The Book of Emma Frost

[omael]

The Book of Emma Frost

C3G MARVEL PUBLIC EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION 7
TRICK OR TREAT

Comic PDF

Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Giant Size X-Men set.
Its model number and name are #011 / Emma Frost

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Character Bio - An urbane, mutant telepath with a well-noted dry wit initially known as the White Queen, Frost has evolved from one of the X-Men's most dangerous foes to one of its most central members. (From Wikipedia)
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Mutant, Emma Frost has these Mutant Synergies.
• As a Telepath, Emma Frost has these Telepath Synergies.

Outgoing Synergy:

• Emma Frost may use another Telepath to attack with her Psychic Proxy Special Attack. Current Telepaths.

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-Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses-

Immunities:

• As a Telepath, Emma Frost cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers: Special Powers that Interact Differently with Telepaths.
• When Emma Frost uses her Diamond Form special power she gains the Super Strength special power. Figures with the Super Strength special power cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers: Special Powers that Interact Differently with Super Strength.

Benefits:

• As a Telepath, Emma Frost interacts differently with certain special power. Special Powers that Interact Differently with Telepaths.
• When Emma Frost uses her Diamond Form special power she gains the Super Strength special power. Figures with the Super Strength special power interact differently with certain special powers: Special Powers that Interact Differently with Super Strength.

Weaknesses:

• As a Telepath, Emma Frost interacts differently with certain special power. Special Powers that Interact Differently with Telepaths.
• As a Mutant, Emma Frost interacts differently with certain special powers. Special Powers that Interact Differently with Mutants.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: Hahma
• Second playtest: TrollBrute
• Third playtest: warlordofthewolves
• Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by Scapemage

[omael]

Current text:

NAME = Emma Frost

SPECIES = Mutant
UNIQUENESS = Unique Hero
CLASS = Telepath
PERSONALITY = Arrogant

SIZE/HEIGHT = Medium 5

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4

POINTS = 170

DIAMOND FORM
After revealing an Order Marker on this card, you may place or remove the white Diamond Marker. While the Diamond Marker is on this card, you may not use any other special power on this card and:

• Emma Frost gains the Super Strength special power;
• When she defends against an attack, one shield will block all damage;
• A player may only take a turn with Emma Frost after revealing an Order Marker on this card.

PSYCHIC PROXY SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 5.
Choose a Telepath figure you control and attack any figure within 3 spaces of the chosen Telepath. Emma Frost does not need clear line of sight to attack with this special attack.

TELEPATHIC LINK
While Emma Frost is in play all squad and hero figures you control are considered in clear sight of each other.

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by omael

COORDINATED PSIONIC BLAST SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 3.
Choose a Telepath figure you control, then choose an opponents figure within 3 spaces of that telepath as the target of this attack. If a figure receives 1 or more wounds from Coordinated Psionic Blast Special Attack, remove one unrevealed Order Marker at random from the figure's Army Card (or cards if your opponent have more than one Common card for that figure).

I missed this change to the SA, can Emma Frost choose herself or does there have to be another Telepath in the battle for her to choose?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

I missed this change to the SA, can Emma Frost choose herself or does there have to be another Telepath in the battle for her to choose?

With the current language, no reason to think you can't choose Emma herself (and I think it's better for it not to be limited to others).

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

With the current language, no reason to think you can't choose Emma herself (and I think it's better for it not to be limited to others).

That's what I thought, but the name of the SA seems to suggest that she has to choose someone else.

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Knowing what I know of the character, which is quite extensive as I have read and continue to read all X-Men books, here are some tweaks I'd suggest first the current OP:

Originally Posted by omael

Current text:

NAME = White Queen

SECRET IDENTITY = Emma Frost

SPECIES = Mutant
UNIQUENESS = Unique Hero
CLASS = Telepath
PERSONALITY = Arrogant

SIZE/HEIGHT = Medium 5

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4

POINTS = 180?

DIAMOND FORM
Before taking a turn with Emma Frost, you may place or remove the Diamond Form Marker. While Diamond Form Marker is on this card, Emma Frost gains the Super Strength special power, an opponent may never take temporary or permanent control of Emma Frost, and you may add one automatic shield to her defense. Emma Frost may not use any other special power on this card while the Diamond Form Marker is placed.

COORDINATED PSIONIC BLAST SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 3.
Choose a Telepath figure you control, then choose an opponents figure within 3 spaces of that telepath as the target of this attack. If a figure receives 1 or more wounds from Coordinated Psionic Blast Special Attack, remove one unrevealed Order Marker at random from the figure's Army Card (or cards if your opponent have more than one Common card for that figure).

TELEPATHIC LINK
While Emma Frost is in play all figures you control are considered in clear line of sight of each other.

And then a few minor tweaks which I believe will meet some of the issues I see being discussed.

Tweaked text:

NAME = Emma Frost (Got rid of White Queen)

SPECIES = Mutant
UNIQUENESS = Unique Hero
CLASS = Telepath
PERSONALITY = Arrogant

SIZE/HEIGHT = Medium 5

LIFE = 5 (possibly 6)

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = ? (Honestly, I suck at this part)

DIAMOND FORM
Before taking a turn with Emma Frost, you may place or remove the Diamond Form Marker. While Diamond Form Marker is on this card, Emma Frost gains the Super Strength special power, an opponent may never take temporary or permanent control of Emma Frost, Emma Frost's Defense Number can never be reduced or added to, and when Emma Frost rolls a shield when attacked she may ignore all wounds. Emma Frost may not use any other special power on this card while the Diamond Form Marker is placed.

COORDINATED PSIONIC BLAST SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 4.
Choose any Mutant figure you control, then choose an opponents figure within 3 spaces of that Mutant as the target of this attack. If a figure receives 1 or more wounds from Coordinated Psionic Blast Special Attack, remove one unrevealed Order Marker at random from the figure's Army Card (or cards if your opponent have more than one Common card for that figure). You may subtract one from Emma Frost's Coordinated Psionic Blast Special Attack and choose two Mutant figures you control instead.

TELEPATHIC LINK
While Emma Frost is in play all figures you control are considered in clear line of sight of each other.

So, feel free to rip it apart. What do you think? Does the CPBSA (still a mouthful) have enough cow bell to be a viable option now?

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by omael

DIAMOND FORM
Before taking a turn with Emma Frost, you may place or remove the Diamond Form Marker. While the Diamond Form Marker is on this card, you may not use any other special power on this card and:

• Emma Frost gains the Super Strength special power;
• When she defends against an attack, one shield will block all damage;
• An opponent may never take temporary or permanent control of Emma Frost;
• You may not use any other special power on this card.

Does this work better? The last bullet isn't so much a power, but it is triggered by the marker so I think this makes it more clear and removes a bullet.

[omael]

i like it better, any objection?

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Does this work better? The last bullet isn't so much a power, but it is triggered by the marker so I think this makes it more clear and removes a bullet.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Does this work better? The last bullet isn't so much a power, but it is triggered by the marker so I think this makes it more clear and removes a bullet.

I think it looks better. Just because it was after a bullet before, people seemed to consider you may not use any other special power on this card as an extra power while in Diamond Form. That's pretty silly to me, it's not a power it's a restriction.

I agree that if there is one part of Diamond Form to lose, it's the part where her defense couldn't be reduced. That would be used too seldom to be worth the extra line, and the 1 shield defense seemed like enough staying power. Besides, Flash only has 4 defense and even with his incredible speed, he can still get his defense reduced, so Emma could too IMO.

Having played her, I didn't find her to be too complicated. If you aren't going against a Mind Controlling unit, then you don't have to even think about that bullet. After playing her for about a minute, you automatically know that when she is in Diamond Form, she has SS, gets 1 shield blocks all damage, and that she becomes a melee only unit. When the Diamond Marker is off, you know that she's much more vulerable, but can attack with some range, though walls, floors and other Telepaths. It's pretty darn easy really as all the bullets in Diamond Form are existing powers on numerous units that everybody and their brother should be familiar with.


Whether you have her in Diamond Form or not during a game depends on several things, but mainly who her teammates are. If she has teammates that have synergies that rely on clear sight of each other and by her staying in normal form helps her teammates perform better, then she can sit back and let them do their thing. If she has Telepaths in her army, she can help with any Telepath synergy she can give, or attack through them while across the battlefield. This can be extra useful in a Prof X build where you could have Jean Grey take the first turn against an opponent/s and then Prof X can have Emma use her Blast through JG to help her out, while Emma is chilling somewhere else. If Emma is one of the last figures or is in an army without Telepaths to help, she might likely go into Diamond Form more often and either attack with her normal attack and tie up the opponent that will have a hard time hurting her, or DF can help her race across the battlefield and get to a spot that's not in clear sight of her opponent's figure, but within range of her Blast and she can blast through walls or ceilings or floors. Also, there will be times where a special attack is better despite clear sight of opponent, just to be able to have a better chance vs. a special defense.

Regardless, with her special power only having a range of 3, it's often not going to be a safe place to be when using it, so it makes sense for her to be able to get there in DF and then switch to DF sometimes after using her special in regular form. It also depends on how many wounds she has at the time and how close she is to finishing off an opponent as to whether she stays in regular form to dish out the special attacks of 5.

I wouldn't want to see her normal attack reduced to 3. Getting punched by something diamond hard by a figure with SS is going to hurt. I think there will be plenty of opportunities for her to use her special attack as I mentioned above, but since her Diamond Form is quite a bit part of her character, she shouldn't just be considered a Telepathic attacking character IMO. I'd say that if a person wants her to use her special attack more often should build an army around her that would facilitate it's use more often.

[omael]

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by Hahma

I think it looks better. Just because it was after a bullet before, people seemed to consider you may not use any other special power on this card as an extra power while in Diamond Form. That's pretty silly to me, it's not a power it's a restriction.

I agree that if there is one part of Diamond Form to lose, it's the part where her defense couldn't be reduced. That would be used too seldom to be worth the extra line, and the 1 shield defense seemed like enough staying power. Besides, Flash only has 4 defense and even with his incredible speed, he can still get his defense reduced, so Emma could too IMO.

Having played her, I didn't find her to be too complicated. If you aren't going against a Mind Controlling unit, then you don't have to even think about that bullet. After playing her for about a minute, you automatically know that when she is in Diamond Form, she has SS, gets an auto-shield and that becomes a melee only unit. When the Diamond Marker is off, you know that she's much more vulerable, but can attack with some range, though walls, floors and other Telepaths. It's pretty darn easy really as all the bullets in Diamond Form are existing powers on numerous units that everybody and their brother should be familiar with.


Whether you have her in Diamond Form or not during a game depends on several things, but mainly who her teammates are. If she has teammates that have synergies that rely on clear sight of each other and by her staying in normal form helps her teammates perform better, then she can sit back and let them do their thing. If she has Telepaths in her army, she can help with any Telepath synergy she can give, or attack through them while across the battlefield. This can be extra useful in a Prof X build where you could have Jean Grey take the first turn against an opponent/s and then Prof X can have Emma use her Blast through JG to help her out, while Emma is chilling somewhere else. If Emma is one of the last figures or is in an army without Telepaths to help, she might likely go into Diamond Form more often and either attack with her normal attack and tie up the opponent that will have a hard time hurting her, or DF can help her race across the battlefield and get to a spot that's not in clear sight of her opponent's figure, but within range of her Blast and she can blast through walls or ceilings or floors. Also, there will be times where a special attack is better despite clear sight of opponent, just to be able to have a better chance vs. a special defense.

Regardless, with her special power only having a range of 3, it's often not going to be a safe place to be when using it, so it makes sense for her to be able to get there in DF and then switch to DF sometimes after using her special in regular form. It also depends on how many wounds she has at the time and how close she is to finishing off an opponent as to whether she stays in regular form to dish out the special attacks of 5.

I wouldn't want to see her normal attack reduced to 3. Getting punched by something diamond hard by a figure with SS is going to hurt. I think there will be plenty of opportunities for her to use her special attack as I mentioned above, but since her Diamond Form is quite a bit part of her character, she shouldn't just be considered a Telepathic attacking character IMO. I'd say that if a person wants her to use her special attack more often should build an army around her that would facilitate it's use more often.

I do think that reducing here attack to 3 won't represent her true physical prowress. And as Hahma said it's a delicate balance in the late game when you want to finish someone with a ranged attack of 5 instead of just exchanging punches. If this gets really complicated we could make this change permanent as someone previously refered, but i don't think it's such a difficult power to keep track of as it's now only 3 bullets worth of "regular" SP's. I already modified the stats of the cards and the DF, so please check the second post for further comments.

[Griffin]

I agree with, and am happy with the general direction this design is heading in. I just have to comment on one thing:

Originally Posted by Hahma

Just because it was after a bullet before, people seemed to consider you may not use any other special power on this card as an extra power while in Diamond Form. That's pretty silly to me, it's not a power it's a restriction.

Here is a little writeup for you to consider:

ZOMBIE BOB

UNDEAD
UNIQUE HERO
SHAMBLER
HUNGRY
MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 5
DEFENSE = 2
POINTS = 20

MISSING PARTS
Subtract 1 from Zombie Bob's Move number and Attack number for each wound marker on this card.

WALKING DEAD
If there is only 1 wound marker on this card, all other powers on this card are negated.

SUPER STRENGTH

_________

That highlighted special power there, it is a restrictive special power, but it is still a special power. To call it anything other than what it is, is silly. When you are reading text on an Army Card in the white text field, and it has an affect on the game, it is a special power. A clever way to fit several special powers into one special power is to use bullets.

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Two things: Tickle I was thinking the same thing when I read your edit here:

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Does this work better? The last bullet isn't so much a power, but it is triggered by the marker so I think this makes it more clear and removes a bullet.

But I think this reads better and is consistent with other powers like Cosmic Cube that list an effect after the actual bullets.

DIAMOND FORM


Before taking a turn with Emma Frost, you may place or remove the Diamond Form Marker. While the Diamond Form Marker is on this card:

• Emma Frost gains the Super Strength special power;
• When she defends against an attack, one shield will block all damage;
• and an opponent may never take temporary or permanent control of Emma Frost.

While the Diamond Marker is on this card, Emma Frost may not use any other special power on this card.

Originally Posted by Hahma

I think it looks better. Just because it was after a bullet before, people seemed to consider you may not use any other special power on this card as an extra power while in Diamond Form. That's pretty silly to me, it's not a power it's a restriction.

I agree that if there is one part of Diamond Form to lose, it's the part where her defense couldn't be reduced. That would be used too seldom to be worth the extra line, and the 1 shield defense seemed like enough staying power. Besides, Flash only has 4 defense and even with his incredible speed, he can still get his defense reduced, so Emma could too IMO.

Having played her, I didn't find her to be too complicated. If you aren't going against a Mind Controlling unit, then you don't have to even think about that bullet. After playing her for about a minute, you automatically know that when she is in Diamond Form, she has SS, gets an auto-shield and that becomes a melee only unit. When the Diamond Marker is off, you know that she's much more vulerable, but can attack with some range, though walls, floors and other Telepaths. It's pretty darn easy really as all the bullets in Diamond Form are existing powers on numerous units that everybody and their brother should be familiar with.

Hambone, is that how you played her (in red)? That is incorrect. At one point she got an auto-shield but now she rolls normal defense and one shield blocks all damage.

Incidentally, on the no defense reduction aspect, I don't think I was ever for it because a) If Darkseid can intimidate Thor and Superman, Emma Frost is a non-issue and b) Adamantium and Vibranium are the hardest substance known to man in the Marvel U, that makes them harder than Diamond. Adamantium Claws should shred her Diamond body. (Recently, it was revealed that her entire body becomes solid diamond, not just Diamond Skin and that she doesn't actually bleed in Diamond form. Just FYI because I thought that was cool.)