Springtime Custom Competition Poll - Congrats Astroking112!

[gatormustang]

Just out of curiosity would someone be able to provide the manufacture and model name for each of the figures used during this contest. Naturally, after the voting cycle has occurred.

[Confred]

Originally Posted by ollie

A thought that came in too late: "hardy" is the perfect personality for a tree thingy. I think I'd like every single entry (including mine) a little better if the personality was switched to this.

I was pleased in seeing "Sentinel" as class for several designs - a fun play on words there.

[Confred]

Originally Posted by Iron Clubber

I really love Enchanted Tree and the meta-game it could provide for a "tree" army, really creative. Perhaps too cheap though?

Its wording made my head spin tho

[ollie]

Originally Posted by Confred

I was pleased in seeing "Sentinel" as class for several designs - a fun play on words there.

I had to google for why that was. I suspect that not knowing anything about Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings is something of a handicap in this competition. (I did know just about enough LotR stuff to know that they had tree things called ents.)

[Taeblewalker]

There are a lot of great units here!

[White Knight]

I realized that I somehow missed Elder Oak when I was writing my comments. For completeness:

Elder Oak
Elder Oak is a nice, solid figure. It's theme evokes images of Treebeard from LotR. High Defense and Life should give it good survivability, but only one attack per turn keeps its price in check. I worry slightly about the Move of 3--it might cause issues on some maps and will negate some of the benefits of CARRY. (The other figures I know of with CARRY are either fast or can fly.) Is this a single or double spaced figure? If double spaced, it will only be able to climb a height of 1 level per move, and only if it starts adjacent to that height.

[Confred]

Originally Posted by ollie

I had to google for why that was. I suspect that not knowing anything about Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings is something of a handicap in this competition. (I did know just about enough LotR stuff to know that they had tree things called ents.)

Lol I don't know about those books, but sentinel pines are things. there are more tree types in rl called sentinels also.

[ollie]

Originally Posted by Confred

Lol I don't know about those books, but sentinel pines are things. there are more tree types in rl called sentinels also.

Heh, just general ignorance on my part then. I always find it handy to have that in reserve when subject-specific ignorance isn't applicable.

[Yodaking]

Some fun and interesting ideas presented here! I think several are pretty good foundations of an idea that could be made into pretty great finished products with a little refinement/polishing, plus a few are good to go 'as is' IMO. After the voting is over, the designers should consider turning this into a brainstorming session and collectively produce a card for each mini option. It would be fun to field a big team of tree creatures with a few nature loving allies. Elves, druids, a gun totting raccoon, etc.

[Confred]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Some fun and interesting ideas presented here! I think several are pretty good foundations of an idea that could be made into pretty great finished products with a little refinement/polishing, plus a few are good to go 'as is' IMO. After the voting is over, the designers should consider turning this into a brainstorming session and collectively produce a card for each mini option. It would be fun to field a big team of tree creatures with a few nature loving allies. Elves, druids, a gun totting raccoon, etc.

Great idea

[NecroBlade]

Fair warning, I haven't read any of the bios.

Wood Elemental: First, this figure is probably like Small 2. I know the creator probably didn't know that, but it's definitely not a Medium 4. I would absolutely love to have a Wood Elemental in the game for Kurrok to use, however I don't think this is the one. Entangling Roots is a little wordy for me, and given the figure's actual size, it seems a little silly for it to be able to reach that far. Making it affect non-flying figures might make more sense as well. Also not a fan of Brush Cover given that it's all twig and no leaf. The other stats and abilities are fine.

Darkwood Treant Guardian: Awaken the Forest is a great treefolk power, if a little overused. Can't fault it for being thematic, but hitting all figures every turn might be a little much. Grass Roots Healing is also pretty powerful given his stats; and it needs to specify which turn. Right now it's easy to argue that "at the end of the turn" means everyone's turns. Finally, his stats are a little high for 100 points, even before considering his powers. Denrick, for example, has 2 fewer Life and 1 less Attack.

Wooden Revenant: An interesting and unique set of powers. That said, I really don't get the theme... why is a wood spirit animated by any random Unique Hero? Why is his Vengeance sated by any random murder? I wouldn't've read the bio (yet) if there was one, but I don't even see a bio to explain it to me.

Birch Sentry: I'm going to start with the assumption that Range 0 is supposed to be 1, otherwise this card does nothing. Linked Roots is decent (if a little weird in that it counts enemy Birches, too), though they really need a way to move a bunch of them together. Mighty Oak Shield combos nicely, even though there's not much mighty about 1 Defense. Shared Lifeforce seems pretty pointless when the damage is going to kill a Birch anyway.

Enchanted Tree: I love the idea if not the execution. Feylund Hero Bonding is a non-starter for me. Planets are referenced on the basic side of the cards and shouldn't be used in advanced play. Enchanted Forest is neat, though they have an extreme allergy to Airborne Elite. Forest Cover makes more sense here than the first guy. Finally, I also can't get behind a 5-point Common Hero. Playability has been severely limited by its powers, sure, but being able to play 100 of these at 500 points (give or take start-zone limits) sounds like a nightmare.

Timber Custodian: Interesting how many similarities there are with the DTG. This one feels a little more balanced with the slightly lower stats, despite not relying on specific terrain types (types that are pretty common, though). Swat triggering at different times might be awkward for some people, but it seems a little like Jotun's Throw: kinda wordy, but easy to understand. Throw says "pick this guy up and put him over there", Swat says "you take damage if you move next to me or I move next to you". Interestingly, the swatted figure doesn't have to be the same one that moved given the wording; there's probably room on the card to change that, though the font might get smaller. Take Root is interesting: it heals anything that didn't move, which can possibly include the TC taking the turn. My gut feeling is that 5 of these at 500 points probably isn't terribly competitive, but might be fun spreading OM's around and healing your way to victory.

Jubokko: While I appreciate going off the beaten path, there's just too much going on here for me. Transformation requires both a number of dead figures and the presence of trees, and replacing a bush could be problematic due to terrain issues (what if it was on the bottom level?). Murderous Tree refers to Perceptive figures which don't yet exist (though I understand the theme), but who is the "it" the other figure has to be within 2 spaces of (the tree would make sense, but it's not clear)? Life Drain shouldn't affect Undead (though arguably Counter Strike is different on Samurai). And I'm not opposed to the idea of intertwining figures and glyphs, but Healing Branches seem like a weird thing to pluck off a murderous tree.

Tsuri Oni: Bonus points for making a squad! CStTftF could stop after "Evergreen Tree", IMO. Chaining spaces seems like more of a headache than it's worth and 4 spaces is actually already a pretty big aura (especially given that there are likely to be multiple trees on any given map). Splinter 13 seems incredibly powerful on a squad.

Elder Oak: A lot of theme baked into all the abilities and stats here. Definitely one of the better entries.

Wise Oak: By the same contestant as Elder Oak? Also a pretty decent entry. I would leave the range bonus out of LotF, since Range 2 trees is weird. Walking Tall can be reworded a lot more simply: "Wise Oak can move through all small or medium figures and does not take leaving engagement attacks from those figures." You don't have to specify anything about large/huge since those are the standard rules (and he will follow them unless otherwise noted). I've always wanted more Summoning (like Iskra) in the game, now I want to know what the Defenders of Oak do! Points seem to be pretty appropriate for his stats (unless LotF can create too-powerful units).

Wood Golem: Fury of the Forest is OK; not sure if I'd like it better as a special attack or not. Barkhide Armor is fine. Root Entanglement is terrible. Tracking figures affected by multiple Wood Golems (especially if the same figure gets entangled more than once) would be awful, plus its a second once per round power on the same card, an uncommon card, which is another mess of tracking issues.

Gnarl of Elder: I like that Tree Ally Strike affects one figure at a time, and I like that it uses VC's "tree or bush" wording. Boulder Throw is a decent special attack. Undead Hatred doesn't do anything for me, though I suspect there may be more details in the bio. Pretty neat, but he might be slightly overcosted at 150.

Entrean the Elder: Shepherd Evergreens is neat, but I wouldn't want it to be an official power. Creating choke points or blocking off entire sections of maps would not be fun (they're destructible, sure, but 7 Life is a lot). Root Crush has tracking issues. Unique entry, but not my style.

Oakshadow: Solid tree-related powers and stats. Good entry.

Arboris: While I find his powers interesting, and that he's a 1 Life Unique Hero, I worry that he's basically only for clean up. Would like to see him not stuck in one role.

[Confred]

Sure, I'll weigh in. I'm enjoying the discussion.
Overall, I was disappointed by how many figures lacked polish, but like others have said, there are some good, great, and interesting ideas (that need to be polished and further crafted).
My Mind is already gearing to take off with an above suggestion to make an army out of all the suggestions
But without further ado, I give my lunch break analysis:

I'm not considering bios

Wood Elemental
I hear this guy is actually Small 2, but none of us knew the sizes so I won't count size incorrectness against any submission.
Entangling Roots Special Attack - power seems a bit wordy and clunky. Maybe some bullet points are needed? But as far as powers go, that's pretty deadly and fun. Range is so small that it builds tension, like a positioning minigame - fun!
Brush Cover - that's cute that you incorporated the terrain power into this figure. Like others have said, since this is a smaller figure, I don't like that it shields larger figures. - Being a common figure and having that order marker flexibility enables these to move more fluidly, covering each other and enabling more opportunity for a Root Line Special Attack. - but auras cost. This guy is probably more than 35 Points (before considering Flammable)
Flammable - The reason why this is included is obvious, but it's so limited that I wonder if it's even worth the card space? - It begs for more, like should it also cause you to subtract from your lava rolls? etc.
Stats - When everybody went big, you went small and I like that. Tight bod.
A-

Darkwood Treant Guardian
Awaken the Forest - That's a lot of potential damage and is a cool power to have tbh. But add a big body and this thing should be like 120 Points.
Grass Roots Healing - reads awkward. At 100 Points. This figure either needs to lose Life or jump 40 Points minimum. I think the healing factor puts him over the edge OP at its current points. With proper points? Good card.
B+

Wooden Revenant
I have a thing for revenants - I just think they're cool. Species as Undead would have been bees knees.
Animating Spirit - While worded clunky and in need of revision, I dig it. Others were confused, but I gotcha. Almost has a Warhammer feel to it.
Vengeful Drive - again clunky. I empathize with those who want the vengeance to be sated more precisely, but I'm fine with it. It's already complex, so maybe drop the 20-sided and make the satisfaction guaranteed? I would need to play it to see. - I disagree that the body is too big for the cost because it does require stipulations to get out in the first place, it's slow, and it has low defense.
Perhaps out of all of them, this card captures my imagination the most
A-

Birch Sentry
This was an ugly card. the font was off. the picture is off. and what's with Range 0??
Woodkin is a cute word tho. I've never heard that one before, it made my imagination dance.
Linked Roots - clunky wording but power is ok - it does create imagery, which is kudos.
Mighty Oak Shield - Oak and Birch? I digress. hmm that's two defensive powers - certainly bumps up the relevance with linked roots. I'd rather you combine those powers I think.
Shared Lifeforce - Others have asked what was the point since this figure has only 1 Life? I kind of agree here even though there could be bigger Woodkins. I'd also like this to synergize with Linked Roots.
overall, this needs to go back to the drawing board - but don't get me wrong, it has some cool potential.
C+

and that's my lunch break...