The Book of Thor

[GreyOwl]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Who else would you see as a Diety in the future? If they were mostly Asgardians, then it might make more sense to go that way for synergy.

Originally Posted by Balantai

We might want to talk to Matt. His Thor custom used to have 5 times 2 defense, but he recently changed it because it was just too powerful. Keep in mind that 5 times 2 is still 6 times 2 with height advantage.

Using my Probability Spreadsheet, and assuming an Attack of 5, a Defense of 5 w/ Shields of Valor has a 30.25% chance of receiving at least one wound. To get that percentage without Shields of Valor is roughly equivalent to a Defense of 9.

If we go with Defense 4 w/ Shields of Valor, there's a 39.8% chance of receiving at least one wound. That's roughly equivalent to straight Defense of 7.5 (roughly equivalent to Superman).

[GreyOwl]

Originally Posted by wulfhunter667

It's kinda twofold. First, lightning is somewhat unpredictable. It might strike someone standing up, or it might strike that tree over there. Second, "Spreading" 6 wounds instead of a possible 24 definately reduces the need for Thor to be over 400, IMHO.

But that "possible 24" only has a 0.0000015625 % chance of occurring, because you'd have to roll 16 or higher 6 times in a row. That percentage is virtually zero for practical purposes.

[Balantai]

Originally Posted by wulfhunter667

It's kinda twofold. First, lightning is somewhat unpredictable. It might strike someone standing up, or it might strike that tree over there. Second, "Spreading" 6 wounds instead of a possible 24 definately reduces the need for Thor to be over 400, IMHO.

Do you know what the odds are of getting 24 "16 or higher" rolls?
.000000000003% chance. And that's assuming there are 24 figures to attack. Hitting half of the 24 figures has only a 1% chance.

Look at it like this. If there were 5 figures in range, there's only a 10% chance you'd hit 3 or more. I really don't think this is that gamebreaking. If anything, I'd like to see the change to 4 unblockable dice instead of 4 automatic wounds.

[Balantai]

Originally Posted by GreyOwl

If we go with Defense 4 w/ Shields of Valor, there's a 39.8% chance of receiving at least one wound. That's roughly equivalent to straight Defense of 7.5 (roughly equivalent to Superman).

This is pretty much what I was saying. If we want to make Supes and Thor almost equals in defense, 4 defense is where we want to be.

[wulfhunter667]

Originally Posted by GreyOwl

But that "possible 24" only has a 0.0000015625 % chance of occurring, because you'd have to roll 16 or higher 6 times in a row. That percentage is virtually zero for practical purposes.

You think lightning is unpredictable, try dice. Last night in some very interesting solo play, I hit over 16 on a 20 an ridiculous amount of times. And no, I haven't microwaved my dice. That is literally how the cookie crumbles, or die falls, ya know?
I'm good with the unblockable dice though. Same basic idea, more random chance. Yay.

[GreyOwl]

Originally Posted by Balantai

This is pretty much what I was saying. If we want to make Supes and Thor almost equals in defense, 4 defense is where we want to be.

Well, I'd like him to be a little tougher than Superman. Whether we do that through Life or Defense doesn't matter to me. Superman's at 400 points, and I'd like Thor to be a bit more. He is a god.

[Balantai]

Originally Posted by GreyOwl

Well, I'd like him to be a little tougher than Superman. Whether we do that through Life or Defense doesn't matter to me. Superman's at 400 points, and I'd like Thor to be a bit more. He is a god.

I only worry that 5 times 2 will almost always be 6 times 2 due to height and fellow Avenger, Capt America.

[Master Tang]

I know the double shields is fun, but why don't you,we,us or whoever just make the defense a 7 or an 8 instead of 4 with double shields. 7 or 8 dice won't get handicapped by Wonder Woman and is still amazing for defense.

[Adam Souza]

Give him 4 defense with double shields and more life then

He's a the God of Thunder, he should have more life than any pesky mortal, pesky last son of Krypton included.

GO are you married to the double shields ? You could just give him 7 Defense with an automatic Shield. The old Marvel RPG handled it similarly, where minor attacks were simply shrugged off by Asguardians.

I echo Tang's concerns about Wonderwoman as well.

[GreyOwl]

The Shields of Valor was originally IAmBatman's idea, but I do like it. It seems somehow thematic for Thor.

So how about Defense 4, Shield of Valor, and bump the Life up to 8 or 9?

[IAmBatman]

I think I'd rather see like life of 7 and defense of 9 or life of 8 and defense of 8 than a defense of 4 with Shields of Valor. A defense of 4 would just look wrong on his card, to me. I did suggest the idea originally, and I do like it, but not if it ends up having to either break him or make him look ... odd.
I'd absolutely be against a power that uses both the D20 and attack dice. It's sloppy mechanics, IMO, and I happen to know it's the type of thing the official designers avoid to avoid confusion. In fact, they avoid unblockable attack dice in special powers in general. If you want unblockable attack dice in a power, you should make it a special attack and specify that the target can't roll defense.
I really dislike powers that use both the D20 and the combat dice in the same power, though, especially when it can easily be done more simply.
If we're really afraid of the roll on this once a game power being too low, why not just up the roll?
I don't think switching to a more complex mechanic that would let you disperse wounds how you like would be less powerful at all - it'd be more powerful, IMO. Currently, Thor can't choose who the wounds go on - he either hits a roll for someone or he doesn't. That change would prevent him from "wasting" the wounds on an easy to kill squaddie. Currently, he doesn't have that choice. Make this change, and if he hits his roll he can choose to spread out the wounds strategically. If Supes has 4 life left, he can make sure he kills Supes and then hit two other targets as well. He can plan based on who has Order Markers. I think increasing the control Thor has over where wounds go significantly increases the overall value of the power, as well as increasing the complexity.
Suffice to say, I like it as is.
And it's a once a game power - I don't think too, too much of his cost is going to be tied up in it.
I think what's making him expensive right now is his life/defense/defensive power combination.

[Rich10]

I like the double shield defense because it increases variability. It lets him block virtually anything. Thematically, if Thor blocks an attack with his hammer, he's fine. If not, he'll take a hit but he'll still have the ability to continue to battle.

Also, I think that he should be able to throw Mjolnir without hitting friendly figures next to him.

I like him as valiant. I would like to see him as "god" or "diety".