The Book of Star-Lord

[quozl]

I'd just make it so blanks count as shields.

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by johnny139

RAGTAG LEADERSHIP
While every Unique Hero in your army has a different Species and a different Class, they each roll an additional die when defending or attacking.

So, we'll go with that. The problem with making Lucky Defense work for all attacks is that that power is identical to Vibranium Alloy Shield.

I like this, though it'll need careful testing to make sure A) it's not too strong and B) it doesn't overshadow Cap. Making it work on a revealed OM and/or clear sight would help there, and I'd like to see one or the other to start. It currently boosts Star-Lord as well, is that intended?

Also, Vibranium Alloy Shield doesn't require a shield to be rolled:

VIBRANIUM ALLOY SHIELD
When defending against an attack, Captain America always adds one automatic shield to whatever is rolled.

Blanks definitely feel more 'lucky' though.

Oh, and I'd like to see the SA bumped to 3 Attack. 2 Attack is pretty much useless in C3G. Even with the movement, 3 Would make it much more useful.

[johnny139]

I noticed that Star-Lord was boosted too and made sure to discount that. I intend to limit it to 5 clear sight spaces if it proves too powerful, but clear sight to begin with sounds good to me.

We could go up to 3 Attack if that makes sense. I didn't get much mileage out of Distracting Fire for damage, but it got him (and other people) moving, which was the real utility.

Any suggestions for good units to include in an army with him?

[TrollBrute]

Sounds good.

Originally Posted by johnny139

Any suggestions for good units to include in an army with him?

One of my big worries was Ms. Marvel, but I just realized that they are both Leaders, so that won't be a problem. I'd try him with Enchantress or Cap to make sure the doubled boosts don't overpower anyone. Merlyn, Deadpool and Cable are units that spring to mind, though anyone with multiple attacks and/or any powers that hinge on Skulls or Shields (Deadly Strike, Counterstrike, etc.) will benefit greatly. The neat thing about Rag-Tag Tactician is that it will make it tricky to build around those armies which should lead to some really unusual builds.

Hawkeye (II) would be a nice choice to get Star-Lord out into the battle where his SA will shine. Kid Flash is a good tag-along too, Attack and Defense boosts are big for him and he can move alongside your heroes without needing an OM.

[IAmBatman]

Good stuff, TB.

[johnny139]

Great stuff - I didn't notice he and Ms. Marvel overlapped class-wise, since I was focusing on Species, which means the one advantage he gave in the last test was technically an illegal move.

[IAmBatman]

Spartoi definitely won't hold him back any on this one. It's nice that he's limited to one Human, one Mutant, and one Mutate, though.

[johnny139]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Star-Lord

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit too powerful or too weak.
PASS

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
PASS (BIG improvement compared to the first run!)

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? ~250 POINTS
- Give a brief overview. Okay, without the adjacency clause - and with Distracting Fire boosted a bit - Star-Lord becomes a leader to believe in! There's nothing here that couldn't be done with Captain America, but Distracting Fire provides great support, even if Peter himself isn't as able a combatant.
Map: Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh
Units: Star-Lord, Punisher, Enchantress, Zatanna (1000 Points) vs. Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Spider-Man: Peter Parker, Jewel, Human Torch (1000 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

[COLOR=red]Mystic Punishment wins; 4 Wounds on Star-Lord, 4 Wounds on Punisher, 1 Wound on Zatanna, 1 Wound on Enchantress, 5 Rounds.

ROUND 1: Pretty much a round of moving out. Punisher gets to height, Star-Lord fires some distracting shots at Iron Fist to move him there. Enchantress and Luke Cage as Order Marker hubs.

ROUND 2: The Fighters move in, but Punisher on height is an absolute menace - rolling eight dice from height! He takes four wounds from Jewel and Luke Cage's assault, but blows away Human Torch and Luke Cage (who has an unfortunate whiff) before the end of the round.

ROUND 3: Punisher gets the initiative and kills off Jewel. Since she had two Order Markers, Zatanna and Enchantress move in; Spider-Man dodges an attack and swings in.

ROUND 4: Zatanna tries to hurt Spider-Man, but he swings away, then pulls Enchantress into the muck, dealing a wound. Star-Lord comes in and fires off his Distracting Fire, letting her move back into the loose pod. But then Spidey does it again, so Star-Lord ends up taking ANOTHER turn to do the same thing. Iron Fist leaps into the fray and wounds both Star-Lord and Zatanna, then heals.

ROUND 5: Spider-Man swings in to tie up Punisher, but Star-Lord uses Distracting Fire to move everything around, letting Punisher disengage and Enchantress take his place. Iron Fist then jumps in and gives a HUGE hit to Star-Lord, bringing him down to one Life. Punisher lets loose and turns Iron Fist to dough. The next blast is at Spider-Man, who doesn't dodge and is killed in one hit.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? 220-240 POINTS
- Give a brief overview. The boost from Tactics did some real damage, but again, Distracting Fire was the real hero here, moving units around and dealing the stray wound to Scarlet Witch. He's a helluva leader, very fun to play.
Map: Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh
Units: Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Wonder Man (1000 Points) vs. Professor X, Rogue, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops (995 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

[COLOR=red]Guardians of the Galaxy win; 3 Wounds on Star-Lord, Groot unharmed, all others destroyed, 9 Rounds.

ROUND 1: In the first round, Wonder Man, Groot, and Star-Lord are all cursed. Wonder Man takes two wounds from Scarlet Witch.

ROUND 2: A round where, really, nothing happens. Groot is wounded but heals at the end of the round; beyond that, they just swing and fail to hit over and over again.

ROUND 3: Wonder Man takes one wound from Scarlet Witch, but things are good for the Guardians - Rocket uses his BFG to blow Cyclops away in one hit, while Wonder Man gets a 3 Wound hit in on Rogue.

ROUND 4: Rogue is able to Drain Wonder Man, while Rogue and Star-Lord trade blows. Rocket blasts Wanda for one, but Rogue then uses her new Ionic powers to knock Wonder Man's block off. She then flies over to give Rocket a three-wound hit, since Wonder Man had two markers.

ROUND 5: Rocket fires off his BFG, blowing Rogue away... and killing himself in the process. Star-Lord hits Scarlet Witch for one, and takes one in return from her.

ROUND 6: Scarlet is brought up to three wounds, as is Star-Lord. Groot joins the party.

ROUND 7: Groot swings big, and Scarlet goes down. He moves in to pursue the Professor.

ROUND 8: Groot hits the Professor for two, while the Professor responds for one.

ROUND 9: Very slow going... but finally, Groot grinds him down.

_____________________________________________________________

FINAL THOUGHTS: Big improvement power-wise, definitely mid-200s. I think bringing Distracting Fire back down to 2 would help keep him down a bit (as-is it's too consistent - it's not that 85% is ridiculously consistent, but I prefer it at 75% with less chance to wound (wounds should be a happy accident there - it's really no meant to be an attack). And I think a range of 5 on Ragtag Tactics would be good, too - it wouldn't have made a difference in either game, I think, but it shoudl keep things interesting.

I think with those changes down, 230 sounds good, with even that being a bit high.

[TrollBrute]

He was played at 200 in those tests? Yeah, with those changes I could see 220-230.

[IAmBatman]

Agreed. Though I'd go 6 spaces for the range on Ragtag Tactics, because that's the range for Cap's power and I think it'll be easier to remember as a result.

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Agreed. Though I'd go 6 spaces for the range on Ragtag Tactics, because that's the range for Cap's power and I think it'll be easier to remember as a result.

How many of you are still playing with the out-dated version of Cap? His power doesn't have a range limit:

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
At the start of the game, you may choose up to 5 other Unique Heroes you control and place a white Avenger Marker on each of their cards. While there is a revealed Order Marker on this card, any figure you control with an Avenger Marker on its card adds 1 extra die to its normal attack and 1 extra die to its defense when that figure is within clear sight of Captain America.

[IAmBatman]

I don't think I actually play him that way, I was just misremembering. Still, 6 spaces seems like a more common range restriction for these powers than 5 ....