[Pod 1] PYRIA (Chandra Nalaar, Pyromancer) - Playtesting

[Scytale]

The Book of "Chandra Nalaar, Pyromancer"

Arena of the Valkyrie Master Set




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UTGAR
PYRIA
Elf
Unique Hero
Archmage
Relentless
Medium 5

LIFE 6
MOVE 5
RANGE 7
ATTACK 3
DEFENSE 2

POINTS 120

TWIN FLAMETHROWERS SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 4.
Choose one or two straight lines from Pyria, each 3 spaces long. All figures on those spaces who are in line of sight are affected by Pyria’s Twin Flamethrower Special Attack. Roll 4 attack dice for all affected figures. Affected figures roll defense dice separately.

Editing: complete

Playtesting: Test 1 (The Long Eared Bat)
Test 2 (The Long Eared Bat)
Test 3 (flameslayer93)
Test 4 (kevindola)
Test 5 (kevindola)
Test 6 (flameslayer93)
Test 7 (Ericth74)
Test 8 (flameslayer93)
Test 9 (capsocrates)

The figure used for this unit is Chandra Nalaar, Pyromancer from Arena of the Planeswalkers.

Character Bio: TBA

-Rulings and Clarifications-
TBA

-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received
TBA

Synergy Benefits Offered
TBA

-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-
TBA

[The Long eared bat]

People have mentioned about a double special attack in another post which sounds cool. As well as this we could give her a summoning ability similar to Emirroon that allows her to summon moltarn figures. If we make the fire cats moltarn then this ability would work for them and the obsidian guards.

[NecroBlade]

I think the most common dual-Special Attacks that were tossed around were:

A short Fireline (possibly two).
An explosion (with or without Lob).

Another option could be immolating all adjacent figures. Or perhaps something that "burns" like Sujoah's Poison Sting? I still like the first two best.

[Pumpkin_King]

As much as I like the idea of her summoning Moltarns (with the cats being Moltarns) I think we need to watch how much movement utility we have in the set. Two SAs recalls figures like Q10, Mimring, and DW9k, and makes her cleaner and simpler. Honestly, we could still make the cats Moltarns so as to leave that option open for customs creators later on.

[The Long eared bat]

I just feel like the set doesn't have many other synergy potential maybe only Jace+illusions eldrazi+scions. The major mechanic of aotp was summoning. Q10, Mimring, and DW9K all have synergy, nothing in the future is likely to bond with Chandra so synergy with the firecats seems fair.

[flameslayer93]

Do we need much in the way of synergy though? And how much synergy is too much that will feel tacked on?

Krav and Carr don’t synergize.
MW’s and NGS don’t synergize.
The vikings don’t synergize specifically with each other.
Drake and Airbornes don’t synergize.

Of all the thematic groups, the only one that does is the Deathwalker and Zettians, and that’s just a range bonus. At this point, we’re probably going to see a highly synergetic pairing with Jace and the Illusions.

Provided Chandra is a human, she’ll get synergy with Ebon Armor. If she goes to Utgar, then Ornak can take turns with her.

[Flash_19]

Originally Posted by flameslayer93

Do we need much in the way of synergy though? And how much synergy is too much that will feel tacked on?

Krav and Carr don’t synergize.
MW’s and NGS don’t synergize.
The vikings don’t synergize specifically with each other.
Drake and Airbornes don’t synergize.

Of all the thematic groups, the only one that does is the Deathwalker and Zettians, and that’s just a range bonus. At this point, we’re probably going to see a highly synergetic pairing with Jace and the Illusions.

Provided Chandra is a human, she’ll get synergy with Ebon Armor. If she goes to Utgar, then Ornak can take turns with her.

I think the idea to limit the number of units that synergize within the set is a good one. While yes, having synergy is cool, it also limits varieties of units played in an army. And with one of the goals of this project being a good starting place for new players, I think it's nice to not feel bound into certain armies (actually my biggest complaint about AotP in general).

[Pumpkin_King]

Yeah, that was actually the sort of stated goal - ROTV levels of synergy. Minor and/or generalized. Raelin and Finn/Thorgrim.

We're looking to pay homage to ROTV more than SOTM and AOTP.

[All Your Pie]

I personally don't object to light synergy, but if at all possible I would prefer to avoid creating designs that are completely dependent on each other. I want people to be able to take Chandra or the Firecats in whatever builds they choose, rather than having to take both of them to get decent value out of either. Jace and the Illusions are an exception to me just because of how much those figures resemble each other.

In general, I agree with the suggestions about making her an offense-focused toolkit. Another possibility would be to give her a ranged Double Attack, since I'd like to represent that power somewhere in the set and it seems fitting enough for a figure shooting fire out of both arms. That would be a pretty solid offensive punch on its own though, so we'd have to be careful to make her SA still worth using.

[Fakeraistlin]

Originally Posted by All Your Pie

I personally don't object to light synergy, but if at all possible I would prefer to avoid creating designs that are completely dependent on each other. I want people to be able to take Chandra or the Firecats in whatever builds they choose, rather than having to take both of them to get decent value out of either. Jace and the Illusions are an exception to me just because of how much those figures resemble each other.

In general, I agree with the suggestions about making her an offense-focused toolkit. Another possibility would be to give her a ranged Double Attack, since I'd like to represent that power somewhere in the set and it seems fitting enough for a figure shooting fire out of both arms. That would be a pretty solid offensive punch on its own though, so we'd have to be careful to make her SA still worth using.

I agree with the above. Especially the ability to not have to take phoenixes and firecats etc.

I think we should avoid the summoning powers for units such as Chandra to differentiate from AoTP and make units such as Kurrock and Jace unique.
Though like AoTP this Chandra is a fire mage of some kind. Which is the ability to manipulate/control fire.

As far as I know, there isn't a HS spell casting unit which has more than two modes for special attacks, so I submit the following for consideration:

Attack:2
Defense:2
Move:7
Range:5

Fiery Attack 'Normal Attack'

-For Defense units less than 3, automatic skull plus what is rolled.
-All skulls count as an additional skull
-Lava resistant creatures make this only an attack of 1

At the beginning on her turn before Chandra moves and attacks she can choose the following three modes that will be active until her next turn:

Fire Shield:
- Enables Lava resistance
- +3 Defense
- Enables Fire Shield Counterstrike

Fire Blast:
Instead of moving and attacking Chandra can cast Fire Blast -
Two hex wide blast of fiery death
Range 4 Attack 5
-Lava resistant creatures are unaffected

Fire Control:
Instead of moving and attacking Chandra can attempt control of any one creature within LOS and with Lava Resistance or has a Fire Based special attack. This control is lost if Chandra's changes her attack mode. Success depends on size of creature. S (5 or higher), M ( 10 or higher), L+ (15)

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by NecroBlade

Choose 3 spaces in a two straight lines from Chandra, each 3 spaces long. All figures on those spaces who are in line of sight are affected by Chandra's Burning Hands Special Attack. Roll 3 attack dice for all affected figures. Affected figures roll defense dice separately. After attacking with Burning Hands special attack, you may attack one additional time with Burning Hands special attack. Figures cannot be affected by Burning Hands Special Attack more than once per turn. Figures with the Lava Resistant special power are not affected by Burning Hands Special Attack.

I was trying to avoid any confusion about hitting an adjacent double-spaced figured with both lines (hit once or twice?), but yeah, I agree this version is better.

Originally Posted by Fakeraistlin

As far as I know, there isn't a HS spell casting unit which has more than two modes for special attacks, so I submit the following for consideration:

There are some good ideas here, but far too many for one unit. Both the amount of text and the complexity levels are untenable. Additionally, "until her next turn" powers should be avoided in general. They do exist (Cloud of Darkness) and can be used, but they add a memory mechanic. Without a physical representation ('X' order marker, another marker, etc), these sorts of things should be used very sparingly.

Really, just a unit with two different special attacks does most of what you intend: a unit with variable powers. Just in a simpler, more 'Scapy way.

[Pumpkin_King]

The illusions also (will hopefully) work with other Archmages.

I really, really like the double fire line. 2 “rows” of 3-4 spaces each. That’s a very good twist on a classic ability. I could take or leave an explosion SA, even if I like the idea of two SAs.