The Book of Shadow King

[IAmBatman]

The Book of Shadow King

C3G MARVEL WAVE 35
MUTANT MULTIVERSE


Comic PDF


Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Mutant Mayhem set.
Its model number and name are #093 / Shadow King.

NOTE: Shadow King requires The Astral Plane.

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Character Bio – The Shadow King exists as an entity of pure psychic energy that feeds on the hatred of humanity. It manifests itself on the physical plane by possessing the bodies of human beings.
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• Q: Shadow Manipulation doesn't specify when control of the Manipulated figure returns to its original player. When does that happen?
  A: The figure being Manipulated is 'temporarily controlled', meaning that immediately after the figure turn ends, control reverts to the player who controlled it before Shadow Manipulation.

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• Shadow King must choose a Unique Telepath Hero you control to be its Tether.

Outgoing Synergy:

• N/A

Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses:

• As a figure with the Flying special power, Shadow King interacts differently with certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with the Flying special power.
• As a Construct, Shadow King interacts differently with these special powers.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: (IAmBatman)
• Second playtest: (Captain Redbeard)
• Third playtest: (Tornado)
• Fun Test: (Bats and Tickle)
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Figure Tutorial by: (tcgkln)
• Art by Soundwarp SG-1

[Good Pig]

NAME = SHADOW KING

SPECIES = MANIFESTATION
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = PARASITE
PERSONALITY = MALEVOLENT
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 8
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 5
DEFENSE = 5
POINTS = 300

PSYCHIC HOST
At the start of the game, place Shadow King on any empty space in the Astral Plane instead of your start zone, then choose a Unique Telepath Hero you control without a Tether Marker on its card and place Shadow King's black Tether Marker on the chosen Hero’s card. While his Tether Marker is on that card, the chosen Hero is Shadow King's Tether.

RULER OF THE ASTRAL PLANE
Instead of taking a turn with his Tether, you may take a turn with Shadow King. If you do, for the rest of the round, Shadow King's Tether cannot move or attack. Once per game, if Shadow King's Tether would be destroyed, receives enough wounds to be destroyed, or would have its Tether Marker removed in any way except by this special power, Shadow King instead receives two wounds. If Shadow King is destroyed, remove his Tether Marker from the game.

SHADOW MANIPULATION
If Shadow King would inflict at least one wound on a Manifestation with his normal attack, instead of placing any Wound Markers you may take temporary control of that Manifestation's Tether and immediately take a turn with that figure.

FLYING

Spoiler Alert!

Old Version:
NAME = SHADOW KING
SECRET IDENTITY = AMAHL FAROUK

SPECIES = ENTITY
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = TELEPATH
PERSONALITY = INSATIABLE

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 6

LIFE = 8

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 5
DEFENSE = 6

POINTS = 500?

INTANGIBILITY
Shadow King can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement. Shadow King cannot be targeted by an opponent's non-adjacent figure for any attack or special power that requires clear sight.

POSSESSION
After moving and instead of attacking, you may choose an opponent's adjacent Unique Hero without the Mental Shield special power to be Shadow King’s possessed Hero. Place Shadow King on the possessed Hero's Army Card. After revealing an Order Marker on this card and instead of taking a turn with Shadow King, you may either take a turn with the possessed Hero or remove Shadow King from the possessed Hero’s card and place him on any empty space on the battlefield. While taking a turn with the possessed Hero, you control it for the duration of its turn. At the end of its turn, control of the possessed Hero returns to its previous owner. All Order Markers that were on the figure's Army Card will stay on the Army Card.

MENTAL DUEL
If Shadow King’s possessed Hero would roll defense against an attack from a friendly Telepath, instead Shadow King must roll defense and receive any wounds inflicted instead of the possessed Hero.

SUPER STRENGTH SYMBOL
FLYING SYMBOL

[Scapemage]

I browsed the thread and have pulled these resources.

Here's the original write-up in the SP:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = SHADOW KING
SECRET IDENTITY = AMAHL FAROUK

SPECIES = ENTITY
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = TELEPATH
PERSONALITY = INSATIABLE

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 6

LIFE = 8

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 5
DEFENSE = 6

POINTS = 500?

INTANGIBILITY
Shadow King can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement. Shadow King cannot be targeted by an opponent's non-adjacent figure for any attack or special power that requires clear sight.

POSSESSION
After moving and instead of attacking, you may choose an opponent's adjacent Unique Hero without the Mental Shield special power to be Shadow King’s possessed Hero. Place Shadow King on the possessed Hero's Army Card. After revealing an Order Marker on this card and instead of taking a turn with Shadow King, you may either take a turn with the possessed Hero or remove Shadow King from the possessed Hero’s card and place him on any empty space on the battlefield. While taking a turn with the possessed Hero, you control it for the duration of its turn. At the end of its turn, control of the possessed Hero returns to its previous owner. All Order Markers that were on the figure's Army Card will stay on the Army Card.

MENTAL DUEL
If Shadow King’s possessed Hero would roll defense against an attack from a friendly Telepath, instead Shadow King must roll defense and receive any wounds inflicted instead of the possessed Hero.

SUPER STRENGTH SYMBOL
FLYING SYMBOL

Here's Viegon's write-up from the Public Design Workshop:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = Amahl Farouk

SPECIES = Mutant
UNIQUENESS = Unique Hero
CLASS = Telepath
PERSONALITY = Manipulative
SIZE/HEIGHT = Medium 5

LIFE = 4
MOVE = 4
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 130

ASTRAL PROJECTING
At the start of the game, if Shadow King is in your army, place him on this card. After rolling for initiative each round, if Amahl Farouk has not been destroyed, you may place Shadow King on any empty space adjacent to Amahl Farouk, or place Shadow King on this card. While Shadow King is in play but not on this card, Amahl Farouk cannot move, attack, or use any special powers on this Army Card or on any glyph.

PSYCHIC RETALIATION X
Once per round, if Amahl Farouk is attacked by a figure that does not have the Mental Shield special power, and at least 1 skull is rolled, you may reveal the “X” Order Marker on this card. After revealing the “X” Order Marker, Amahl Farouk receives no wounds and you may roll 1 one unblockable attack die against the attacking figure.



NAME = Shadow King

SPECIES = Astral Projection
UNIQUENESS = Event Hero
CLASS = Telepath
PERSONALITY = Manipulative
SIZE/HEIGHT = Medium 5

LIFE = 6
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 7
DEFENSE = 6
POINTS = 270

MASTER OF THE ASTRAL WORLD
Shadow King does not start the game on the battlefield. If Shadow King is on the card of a figure when that figure is destroyed, Shadow King receives one wound and must be placed on the space previously occupied by the destroyed figure, if possible. Before rolling for initiative at the start of each round, if Shadow King is on the battlefield, he receives one wound.

ASTRAL PLAIN
Shadow King can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins. Shadow King cannot attack or be attacked by, targeted or chosen for special powers by, or take or roll for leaving engagement attacks from any figure that is not an Astral Projection or Telepath.

TELEPATHIC POSSESSION
After moving and instead of attacking, you may choose an opponent's adjacent Unique Hero that is not an Astral Projection and that does not have the Mental Shield special power. Place Shadow King on the chosen Hero's Army Card. You now control that Hero and its Army Card. Remove all Order Markers from its card. After revealing an Order Marker on this card and instead of taking a turn with Shadow King, you may either take a turn with the chosen Hero or remove Shadow King from the chosen Hero’s card and place Shadow King on any empty space adjacent to the chosen Hero. At the end of each round, if Shadow King is on an opponent's card, you must roll 1 combat die. If you roll a skull, you must place Shadow King on any empty space adjacent to the chosen Hero, if possible. If Shadow King is removed from the chosen Hero's card, control of the chosen Hero returns to its previous owner.

SUPER STRENGTH
FLYING

Here's the completed Deadman card:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = DEADMAN
SECRET IDENTITY = BOSTON BRAND

SPECIES = UNDEAD
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = VAGABOND
PERSONALITY = CURIOUS

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = 165

INTANGIBILITY
Deadman can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement. Deadman cannot be targeted by opponents' non-adjacent figures for any attacks or for any opponents' special powers that require clear sight.

SPECTRAL POSSESSION 15
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and before taking a turn with Deadman, you may choose a Unique Hero adjacent to Deadman. Roll the the 20-sided die, adding 3 to your roll if the chosen Hero is friendly. If you roll 14 or lower, Deadman cannot move this turn. If you roll 15 or higher, possess that Hero by placing Deadman on its Army Card. Take control of the possessed Hero and its Army Card and remove any Order Markers on that card. While that Hero is possessed, instead of taking a turn with Deadman, you may take a turn a turn with the possessed Hero. At the end of the round or before the possessed Hero would be removed from the battlefield while Deadman is on its card, place Deadman on an empty space adjacent to the possessed Hero and return control of the Hero to the player who controlled it before it was possessed. Spectral Possession cannot be used to possess Androids, Constructs, Undead, or figures with the Mental Shield special power.

FLYING SYMBOL

Some takeaways from the thread's discussion:

• Shadow King both had a period where he could not survive without a host body, and a period where he creates an entity copy of Farouk to be his main body.
• There were thematic concerns with removing the possessed body from the main board when Shadow King and the possessed body fought on the Astral Plane.
• Telepaths should have a significant advantage when fighting Shadow King. There was discussion of making him immune to non-Telepaths entirely.
• The Astral Plane kind of represents a battle between the possessed body's mind and Shadow King.
• Shadow King can easily possess people to the point where it should be automatic.
• The design was closed originally to let it fester, not due to a stalemate.

Finally, here is my proposed starting point going forward:

NAME = SHADOW KING
SECRET IDENTITY = AMAHL FAROUK

SPECIES = ENTITY
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = TELEPATH
PERSONALITY = INSATIABLE

SIZE/HEIGHT = ??? ?

LIFE = 8

MOVE = ?
RANGE = ?
ATTACK = ?
DEFENSE = ?

POINTS = ???

ASTRAL PLANE
Start the game with one 7-hex Astral Plane card. Astral Plane cards must be placed adjacent to one another. Spaces on the Astral Plane are considered part of the battlefield, but are not within line of sight of other spaces.

PSYCHIC ENTITY
While not on the Astral Plane, Shadow King can only be targeted for attacks and special powers by Telepaths, and after taking a turn with him, he receives one wound.

ASTRAL POSSESSION
Instead of moving Shadow King, you may choose a Unique Hero adjacent to Shadow King. Place Shadow King and the chosen Hero on Astral Place cards. While on the Astral Plane, if Shadow King is destroyed, place the chosen Hero in its Start Zone, or if the chosen Hero is destroyed, place Shadow King in his Start Zone. Astral Possession cannot be used to possess Androids, Constructs, Undead, or figures with the Mental Shield special power.

SUPER STRENGTH SYMBOL
FLYING SYMBOL

[IAmBatman]

OK, Soundwarp noted on Discord that in the current version, you'd just want to use Shadow King as a damage soak to create invincible Martian Manhunter or Phoenix or whomever and never use him to do anything on the Astral Plane, which would be a total fail. He suggested lowering the life to 4 and upping the attack and defense to 5 each. My concern is that'll make it feel futile to battle Shadow King on the actual Astral Plane, which is what I was hoping would come out of this design.

So here's my counter suggestion:

Originally Posted by SP

NAME = SHADOW KING

SPECIES = MANIFESTATION
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = PARASITE
PERSONALITY = MALEVOLENT
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 8
MOVE = 6
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 280?

PSYCHIC HOST
At the start of the game, place Shadow King on any empty space in the Astral Plane instead of your start zone, then choose a Unique Telepath Hero you control without a Tether marker on its card and place Shadow King's black Tether marker on chosen Hero’s card. While his Tether marker is on that card, the chosen Hero is Shadow King's Tether.

RULER OF THE ASTRAL PLANE
Instead of taking a turn with his Tether, you must take a turn with Shadow King. If you do, for the rest of the round, Shadow King's Tether cannot move or attack. Whenever Shadow King's Tether would be destroyed, receives enough wounds to be destroyed, or would have its Tether marker removed in any way except by this special power, Shadow King instead receives one wound. If Shadow King is destroyed, remove his Tether marker from the game.

SHADOW MANIPULATION
If Shadow King would inflict at least one wound on a Manifestation with his normal attack, instead of placing any wound markers you may take temporary control of that Manifestation's Tether and immediately take a turn with that figure. At the end of the turn, control of the figure returns to the player who controlled the Hero before the Shadow Manipulation.

FLYING

That way he'd still be a damage soak, but you couldn't really do anything with his Tether, so you might as well just use him instead.

I dunno. Does that make it work?

Edit: Also changed to avoid him taking control of Manifestations. The theme I want to hit is his taking control of their Tethers, so that other part isn't really serving a purpose.

[Ronin]

PSYCHIC HOST
At the start of the game, place Shadow King on any empty space in the Astral Plane instead of your start zone, then choose a Unique Telepath Hero you control without a Tether Marker on its card and place Shadow King's black Tether Marker on the chosen Hero’s card. While his Tether Marker is on that card, the chosen Hero is Shadow King's Tether.

RULER OF THE ASTRAL PLANE
Instead of taking a turn with his Tether, you may take a turn with Shadow King. If you do, for the rest of the round, Shadow King's Tether cannot move or attack. Once per game, if Shadow King's Tether would be destroyed, receives enough wounds to be destroyed, or would have its Tether Marker removed in any way except by this special power, Shadow King instead receives two wounds. If Shadow King is destroyed, remove his Tether Marker from the game.

SHADOW MANIPULATION
If Shadow King would inflict at least one wound on a Manifestation with his normal attack, instead of placing any Wound Markers you may take temporary control of that Manifestation's Tether and immediately take a turn with that figure. At the end of the turn, control of the figure returns to the player who controlled it before the Shadow Manipulation.

Mainly capitalization stuff. I'd have to brush up on the Astral Plane stuff to be more solid on the mechanics, but nothing seems obviously wack.

Note on the blue: this language is missing from M. Bison. I'd either:
a) put it on him when you update the card, or
b) just start leaving it off and define "temporary control" in the rules to mean that you always hand control back after doing whatever the power tells you to do with the figure. (Usually take a turn, possibly just move)

[A3n]

Mini Picture


Comic Picture



Background


Looks like a solid write-up.

[tcglkn]

Wasn't there a Glyph involved in your draft?

[SirGalahad]

MENTAL DUEL
If Shadow King’s possessed Hero would roll defense against an attack from a friendly Telepath, instead Shadow King must roll defense and receive any wounds inflicted instead of the possessed Hero.


friendly to whom? Shadow King or the possessed Hero?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Wasn't there a Glyph involved in your draft?

Yeah, I really do like this write up, but I also miss the Astral Plane aspects. Right now this seems like it'll end up too close to what a future Deadman may look like.
Also, should he be able to attack at all if he's not possessive a figure? I guess he has to, though, or he couldn't kill the last figure in an enemy army ... though if he possessed that last figure, the game would be over anyway, right?

[tcglkn]

I assumed if he wasn't possessing someone that his attack represented a mental assault (A strong one!). I'm not familiar with the character to say if I am right or not though.

[Good Pig]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Wasn't there a Glyph involved in your draft?

Yeah, I actually had quite an extensive write up at one point that involved a new rule set with Location Cards and Gateway Glyphs. It was a fun concept but I didn't think anyone would be would go for such an elaborate set up for one guy. Was too much so I scaled it back.

Originally Posted by SirGalahad

MENTAL DUEL
If Shadow King’s possessed Hero would roll defense against an attack from a friendly Telepath, instead Shadow King must roll defense and receive any wounds inflicted instead of the possessed Hero.


friendly to whom? Shadow King or the possessed Hero?

Supposed to be Telepath friendly to the possessed Hero. I probably need to fix the current wording.

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Yeah, I really do like this write up, but I also miss the Astral Plane aspects. Right now this seems like it'll end up too close to what a future Deadman may look like.
Also, should he be able to attack at all if he's not possessive a figure? I guess he has to, though, or he couldn't kill the last figure in an enemy army ... though if he possessed that last figure, the game would be over anyway, right?

I'm not familiar with Deadman and not sure if anyone has him drafted.

Basically the glyph I had was a really long winded theme heavy version of what the Mental Duel power does. Maybe I can pump up the theme a little more by calling the power Battle On The Astral Plane?

He needs to be able to attack somehow without possessing someone for game balance reasons. Especially if he is going to cost upwards of 450 points.

Originally Posted by tcglkn

I assumed if he wasn't possessing someone that his attack represented a mental assault (A strong one!). I'm not familiar with the character to say if I am right or not though.

That's exactly what I'm going for.

[tcglkn]

You have my interest piqued now, can you PM me your original design? I think this design works well if you fix SirG's issue.