Capturing a figure's theme with mechanics

[Aldin]

Matt Helm's excellent thread listing the way different comic customs creators and fans evaluate existing and future customs got me to thinking about what an iconic figure is and how to fairly represent them. I would say that I am more familiar with Batman than any other comic character so he's going to be my example throughout.

Batman's iconic features are:

Refusal to use firearms or kill
Willingness to brutalize criminals
Intense, even unbalanced focus
Extraordinary intelligence
Martial Arts Expert
Master Acrobat
Commanding presence
Unfeasible romantic interests
Obscene Wealth
-Batarang
-Batmobile
-Batsuit
-Utility Belt
-Grapple Hook

Clearly these aren't all going to go on a card. In fact, it is possible to capture a character at varying power levels. Batman the Detective could probably make do with just the intelligence and utility belt.

Originally Posted by Batman the Detective

Move 5
Attack 4
Range 1
Defense 4
Life 4

Crimesolver
Immediately after revealing an Order Marker on Batman, choose a figure adjacent to Batman. If that figure's army card has an unrevealed Order Marker on it that has the same number as the Order Marker just revealed on Batman, remove that Order Marker.

Utility Belt
Any time you roll the 20‑sided die for a non-dead Army Card you control, you may add 1 to your die roll.

This Batman is probably somewhere in Spiderman's league (and would be an excellent teammate of the Webhead). Very moderate stats and powers with one special that only works when you have initiative and one that gives a very mild boost to some figures.

Batman of Gotham is probably going to have some more iconic abilities and will be better able to function solo. Generally speaking, his athleticism, intelligence, martial arts and even some equipment can be folded into his stats.

Originally Posted by Batman of Gotham

Move 6
Attack 5
Range 1
Defense 5
Life 5

I'm Batman
When rolling defense dice against an attack by squad figures, Batman adds one automatic shield to whatever is rolled.

Batarang
Instead of attacking, you may choose up to 3 different squad figures within 4 clear sight spaces of Batman. One at a time, roll the 20‑sided die for each chosen figure. If you roll a 7 or higher, destroy it.

More of a Captain America level Batman and one which makes sense roaming the streets of Gotham after dark. His acrobatics are folded into his higher speed. His Martial arts and Batsuit are in the attack, defense and life values.

Batman the Dark Knight is the guy who took down Superman. He's a one man wrecking crew who can counter any foe given the time to figure them out. This time, we wrap quite a bit of who he is into his stats:

Originally Posted by Batman the Dark Knight

Move 8
Attack 6
Range 3
Defense 6
Life 6

Analysis
Start the game with 3 brown Analysis Markers on this card. At the end of the turn, if you have at least 1 Analysis Marker on this card, you may choose any opponent's unique figure within 6 clear sight spaces of Batman. Roll the 20‑sided die. If you roll a 1‑10, nothing happens. If you roll an 11-20, place an Analysis Marker on the chosen figure's Army Card. That figure may not use any special power or ability which affects Batman and Batman rolls an additional two dice when attacking or defending against the Analyzed figure.

Legend of the Dark Knight
When Batman attacks he may attack up to three times. He may not attack the same figure twice.

Here his move value reflects things like the greater mobility granted by the grapple hook and his uncanny ability to appear in front of crooks who were running away from him in addition to his running speed. Defense and life reflect all of the things that go into the difficulty of taking down the Batman and attack includes his martial arts and clever tactics. It takes clever play and some luck for anyone to take him down.

So anyhow, I just had these thoughts about character crafting that I wanted to get out of my head and into print. I'd love to further discuss theme and mechanics and hope you agree that even though each Batman has only two powers they each reflect the figure's iconic theme.

~Aldin, who does NOT consider Robin iconic - only often present

[Matt Helm]

Great stuff... but no fit for the "romantic interests"?

I think you make excellent points in that every one of these examples can represent Batman. Not only do you have 70 years of history but a multitude of writers over the years who have focused on different aspects of the character.

With only 2 powers, you've done what took me 4 to do on my version (with art and editing assist from A3n). I went with the stealthy, hard to hit, punch you in the face when you're not looking version, and unfortunately it took me into the microscopic print area to do it. I was trying to go with the little bit of Spidey, little bit of Captain America Batman when maybe I should have swung one way or the other.

Anyway, great thoughts and thanks for sharing it.

[Aldin]

Originally Posted by Matt Helm

Great stuff... but no fit for the "romantic interests"?

I have two answers for that Mr. Smartey Pants. The first is that I meant to mention that you don't have to capture everything that is iconic about a figure in order to capture the iconic figure. Sometimes it doesn't matter that Superman has a secret identity even though Clark Kent is darned near as iconic as Superman. The second is this:

Originally Posted by Batman the Caped Crusader

Move 6
Attack 4
Range 1
Defense 4
Life 7

Femme Fatale
At the start of the game, choose a Unique Human Female your opponent controls to be the Femme Fatale. Neither Batman nor the Femme Fatale may attack each other. If at any time Batman and the Femme Fatale end a turn next to one another, roll a 20-sided die. On a result of 1-8 remove Batman from the game. On a result of 9-20 remove the Femme Fatale from the game.

Righteous Anger
When Batman destroys a figure, take another turn with Batman.

There ya go - the bare knuckles, emotionally charged Batman

~Aldin, hardcore Batman fanboi

[Adam Souza]

Aldin, great article all around. There are so many ways we can interpret our heroes

This one has got to be my favorite

Originally Posted by Batman the Dark Knight

Move 8
Attack 6
Range 3
Defense 6
Life 6

Analysis
Start the game with 3 brown Analysis Markers on this card. At the end of the turn, if you have at least 1 Analysis Marker on this card, you may choose any opponent's unique figure within 6 clear sight spaces of Batman. Roll the 20‑sided die. If you roll a 1‑10, nothing happens. If you roll an 11-20, place an Analysis Marker on the chosen figure's Army Card. That figure may not use any special power or ability which affects Batman and Batman rolls an additional two dice when attacking or defending against the Analyzed figure.

Legend of the Dark Knight
When Batman attacks he may attack up to three times. He may not attack the same figure twice.

My gaming group has a running joke about making Batman with the following powers
I KNEW YOU GOING TO DO THAT AND PLANNED FOR IT 2 WEEKS AGO
and
I'M GOING TO KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU
which you've summed up nicely with Analysis and Legend of the Dark Knight

[chas]

Great job of pointing out the creativity in the different versions of the same character. I must be the only fan who's not knocked out by Frank Miller's Dark Knight. I'm too old to allow civilization to slip into chaos in my dreams--its already too close in reality. He's not the Batman I want to play with.

If you think Robin is not iconic, consider that a Robin Custom might be. In fact, try playing with the Dick Grayson version of Sherman Davis. He's not only iconic, he's mythic...in our games, anyhow! You just can't get rid of him.

And now for a serious comment, which your great post deserves. After using both stats and powers to capture a character, its time to expand the customs universe, as C3G is doing with squads and glyphs. So the Femme Fatale power might be put on a female character who can effect any one other figure (and not necessarily only a male), and brought into a game to effect anyone, although perhaps not in so final a fashion. Maybe it could be one of a deck of Scenario Enhancer Cards which could be added to certain Army Cards in particular games to kick them up a level. Bam! Perhaps it could effect different characters in different ways, depending on their romantic attitude. In that way, we could get to represent yet another factor in our hero which is not even on his/her card!!!

Looking into the future, Sherman Davies and I agree on an Ultimate Goal of recreating a comic book reality adventure, with all levels of characters, so that some day its not just a Marvelscape duel of big guys punching each other out. When that day comes, Marvelscape and Classic will truly merge too in a real adventure which totally transcends the simple tournament style gaming experience others seem so keen on today.

[Aldin]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.

Originally Posted by chas

If you think Robin is not iconic, consider that a Robin Custom might be. In fact, try playing with the Dick Grayson version of Sherman Davis. He's not only iconic, he's mythic...in our games, anyhow! You just can't get rid of him.

It's not so much that I don't think there is an iconic Robin, I actually think there are several (Boy Wonder, Jr. Partner, Teen Titan, etc). It's that I don't think that an iconic Batman needs to refer to Robin in any way in order to be iconic. Okay, that's not fair. Robin really is an iconic part of several iconic Batmans - I've just never been much of a Robin fan. I also prefer making cards that don't have synergies that are too specific. Finally, I guess I think most of the Synergy ought to be on Robin's card. Heh - here's a cheap Boy Wonder for you.

Originally Posted by Robin the Boy Wonder

Move 5
Attack 2
Range 1
Defense 3
Life 3

Sidekick
After revealing an Order Marker on Robin the Boy Wonder you may first take a turn with any Unique Hero you control that is adjacent to Robin the Boy Wonder. Also, if Robin the Boy Wonder is attacked you must have an adjacent Unique Hero of your choice that you control defend against the attack instead of Robin the Boy Wonder, if possible.

Hello, young Dick Grayson!

~Aldin, conceptually not iconic

[Eclipse]

Originally Posted by Aldin

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.

It's not so much that I don't think there is an iconic Robin, I actually think there are several (Boy Wonder, Jr. Partner, Teen Titan, etc). It's that I don't think that an iconic Batman needs to refer to Robin in any way in order to be iconic. Okay, that's not fair. Robin really is an iconic part of several iconic Batmans - I've just never been much of a Robin fan. I also prefer making cards that don't have synergies that are too specific. Finally, I guess I think most of the Synergy ought to be on Robin's card. Heh - here's a cheap Boy Wonder for you.

I'd actually argue this about several aspects of the character. Similarly, I'd argue that most of the Femme Fatale angle should be the focus of Talia or Catwoman's cards. It comes down to this. Is that a universal aspect of the character, or primarily an aspect that's revealed when a secondary character is present? Often a villain exists solely as a means to showcase a character's less obvious abilities, like Bane or Killer Croc in Batman's case. I've actually been thinking of some unique ways to incorporate the Riddler keyed off the Disciplined personality, entirely to provide a means to showcase Bruce's analytical skills.

[Aldin]

I like the way you think, Eclipse

The reason Femme Fatale works for me as part of Bruce's character is that Catwoman, for example, wouldn't have a ghost of a chance with Superman, Scott Summers or any of the other "boy scout" Supers. Meanwhile, Batman regularly falls for violent, edgy women. Having him be unable to effectively fight a single opposing female (and I probably should have said human or mutant - Batman and Mystique ought to have at least one chance at happiness ) while effectively devestating everyone else arrayed against him has happened enough times with different females to make it something I would be willing to call iconic.

Talia Al Ghul is a good example of a figure which shouldn't have Femme Fatale but should be an option to be the object of Bats affection.

~Aldin, who likes your idea of Joker riffing on the Disciplined and wonders if he could use it to make a Daredevil with bonuses against anyone who isn't Precise

[Eclipse]

Originally Posted by Aldin

I like the way you think, Eclipse

The reason Femme Fatale works for me as part of Bruce's character is that Catwoman, for example, wouldn't have a ghost of a chance with Superman, Scott Summers or any of the other "boy scout" Supers. Meanwhile, Batman regularly falls for violent, edgy women. Having him be unable to effectively fight a single opposing female (and I probably should have said human or mutant - Batman and Mystique ought to have at least one chance at happiness ) while effectively devestating everyone else arrayed against him has happened enough times with different females to make it something I would be willing to call iconic.

Talia Al Ghul is a good example of a figure which shouldn't have Femme Fatale but should be an option to be the object of Bats affection.

~Aldin, who likes your idea of Joker riffing on the Disciplined and wonders if he could use it to make a Daredevil with bonuses against anyone who isn't Precise

That's what personality/class options are for. Limit femme fatale to Vigilante's or Crime Fighters, or however you want to aim it (fwiw, Nightwing falls under similar categories as Bats and has similar ladies problems). That's why I'm a big fan of the idea that if you're going to steal other people's cards, to still make your own copy of it. That way you can tweak minor things like personality and class to suit the needs of your collection.

[BigThumbToe]

I like the idea of having multiple cards for characters. Ive been thinking of doing double sided cards for a few characters. Mainly batman. Id like to do a high point experienced, superman beating, batman on one side and a regular average batman on the other. Has anybody already done this and how has it worked out for you?

[SilentOwl]

Thanks for posting this! This is going to help with my CC's a lot!