The Book of Nemesis

[TrollBrute]

Yeah, if he's just going to fly all the time, give him Flying. Reduce his move to 5 or 4 if you want to balance it out a little.

[Tornado]

He is quite nimble so I would not want to drop him to 4 but 5 is cool.
Still torn as Levitation is so thematic I want to express it in the design but this does sound like a simpler solution.

I found the entire final book of Nemesis online(iDoc, lots of comics there!). Not very useful. No new uses of LotF. He does cast a 'fire spell' shooting flames from his hand at Torq instead of breathing fire, which was a bit strange to me.

Torq does come into possession of an incredibly powerful weapon known as the Hammer of the Warlocks that may make for a wicked EQ Glyph someday.

Could not locate what I wanted from the earlier comics so it looks like I will have to try and get some scans.

[Tornado]

Cool, found them.
First use of Lord of the Flies


And against Torq(who is a spirit now that possesses recently deceased corpses and is wearing Warlock-proof armor).



So we can see that initial result of its first use is to block sight.
In the second, the flies blast straight into Torq's face which would certainly be distracting.

Let me know if that is enough to justify the distraction mechanic in the SP.
Otherwise more suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, it has been fun reading Nemesis again.

[TrollBrute]

Originally Posted by Tornado

So we can see that initial result of its first use is to block sight.

It's not really though, is it? It's only blocking sight because they have a place to land, which they wouldn't on most maps. And the flies are used to kill/injure the old lady. In the second example, the flies do nothing to block sight, and only to immobilize and injure Torq. Neither screams "range negation" to me. Still feels more like autowounds or movement/turn prevention.

And again, it just feels like an underwhelming power for such a cool name and exciting ability.

[Viegon]

Yeah, if you want him to be able to levitate throughout the whole game it'd make the most sense just to give him Flying.

Still not really seeing the theme on Lord of the Flies...

[Tornado]

I am back pedaling a bit on the Flying. He does use it a lot but rarely more than once a comic. There is one comic where he really display this ability. In a large battle Nemesis is all over the field 'dancing' on the tips of spears. He later rides a spear(surf style) that is hurtling through the air and eventually impales three foes.

I think I want a Levitation spell but not unlimited for Nemesis but hopefully only 5 points. Any chance of getting a spell less than 5 points?

I think at this point I want to continue forward with Nemesis alone and no spells.
Once he is complete perhaps I will take a stab at something. He uses such a variety of spell magic I really want to take some time to contemplate them.
Some cooler examples are a dimension portal, an ectoplasmic duplicate and summoning demons from his own psyche(I believe this is more in line with the ectoplasmic duplicate and less with actual summoning of demons from another realm). Levitation is a staple and he has shown he can use it on others, he can also use it to 'push' himself forward for a 'leaping attack'. Personal illusion and also one other, one time being his living spaceship the Blitzspear aka Seth is commonly used. He can mess with minds, making the victim see their worst nightmares. In the final comic he removes the hearts of victims and turns them into zombies.
Lots of good stuff that I want to brainstorm but I do not want to hold up the design.
Let me know if that is cool with everyone.

The Sword Sinister is made of living metal and can cut through concrete and stone. It was originally forged as a weapon against aliens but was lost long ago. A human must be a direct descendant to the original owner of the sword to be able to wield it. Torq finds the last relative and sends them on a multi-year quest across the cosmos to find it. At great cost(including an eye and an arm) he finds it and takes a much needed rest. Upon awakening he is run through by Excessus by Nemesis who was apparently following him.
The sword is certainly significant. He uses it to bully his uncle into giving him the dimension portal spell. Uncle Baal warns Nemesis not to threaten him for his diabolic power is greater. Nemesis replies that he wields the Sword Sinister and Baal shrinks away.

Anyway it has been a lot fun rereading the series. I think I have found a site where you can read them all but it is really hard to navigate. I may start a thread where I can provide the proper links and make it easier to read. There I will provide additional links to other 2000AD comics and post some scans as well.

[Yodaking]

I have no issue with you pushing back the spells and just focusing in on the card for now. Just make sure the card you end up with covers a useful power set that will keep you happy with the design if you never get back around to making any spells. For example I would really give him flying. If you read an X-Men comic Storm walks around on the ground 95% of the time but still has the power to 'fly' when needed and so she has flying in our game. That way if you need to 'levitate' in a game he already has the flying special power in place and won't be waiting on a future spell that may never come. You can still create a levitation spell down the road if you want and make it a spell you cast on an ally, giving Green Arrow the ability to fly for one turn would certainly be useful as it relates to board control and gaining high ground on an opponent.

Your sword history now has me questioning how you have the power work. If the sword was made by humans to slay aliens, why does it now do more damage to humans than aliens? I would reverse the way it works, +1 die vs. adj. humans, +2 die vs. all others who are adj.

[Tornado]

The sword does not discriminate and does the same damage regardless of the victim. It is Nemesis that hates Humans, so that mechanic represents his vigor to slay all(most) Humans.

I could call it Human Hatred but that is not as theme-y as Sword Sinister.

EDIT: YK, what are your thoughts on Lord of the Flies?

[Yodaking]

LotF: I look at it more from the angle of what does a swarm of flies buzzing around your head and biting you do to a superhero? They would annoy and distract a Deadpool, Deathstroke, Cable, Superman, Spawn, Lobo type of character more than wound them. Making it harder for them focus long enough to shoot accurately at great range, harder to focus on dodging or blocking when being attacked, and thus lowering the range and defense numbers fit the theme perfectly in my opinion. I'd like to hear the theme argument for the Hulk falling over dead from a swarm of flies would be. Any type of auto wounding power seems really off to me, those spells can be done in so many different ways that fit better thematically. Summoning a swarm of flies to hinder and hamper your opponent seems like a unique and fun spell that fits a very specific theme that might not otherwise get exploited. I'm actually really surprised at the resistance you have been facing.

[Tornado]

OK, because that is where I am at. I just do not see how flies can really do that much damage. An old woman is no comparison to a super hero and Torq feels like a niche case because he is basically a walking corpse and I would prefer to not make this an undead attack power. The flies do seem to have something beyond normal flies so I am still going to stay open to all suggestions. I just feel like a distraction power realy fits getting assaulted by a swarm of flies.

japes or johnny, how do you feel?

[johnny139]

I'd also say, yeah, don't really buy a swarm of flies killing Superman. Or even Commissioner Gordon.

Maybe range reduction for the round and, at the end of the round, one unblockable die if no Super Strength? Or if the caster is a Warlock or something?

[Viegon]

Either continuing Nemesis with or without the spells is fine by me.

As to the flies doing damage, I was imagining the horror trope of them swarming their victim's mouth to suffocate them or so forth. Even superheroes are going to be pretty shaken up by that (I'm pretty sure that kind of thing has been done plenty of times in comics anyways).

The range reduction falls flat for me for a few of reasons:
1) The theme feels like it belongs to some sort of fog/smokescreen/disorientation spell, and just doesn't really click for me.
2) It's relatively unexciting; only a handful of figures in the game rely heavily on their range, meaning it's just not going to see that much use or have much of an impact for such a flashily-named spell.
3) It fills a similar role to Vapors of Valtorr; which, while not necessarily an issue, just makes it feel even less enticing in my opinion.

If you want to go for the annoying/distraction swarm theme, I think a blanket stat reduction would hit the theme a lot better, give it a unique niche, make it more consistently useful, and overall just more interesting in my opinion. Something like:

LORD OF THE FLIES
Unique Spell
Cost ???
Instead of moving, this figure may cast this spell to choose a figure within clear sight of this figure that is not occupying a water space. If the chosen figure is a Common or Squad figure, destroy it. Otherwise, until the end of the round, the chosen figure subtracts 1 from their Move, Range, Attack, and Defense numbers to a minimum of 1, or subtracts 2 from each number if this figure is a Sorcerer.

My .