Speed Custom Contest #9. Winner Posted!

[justjohn]

Speed Customs
Contest Number 9


Congrats White Stuff:


Use any figure in this gallery: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mg/20070628mg

You must make a unique hero that has 0 life. Figure out a special ability to compensate for this 0 life.

Entries are due to me, via pm, by Sunday, July 1 by 1:00pm (EST).

Rules:

1) Entries must be sent to me via PM.

2) Entries must be in card format. (no text only customs)

3) Entries must be on an existing HeroScape general's card.

4) Only 1 entry per member.

5) You may not edit your custom once I have received it.

6) Do not include your name on your entry.

7) You may ONLY use Figures from the gallery posted. The custom created must a unique hero.

8) Please submit cards in the following fomat: yourname_customname.jpg

Once the submission time has ended, I will post all received entries, and this thread will become the voting/discussion thread.

Have fun, and good luck.

[justjohn]

Here are the entries:

Voting will end 2:45 am (est) on July 4, 2007.

Entry #1:


Entry #2:


Entry #3:


Entry #4:


Entry #5:


Entry #6:


Entry #7:


Entry #8:


Entry #9:


Entry #10:


Entry #11:


Entry #12:


Entry #13:


Entry #14:

[whitestuff]

Oh, tough choices...
So many to choose from...

[Miniature Geek]

The Golden Minotaur was a tad popular I see. Lol.

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

Wow good job everyone. 14 entrys is huge. I'll have to look them all over when time allows for it.

[NecroBlade]

*Sigh* There should be 15 entries, but I was unable to enter this time. I'm extremely disappointed, too, because I feel I had some excellent ideas.

That said, I haven't read every card yet, but so far everyone's done a nice job with some ideas even more interesting than my own. Still, it amuses me how many people gave these figures a defense number when it really doesn't matter, since wounds on the figure mean nothing.

I see the current leader also completely forgot to mention that it wasn't destroyed by having 0 life...

[Miniature Geek]

Originally Posted by NecroBlade

*Sigh* There should be 15 entries, but I was unable to enter this time. I'm extremely disappointed, too, because I feel I had some excellent ideas.

That said, I haven't read every card yet, but so far everyone's done a nice job with some ideas even more interesting than my own. Still, it amuses me how many people gave these figures a defense number when it really doesn't matter, since wounds on the figure mean nothing.

I see the current leader also completely forgot to mention that it wasn't destroyed by having 0 life...

Look more closely some of them do need a defense value.

[brickman1444]

Originally Posted by MiniatureGeek

Look more closely some of them do need a defense value.

I think there are 2 major types of 0 life abilities: d20 rolling abilities and other marker abilities. It looks like most of us used other markers, (figures, custom markers). Necro, I think you are thinking of the way that most other 0 life cards have been done where you roll the d20 every round.


By the way Necro, why couldn't you enter?

[Turtleboy]

*drips sweat* Lotta good entrys, I dont think im walking out of this one Champ, but its fine by me. Alot of good customs were in this batch!

[hi1hi1hi1hi1]

Woo hoo, time for the long post where I look at every entrant...

XIOMAR - He is a bit confusing. Let me see if I get this straight. Xiomar does not start the game on the battlefield, but when any friendly figure was killed he appears. I am assuming you can choose if you want him to be summoned or not, but it doesn't specifically say that. Then for every wound Xiomar inflicts he recieves one life. The lives build up over the turns but by the end of the round he is usually desummoned and looses his life. If this is the case there are a few problems with Xiomer. First off if he attacks when he is summoned and deals no damage he would be immeadiately destroyied as he has no life. Even if he wasn't destroyed you could not attack with him since you wouldn't have order markers on him. Also why are there two green dots on his hit zone?

TEHKI THE WINGLESS - It is an interesting idea. My only concern is that to make Tehki useful you need to spend at least 240 points. (130 for Tehki and most likely 110 for Minions or Sentinels) Otherwise Tehki is solid.

SNIBBLES THE TAINTED - I think I would rephrase the Wear Down ability. It should be more like "For every wound marker on Snibbles subtract 2 from his movement. If his move is ever less than 0 destroy Snibbles." The way it is phrased currently you don't put wound markers on him, so you would have to remember what his move has dropped to. Mutant Frenzy could also be reworded to be simpler. "After you take a turn with Snibbles, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 16 or higher you may take another turn with Snibbles. For every wound marker on Snibbles subtract one from you Mutant Frenzy roll." As far as pricing goes an attacak of 5, range 3, and starting move 8. He may be worth more than 40 points. Granted he has no defense, so as soon as five skulls are rolled against him he is destroyed (5 would make a move of -2, 4 he is still alive at 0 move), but he still has a ranged attack of 5 which is huge and partial frenzy. I would bump his cost possibly up to 60.

RUUL - Is the Now You See Mee power really necessary other than just for flavor. For Warp Counter Attack the power is worded so that you can have counterstrike for any figure attackin within five spaces, incuding adjacent, correct. Also it is worded so that whenever Ruul is attacked by a figure he is moved adjacent, regardless of the distance of the attack. One last comment, it is not really important but usually negative effects are signified by rolling a 1 on the D20. The Now You Don't power could be reworded to fit that very easily, so it isn't that big of a deal. Oh and the personality and class oh the left had side should be flipped as well as Insane being spelled wrong.

RAGING GNOLL - So when Raging Gnoll has three tokens on him, you need a 2 or higher to stay in the game, only a one will kill him. At first I was a little confused as to his abilities, but now I think this is a pretty cool figure and abilities. You just need to put the rage tokens on the side of the card so he can be used.

PHANYG THE SOUL DRINKER - A question as to Soul Drink, would the special abilities like Stealth Armor or Scared Band Death Defy keep a figure from being placed on Phanyg. It is a bit unclear, do those powers come into affect before the figure is destroyed (I think so) then if rolled sucessfully these figures would not be placed on Phanyg's card. Should Soul Drink also say "Phanyg is not effected by special powers on the destroyed figure's card," such as the viking spirits. I assume that the completely grayed out hit zone means he cannot be attacked by a range or anything that requires LOS. I don't know what that means for being attacked by a melee figure.

NOSFERATU LICH - I think Nos(feratu Lich) may be broken. If he is takes more wounds than he has order markers on his card then you lose the game. Once order markers are shown are they removed from the card. If so all the opponent needs is to give you two damage in turn three of round one and you lose the game. For Mind Devour do you take the turn before, after or instead of the opponent's figure, it is not clear. According to Mind Devour Nos can never inflict a wound. What happens if the figure you are attacking already has a Lich Marker? It should probably say "you may place a Lich Marker."

NDULONGRIA - Seems solid although he may be very difficult to kill. You need at least 3 wounds to be inflicted on Ndu(longria) just to remove one marker. with a three denfense he will have an average of one shield, so need need 4 skulls, 8 dice attack just to remove one counter. The counter can then just be added back within the turn by rolling a 7. But then again another marker would be taken off at the end of the turn, so he would probably consistantly stay at 3 markers. How many figures have a large enough attack to cause 3 wounds on a figure with three defense? Not many. Sudema has the same numbers required for killing figures, but she has 2 less move, 2 less attack, but one higher starting life and she costs 20 less points. You would need to use Ndu almost every turn to keep him usuful, but that is completely possible since there is little chance that he will be killed from an attack during the turn. I could see Ndu just walking through your opponents team killling them off as they try in vain to injure him. I would definately consider a point boost.

UMBRA - Ok I'm confused as to the Power of Souls. Every three friendly figures on this card is one life for Umbra, but if there are less than three then an opponents attack of just one skull, despite shields kills Umbra, I know that is probably not what was meant but that is how the card is worded. This figure is going to be very weak. There is no was I am sacrificing 80 points just to make Umbra have two life (2 common squads for 40 would be 6 or 8 figures) when his defense of 2 will not hold up. I don't think I would ever use 110 points on him being so fragile and costing so many points in sacrifice. If his defense were boosted to 4 or more and the wording was cleaned up for Power of Souls than I would use him at 110.

EZOK - So after 4 attacks of 2 or more Ezok just becomes part of the scenery. The wording for Statuesque is a little confusing. When Ezok has four markers he just stands there and is no longer part of your army, correct. It should say that somehow, that he is no longer part of your army. Otherwise its very good and I like the look of the tokens.

CRETAS THE BRASS GUARDIAN - Cretas is very strong. On a turn you can use someone such as Q9 and then after that turn you can move 5 and attack 7 with Cretas. Let me reiterate, that is insanely powerful. Worth more than 120 points easily. Other than the point issue I have another question. If you read Serve the Master it states that a Unique Hero can land on the Horn once it is dropped and then Cretas can use Serve the Master with that figure. What if the figure is an opponent's? Would your Cretas get a turn after the opponent's turn or would the opponent get to take a turn with your Cretas after his Hero moved? If the second situation is true than the 120 points is probably right on, but if the first one is true than Cretas should be worth closer to 150.

BRAKA THE SERVIENT - Servant is spelled wrong, but that may have been done on purpose. Braka comes into play adjacent to any Hero and from that point on that Hero has bonding with Braka. That is an interesting take on the zero life thing. The Loyal Until Death power is worded a little funny, it looks like many ideas were all stuffed into the power. I think it is trying to say "Braka may not be destroyed by any attack. For every wound marker on the Blood Bonded hero add one attack die to Braka's attack up to a maximum of 2. If the Bonded hero has only one life left add 1 additional movement point and attack die to Braka's stats."

AZULO - So he cannot be killed except after attacking where he has a 40ish% chance of being destroyed. Then when he is destroyed he gives everyone around him two wounds. The 6 attack and 6 move are very high, but the high chance of him dieing and his cost should compensate for that.

AUN'VA SHADE KING OF BLEAKWOODE - The first sentence in Screech of a Thousand Lies SA is completely unnecessary. The rest of the power is also worded a little strange. The power should follow the format of a SA with multiple attacks that is on Ice Shard SA. "When Aun'va attacks with his Screech of a Thousand Lies SA, he may attack 2 additional times. If any figure is destroyed by Screech of a Thousand Lies SA replace the destroyed figure with a Shade of Bleakewoode."

Done... finally. With all this said I think the top three customs of the 14 would be Raging Gnoll, Ezok, and Azulo. Not sure who my vote is for. I will read over my comments one more time then place my vote.

[Doc_Savage]

Wow - I missed a cool contest - I was camping with the cub scouts - a no electronics weekend! Great contest to go with the new D&D set - so many of the figures work with the no life idea.

There are a lot of clever entries among these choices. Here are my thoughts on these entries:

1 - Xiomar - OK idea, but his mechanics don't work. Bound by death summons him in to take a turn but with a life of zero, he is dead. Life stealer won't have time to work, because he will be a zero life for a number of turns...

2 - Tehki - Very limited to Kyrie armies. but Good for that. I like the choice to bring him out or to wait til he's stronger.

3 - Snibbles - A fun card, but I think he should be a common hero instead. When he is worn down and can't move, he dies.

4 - Ruul - other than a few typos, this is a fun card. I think the Now You Don't should be a 20 or higher, other wise it is always a 5% roll...

5 - Raging Gnoll - Ok but doesn't say how he lives with a zero life.

6 - Phanyg - Soul Drink - I think you need an 's' and a period at the end of that power. So if Phanyg is attacked and takes a wound before he kills anyone, he dies. He can only be attacked by adjacent figures and his defense is tough. This is a good idea, but I think you should clarify the mechanic by which he lives with a zero life closer to the top of the card. Good entry.

7 - Nosferatu Lich - There is a pretty cool idea here. When Lich is in your army all your order markers are put on him. I think that Mind devour should require Lich to do the damage, other wise there is no reason to ever move him out of your starting zone. There will be some double bonding here, with squads bonding to their heroes, but that is ok. The fact that the Lich doesn't have to cause the wound to place the Lich Marker keeps this from being the winner for me...

8 - Ndulongria - There is no mechanic to keep this guy alive with zero life.

9 - Umbra - Power of Souls is partly a cool mechanic. Putting your own dead on him to keep him alive is a good idea. However, you have no mechanic to keep him alive with zero life. I would allow him to start the game with three of your own figures on this card and then not allow your army to attack itself. He should also put enemy kills on his card.

10 - Ezok - Since you use the term 'indestructible' in the Statuesque power, I would change the name of the first power. The first power should also Ezok to not be destroyed with zero life. Other than that, this guy is neat - he beats on the enemy until he is turned into a statue.

11 - Cretas - I like everything about this card. He can take any number of wounds and keep going. The way to go is to kill the master and set yourself up to be the new master. Very creative and seems like it would be a lot of fun to have in the game.

12 - Braka - This is Cretas' little brother with surprisingly similar mechanics and usefulness. This card fills a great niche being 50 points and would a fun addition to the game. I would bump its move to 5 though and add a mechanic to keep him from dying with zero life...

13 - Azulo - Needs a mechanic to keep him from dying with zero life... This guy is a strong blocker, but a 40% chance of dying after an attack - that is a risk...

14 - Aun'va - Awaken is a risk, but could help you out. I would increase the risk by having a roll of 1 - 3 destroy it. Screech - I'm not sure that the benefit offsets the cost. It seems having your Shades on the field would be a better use of the points.


I would have used this figure:

[Doc_Savage]

Originally Posted by hi1hi1hi1hi1

Even more than me...

CRETAS THE BRASS GUARDIAN - Cretas is very strong. On a turn you can use someone such as Q9 and then after that turn you can move 5 and attack 7 with Cretas. Let me reiterate, that is insanely powerful. Worth more than 120 points easily. Other than the point issue I have another question. If you read Serve the Master it states that a Unique Hero can land on the Horn once it is dropped and then Cretas can use Serve the Master with that figure. What if the figure is an opponent's? Would your Cretas get a turn after the opponent's turn or would the opponent get to take a turn with your Cretas after his Hero moved? If the second situation is true than the 120 points is probably right on, but if the first one is true than Cretas should be worth closer to 150.

Yes any figure can pick up the glyph/marker - that is why you don't attack Cretas, you attack the figure holding him. Then you get to grab him. hi1hi1 - you're right if only the player that started with cretas got to keep him, he would be worth far more.