The Book of Ninjak

[MrNobody]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Ninjak

Army Test
Map: Ticallan Tower (ARV Maps, No Glyphs)
Units: Team 1 (720): Ninjak (230), Abigail Brand (170), Beast (170), Scarlet Spiders (150)
Team 2 (720): Flash (Jay Garrick) (220), Flash (Wally West) (280), Flash (John Fox) (220)

Wounds Dealt: 9
Tactical Pressure: 6 activations, 1 turns stolen, 2 blanks changed
Precision Shuriken: 11 uses, 6 auto-wounds inflicted

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: T2 wins initiative
-Fox gives Beast 2 wounds
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-Beast negotiates the X off Fox

Round 2: T2 wins initiative
-Wally kills a Spider
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-Ninjak gives Fox a wound with his normal attack
-Wally kills Brand with an Infinite Mass Punch
-Ninjak gives Wally a wound with his SA

Round 3: T1 wins initiative
-Wally kills a Spider
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-Ninjak gives Jay a wound with his SA
-Ninjak gives Wally an auto-wound

Round 4: T2 wins initiative
-Wally gives Ninjak and Beast a wound each and kills a Spider
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-T1 loses a turn from having an OM on the Spiders
-Ninjak gives Wally an auto-wound

Round 5: T2 wins initiative
-Jay gives Ninjak a wound
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-Ninjak kills Wally with an auto-wound
-T2 loses a turn from having an OM on Wally
-T2 loses another turn from having an OM on Wally

Round 6: T1 wins initiative
-Beast negotiates the 2 off of Fox
-Beast gives Jay a wound
-Beast kills Jay
-Ninjak gives Fox a wound with his SA
-Fox gives Beast a wound

Round 7: T1 wins initiative
-Ninjak gives Fox an auto-wound with his SA

Round 8: T1 wins initiative
-Fox gives Ninjak 2 wounds
-Ninjak activates TP
-Ninjak rolls a blank and no skulls to inflict an auto-wound around TD and kill Fox


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Ninjak (4/5 wounds), Beast (4/5 wounds)

A pretty tight game, with Ninjak really stepping up to bat, using his SA to get past the enemy’s tight defenses.

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Army Test
Map: Ticallan Tower (ARV Maps, No Glyphs)
Units: Team 1 (840): Ninjak (230), Captain America (240), Bucky (60), Guile (130), Sharon Carter (90), Dum Dugan (90)
Team 2 (840): Ra’s Al Ghul II (260), Ubu (100), Bullseye (175), Kitana (185), Typhoid Mary (120)

Wounds Dealt: 6
Tactical Pressure: 3 activations, 4 turns stolen, 2 blanks changed
Precision Shuriken: 2 uses, 1 auto-wounds inflicted

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: T1 wins initiative
-Troops advance

Round 2:T2 wins initiative
-Mary gives Cap a wound
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-Ninjak gives Mary a wound
-Ninjak gives Kitana a wound with his SA
-Ninjak gives Kitana 3 wounds

Round 3: T1 wins initiative
-Kitana gives Cap a wound
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-Cap kills Kitana
-Bullseye gives Guile 3 wounds
-Ninjak gives Mary a wound
-Bullseye gives Cap a wound

Round 4: T2 wins initiative
-Bullseye kills Cap
-Ninjak activates Tactical Pressure
-T1 loses a turn from having an OM on Cap
-Bullseye gives NInjak 3 wounds
-Mary kills Guile and Ninjak

Round 5: T2 wins initiative
-Bullseye gives Bucky 3 wounds
-Bucky gives Mary and Bullseye 1 wound each
-Mary heals with the Lazarus Pit
-Mary gives Sharon 2 wounds
-Dum Dum gives Mary a wound

Round 6: T1 wins initiative
-Dum Dum gives Mary 2 wounds
-Dum Dum gives Bullseye 3 wounds
-Bullseye kills Sharon
-Dum Dum kills Bullseye
-Mary gives Dum Dum 2 wounds
-Dum Dum kills Mary
-Ubu gives um Dum a wound

Round 7: T1 wins initiaitive
-Dum Dum gives Ubu 3 wounds
-Dum Dum kills Ubu
-Bucky gives Ra’s a wound
-Ra’s kills Bucky

Round 8: T2 wins initiative
-Ra’s kills Dum Dum



Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Ra’s Al Ghul (1/6 wounds)

This is the tale of a man by the name of Dum Dum Dugan…
Ninjak was solid here, dealing out plenty of wounds and giving some options to who I wanted to take a turn with. He just couldn’t match the power of Dum Dum.

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THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Cool stuff. He pretty much sits exactly in the intersection of ninja, secret agent, and Batman. Some random notes;
-He can’t Phantom Walk and move through figures like other ninjas can. Don’t know if that’s thematic or not, but it did come up a few times during my games. Makes him feel more like Batman and less like a floaty ghost.
-I played on a fairly flat map, so the climbing never came up. It doesn’t match with the climbing abilities like Expert Climbing exactly, but I don’t know that it needs to.
-During my first game I found the 4 space limit to be a bit limiting and found myself thinking I might just ignore the power in some situations in exchange for just sending him off on his own. But in the second game where there were less options for turn choices I found it much easier to swallow. It ensures he always wants to be in the fray, and can do a little bit to deter opponents from going after your easy-to-wound units early in the round.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: He’s pretty good, but I’d hardly say overpowered. I think game 1 was a very good matchup for him, but in game two you see more of what he looks like on average.

Not sure the power usage stats I recorded are 100% correct but they're pretty close.

[Arch-vile]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Ninjak

Army Test
Map: A Couple Puddles
Units: Ninjak, Captain America C3G, Iron Man Hulkbuster, Miles Morales (1000) VS Fantastic 4 (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

The Avengers & Fantastic 4 advance. Ninjak uses Precision Shuriken to wound Thing & Mr Fantastic. Mr Fantastic ends the round by putting a wound on Ninjak.

Captain America has a stunning Shield Throw which puts 2 wounds on Mr Fantastic & Thing. Invisible Woman advances and puts a wound on Ninjak, who activates Tactical Pressure. Hulkbuster takes out Mr Fantastic which wipes their order markers too. Hulkbuster then takes out Invisible Woman in a single hit.

I’m going to replay this test.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Game called: Human Torch & Thing (3 wounds) VS all Avengers, only wounded was Ninjak (2 wounds)

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Army Test
Map: A Couple Puddles
Units: Ninjak, Captain America C3G, Iron Man Hulkbuster, Miles Morales (1000) VS Fantastic 4 (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

The Avengers & Fantastic 4 advance. Ninjak uses Precision Shuriken to wound Thing & Mr Fantastic. Human Torch engages Hulkbuster & Cap but his attack is blocked. Mr Fantastic puts 2 wounds on Ninjak.

Hulkbuster smashes 4 wounds on Human Torch. Human Torch goes Supernova (3 skulls) but is blocked. Thing puts a wound on Ninjak. Captain America reveals an OM, but Ninjak decides to take that turn and escapes to height while putting a wound each on Thing & Mr Fantastic. Thing attacks Cap twice with 10 dice, but only inflicts 1 wound. Hulkbuster takes out Human Torch. Thing puts another wound on Cap.

Cap disengages Thing, taking a wound, then Shield Throws which is blocked. Thing wounds Hulkbuster, then Mr Fantastic puts 3 wounds on Hulkbuster. Hulkbuster puts 2 wounds on Invisible Woman. Mr Fantastic is blocked. Hulkbuster takes out Invisible woman. Cap blocks more attacks to end the round.

Cap again blocks attacks. Hulkbuster puts 3 wounds on Thing. Thing finally takes out Cap. Hulkbuster takes out Thing. Mr Fantastic takes out Hulkbuster. Ninjak shurikens a wound onto Fantastic.

Fantastic engages Miles and is blocked. Ninjak puts a wound on Fantastic. Fantastic is blocked, then Miles finishes him off.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Spider-Man & Ninjak (3 wounds) wins.

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Army Test
Map: A Couple Puddles
Units: Ninjak, Sinestro, Sinestro Corps Soldier x2 (780) VS The Tick, The Crow, Spawn (790)

Spoiler Alert!

Sinestro & Tick move out. Ninjak throws a wound onto Tick. Spawn chain grabs Sinestro & deals him 2 wounds. Sinestro put 2 wounds on Spawn, then his Soldier puts 1 wound on Spawn. Spawn chain grabs the soldier and puts a wound on him, then uses machine gun to force the Soldier to block with a battery marker.

Tick activates Spoon, and puts a wound on Sinestro with a normal attack. Sinestro puts 3 wounds on Spawn, then burns a battery marker to finish him off, which earns him a Crow Marker. Tick burns another one of Sinestro’s battery markers. Sinestro puts 2 wounds on the oaf. Tick burns another one of Sinestro’s battery markers. Sinestro puts a 4th wound on Tick, then the Soldier attacks & kills Tick (who survives thanks to a d20 roll, and rolled 3 skulls to kill off the Soldier too).

Tick survives again. Crow puts a wound on Sinestro & burns the last battery marker. Sinestro whiffs, and his soldier attacks Crow but is blocked. Crow kills Sinestro, sating his bloodlust. Ninjak throws a wound onto Crow. Crow puts 2 wounds on the Soldier & burns a battery marker.

Crow kills the Soldier. Ninjak elects to not attack Tick and puts a wound on Crow with a shuriken. Crow is blocked. Ninjak is blocked. Crow puts a wound on Ninjak. Ninjak returns the favor.

Crow wounds Ninjak. Ninjak kills Crow. Ninjak then attacks Tick twice, who survives with Nigh-invulnerability then blocks.

Tick advances, then Ninjak kills Tick with a shuriken.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Ninjak w/2 wounds wins.

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Felt balanced. Precision Shuriken is a really nifty power, with long range too. Tactical Pressure offers additional offense and can combo well with figures like Captain America who want a revealed OM on their card, but the low range limits its usefulness unless you really plan ahead. His movement ability basically gives him stealth flying on an average map (with some differences obv.). Despite these benefits he offers relatively low attack power for his cost, so overall he’s balanced IMO. He never felt overwhelming nor too weak. The 6 defense is handy. He offers consistent wounds with the shurikens and can transition into a more powerful attacker when Tactical Pressure is on.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Really fun design, I liked this guy a lot. He played pretty much exactly like I would expect a ninja to play.

[MrNobody]

Okay, so if Ninjak is moving up to terrain that is one level higher than him, how many movement points does that cost? I played it as costing the regular 2, but it looks like you basically played it like Flying?

[Karat]

1 space higher costs 2, 2 spaces higher costs 3, 3 spaces higher costs 4, and 4 spaces higher costs 2 is how I read it.

[Arch-vile]

Hmm, I guess I did play it incorrectly. I thought it worked like Expert Climbing but I see now the wording for Expert Climbing is different.

[Yodaking]

I read it as every four levels up cost 1 move, then the move over still cost 1. So moving up 1 level doesn't get you any discount, it still cost 2 total. When going 2-4 levels up, it also only cost 2. At levels 5-8, the cost would be 3, 9-12, the cost is 4, etc.

[LordVenoc]

Do you feel like the accidental added mobility influenced your tests much Archie? I'm generally thinking of upping his Tactical Pressure's area of trigger to 6 so that both abilities match.

He's looking 6-1 though, which isn't ideal. But, most all of the wins are pretty close wins, save the one I played vs the Fan 4 where they were rolling bad.

[Arch-vile]

It would have given him an extra Shuriken attack early on. After that the extra move wasn't a big help so I doubt it would have changed much.

[LordVenoc]

Also, Yodaking is correct on how the elevation changes are intended to work. Anything 1-4 costs 1 for the movement up and 1 for the space itself. So 1-4 = 2 spaces 5-8 = 3.

I may trchnically need an ignore his height when climbing clause I think, as the intent is he should be able to scale castles. Any thoughts on if upping the pressure range should goose the point cost with the current win/loss record?

[MrNobody]

I think the difference between 4 and 6 spaces is negligible, at least from my experience playing him.

If the Climbing wording is confusing people, that may be something worth looking at.

[Yodaking]

You already have an ignore this figures height clause in the power.

Regardless of how close the wins were, 6-1 is still 6-1 and shows he's already solid as is if not under priced slightly. If you want to increase the range of the aura power, then for sure he'll need an accompanying point increase. So you could try calling for a vote at 240 with range 6 aura and see if that can pass without more testing or not.

[Karat]

Yea, that movement bit isn't coming across as is, but I'm not really sure how to word it better yet. I'll think on it.