The Book of Darkholder

[Karat]

The Book of Darkholder

C3G MARVEL SUPER SECRET EXCLUSIVE 73
DEMONIC WARFARE


Comic PDF


Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the World's Finest set.
Its model number and name are #012 / Occultist.

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Character Bio - Darkholders, an ancient sect of occult worshippers, have their origins as acolytes of Thulsa Doom. After his death, his followers got their hands on the ancient and malevolent Darkhold pages and used them to create the first Vampire, Varnae, and brought about the sinking of Atlantis. Today, these occultists are focused solely on bringing about the return of their lord and master, the Elder God, Chthon.
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Human, a Darkholder has these Human Synergies.
• As a figure with the Magical Defense special power, a Darkholder has these Magical Defense Synergies.

Outgoing Synergy:

• Instead of attacking with a Darkholder, you can attack with a Demon within 5 clear sight spaces of a Cultist you control.
• Darkholder's Ritual Sacrifice special power is powered up by Cultists, and a figure destroyed by it can be placed on the card of a Hell Lord you control.

Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses:

• As a Human, a Darkholder interacts differently with these special powers.
• As a figure with the Magical Defense special power, a Darkholder interacts differently with certain special powers.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: Karat
• Second playtest: johnny139
• Third playtest: Tornado
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by tcglkn

[Karat]

NAME = DARKHOLDER

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNCOMMON HERO
CLASS = CULTIST
PERSONALITY = MALICIOUS

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 3

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3

POINTS = 105

DEMONIC COLLUSION
Instead of attacking normally with this Darkholder, you may make an immediate attack with any Common or Unique Demon you control within 5 clear sight spaces of a Cultist you control.

MAGICAL DEFENSE
When this Darkholder is attacked by an opponent's figure that does not have the Magical Defense special power, the most wounds this Darkholder can take for this attack is one.

RITUAL SACRIFICE
At the end of the round, you may reveal an "X" Order Marker on this card and choose a figure adjacent to a Darkholder you control. Roll X unblockable combat dice against the chosen figure, where X is equal to the number of Cultists adjacent to the chosen figure. You may place a figure destroyed by Ritual Sacrifice on the Army Card of a Hell Lord you control.

[Karat]

Comic

Spoiler Alert!

Background

Spoiler Alert!

[johnny139]

I like them. I'm a little worried that swarmy Uncommons tend to end up hard to track, but I think that's tough to avoid here.

I might suggest some changes to the left box (I know Ronin likes not having names the same as classes for clarity sake and I've come to agree with him), but otherwise looks like a solid bread and butter Demon synergy unit.

[MrNobody]

Are the references to Occultists meant to be references to Darkholders?

[Karat]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

Are the references to Occultists meant to be references to Darkholders?

To the class. In case someone wants to design a different brand of Occultists somewhere down the line. The first power was definitely meant to be Darkholder though.

[Yodaking]

Cheap uncommon spell casters will be an interesting design space to see explored. If it works out fine here, I could see making some good guy mages from where Dr. Strange was trained showing up to support him in a big fight.

[Karat]

Yea, some Vishanti would be pretty cool to see.

[Karat]

Originally Posted by Karat

To the class. In case someone wants to design a different brand of Occultists somewhere down the line. The first power was definitely meant to be Darkholder though.

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it more I did intend for both first and last powers to work with Occultists so it would work with their leader. I'm not set on any one price here.

My main goals are balance, obviousl,y and a destruction mechanic. The Demonic Collusion was actually tossed in as a way to help boost and tie the Occultists and Demons together a bit, but isn't strictly necessary.

[Yodaking]

I'd worry about the Sacrifice power calling out occultist and limiting future design space. A cheap common squad of occultist would amp up that power greatly if you could suddenly roll 6 unblockable att. die vs. someone, months/years after the design was passed with a max of 2-3 in mind.

[Karat]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

I'd worry about the Sacrifice power calling out occultist and limiting future design space. A cheap common squad of occultist would amp up that power greatly if you could suddenly roll 6 unblockable att. die vs. someone, months/years after the design was passed with a max of 2-3 in mind.

That is definitely something I am considering. Maybe we should limit it by personality and class so it could be more easily avoided?



Also, Occultists are one where I almost feel like they are too (uncommon) to be a squad. Otherwise I probably would have considered a squad here.

[Yodaking]

I'd just use the Darkholder name for that power, only they can participate in an unholy sacrifice.