The Book of Red Lantern (Razer)

[Arkham]

Just re-looked at Righteous Rage and I guess it's any OM reveal including his own. So that looks to be fine then as it's not the same trigger as Self Importance as I thought. But yeah, I'd still be hesitant to take him in an Atrocitus led army since you want them all on Atrocitus. But you know what you're going for here. If he's a Red by name and not by allegiance, then other than potential confusion with synergy archives when army building, it should be fine.

[Arch-vile]

Razer hung out with Hal/Kilowog/Aya for pretty much the whole series. I do think the OM requirement on Channeled Fury could be cut though - I don't really see a need for it. Righteous Rage seems like enough disincentive to run him with Atrocitus. Giving it unlimited uses seems like it'd probably be okay power-wise, but you've played him so you know him best.

Glad to see he's working well!

[Lazy Orang]

I guess my other concern with removing the OM restriction is that it'd allow you to use it when you trigger Righteous Rage, which... feels strange. If he goes off half-cocked he shouldn't be able to do so by gathering himself. I don't think he should be able to gather himself when Atrocitus is motivating him to press forwards either. Thematically, it feels iffy.
Unlimited uses sounds good, though. I'll update to that.

[Arkham]

Would it be thematic for him to be an Officer? Just wondering how we could make him more draftable with the Greens but still remain a Red in name and mechanics. Could be fun. Idk.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Arkham

Would it be thematic for him to be an Officer? Just wondering how we could make him more draftable with the Greens but still remain a Red in name and mechanics. Could be fun. Idk.

Hmm... that's thematically a bit weird. He's certainly never actually officially recognised by the Guardians, but neither is Aya and she's going to be an Officer for the sake of the Interceptor Crew being a viable team (the team is Hal, Kilowog, Aya and Razer, and my plan was that Kilowog boosts the stats of Hal and Aya and Aya boosts the D20 rolls of Hal and Razer). Given the style Razer's powers, I'd honestly be a little concerned that Kilowog could bust him/suddenly become Kilowog's best pairing. You could easily get four attacks of 9 in one turn at that point.

The thing is, I do actually like you being able to take him in a Red army just to allow more army-building options based on his history, a bit like how Gamora vII's going to be a viable option in a Black Order build as and when we get there. I just want to make sure that doesn't feel like his best build.

[Arkham]

I guess I just think placing in his emphasis in one camp primarily rather than sort of in neither, is more interesting. A Red Lantern that you play with the Greens is pretty cool. A Red Lantern that doesn’t really seem to play with either just feels a bit like it falls between the cracks.

What about adding something like this:

???
If there is an Officer in your army, Red Lantern has the class of Officer instead of what is listed on this card.

Could be added to the first power and rename it. Then take out the OM reveal requirement from Channeled Fury. You would have him work fine with the Reds, sometimes conflicting with Atrocitus’ plans but usually he’ll be deadly enough it shouldn’t hurt you much. Then he also plays well with the Greens, and to get the bonus from Kilowog you’d have to draft another Officer (Hal or Aya etc.) so it at least isn’t a cheap combo(you can already pair him with Cap and S-L fwiw). If the attack potential is a concern, you could lower his batteries by 1(he probably shouldn’t have 3 anyways IMO). So then you’re dealing with 3 attacks of 5, 6 with height, or 7-8 with Kilowog. That’s plenty decent IMO.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Arkham

I guess I just think placing in his emphasis in one camp primarily rather than sort of in neither, is more interesting. A Red Lantern that you play with the Greens is pretty cool. A Red Lantern that doesn’t really seem to play with either just feels a bit like it falls between the cracks.

What about adding something like this:

???
If there is an Officer in your army, Red Lantern has the class of Officer instead of what is listed on this card.

Could be added to the first power and rename it. Then take out the OM reveal requirement from Channeled Fury. You would have him work fine with the Reds, sometimes conflicting with Atrocitus’ plans but usually he’ll be deadly enough it shouldn’t hurt you much. Then he also plays well with the Greens, and to get the bonus from Kilowog you’d have to draft another Officer (Hal or Aya etc.) so it at least isn’t a cheap combo. If the attack potential is a concern, you could lower his batteries by 1(he probably shouldn’t have 3 anyways IMO). So then you’re dealing with 3 attacks of 5, 6 with height, or 7-8 with Kilowog. That’s plenty decent IMO.

I still disagree. I know what I'm doing here.
1) He should have three batteries, especially given his base stats are so low. This guy's pretty scary. This is the guy who was able to smack Atrocitus down and power his way through blue energy with sufficient motivation, and his base stats are low enough that he needs that extra marker. 5 Attack fully charged is not right for this guy.
2) What you describe about how he'd work with the Reds is basically how he'd work now anyway - he'll sometimes charge in, but when he does he can cause devastation and when he's not doing he can still be commanded by Atrocitus. I'm happy with that. The only issue is that he needs to be thrown his own OM to recharge but, frankly, he shouldn't be able to hold back and recharge when Atrocitus is motivating him to press on. That power is to represent the control he gained over his own rages and powers later in the series, and Atrocitus's command was not good for this chap's mental health. At all.
3) He doesn't, thematically, need to basically 'be one of the Greens'. He was never really a Green Lantern, and never acted as one. He became a close friend and ally of Hal, Kilowog and Aya (more than that with Aya) as the series progressed, but was never, actually, a Green Lantern - I don't think he ever worked with any other Greens, outside maybe you could consider the last episode where the whole Green Lantern Corps was called in and Razer came along with Hal and Kilowog? What's mainly needed is for the Interceptor Crew to be a viable, working team, and that should be what I'm achieving with this design and Aya (Here's Aya for reference - that D20 power's pretty strong and is going to be an amazing boon for both Hal and Razer). The only thing that might be missing is that, for about the last quarter of the series, Aya was no longer on the team and so Razer loses his connection there, but still, working with her is his thematic priority before anyone else and he should be viable enough as a throw in character to work elsewhere, including a team that happens to include Hal and Kilowog. I could maybe see trying to make him benefit from Kilowog, but I don't want to sacrifice his abilities as a stand-alone character for that (and he and Kilowog really didn't get on for the first chunk of the series - that changed, but to start with, at each others' throats). Honestly, he's feeling pretty perfect for the character right now. He's not a member of any Lantern Corps, Green or Red - he's a guy with a red power ring who's part of Hal's crew most of the time. His connection with the Greens is about personal loyalty to three of them (one of whom isn't recognised by the Guardians anyway and one of whom is considered to be an irresponsible wildcard by them much of the time), not being an honourary GL.

[Arch-vile]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

I guess my other concern with removing the OM restriction is that it'd allow you to use it when you trigger Righteous Rage, which... feels strange. If he goes off half-cocked he shouldn't be able to do so by gathering himself. I don't think he should be able to gather himself when Atrocitus is motivating him to press forwards either. Thematically, it feels iffy.
Unlimited uses sounds good, though. I'll update to that.

Makes sense, I agree with that.

I agree that making him an Officer would feel off.

[MrNobody]

Yeah, I think it’s worth noting that pretty much all Officer synergy not coming from Hal or Kilowog is most likely to be unthematic. Like if Salaak keys in on Officers, hanging out with RLs is exactly the kind of breach in protocol he’d be against, and there’s no way Razer is taking orders from him.

Honestly even Aya being an Officer feels like a stretch, but it’s one of those things where eh, if that’s what makes her work in-game.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

Yeah, I think it’s worth noting that pretty much all Officer synergy not coming from Hal or Kilowog is most likely to be unthematic. Like if Salaak keys in on Officers, hanging out with RLs is exactly the kind of breach in protocol he’d be against, and there’s no way Razer is taking orders from him.

Honestly even Aya being an Officer feels like a stretch, but it’s one of those things where eh, if that’s what makes her work in-game.

Yeah, I'm not super happy about her being an Officer, I just feel like Kilowog being a poor fit in an Interceptor Crew build (due to only boosting Hal on no one else) would be a worse theme break, game wise.

Honestly, I kind of feel like we got it flipped the wrong way with Kilowog and the Guardians, thematically, and that Kilowog should have been boosting GLs while the Guardians activate Officers. Would have made navigating this a lot easier, sadly.

[Lazy Orang]

- Theme Test - Definite Pass, he feels spot on for Razer - pitch perfect for the character.
- Mirror Test - Pass.
- Bonding Test - Pass - Bonding with Atrocitus isn’t OP.
- Synergies Test - Pass - Same. Aya will definitely help him when we get to her.
- Power Check - Pass
- Fun Test - Definite Pass - He was tonnes of fun to play! Unloading with a massive salvo you can’t really plan for but will want to take advantage of when you get was awesome, and it was fun to be able to recharge him afterwards. I can see there being times when a poor (1 or 2 skull) roll for Channeled Fury will be very frustrating, though, so I’m still removing the once per game part of that - didn’t need to do that in these games, but I can see times where you would and the action cost and the limited occasions you’ll want to do it anyway will mean it’s not OP. No effective difference in most games, I expect - most of the time it’ll effectively happen once per game - but it just limits the possibilities for him to be not fun.
- Fun Competitive Test - Pass - He’s not frustrating to fight, per se, although a full-blown Razer rage turn is arguably one of the scariest singe turn assaults in the game.
- Drafting Test - Pass - In a Red Lantern build, in a hodge-podge (admittedly probably one based on stat-boosting rather than OM-flexibility) and I can’t imagine an Interceptor Crew build when it becomes viable with Aya not wanting him.
- Usage Test - Pass, both his powers were used once each game - it’s quite possible they could end up being used more than once, depending on your rolls, though I think that’s unlikely, except maybe with Aya.
- Strategy Test - Pass - This is a tough one, since he’s kind of out of your hands and will do his own thing regardless of your input, but it is a strategic decision how much to push him when he goes off, as well as how much time to dedicate to recharging vs. fighting. Again, using him will become more strategic once paired with Aya, who’ll be able to either hold him back with Righteous Rage or spur him on.


Name Of The Playtest Unit: Red Lantern (Razer)

Army Test 1
Map: From the Ashes by BiggaBullfrog (no glyphs)
Armies:
Red Lantern (Razer) (265), Luke Cage, Songbird, Tigra (805 points)
vs.
Red Skull (C3G), Goro, Laserbeak, Michael Myres (805 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Red Lantern (Razer)'s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 4 wounds on Laserbeak, 3 wounds on Goro, 2 wounds on Red Skull
Battery Markers burnt: Three
Battery Markers recharged with Channeled Fury: Three
Turns taken with Righteous Rage: One.
Extra attacks through Righteous Rage: Three

Songbird has redeemed Razer, recruiting him as a Crime Fighter
Michael Myres is stalking Luke Cage

Round One

The Fascist Conquerors claim the initiative. Red Skull advances, teleports Goro forwards with the Cosmic Cube, and breaks a battlement, activating Laserbeak who flies forwards.
Tigra rushes forwards and Luke follows. Michael Myres creeps forwards.
Red Skull repositions and breaks a battlement, encouraging Laserbeak to act. Laserbeak observes Luke Cage and blasts him, inflicting a wound.
Tigra charges Red Skull and slashes him, inflicting a wound and knocking the Cube from his hands. Luke Cage advances. Myres advances.
Red Skull claims height and strikes Tigra, smashing her face and inflicting a colossal four wounds with one blow! This inspires Goro to leap at Luke Cage and stomp on his face repeatedly, inflicting a colossal three wounds!
Tigra lays into Red Skull with three blows, inflicting a wound with one of them, while Luke delivers a devastating uppercut to Goro from low ground, inflicting three wounds and knocking him into a battlement, the impact of which inflicts another wound. Myres clambers forwards.
No one is harmed by the lava.

Round Two

Righteous Rage claims the initiative. Tigra lays into Red Skull, inflicting two wounds. Luke Cage punches Goro, but Goro blocks the blow. Myres sneaks forwards.
Red Skull snaps Tigra’s neck, inspiring Goro to rip Luke Cage’s neck off. Double Fatality! Michael Myres chooses Razer as his new victim.
Songbird flies forwards and blasts Red Skull to no avail. Razer flies up next to Laserbeak and strikes him hard, inflicting two wounds. Myres observes Razer.
Red Skull grabs the Cosmic Cube again and transfers a wound from himself to Songbird before opening fire on her with his Dual Lugers, inflicting a wound with his first shot but missing wildly on his second.
Razer flies into a Righteous Rage. He annihilates Laserbeak with one blast and then turns his attention to Goro. His first blast is blocked, his second misses, but his third knocks the Shokan out in one devastating blow. Razer is left depleted and without power. Myres watches.
Myres charges Razer, knife in hand, and stabs him for a wound.
Neither Razer nor Songbird are harmed by the lava.

Round Three

The Fascist Conquerors claim the initiative. Red Skull moves another wound from himself to Songbird before claiming highground and opening fire on her with his Dual Lugers. Songbird deflects both bullets.
Songbird flies up next to Myres and blasts him, inflicting three wounds. Razer, despite running low on power, attempts to strike Myres, but Myres fights him off, before taking advantage of his time stalking him and stabbing him deeply, inflicting a wound.
Schmidt teleports Songbird next to him with his Cosmic Cube and snaps her neck, encouraging Myres to move to equal ground and stab at Razer, though to no avail.
Razer gathers himself and musters his inner rages, returning to full power. Myres observes him.
Red Skull charges Razer and strikes him from low ground, inflicting a wound. Myres attempts to stab Razer, but misses.
Razer knocks Red Skull out in one blow, and Myres stabs the Red Lantern in the back, inflicting a wound.
Myres is scorched by the lava rock, but Razer is burned to death by it.

Fascist Conquerors victorious, Michael Myres 4/5 wounds.

Overview: Well, that was something of a bloodbath. Razer was fun here, being able to go absolutely crazy with him and then him having to gather himself to recharge feels right - really gets across the different sides of his personality. My main concern is that a poor roll for his once per game Channeled Fury could leave him feeling decidedly disappointing, whereas he actually felt about right with it getting a really good roll. I’m considering a bump to 6 Life and/or an automatic full recharge with Channeled Fury to beef him up a bit, but in general, I love how he’s playing.

Army Test 2
Map: Ruins of Rennoc by Flash_19 (No Glyphs)
Armies;
Star-Lord, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Red Lantern (Razer) (260), Star Sapphire (Uncommon) (1,000 points)
vs.
Red Lantern (Atrocitus) (vII), Red Lantern (Bleez), Red Lantern (Dex-Starr) (1,000 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Red Lantern (Razer)'s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 2 wounds on Atrocitus, 3 wounds on Bleez (two redirected from Atrocitus), 1 wound on Dex-Starr
Battery Markers burnt: Three
Battery Markers recharged with Channeled Fury: One
Turns taken with Righteous Rage: One.
Extra attacks through Righteous Rage: Three

Round One

The Red Lantern Corps claims the initiative and Bleez flies forwards.
Star-Lord advances and fires a shot at Bleez, taking her by surprise and shockingly inflicting two wounds.
Atrocitus flies forwards, with Dex-Starr hot on his heels.
Razer flies into a Righteous Rage at the sight of Atrocitus, and flies headlong towards him, engaging him and laying into him while still within range of Star-Lord’s leadership. Razer strikes four times, inflicting two wounds each with the first and third blow, though the second two are forced onto Bleez. Razer is left weakened and without power.
Atrocitus retaliates hard, striking Razer with a devastating blow and inflicting three wounds, knocking him four spaces backwards. Dex-Starr presses the attack, pouncing on Star-Lord and scratching him, inflicting two wounds.
The Star Sapphire flies forwards and encases Atrocitus in a violet crystal.
Atrocitus takes a wound from the lava rock.

Round Two

The Army of Light claims the initiative. Razer ducks behind a wall, claiming height and hiding, before mustering himself to try to channel some of his rage - he recharges only a small fraction of his usual power, regaining a marker.
Bleez steals some of Atrocitus’s energy and strikes the Star Sapphire, killing her in one blow.
Hal flies up to Atrocitus and punches him, inflicting two wounds, though one of them is redirected to Bleez.
Dex-Starr scratches at Star-Lord, inflicting two wounds, and then killing him with Bleez’s Treacherous Rage.
Hal punches Atrocitus, knocking him out in one blow.
Dex-Starr flies up to Hal and burns a marker to scratch at him twice, but fails to harm him.
Both Dex-Starr and Hal are burnt by the lava under their feet.

Round Three

The Army of Light claims the initiative. Hal punches Dex-Starr, inflicting two wounds, and Dex-Starr recharges.
Bleez flies next to Hal and strikes him, inflicting a wound.
Hal punches Dex-Starr, failing to harm him but knocking him backwards.
Bleez strikes Hal, but he blocks the blow.
Hal punches Bleez, and she receives two wounds from the blow, but she responds by burning a marker in order to kill Hal with Raging Plasma.
Bleez flies next to Razer and punches him from low ground, inflicting a wound.

Round Four

Razer claims the initiative, knocking Bleez out with a lucky blow and eliminating the Red Lantern Corps’ first round.
Razer flies north and blasts Dex-Starr from height, knocking him out.

Army of Light Victorious, Red Lantern (Razer) 4/5 wounds, 1/3 markers.


Overview: Okay, that was a fun, brutal Lantern battle! Razer was actually great here - flying into a rage for a devastating first strike, just managing to escape after taking a pounding and recharging... not well, but ever so slightly and enough for him to clean up the dregs that his allies had left for him. That was fun, quick and brutal, and I really like Razer.

Army Test 3
Map: Ruined City by Leaf_It (No Glyphs)
Armies;
Red Lantern (Atrocitus) (vII), Red Lantern (Bleez), Red Lantern (Razer) (250) (1,000 points)
vs.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Lantern (Kilowog), Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), 1x Green Construct (Shield) (1,000 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Red Lantern (Razer)'s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 3 wounds on Kilowog, 1 wound on Hal Jordan, 2 Markers burnt on Hal Jordan, 1 wound on Guy Gardner
Battery Markers burnt: Three
Battery Markers recharged with Channeled Fury: Two
Turns taken with Righteous Rage: One.
Extra attacks through Righteous Rage: Three

Round One

The Red Lantern Corps claims the initiative and Bleez flies forwards.
Hal flies forwards and blasts Bleez from low ground, inflicting three wounds.
Atrocitus flies forwards and punches Hal in the face, rolling 5 skulls and prompting Hal to burn a marker to protect himself.
Kilowog burns a marker to inspire his recruits before flying forwards and punching Atrocitus in the face, inflicting a wound.
Atrocitus punches Kilowog... surprisingly weakly, and Kilowog blocks his blow.
Hal manifests a shield behind himself and Kilowog, before repositioning and punching Atrocitus, inflicting a wound.

Round Two

The Green Lantern Corps claims the initiative. Kilowog burns his second marker to inspire his men and punches Atrocitus, inflicting two wounds.
Atrocitus punches Kilowog, inflicting two wounds and breaking the shield construct. Bleez charges Hal and punches him, but he blocks.
Guy flies up and blasts Atrocitus from range, and would kill him, but Bleez is sacrificed in his place. He overextends, receiving a wound to blast again, but his shot is blocked.
Razer flies into a Righteous Rage and flies forwards - he starts by blasting Kilowog twice, knocking him out, before turning on Hal for his next two shots - the first is deadly, forcing Hal to burn through another marker, and the second inflicts a wound. After his assault, Razer is worn out.
Hal strikes Atrocitus, but Atrocitus defends, but, desperate, Hal presses the attack, but Atrocitus blocks again.
Atrocitus smashes Hal again, forcing him to burn yet another marker.

Round Three

The Red Lantern Corps claim the initiative. Razer flies up next to Atrocitus and musters himself, recharging two markers.
Guy blasts Atrocitus, but fails to harm him. He blasts Atrocitus again, inflicting three wounds which are transfered to Razer.
Atrocitus punches Hal, inflicting two wounds and leaving him beaten down and close to death. Razer moves in to finish the job, but Hal burns through the last of his power to keep him at bay.
Guy attempts - fruitlessly - to blast Atrocitus.
Atrocitus kills Hal and Razer blasts Guy, inflicting a wound.
Guy blasts Atrocitus again, but to no avail.

Round Four

The Green Lantern Corps claim the initiative, and Guy blasts Atrocitus, and would kill him, but Razer takes the fall instead and is slain. Guy burns a marker to fire another shot, finishing Atrocitus off.

Green Lantern Corps Victorious, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner) 3/4 wounds, 3/4 markers.

Overview: Another fun game! Razer works fine with the Reds, without this feeling like it’s the dominant build for him - which is pretty much the perfect result I was hoping for. His powers don’t synergise particularly well with them, but they’re still there and still useful and he’ll still following them. That honestly feels perfect for Razer’s time with the Reds - an asset who’ll follow along, but he doesn’t quite fit in naturally.

Thoughts On The Tested Unit's Cost, Balance, & Draftibility:

He’s perfect for the character and I am so. Bloody. Happy with him.

[Arch-vile]

3 close games, looking great!

pre-yea for public playtesting (just need to pick a point value, seems like he's good anywhere from 250-265 based on your games)