Trial of Ares (Custom by Johnny139)

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Sorry about the delay in getting this up. Us Aussies are just getting out of bed as I type this.

So here we come at last to the trial of Ares. All are welcome to add to the discussion and playtesting of this great custom by Johnny139. But please be aware of the Discussion Guidelines

Johnny139's version of...



Any playtesting should only include this custom and official units or TNT customs. Playtesting with Classicscape is welcome so we can see how the custom works with official squads.

Playtest suggestions:
1) Pit him against Hulk or Abonination for a real battle of the titans. In the recent World War Hulk comics, Ares was defeated by Hulk.
2) Pit him against squads of ranged units to see if he can withstand a range-heavy team.

Ares information on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_(Marvel_Comics)

Judges on this custom are: Boromir_and_kermit, rdhight, and whitestuff

Have fun!

[ZBeeblebrox]

This should be stickied like the other trials.

[Boromir_and_kermit]

Indeed, but I don't know how to.

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

Only admins can. Waiting here for the Bat.

[ninthdoc]

I have a question about Battle Hardened Tough. How can you roll defense dice when his base is Defense 0 and his defense can never be increased?

It appears that his tough is dependent upon rolling defense dice and he does not get to, ever according to the wording.

Am I missing something?

[Grungebob]

Originally Posted by ninthdoc

I have a question about Battle Hardened Tough. How can you roll defense dice when his base is Defense 0 and his defense can never be increased?

It appears that his tough is dependent upon rolling defense dice and he does not get to, ever according to the wording.

Am I missing something?

Basically if you roll two or more skulls he only takes one wound.

[Boromir_and_kermit]

You're right Ninthdoc, it doesn't sound quite right.

I believe (and Johnny139 correct me if I'm wrong) it means that for every wound on his card he gains an automatic shield. He never rolls defence dice as such. So if he had three wounds, then he gets three automatic shields, but cannot roll defence dice. He can only ever take one wound per attack, so if he had one wound marker on his card, that counts as one shield. So if someone rolled four skulls against him, even though it should do 3 wounds, it only does one.

Even then, I'm not sure he's going to stick around for long. Maybe he needs 1 defence and this may not be modified by height??

It definetly needs to be reworded, but I think it will be a cool ability when it is worked out.

Ben.

[ninthdoc]

Originally Posted by Grungebob

Basically if you roll two or more skulls he only takes one wound.

I understood that, but the power should be reworded to be more succinct and clear. Why mention rolling defense dice when you can't? Here is my suggestion.

Originally Posted by Suggested re-wording of BATTLE-HARDENED TOUGH

BATTLE-HARDENED TOUGH
Ares's defense may never be increased by height, any glyph, or special power. For every wound Ares has, he receives an automatic shield. When Ares is attacked by a normal attack, the most wounds he can receive is one.

[rdhight]

I have to admit I'm not familiar with this guy, so my critiques will be primarily game-mechanical.

With the current wording, he needs 1 defense die to roll, because otherwise Battle-Hardened Tough will never go off. If he has no dice and can never get any dice, how can he get an auto shield "when rolling defense dice?" I understand your intention for him to depend only on auto shields, but it's not quite there yet. If you want to leave him at defense 0, he needs a "when defending" phrase, not "when rolling defense dice." Or with defense 1, I would just word it like this: "When rolling defense dice, Ares adds 1 automatic shield for each wound marker on this card. Ares never rolls more than 1 defense die. Ares can never receive more than 1 wound from a normal attack." Never rolling more than 1 die is more specific than never increasing his defense.

Or what about giving him 5 life and replacing Immortal Anger with a line in his Tough that caps his auto shields at 3, similar to Rage Smash 5? He could take a swipe or two, and it would also be useful in withstanding a heavy special attack when he's healthy. (Just imagine a cosmic force blast when he's unwounded... no defense dice, no auto shields, no damage reduction!)

Also, I personally don't care for the name Battle-Hardened Tough. Too mundane. A power that can grant 3 (!!!) auto shields and massive damage reduction should have a supernatural explanation. "God of War" or something like that. And Immortal Anger? He's so angry he won't die? Is that really how the character works?

[Grungebob]

Originally Posted by ninthdoc

I understood that, but the power should be reworded to be more succinct and clear. Why mention rolling defense dice when you can't? Here is my suggestion.

That's definitely better wording

[Lotus]

Sooo, 340 points and can be killed in a single hit . . . . doesn't sound very threatening, a single attack by a pissed Hulk, or a lucky shot from Silver Surfer can take this guy.

His whole defense needs to be rewritten, the first special seems fine, but the latter one seems to need some work, I am not familiar with this character so I have no idea how to fix it.

[ninthdoc]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Sooo, 340 points and can be killed in a single hit . . . . doesn't sound very threatening, a single attack by a pissed Hulk, or a lucky shot from Silver Surfer can take this guy.

His whole defense needs to be rewritten, the first special seems fine, but the latter one seems to need some work, I am not familiar with this character so I have no idea how to fix it.

The Hulk could not take him in one shot. The Hulk's attack is a normal attack that is enhanced by a special ability, it is not a special attack. Think of Agent Carr's Sword of Reckoning attack.

The Surfer could totally take him with one cosmic blast special attack.