The Book of Puppet Master

[Hahma]

yea

[Griffin]

Yea

I am updating now.

[A3n]

Puppet Master passes to playtesting.

[SirGalahad]

Sorry I missed this one, gang. I've been preparing for our youth soccer league's 25th anniversary season (and my last as President - a decade I've been doing this )

2-hour coaches' meeting this morning (I've been up since 3 am getting ready to hand out 60 rosters for 700+ players) and the 5-hour referee recertification clinic this afternoon - no wonder I'm a little tired.

Will try and be a little more timely.

[A3n]

Originally Posted by SirGalahad

Sorry I missed this one, gang. I've been preparing for our youth soccer league's 25th anniversary season (and my last as President - a decade I've been doing this )

2-hour coaches' meeting this morning (I've been up since 3 am getting ready to hand out 60 rosters for 700+ players) and the 5-hour referee recertification clinic this afternoon - no wonder I'm a little tired.

Will try and be a little more timely.

That's just not good enough, You're sacked!!!

Nah mate, it's all good. That's why we have the 48hr time limit so votes don't get held up by the double life we lead. Also there are a few voting chances along the way so really missing one or 2 in each really isn't an issue as long as you are happy with where it's at, at that point when you do vote.

Cheers

[SirGalahad]

I didn't know what "sacked" meant in that context until Harry Potter came out.

[A3n]

Originally Posted by SirGalahad

I didn't know what "sacked" meant in that context until Harry Potter came out.

Must be an English/Australian thing.

[A3n]

The Heroclix figure used for this unit is #085 Puppet Master from the Universe set.

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Originally Posted by A3n

The Heroclix figure used for this unit is #085, 086, or 087 Puppet Master from the Universe set. OR #061, 062, or 063 Puppet Master from the Infinity Challenge set.

Fixed.

[IAmBatman]

First page updated with figure info.
Also, I hope you guys don't mind, but after the Gorilla Grodd conversation, I updated the first page with what I considered a highly needed Order Marker restriction on String Pull 14.
Everything's looking good here. In my playtest I found I absolutely stacked Order Markers on him and used him to try to control everyone else. So I really didn't have the issues Aldin was concerned about in my own play with this guy.

[A3n]

Nothing to see here.

[A3n]

Playtest from Johnny:

Originally Posted by johnny139

C3G PLAY TEST FEEDBACK FORM
NAME OF THE TEST UNIT PUPPET MASTER

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS (Oh MAN Pass; love this guy's powers.)

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS (There's a potential loop [Puppet Master takes control of Puppet Master, and at the end of that turn he takes control of Puppet Master], but it's not an eternal loops and would be really unlikely.)

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit to powerful or too weak.
PASS (I was a bit wary about putting him with Red Skull, but it worked out just fine, so, yeah.)

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
PASS (YES! So much fun!)

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS

- Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero/ Does it pass? PASS. (Even alone against a single figure, he does pretty well. I'd call him successful.)

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master vs. Two-Face
Puppet Master wins; 2 Wounds, 2 Rounds. (The two get up close; Two-Face fails at attacking, and Puppet Master moves him away and uses Heads You Live, Tails You Die to force him to damage himself. This continues - Puppet Master attacks and/or uses HYLTYD to damage Two-Face. He gets in one good shot, dealing 2 damage, but eventually shoots himself in the head.)

TEST 2
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master vs. Pyro
Pyro wins; 3 Wounds, 3 Rounds. (Pyro tries to hide, but Puppet Master still gets to pull him this way and that. His Living Flames fails at first, but Engulf deals an auto-wound. Puppet Master keeps trying to keep him at arm's length, hoping to force an attack and bring Pyro into disadvantageous height, he gets in a lucky punch or two, but Pyro's Engulf eventually kills him.)

TEST 3
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master vs. Wo-Sa-Ga
Wo-Sa-Ga wins; 0 Wounds, 2 Rounds. (Puppet Master keeps pushing her back and his Reactive Mind Control put him in a great position, but his attacks all fail and eventually one his finishes him off.)

TEST 4
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master vs. Toad/Guilty McCreech (125 Points)
Puppet Master wins; 2 Wounds, 3 Rounds. (First turn of the entire game - Puppet Master takes control of Toad and uses his Phlegm to kill Guilty. First move. Toad then goes to attack, but is pulled around. One good Pheglm deals 2 damage, but Puppet Master keeps getting height and eventually finishes him off.)

TEST 5
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master vs. Crixus/Me-Burq-Sa (140 Points)
Puppet Master wins; 0 Wounds, 3 Rounds. (Puppet Master moves Crixus, who had tried to attack him; makes him walk into a pit. Attacks from Puppet Master coupled with a strung-around Me-Burq-Sa do 2 damage to the big lug, and again with his next move, doing 3 damage and killing the Gladiator. Alone, Me-Burq-Sa has HORRID luck [whiffs on offense for all but one attack, which only gets 1 skull], and eventually Puppet Master picks at him 'til death.)

_____________________________________________________________

- Squad / Does it pass? PASS. (Holy crap! I expected this to be a massive failure, since his String Pull only works on heroes, but he actually WON. Never in a playtest has a hero beat squads. VERY impressive.)
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master vs. 4th Massachusetts Line x2

Spoiler Alert!

Puppet Master wins; 2 Wounds, 5 Rounds. (The 4th move in and attack, but Puppet Master hides and keeps moving. He is hit once for one damage, but moves one 4th closer to kill with his defensive mind control. They keep attacking, but he keeps pulling them over and executing them. He takes another wound, but eventually WINS! Against the 4th! Wowzers!)

_____________________________________________________________

- Army Test/ Does it pass? PASS. (Again, he's not that bad, but he doesn't accomplish much at all. I don't want to call him useless, but he's not that good... to be fair, though, he was stuck to Blob, and thus not at his full potential.)
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master, Captain America, Flash (600 Points) vs. Mystique, Blob, Venom, Pyro (600 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Team Puppet Master wins; 1 Wound on Captain America, all others destroyed, 5 Rounds. (Puppet Master moves Flash up to attack Mystique. Blob engages him in defense, but Puppet Master takes control and walks him into the sludge, freeing Flash. Venom comes in to kill Puppet Master, dealing two damage. Captain America is pulled in for support, but Pyro moves in as well, burning Flash a bit. Puppet Master moves Cap - he finishes off Venom and Mystique, both wounded by Flash earlier. However, Pyro burns Puppet Master away while Blob re-engages and knocks Flash's block off, leaving Cap alone. Over time, however, he beats up Blob [WITH HIS BARE HANDS! HURRAY AMERICA!] and finishes off Pyro.)

_____________________________________________________________

- Army Test/ Does it pass? PASS. ()
Map: Fossil
Units: Puppet Master, Red Skull, Captain America, Mystique, Plastic Man, Spider-Man (1010 Points) vs. Magneto, Blob, Toad, Pyro, Silver Surfer (1010 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Team Puppet Master wins; 4 Wounds on Plastic Man, all others destroyed, 9 Rounds. (Magneto moves up along with his Bros [Pyro and Blob]. Puppet Master, of course, moves forward, walks Blob, away, pulls Magneto forward, throws Pyro off, and levitates Puppet Master to height. WHOA, lots of motion. Magneto is now in the midst of things, so Surfer comes in to attack Skull. Plastic Man engages to tie him up, but Silver Surfer, of course, hops back and blasts Skull. Cap moves up and after a short while, throws him mighty shield, killing Magneto and damaging Blob! Puppet Master moves around a bit, using Blob to off Pyro in one hit. Blob, however, gets ahold of himself and kills Puppet Master with one punch. Toad finally leaps into the fray, but Skull is able to kill him with his Dust of Death. Spidey leaps over to web up Blob, but fails. In retaliation Blob moves up, engaging with Spidey AND Cap. Plastic Man and Mystique, in the meantime, tango with Silver Surfer. Eventually, Cap and Spidey whittle away enough to kill Blob. However, shortly after, Surfer blasts Cap. Then Spider-Man. Then Mystique. No one can touch him. It comes down to Plastic Man and the Surfer... and Plastic Man JUST wins, with 4 skulls vs. 1 shield. Close one.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: A minor question/change - first of all, can he target the same figure twice with String Pull? I ruled yes, and I'm pretty sure that how it goes. May want to add something, to make it absolutely clear. And also in String Pull, do you really need to mention that you can't target figures with Mental Shield? They already can't be taken control of - so it makes sense for Reactive Mind Control, since you don't take control of anyone, but with String Pull, it's already in the power.

As for my thoughts on the figure, he's REALLY good. Better than I expected. But he doesn't feel too unbalanced. It might be a good idea to bump him up to 140, or even 150, pending other playtests. He's got good strategy - either messing with your opponent or acting as a weak, less certain Red Skull. Lots of fun, either way - great job on this design.