The Book of Obsidian

[Scapemage]

Pre-Yea at 280 with the change.

[IAmBatman]

Sweet. SP updated with the change to Shadowlands Passage and cost to 280 (which I forgot to do yesterday).

Pre-yeas from Hahma, A3n, and Scapey so far, with johnny, LP, quozl, and SirG needed to pass.

[quozl]

Yea

[johnny139]

Pre-Yea

I'm assuming 280 is a good place for him thematically? Seems a little high but I honestly have no idea who this is.

[IAmBatman]

I was originally projecting him at 300 and I think he could still go down to 270 in army tests. He's the son of Green Lantern Alan Scott (well, pre-new 52 he was, anyway) and the brother of Jade, and he guards the JSA compound. He's got a lot of power on his hands - he's kind of like Cloak (from Cloak and Dagger) on steroids.

[IAmBatman]

I propose we move to Playtesting! Down to SirG and LP here.

[Lord Pyre]

Yea

[IAmBatman]

Down to SirG or about 14 hours.

[IAmBatman]

This passes to Playtesting. Thanks, all.

[IAmBatman]

Thanks for the feedback! We'll definitely discuss it!

Cheers,
Bats

Originally Posted by Viegon

Here's my report.

I really like the idea of Obsidian's design, but unfortunately it didn't seem to be working quite right in my games (at least not his powers). I like the concept of placing shadow tiles, but I feel his teleport isn't very usable (never came up in my games), and because of that placing shadow tiles just isn't that big, especially when the placing is so limited. Enveloped in Shadows is cool, but doesn't seem worth it supportively (such a high cost for a risky boost when you can already get a better version in an 80-point Shadowcat) and offensively it's just not enough.

One thing to note is that I didn't play him on a map with shadow already on it, but that didn't seem to be such a big deal because it would only affect his teleport (and he's already got plenty mobility).

From a player enjoyment perspective, I'd much rather see Obsidian's shadow tile placing have range (3 or something like that), and maybe rework his teleport as a 4/5-space before/after moving/taking a turn style ability (i.e. "after taking a turn with Obsidian, if he is on a shadow space, you may place him on any shadow space within 4 spaces"). I also think Enveloped would be more enjoyable as an automatic wound instead of a die.

Now, if I'm in the minority here and you'd rather not make changes, I would suggest a small price decrease to the current version (260/270).

I hate to be so negative, but Obsidian just didn't quite do it for me.

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT OBSIDIAN

- THEME TEST
Pass

- MIRROR TEST
Pass

- BONDING TEST
Pass

- SYNERGIES TEST
Pass

- POWER CHECK
Pass

- FUN TEST
Pass

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST
Pass

- DRAFTING TEST
Pass

- USAGE TEST
Tentative Fail, his 2 signature powers just didn’t come up enough for my tastes.

- STRATEGY TEST
Pass

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test 1
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 280 is fine
- Give a brief overview. some crazy attacks this game. Obsidian was able to bring down Awesome Android in the first round, but later Nimrod killed Marrow in 1 turn. Obsidian did quite well, though mostly thanks to his stats. Placing shadow did help the Werewolves stay alive a tad longer.

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal: all 5 wounds to Awesome Android, 3 wounds to Vision.
Enveloped In Shadows: 1 wound to Vision.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Shadowlands Passage: 3 shadow tiles placed, teleported 0 times.
Enveloped in Shadows: not used supportively. Inflicted 1 total wound.

Map: Swamp Lab (no glyphs)
Units: Obsidian, Baron Zemo, Werewolf x2, Marrow, Beast Boy (Pterodactyl) (970 points) VS Nimrod, Awesome Android, Vision (985 points)

Spoiler Alert!

During the First Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Obsidian flies out.
ARMY 2: Awesome Andy move out.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Obsidian drops a shadow tile then flies unto the castle and deals 3 wounds to Andy.
ARMY 2: Andy uses Gale Force Exhale to knock Obsidian off the castle and adjacent to Andy (Obsidian takes 1 wound form falling damage).
ARMY 1: Zemo: Obsidian kills Andy.
ARMY 2: Turn lost on Awesome Andy.

During the Second Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Obsidian repositions.
ARMY 2: Vision flies out.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Obsidian drops another shadow but fails.
ARMY 2: Vision uses Physical Disruption to put 3 wounds on Obsidian.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Beast Boy flies out Marrow.
ARMY 2: Nimrod flies out and kills Marrow.
ROUND END: Vision takes a wound from being Enveloped.

During the Third Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Obsidian drops his last Shadow tile and puts 3 wounds on Vision.
ARMY 2: Vision uses Physical Disruption to kill Obsidian.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Beast Boy fails.
ARMY 2: Nimrod kills Beast Boy and heals 1 wound from Vision.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf2 move out.
ARMY 2: Nimrod puts 2 wounds on Werewolf2.

During the Fourth Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf2 moves into shadow and heals.
ARMY 2: Vision uses Physical Disruption to put 3 wounds on Werewolf2.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werwolf1 puts 1 wound on Vision.
ARMY 2: Nimrod kills Werewolf2 and heals 1 wound from Vision.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails.
ARMY 2: Nimrod fails.

During the Fifth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Nimrod fails.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails.
ARMY 2: Nimrod puts 1 wound on Werewolf1.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails (heals).
ARMY 2: Nimrod puts 2 wounds on Werewolf1.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails (heals).

During the Sixth Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails (heals).
ARMY 2: Vision uses Physical Disruption to put 3 wounds on Werewolf1.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails (heals).
ARMY 2: Nimrod puts 1 wound on Werewolf1.
ARMY 1: Zemo: Werewolf1 fails (heals).
ARMY 2: Nimrod kills Werewolf1 and heals 1 wound off Vision.

During the Seventh Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Vision advances.
ARMY 1: Zemo charges.
ARMY 2: Vision uses Physical Disruption to put 3 wounds on Zemo.
ARMY 1: Zemo fails.
ARMY 2: Nimrod is stopped by Adhesive X Trap.
ARMY 1: Zemo puts 3 wounds on Vision.

During the Eighth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Nimrod is stopped by Adhesive X Trap.
ARMY 1: Zemo fails.
ARMY 2: Nimrod kills Zemo.

Unwounded Nimrod, Vision with 1 life.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test 2
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 280 might be a bit too much
- Give a brief overview. some bad luck meant Obsidian died early. The 2 shadow tiles he placed were used throughout the game, but they didn’t make a huge impact.

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal: N/A
Enveloped In Shadows: N/A
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Shadowlands Passage: 2 shadow tiles placed, teleported 0 times.
Enveloped in Shadows: N/A

Map: Swamp Lab (no glyphs)
Units: Obsidian, Nick Fury, Mockingbird, Gorilla-Man, Dum Dum Dugan, SHIELD Sniper x1 (920 points) VS Eradicator, Supergirl, Kryptonian Infiltrator x2 (920 points)

Spoiler Alert!

During the First Round: Army 1 wins Initiative (Dum Dum, Mockingbird, and Gorilla-Man chosen for the Drop Team; no drop this round; failed Infiltrate).
ARMY 1: Obsidian flies out.
ARMY 2: Supergirl supersonically flies out.
ARMY 1: Obsidian drops a tile but fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl puts 3 wounds on Obsidian.
ARMY 1: Obsidian drops another tile but fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl kills Obsidian.

During the Second Round: Army 1 wins Initiative (drop team placed).
ARMY 1: Fury: Mockingbird moves unto shadow and engages Supergirl , and inflicts 1 wound.
ARMY 2: Supergirl dodges a disengagement to kill Dum Dum.
ARMY 1: Fury: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl dodges another disengagement attack to put 3 wounds on Fury.
ARMY 1: Fury: Gorilla-Man puts 1 wound on Supergirl.
ARMY 2: Supergirl puts 1 wound on Fury.

During the Third Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man puts 1 wound on Supergirl.
ARMY 2: Supergirl fails.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man puts 1 wound on Supergirl.
ARMY 2: Supergirl fails.
ARMY 1: SHIELD Sniper fails.
ARMY 2: Eradicator fails.

During the Fourth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Supergirl fails.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Eradicator puts 2 wounds on Mockingbird.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Eradicators places 1 wound on his card to kill the Sniper and heal 1 wound from Supergirl.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man puts 2 wounds on Eradicator.

During the Fifth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Eradicator puts 1 wound on his card to put 3 wounds on Gorilla-Man and heal 1 wound from Supergirl.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Eradicators places 1 wound on his card to put 1 wound on Gorilla-Man and heal 1 wound from Supergirl.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl fails.
ARMY 1: Mockingbird kills Eradicator.

During the Sixth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Supergirl kills Fury.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl takes a disengagement wound to go after Mockingbird, but fails.
ARMY 1: Mockingbird fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl gets 7 skulls with her SA to kill Mockingbird.
ARMY 1: Turn lost on Mockingbird.

During the Seventh Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl fails.
ARMY 1: Gorilla-Man fails.
ARMY 2: Supergirl kills Gorilla-Man (and turns into him).

Full life Gorilla-Man (Supergirl transformed), 2 unwounded/unused Kryptonian Infiltrators.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test 3
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 250-270
- Give a brief overview. Obsidian just wasn’t overly useful this game. He had a handful of chances to wound with Enveloped in Shadows, but only got it once; and the shadows he placed just didn’t really have an effect.

UNIT SUM-UP
Damage:
Normal: N/A
Enveloped In Shadows: 1 wound to Cyborg Superman.
Power Usage/Effectiveness:
Shadowlands Passage: 3 shadow tiles placed, teleported 0 times.
Enveloped in Shadows: not used supportively. Inflicted 1 total wounds.

Map: Ravaged Road (no glyphs)
Units: Obsidian, Martian Manhunter, Beast, Pyro, Beast Boy (Pterodactyl) (910 points) VS Cyborg, Cyborg Superman, Lady Deathstrike, Angel (910 points)

Spoiler Alert!

During the First Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Manhunter moves out with Obsidian.
ARMY 2: Angel flies Cyborg unto the castle.
ARMY 1: Manhunter moves.
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman flies out.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails on Cyborg (Obsidian drops a shadow tile and advances).
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman fails.

During the Second Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman fails.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails (Pyro and Obsidian move up, Obsidian dropping another tile).
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman fails.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails (Beast Boy carries out Beast).
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman kills Pyro.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails but positions his team around Cy-Superman.

During the Third Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails but moves Beast who Negotiates the “2” off of Cy-Superman.
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman fails.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails.
ARMY 2: Turn Negotiated.
ARMY 1: Obsidian fails.
ARMY 2: Cyborg puts 2 wounds on Beast.

During the Fourth Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 1 wound on Cy-Superman.
ARMY 2: Cyborg kills Beast Boy.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 2 wounds on Cy-Superman.
ARMY 2: Cyborg fails.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails.
ARMY 2: Cyborg kills Beast
ROUND END: Cy-Superman heals a wound from the X but takes a wound from being Enveloped.

During the Fifth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Cy-Superman puts 2 wounds on Obsidian.
ARMY 1: Manhunter kills Cy-Superman.
ARMY 2: Cyborg puts 3 wounds on Obsidian with Charged Sonic Cannon.
ARMY 1: Manhutner puts 2 wounds on Cyborg.
ARMY 2: Cyborg puts 2 wounds on Manhunter.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 2 wounds on Cyborg.
ROUND END: Cyborg heals 1 wound (failed Enveloped).

During the Sixth Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Manhunter kills Cyborg.
ARMY 2: Turn lost on Cyborg.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 1 wound on Angel.
ARMY 2: Turn lost on Cyborg.
ARMY 1: Manhunter fails.
ARMY 2: Deathstrike positions.

During the Seventh Round: Army 1 wins Initiative.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 1 wound on Deathstrike.
ARMY 2: Deathstrike puts 2 wounds on Manhunter.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 1 wound on Deathstrike.
ARMY 2: Deathstrike puts 1 wound on Manhunter.
ARMY 1: Manhunter puts 1 wound on Deathstrike.
ARMY 2: Deathstrike kills Obsidian.
ROUND END: Deathstrike heals 1.

During the Eighth Round: Army 2 wins Initiative.
ARMY 2: Deathstrike kills Manhunter.

Lady Deathstrike with 4 life left, Angel with 2.

[IAmBatman]

I was hoping others would get more out of his special powers than I did, but seeing as that's not the case, I'm interested in a bit of an overhaul here .... This is my first suggestion:

SHADOWLANDS PASSAGE
Start the game with 3 shadow tiles on this card. Before moving Obsidian, you may choose an empty land space within 10 spaces of Obsidian and place a shadow tile from his Army Card onto the space if the shadow tile fits normally onto that space. Instead of moving normally with Obsidian, you may place him on any shadow space within 10 spaces.

INTANGIBILITY
Obsidian can move through all figures and obstacles such as ruins, and is never attacked when leaving an engagement. Obsidian cannot be targeted by opponents' non-adjacent figures for any attacks, or for any special powers that require clear sight.

ENVELOPED IN SHADOWS
Any figure adjacent to Obsidian is considered Enveloped. Enveloped figures cannot be targeted by non-adjacent figures for any attacks, or for any special powers that require clear sight. At the end of each round, roll one unblockable attack die for any figure Enveloped by Obsidian.

I think these changes will give him a tad of a boost but, more importantly, make the powers much more usable. Thoughts?

[quozl]

I think those changes are fine. I'd also change this:

Instead of moving normally with Obsidian, if he is on a shadow space, you may place him on any shadow space within 10 spaces.

You should probably also specify leaving engagement attacks.