The Book of Master Splinter

[Arkham]

Originally Posted by japes

He has their father knows how to tame the Brash actions and give them that OM back that they lost through there eagerness.

He's not returning the OM to one of them though, he's taking it for himself.

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

Splinter goes into meditation, and when comes out of it, he finds that the Turtles are gone from the lair. He asks himself immediately 'What is the one thing I did not want them to do?', and comes to the obvious conclusion that, yes, they went to face the Shredder, because of course they did, even though it was the last thing he wanted, and it went about as well as he could expect - and so, he heads out to look for them.

Isn't that better captured by him being left in the start-zone then? Him getting an OM for free every round, means he'll be traveling with them.

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

I mean, if one of his sons were incapacitated, I am certain he would step up, but... maybe the theme is a bit cleaner if we don't?

Technically, he's already doing that with the power as-is. The Contingency Plan aspect where he scoops them up when one is destroyed, is exactly that. If an opponent were to remove an OM from one of their cards, that's just redundant on that same idea.

Not saying I don't like the power or see its usefulness, just saying the reasoning/explanation doesn't quite match up with the description. Him tailing them I can see. If that's all you're looking to do, perhaps just swap the OM retrieval from Turtle Power completely, and instead just give him movement bonding when needed.

FATHER'S DEVOTION
If a Ninja Turtle you control is destroyed, you may place any unrevealed Order Markers from its card on this card and, if Splinter is unengaged, immediately place him within 3 spaces of the destroyed Ninja Turtle's previous placement. For the rest of the round, when Splinter attacks, he may attack one additional time.

Basically, Splinter is looming in the shadows the whole time, watching over them, and as soon as one goes down, he pops up and kicks ass.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Arkham

He's not returning the OM to one of them though, he's taking it for himself.

Quote from another person about the vague theme based on a prior version of the design.

Originally Posted by Arkham

Basically, Splinter is looming in the shadows the whole time, watching over them, and as soon as one goes down, he pops up and kicks ass.

...It's a bit abstract, but I could kind of see running with that? Not sure I'm a fan of how abstract it is, but he does kind of just pop up alot of the time. If we do, though, then Casey or April should be able to interact with Turtle Power in some way - that's basically begging to happen, IMO.

[Arkham]

It's a parallel with how the Foot show up out of nowhere, so I found it fitting. Especially if you're shooting for a theme where he's MIA until the very second he's truly needed. Could be he was watching the whole time without anyone noticing, or him just showing up at the right time.

Makes more sense to me than him following along in-step with them every round, getting attacked and such right next to them...

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Arkham

It's a parallel with how the Foot show up out of nowhere, so I found it fitting.

Sold.

[Arkham]

I would do a temperature check with that version of the power with the heroes and see if it's got the support before getting too attached. I think the idea of him no longer grabbing the removed OM clearly has some favor, as it then falls much more in-line with Sif's Devotion power and wording, with an added ninja-father aspect. However, I don't speak for the others.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Arkham

I would do a temperature check with that version of the power with the heroes and see if it's got the support before getting too attached. I think the idea of him no longer grabbing the removed OM clearly has some favor, as it then falls much more in-line with Sif's Devotion power and wording, with an added ninja-father aspect. However, I don't speak for the others.

Well, then - time for a two part sanity check:

FATHER'S DEVOTION
If a Ninja Turtle you control is destroyed, you may place any unrevealed Order Markers from its card on this card and, if Splinter is unengaged, immediately place him within 3 spaces of the destroyed Ninja Turtle's previous placement. For the rest of the round, when Splinter attacks, he may attack one additional time.
@Ronin @Tornado @Yodaking @johnny139 @japes @Spidey'tilIDie @SirGalahad
@dok @Dysole @Soundwarp SG-1 @weebaer

[Arkham]

You may just call for a poll. Let the majority sort it out or something, then go from there. The design is good either way IMO.

[quozl]

I like it.

[Lazy Orang]

Okay, poll time:

Option A:

FATHER'S DEVOTION

Once per round, when an Order Marker would be removed from the Army Card of a Ninja Turtle you control, you may place it on this card. If a Ninja Turtle you control is destroyed, you may place any unrevealed Order Markers from that card on this card and for the rest of the round, when Splinter attacks, he may attack one additional time.

Option B:

FATHER'S DEVOTION

Once per round, when either an Order Marker is removed from the card of a Ninja Turtle you control or when a Ninja Turtle you control is destroyed, you may place the removed Order Marker orany unrevealed Order Markers from that card on this card. When a Ninja Turtle you control is destroyed, for the rest of the round, when Splinter attacks, he may attack one additional time.

Option C:

FATHER'S DEVOTION

If a Ninja Turtle you control is destroyed, you may place any unrevealed Order Markers from its card on this card and, if Splinter is unengaged, immediately place him within 3 spaces of the destroyed Ninja Turtle's previous placement. For the rest of the round, when Splinter attacks, he may attack one additional time.

[Yodaking]

I like C, it sounds familiar to me.

Originally Posted by Yodaking

If 'plodding along one turn and not achieving much' was one of the problems, then I'd keep the double attack (since it mirrors Sif's power) but drop the 5th turn per round power (so he doesn't plod along with 1OM per round and get needlessly exposed to attacks). Maybe give him a free move instead somewhere so he doesn't get too far away from his Turtles, but leave him in the rear as an observer until his boys start to go down, then he leaps into action with the double attack. At that point in the match you can then start loading him up with OM's of his own if you want to.

The 'out of the shadows' approach is a much better way to go about it then the free move idea. Stay in the start zone as an observer until needed, then jump in to save his boys. Might consider a range restriction (but not a clear sight restriction) for the mentor power then. So the Turtle start out doing everything on their own, then once they get into trouble he shows up and starts guiding them to a better performance (auto-skulls, auto-shields, +/-4 to d20 rolls as needed).

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

I like C, it sounds familiar to me.

The 'out of the shadows' approach is a much better way to go about it then the free move idea. Stay in the start zone as an observer until needed, then jump in to save his boys. Might consider a range restriction (but not a clear sight restriction) for the mentor power then. So the Turtle start out doing everything on their own, then once they get into trouble he shows up and starts guiding them to a better performance (auto-skulls, auto-shields, +/-4 to d20 rolls as needed).

If we were to restrict the range like that, I'd be want to return it to him affecting each character once a round rather than making it a blanket once per round.

[Arkham]

No no no. Let's stop this "if we take this out, then we must add that" back and forth. It's the whole reason this design has been so frustrating.

Absolutely against having to remember who has gotten the boost thus far, and his power level in his initials shows he's already pushing the ceiling of what's reasonable for the character. He won both games with the limited version, definitely not opening that up for further power.

The range isn't necessary here either. It's what he has taught them, thus once per round they remember what he taught them. Simple as that. Let's just let it be and not beat this into the ground even more than it already has.

And for the last time, this design is already really really useful and powerful, let's stop trying to add crap to it as if it's under-performing or missing the theme(other than Father's Devotion which we are currently working out).