The Book of Beam Struggle

[Arch-vile]

Oh, I meant any non-adjacent attack. Definitely don’t want to exclude specials.

I’m fine leaving this pretty open ended. Punisher using his guns to beam struggle someone sounds like something Toriyama (DBZ creator) would write in a gag manga. The drafting restrictions should make at least half of the interaction thematic.

[IAmBatman]

Sounds good then. And, yeah, wanted to make sure Godzilla could still use it on his big special. Or Cyclops on his Optic Blast, etc.

[Arch-vile]

So I think this is where we’re at:

NAME = BEAM STRUGGLE STORY CARD

POINTS = 50?

STORY REQUIREMENTS =
- At least one Hero with a special attack that is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian in your Army.

STORY SETUP =
- The blue Energy Clash Marker starts on the middle space of the Energy Clash Card.

STORY RULES =

ENERGY CLASH
Once per game, when an enemy figure targets a Hero you control that is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian with a non-adjacent attack, you may choose to beam struggle. To beam struggle, each player rolls the 20-sided die for their figure, adding 2 to the roll if their figure is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian. Move the Energy Clash Marker one space towards whichever player rolled lower, then each each player rolls again. When the Energy Clash Marker reaches one end, the winning player rolls 4 unblockable attack dice against the losing figure, and the attacking figure’s turn ends immediately.

FORCED BEAM STRUGGLE
Once per game when a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian you control targets an enemy figure with a non-adjacent attack, you may choose to beam struggle against that figure.

Could also combine them like this to make the once per games clauses clearly distinct from each other, though that makes it into a wall of text. Ideally I’d separate out the “how to beam struggle” bit but we don’t really do that in Heroscape wording.

ENERGY CLASH
Once per game, when an enemy figure targets a Hero you control that is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian with a non-adjacent attack, you may choose to beam struggle. Additionally, once per game when a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian you control targets an enemy figure with a non-adjacent attack, you may choose to beam struggle. To beam struggle, each player rolls the 20-sided die for their figure, adding 2 to the roll if their figure is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian. Move the Energy Clash Marker one space towards whichever player rolled lower, then each each player rolls again. When the Energy Clash Marker reaches one end, the winning player rolls 4 unblockable attack dice against the losing figure, and the attacking figure’s turn ends immediately.

[IAmBatman]

Does there need to be a separate Energy Clash card or can it be included on the story card?

[Arch-vile]

Space is the main concern, but if we can get it to fit, great! I just don’t think there will be space for a 7-space track on the Story Card itself.

[IAmBatman]

I could see a breakdown like this:

ENERGY CLASHES
Once per game, when an enemy figure targets a Hero you control that is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian with a non-adjacent attack, you may choose those two figures and use the Beam Struggle special power. Once per game when a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian you control targets an enemy figure with a non-adjacent attack, you may choose those two figures and use the Beam Struggle special power.

BEAM STRUGGLE
Each player must roll the 20-sided die for the chosen figure they control, adding 2 to the roll if their figure is a Challenger, Kaiju, or Kryptonian. Move the Energy Clash Marker one space towards whichever player rolled lower, then each each player rolls again. When the Energy Clash Marker reaches one end, the winning player rolls 4 unblockable attack dice against the losing figure, and the attacking figure’s turn ends immediately.

[Arch-vile]

I like it!

[Arch-vile]

SP updated.

I propose for initial

[Tornado]

for Yea

[MrNobody]

Yea

I will say I don’t think the Kryptonian callout is needed. Challengers and Kaiju make some thematic sense together in that they’re both Japanese-originated properties that play on similar tropes. Kryptonians feel like a bit of an arbitrary third inclusion in that schema, and I think it just opens up more question about why other things weren’t included.

[tcglkn]

I like keeping lists to 3 things because it makes it easier to associate with cards. Mark Rosewater, one of Magic's lead designers talks about it here in the "Tackling the Second Problem" section.

[MrNobody]

I think that article highlights exactly why I’m concerned about Kryptonians.

Two items get thought of as a pairing, while three items get thought of as a collection. In other words, when you see peanuts and cashews, you just think "peanuts and cashews," but when you see peanuts, cashews, and almonds, you think "nuts."

Kaijus and DBZ characters have a pretty clear thematic connection to me. They’re peanuts and cashews. Kryptonians just kinda feel random to me personally? It’s peanuts, cashews, and apples. And once you include apples, I’m wondering why other fruits like pears (Daxamites) or bananas (Green Lanterns) aren’t included.

Again, not a huge deal, just kinda explaining where my head is at.