The Book of Aquaman

[A3n]

The Book of Aquaman​

C3G DC WAVE 7
THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE
​

Comic PDF

Mini PDF​

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Icons set.
Its model number and name are #025-027 / Aquaman.​

_________________________________________________________________

Character Bio - Aquaman was born as Orin to Queen Atlanna and the mysterious wizard Atlan in the Atlantean city of Poseidonis. As a baby, he was abandoned on Mercy Reef (which is above sea level at low tide, causing exposure to air which would be fatal to Atlanteans) because of his blond hair, which was seen by the superstitious Atlanteans as a sign of a curse they called "the Mark of Kordax."

As a feral child who raised himself in the wilds of the ocean with only sea creatures to keep him company, Orin was found and taken in by a lighthouse keeper named Arthur Curry who named Orin "Arthur Curry" after himself. One day, Orin returned home and found that his adoptive father had disappeared, so he set off on his own.

Aquaman lost his left hand when the madman Charybdis stole his ability to communicate with sea life and stuck Arthur's hand into a piranha-infested pool. This caused Aquaman to become somewhat unhinged, and he began having prophetic dreams, and then, in need of a "symbol", attached a harpoon spearhead to his left arm in place of his missing hand.

Blamed by his people for the initial decision to take them back in time, Aquaman was sentenced to death, but he escaped, and met the Lady of the Lake, who gave him a new prosthetic hand composed of mystical water with unusual properties.
_________________________________________________________________

-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

_________________________________________________________________

-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As an Aquaman, Aquaman allows Mera to use her Love of Atlantis special power.
• As an Atlantean, Aquaman has these Atlantean Synergies.
• As a King, Aquaman has these King Synergies.
• As an Atlantean King, Aquaman can have his defense boosted by adjacent Atlantean Palace Guards.
• As a figure with a special power benefitting from water tiles, Aquaman can benefit from water tiles being placed by one of these figures.

Outgoing Synergy:

• As an Atlantean King, Aquaman can allow the Atlantean Palace Guards to move with their Loyal to the Throne special power.

_________________________________________________________________

-Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses-

Immunities

• As a figure with the Valiant personality, Aquaman cannot be affected by Meteorite's Manipulation special power.

Benefits

• N/A

Weaknesses

• As a figure with the Valiant personality, Aquaman adds 4 to Loki's God of Evil roll if he is the chosen figure.

_________________________________________________________________

-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: IAmBatman
• Second playtest: Karat (230)
• Third playtest: Lord Pyre (220)
• Card Art by tcglkn

Card Updates:
3 January 2021 - Water Leap wording update

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

NAME = AQUAMAN
SECRET IDENTITY = ARTHUR CURRY

SPECIES = ATLANTEAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = KING
PERSONALITY = VALIANT
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 6
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = 230

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

WATER LEAP 10
If Aquaman ends his normal movement on a water space, he may move up to 3 spaces with Water Leap. When moving with Water Leap, Aquaman has the Flying special power, but may not move up or down more than 10 levels in a single leap and will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

HAND OF THE WATERBEARER
After taking a turn with Aquaman, you may roll the 20-sided die, adding 6 to the roll if Aquaman is on a water space. If you roll 12 or higher, you may remove 1 Wound Marker from Aquaman's card or an adjacent figure's card.

SUPER STRENGTH

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

Good stuff! I think I'm digging the power set here. The stat boosts for being on water are very big, but they need to be to combat lack of height advantage. His water leap power should help him hit some heights as well. I think I'm OK with all of his powers being water based, because we have enough JLA at this point that I'm only drafting this guy on a map with water anyway.
Two changes I'd like to see and they're both surface level:

I'd like to see "Rule" changed to "King." (He shouldn't bond with Moloids, that's just weird ...).
And I'd like to see Endurance of the Deep changed to Power of the Deep since so much more is going on that life or defense (aka endurance).

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

I actually had king first but changed it as I typed this up, I don't even know why. Maybe I thought it sounded better.

I can go with power of the deep. I was actually struggling for a name for that power it came to me at the last minute, again as I was typing it up.

I was heavily influenced by the brainstorming suggestions to make the power set as is. & afterwards my thought was that of yours he is a water type draft. My initial thoughts when I drafted Aquaman that I didn't want to do that but make a powerhouse that would receive a wound at the end of the round if he rolled 5 or less on a d20 (subtracting the amount of spaces to the nearest water from his roll) but the brainstorming kind of lead me to the above. Which I am ok with, because he isn't weak out of water he just gets more benefits when he is in water. Which is kind of similar in a reverse function to my initial thoughts. Also the choosing the water had sculpt kind of locked in the direction also.

Cheers

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

Yeah, I think if we want a less water dependent Aquaman, we can do that with the hook hand version in the future.

 

[SirGalahad]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

Awesome concept!

Do you want him being able to take glyphs with Water Leap? If not, he should be placed on an "empty" space.

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

Awesome concept!

Do you want him being able to take glyphs with Water Leap? If not, he should be placed on an "empty" space.

Yep that was deliberate, the wording I was copying had empty & I just couldn't see a reason why he shouldn't be able to leap out of water & land on a glyph.

 

[Griffin]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

I love the design and I am good with grabbing glyphs on the "fly".

Can we streamline this though and imagine him gaining the speed he needs to leap by going "down" and then "up" instead of just across a bunch of water?

WATER LEAP
If Aquaman moves through 3 or more consecutive water spaces and ends his movement on a water space, you may place Aquaman on any unoccupied space within 3 spaces, if that space is no more than 10 levels higher than the water space Aquaman finished his movement on.


WATER LEAP
If Aquaman ends his movement on a water space, you may place Aquaman on any unoccupied space within 3 spaces, if that space is no more than 10 levels higher than the water space Aquaman finished his movement on.

That would just be a lot easier to keep up with and a lot easier to pull off. Also, it would avoid any FAQs like: "What do you mean by consecutive spaces?" or "If I move over two Water spaces, can I backtrack over the first one and still leap?"

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

I'm cool with making it easier to pull off.

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

I love the design and I am good with grabbing glyphs on the "fly".

Can we streamline this though and imagine him gaining the speed he needs to leap by going "down" and then "up" instead of just across a bunch of water?

WATER LEAP
If Aquaman moves through 3 or more consecutive water spaces and ends his movement on a water space, you may place Aquaman on any unoccupied space within 3 spaces, if that space is no more than 10 levels higher than the water space Aquaman finished his movement on.


WATER LEAP
If Aquaman ends his movement on a water space, you may place Aquaman on any unoccupied space within 3 spaces, if that space is no more than 10 levels higher than the water space Aquaman finished his movement on.

That would just be a lot easier to keep up with and a lot easier to pull off. Also, it would avoid any FAQs like: "What do you mean by consecutive spaces?" or "If I move over two Water spaces, can I backtrack over the first one and still leap?"

Because of the benefit it provided, I was trying to make it a little more difficult to pull off. But I am fine with the change if you want it that easy to pull off, I don't have an issue with it.

If you want it slightly less beneficial but still appropriate we could either bring down the spaces from 3 to 2. And / or add a requirement that he can only move up to 4 spaces, which would be like him using the last of his move to go down to get the speed to make the leap. So...

WATER LEAP
If Aquaman moves only 4 or less spaces this turn and ends his movement on a water space, you may place Aquaman on any unoccupied space within 3 spaces, if that space is no more than 10 levels higher than the water space Aquaman finished his movement on.

Cheers

 

[Griffin]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

If you are OK with it, then I really just prefer:

WATER LEAP
When Aquaman ends his movement on a water space, you may place Aquaman on any unoccupied space within 3 spaces, if that space is no more than 10 levels higher than the water space Aquaman ended his movement on. When using Water Leap, Aquaman does not take any leaving engagement attacks.

It is simple to understand and remember, and it is more dependable, which is important IMO.

 

[NecroBlade]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

I kinda like the theme and more water-dependent Water Leap. I mean, he's Aquaman, he NEEDS water.

Also,

Remove up to 1 wound marker from the card of a figure adjacent to Aquaman.

to

Remove up to 1 wound marker from an adjacent figure's Army Card.

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

update made.

You know I just like throwing options .

Cheers

 

[whitestuff]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

This is looking far more interesting than the actual character...

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

This is looking far more interesting than the actual character...

Nice.

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

This is looking far more interesting than the actual character...

I actually like the TV Brave & Bold portrayal of him. Very swashbuckling funny .

 

[Hahma]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

This is looking far more interesting than the actual character...

I actually like the TV Brave & Bold portrayal of him. Very swashbuckling funny .

I agree, the Brave and the Bold Aquaman is pretty funny, especially the episode where he and the family went on cross country vacation and he was jonsing for some action and kept having to sneak away from the wife and kid to fight some bad guys.

Anyway, sorry I'm late to the party on this one, but at this point, I really like the OP design and have nothing to add. Great job A3n and crew

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

Honestly, I'm really liking what I see hear. Not too complex, very thematic, fun, and useful. What more could you ask for? (okay...hot babes, but since that's not an option, I think we're covered. )

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

The people have spoken, I think. Are we ready for an initial playtest here?

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Design Phase

Wow, this could be the quickest design I've ever LD'd. If anybody wants the honours of the initial playtest, please have at it.

Cheers

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Waiting for Initial Playtest Phase

Well, I believe I'm the only one of the four of us currently free, so I'll tackle him. Can't promise the turn around will be super quick, but I'll do what I can.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Waiting for Initial Playtest Phase

C3G PLAY TEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT (AQUAMAN)

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit to powerful or too weak.
PASS

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
PASS

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS Though at what cost is still a bit up in the air

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS On a map with a moderate amount of water like Ravaged Road, there were ample opportunities for power uses.

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS

- Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero/ Does it pass? PASS at 230 points

Spoiler Alert!

TEST 1
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. Black Canary (190)

1st Test: Canary kept Aquaman out of the water, got height and went ape with Fists of Fury, and won with 3 wounds on Turn 3 of Round 1. Aquaman's ability to use his water powers was limited here and he took all of his wounds in one turn, so he never got a shot at healing.

2nd Test: Aquaman wins after 2 Full Rounds with 3 wounds. He managed to withstand the hailstorm of Fists of Fury this turn and healed two wounds on two rolls. Again, Black Canary kept him out of the water the whole game.

3rd Test: Aquaman finessed this one to stay in water the whole game, and put 3 wounds on Black Canary early, but she got explosive Fists of Fury rolls when she needed them (from height) and won on Turn 3 of Round 1 with 3 wounds on her card (it took all four attacks to pull this off). So far, this match up feels pretty even.

TEST 2
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. Batman (200)

1st Test: Aquaman wins on Turn 3 of Round 1 with 2 wounds (and probably would've been one if he'd had a chance to heal on his last turn). Batman's Evasive Strike rolls were so-so.

2nd Test: Aquaman gets in water in the middle of the map and wins on Turn 3 of Round 1 with 1 wound (from Evasive Strike). 200 is starting to feel better and better.

3rd Test: Aquaman wins on Turn 2 of Round 3 with 2 wounds and 2 healed. Batman got a couple of Evasive Strikes in, but Aquaman had the clear advantage.

TEST 3
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. Hawkgirl (225)

1st Test: Aquaman wins on Turn 3 of Round 2 with 2 wounds and 2 healed. Hawkgirl got plenty of swooping, but Aquaman spent the whole game in water or on height, and never missed a healing roll. Much like Wolverine, if you don't take Aquaman out all in one turn, he's a real tough match up. (Unlike Wolverine, he doesn't get multiple attacks).

2nd Test: Aquaman wins on Turn 2 or Round 2 with 3 wounds and 2 healed. Without range, Hawkgirl has trouble drawing Aquaman out of water and the early swoops are too much to resist. Still, on seven attack dice every roll, she never landed more than 3 skulls, and that proved to be her undoing. The only real difference between this and the last test is that Aquaman rolled a 3 on a healing attempt once.

3rd Test: Hawkgirl wins on Turn 1 of Round 2 with 2 wounds on her card after an important initiative win. She rolled 4 and 5 skulls a few times on this one and Aquaman, despite spending the whole match in water, did fail two healing rolls.

TEST 4
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. Flash (250)

1st Test: The dice make a travesty of the first match, with a full life Aquaman winning on Turn 2 of Round 1 - but Flash rolled one skull on his first attack (with six dice) and Aquaman followed with a six skull attack (on seven dice) and Flash rolled four skulls on defense!

2nd Test: Aquaman wins on Turn 1 of Round 3 with 2 wounds and 2 healed after dice betrayed Flash yet again. Flash's mobility gave him height and kept Aquaman out of the water most of the game, but Flash's craptastic attack rolls doomed him.

3rd Test: Flash won on Turn 2 of Round 2 with 0 wounds. Flash's attack and defense rolls were a lot more typical this time and he rolled. I really think that Flash would win 6 or 7 out of 10 of these matches.

TEST 5
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. Swamp Thing (235)

1st Test: I played water spaces as swamp water spaces so that both heroes got their bonuses and Swamp Thing won with 0 wounds after 3 Full Rounds. Swamp Thing healed 4 wounds and Aquaman healed 2. This one really felt like it could've gone either way, with Swamp Thing very close to death many times taking the opportunity to teleport away across the battlefield and heal. Eventually the dice turned in Swamp Thing's favor and he pulled out the win. But this felt like the most balanced test so far.

2nd Test: Swamp Thing won on Turn 2 of Round 2 with 2 wounds. He healed none, but Aquaman healed 1. The dice just betrayed Aquaman here, who never forced Swamp Thing to heal and only managed to lower his last attack (Cut Down to Size). Swamp Thing, with height disadvantage, just outdueled Aquaman on the power of his stats.

I've decided to cost Aquaman at 230 points going into the squad tests.

_____________________________________________________________​

- Squad / Does it pass? FAIL Aquaman felt worth about 100 points against squads. I think he would've faired better against melee squads, though.
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. Street Thugs x3 (210)

Spoiler Alert!

Test One: Street Thugs win on Turn 3 of Round 1 with none dead and Aquaman having never had a chance to attack or heal. Four Thugs on Concrete rolling well spelled Aquaman's doom here!
Test Two: Street Thugs win on Turn 2 of Round 1 with one dead and Aquaman never having a chance to heal. Street Thugs just get height on Asphalt and Concrete too easily on this map and Aquaman doesn't have the multiple attacks or range to respond. Ouch. He doesn't like Ranged squads very much so far.

_____________________________________________________________​

- Squad / Does it pass? FAIL Aquaman has no answer for squads one-on-one.
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman vs. SHIELD Agents x2 (220)

Spoiler Alert!

Test One: SHIELD Agents win on Turn 2 of Round 1 with 5 of 6 figures remaining after Aquaman whiffs against a 6 skull Kill Box SA. On this map, it's not too hard for the SHIELD Agents to set up their Kill Box against Aquaman. Still, had he not whiffed on defense, I think he could've kept things close.
Test Two: This time Aquaman stayed out of the water, but with dice failing him and his healing roll not working, and the SHIELD Agents setting up a Kill Box SA with an initiative switch, it wasn't enough. SHIELD Agents won on Turn 1 of Round 2 with 5 of 6 figures remaining.

After a poor showing in the squad tests, I'm lowering Aquaman's cost to 220 for the army tests.

_____________________________________________________________​

- Army Test/ Does it pass? PASS Aquaman tore Thor up, but his teammates set him up to let that happen.
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman (220), Green Arrow (Ollie)(150), Flash (Barry)(250), Martian Manhunter (300), Batman (Bruce)(200), Black Canary (190), and Robin (Tim)(120) (1430) vs. Captain America (220), Thor (430), Hulk (370), Beast (170), Iron Man (240) (1430)

Spoiler Alert!

The Justice League won on Turn 1 of Round 9 with Aquaman with one life remaining having survived tense end game with he and Flash against Thor. Aquaman put 7 wounds on Thor, 3 on Beast, and 1 on Captain America here and was their end game MVP. (Martian Manhunter was the mid and early game MVP for the JLA). This one was extremely close, with Aquaman healing 2 wounds in all and felt extremely balanced, as if it could go either way the entire time. So far I'm really liking Aquaman at 220.

_____________________________________________________________​

- Army Test/ Does it pass? PASS The JLA lost here and Aquaman didn't do as much as last game, but it felt really close once again.
Map: Ravaged Road
Units: Aquaman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Batman (Bruce), Flash (Barry), and Green Lantern (Hal) (2020) vs. Darkseid, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, Deathstroke, Count Vertigo, Gorilla Grodd, Chronos, Lex Luthor (Battlesuit) (2020)

Spoiler Alert!

The Injustice League wins on Turn 2 of Round 15 with a two wound Deathstroke (who'd healed three wounds) and a thrice resurrected Solomon Grundy remaining. Aquaman put one wound on Deathstroke (which was healed) and two on Grundy (to kill him the second time) and healed one from himself and two from Superman (which was big at the time) but he didn't swing this one in end game like he did the last one. Batman was left with full life against two life Grundy and 3 life Deathstroke at the end and felt like he had a chance, but Grundy rolled 5 skulls, Batman whiffed his Evasive Strike roll, and only rolled one shield. End of game.

I feel like Aquaman is right in that 220-230 point range going into playtesting. Given his ability to heal allies which feels like it has potential I haven't quite tapped yet, I'd say 230 is more likely. Being that this is probably the most powerful of up to 3 versions of Aquaman we may do, I'm happy with that.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Waiting for Initial Playtest Phase

Some early heavy hitter tests are up - please note my comment in there as well:

At this point I think Aquaman's healing might be too much, and that it should be reduced to removing one wound from his own card instead of two (the adjacent figure part can stay). I'm starting to test with that change from here on out.

 

[A3n]

Re: Aquaman - Waiting for Initial Playtest Phase

Some early heavy hitter tests are up - please note my comment in there as well:

At this point I think Aquaman's healing might be too much, and that it should be reduced to removing one wound from his own card instead of two (the adjacent figure part can stay). I'm starting to test with that change from here on out.

That's cool.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: Aquaman - Waiting for Initial Playtest Phase

Sweet. Just played two more matches with Batman and I'm liking where he's at a lot more. I'd much rather see a 200-240 point Aquaman than a 300 point Aquaman.