Public Design Workshop

[Tornado]

I think letting Lawmen use the Car for cover would be cool. So +1 Defense when adjacent or in a Police Car.

[reverie]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

That's pretty cool. Kind of an implementation of the Glyph of Reinforcements.

I still like the concept of being able to "arrest" enemy figures with it, but possibly too tough to implement in a fighting game.

One thing that might make sense for a police cruiser is some sort of criminal intimidation aspect. If they're there with their lights flashing, criminals might be a bit more squeamish/prone to fleeing.

I like the idea of an arrest power, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about it.

Criminal intimidation makes sense, too. Maybe an aura that lowers common criminals' defense by 1 and raises their move by 1?

Originally Posted by Tornado

I think letting Lawmen use the Car for cover would be cool. So +1 Defense when adjacent or in a Police Car.

I was thinking along these lines, too. Officers firing from behind an open car door is a recognizable image. I kind of moved away from that because really any car should give any figure the same type of cover. There's also already Batman ('66) with that effect.

[Tornado]

Sometimes you have to remember this is a game not a simulation and theme is important.

[IAmBatman]

Ooh, I do like the cover idea and the important part of that one compared to the others is that it really makes more sense in army building, because it'll push you to want to pair them with police more naturally.

[tcglkn]

And as an uncommon you can draft a couple and position them to get good cover on the defensive boost.

[FreshFoods]

Seems like there’s a lot of iconic themes we could get across, so maybe a second cop car eventually would be a good idea. I do like the cover idea quite a lot! Would be a strong defensive boost to what seems like (correct me if I’m wrong) a relatively squishy faction

[Tornado]

Beat Cops are pretty solid, probably too good.

[reverie]

I guess I'm in the lonely position of not liking a defense boost power for this.

From a theme perspective it doesn't seem stronger to me than a number of ideas that have been brought up. It fits for the beat cops, but I think that's it. Uniformed officers use patrol cars for cover in a shootout because that's what they drive. Plain clothes officers, like the Bad Cops, use unmarked vehicles the same way. SWAT teams ride in larger, sometimes armored vehicles and aren't thematically linked to shooting from behind a patrol car - they tend to have a more aggressive role. Etc. I think the most interesting idea theme-wise is probably an arrest power.

Mechanically a defense boost isn't very interesting. Lawmen already have access to movement powers and attack (Jonah Hex and SWAT Explosives Expert) and defense (Batman '66) boosts. I'm not sure having a bunch of beat cops shooting from a defensive position would be very exciting gameplay. I like the Call Dispatch power in terms of offering choices for lawmen themed list building and strategy.

My

All that said, I wouldn't keep it off my table. There's a lot more design experience than I offer speaking in support of a defense boost and if it gets designed that way I'm sure I'd include it in my collection. I would favor writing it in such a way that it does not stack with multiple vehicles or Batman '66, limit it to ranged attacks, and have it only affect Human Lawmen.

[Tornado]

How much experience do you playing the Lawmen?
What do you think is the best Lawmen build?

[tcglkn]

I wouldn't read too much into what the experienced designers here are saying because a lot of it boils down to preference too and you could design a lot of things a lot of different ways around here. You sound like you have good reasoning for going the way you are with the design.

[MrNobody]

My only thought is this; what powers will make it play like a cop car? I know that sounds like the dumbest thought possible, but I think it's worth considering. Sometimes what seems good on paper leads to unthematic or unfun gameplay in practice.

My main worry with Call Dispatch is that it would incentivize you to leave the car as far back as possible and have one guy just constantly call for Science Police backup. But the 7 space requirement does a lot to prevent that, and 7 feels like a really good range for that kind of power, so kudos to you for that one.

I agree with Reverie about the cover thing actually. It just feels more like something that would go on a character's card than on a VDO. Harvey Bullock takes cover behind a car cause he's a smart cop, not because it's a specific kind of car. And it's probably true that having a bunch of cops hiding behind cars shooting at someone might not be the most exciting gameplay.

Some sort of sirens/Criminal Intimidation power feels like a must to me.

[Tornado]

Anti-Criminal powers are super niche.
Luckily though the Brit Cits exist.