The Book of Rover

[Yodaking]

Beat Cops don't have mutant synergy though or are able to carry figures around with them.

I just think pairing him up with the 280+ point mutants will drive his price point and make him no longer a good option to pair up with the 100-200 point mutants as he won't earn back his points in those team-ups. The 100-200 level mutants are the ones I'd like to see this guy protecting though, he is suppose to be protecting those who are in need of protection not the body guard of kings. I don't know how to do that without referencing points but we should try to come up with a way to have him protecting those most in need of protection.

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Beat Cops don't have mutant synergy though or are able to carry figures around with them.

I just think pairing him up with the 280+ point mutants will drive his price point and make him no longer a good option to pair up with the 100-200 point mutants as he won't earn back his points in those team-ups. The 100-200 level mutants are the ones I'd like to see this guy protecting though, he is suppose to be protecting those who are in need of protection not the body guard of kings. I don't know how to do that without referencing points but we should try to come up with a way to have him protecting those most in need of protection.

Well I don't see how opposing the power up to all Mutants is going to encourage you to play him with weaker units. If Magneto's his best combo, that's what will get played.

Also, I don't get where the idea that he only protects weaker Mutants comes from. No matter which version of Rover you're looking at, he's just developed a strong bond with one person, be it Tom Skylark or Polaris. He's not some "Defender of the Weak!", he's a projector of those close to him. And he's usually portrayed in a dystopian future where all Mutants are in need of protection.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by japes

Do you think there would be a way to make a Tom Skylark card worth the effort and add some kind of bonding to that card or is choosing a companion enough to do it justice here?

Meant to reply to this yesterday, but I was stuck on a phone with crappy signal. I prefer A/1, but the B/2 (Mutant-friendly with a non-bonding companion power) options would also be okay for me, under the premise that the relevant thematic companions could beef up their synergy with Rover if/when they get designed.

(Not sure about Tom Skylark, whose odds of getting a mini seem doubtful, but I'm definitely hoping to see Juston in C3G at some point)

[Viegon]

How about:

??? COMPANION
At the start of the game, you may choose a Unique Human or Mutant Hero you control to be Rover's Companion. After revealing an Order Marker on the chosen Companion's card and before taking a turn with that figure, you may take an immediate turn with Rover. During this turn, Rover can only attack figures engaged with the chosen Companion and rolls 1 additional attack die. After using this special power, you may not take a turn with any other figures except the chosen Companion.

DESTROY!
If Rover's Companion or a Mutant figure adjacent to Rover would receive one or more wounds from an attack, Rover must receive those wounds instead. If he does, and the attacking figure is within 4 clear sight spaces of Rover, the attacking figure receives one wound.

CARRY or DOUBLE CARRY

This leaves the design open to its various interpretations, but keeps it mostly focused on Mutants. If he comes in too powerful there are plenty of tweaks that can be made (removing the attack boost from the bonding, limiting the protector power farther, etc.).

My .

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by Viegon

How about:

This leaves the design open to its various interpretations, but keeps it mostly focused on Mutants. If he comes in too powerful there are plenty of tweaks that can be made (removing the attack boost from the bonding, limiting the protector power farther, etc.).

My .

I could roll with that if the group preference is to open up the defensive power. It's solid, but shouldn't be much better than the Mutant Sidekicks or Zombie.

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by TrollBrute

NAME = ROVER

SPECIES = ANDROID
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = PROTECTOR
PERSONALITY = LOYAL

SIZE/HEIGHT = HUGE 20

LIFE = 3

MOVE = 4
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 6

POINTS = ???

SENTINEL COMPANION
At the start of the game, you may choose a Unique Human or Mutant Hero you control to be Rover's Companion. After revealing an Order Marker on the chosen Companion's card and before taking a turn with that figure, you may take an immediate turn with Rover. During this turn, Rover can only attack figures engaged with the chosen Companion and rolls 1 additional attack die. After using this special power, you may not take a turn with any other figures except the chosen Companion.

DESTROY!
If Rover's Companion or a Mutant figure adjacent to Rover would receive one or more wounds from an attack, Rover must receive those wounds instead. If he does, and the attacking figure is within 4 clear sight spaces of Rover, the attacking figure receives one wound.

CARRY
Before moving Rover, you may choose an unengaged friendly small or medium figure adjacent to Rover. After you move Rover, place the chosen figure adjacent to Rover.

SUPER STRENGTH

FLYING

The more I think about this, the more I like it and I think it's a solid compromise between what everyone wants. I've updated the SP with this, and I propose we move to Initial Testing with the above design.

[Viegon]

Yea

[japes]

Looks good to me

[Yodaking]

One last question before I vote, we don't want him rolling defense dice here instead of just taking wounds? He is going to have a better def. than many mutants so why not have him roll def. instead of the adj. mutant/companion? With only 3 life, taking wounds when someone else rolls 4 def. dice on an attack is going to be brutal. I'd almost not want to have him adj. to my companion (unless it is Blob) if I can help it. I'd also like to see the base att. moved up to 4. I get he is a damaged Sentinel put together with spare parts, a -1 att./-1 def. modifier seems sufficient. No need to -2 to att.

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

One last question before I vote, we don't want him rolling defense dice here instead of just taking wounds? He is going to have a better def. than many mutants so why not have him roll def. instead of the adj. mutant/companion? With only 3 life, taking wounds when someone else rolls 4 def. dice on an attack is going to be brutal. I'd almost not want to have him adj. to my companion (unless it is Blob) if I can help it. I'd also like to see the base att. moved up to 4. I get he is a damaged Sentinel put together with spare parts, a -1 att./-1 def. modifier seems sufficient. No need to -2 to att.

Both are for balance reasons, and the former is for mechanical ones as well. Rolling defense dice is a fiddly mechanic and I much prefer the cleaner taking wounds. For the 3 Attack, I have it there because if you're attacking with him it's mostly going to be with the attack boost from Sentinel Companion. We'll see what testing shows though, and we can always bump it back up.

[dok]

Definitely a really strong design. Carry, wound-soak, defensive power that inflicts wounds, and free bonding for a human or mutant. Every part of his power set hits metagame sweet spots.

Of course mutants already have their sidekicks and other companions/bonding options, but carry and the defensive power put him past the other sidekicks in my mind. And generic human heroes don't really have anything that compares, at least in the OM-keeping bonding department. He blows past Bucky and Zombie as the best partner for C3G Captain America, for instance.

Rover, C3G Cap, Star-Lord, Deadpool, Harley? Looks pretty strong.

[quozl]

What do you think of him without the Sentinel Companion power? Better or still too much?