The Book of Mister Terrific (Terry Sloane)

[Karat]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I've been whittling at it for a little bit now actually 150 seems to be holding up thus far.

 

[Tornado]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Sweet! Great news. Just trying to get a bead on how things are going in various threads to get an indication of how I can best help during my weekly playtesting Fridays. And I love it when I can do army tests instead of initials, just in terms of time consumption!

 

[Karat]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

A little update here. Just finished the HHs. He only won 25% of them (3/12). Kinda to be expected though as his real use will be as a complimentary Mystery Man. Planning to start the Squad Tests shortly.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Sounds good. Lots of synergy to test him with! Should be fun.

Oh, as a tip for Mystery Men armies, include Oracle to preserve Order Markers when they die!

 

[Karat]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Just as a FYI, I'm going to hold off on the initial here until we get Sandman, Starman, and Supes into Final Editing. That way I can test him with them. I'll try to run a test for Supes first and then whichever needs the most attention after that.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Sounds good. I'm going to start up Starman in a few minutes here. If we get all hands on deck for the JSA, we should be in good shape (down to about two months!).

 

[Karat]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Been swamped with work lately. This hasn't fallen off my radar though. Just missing a couple Army tests right now. I have plans to run them when I get the time, not sure exactly when that would be though...so if one of you had the time to run 2 or 3 army tests here go for it, otherwise I'll get to this as soon as I can.

I am most interested in seeing how he does with the other JSAers, or anything troublesome that someone else sees.

 

[TrollBrute]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I was just gonna ask about this. I can make him my top priority, but I won't be able to get to it until this weekend probably.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I've made promises on Katana and Leonardo, so you'd both probably get to it before me at this point.

 

[TrollBrute]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I'm setting up some games with this guy, and I noticed the CRB never chimed in on the current version, just the previous unrestricted D20-booster version. Most of his stuff is tied into the Mystery Men faction now, but @dok, @Dysole, @Soundwarp SG-1, @weebaer any worrisome combos/teams we might be overlooking?

I don't think it will be all that good, but I'm going to try a Mister Terrific+JJJ+Anarky+Ghost Rider+Civs build, as well as a JSA army or two (probably a dual test with Hawkman in at least one, because I think they will combo very well).

 

[weebaer]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I'd be interested in how that plays out TB. Sounds like a fun team.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Definitely looking forward to seeing Hawkman in someone else's hands as well. I'm thinking Starman (Ted Knight) with his gravity rod is a good fit with that group.

 

[TrollBrute]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Alright, still want to run some with games with Hawkman in the mix, but I want to suggest some changes first, so here are my results so far:


C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Mister Terrific

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Mister Terrific (140), Ghost Rider (380), Anarky (110), J. Jonah Jameson (85), Civilians x3 (135) (850) VS Cosmic Boy (260), Timber Wolf (260), Superboy (330) (850)
Unit Summary:
Damage: 1 wound to Superboy.
Man of a Thousand Talents:

• Option 1: 1 times chosen; 0 times dice re-rolled.
• Option 2: 0 times chosen; 0 times added or subtracted roll.
• Option 3: 0 times chosen; 0 times figure moved.

Champion of All Things Fair: 1 times dice re-rolled, 1 total dice re-rolled, 0 shields rolled.

Spoiler Alert!

Superboy is the target of the Smear Campaign.

Yeah, this army just didn't work. The Civs don't have high enough Attack to pull this off and I probably should have added another squad to do anything with them. On top of that, the Legionnaires had great luck with the D20, Cosmic Boy killing a bunch with Magnetic Throw Defense and Timber Wolf getting a ton of attacks. It was just a steady slaughter.

Terrific got a few turns, one to get in place and then a few more when Ghost Rider was dead. He managed one wound on Superboy, but none of his powers came into effect.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): R4T6: Superboy with 1/6 wounds, Cosmic Boy and Timber Wolf unwounded.

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Mister Terrific (160), Starman (Ted, 190), Flash (Jay, 220), Robot (210), (780) VS Catman (170), Scandal Savage (200), King Shark (220), Black Alice (190) (780)
Unit Summary:
Damage: 2 wounds to Catman.
Man of a Thousand Talents:

• Option 1: 0 times chosen; 0 times dice re-rolled.
• Option 2: 1 times chosen; 0 times added or subtracted roll.
• Option 3: 0 times chosen; 0 times figure moved.

Champion of All Things Fair: 0 times dice re-rolled, 0 total dice re-rolled, 0 shields rolled.

Spoiler Alert!

Round one was mostly just positioning, though it ended with Catman wounding Robot, his Prey.

From there, it was Robot leading the Mystery Men and Catman leading the Outlaws in a battle on the center height. Mister Terrific was activated to get his Talent going, and he dealt a wound to Catman with his attack, then another wound from an LEA. Black Alice lost her Hellfire marker in the second round after a failed attack, and then Flash moved an OM from Catman to Alice. Starman began throwing figures and terrain around, but he never needed the boost from Terrific.

Robot went down in the third round. The Mystery Men followed by taking down Catman in the fourth, but the Outlaws also KOed Flash and Terrific. Starman put up a good fight on his own, with the Shield Belt protecting him from 5 attacks before it failed (on a 9, no less, meaning Terrific could have helped him or if he was around). Ted built himself a high ground, but he couldn't crack Scandal Savage and she and King Shark finally got him.

Terrific got his one activation to get Thousand Talents rolling and deal a wound. A couple rounds later he was one-shotted by Black Alice, so his effect was minimal.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): R6T3: Scandal Savage with 3/4 wounds, King Shark with 1/7, and Black Alice unwounded.

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Mister Terrific (150), Starman (Ted, 190), Flash (Jay, 220), Robot (210) (770) VS Catman (170), Scandal Savage (200), King Shark (220), Red Hood (180) (770)
Unit Summary:
Damage: 5 wounds to King Shark.
Man of a Thousand Talents:

• Option 1: 5 times chosen; 4 times dice re-rolled; 7 total dice re-rolled (was only used to turn one die to a skull).
• Option 2: 0 times chosen; 0 times added or subtracted roll.
• Option 3: 0 times chosen; 0 times figure moved.

Champion of All Things Fair: 0 times dice re-rolled, 0 total dice re-rolled, 0 shields rolled.

Spoiler Alert!

I thought at first that the Mystery Men were going to win this one without Mister Terrific coming into play at all. Robot carried Terrific unto the height, with Flash and Starman bringing up the rear in the first round. The Outlaws hung back at first to get their team into position and give Catman time to strike. However, Catman got KOed in the second round by some great attack rolls from Robot and Starman. An Initiative switch gave them the first turn, and they quickly brought Catman to 8 wounds. Flash would finish him off next turn before he could get an attack in. Scandal Savage fell not much later, after dealing a couple wounds each to Flash and Robot.

Things shifted big time when Red Hood pulled an Evasive Maneuver on Starman, dealing him a wound and stealing the Shield Belt. With his SA, he was then able to deal a bunch of wounds to Starman and Robot. King Shark moved in for the kills, and he took down Starman and Robot, and dealt 3 wounds to Terrific. King Shark’s defense rolls were great at first, but then he wiffed against two of Mister Terrific’s attacks and eventually went down. Flash went after Red Hood, but the Shield Belt kept the Outlaw alive, and he took Flash down. Red Hood’s first barrage of attacks to end the fifth round failed against Terrific, but he got him in the sixth round.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): R6T2: Red Hood unwounded.

Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units: Hawkman (220), Starman (190), Sandman (80), Doctor Mid-Nite (150), Mister Terrific (150) (790) VS Luke Cage (190), Iron Fist (260), Spider-Man (250), Ragdoll (100) (800)
Unit Summary:
Damage: 3 wounds to Ragdoll, 2 to Spider-Man.
Man of a Thousand Talents:

• Option 1: 6 times chosen; 5 times dice re-rolled; 4 additional skulls added, 0 shields.
• Option 2: 7 times chosen; 2 times added to roll (enabling Starman to throw twice..
• Option 3: 0 times chosen; 0 times figure moved.

Champion of All Things Fair: 0 times dice re-rolled, 0 total dice re-rolled, 0 shields rolled.

Spoiler Alert!

In the first round , Heroism was used to move up the Mystery Men, with Mid-Nite dropping a Blackout Bomb, and Starman failing his roll. Luke Cage kept his army moving up, and healed a wound out of the two he received from Starman.

The second round had Heroism moving the JSA again, on the first turn this time, thanks to an Initiative win. Starman’s throw (+1 from Mister Terrific) and the Sleeping Gas and Blackout Bomb were all used. Lots of maneuvering meant that the only wounds were one each to Ragdoll and Sandman.

Heroism was used in the third round for the bonding, and with it, Hawkman and Starman managed to take down Luke Cage. Starman took three wounds in the round though, Terrific took two, and Sandman took one more, only surviving due to Iron Fist's sucky attack rolls against him.

Initiative in the fourth round went to the Fighters, but more bad rolls from Iron Fist meant he dealt no wounds on his three attacks. Hawkman used Heroism to move all of the JSA. This meant that Sandman placed his glyph, Mid-Nite placed his final Blackout Bomb and healed a wound from Starman, who threw (with +1 from Terrific) a chunk of ground at Spider-Man, dealing him a wound. During the rest of the round Spider-Man finished off Sandman and hit Starman for another wound, while Hawkman focused on Iron Fist and dealt him 3 wounds.

In the Fifth round, Hawkman and Starman finished off Iron Fist, but not before he dealt three wounds to Mid-Nite. Hawkman also managed a wound on Spider-Man. Spidey took out Starman and Mid-Nite.

In the Sixth and Seventh, Hawkman gave up the 3 for extra turns and dice. It may not have been the best strategy, but it ended up working. Spidey kept dodging Hawkman’s attacks, but not doing much damage on his turns. Mister Terrific KOed Ragdoll. The couple times Hawkman got past Spidey Senses, he only rolled a few skulls, and Spidey defended well, so he only took a wound on each attack. Right after the second of these though, in the Seventh round, Mister Terrific also got through and Spidey whiffed his defense.

Mister Terrific spent most of the battle hanging around, hoping to prevent a whiff or boost a D20. He did the latter twice, bumping Starman from an 11 to a 12 both times, which was very helpful. Once it was down to just him and Hawkman, Terrific got a bunch of turns with his Attack boosted by one, which was really nice with his first option. He put a big hit on Ragdoll and the final two wounds on Spider-Man, so he definitely got his value here.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): R7T3: Hawkman with 2/5 wounds, Mister Terrific with 3/4.

___________________________________________________________​

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: He’s feeling really underwhelming right now. Hawkman will definitely help him, as will Stargirl, but his boosts are minimal and somewhat tricky to pull off. Obviously lowering his cost will help, and he’ll still have plenty of play in Mystery Man armies. Opening Champion of All Things Fair up to all figure would also help him, though it could be something of a worry with Acrobatic Agility figures, and it’s just not that likely to come up otherwise. My top suggestion would be to change Man of a Thousand Talents to allow him to choose one every time you reveal a numbered OM. It wouldn’t make the boosts themselves better, but it would make it much easier to activate them and to switch between them. It also alleviates the memory issue that he has right now without resorting to markers.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I wouldn't mind seeing the range on Champion of All Things Fair extended. I like the current class restrictions, both for theme and the metagame, but considering how rare and unpredictable outright whiffs are, a range of 3 seems really small. I'd say we could go up to 6 with no problem.

Hawkman can definitely help him switch up Man of a Thousand Talents more often, but I'm OK with your idea. I think markers might be a good memory aid here regardless, though, and we have the room on the card.

I'd say 150 points is probably near the thematic ceiling for him in terms of cost, so seeing his points go down wouldn't be bad at all.

Edit: Actually, if he's coming in weak and overly situational, is there any reason that all three effects on Man of a Thousand Talents couldn't be on all the time? So no toggling between them?

 

[Viegon]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Either allowing him to switch his talent each time you reveal an OM or just having them all always active makes sense to me (though at that point they should probably be split into separate powers). I also agree his cost could thematically come down.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

The third clause in Man of a Thousand Talents needs to specify whether he'd take leaving engagement attacks. Here's what it'd look like as one, always on power:

MAN OF A THOUSAND TALENTS
Before rolling for initiative at the start of each round, choose an opponent’s figure within 5 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific. Whenever an Order Marker is revealed on the chosen figure's Army Card, you may immediately move Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero you control within clear sight of Mister Terrific up to 4 spaces. Figures moved this way will take any leaving engagement attacks. When Mister Terrific attacks with a normal attack or defends against a normal attack, you may re-roll any dice that show blanks once per roll. When Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero within two spaces rolls the 20-sided die, you may add or subtract 1 from that roll.

Not sure how to appropriately or thematically break that up. Maybe there's a way to make it always on and retain the bullets?

 

[TrollBrute]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I wouldn't mind seeing the range on Champion of All Things Fair extended. I like the current class restrictions, both for theme and the metagame, but considering how rare and unpredictable outright whiffs are, a range of 3 seems really small. I'd say we could go up to 6 with no problem.

That would be fine. Whiffs are rare enough and you're already going to be clustering him with your other figures in a Mystery Man build, so it doesn't make a huge difference either way.

The third clause in Man of a Thousand Talents needs to specify whether he'd take leaving engagement attacks. Here's what it'd look like as one, always on power:

MAN OF A THOUSAND TALENTS
Before rolling for initiative at the start of each round, choose an opponent’s figure within 5 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific. Whenever an Order Marker is revealed on the chosen figure's Army Card, you may immediately move Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero you control within clear sight of Mister Terrific up to 4 spaces. Figures moved this way will take any leaving engagement attacks. When Mister Terrific attacks with a normal attack or defends against a normal attack, you may re-roll any dice that show blanks once per roll. When Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero within two spaces rolls the 20-sided die, you may add or subtract 1 from that roll.

Yeah, that's just way too much for a single power. It really should be three separate powers. I think making him choose one at a time but allowing him to toggle every turn is easier to remember and still bumps his usefulness up.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

So it'd look like this?

MAN OF A THOUSAND TALENTS
Before taking a turn with any figure you control, choose one of the following to be in effect until the next time you begin a turn:

• When Mister Terrific attacks with a normal attack or defends against a normal attack, you may re-roll any dice that show blanks once per roll; or
• When Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero within clear sight of Mister Terrific rolls the 20-sided die, you may add or subtract 1 from that roll; or
• Choose an opponent’s figure within 5 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific. Whenever an Order Marker is revealed on the chosen figure's Army Card, you may immediately move Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero you control within clear sight of Mister Terrific up to 4 spaces. Figures moved with this special power will take any leaving engagement attacks.

(Opened up the D20 power for usefulness as well).

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

We could also super simplify it to make it one power:

MAN OF A THOUSAND TALENTS
Before rolling for initiative at the start of each round, you may immediately move Mister Terrific up to 4 spaces. He will take any leaving engagement attacks. When Mister Terrific attacks with a normal attack or defends against a normal attack, you may re-roll any dice that show blanks once per roll. When you roll the 20-sided die for a Mystery Man you control, you may add or subtract 1 from that roll.

 

[TrollBrute]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

I'd go something like this:

MAN OF A THOUSAND TALENTS
After revealing a numbered Order Marker on a card you control, you may choose one of the following to be in effect until the next time you reveal an Order Marker:

• When Mister Terrific attacks with a normal attack or defends against a normal attack, you may re-roll any dice that show blanks once per roll; or
• When Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero within 5 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific rolls the 20-sided die, you may add or subtract 1 from that roll; or
• Choose an opponent’s figure within 5 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific. Whenever an Order Marker is revealed on the chosen figure's Army Card, you may immediately move Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero you control within clear sight of Mister Terrific up to 4 spaces. Figures moved with this special power will take any leaving engagement attacks.

I'd keep some restriction on the D20 boost just so that he has to get into the battle some.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Whatever range we go on with the D20 power, it'd be nice if it matches the Champion of All Things Fair power's range, so that you only have to remember one. 6 for each?

 

[TrollBrute]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

Whatever range we go on with the D20 power, it'd be nice if it matches the Champion of All Things Fair power's range, so that you only have to remember one. 6 for each?

I had the same thought. I went with 5 to match the movement power in Thousand Talents, but 6 works too.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific - Terry Sloane(Initial Playt

5 all around would make some sense.

 

[Karat]

Re: The Book of Mister Terrific (Design Phase)

Ok, here's what I'm thinking. I boosted the attack/defense portion of MoaTT as it seemed thematically odd that he would boost others better than he does himself. I'm ameniable to tweaking his defense down if we feel it's warranted. I also boosted all ranges to 6 and made the numbered OM change. Thoughts?

MAN OF A THOUSAND TALENTS
After revealing a numbered Order Marker on a card you control, you may choose one of the following to be in effect until the next time you reveal a numbered Order Marker on a card you control:

• When Mister Terrific attacks with a normal attack you may re-roll any dice that did not show skulls once per attack, or when defending against a normal attack, you may re-roll any dice that did not show shields once per attack; or
• When Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero within 6 clear sight spaces rolls the 20-sided die, you may add or subtract 1 from that roll; or
• Choose an opponent’s figure within 6 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific. Whenever an Order Marker is revealed on the chosen figure's Army Card, you may immediately move Mister Terrific or a Mystery Man Hero you control within clear sight of Mister Terrific up to 4 spaces.

CHAMPION OF ALL THINGS FAIR
If a Mystery Man or Civilian you control within 6 clear sight spaces of Mister Terrific is attacked and rolls no shields, the defending figure may re-roll all defense dice once.