The Book of Crossbones

[MrNobody]

I’m generally inclined to agree too.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Wasn't aware this was a thing until just now, but anyway:

Just going to chime in to say that the Brutality power is irrelevant from a competitive perspective no matter how it ends up working exactly because the payoff is so minor. It is not a CRB issue by any remote stretch (not really following why people thought it would be?). The power could just be 'when Crossbones attacks an adjacent figure, he subtracts one die from their defense' with no restrictions attached and it would still be totally, utterly, irrelevant CRB wise.

On a similar note, whether or not it factors in attack boosts or not has basically zero impact on how strong a pairing he is with Cap or Star-Lord or whatever. He already pairs very well with Cap thanks to his important power (the ranged double attack bit), how well his flavor text pairs with Cap is irrelevant at that stage.

The important part of this design is he's a ranged double attacker that can protect himself with cheap crap like ants or what-not and has some resistance to tie-down figures and such. That is what needs to be tested or factored in or adjusted if there are problems or what-not. That is what people should try to optimize and break. Getting Brutality correct theme-wise is all well and good, but it feels like we're getting a little lost in the woods here and focusing on it too much mechanically over his actually important powers.

Anyway, CRB public service announcement now concluded, design looks fun, glad to see him finally up and running.

[Lazy Orang]

Technically, he can't protect himself with ants because they aren't Small or Medium (they'd make for a bit of a crappy shield, quite frankly! ), but all else agreed.

[IAmBatman]

Well, they could still screen him, but, yeah, Civvies are probably the better pick so you can use Human Shield on top of it.

[johnny139]

So with the original drafter and current LD on board with sticking an "on this card" in there, I think we're probably ready to roll with that for now. Maybe poll it out if there's any strenuous supporters otherwise.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by johnny139

So with the original drafter and current LD on board with sticking an "on this card" in there, I think we're probably ready to roll with that for now. Maybe poll it out if there's any strenuous supporters otherwise.

At this point I'm almost failing to see the point of the power, honestly. It works against comparatively few units (I know it's a lot, but you have to think about what's drafted too), it's a minor bonus, and he can't use his actually good power at the same time...
What's it actually adding?

[Karat]

I'd just go with attack value or number since it isn't potentially broken from a CRB perspective, but ultimately fine either way.

[IAmBatman]

He can beat on Nightwing and Robin more effectively, which is always nice.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

Technically, he can't protect himself with ants because they aren't Small or Medium (they'd make for a bit of a crappy shield, quite frankly! ), but all else agreed.

Sorry I wasn't clear there, I was talking about protecting him (and his ability to double attack) by doing regular screening stuff, not the human shield power. As in: even though his double attack has a weakness where it turns off when you engage him, you can avoid that to a fair degree just by doing the stuff you'd normally do for ranged attacker builds anyway (which could also be Blob or Weather Wizard or any number of things, I just like ants because you can usually advance them without needing any order marker investment).

The 'resistance to tie-down figures' bit I mentioned is what I consider the best use for Human Shield. Like if the enemy locks him down with their screen or whatnot he can potentially gets some wounds in if someone attacks him from range, so he might have some effect on the enemy's plays and efficiency.

Personally I don't think the protective aspect of feeding him your own figure's is worth much. It's not super reliable, can only save one wound, and by the nature of his important power is most likely not going to save you any OMs. It's not a terrible play, but it isn't something I'd really feel the need to build around either.

[Karat]

Actually, pairing him with Multiple Man almost seems ideal cause he doubles as a regenerating Human Shield and ranged screen.

[MrNobody]

Which of these do we like better?

BRUTALITY
When attacking an adjacent figure with Crossbones, if the Attack Number printed on this card is higher than that of the Attack number printed on the defending figure's card, the defending figure subtracts 1 from its Defense.

BRUTALITY 3
When attacking an adjacent figure with Crossbones, if the Attack number printed on the defending figure's card is 3 or lower, the defending figure subtracts 1 from its Defense.

Should basically be the same thing I think, just worded slightly differently.

[IAmBatman]

Fine with either. The second seems more succinct.