The Book of Heat Wave

[tcglkn]

I'm gonna update the SA and replace Cold Weakness with Fear of Cold.

Any other suggestions? I am going to send this to ERB as soon as the 48 hours are up.

[Griffin]

FLAMETHROWER SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 2 + Special. Attack 4.
Choose a figure to attack. You may also choose 3 spaces in a straight line from the targeted figure. All figures on those spaces that are within line of sight of Heat Wave are affected by this special attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. Figures with the Lava Resistance special ability are not affected by this special attack.

I know what a special power is, but what is a special ability?

[tcglkn]

Thanks Griffin, that's one thing I've always thought for some reason.

SP updated and sent out to ERB.

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by davidlhsl

Heat Wave

The weather is finally cooling off, and we'll hopefully have a nice autumn without any more awful weather. But first, we're having a Heat Wave at the ol' ERB!

Flamethrower Special Attack
So that's how Quizno's gets their subs so toasty!

Based on Black Canary's precedent, this will also affect a figure at the top of a castle if it's in the straight line. It will also affect figures on the other side of a ruin or other obstacle.

Heat Resistance
Interesting! This is more limited, as he'll still be affected by molten lava and attacks that don't affect figures with Lava Resistance. But Heat Wave will still benefit on maps that use lava fields, especially at height.

Fear of Cold
This does present an interesting "press your luck" mechanic on snow/ice maps. He does have range, albeit with a short reach. At first I wondered whether the mechanic would be too cumbersome in rolling one die at a time. I've heard some people complain about players who have Major Q9 attack with 1 die at a time for 9 attacks. However, you're really pushing your luck if you move 3 or more spaces. And the one die per move does add a bit of suspense to the proceedings.

Net impact would be that normal snow/ice spaces would functionally serve as heavy snow/slippery ice spaces for Heat Wave, unless you come across a gambler who wants to push it to the max or a person who decides it's worth foregoing an attack in order to press as far as possible (especially when advancing from the start zone). A check of the Battlefields of Valhalla and C3G's Akali Lake maps shows that they have routes around the snow/ice, though Heat Wave might need to push into the Land of Dairy Queen to avoid getting shafted on height. Again, it is worth forfeiting an attack to press as far as possible to get into position on occasion.

Final Thoughts
I did read the bio and enjoyed it. I've always read the bios A3n supplies with his designs as well. I love press your luck mechanics, and this design will likely see me chucking into the freeze in order to have fun with it! But I should be nice to him and toss him an occasional lava map, unless I want to wake in the middle of the night with a flamethrower pointed at my head. If that happens, your fire alarm might go off again!

Thanks davidlhsl. The SA does work on top of walls and behind them. But Heat Wave would probably just burn them down to get to you anyways.

[Griffin]

The flame thrower is spraying fire and only hits whatever he sees. That means that the fire does not go "through" walls.

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by Griffin

The flame thrower is spraying fire and only hits whatever he sees. That means that the fire does not go "through" walls.

What version of the power are you looking at?

[IAmBatman]

The one in post #38, presumably, which does not match what's in the SP.

[tcglkn]

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT Heat Wave

- 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 to powerful or too weak.
Pass, waiting on more Rogues.

- 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, didn't play on a snow map, but when he's drafted with Captain Cold, I'm sure Fear of Cold will be used.

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

All Tests Run On: Custom Map on my Lexan Mat. A couple of warehouses filled with lava field to represent burning ruins.


Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 110
- Give a brief summary. He got some good rolls against Electro, but most of the other Heroes in this point range dominated him.

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Units:Heat Wave VS Dazzler (100)
Heat Wave w/ 1 wound
Dazzler w/ 1 wound

TEST 2
Units: Heat Wave VS Pyro (120)
Pyro w/ 2 wounds
Pyro w/ 3 wounds

TEST 3
Units: Heat Wave VS Creeper (125)
Creeper w/ 3 wounds.
Heat Wave w/ 2 wounds (Heat Wave picked up the Cosmic Control Rod this battle)

TEST 4
Units: Heat Wave VS Echo (130)
Echo w/ 3 wounds.
Echo w/ 1 wound.

TEST 5
Units: Heat Wave VS Electro (135)
Heat Wave w/ 1 wound.
Heat Wave w/ 1 wound.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 110
- Give a brief summary. I thought his SA would give him the edge here, but the Agents got the first attack off, activated Tactical Cover Fire and got a Killbox off before Heat Wave could roll a good attack.
Units: Heat Wave VS SHIELD Agents x1 (110)
SHEILD Agents with 3 remaining.

_____________________________________________________________

Squad Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 110
- Give a brief summary. Heat Wave got off a 3 skull Flamethrower SA to kill both the Skrull Warriors.
Units: Heat Wave VS Skrull Warriors (110)
Heat Wave w/ no wounds.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 110
- Give a brief summary. Grodd and Poison Ivy dominated this match, Heat Wave never needed to take a turn.
Units: Heat Wave, Gorilla Grodd, and Poison Ivy (500) VS Flash and Professor Zoom (500)

Spoiler Alert!

Flash charged forward first. A few turns later, Grodd lands a good 5 skull attack and Flash matches him with 4 skulls of his own. Flash is out. Poison Ivy moves towards the center of the map, where there are a couple of trees, Professor Zoom beats her there, but he is no match for Grodd and Ivy.
Poison Ivy w/ 5 wounds, Grodd and Heat Wave with no wounds.

_____________________________________________________________

Army Test
- Does it pass, Yes or No? Pass
- What should be the unit's point value? 110
- Give a brief summary. Heat Wave gave Flash one wound here, but Sinestro was the MVP here killing Superman single handedly and finishing Flash off.
Units: Heat Wave, Sinestro and Mister Mxyzptlk (680) VS Flash and Superman II (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Mxyzptlk chooses Flash to antagonize.

Superman flies out to the center and Sinestro engages him. Sinestro puts 5 wounds on Superman in one turn with his SA, then blocks Superman's attack with his Power Shield and finishes Superman off next turn. Heat Wave advances and whiffs his attack on Flash, who returns the favor and gives him 2 wounds. Heat Wave got a wound onto Flash, who then lost his turn and took a wound due to Antagonizing Trickster. Sinestro then engages Flash and gives him 2 wounds to finish him off.
Sinestro with 1 PBM and no wounds, Heat Wave w/ 2 wounds, and Mister Mxyzptlk

[Griffin]

So why is the line of sight aspect gone on the SA then?

[IAmBatman]

Cool - psyched to see you doing some testing, Tickle! I think I'm going to have a marathon of C3G tomorrow myself, now that I'm back home!

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

For the special attack, what's the theory on requiring LOS? If he blasts four spaces with fire and Invisible Woman is on one of those, she'd be affected even if he didn't have LOS on her (and he wouldn't if she weren't adjacent).

This is why the LOS was dropped on the SA. I can't think of a situation where I couldn't justify him hitting someone he can't see. Plus he has a very limited reach with it, having to start by attacking someone at most 1 space away from him then choosing 3 spaces in a straight line. The SA is already easy enough to avoid.

Playtest sheet finished. Pass at 110. 24 hours on the clock.

[IAmBatman]

hmm ... hard to get much from those army tests, but I'm happy to see what the public thinks, and rely on the heavy hitters for now. Preemptive yea for playtesting at 110. (Also, I know I'll be testing this guy plenty once I reopen Captain Cold).