The Book of Question

[Yodaking]

MASTER DETECTIVE
Instead of moving, if Question is engaged, you may choose any Order Marker on an adjacent opponent’s Army Card and reveal it. If you choose a numbered Order Marker, you may remove it from that Army Card. If you choose the “X” Order Marker, figures roll 2 less defense dice when attacked by Question this turn. Order Markers other than the chosen marker may never be removed by Master Detective, and Master Detective can only be used once per round.


Updated based on expressed intent. Not sure I understand the need for this part: Order Markers other than the chosen marker may never be removed by Master Detective. Can someone explain to me why it's needed.


Not sure how often I would actually use Calling Card, thinking the ghost walk or disengage type of powers would be more useful for him. With them he can bypass those figures without OMs on their card and try to engage those that do. Particularly useful for dealing with OM dumps who chill in the back lines like Zemo/Prof.X.

[Scapemage]

Here's what I'm thinking for now. Master Detective is his main offense threat and purpose for inclusion in any army. Phantom Walk and Stealth Dodge are a combined representation of his martial arts skills and use of an identity-concealing mask while also representing his use of gas as a tool. These powers allow him to weave throw an opposing army and survive long enough to get Master Detective off. He is most vulnerable to the figure he is engaged with, which makes sense in my mind. Finally, Criminal Intimidation is a small boost that combines well with Master Detective and fits thematically, especially considering Rorschach has it.

NAME = QUESTION
SECRET IDENTITY = VIC SAGE

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = INVESTIGATOR
PERSONALITY = TRICKY (?)

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4

POINTS = 170

MASTER DETECTIVE
Instead of moving, if Question is engaged, you may choose any Order Marker on an adjacent figure’s Army Card and reveal it. If you choose a numbered Order Marker, you may remove it from that Army Card. If you choose an “X” Order Marker, that figure rolls 2 fewer defense dice when attacked by Question this turn. Master Detective may only be used once per round.

CRIMINAL INTIMIDATION
Criminal figures roll 1 fewer defense die against Question's normal attack.

PHANTOM WALK
Question can move through all figures and is never attacked when leaving an engagement.

STEALTH DODGE
When Question rolls defense dice against an attacking figure who is not adjacent, one shield will block all damage.

[Margloth]

I would combine the last two powers into a single new power, since it has a cool name and all. Although I think I would tone it down a bit... I don’t know as he’s Matrix-level dodge-y. Maybe something that shows that through a scope with his mask he doesn’t look like a threat:

PSUEDODERM MASK
The Question never takes leaving engagement attacks from and cannot be targeted for normal or special attacks by a figure who was not within 2 spaces of The Question at the start of the turn.

[Ronin]

I'd leave Phantom Walk and Stealth Dodge as they are, and work a Criminal bonus into Master Detective, since you're already subtracting defense dice there.

Once per round, instead of moving, you may choose any Order Marker on an adjacent figure’s Army Card and reveal it. If you choose a numbered Order Marker, you may remove it from that Army Card. If you choose an “X” Order Marker, that figure rolls 2 fewer defense dice when attacked by Question this turn, or 3 fewer defense dice if it is a Criminal.

The anti-Criminal bit won't come up quite as often that way, but IMO, it's a light touch theme thing anyway, and not likely to drive his cost too much whether it's in or out. This way it's a bit more integrated into his big staple power instead of having two separate defense subtraction things going.

Something that's occurring to me is that the reward for finding a numbered OM is greater than the reward for finding an "X" OM - nuking an opponent's entire turn is better than subtracting from their defense, generally. Is that intentional? Would having him try to find the "X" feel more detective-y? As-is, he's probably gonna be used quite a bit as an OM nuke - Hawkeye (II) will like him.

[Scapemage]

Originally Posted by Margloth

I would combine the last two powers into a single new power, since it has a cool name and all. Although I think I would tone it down a bit... I don’t know as he’s Matrix-level dodge-y. Maybe something that shows that through a scope with his mask he doesn’t look like a threat:

PSUEDODERM MASK
The Question never takes leaving engagement attacks from and cannot be targeted for normal or special attacks by a figure who was not within 2 spaces of The Question at the start of the turn.

Originally Posted by Ronin

I'd leave Phantom Walk and Stealth Dodge as they are, and work a Criminal bonus into Master Detective, since you're already subtracting defense dice there.

The anti-Criminal bit won't come up quite as often that way, but IMO, it's a light touch theme thing anyway, and not likely to drive his cost too much whether it's in or out. This way it's a bit more integrated into his big staple power instead of having two separate defense subtraction things going.

Something that's occurring to me is that the reward for finding a numbered OM is greater than the reward for finding an "X" OM - nuking an opponent's entire turn is better than subtracting from their defense, generally. Is that intentional? Would having him try to find the "X" feel more detective-y? As-is, he's probably gonna be used quite a bit as an OM nuke - Hawkeye (II) will like him.

Those two ideas are quite different directions. Does anybody have other opinions to weigh in?


On that last point Ronin, the theme was that the X represents information that's not good enough for Question, so he needs to rough up the victim a little before he can get what he's after.

[Yodaking]

In general terms, I kind of like the idea of combining phantom walk and stealth dodge into one new power as they seem to fit together well on a theme level. More specifically here, what Margloth came up with seems pretty interesting if not quite what I imagined when combining the two powers. Reminds me more of what HoSS did for C-3PO, giving him an insignificant power that made everyone generally ignore him. Can't say I'm an expert on the theme of that here, but I do like the idea of everyone overlooking a 'simple' detective in favor of more threatening targets. I think their should be a clause relating to once he is the last figure left though. If he's the last guy remaining, then Hawkeye should fire off an arrow his way rather then coming down off high ground and having to punch him to end things.

[Scapemage]

I've updated the SP to reflect what we discussed. I liked the idea of turning Phantom Walk and something defensive into a new power, so I took a bit of a spin on what Margloth and Yodaking put forth. I also modified stats a bit (points up, life down). I wouldn't mind moving this guy to Initial Playtesting now, but I'm not sure if the time is right for that.

[Tornado]

Looking good. I would give folks at least a half to a full day to overview the changes then propose the Initial.

I will give you a Pre-Yea, though I think his points will come down a bit. 4 Life and 4 Defense is not going to last long.

[quozl]

Hey, Scape is back! How's life going?

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Scapemage

On that last point Ronin, the theme was that the X represents information that's not good enough for Question, so he needs to rough up the victim a little before he can get what he's after.

Gotcha. The current version works for that, then.

I really don't like the combined Pseudoderm Mask power.

Not nearly as good for letting him break away from engagements to go after people with Master Detective, and the power gives the vibe that he's pulling some Mystique-level disguise shenanigans. I haven't read a ton of Question stuff, but that doesn't seem right to me. I'd drop Pseudoderm Mask and go back to the moire functional and simpler Phantom Walk + Stealth Dodge in a heartbeat.

And yeah, I think he'll probably come in lower than 170. Meteorite is a good point of comparison - she can do some of the same stuff, on top of being a flying blaster and having Blinding Light.

[Scapemage]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Looking good. I would give folks at least a half to a full day to overview the changes then propose the Initial.

I will give you a Pre-Yea, though I think his points will come down a bit. 4 Life and 4 Defense is not going to last long.

No worries. Looks like the power may need a bit more tweaking. I have him higher right now in points because his Order Marker management may prove to be awfully useful. I see that my Aaron Cash design ended up being really powerful and needed a point raise years after it originally was tested, so you never know with these oddball powers.

Originally Posted by quozl

Hey, Scape is back! How's life going?

Awesome! I'm hanging out at home until early July when I've got a 6-month internship lined up in Boston, and I've been lucky enough to be able to get back into Heroscape this year. I didn't expect to find myself in here again, but alas, here I am.

Originally Posted by Ronin

I really don't like the combined Pseudoderm Mask power.

Not nearly as good for letting him break away from engagements to go after people with Master Detective, and the power gives the vibe that he's pulling some Mystique-level disguise shenanigans. I haven't read a ton of Question stuff, but that doesn't seem right to me. I'd drop Pseudoderm Mask and go back to the moire functional and simpler Phantom Walk + Stealth Dodge in a heartbeat.

That's a fair assessment. On the same note though, as Margloth said, I'm not sure he qualifies for Matrix-level dodging. Perhaps that's just one interpretation of Stealth Dodge, but it might be worth looking around for another defensive ability. Do you have any idea of a replacement for Stealth Dodge that would be a bit more thematic?

[Ronin]

Does Question use Smoke Pellets? I think Ark, on his Question (Renee) write-up, gave her a special power that had her start the game with a couple Glyphs of Smoke Pellet. Those could be cool to use here.