The Book of Doctor Manhattan

[Spidey'tilIDie]

He is right at the same height as Yellowjacket and Giant-man.

EDIT: Which is Huge 8.

[IAmBatman]

Get his life too low and auto-destroy and auto-wound powers will own him.

I feel strongly that the best way to make a high point Event Hero is with reasonable defense (like 6 or 7) and higher life. This lets squaddies and heroes alike stay competitive against the Event Hero, while letting him last a while (hopefully long enough to earn his points).

9 defense and 5 life is the wrong direction, IMO, and will make him even swingier than the powers alone will.

[johnny139]

I could always go back to my original straight 7s.

[IAmBatman]

I think that'll make him easier to balance for sure.

[Spidey'tilIDie]

What about reversing the stats? Life 9, move 8, range 7, attack 6, defense 5.

[johnny139]

Eh... I feel like that sort of betrays the character. Moving really fast, shooting from afar, but easy to hurt and no stronger than Captain America?

I'll probably go with straight 7s and see how he plays that way.

[johnny139]

Okay, giving this guy an Initial this weekend for sure - snowed in, so I have no excuses. Second post has all of the eggs in a row. We'll see how he feels!

[Margloth]

What if Growing Apathy worked more like this:

Before revealing an Order Marker on this card, you must roll the 20-sided die. Subtract X from the roll, where X = yada yada yada all the stuff you already have. If you roll a 5 or less, you must remove the lowest unrevealed numbered Order Marker from this card.

It would be a neat way to tie him to Silk Spectre, as her Emotional Grounding would keep him from being such a party pooper.

[IAmBatman]

I like that, Margloth, but I might up the roll to say 7 or less, to account for her being able to get around it and for your not losing a turn until later rather than the turn you're on.

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by Margloth

What if Growing Apathy worked more like this:

Before revealing an Order Marker on this card, you must roll the 20-sided die. Subtract X from the roll, where X = yada yada yada all the stuff you already have. If you roll a 5 or less, you must remove the lowest unrevealed numbered Order Marker from this card.

It would be a neat way to tie him to Silk Spectre, as her Emotional Grounding would keep him from being such a party pooper.

That's an awesome idea. Like how the designs compliment each other, then. She *might* make him too powerful, though. But then again, she's not hard to kill in the slightest, so...

[johnny139]

I can live with that change. (Clearly I didn't get the initial in, ugh). Any objections?

[johnny139]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Doctor Manhattan

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit too powerful or too weak.
PASS

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
PASS

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS

Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? 440-450 POINTS
- Give a brief overview. He's really not that great - in one on one matches he can really break the opposition, but he's generally not that much better than Superman. I suspect he'd have more of an advantage on a bigger map, with more chances to play it safe, hit and run, and all that. Reconstitution is probably cancelled out, advantage-wise, by Growing Apathy... but I suspect he'll be worth some more in army tests.

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (500 Points) vs. Dark Phoenix (490 Points)
Dark Phoenix wins; 5 Wounds, 3 Rounds. Manhattan has a strong arm, but loses a few turns and takes auto-wounds. A great bit where an Evergreen Tree would have killed him, but he turned Huge so he wasn't affected! But he got nailed anyways.

TEST 2
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (500 Points) vs. Dark Phoenix (490 Points)
Doctor Manhattan wins; 6 Wounds, 3 Rounds. A closer match - at first, Manhattan runs DP ragged, keeping her at bay. She gets in close and burns him up, but in the end he's able to flee and blast her from a distance.

TEST 3
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (500 Points) vs. Thanos (500 Points)
Thanos wins; 4 Wounds, 3 Rounds. Thanos was able to pin down Doc, who lost some turns and got beaten down hard. Could have gone either way, though.

TEST 4
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (500 Points) vs. Thanos (500 Points)
Thanos wins; 4 Wounds, 2 Rounds. This time, Thanos seems to be on the short end - taking hits from height and only getting to special attack in return. But he engages Doc and gives him a solid hit to take him out.

TEST 5
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (480 Points) vs. Destroyer Armor (460 Points)
Destroyer Armor wins; 2 Wounds, 2 Rounds. Doc lost pretty much the entire second round, letting the Destroyer run in and punch him down to nothing.

TEST 6
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (480 Points) vs. Destroyer Armor (460 Points)
Destroyer Armor wins; 1 Wound, 2 Rounds. Doc lost two turns again, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference either way - he's a terrible matchup for the Destroyer! So he's definitely not too strong.

TEST 7
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (450 Points) vs. Nimrod (450 Points)
Doctor Manhattan wins; 4 Wounds, 1 Round. The two smash against each other pretty quickly. Nimrod really blasts away at Manhattan, but Manhattan gets up close and engages him then blows him away.

TEST 8
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (450 Points) vs. Nimrod (450 Points)
Nimrod wins; 4 Wounds, 3 Rounds. Close game! It was really a matter of whether or not Doc could blast him fast enough... but Nimrod was able to fly off and heal and take it overall.

TEST 9
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (450 Points) vs. Luke Cage, Iron Fist (450 Points)
Heroes for Hire win; 3 Wounds on Luke Cage, 2 Wounds on Iron Fist, 2 Rounds. Doctor Manhattan seems to dominate at first, but one big punch from Iron Fist takes him out.

TEST 10
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (450 Points) vs. Luke Cage, Iron Fist (450 Points)
Heroes for Hire win; 1 Wound on Luke Cage, Iron Fist unharmed, 1 Round. Quick and dirty, strong attacks from both units break through Doc's defenses.

TEST 11
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (440 Points) vs. Punisher, Robin: Tim Drake, Batgirl: Cassandra Cain (430 Points)
Brutal Bats win; 1 Wound on Cassandra Cain, all others destroyed, 3 Rounds. Punisher starts off with a great roll - four skulls on his Armor Piercer, dealing three wounds to Doc, and two more wounds shortly after from he and Robin. Manhattan loses a turn but BLOWS Punisher away. Robin dies on lava, but Cassie does enough damage shortly after.

TEST 12
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (440 Points) vs. Punisher, Robin: Tim Drake, Batgirl: Cassandra Cain (430 Points)
Doctor Manhattan wins; 6 Wounds, 3 Rounds. This time, Doc almost blows Punisher away at the very start. A good missile does some damage again, but Manhattan tears through his enemies one by one. It's very close in the end, though - lost turns gave Punisher a bunch of attacks, but none connected.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? <400 POINTS
- Give a brief overview. Doctor Manhattan kills a guy, then is overwhelmed.
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (440 Points) vs. Gorilla City Warriors x3.66 (458.33 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Gorilla City Warriors win; 1 destroyed, 2 Rounds.

Wow. Two heavy hits from the Gorillas deal three and then five wounds. Doctor Manhattan isn't anywhere near strong enough to stop them - but better tactics might have helped.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? 400~ POINTS
- Give a brief overview. Doctor Manhattan is slowly chipped down to nothing.
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan (440 Points) vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents x4 (440 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents wins; 5 destroyed, 4 Rounds.

The Agents move in waves, doing wounds bit by bit. Manhattan is rolling poorly and can't do much to stop them - and as time goes on, he loses interest and just lets the bullets hit. He's done pretty poorly across the board... so I'm thinking of leaving him at 440 for the Army Tests.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? 500+ POINTS
- Give a brief overview. Wow. Good rolls, no lost turns, and Manhattan was able to completely crush his opposition. I'll bump his points up a bit for sure; let's go to 460.
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan, Spider-Man (600 Points) vs. Superman, Batman (600 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Manhattan Men win; 3 Wounds on Doctor Manhattan, Spider-Man unharmed, 2 Rounds.

ROUND 1: Doctor Manhattan comes in fast and blasts at Batman - he's killed in one hit. He then moves on Superman and gives him two. Doc takes one from lava damage, however.

ROUND 2: Superman engages the Doctor, but takes a big hit of three wounds. He gives two in return, but Doc finishes him before the round is out.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? 460-470 POINTS
- Give a brief overview. Very close game! Doctor Manhattan starts off as a terror but slowly, as time goes on, gets less and less interested in these petty games and becomes a riskier and riskier proposition. I had some qualms (he loses turns too often, but comes back too easily); overall, though, his powers balance themselves surprisingly well! I think 460 is a fair price, but really, with smarter player than me, he could be worth a bit more.
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan, Comedian, Silk Spectre, Rorschach, Nite Owl (990 Points) vs. Ozymandias, Omni-Man, Red Skull: Johann Schmidt, Echo (990 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Ozymandias' Works wins; 1 Wound on Echo, all others destroyed, 10 Rounds.

ROUND 1: Silk Spectre chooses Doctor Manhattan. The two teams match up pretty quick. Ozymandias makes things confusing by taking the marker off of Comedian... Manhattan is wounded twice by the Cosmic Cube.

ROUND 2: Manhattan puts a wound on Red Skull, while Omni-Man flies in and brings Doc up to 6 Wounds. Skull takes another three wounds from Comedian, Omni-Man takes one from Manhattan, Ozymandias moves in.

ROUND 3: The Cube trades hands a few times, but Doctor Manhattan is taken down. Comedian then takes down Red Skull.

ROUND 4: Manhattan reconstitutes across the board. Echo runs over and mimics him... and kills him with one hit! Omni-Man gets to run wild, dealing a wound to Spectre and two to Comedian.

ROUND 5: Manhattan reappears again. Omni-Man kills Comedian and ends the round.

ROUND 6: Manhattan loses his turn to Apathy. Omni-Man goes on a rampage, killing Nite Owl and moving in on Rorschach, who takes a wound. Rorschach gives two in return. Ozymandias comes in, but Cosmic Cubes one onto Omni-Man and gives one himself.

ROUND 7: Omni-Man kills Rorschach. Then he hits Doctor Manhattan for two. Doc loses a turn to Apathy and Ozymandias moves in on Spectre, gives her a wound via the Cube. Manhattan finally kills Omni-Man.

ROUND 8: Ozy takes an Order Marker from Laurie. Then he takes her out. Just Doc remains; Ozymandias can't reach him in time. Doc takes a turn, dealing two wounds to Ozzy.

ROUND 9: Doctor Manhattan just gets one turn; he kills Ozymandias, though, as Echo approaches.

ROUND 10: Echo gets onto land. The Cosmic Cube is nearby - as Doc ponders his navel, she takes the round to grab it twice and finish him off.

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Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES!
- What should be the unit's point value? 430-440 POINTS
- Give a brief overview. Bad luck got Manhattan killed early, but the "run away and let Manhattan take charge" strategy that I hoped would work did not at all make up for it. He's definitely not at his best in these sorts of matchups.
Map: Custom Map (Mostly flat swamp with lava height near center.)
Units: Doctor Manhattan, Flash (710 Points) vs. Phoenix, Dark Phoenix (720 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Phoenix Force wins; 3 Wounds on Dark Phoenix, Phoenix destroyed destroyed, 7 Rounds.

ROUND 1: Neither god can harm the other all round.

ROUND 2: Phoenix takes two wounds, but with some good hits is able to kill Manhattan! Flash runs in and hits Jean for two, then runs off to avoid taking damage.

ROUND 3: Manhattan kills Phoenix, bringing out the darkness... Flash flees to stay alive if at all possible.

ROUND 4: Manhattan is killed, and Flash runs around to be annoying.

ROUND 5: Phoenix moves after Flash. Manhattan is only killed by lava.

ROUND 6: Dark Phoenix tracks down and kills Flash with her fire, then turns on the Doctor.

ROUND 7: Manhattan gives Dark Phoenix a good hit, but it burnt up with the next attack.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm surprised at how reasonably he did! If anything he was too weak, though in more strategic hands and a map more suited to his strengths he'd probably be worth some more. I'd like to boost him a tiny bit, because 470 would fit him into the rest of the Watchmen evenly; I think I'll boost Reconstitution to remove 4 Wound Markers. Otherwise, I'm happy with him!