Justice League Dark Brainstorming

[Arkham]

I'd personally go without any Chimp related power.

He's a Chimp, sure, but he doesn't act like one. I'd focus on his Investigator skills and intellect.

He is one of the most highly skilled investigators in the world, with detective skills rivaling those of Batman and Ralph Dibny.

It has been revealed that Detective Chimp is a member of Mensa, which entails that his Intelligence Quotient has been estimated to be higher than 98 percent of the adult (human) population.

I envisioned him as the Oracle of the group. Aiding the group with his brain, and most likely keeping him in the start zone.

If you're looking for some personality, a power that shows his alcoholism would be more fun IMO. A Drunken Monkey power could be fun, and that's when I could see him acting a bit more outlandish.

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by LordVenoc

I would think the healing should be better there. Right now her one wound heal is at the same roll as Alfred, who gets to take off two wound markers on a 13 or higher. While I'm not saying the two abilities and units are in identical niches, it feels a bit off to have someone who healed the Phantom Stranger of a wound from the Spear of Destiny be potent/competent a healer than a vigilante's butler.

I hear what you're saying, but at a certain point, game balance has to win out. Alfred can only heal Humans, and he's considered a pretty good unit already.

[ALEXAN2507]

Originally Posted by Arkham

I'd personally go without any Chimp related power.

He's a Chimp, sure, but he doesn't act like one. I'd focus on his Investigator skills and intellect.

I envisioned him as the Oracle of the group. Aiding the group with his brain, and most likely keeping him in the start zone.

If you're looking for some personality, a power that shows his alcoholism would be more fun IMO. A Drunken Monkey power could be fun, and that's when I could see him acting a bit more outlandish.

The Oracle-alike idea is a good shout. I'll see if I can figure out a way to make that work

[ALEXAN2507]

Oh, and if we go with a drunk power it has to be called "The Monkey He Got Drunk"

[Arkham]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

I hear what you're saying, but at a certain point, game balance has to win out. Alfred can only heal Humans, and he's considered a pretty good unit already.

1. Alfred is limited to Human Unique Heroes, whereas Nightmare Nurse would be open to anyone.
2. Alfred requires the person to start their turn next to him, Nightmare Nurse can take a full turn to move where she needs to, and still be able to heal after the turn.
3. Alfred can't heal himself but Nightmare Nurse can.
4. Alfred is fragile, Nightmare Nurse won't be.

So there's some pretty big differences between the two already. That said, I'm not set on the power or the values required, just putting up an initial take.

[LordVenoc]

Originally Posted by Arkham

1. Alfred is limited to Human Unique Heroes, whereas Nightmare Nurse would be open to anyone.
2. Alfred requires the person to start their turn next to him, Nightmare Nurse can take a full turn to move where she needs to, and still be able to heal after the turn.
3. Alfred can't heal himself but Nightmare Nurse can.
4. Alfred is fragile, Nightmare Nurse won't be.

So there's some pretty big differences between the two already. That said, I'm not set on the power or the values required, just putting up an initial take.

Oh I agree completely, hence the comment of being not identical in niche. Doctor Mid-Nite is able to auto heal one wound and roll for an additional. While he's limited in scope to humans and metahumans, that's still a very large pool. I enjoyed that whole run and while she is a very powerful mage, she's most known as a healer, so being unable to heal over 50% of the time seems antithematic. Limits are necessary yes, but there is probably a good balance somewhere.

[MrNobody]

To be honest, Impersonate is a power I think could get really un-fun really fast if combined with a healing power. Imagine one team has NN and Superman, while the other has the classic X-Men. NN impersonates Prof X. Now she can follow Superman around, healing whatever damage is done to him, while being practically impervious herself.
Maybe healing can be more powerful, but she can’t heal while Impersonating?

[Arkham]

Mechanics come first. I'm not exactly set on the mechanics so I'm not going to worry about the numbers yet.

I do agree healing should be her big appeal, and she should do it really well. No argument there.

Originally Posted by MrNobody

To be honest, Impersonate is a power I think could get really un-fun really fast if combined with a healing power. Imagine one team has NN and Superman, while the other has the classic X-Men. NN impersonates Prof X. Now she can follow Superman around, healing whatever damage is done to him, while being practically impervious herself.
Maybe healing can be more powerful, but she can’t heal while Impersonating?

That's hilarious to think about btw. I think that's the appeal of comboing them. That said, I can see it being too good, not attached to having Impersonate here.

Professor X: "I swear that's not me! I'm me! Go kill the imposter!"
X-men: *shrug* "How can we be sure?"
Professor X: "Fine, I'll do it myself!" *wheels off to go take on Superman and himself*

[MrNobody]

NAME = SHADE THE CHANGING MAN
SECRET IDENTITY = RAC SHADE

SPECIES = METAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = POET
PERSONALITY = MERCURIAL

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = ???

MADNESS VEST
Shade adds 2 to his attack when attacking an Insane, Unstable, or Troubled figure. After rolling attack dice for Shade's normal attack, if you rolled at least 1 Blank, you may choose one of the following;

• For each Blank rolled, subtract 1 from the defending figure's defense number this turn.
• If you rolled 2 or more Blanks, you may remove an Order Marker at random from the defending figure’s card.

If no Skulls were rolled, remove an unrevealed Order Marker from this card, if possible.

MADNESS STREAM
At the end of the round, you may choose up to one figure you control adjacent to Shade and roll the 20-sided die. Place Shade on an empty space exactly X spaces away from his original placement, where X equals the number rolled, then place the chosen figure on an empty space adjacent to Shade. If a figure cannot be placed, destroy it. Figures moved with this special power will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

Original Post

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = SHADE THE CHANGING MAN
SECRET IDENTITY = RAC SHADE

SPECIES = METAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = CHANGING MAN
PERSONALITY = MERCURIAL

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4

POINTS = ???

MADNESS VEST
Shade adds 3 to his attack and defense against Insane figures. After Shade rolls attack or defense dice against an adjacent Unique Hero, if you rolled at least 1 blank, you may choose an Order Marker on that Unique Hero's card. Switch it with an Order Marker on this card. Both players may reveal these Order Markers normally on their turn instead of their other Order Marker of the same number. At the end of the round, all Order Markers moved by this special power return to the player who controlled the Order Markers before they were moved.

MADNESS STREAM
After Order Markers are placed at the beginning of the round, you may choose up to one figure you control adjacent to Shade and roll the 20-sided die. Place Shade on an empty space exactly X spaces away from his original placement, where X equals the number rolled, then place the chosen figure on an empty space adjacent to Shade. Figures moved with this special power will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

Okay, here's my take on Shade the Changing Man. I'm pretty happy with Madness Vest, as long as it can't be exploited to break the game.

I went back and forth on whether to go with a power to represent him travelling on the Madness Stream, one to show the more chaotic "changing" element of the character, or something to show how he's not always in control of what happens with his powers. Any thoughts on that?

I based this off the whole American Scream arc more than anything else. I think that's generally what people know the character best from, and the N52 version the mini is based on looks very similar to this Shade.

EDIT: Has anyone else read at least some of the Vertigo run? He's a complex character and it would be nice to know if you think I got it right or not.

[MrNobody]

Are there any spells that could be designed to help them as a team? I think a tile-placing spell could make Swamp Thing feel more at home, if you could spawn in swamp and vegetation for him. Or something like this;

MUD TRAP
Start the game with a Swamp Water tile on this card. Any time during this figure’s turn, you may cast this spell to choose a Water tile within 5 clear sight spaces of this figure. Switch the Water tile with the Swamp Water tile on this card. If a figure was occupying that Water space, it can not move until the next time you reveal an Order Marker.

Just a quick thought. A spell-caster can either use it to trap somebody or cross water Elsa-style.

I’m also interested in looking at some of the other members, but I’m not really as familiar with them. Night Nurse looks fun, from what I understand Black Orchid has connection to both the Red and the Green? No clue on Madame Xanadu other than she’s a fortune teller.

[Arkham]

I had originally planned for Zatanna II to have an elemental power where she starts with several different tiles, that could benefit those who need water, swamp water, shadow, ice etc.

It was also pitched to do that in spell form to go even more in depth beyond just having someone start with them, by giving them their own spell each and have an additional effect.

The former I ended up not going with, as the blank mechanic and another power she has are support/team based powers, so wanted something for her to do offensively. The latter I'd love to see, but that's a lot of work and testing to see all those spells come to fruition.

I plan to do a take on Madame Xanadu. I've got an overall idea in my mind, just a matter of writing it out. Will be soon.

[LordVenoc]

I've got a few ideas for Swamp Thing II I've been throwing around. I can post them up when I get some time later.