The Book of Superman (Superman Family)

[LordVenoc]

The Book of Superman (Superman Family)

C3G DC WAVE 42
SUPERMAN FAMILY


Comic PDF


Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Streets of Gotham set.
Its model number and name are #033 / Superman.

_________________________________________________________________

Character Bio - I'll tell you something about glory. A hero doesn't want it. The best day of my life will be the day the world doesn't need me anymore. But until that day comes... I'll never quit fighting for what's right.

-- Kal-El
_________________________________________________________________

-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

_________________________________________________________________

-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Kal-El, Superman has these Kal-El Synergies.
• As a Kryptonian, Superman has these Kryptonian Synergies.
• As a Champion, Superman has these Champion Synergies.

Outgoing Synergy:

• Superman may offer turn bonding to Daxamite, Human, and Kryptonian Champions with his Superman Family special power.

_________________________________________________________________

-Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses-

Immunities:

• As a figure with the Flying special power, Superman cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with the Flying special power.
• As a figure with the Super Strength special power, Superman cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with the Super Strength special power.

Benefits:

• As a Kryptonian, Superman interacts differently with certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interacts Differently with Kryptonians.
• As a figure with the Super Strength special power, Superman interacts differently with certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with the Super Strength special power.

Weaknesses:

• As a Kryptonian, Superman interacts differently with certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interacts Differently with Kryptonians.
• As a figure with the Flying special power, Superman interacts differently with certain special powers. Current Special Powers that Interact Differently with the Flying special power.

_________________________________________________________________

-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• Superman Family Faction Strategy

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: LordVenoc & Part 2
• Second playtest: tcglkn
• Third playtest: Ronin
• Fourth playtest: IAmBatman
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by Soundwarp

[LordVenoc]

NAME = SUPERMAN
SECRET IDENTITY = KAL-EL
SPECIES = KRYPTONIAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = CHAMPION
PERSONALITY = VALIANT

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 8

MOVE = 8
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 7
DEFENSE = 7

POINTS = 430

SUPERMAN FAMILY
After revealing an Order Marker on the card of a Unique Kryptonian Champion and taking a turn with that Champion, if that Champion has no more than one revealed numbered Order Marker on its card, you may then take a turn with any other Unique Champion you control that is a Daxamite, Human, or Kryptonian within 6 clear sight spaces of that Champion. You may not take any additional turns.

HOPE IN ACTION
When rolling defense dice for a figure you control within 6 clear sight spaces of Superman, you may reroll X dice, where X is the number of revealed Order Markers on this card.

MAN OF STEEL
When rolling defense against a normal attack from a figure who is not a Kryptonian, all blanks rolled count as extra shields.

SUPER STRENGTH
FLYING

[LordVenoc]

Comic Art:

Spoiler Alert!

Mini Pics:

Spoiler Alert!

Background Art:

Spoiler Alert!

[LordVenoc]

Alrighty, we have finally arrived at the centerpiece, Superman IV!

Changes from LCW:
Dropped Metahuman. It was there to grab Lana and Kenan. Current write up for Kenan pegs him as Human, which works because its a little ambiguous where he falls. Technically we can argue Lana is in a similar place given to the nature of how both got their powers, but we can tackle that when we get to those places.

Moved Hope in Action to defense only, and swapped it to only defense. For now, removed the once per round limit, but willing to alter that dial as we go.

Posted up several comic art options from Jiminez, because again, super cool to keep it all going by the same artist with characters present in modern day Family. Absolutely adore the next to last one, but I know that probably wouldn't work well for a card (or with how we approach cards) but I think it awesomely captures the ideal here, so couldn't help but at least share it.

Don't care for the Rebirth mini, so for now I'm marking it as that's close to Rebirth without the symbol having as many of the sharp edged looks of New 52 era.

[IAmBatman]

Cool write up that bridges the Superman Family and Justice League factions well.

14 current options for Kryptonian/Human Champion (No Champion Mon-El yet for Daxamite), which include:

Thor (Jane Foster)
X-O Manowar
Doctor Fate (II)
Captain Marvel (Billy)
Captain Marvel (Mary)
Supergirl (II)
Captain Marvel Jr.
Booster Gold
Liu Kang
Batman (III)
Hawkgirl (Kendra)
Green Arrow (II)
Starman (Jack)
Superboy (II)

Supergirl, Superboy, and Green Arrow all seem like good options for him. No D20 makes Fate and Batman less appealing. Hawkgirl, Jane Thor, X-O, and the Captain Marvels are all decent pairings of big hitters too.

Krypto and Johnathan Kent are nicely placed to be good Sidekick add ons.

Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Batman/Fate, Superman, and Krypto/Jon Kent might be the basis for a solid build. Could probably do one with Superboy/Supergirl/Kellex too.

Edit: Flamebird and Nightwing incoming too, of course.

[Arch-vile]

Looks good to me.

[Ronin]

Super!

Might want to tweak the bonding language to be clear that you choose a Human Champion, Kryptonian Champion, or Daxamite Champion and not a Daxamite Champion or a Human or a Kryptonian.

(I think restructuring to like "Unique Champion Hero that is a Human, Kryptonian or Daxamite" would do the job).

[MrNobody]

Superman IV is the one where he fights the Nuclear Man, right?

Design looks good, I’m excited for this one.

[johnny139]

I like the idea of pairing him up with JaneThor, as they seem like the sort of people that would get along well.

My only question is on the first power - you say "if there is only one revealed Order Marker" on that card. I'm reading that as including the one you just revealed - so if you reveal OM1 on Supergirl, you can use Superman Family. But then, when you reveal OM2 on Supergirl, you can't. Is that intent? Not sure if there's a clearer way to word that, maybe an "if that was the only revealed numbered Order Marker on that card," or something?

I also personally would cut Daxamite, since it's going to rope in like one dude at most - from what I remember the Daxamites are pretty evil on average anyways. Nice to have but Mon-El is like a tertiary Superman Family character at best, and it streamlines things nicely.

[MrNobody]

As much as it hurts to say, cutting the Daxamite callout makes some sense. It really is just 1 potential unit basically (unless we make Sodam Yat a Champion to avoid Kilowog boosts, and even then he’s not a thematic ally really.)

[LordVenoc]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Cool write up that bridges the Superman Family and Justice League factions well.

14 current options for Kryptonian/Human Champion (No Champion Mon-El yet for Daxamite), which include:

Thor (Jane Foster)
X-O Manowar
Doctor Fate (II)
Captain Marvel (Billy)
Captain Marvel (Mary)
Supergirl (II)
Captain Marvel Jr.
Booster Gold
Liu Kang
Batman (III)
Hawkgirl (Kendra)
Green Arrow (II)
Starman (Jack)
Superboy (II)

Supergirl, Superboy, and Green Arrow all seem like good options for him. No D20 makes Fate and Batman less appealing. Hawkgirl, Jane Thor, X-O, and the Captain Marvels are all decent pairings of big hitters too.

Krypto and Johnathan Kent are nicely placed to be good Sidekick add ons.

Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Batman/Fate, Superman, and Krypto/Jon Kent might be the basis for a solid build. Could probably do one with Superboy/Supergirl/Kellex too.

Edit: Flamebird and Nightwing incoming too, of course.

Yep, definitely a lot of design choices were made with those things in mind. Jon becomes a solid pick because he lets you reveal another marker on Superman without it being a lost bonding turn. Definitely didn't want things being D20 heavy in the faction, and am especially glad with some of the newer folks as they shouldn't be the easy/obvious pulls. The nice thing is that honestly if you're only taking Superman for the single bonding turn, you probably should take Martian II, as he's gonna have a lot more flexibility with it.

Krypto is a great add for keeping Kryptonians alive and hopefully Streaky will provide a similar aid.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Super!

Might want to tweak the bonding language to be clear that you choose a Human Champion, Kryptonian Champion, or Daxamite Champion and not a Daxamite Champion or a Human or a Kryptonian.

(I think restructuring to like "Unique Champion Hero that is a Human, Kryptonian or Daxamite" would do the job).

Yep, I think that restructure is great. Did a similar thing on Jon's card if I recall.

Originally Posted by MrNobody

Superman IV is the one where he fights the Nuclear Man, right?

Design looks good, I’m excited for this one.

Yes, and it was not good lol. Glad to hear some excitement! Been having fun really building up to this one.

Originally Posted by johnny139

I like the idea of pairing him up with JaneThor, as they seem like the sort of people that would get along well.

I do enjoy that honestly Liu Kang is probably the one he's least likely to hang out and get along with on the non-DC list.

Originally Posted by johnny139

My only question is on the first power - you say "if there is only one revealed Order Marker" on that card. I'm reading that as including the one you just revealed - so if you reveal OM1 on Supergirl, you can use Superman Family. But then, when you reveal OM2 on Supergirl, you can't. Is that intent? Not sure if there's a clearer way to word that, maybe an "if that was the only revealed numbered Order Marker on that card," or something?

Yeah, the intent is essentially a "the first time you reveal a numbered order marker on that card" sort of thing, but it felt weirdly worded when I wrote it out.

Originally Posted by johnny139

I also personally would cut Daxamite, since it's going to rope in like one dude at most - from what I remember the Daxamites are pretty evil on average anyways. Nice to have but Mon-El is like a tertiary Superman Family character at best, and it streamlines things nicely.

I mean, definitely disagree on tertiary. Dude was one of the main people filling in for Superman in the whole World Against Superman, Zod New Krypton thing. He's just in a weird role half the time with the shuttled off to the future. It felt easier to add back in with the changes we made from an initial incarnation, but I'm ultimately fine putting the factional impetus more on Mon-El himself than Kal. Heck, Jon is evidence that having a few tag along folks that aren't directly in that synergy are good for things overall.

Originally Posted by MrNobody

As much as it hurts to say, cutting the Daxamite callout makes some sense. It really is just 1 potential unit basically (unless we make Sodam Yat a Champion to avoid Kilowog boosts, and even then he’s not a thematic ally really.)

Daxamite works because the obvious person its referencing better than Metahuman, but yeah ultimately each of them are bringing in very little intentional folks with one having a lot of unnecessary baggage. I think a Champion Mon-El can still work really well in the faction, he might just look different than what I once had.

[LordVenoc]

COMPETITIVE REVIEW BOARD CHECKLIST

Spoiler Alert!

Efficiency- Check to see if your design is providing armies with turns/moves/etc. to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to keep up with your output.

1. Does your design allow itself or figures to move/attack/take a turn/etc. instead of/in addition to your normal turn for revealing an Order Marker? Is it granting these benefits to too broad a range of units? Does it combine with other powers to create overly long or powerful chains of actions?

It does allow bonding, but cuts off additional beyond that. Only Human and Kryptonian Champions.

2. Does your design allow you to take actions during an opponent's turn? Can it combine with other powers to create tediously long reactions to enemy actions or a restrictive environment?

Allows a defensive reroll, but its contingent on how many Markers Superman has on him.

3. Does your design allow you to rearrange your Order Markers or otherwise bypass the costs of Order Marker requirements on the special powers of other figures?

Not really?

4. Is your design doing anything outside of a player's turn, at the start or end of the round? Is the effect too powerful by itself or when combined with other powers?

Nope.

5. Does your design have any powers that trigger anytime it moves as opposed to only when it moves normally on its turn? Will it be too efficient when combined with figures that grant extra moves to figures?

Nope.

6. Is your design adding or subtracting from initiative rolls? Will it pair too easily with other figures that alter initiative or have powers triggering on the results of initiative rolls?

Nope.


Potency- Check to see if your design is wounding/removing/etc. enemy figures, increasing the chances of other figures in your army doing so, or otherwise directly effecting the number of figures available to players to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to recover from.

1. Does your design have a chance to inflict wounds or destroy figures? Is it getting these chances too frequently or having to high a chance of success? Is the power balanced against expensive targets that can cause a massive swing in the game when destroyed?

Nope.

2. Is your design adding to the stats or 20-sided die rolls of other figures in your army? Is it a boosting a broad enough range of units effectively enough to become a 'mandatory' draft or inhibit future design space? Can it be combined with other boosts too easily?

Nope.

3. Will your design benefit from stat boosts or other enhancement to an overpowering degree? Will it restrict future growth within its faction or point cost by limiting available boosts to others?

Not any more than other Supermans.

4. Does your design take control of enemy figures permanently or temporarily? Is it too difficult to for your opponent to regain control of their figure or recover from the losing the figure? Does the method of taking control expose the enemy figure to the powers of other figures in your army that can easily destroy it?

Nope.

5. Can your design heal itself or others or revive itself or others? Is it doing so in a way that an opponent cannot hope to overcome in certain scenarios?

Nope.

6. Does your design place enemy figures on its card or otherwise have an unconventional method of temporarily removing enemy figures from play? Will it guarantee your victory against a single remaining enemy figure?

Nope.


Chicanery- Check to see if your design is preventing your opponent from taking actions with too much ease or is otherwise causing negative play experience through tactics that make your opponent feel you're 'not playing fair'

1. Does your design restrict the movement of enemy figures, or allow you to move enemy figures? Can it do so in a way that results in an unwinnable scenario for your opponent if they are down to one figure, posses only figures with a range of 1, etc.? Can your design easily combine with other figures to greatly impede enemy figures or otherwise gain an excessive advantage?

Nope.

2. Does your design effect/change the placement of an enemy's Order Markers, or remove their Order Markers entirely? Can it force Order Markers to go onto cards that have no figures on the battlefield? Can your design easily combine with other figures to completely dictate the placement of an enemy's Order Markers or remove all of their Order Markers?

Nope.

3. Does your design inhibit your opponent from attacking your figures or make attacking a losing proposition? Are there scenarios or combinations that make your opponent totally unable to harm your figures through attacking?

Not really. Makes attacking people other than Superman a little tougher as he reveals Order Markers.

4. Does your design directly negate the powers of enemy figures or otherwise ignore them in a way that can completely disrupt the opponent's strategy or leave them feeling like they are stuck playing figures without special powers?

Nope.

5. Does your design become overly powerful in a podded group of figures, or provide significant benefit to your army without leaving your Start Zone?

Nope.

6. You can attack your own figures in Heroscape, does your design have any powers that will trigger off of doing so or otherwise wounding/destroying your own figures? Is this intentional on your part? Will the design be too efficient or potent when doing so?

Nope.

CONSISTENCY CHECKLIST (SHORT FORM)

Spoiler Alert!

Consistency Concerns
Name and Identity
Verify character is named in a way that is clear, accurate and feels consistent with the way other characters are named.

Yep.

Uniqueness and Type
Verify that the power text reflects the listed uniqueness and type, that the uniqueness fits the character, and that squad size is listed for squads.

Yep.

Left Box
If the character's species, class or personality is reused, verify that the character feels thematically consistent with other figures that have that species, class or personality. If they are not reused, verify that there is no pre-existing species, class or personality that would make more sense.

All reuses.

Size and Height
Verify that the listed size and height are accurate. Standing the mini up next to a stack of tiles, and a few other minis of various sizes, is encouraged.

Haven't picked a mini for sure yet, but they've all been Medium 5 so far.

Super Strength and Flying
Verify that these special powers are present if they make sense, and not if they don't.

Makes sense.

New Powers - Names
Verify that any new powers are not using power names identical to, or very similar to, pre-existing powers. Verify that any new powers are actually new and not old powers with new names.

Two new powers, don't share names with anything.

New Powers - Effects
Verify that the effect and timing of all new powers is clear. Verify that any logical immunities, benefits, or weaknesses (whether those be necessary for thematic or mechanical reasons) are implemented: consider whether defensive powers that work against normal attacks should also work against special attacks, whether or not a power has an elemental component that some figures should resist, and whether or not unliving figures (such as Undead and Androids) should be affected.

I think we've clarified this.

Reused Powers
Verify that the design is reusing powers in place of creating new ones, where reused powers could implement the same theme and mechanics with no differences or only trivial differences. Verify that any reused powers have the correct text.

Man of Steel is only reuse.

Power Level
Verify that the character's movement, attack, range, and defense (in conjunction with any special powers that enhance those stats) feel consistent with the capabilities of characters with analogous powers and abilities. Verify that the character falls into a similar point range to characters with comparative powers and abilities.

Same stats as other Supermen, just going a different route with the powers. Family rendition here!