposing forces to concentrate on specialized weaponry. Unfortunately for Dynaco's scientists, this often meant the tranquilizer weapons they used in the field to disable Soulborgs for testing.



F3NR1R

Figure: 19 Fenrir Battle Armor - Mechwarrior

Though small, F3NR1R is loaded to the gills with networking equipment, intended to act as a messenger and mobile communications array. He has no guns, but he more than aids his fellow Soulborgs in maintaining contact in the heat of battle.

[Lazy Orang]

Amazingly cool concept - I'd love to add those to my collection someday.

[Pumpkin_King]

Thanks so much! Let me know if you do!

I'm really pleased with how those turned out. Loved Horizon Zero Dawn, and I'll admit to borrowing from that. I should have a few more on the way as well.

Next batch, though: elves.

[Pumpkin_King]

I've gone through and replaced all the previous cards with SOTM versions, which I think have better formatting in MSE and look better. All the Valkrill have been replaced by my slightly edited version of the darker Valkrill card, and the Lombardi Brothers have been replaced with their newest iteration.