The Book of Anti-Monitor

[SirGalahad]

yea

[IAmBatman]

Just need Spidey, Necro, Griff, and Whitey!

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Yea!

[Griffin]

Yea to ERB, and yea to insider trading/playtesting. I have been waiting to playtest this guy for a long time.

[IAmBatman]

Glad to hear it. I knew I could count on you and Hambone. Just two votes from the ERB!

[IAmBatman]

OK, in anticipation of the ERB phase, I cleaned up the Event Hero special rule a bit more ... and worked to make sure we weren't shifting the in-game value of too many figures too much by making auto destroy powers completely worthless.

EVENT HEROES
Event Heroes are never destroyed without first taking enough wounds to be destroyed. If a terrain rule or a special power on any Army Card, Glyph, or Destructible Object would automatically destroy an Event Hero, that terrain rule or special power instead inflicts 4 wounds on that Event Hero. Players may never take temporary or permanent control of an opponent's Event Hero.

[IAmBatman]

This passes to the ERB Phase!

[IAmBatman]

First response and my response!

Originally Posted by Sherman Davies

I can't comment on cost obviously, since this guy's way outside of my wheelhouse, but the powers all seem properly worded, at least.

I do think this Erase From Existence power could stand some beefing up, especially since it seems to me that it's what the Anti-Monitor will be using most turns. (Seriously, who's gonna waste a turn on this guy taking a single normal attack of 6 dice?) I just hate to think that 1600 points of squads (Superscape or otherwise) would be able to swarm him and take him down most games. He'd stand a much better chance if the d20 roll worked like Braxas' Poison Breath, with different success numbers for squads and heroes.

I like different success numbers for squads and heroes! Good idea!
For the record, this guy has been very competitive with 1600 points worth of opposing heroes even without any D20 luck in many of his matches. It initially had a range of 6, but it proved too powerful at that point. His real advantage in matches is his staying power (30 lives takes quite a while to take out) and how he takes advantage of Order Marker inequities.
Thanks, as always, for the feedback!
Any thoughts on a good roll number for squad kills for this guy?

[Hahma]

Maybe 8, though you'll never be able to have that many squads unless there was some kind of massive map and a scenario without starting zone limits.

[IAmBatman]

I was thinking low, yeah. 8 was lower than I thought at first, but he's worth 1600 points, so I think it's good to go really low. I'll make that update and I'm sure someone will let me know if they have any objections!

[IAmBatman]

I'm glad you share my excitement on this one!
I'm right there with you on Galactus, but someone needs to draft him first and he's not my own biggest priority (and I think a lot of the other guys might be afraid of him as a design - how do you do an eater of worlds justice?).
The no auto-kill was absolutely necessary. You just can't have a 1600 point figure taken out on a lucky D20 roll and consider the game balanced.
The "at random" wording is directly off of the official Silver Surfer's special attack, so that's how Heroscape asks you to do it. What that really means is "without looking." I think with so many people having experience playing that power on Surfer, it'll translate pretty well.
I could see trying to specify the timing on Master of Time, but the wording follows that on Joker's Reorganized Chaos exactly and I've never heard anyone even once say they didn't know when that power kicked in. So I honestly think we're probably OK there and I like the consistency with Joker's card.
Anti-Monitor is a figure you control (and most of the time he'll be the only figure you control at 1600 points!) so his turns can definitely trigger Master of Space.
May means may. The teleportation of 10 is optional (but since he has a normal move of 4 and often wants to use the disengage aspect as well, he'll rarely pass up the opportunity to use that part of the power).
That's the second time someone's complained about "masters space." We were following the official template on that one, but, yeah, it sounds weird and if it's going to bug people, I'll definitely change it. Thanks.
I'll run your rewording of the Event Hero rule by the guys. I'm going to avoid the simplified version, though, because I think we want to prize clarity above all else here. It's not a power that's going on any actual cards, just in the Books and, maybe, eventually, in a rules book.

Thanks as always for the feedback!
Bats

Originally Posted by DEATHWALKER 1970

First: WOW!!!

I love the concept, and must immideately demand that the next Event Hero you make be GALACTUS!

No auto-kill is a good call!

About MASTER OF TIME... I don´t think the "at random" part works. How do you randomize?
I think it can simply be removed, and still work fine.

And there´s a timing thing...
How about:
If you win initiative and at least one order marker is on this card, before taking a turn with AM, you may remove etc...

About MASTER OF SPACE... I suppose the figure taking a turn refered to can also be Anti Monitor himself? (itself?)
It says instead of moving you may place AM... but can you also choose to just move him normally? I guess so because of the may, but if not, I think it needs rewording.
When AM "masters space" is perhaps a little too tongue in cheek? It would sound more official if it was: When AM uses Master of Space.

I would also recommend a slight rewrite of the EVENT HERO rule itself:
An event Hero can only be destroyed by taking enough wounds to destroy it. Any terrain rule, special power on an army card, glyph or destructible object that would automatically destroy a figure, instead inflicts (causes?) 4 wounds on an Event Hero. No other player may ever take take permanent or temporary control of an Event Hero.

It could be even simpler if you just say that: ANY rule or power that would automatically destroy a figure, instead causes 4 wounds...

An interesting new turn of events, and I already found a place in the UK that would be willing to sell me this bad boy for a measly 10 british Pounds, cause I absolutely got to get him! (it?)

Cheers,
Jesper

[IAmBatman]

OK ... so here's what I'm thinking ...

MASTER OF SPACE After you complete a turn with any figure you control, if an unrevealed X Order Marker is on Anti-Monitor's card, you may reveal it and immediately take a turn with Anti-Monitor. During this turn, instead of moving normally, you may place Anti-Monitor on any unoccupied spaces within 10 spaces of Anti-Monitor. When Anti-Monitor moves with Master of Space, if he is engaged, he will not take any leaving engagement attacks.


I've looked carefully at the proposed changes for the Event Hero special rule, but I think all of them would open things up for confusion or rules lawyering in ways that don't exist in the current write-up. So, unless there are any objections, I think we should stay the course there.