The Book of Black Manta

[A3n]

The Book of Black Manta

C3G DC SUPER SECRET EXCLUSIVE 64
BATTLE FOR ATLANTIS


Comic PDF


Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Hypertime set.
Its model number and name are #076-078 / Black Manta.

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Character Bio - A ruthless treasure hunter and mercenary, the man known as Black Manta spent his days scavenging the unexplored depths of the ocean, discovering long lost relics and powerful mythical items, all while taking on various jobs to fund his passion. Until one particular job changed his life.

Hired to bring back a sample of Arthur Curry's blood, Black Manta encountered the young Aquaman and his father while the two were out at sea. In the ensuing struggle, Aquaman's father suffered a heart attack that ultimately led to his death. Seeking revenge, Aquaman hunted down Black Manta—and accidentally killed his father in retaliation. Thus began a circle of vengeance that forever bonded hero and villain.

Fueled by hate and utilizing a powerful suit of armor that allows him to breathe underwater, survive the incredible pressures of the ocean depths and fire deadly energy blasts through his mask, Black Manta seeks to destroy Aquaman and everything he holds dear. - DC Comics
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Human, Black Manta has these Human Synergies.
• As an Antagonist, Black Manta has these Antagonist Synergies.
• As a figure with a special power benefitting from water tiles, Black Manta can benefit from water tiles being placed by one of these figures.

Outgoing Synergy:

• N/A

Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses:

• As a figure with the Super Strength special power, Black Manta cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers.
• As a figure with the Flying special power, Black Manta cannot be affected by aspects of certain special powers.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• Injustice League faction strategy guide

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: Arkham
• Second playtest: Ronin
• Third playtest: Lobster
• Fourth playtest: Soundwarp SG-1
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by Arkham
• Black Manta was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy.

[A3n]

NAME = BLACK MANTA
SECRET IDENTITY = DAVID

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = ANTAGONIST
PERSONALITY = VINDICTIVE

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

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

POINTS = 230

WATER STRENGTH 1
Black Manta does not stop his movement when entering a water space. Add 1 die to Black Manta's attack and defense while he is on a water space.

CONCUSSIVE ENERGY BEAM
Before moving with Black Manta, you may choose a figure within 4 clear sight spaces and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 11 or higher, place the chosen figure on any empty space within 2 spaces of its original placement and that figure subtracts 2 from its Defense number until the end of Black Manta's turn. A figure moved by this special power never takes leaving engagement attacks and cannot be placed closer to Black Manta than its original placement.

PROJECTILE ARSENAL 3 SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 4 + Special. Attack 3 + Special.
When attacking with this special attack, you may
• add 2 to the range; or
• roll 1 additional attack die; or
• choose all figures adjacent to the targeted figure to be affected. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately, and Black Manta cannot be affected by this special attack.
After attacking with this special attack, Black Manta may attack with it one additional time.

FLYING
SUPER STRENGTH

Original design:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = BLACK MANTA
SECRET IDENTITY = DAVID ?

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = ANTAGONIST
PERSONALITY = VINDICTIVE (VIOLENT)

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

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

POINTS = ???

FLYING
SUPER STRENGTH

POWER OF THE DEEP
Black Manta does not stop his movement when entering water spaces. Add 2 to Black Manta's attack, defense, and range while he is on a water space.

CONCUSSIVE ENERGY BEAM
Before attacking with Black Manta, you may choose a figure and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 8 or higher the chosen figure cannot use any special powers on their card or glyphs and they do not receive any modifiers to their normal defense dice this turn. If you attack this turn you must attack the chosen figure.

PROJECTILE ARSENAL 3 SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 4 + Special. Attack 3 + Special.
When attacking with this special attack, you may
• roll 1 additional attack die; or
• add 2 to the range; or
• choose all figures adjacent to the targeted figure to be affected. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately, and Black Manta cannot be affected by this special attack.
After attacking with this special attack, Black Manta may attack with it one additional time.

[johnny139]

Good stuff.

I'm a bit concerned about him only being good in the water, but I guess that's par for the course with this sort of design. Upping his base stats and lowering the boosts to 1 would help but I'm not sure what we can do about the range...

Energy Beam is awesome. I'd like to let you blast one figure and target another - it'd be cool to blast back Superman and attack a weaker figure without interference, for example.

And Projectile Arsenal is a great power, glad we finally reused it.

[Viegon]

Yeah, I'd prefer Water Strength 1 here instead of Power of the Deep, and then bump up his base attack and defense by 1.

Concussive Energy Beam should have a range listed for it; it's not technically an issue because his range limits it, but it reads weird without one. I also worry about how good Concussive Energy Beam will be; any figure like Spider-Man will get demolished by Black Manta. Maybe bump the roll a little to play it safe?

Overall, looks like a very solid, fun design.

[IAmBatman]

Violent doesn't really seem right for a personality, so I'd stick with Vindictive. Antagonist fits well here. Something like "Mercenary" would too, but I don't love the factional implications of that, so Antagonist works for me.

I'm a bit lost on the theme of the Concussive Energy blast. If it just knocks the crap out of someone, I can somewhat understand it negating their powers and their glyph powers (though a lot of these are passive - Kryptonian Defense is just based on their physiology, for instance). I don't like the modifiers bit, both on the language level, and on the theme level. How is this blast stopping Invisible Woman's aura from working? And the forced attack seems more like a mechanical decision than a thematic one.

I guess it'd help to know what that power is trying to represent. I also like it with a clear range and possibly a higher roll.

Projectile Arsenal Special Attack I like.

I also support a switch to Water Strength with slightly upped stats.

Edit: Also, where's the pm?

Tagging @SirGalahad @TrollBrute and @Karat for you so they know this is here.

[TrollBrute]

One thing I had been trying to work on for a possible Black Manta design is a "death trap" power. It'd be thematic to a lot of different supervillains but, Black Manta being the one who killed Aquaman's son and not having much beyond being evil Iron Man, I can't think of a better design for it. Problem is I never quite refined it. Here's sort of what I had as a rough draft:

DEATH TRAP or SUPERVILLAIN HOSTAGE
At the start of any round, you may choose an opponent's Unique Hero. The chosen figure and Black Manta add 1 additional die when attacking each other with normal attacks. At the end of the following round, if the chosen figure is not adjacent to Black Manta, it receives 2 wounds.

Not perfect, but it gets the idea across I think. Essentially, it's Black Manta taking a hostage and forcing them into a death trap that Aquaman (or whichever hero you choose) has to save them from. I toyed with more complex mechanics, but this is the basic idea.

[IAmBatman]

Hmm, that might be a bit too abstract. The theme really isn't coming across for me.

Fwiw, Dr. Doom's "Elaborate Pit Trap" was originally "Elaborate Death Trap" but we changed it to better help end users envision what was physically taking place.

[A3n]

I'm on board with all that is said here. I'm glad you guys found the thread as I was still writing the bio when I ran out of time so I never got around to sending a PM or posting a link. Still haven't the time now. I have to go away for work for the next 2 days. So i'll BRB.

[Yodaking]

The Concussive Energy Beam seems like it could get a bit complicated and unthematic once you start going through every special power on every card. For me a Concussive Energy Beam sounds more like a OM removal power. Hit someone with the beam, knock them out of play for a turn.

[IAmBatman]

OM Removal and/or something that physically moves them, like knockback, yeah. The physical movement could be nice for getting a defensive figure out of range before attacking someone else, like TB said.

[Yodaking]

Yeah, I could see a combined OM removal and figure placement effect. Knock figures off high ground or out of an aura effect while also removing an OM from their card would be pretty useful. Something along these lines.

CONCUSSIVE ENERGY BEAM
Before attacking with Black Manta, you may choose a figure with in 6 clear sight spaces of Black Manta and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 11 or higher, you may remove one unrevealed Order Marker on that figures card and immediately move that figure up to two spaces away from it's current location. Figures moved with Concussive Energy Beam may not be placed closer to Black Manta and will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

[IAmBatman]

Yeah, I think something like that hits the theme more clearly.