SuperHeroScape™: SHIELD and Skrulls 10/8

[NecroBlade]

Midweek Mister Fantastic!



The new version of Mister F* trades Unrivaled Intellect and an initiative bonus for Superior Intellect and the ability to negate powers for a turn. It can be used both offensively and defensively. Fantastic Leadership and Elastic Wrap have stayed the same, but Elastic Stretch is also new. I pulled the Reach portion out and just gave him 3 Range instead, so it only affects his movement now. Instead of one space of +/-30 levels, he can now do 10 levels twice, though it costs him move instead of being an addition (so he's not faster than fliers outside of lots of extreme height variance). With his increased attack range and negation ability, he also went up 20 points. This bring him and his Teammates to a new total of 915.

*

Spoiler Alert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVIdy9_wqQw

[Tornado]

Did you consider Ultimate Nullifier for the first power?

[NecroBlade]

That could work, too, but I'd probably want to make it a Glyph version.

[Tornado]

Right on. Cool card.

[NecroBlade]

I think I only changed Healing Factor X to X Healing Factor. It just sounded better to me. That, and minor aesthetic updates. Still two of my favorite cards.

[NecroBlade]

And we're into Wave 3 already! (Fun fact: my new employer shares his name with a character in this wave.)



Headbutt was tweaked slightly, that's all. The downside was removed and instead it requires a little setup (have to move in a straight line first) and has 1 less die. Bulldozer still did go up 10 points, as was the general trend with the revisions, but could also probably use more playtesting to determine a safe level to come down to (as could the other revisions, especially later in the waves).




Mutant Leadership was given a little more flexibility. Instead of quite as many moves, you get the choice of different attackers. No point increase here, though. I actually have a similar power that several figures use to create flexible "non-ding" partnerships, but none of them are in this set of the first 50.

[NecroBlade]

Diamond Form became a little more defensive, only 1 Attack now but 3 Defense, and I'm toying with the idea of adding Super Strength while in it (but may not be appropriate; someone will have to tell me). Psychic Sedation is a much lower roll, but that's due to a big change in Telepath synergy. They have to be within 6 spaces to boost each other's rolls now, so you can't just throw a bunch of them in an army together and have incredible odds no matter what. It also changed to 4 spaces instead of 6, but that's offset by happening after moving instead of before. Psychic Blast was also reigned in slightly: 1 Less attack, 2 less Range. No change to Telepathic Amplifier, which does still boost rolls no matter where the friendly Telepaths are. Between Blast and Amplifier, Emma still makes a great centerpiece for Telepaths. Because of her lower offensive potential, however, I brought her down by 20 points.




Criminal Class became Mastermind. He no longer works as a lackey for Kingpin, but there may or may not be other synergy there down the road. Pumpkin Bomb had Range reduced by 1, but that's offset by Goblin Glider granting additional movement and the upgrade to Stealth Flying. With greater mobility and disengaging, I increased him by 30 points.

[NecroBlade]

New Hawkeye is still a super-Skahen. He expands Smoke Arrow and his normal Range by a space each. Range offset by reducing Move by one. Double Attack was dropped for Blast Arrow, a different kind of multi-attack. I like this better as a way to represent another type of arrow, and reign his power in some (two attacks of 5 from height at Range 8 was a lot of firepower). Between that and the loss of self-synergy between Double Attack and Cover Fire, I reduced him by 30 points.




Dropped his Move, but expanded Ice Slide a bit to make that his primary mode of movement (almost Flying-by-another-name on some maps, but not quite with the lava restriction and inability to be boosted with Move bonuses). In exchange for one fewer attack die, Deep Freeze no longer requires a roll. As long as he can keep inflicting wounds, a 1v1 Iceman can limit an opponent to one turn a round. Now that's a deep freeze! Ice Sheet gained a little, too, no longer limited to just same-level. With an overall slight expansion of his powers, I increased him 10 points.

[Ronin]

Beast
Pretty lean and mean take. Fast multi-attacker means he'll be a good candidate for joining up with Cap and the Avengers, which is cool. Prioritizing his acrobatics over his wild side was the right call.

Black Panther
Kinetic Redistribution is very MCU - definitely feels like it's leaning into that take on the character rather than a 'lunchbox' version. Can't totally blame you for that, but it did stick out.

Gonna take me a while to catch up on all these.

EDIT:

Bullseye
Auto-destruction is a tricky mechanic in supers. If you're gonna put it on anyone, Bullseye makes some sense. I'd be tempted to lower the roll even more and only have the 1W option. Like he just wounds on a 3 or so. Not as flashy, I know. I don't think letting him snipe 400 point figures is ever gonna feel super satisfying, though. YMMV.

Doc Ock
Ock is a toughie - he's got a lot going on and I don't know that I've ever seen an Otto write-up (including ones I've done myself!) that felt both entirely representative and entirely elegant. This is a really solid iteration on your last version, though; still at four powers, but two of em are just barely there, and they all feel quintessentially Otto.

Not sure about 5 Life though - the man is usually pretty squishy once you get past the arms.

Human Torch
I'm not so hot on Teammate as a class - reads a bit generic rather than really evoking anything in particular about the Fantastic Four. Really dig the clean take on Flame On, and the card generally, though Supernova doesn't feel terribly Supernova to me. Not a complaint against the power so much as the name, though.

Invisible Woman
Very clean take, feels right for the character. I do wish the range on her normal attack and on her defensive power lined up. Maybe meet in the middle at 3 if you don't want to beef the defensive range all the way to 4? I like it when those sorts of numbers line up - makes a card easier to play, and makes the range on the defensive aura feel less gamey.

Punisher
I like this take more than I remember liking the Punishment one. Feels very essential Frank. Not sure I really have any notes.

Sandman
Tricky. The asymmetry between the land/water effects reads a little weirdly, but I get that it makes the water weakness more relevant. I'd be tempted to drop the stat reductions from Water Soluble, though - it'd slightly reduce the amount of headspace you need to devote to modifying his stats, and I think taking a wound, losing his defensive power, and not getting the land stat boosts is enough of a reason to stay out of the water.

Shifting Sand is really cool. Love it.

Super-Skrull
(He usually gets the hyphen in his name). Very lean, but Torch isn't really coming through for me in this iteration - maybe worth putting Lava Resistant on the card? Wouldn't be a huge value add, but I think then between the special powers and the hit zone you'd have very easy-to-grok nods to all four members of the FF.

The Thing
Feels like a distant cousin to Hasbro Hulk. Not that that's a bad thing. Seems fun to put up against other big bruisers like Hulk. He and Super Skrull are both pretty defensively stalwart, but Thing also has that Stomp riff that I imagine will make him very tough for swarms of low-level guys to take on.

Daredevil
Feels very Daredevil, though I do question "Hear Them Coming" as a name for a power that's more about Daredevil on offense. Full-on multi-attack against Criminals/Crime Lords also might push him a bit into counter-draft territory, being a pretty significant boost in effectiveness.

Kingpin
The core mechanic here is still really cool. I do think it's kind of a shame that the "force your assassins into engagement, they must attack" stuff discourages picking Bullseye.

Loki
Looking pretty slick. I'd be tempted to take off a point of Defense and give him 1 more Life. Slightly less conventional Supers statline that way, and I think it suits a god character. The right character beats are all here, though.

Thor
Dig Thor as a counter-point to Loki, and really like their d20 powers lining up at 14. The wording on the SA reads a little weird at the start to me, might need a slight tweak there.

Magneto
Is the crushing damage roll optional? I'm guessing not based on the fact that only some figures you control (Mutant Outcasts) are exempted, but it doesn't have a 'must'.

Master of Magnetism feels a little fiddly to me in general, with two different d20 targets and the way DOs sort of weave in and out of the power. Took me a couple reads to get a full picture of how the power works. Not too bad to parse at the end of the day, but less elegant than most of what you're doing with these cards.

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Beast
Pretty lean and mean take. Fast multi-attacker means he'll be a good candidate for joining up with Cap and the Avengers, which is cool. Prioritizing his acrobatics over his wild side was the right call.

Black Panther
Kinetic Redistribution is very MCU - definitely feels like it's leaning into that take on the character rather than a 'lunchbox' version. Can't totally blame you for that, but it did stick out.

Gonna take me a while to catch up on all these.

Glad this version of Beast is on track. I'd love to find somewhere else to put Unleashed Fury (so Khosumet can play with the big boys... and then get one-shot by most of them ).

You're right that Black Panther is more of the MCU take. Partly due to the MCU being the most familiar I am with any of the characters, and partly because I wanted something a little more dynamic.

I was going to say I'd be happy if that's all I got, but then...

Originally Posted by Ronin

EDIT:

Bullseye
Auto-destruction is a tricky mechanic in supers. If you're gonna put it on anyone, Bullseye makes some sense. I'd be tempted to lower the roll even more and only have the 1W option. Like he just wounds on a 3 or so. Not as flashy, I know. I don't think letting him snipe 400 point figures is ever gonna feel super satisfying, though. YMMV.

That would certainly be one way to represent "(almost) never missing". Swingy auto-destroy powers are a very Heroscape thing, IMO. Allows for some counter-drafting against nigh-unstoppable monsters like Hulk and Thanos, and messes with their target priority.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Doc Ock
Ock is a toughie - he's got a lot going on and I don't know that I've ever seen an Otto write-up (including ones I've done myself!) that felt both entirely representative and entirely elegant. This is a really solid iteration on your last version, though; still at four powers, but two of em are just barely there, and they all feel quintessentially Otto.

Not sure about 5 Life though - the man is usually pretty squishy once you get past the arms.

He's definitely a tough card to figure out. Glad he landed OK. For his squishiness, I could probably go back to 6D/4L without a second thought.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Human Torch
I'm not so hot on Teammate as a class - reads a bit generic rather than really evoking anything in particular about the Fantastic Four. Really dig the clean take on Flame On, and the card generally, though Supernova doesn't feel terribly Supernova to me. Not a complaint against the power so much as the name, though.

Completely understandable that Teammate feels a little weird. I have bigger plans for it in the SuperHeroScape™ universe, though. I'm always open to suggestions for alternative power names (especially if that's about the only thing holding the card back, which is good).

Originally Posted by Ronin

Invisible Woman
Very clean take, feels right for the character. I do wish the range on her normal attack and on her defensive power lined up. Maybe meet in the middle at 3 if you don't want to beef the defensive range all the way to 4? I like it when those sorts of numbers line up - makes a card easier to play, and makes the range on the defensive aura feel less gamey.

See, I'm the opposite, I like the tension. "I can shoot that guy from over here, but I also really need to be over there to protect Johnny's dumb ass..." Nothing wrong with a little attention to detail when positioning.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Punisher
I like this take more than I remember liking the Punishment one. Feels very essential Frank. Not sure I really have any notes.

That's good. But also a bummer because I find the other take more interesting.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Sandman
Tricky. The asymmetry between the land/water effects reads a little weirdly, but I get that it makes the water weakness more relevant. I'd be tempted to drop the stat reductions from Water Soluble, though - it'd slightly reduce the amount of headspace you need to devote to modifying his stats, and I think taking a wound, losing his defensive power, and not getting the land stat boosts is enough of a reason to stay out of the water.

Shifting Sand is really cool. Love it.

-2/-2 in water felt too punishing. On the other hand, the crux of the whole thing is how often he'll end up there anyway. Because of the various negatives, he'd probably only do it on his own if it meant getting a kill shot, or a glyph of great value. Most of the time it'll probably be him getting knocked back (or thrown) into water (which is also why the wound was moved to entering the space).

I liked what Shifting Sand added, so that's great to hear.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Super-Skrull
(He usually gets the hyphen in his name). Very lean, but Torch isn't really coming through for me in this iteration - maybe worth putting Lava Resistant on the card? Wouldn't be a huge value add, but I think then between the special powers and the hit zone you'd have very easy-to-grok nods to all four members of the FF.

Thanks. A hyphen isn't as bad as "Sabertooth".

He's difficult to find a balance representing all four characters, that's for sure. I'll take the suggestion and mull it over with another pass.

Originally Posted by Ronin

The Thing
Feels like a distant cousin to Hasbro Hulk. Not that that's a bad thing. Seems fun to put up against other big bruisers like Hulk. He and Super Skrull are both pretty defensively stalwart, but Thing also has that Stomp riff that I imagine will make him very tough for swarms of low-level guys to take on.

Fun is good. He's probably a little better against swarms than Hasbro-Hulk, but not as mobile or as punchy as easily with the normal attack.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Daredevil
Feels very Daredevil, though I do question "Hear Them Coming" as a name for a power that's more about Daredevil on offense. Full-on multi-attack against Criminals/Crime Lords also might push him a bit into counter-draft territory, being a pretty significant boost in effectiveness.

Point taken on Hear Them Coming; again, all ears for suggestions. I hear you on the Criminal/Crime Lord thing, too. There are some things I like better than the previous version, but I'm not sure he's quite there yet.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Kingpin
The core mechanic here is still really cool. I do think it's kind of a shame that the "force your assassins into engagement, they must attack" stuff discourages picking Bullseye.

I wanted to prevent screening off the Target and sitting back and sniping them to death. It's still possible, but the opponent has some counter-play to use positioning to force the Assassins "out of the shadows". With 7 Range and 5 Move, though, Bullseye can still manage a little run-n-gun (since he can keep 6 spaces between himself and the Target).

Originally Posted by Ronin

Loki
Looking pretty slick. I'd be tempted to take off a point of Defense and give him 1 more Life. Slightly less conventional Supers statline that way, and I think it suits a god character. The right character beats are all here, though.

Glad he's pretty solid, too. That would be a weird stat-line, but it is Loki. I'll consider it.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Thor
Dig Thor as a counter-point to Loki, and really like their d20 powers lining up at 14. The wording on the SA reads a little weird at the start to me, might need a slight tweak there.

The 14 thing wasn't even intentional, but I can pretend it was. I've messed with the wording for Mjolnir Throw probably one time too many. I think it should go back to:

All adjacent figures are affected by Mjolnir Throw. Choose a figure within 5 clear sight spaces to be affected as well. Roll 4 attack dice once for all affected figures. Thor can use Mjolnir Throw only once per round.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Magneto
Is the crushing damage roll optional? I'm guessing not based on the fact that only some figures you control (Mutant Outcasts) are exempted, but it doesn't have a 'must'.

Master of Magnetism feels a little fiddly to me in general, with two different d20 targets and the way DOs sort of weave in and out of the power. Took me a couple reads to get a full picture of how the power works. Not too bad to parse at the end of the day, but less elegant than most of what you're doing with these cards.

Everything is optional unless there's a "must". Saves a lot of writing "may this, may that". Certainly can't argue it isn't one of the more complex powers. Not sure if it can be reworded in any way, though, without losing something.

[NecroBlade]

Super-Raelin is back. Flying downgraded to Levitation and Move reduced by 1. That makes it harder to get her Telekinetic Shield where it needs to be, but is offset by the shield reaching 2 spaces instead of just adjacent. It also covers all attacks, not just Ranged. The other improvement was lowering the rolls on Telekinesis, though as with all Telepaths boost come from within 6 spaces now, not just anywhere. Without being able to grab height as easily with flight to boost her own stats, I dropped her 10 points.




Juggernaut gained a power and Unstoppable Charge was reworked into not being a Special Attack, which allows the normal Knockback rules to apply. There are a few things happening in there, but I'd like to put some more strength against DO's back into the power. Other than that his stats stayed the same. He went up 50 points given Invulnerability and the new flexibility of UC and it using his higher normal Attack (plus boosts), though that's probably too much. Both he and Jean Grey probably need a bunch more testing to be sure.

[Tornado]

Those look fun.