The Book of Ash Williams

[Ronin]

Chainsaw SA is the same as the Asgardian Warrior's Shield Bash now, so that might be an issue.

(Maybe let it be a 4-die SA like Leatherface's, but have him subtract a skull for each blank instead of taking a wound? To represent him keeping the chainsaw under control as opposed to just going hog-wild and also hurting himself)

I take it the last clause of 'Army of Darkness' is supposed to apply to the figures you chose as well as the figures your opponent chose to resurrect?

Really liking the current direction.

[Arkham]

Good catch. I do like trying to create a parallel as much as possible with both Chainsaw Special Attacks with the shields and blanks changing things. Rather than a blank subtracting a skull, along the same thematic vein you're suggesting, we can go with a requirement that no blanks be rolled to trigger the shields counting as skulls. Keeping it at an attack of 3 though to represent the strength difference, as well as Ash getting the defense subtraction of 1 against Demons, Slashers, and Undead.

Correct on the clause. The Hero your opponent resurrects(6 or lower) will gain the species of Demon, as well as your opponent's Hero that you choose(13 or higher).

[Arkham]

Ultimately though I'm fine with either approach on the Chainsaw, both have their pro/con element and capture the theme. So whatever people prefer.

CHAINSAW SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 3.
When attacking with this special attack, if no blanks are rolled, all shields rolled count as extra skulls.

CHAINSAW SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 4.
When attacking with this special attack, each shield rolled counts as 1 additional skull, and each blank rolled counts as one fewer skull.

[quozl]

I like the no blanks requirement.

[johnny139]

Yeah, I prefer the first one. Keep is simple, the other powers are pretty complex.

[Yodaking]

Just doing the math here:

CHAINSAW SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 3.
When attacking with this special attack, if no blanks are rolled, all shields rolled count as extra skulls.

CHAINSAW SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 4.
When attacking with this special attack, each shield rolled counts as 1 additional skull, and each blank rolled counts as one fewer skull.

3 blanks = 0 hits / 0 hits
2 blanks + 1 shield = 0 hits / 0 hits
2 blanks + 1 skull = 1 hit / 0 hits
1 blank + 2 shields = 0 hits / 1 hit
1 blank + 2 skulls = 2 hits / 1 hit
1 blank + 1 skull + 1 shield = 1 hit / 1 hit
3 skulls = 3 hits / 3 hits
2 skulls + 1 shield = 3 hits / 3 hits
1 skull + 2 shields = 3 hits / 3 hits
3 shields = 3 hits / 3 hits

I don't see much difference, the first one looks slightly better so I say go with that.

[Arkham]

The 2nd version has an attack of 4. But it's all good either way.

[Yodaking]

I didn't see that. Still like the 1st one.

[Arkham]

I'm thinking dok is a bit overwhelmed or busy at the moment, so we can probably move forward. Is there anything that stands out as potentially problematic to anyone else? The first 2 powers are standard fare, if anything pops up it'd be with the last power, so breaking that down:

The potential unblockable on himself/ally/enemy seems standard.

The species of Demon is in addition to their current species, not overwriting/replacing it, so that shouldn't be an issue other than maybe when put up against a Star-Lord build.

The opponent getting to revive a fallen Hero could be good, but that's helping your opponent and it's their choice of who to revive, so I can't imagine there's a concern there from a competitively broken standpoint. They also only come back with up to 2 life remaining.

So we should be in the clear I'd guess, with him being a counter to Star-Lord armies being the only thing that stands out to me. That being said, he's not incredibly resilient, the roll is random and numbers can be tweaked, and it's only once at the end of each round that he's alive.

[Yodaking]

I'm not really concerned about him being a Star-Lord counter.

[dok]

Sorry, have been busy for the last few days but taking a look now.

The first two powers are straightforward as can be, so let's get to the meat of it:

Originally Posted by Arkham

ARMY OF DARKNESS
At the end of the round, you must roll the 20-sided die. If you roll:
• 6 or lower, choose an opponent. The chosen opponent must then choose a destroyed Hero in your army, if possible. That opponent must take control of that Hero and its card, place or remove Wound Markers until the Hero has up to 2 Life remaining, and place the Hero on an empty space adjacent to a figure they control.
• 7-12, roll an unblockable attack die against Ash or a figure adjacent to Ash.
• 13 or higher, choose a Hero an opponent controls.
For the remainder of the game, a Hero chosen by Army of Darkness has the species of Demon in addition to what is listed on its card.

Wording suggestions

First, as I mentioned before I think the 6 or lower effect has to be limited to unique heroes, due to card management issues.

I think the second option needs to explicitly say "must" for clarity.

I think it's probably worth using markers for Army of Darkness.

Balance suggestion

I don't have any big problems here. As I gather others have noticed, he does counter the Guardians by hitting the 13+ power multiple times. This isn't a huge problem, although I think it would be reasonable to limit the effect to heroes within 5 or 6 spaces, so he can't just sit in the back of the startzone and passively nullify the Guardians.

Gameplay suggestions

I think the back from the dead power is a little easier to manage if special powers are negated. This would serve to lessen the intensity of the negative effect, and it seems reasonably thematic.

You could also argue Army of Darkness shouldn't work on constructs or androids. This would, in turn, encourage using Ash in armies with those figures (to avoid the negative effect), although you could put something in the Evil Dead power that says you can't draft those figures with Ash if you really want to .

Given my previous suggestion of a limited range, I think it's hella thematic if Ash *has* to choose a figure with the 13+ effect, and has to choose himself if he doesn't have other options.

Here's a shot at it:

ARMY OF DARKNESS
Begin the game with 6 Red Possession Markers. At the end of the round, you must roll the 20-sided die. If you roll:

• 7 or lower, choose an opponent. The chosen opponent must then choose a destroyed Unique Hero in your army that is not a construct or android, if possible. Place a Possession Marker on that card and place or remove Wound Markers until the Hero has up to 2 Life remaining. That opponent takes control of that Hero and its card and places the Hero on an empty space adjacent to a figure they control.
• 8-13, you must roll an unblockable attack die against Ash or a figure adjacent to Ash.
• 14 or higher, you must choose Ash or any other unique Hero an opponent controls within 6 spaces of Ash that is not a Demon and place a Possession Marker on that figure's Army Card.

For the remainder of the game, any Hero with a Possession Marker on its card has the species of Demon in addition to what is listed on its card. A previously destroyed figure with a Possession Marker on its card has all of its special powers negated.

So much of the red there is just the marker stuff... here's without the red:

ARMY OF DARKNESS
Begin the game with 6 Red Possession Markers. At the end of the round, you must roll the 20-sided die. If you roll:

• 7 or lower, choose an opponent. The chosen opponent must then choose a destroyed Unique Hero in your army that is not a construct or android, if possible. Place a Possession Marker on that card and place or remove Wound Markers until the Hero has up to 2 Life remaining. That opponent takes control of that Hero and its card and places the Hero on an empty space adjacent to a figure they control.
• 8-13, you must roll an unblockable attack die against Ash or a figure adjacent to Ash.
• 14 or higher, you must choose Ash or any other unique Hero within 6 spaces of Ash that is not a Demon and place a Possession Marker on that figure's Army Card.

For the remainder of the game, any Hero with a Possession Marker on its card has the species of Demon in addition to what is listed on its card. A previously destroyed figure with a Possession Marker on its card has all of its special powers negated.

[Yodaking]

Is the special powers negation idea because of things like Grundy coming back from the dead for your opponent? I just don't think I'd ever draft Grundy with Ash since he couldn't come back for you from the dead if he switched teams while dead.