The Book of Deathbird

[IAmBatman]

Likewise. I've gotten too caught up in new designs (and spending extra time on non-C3G activities).

[Viegon]

Alright, breathing period passed, so I updated the SP (life changed to 4, defense upped to 5, class changed to Exile, added the "X" into Berserker Rage). Any other issues/suggestions or are we ready for an initial here?

[johnny139]

Looks good to me - be sure to send it out to the ERB though (assuming Sidekick designs also do that...).

[Viegon]

Originally Posted by johnny139

Looks good to me - be sure to send it out to the ERB though (assuming Sidekick designs also do that...).

Oops, forgot about that. I'll do it soon.

EDIT: PM sent.

[IAmBatman]

Looking good!

[Viegon]

A couple ERB responses:

Margloth's

Originally Posted by Margloth

I like it! Nice and simple.

One thing that might be worth considering is making Berserker require you to remove an Order Marker from ANY army card you control so she truly feels like a loose cannon... It'd be harder to control her frenzy.

I like his suggestion thematically, but I worry it'd make her too much of a risk mechanically.


dok's:

Originally Posted by dok

No concerns.

[quozl]

I don't like removing OMs from other cards. However, I think this would be cool:

BERSERKER FRENZY
After taking a turn with Deathbird, if she is engaged, you must immediately, if possible, reveal and remove an unrevealed Order Marker from this card to take another turn with Deathbird. For every revealed Order marker on this card, subtract one from Deathbird's Defense number.

[Viegon]

Originally Posted by quozl

I don't like removing OMs from other cards. However, I think this would be cool:

BERSERKER FRENZY
After taking a turn with Deathbird, if she is engaged, you must immediately, if possible, reveal and remove an unrevealed Order Marker from this card to take another turn with Deathbird. For every revealed Order marker on this card, subtract one from Deathbird's Defense number.

Cool idea, but I worry about the implications. For one, it'll make her very fragile (imagine her going off on the first OM of the round, she now has 1 Defense while your opponent gets three straight turns); two, it makes her seem pretty wimpy thematically, as johnny said earlier, Deathbird's been able to hold her own against Ms. Marvel, she should be pretty tough. For it to work, her defense would need to be bumped to at least 7, which doesn't feel right to me.

Here's david's:

Originally Posted by davidlhsl

Deathbird

Pssst!

Hey! Have you heard? The Word? About the Bird?
Bird-bird-bird, bird is the word.

Ok, I’ll get to work.

Berserker Frenzy

Wow!

One instance I wanted to check was a case where a Hero could pass a bonding turn to Deathbird, which could trigger multiple turns from Deathbird. I found a case study in Ms. Marvel and her Avenger Attack Command.

That ability allows her to pass a bonding turn instead of moving Ms. Marvel, which means that control would return to Ms. Marvel after the bonding turn. So Ms. Marvel gives Deathbird a white Avenger Marker at the beginning of the game, then reveals OM1 on Ms. Marvel. Instead of moving, she gives a bonding turn to Deathbird with OM2, OM3, and OMX. Deathbird takes the bonding turn, then takes 3 more frenzy turns with OM2, OM3, and OMX (assuming she’s trying to knock out Superman, which usually takes me at least that many turns to get his attention). Then the turn returns to Ms. Marvel, who can then attack.

So that’s the most complicated example I could envision. Since Mister Fantastic can pass multiple bonding turns before returning control to himself, I don’t see any issues.

One potential rule that could impact things is C3G’s Knockback rules. C3G’s Incredible Hulk is also impacted if he knocks away a figure at the end of the round, which would Soothe the Beast at the beginning of the next. So you’ll need to check playtests to see if the testers are using those rules (I forget if there’s a C3G preference for playtesting).

Burning through numbered Order Markers is a fun risk to take, because you’re leaving yourself open to your opponent for the rest of the round.

Final Thoughts

This is a very unique and fun design for a figure having only one ability. Nice job!

He makes a really good point about Knockback, I hadn't thought of that yet. She'll be seriously weaker with those rules.

[quozl]

Originally Posted by Viegon

Cool idea, but I worry about the implications. For one, it'll make her very fragile (imagine her going off on the first OM of the round, she now has 1 Defense while your opponent gets three straight turns); two, it makes her seem pretty wimpy thematically, as johnny said earlier, Deathbird's been able to hold her own against Ms. Marvel, she should be pretty tough. For it to work, her defense would need to be bumped to at least 7, which doesn't feel right to me.

The implications are what I like. If you want to do multiple attacks in a row, it's risky if you don't wait until later in the round. Also, thematically, she's so focused on attacking that she doesn't defend herself as well. I think bumping her Defense to 6 would be fine if you went this way but it's your call.

[Viegon]

Originally Posted by quozl

The implications are what I like. If you want to do multiple attacks in a row, it's risky if you don't wait until later in the round. Also, thematically, she's so focused on attacking that she doesn't defend herself as well. I think bumping her Defense to 6 would be fine if you went this way but it's your call.

The thing is, the power already represents that theme through the fact that after she goes into a frenzy, your opponent gets three straight turns to try to kill her (assuming you don't kill anyone with OMs). The defense subtract doesn't feel like her focused on attack, it feels like her being exhausted to the point of not being able to defend herself, which just doesn't really fit her. She should be able to go all day against the likes of Ms. Marvel and the X-Men, not fall to pieces after a single exerted frenzy.

I also think it'd make her too weak, I don't see wanting to use a unit that's going to die just because she's taking turns.

[Flame Gryphon]

Put me down for not liking the defense subtraction. From briefly reading up on her, she seems pretty powerful to have a defense subtraction with only 5 Defense and 4 Life.

[Viegon]

1Mmirg's:

Originally Posted by 1Mmirg

I don't know this character, so I won't say much, but--wow--that is an interesting power. You have to really be careful about which OMs you put on her. And if she's your last character, you can end up taking your whole round in your first turn.

The big question is, Do you feel comfortable with a character that will tend to get only 1 OM (plus the X) on most turns? Does that fit the theme you want?

I'm glad to see you keeping it simple and straightforward. Enjoy your first run as a Sidekick!

Best, V