Public Design Workshop

[johnny139]

We could also have Taskmaster take only Special Attacks. Would have fewer corner cases, is less likely to be broken, and is more in character anyways.

[Karat]

SA's serm to be the way to go.

[Ronin]

Special Attacks would probably be better, yeah. Though he'd still need the Human/Super Strength restrictions to avoid grabbing some Mutant powers and stuff like Nova's Special Attack.

[Karat]

Nah, some wonkiness is okay.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by McHotcakes

I've had an idea for a Taskmaster power and figured I might as well through it out while he's in the public design thread.

Predicted Movements 2
When Taskmaster rolls attack dice the defending figure rolls 1 fewer defense die for each skull rolled to a maximum of 2. A figure may not roll fewer than 1 defense die. When Taskmaster is attacked he may roll 1 additional defense die for each skull rolled up to a maximum of 2.

I was playing with this kind of power for a custom of my own and thought it would work well with Taskmaster. If you do use it feel free to make any changes you need

I like this idea McHotcakes. It's something along the lines of what I had for him way long time ago when I was jotting down power ideas for him.

I think it could be used with the Photographic Memory power also on his card that people have been talking about.

He could really start with a range number of 6 or 7 because he often carried a bow or a ranged weapon of some sort.

He did train some criminals for fighting, so maybe some power that allows for one of the criminals in your army to get some kind of boost, maybe choose a criminal in your army at the beginning of the game to get +1 attack/+1 defense while within 6 clear sight spaces of Taskmaster. Could be called Star Pupil or something.

[Lazy Orang]

I can see the points around Tactician - however, I think I've worked out a way for him to mimic powers, without Tactician or other powers like that being an issue, and which is probably more thematic anyway.

Photographic Reflexes

At the start any turn, you may choose any Human without the Super Strength special power within 6 clear sight spaces of Taskmaster and choose that figure's Move, Range, Attack or Defence number or any special power on that figure's card. Until Taskmaster choses another stat or special power with Photographic Reflexes, he may use the chosen number in place of his own or use the chosen special power when moving, attacking or defending with Taskmaster. If the special power refers to the chosen figure or the chosen figure's card, it refers to Taskmaster or Taskmaster's card instead.



Ronin's worry about 7 attack Master Swordplay won't come up here either - yes, he can mimic 7 attack (I don't think he can, actually, as I think the highest base attack on a human without Super Strength is 6, but he can in theory), and yes, he can mimic any form of Swordplay - but not at the same time, as he can only mimic one thing at a time. This ability would allow him to mimic all kinds of weapons and fighting moves, whether through special attacks, special powers or stats, while cutting out corner cases, potential overpowered combos, leadership abilities (problematic or otherwise) and most stuff that's a theme break.
Just SA's doesn't sound great to me, from what I've heard - aren't there some things like Swordplay that it'd be quite iconic for him to mimic?

[dok]

I think cutting out Flying figures in addition to Super Strength figures is a good move. Flying is unthematic and nearly all the flying, non-SS humans have some sort of technology that he couldn't mimic.

The other thing that seems consistently weird is special attacks. Most (not all but most) of them are equipment-related.

I also think that imitating stats gets a little to finicky and problematic really, and it's less fun than the powers stuff. Just give him top-level stats (6 move, 1 range, 5 attack, 5 defense) and leave it there.

So... here's my version:

PHOTOGRAPHIC REFLEXES
When taking a turn with Taskmaster, before moving with Taskmaster, you may choose a Human without the Flying or Super Strength special powers within 10 clear sight spaces. Until the next time you reveal an Order Marker, Taskmaster may use any special powers on that figure's Army Card that are not Special Attacks. If a special power refers to the chosen figure or the chosen figure’s card, it refers to Taskmaster or Taskmaster's card instead.

I think that captures the theme pretty well. There are still some really weird potential imitations (Mirror Master springs to mind) but mostly it works well.

Edit: It might be wise to limit it still more:

PHOTOGRAPHIC REFLEXES
When taking a turn with Taskmaster, after moving and before attacking with Taskmaster, you may choose a Human without the Flying or Super Strength special powers within 10 clear sight spaces. For the remainder of the turn, Taskmaster may use any special powers on that figure's Army Card that are not Special Attacks. Until the next time you reveal an Order Marker, Taskmaster may use any special powers on that figure's Army Card when defending. If a special power refers to the chosen figure or the chosen figure’s card, it refers to Taskmaster or Taskmaster's card instead.

That gives him offensive powers other than SAs for the rest of the turn after moving, and defensive powers until the next OM reveal. Now there's no Mirror Master imitation, no Joker imitation after an OM3 turn, etc. Give him Phantom Walk or Expert Climbing or something so he feels highly skilled when moving, and I think this works.

[Hahma]

The think I liked about McHotcakes Predicted Movements power is that it captures the fact that Taskmaster comes to the party with already memorized abilities. He studies and watches media footage of heroes/villains or whatever and learns them. So he comes to the party knowing how to throw a shield, shoot a bow or sniper rifle or whatever. He's not just a straight-up mimic

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Hahma

The think I liked about McHotcakes Predicted Movements power is that it captures the fact that Taskmaster comes to the party with already memorized abilities. He studies and watches media footage of heroes/villains or whatever and learns them. So he comes to the party knowing how to throw a shield, shoot a bow or sniper rifle or whatever. He's not just a straight-up mimic

Yeah, I think that could possibly work well with a mimic power - from what I've heard, though, a mimic power is almost a necessity.

Dok, with mimicking stats, it's already been done, on Echo - it works really well and is a lot of fun. It doesn't need to happen with this guy, but I don't think it's a problem at all. It also means his stats can be a bit lower - useful if he's not going to go overboard with the abilities he mimics (5 Attack and Defence plus Master Martial Artist? Holy crap.) . Also, he has guns and bows, from what I've seen on Wiki - either he needs base range or he needs to be able to mimic it.
Your suggested abilities don't resolve the Tactician problem - that's why I came up with the 'when moving, attacking or defending with Taskmaster' clause - to allow him to mimic things like combat moves, but not strategy or other weird stuff. I'm also not sure about cutting special attacks, based on what Wikipedia says here:

''As he is able to replicate numerous fighting techniques, the Taskmaster carries an extensive arsenal of weapons on his person, most commonly using a sword and a replica of Captain America's shield. He also carries a bow and a quiver of arrows, a billy club, a lasso, nunchaku, throwing darts, and various firearms. The Taskmaster once used a stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. device that was able to create various forms of weaponry (such as arrows and shields) using solid energy.[47]''


All that equipment, especially the stuff in bold, makes me think that mimicking equipment based powers is no big deal for him. If he knows he's going up against Punisher, either he'll have that S.H.I.E.L.D. device or he's going to have some guns so he can mimic Punisher's actions with them. The Flying thing, though, I do actually agree on in hindsight - he probably shouldn't mimic flight. I was going to suggest just not allowing that power to be mimicked rather than not allowing him to mimic people with that power, but then I realised how strange Falcon's Aerial Advantage would be.


What do people think of this for a mimic power?



Photographic Reflexes

At the start any turn, you may choose any Human without the Super Strength or Flying special powers within 6 clear sight spaces of Taskmaster and choose that figure's Move, Range, Attack or Defence number or any special power on that figure's card. Until Taskmaster choses another stat or special power with Photographic Reflexes, he may use the chosen number in place of his own or use the chosen special power when moving, attacking or defending with Taskmaster. If the special power refers to the chosen figure or the chosen figure's card, it refers to Taskmaster or Taskmaster's card instead.

[dok]

The "when moving, attacking, or defending with Taskmaster" restriction does get rid of most of the weird corner cases, although it's ambiguous whether some powers can then be imitated. Can he use Rorshach's shakedown? How about Lobster Johnson's Spirit Arise? How about Mother Russia's Makeshift Weaponry/Efficient Killer? How about Lex Luthor's Criminal Deception (to avoid being attacked)?

I suppose you're right about most SAs, although imitating something like Liz Sherman's firestorm is really strange.

[Yodaking]

Originally Posted by Hahma

The think I liked about McHotcakes Predicted Movements power is that it captures the fact that Taskmaster comes to the party with already memorized abilities. He studies and watches media footage of heroes/villains or whatever and learns them. So he comes to the party knowing how to throw a shield, shoot a bow or sniper rifle or whatever. He's not just a straight-up mimic

I like the McHotcakes power too.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by dok

The "when moving, attacking, or defending with Taskmaster" restriction does get rid of most of the weird corner cases, although it's ambiguous whether some powers can then be imitated. Can he use Rorshach's shakedown? How about Lobster Johnson's Spirit Arise? How about Mother Russia's Makeshift Weaponry/Efficient Killer? How about Lex Luthor's Criminal Deception (to avoid being attacked)?

Shakedown, and Efficient Killer are used during the phase of attacking, so he can use those (Makeshift Weaponry as well, but only if he's got an ability allowing for multiple attacks or the power's done in such a way as to mimic all of a character's abilities). Spirit Arise is after being destroyed, and has nothing to do with defending, so that's out, and Criminal Deception also doesn't affect moving, attacking or defending, instead meaning you can't attack him, so that's out too. Neither of those powers actually reference defending anywhere. That's how I'd interpret it anyway.

I suppose you're right about most SAs, although imitating something like Liz Sherman's firestorm is really strange.

Yeah, that's seriously weird, but you're going to have to limit it so much if you want to avoid all theme breaks - some weirdness will have to be embraced.