The Trial of Shadowcat (Firemaster)

[IAmBatman]

Next up on trial is a card from the one and only Firemaster. All are welcome and encouraged to bring there input. Please be aware of the discussion guidelines for TNT trials.

LATEST VERSION ON TOP



Firemaster's version of ... Shadowcat



Judges status on this Card:
IAmBatman
Eclipse
allskulls

APPROVAL DEADLINE: Thursday, October 11th 11:59pm (I decided to give it just a tad more than a week to give the judges all time to see this thread). We know, of course, that this deadline is little more than foolish optimism.

Any playtesting should only include this custom and official units or TNT customs. Playtesting with Classicscape is welcome so we can see how the custom works with official squads and heroes.

Ideas for playtestes:
1-Try Shadowcat with Nightcrawler and Magneto to see how much those mutant bonuses help an army.
2-Try Shadowcat in a game with a Castle Door or Breakable Wall to see how much her Phasing ability comes in handy.
3-Try Shadowcat out against some agent squads looking to run her in for mutant registry, so that Lockheed Fireline special really comes into play.

For those who don't know much about this gal I've included a link to the Shadowcat Wiki article and probably the more accurate Marvel site for some background reading. Enjoy!

[IAmBatman]

My initial thoughts - I'm iffy on "rookie" as a class. The power selection seems good, though I'm not sure if a one shield defense is as representational of Intangibility as you could be. The Lockheed Fireline Special Attack needs some wording help for sure.
She seems a bit frail for 90 points, but her specials might help with that. Playtesting will determine one way or another, though.

[Eclipse]

My first thought is that perhaps this card is missing an opportunity here. There's a general drive for people to only rate and create units based on direct combat abilities. Shadowcat is a figure who's abilities really don't lend themselves to confronting figures directly, but she could be a great opportunity to make a figure useful for other situations.

After all, Shadowcat rarely makes her stand by duking it out with super villains. Her job is generally to sneak in through the back door and stop the doomsday device while the others are engaged in combat. To that end, I'd make Intangibility a lot stronger than it is and make her a glyph grabber/keeper or a support unit of some kind. Making her a pure combat figure seems to be missing the entire point of the character.

[GreyOwl]

I don't know if it's feasible, but it might be interesting to make the Intangibility ability in such a way that she is protected, but ranged shots pass through her and have the potential to harm someone else.

[IAmBatman]

The only way I see that something like that would work, GreyOwl, is if it were based on a D20 roll that actually made it worthwhile for a ranged figure to take a shot at her and risk hitting one of its allies instead. Still, I think that'd be a pretty difficult one to word, and I think most of the time since she's melee anyway, people would just opt to engage her.

[Eclipse]

Btw, what's Lockheed's range? It seems to have been cut out of the power.

[IAmBatman]

That's one of the wording concerns I have with the power.

[allskulls]

I agree with Eclipse on this one, but this version does have Lockheed so she should have some offensive effectiveness. And if I am getting it right, it seems that the dragon can leave Kitty then attack and come back (just missing a number to indicate how many spaces he can fly to). If that is the case, the ability is really cool...er hot

To make her more of a support piece, maybe adjacent friendly figures can gain her Phasing ability when moving from a space adjacent to her. She will be a rescurer and door maker.

Intagibility can allow her to ignore special attacks or abilities from adjacent enemy figures. No plague can touch her.

[Firemaster]

The Lockheed attack is supposed to have a range of 3.

It seems that the opinion seems to be that she should more support oriented.So, to do this, how about making the Lockheed attack 2 attack, and making Intangibility like this:

INTANGIBILITY
When Shadowcat rolls defense dice, one shield will block all damage. As well, when friendly figures adjacent to Shadowcat roll defense dice against normal attacks, add one shield to whatever is rolled. Shadowcat, and all friendly figures adjacent to her, may not be affected by special abilities from adjacent enemy figures.


How's that?

[IAmBatman]

That intangibility power's going to up her points quite a bit, I'd think.

[rdhight]

I've been thinking about low-point heroes with "tag-along" movement so they can escort your big hitters (or guard support figures, etc.) without needing an order marker.

If you want a support power for her, here's an idea along those lines:

SHARED INTANGIBILITY
Shadowcat is never attacked when leaving an engagement and can pass through all figures and all obstacles. When a Unique Hero you control begins its turn adjacent to Shadowcat, you may place her figure on its Army Card. The chosen figure is never attacked when leaving an engagement and can pass through all figures and all obstacles, but must end its move adjacent to at least one empty space. After taking a turn with the affected figure, you must place Shadowcat adjacent to it.

It's a total change, so I'll understand completely if you want to stick with modifications and polishing of your own original special abilities. But making someone else intangible does seem pretty basic and useful for her.

[Doc_Savage]

Here are some thought I had while reading through your Shadowcat. I like that she is a cheap (for Marvel) support unit.

Shadowcat -

PHASING
Can she move through terrain? Like if there was a one space wide wall that was height 10. Could she phase through that? She should be able to...

INTANGIBILITY
This is a good power for her - however, at 2 def, statistically, she'll only roll that 1 shield 2/3 of the time and at 3 life she won't last long. I think that her def should be 3.

LOCKHEED
Here is a Dragon that truly will never stray far from its master's side. There are a few typos here, but I like the power a lot. It really works, and you only need to clean up the language a little. should the fireline spaces be level?

I listed 2 options because I thought the second version was clearer...

try -

"LOCKHEED FIRELINE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 3.
Choose an unoccupied space within 3 spaces of Shadowcat. Then choose 3 spaces in a straight line from the first chosen space. All figures on those 3 spaces are affected by the Lockheed Fireline Special Attack. Roll 3 Attack dice once for all affected figures. Affected figures roll defense dice separately. Shadowcat may not use Lockheed Fireline Special Attack when she is engaged."

or

"LOCKHEED FIRELINE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 3.
Choose an unoccupied space within 3 spaces of Shadowcat. Then choose 3 spaces in a straight line from the first chosen space. All figures on those 3 spaces are affected by the Lockheed Fireline Special Attack. Roll 3 Attack dice once for all affected figures. Affected figures roll defense dice separately. Shadowcat may not use Lockheed Fireline Special Attack against a figure she is engaged with."