Better Point Cost Method: NO FORMULA!

[ArgosCap]

Let me quickly introduce myself and the point of this thread. I am someone who has been looking into constructing my own miniature game system for a while, and I have been studying the mechanics of existing games, and the statistical mathematics behind them. I have done a great deal of research looking into how point costs are reached, and I feel that I have a pretty solid understanding of how to cost Heroscape figures (though it is not an exact science). There is no formula, but I believe there are ways to emulate the values of existing units, to keep official and unofficial units more balanced. I present some of my understanding here, to help future custom makers to present more balanced units.

IMPORTANCE OF POINT COST: Determining the point cost of a unit is THE most essential part of making a good, useable custom. You can give a unit ANY number of crazy abilities, even make them god-like, as long as you figure out the drafting cost, to keep the game balanced.

POINT COST FORMULA: Let's be VERY clear about this. There is NO formula for costing Heroscape units. Some RPG games present point cost formulas for character creation. However, it is very clear that no such formulas exist for determining the value of official Heroscape units, and our goal here is to emulate the values of the official units. You can not assign "points" for stats and abilities, because Heroscape presents far too many situational variables for such formulas to be effective in determining value. Certain Stats and Abilities can work together to enhance the other's value. Consider this: if a unit has the "Rapid Fire" ability, it is much more effective, if that unit has a high attack value. If a figure has the "Carry" ability, it is much more effective with a figure that has a high "Move" stat and/or other special movement abilities such as Flight. Determining the value of special abilities can also be very tricky, as they usually work much better in some situations than others. Take Acid Breath or Mind Shackle as examples. In some cases, they could be an easy win against a nigh indestructible opponent. In other cases, it may not do much more than kill or enslave a peon. If you can't determine the exact value of a special ability, how can you determine the value of a single stat? You can't and if you attempt to do so, you are fooling yourself. Official unit points costs are determined by how a unit functions as a whole, in a variety of situations. They represent an "average" performance in a game of chance, strategy and a huge number of mathematical variables.

POINT COST EMMULATION: Because we do not fully know or understand Hasbro's play testing methodology, and because we would likely not have the time or resources to do the kind of play testing that Hasbro does, the best we can do is to try and emulate the kind of balance we find in the official units, and that is what this threat is about. Determining point cost by comparing our customs to official units.

LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR: In order for us to properly emulate official point costs, it is important for us to understand what point cost represents. The best way to do this is to look at the lowest common denominators. In Heroscape, that is ISAMU and OTONASHI who cost only 10 points. Their point cost is almost as low as a Heroscape unit's point cost can be, yet they are nowhere near as weak as a Heroscape figure can be. This suggests that every five points in Heroscape drafting represents more than a small shift in capability, and therefore, small shifts in stats and abilities may not be significant enough to justify an increase in point cost. For example, it suggests that if you created a custom that was identical to Sgt. Drake, with the exception that it had +1 Move or +1 Def, that probably wouldn't be enough to justify even a 5 point increase in point cost. However, it should be noted that because Drake has 6 life, and is likely to "survive" much longer than Isamu, who only has 1 life, changing a single stat for Drake is much more significant than changing a single stat for Isamu, because Drake will be around longer to benefit from it. However, Isamu and Otonashi allow us to know how much power can be packed in nearly the smallest possible increment of point cost.

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RENAMING UNITS AND ABILITIES (USING PROXIES)
One of the easiest ways to make good customs is to simply take an official Heroscape unit and simply give it a new name. For example, you could use a Heroclix Batman figure, and use Drake Alexander's card, and it would make pretty good sense. If you are going to do something like that though, I suggest you make a new card for "Batman," so there is no mix up on which cards belong to which figures. As long as you are making a new card for Batman, you might as well rename some of Drake's abilities as well, for thematic purposes. "Thorian Speed" can be renamed "Dark Knight Stealth" or some such thing, for cool thematic purposes. When renaming abilities, try to look at the mechanics of what the ability does, and that will give you some good ideas on how to rename the ability. For example, in Heroscape, the rules for "Flying" are essentially the same rules for "Teleporting." So, teleportation can essentially be represented by the "Flying" ability. So can "Super-Leap" and "Swing Line." Usually leaping abilities and abilities such as "Grappling Gun" have limits on how high the unit can move up or down. But really, how many of us are actually playing on boards with 25+ units of elevation? Enough to dramatically effect point value? If a unit's ability is limited (such as Kee-Mo-Shi's inability to effect Souborgs), that limitation should also be reflected in Kee-Mo-Shi's point value, not in the soulborgs (who were made before Kee-Mo-Shi was even invented).

MECHANICS vs. CHARACTER
Whenever you base a custom on an existing character, it is more important to look at the mechanics of what the unit does, rather that who the character is. For example, a person who wants to do a Wonder Woman custom, may base it on Raelin because of similarities in the characters. But the mechanics of Raelin's special abilities do not match Wonder Woman nearly as well as Charos or Su-Bak-Na might.

CHANGES OF MINIMAL CONSEQUENCE
Traits: Generally speaking, changing a character's race, type, personality or faction is a relatively minor change, that really should not have a deep impact on the unit's value. I strongly believe that units designed to support other units of a particular race, type, personality or faction have the cost of the army's enhancement built into their own cost. Taelord, Khosumet and even Kato are not particularly powerful units, but their costs are greatly inflated by their support abilities. So, you can play the wolves without Khosumet and get your points worth. But, if you play Khosumet without the wolves, you are overpaying for the unit. Therefore, feel free to change race, type, personality or faction when you are making customs. HOWEVER, be careful when changing the name of the race, type, personality or faction supported in the text of special abilities. For example, if Empress Kiova's abilities worked for units with higher defense (and god-forbid, Counterstrike ability), like the Izumi Samurai, then she would be worth considerably more.

Common vs. Unique: Whether a unit is common or unique is not a big factor in point cost. The decision to make Izumi Samurai and Tarn Vikings unique, for example, seems somewhat arbitrary to me. But you should be careful. Having too many figure of a certain kind could create confusion, if not imbalance. I think more than one squad of Marro warriors would make a game somewhat confusing, even if it didn't change the balance. Similarly, the Zettians would have more flexibility if there were more than two of them on the board. Still, this doesn't seem like a game changing enhancement (maybe 5 points at most, which is negligible).

CHANGES OF MODERATE CONSEQUENCE
Personally, I consider changing a unit's size to be a moderate change that DOES effect gameplay, but not enough to constitute a dramatic change in point value. There are both advantages and disadvantages to size, and I think it all works out pretty evenly. First of all, a double based figure can be attacked by more figures, but can also attack more figures in return. A large figure is harder to hide, but it usually has a better line of site. A larger figure must always end its movement on two spaces of even elevation, but also doesn't have to stop when moving through a single water space. A large figure does not benefit from some abilities such as "carry" and may be vulnerable to units like Sir Denrick. However, large characters are not subject to some special attacks either, such as Grimnak's chomp. All things considered, size is usually not a major factor in a game.

ADJUSTMENTS WITH HEROSCAPE MATCHUP CALCULATOR
Heroscape Matchup calculator is an EXTREMELY cool and powerful tool for custom makers, and should definitely be consulted. It gives you straight-up statistical probabilities, that can save you a lot of play testing time. It can be found here:

http://math.lfc.edu/~yuen/heroscape/matchup.pl

The Matchup Calculator must be used wisely. It doesn't account for movement or range. You must assume that the two units being matched have equal range. It can be used in the following ways:

1. Durability adjustments. You can use the matchup calculator to adjust Life, Defense and Defensive Special Abilities. Assume that an average attacker has 3-4 attack in a normal Heroscape game and 5-6 attack in a Marvel game. See what happens when you reduce a unit's Life stat, and increase his defense, or visa versa. See what happens when you lower the unit's normal defense, and give it a particular defensive special such as "Toughness" or "Smoke Screen" or "Spider Sense" or "Stealth Dodge." Use an original unit's normal stats on one side, and the new stats on another side. When they are close to having a 50-50 win ratio, then you know that the units have about the same "durability." Changing life and defense stats and abilities can have different advantages depending on the type of attack they face. But if they have roughly the same durability in the case of "average" attacks, then they should be pretty balanced in the game.

2. Attack adjustments. You can try a similar method for adjusting attack stats, with offensive abilities such as Double Attack, Rapid Fire, etc. For example, in most cases, a character with 3 attack, and the Double attack ability has a pretty even chance of winning against someone with a single attack of 6. But it depends on what kind of durability the opponent has. For tests, use 3-4 for an average Heroscape game, or 6 for an average Marvel game. If you are trying to model an official unit, make sure you

3. Beatstick adjustments. If a unit grants NO bonuses to other units, you may adjust its Attack AND Durability at the same time. That is, you may sacrifice Attack for Durability, or Durability for Attack. It is not wise to do this with units that support other units, because in sacrificing Durability, you are sacrificing how long the special ability can be used in the game, and by sacrificing attack, you can make a "Cheerleader" stick around much longer than they should. If you are adjusting a pure "Beatstick" like Krugg, Drake, Carr, or one of the Dragons, then it doesn't matter how they win a slugfest, just as long as they win it as often as they did before the adjustments.

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HERO TO SQUAD and SQUAD TO HERO THEORY

It is possible to turn a hero into a squad, or a squad into a hero. The big difference between a squad and a hero is that when you activate a squad, you activate a number of characters, all with the same stats, and the longer the game goes on, the weaker the unit becomes (because barring a special ability, heroes don’t get weaker when they take wounds). I also make an assumption that the difference between a hero figure and a squad figure isn't terribly significant. Squad members can usually be killed easier by special attacks, but are altogether immune to other special abilities, which only effect heroes. So, I'm assuming that the effects of those special abilities is built into the units hosting them, and that even if it wasn't, it would work out about even for a converted unit. So, here is my theory on conversion:

Rule #1. Don't change ANY of the stats for the figure. The only thing that changes is the cost.

SQUAD TO HERO

If the squad has 2 units, divide the total point cost by 3.
If the squad has 3 units, divide the total point cost by 6.
If the squad has 4 units, divide the total point cost by 10.

This will give you the point cost for a hero with 1 life. Multiply the point cost by the total amount of life you give the hero (x5 for a hero with 5 life). This value will become more inaccurate (overpriced), the more life you give it (especially if it has a small defense value).

HERO TO SQUAD

Do the opposite. Divide the hero's total point cost by his life value, so you get the hero's value at 1 life. This method will give you an increasingly inaccurate (under priced) value the bigger the character's life value is.

To create a 2 unit squad, multiply the 1 life hero value by 3.
To create a 2 unit squad, multiply the 1 life hero value by 6.
To create a 2 unit squad, multiply the 1 life hero value by 10.

This isn't totally mathematically accurate, and there may be very specific glitches, depending on the gameplay dynamics of the character you are working with. However, it will give you a ballpark figure that can be adjusted through play testing.

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GOOD MODELS
Even if you're not modeling a unit directly on an official unit, use the stats and abilities of official units to figure out a comparable cost for your figure. Here are a few models you might consider:

BEATSICKS: Drake 1, Krugg, Alastair, X17, Hulk, Abomination, The Dragons, Knight Champions

DEADLY POWER: Sudema, Wo-Sa-Ga

INCAPACITATION: I often find that I want characters who can tie up opponents with a net, ice, a stunning blow, a confusing illusion, or sheer shock and terror. This is best represented by removing order markers from an opponent's card. Dund, Silver Surfer, and the Spiders all have this ability. Be warned about using too many of these kinds of units though. Some who has two or more Dunds on their team, could make it almost impossible for an opponent to ever take a turn. And that is not balanced.

MELEE LEADERS: Flagbearers, Kato

RANGED FIGHTERS: Syvarris, DW8K, Q9, Q10, Carr, The Cowboys, Kaemon Awa

RANGED LEADERS: Red Skull, Captain America, The Vikings, Khosumet, Warden, DW9K

VEHICLES: Theracus and Brunak

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PLAYTESTING
Playtesting is akin to conducting a scientific experiment, and it should be done under controlled circumstances.

1. The Battlefield: Try to use a medium sized battlefield. Too small may inhibit the movement abilities of some units, and too large may skew the game in favor of characters with good movement ability and/or long range attacks. In general, try to use a battlefield that has some common varieties of features, and features that are important to the abilities of the figure you are testing. It wouldn't make sense to test a figure with Slither, if there was little or no water on the battlefield.

2. Test Armies: I think a good model for play testing is to use very small armies, so there aren't an overwhelming number of variables in the game, and you can see what is going on with the unit you are testing. For your test armies, I would use no more than double the estimated point cost of the unit you are testing. I suggest keeping the play test to two units per side, if possible. Preferably one squad and one hero unit on each side, to test efficiency and synergy against both types of units. If the unit you are testing has synergies with another unit, that unit should definitely be tested, as a player will more than likely choose that unit in a game, when trying to build a cohesive army. NEVER play test more than one unit at a time. When building test armies, try to use old, proven, official units, with fairly straightforward abilities. Characters like Carr, Drake, Syvarris, Ne-Gok-Sa, and the Izumi are perfect for this.

3. Method: After testing a unit in a controlled game, play the game again, using the exact same armies, but switching players. Play controlled games with at least 2-3 "test armies." If the unit you are testing survives all or most of the games you play, try increasing his point value a little. If the unit you are testing dies in almost every game, try reducing his point level. A balanced character should be part of a winning team, as often as he is part of a loosing team. If you play a lot of games, he should come out about 50-50 on his win-loss ratio. Also, take notes on the characters strengths and weaknesses. If you find a character has a weakness, or is consistently overpowered in one area, try adjusting his abilities, instead of his point value. But assuming you have given him reasonable abilities, it is probably easier and more straight-forward to adjust the point value.

[Kaemon n' Raelin Dude]

Wow, that really makes sense. Great job! What doens't make sense is that I'm the first one to reply. This is an excellent thread!

[Malechi]

Added this well organized article (as it lists some of the better/useful theories in one place) to the Index Thread: How-to's/Recognition for Custom Creations. You might wish to forward this to the HS Codex and have it published in an upcoming issue ...

[Lord Pyre]

This is very helpful! I've been making a lot of customs recently, and I think this'll be a great asset!

[Ugly-Caco]

Originally Posted by Malechi

...forward this to the HS Codex and have it published in an upcoming issue ...

Publish worthy indeed.
Great article, Argoscap.

[The B.I.V.]

Great article. I do think you oversimplify things a little, though. For example, you say size is a wash but size is a large factor in Zetacron's case. He was given a double base most likely to keep him from gaining a hieght advantage with his already formidible ranged attack. In this case size (or base size) is used as a disadvantage and is probably reflected in his point cost of 60.

You also said squds versus heros was a wash but you fail to take into account that squads get 3-4 attacks per turn as opposed to (most) heroes who only get 1...

Brandon

[LongHeroscaper]

I also believe that Unique and Common have some significant difference in point cost. For example, if the Izumi Samurai were common, their cost can't be 60. Or Krav Maga's cost at 100 point must have been higher if they were common. Comparing Krav Maga and Microcorp, the Microcorp is weaker, but their cost is higher because they are common. If they were unique, their cost would have been 80 or so.

[Just_a_Bill]

Excellent article. Here are a few thoughts:

• Under CHANGES OF MODERATE CONSEQUENCE, you merge several thoughts related to double-hex and large/huge figures. That's probably okay in general, but there are a couple of statements that are technically inaccurate (e.g., double-hex restrictions attributed to "large" figures). It may also be helpful to mention the inability of double-hexers to climb ladders.
  
  
• I agree wth The B.I.V. that the multiple attacks provided by a squad is worth at least a mention.
  
  
• Your playtesting advice is very good; here's another trick I've found helpful when creating new units for other games:

Any designer (amateur or professional) needs to watch out for getting emotionally invested in a new unit that's near and dear to his heart. It can be difficult to remain objective, and especially to take constructive criticism from others when you've got the unit working "just the way you want it".

A good trick is to ask your friend/roommate/dad/wife/probation officer – assuming they are a reasonably strong opponent for you – to play your new unit against you multiple times. If they get bored quickly, then perhaps the unit's whizzbang feature that really thrills you may not be as broadly appealing as you thought. On the other hand, if they crunch on you repeatedly and you begin to get weary of playing against the beloved Frankenstein's monster you labored to bring to life, it may be time to tone it down (or price it up) a bit.

The idea here is to work against our built-in infatuation with those special units; we want to end the honeymoon period quickly by simulating how we might respond to the unit if someone else had designed it.

[Hidicul]

my question is how to play test a custom hero that has synergy with a specific custom squad?

[The B.I.V.]

Playtest them together? Sounds pretty simple to me...

Units tend to be priced according to "optimal conditions." Take the Obsidian Guards. Their cost is based on there being lava somewhere on the board so that they can acheive thier maximum potential. On a non-lava map, this makes them overpriced, but that's how it should be since on a lava map, they'll kick large amounts of bootie.

In your case, fielding your hero with your squad makes for "optimal conditions." They need to be playtested together to make sure they're not broken, and that you can price them accordingly.

You can be sure that Cyprien and Sonya Eisenwein were playtested together since her power gives him optimal playability. Their synergies were no doubt taken into account in thier prices...

Brandon

[Takanuva]

Anyways, if you have customs, I'd be happy to help with cost.

[Hidicul]

thanks the b.i.v. I just wanted to make sure since everything I've seen so far says don't test two at the same time.