Heroes of Fiction: Design Thread

[Taeblewalker]

Looks great. I'm not acquainted with the source material, but he looks like a fun figure to play.

[Confred]

Neat. I double tonight and tomorrow, but I look forward to sinking into this.

[JC McMinis]

Just some first thoughts. I would say knight and valiant for synergy purposes for many of the Jandar official units

[Confred]

Again I double tonight, doubt I'll be done by midnight, but soon I'll dive into research and pull out themes before even looking at mechanics.

I always like to ask, what is the figure's purpose? More than what does it do, how and why? What role did it play in its source and what general will Simon it to to Valhalla for that same or similar role?

[Confred]

Brisk researching Round 1:

YouTube (Short URL)

The character seems way cool and way more than the equipment he wields.

According to research, he has an arc with at least three vastly different stages with regards to personality powers and class.
The picture you have there the video uses to represent his young form.

[McHotcakes]

Originally Posted by Confred

Brisk researching Round 1:
https://youtu.be/sI9Z1I_qxgE

The character seems way cool and way more than the equipment he wields.

According to research, he has an arc with at least three vastly different stages with regards to personality powers and class.
The picture you have there the video uses to represent his young form.

The picture was from a specific scene in the first book. Not that it matters too much, he wore the same armor for his whole life so he would look the same regardless.

I'm looking to capture the specific version of Dalinar from the first book. He does have the power of psychic visions that happen during storms, which, while interesting, don't add much to him in battle.

The specific moment in his life in the book is him transitioning from warrior to

Spoiler Alert!

diplomat. He actually ends up giving his soul blade and armor and abandoning battle altogether.

Losing the Thrill is my way of showing Dalinar losing his thirst for battle. And while he is definitely more than his weapons, they are still a big part of how goes into battle.

[Confred]

Originally Posted by McHotcakes

Here we go


Dhalinar Kholin
Stormlight Archive
Book Series
Jandar

Human
Unique Hero
Knight? Prince? Highprince?
Valiant? Honorable?
Medium 5 or 6

Dalinar Kholin is one of the main characters from the Stormlight Archive book series.

Character Bio

Spoiler Alert!

Dalinar lives in the fantasy world of Roshar, a land with constantly changing seasons, and magical hurricane like storms that sweep across the landscape on a weekly basis. He is the uncle to the king of Alethkar and has the official title of Highprince and is tasked with protecting the king at all costs.

Once upon a time Dalinar was a huge jerk who lusted for riches and glory in battle. However after failing to protect his brother, the king, from an assassin, Dalinar vowed to change his ways. He brought back a knightly code long forgotten to history. He now leads a virtuous life, dedicated to of honor, respect, and righteousness. This greatly upsets the other nobles who are still selfish jerks.

Dalinar is a good hearted man and great warrior. However, he recently has lost his will to fight. He has become increasingly empathetic and feels a great sorrow whenever he kills another person in battle. As such he is not nearly as feared as he once was. Yet he is still quite formidable as he has two insanley powerful magic weapons.

Dalinar weilds a Sharblade and wears Shardplate.

A Shardblade is essentially a magic sword that can instantly cut through none living material (rocks, metal, wood, etc.) and phases through living materal (animals and people) and severs that creature's soul, killing them instantly if it hits their head or torso, or paralyzing them if it goes through a limb. A shardblade is weightless and can be summoned at will by its owner.

Shardplate is magical armor that increases the user's speed and strength greatly. It is also the only thing known on Roshar that can withstand a hit from a shardblade.

With these items Dalinar is a very powerful force to be reckoned with.

Life: 5 He's tough as nails
Move: 6 His armor enhances his speed
Range: 1
Attack: ?
Defense: ?

Powers

The shardblade is extremely deadly and breezes through an enemy's defense. I thinking this represents that but might be over powered.

This seems like the most basic way to represent tough magical armor.

Throughout the first book whenever Dalinar killed an enemy solider he would be filled with emotion. As such he would often freeze in the middle of the battlefield. Refusing to move or attack. I think this is a good way to balance him out.

Points: ???

I should also note that I am specifically trying to represent Dalinar from the first book in the series. There are some pretty significant changes at the end of that book that would alter this design.

I see now why you've chosen these three. Shardplate is the only thing that can defend against Shardblade so I'd mirror the plate drawback for the blade.

I do wonder tho how else they may be represented

[McHotcakes]

Here's draft 2

Dhalinar Kholin
Jandar

Human
Unique Hero
Knight
Valiant
Medium 5 or 6

Life: 5
Move: 6
Range: 1
Attack: 3?
Defense: 5?

Shardblade
When Dalinar attacks a figure without the Shardplate special power, the figure rolls 1 fewer defense die for each skull rolled.

Added the bit about Shardplate being immune.

Shardplate
When Dalinar rolls defense dice against a figure without the shardblade special power, each shield counts as 1 additional block.

Losing the Thrill
Whenever Dalinar destroys a figure you must roll the 20 sided die. On a roll of 7? or lower remove all order markers from Dalinar's army card. Dalinar may not make leaving engagement attacks for the rest of the round.

Don't really have much to go on for the second two Powers. I'm open to changing them if anyone has any ideas.

[Confred]

You said the equipment is magical and summoned, how does it act and function in the source other than being vorpal/impenetrable and would that thematically translate? Does it power up and down? Or should the bonus be static?

Also, why Jandar and not Einar or even Vydar?

[McHotcakes]

Originally Posted by Confred

You said the equipment is magical and summoned, how does it act and function in the source other than being vorpal/impenetrable and would that thematically translate? Does it power up and down? Or should the bonus be static?

Also, why Jandar and not Einar or even Vydar?

The shardblade is summoned. It appears out of mist in the owner's hand after ten heartbeats. After that it is solid matter. Doesn't really power up or down. It's either summoned or not.

Dalinar is Jandar's poster boy imo. He is always looking to protect the innocent, help the downtrodden, and fight evil in all its forms. I couldn't see him fighting for anybody else to be honest.

[Confred]

Originally Posted by McHotcakes

The shardblade is summoned. It appears out of mist in the owner's hand after ten heartbeats. After that it is solid matter. Doesn't really power up or down. It's either summoned or not.

Dalinar is Jandar's poster boy imo. He is always looking to protect the innocent, help the downtrodden, and fight evil in all its forms. I couldn't see him fighting for anybody else to be honest.

Sounds more like Ullar poster boy imo.

But regarding the shard equipment, I like the symmetry of bonus restrictions. but I think instead of scaling goodness, a flat rate may be better.

SHARDBLADE
If Dalinar is attacking an adjacent figure without the Shardplate power, add 4 dice to Dalinar's attack.

SHARDPLATE
If Dalinar is defending against a figure without the Shardblade power, add 4 dice to Dalinar's defense.

SHARD EQUIPMENT
If Dalinar is attacking or defending against a figure without the Shard Equipment power, add 4 dice to Dalinar's roll.

[McHotcakes]

Originally Posted by Confred

Sounds more like Ullar poster boy imo.

I don't know, when I think Jandar I think knights in shining armor, and Dalinar is a knight in shining armor in both the literal and figurative sense. He fits in with the rest of the knights of Jandar.

But regarding the shard equipment, I like the symmetry of bonus restrictions. but I think instead of scaling goodness, a flat rate may be better.

SHARDBLADE
If Dalinar is attacking an adjacent figure without the Shardplate power, add 4 dice to Dalinar's attack.

SHARDPLATE
If Dalinar is defending against a figure without the Shardblade power, add 4 dice to Dalinar's defense.

I like the idea of having a flat rate for his Shardblade and shardplate powers. I think if we made them both plus 3 and give Dalinar a base attack and defense of 3 that would put him in a good spot. 6 attack and defense regular and 7 on height advantage is very powerful but fits a shardbearer's status in the books. They are supposed to be the equivalent of 100 highly trained soldiers so I think it's ok.

If we are worried about him being over powered we could make his shardplate provide one less defense for each wound Dalinar has. Shardplate can be temporarily broken in the books so that could be a good way to keep him balanced.

SHARD EQUIPMENT
If Dalinar is attacking or defending against a figure without the Shard Equipment power, add 4 dice to Dalinar's roll.

I would prefer to keep the shard abilities separate. In the books its a big status thing to have either a sharblade or shardplate, only a lucky few get both. So I believe each piece of equipment is worthy of being it's own special power.

Not to mention there are characters with unique ways of using just the shardblade and not the armor and there are creatures with resistance to being cut by shardblade.

If we bundled the abilities together it would complicate how to make further characters in the series down the road.