The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E.

[Arch-vile]

The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E.

C3G DC SSE 92
JSA GENERATIONS

Comic PDF

Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a DC Heroclix figure from the Origin set.
Its model number and name are #094 / S.T.R.I.P.E..​

_________________________________________________________________

Character Bio - After helping a young Sylvester Pemberton take down a group of Nazi spies, Pat Dugan became the costumed hero Stripesy along with Pemberton's Star-Spangled Kid. The duo had several adventures as part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and the All-Star Squadron.

Dugan eventually retired and married Barbara Whitmore, and they settled in Blue Valley. His stepdaughter, Courtney Whitmore, found Pemberton's Cosmic Converter Belt while rummaging through a box of Dugan's things, and learned that Dugan was formerly Stripesy. In an effort to annoy him, Courtney took the belt and became the hero Stargirl. In order to protect her (and keep an eye on her), Dugan developed a robotic suit of power armor that he called S.T.R.I.P.E. (Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer).

When Stargirl joined the Justice Society of America, Dugan became a reserve member and occasionally accompanied them on missions. He mainly aided the JSA in a support role, having developed their aircraft, the Steel Eagle.
_________________________________________________________________

-Rulings and Clarifications-

• Base Clarification: S.T.R.I.P.E. is a single-spaced figure.

_________________________________________________________________

-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Mystery Man, S.T.R.I.P.E. has these Mystery Man Synergies.

Outgoing Synergy:

• S.T.R.I.P.E. may replace previously revealed or removed Order Markers of friendly Mystery Men or Protégés with his Stars And S.T.R.I.P.E. special power.

Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses:

• N/A

_________________________________________________________________

-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• S.T.R.I.P.E. is designed to work well with the JSA members with powers involving revealing or removing an Order Marker, such as Stargirl, Hawkman, Atom, and both Doctor Fates.
• Justice Society Faction Strategy

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: Arch-vile
• Second playtest: IAmBatman
• Third playtest: Arkham
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by Arkham

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

NAME = S.T.R.I.P.E.
SECRET IDENTITY = PAT DUGAN

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = MYSTERY MAN
PERSONALITY = PROTECTIVE

SIZE/HEIGHT = LARGE 7

LIFE = 5

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 5
DEFENSE = 6

POINTS = 180

STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E.
After attacking with S.T.R.I.P.E., if he inflicted one or more wounds on an enemy figure, you may choose a friendly Mystery Man or Protégé and place a previously removed or revealed Order Marker, unrevealed, back onto the chosen figure's Army Card.

POWER ARMOR: ROCKET FISTS
When attacking with S.T.R.I.P.E.'s normal attack, he is always considered adjacent to the defending figure. If S.T.R.I.P.E. inflicts one or more wounds with his normal attack, you may move the defending figure up to two spaces, during which it does not take leaving engagement attacks.

SUPER STRENGTH
FLYING

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Comic Art:

Spoiler Alert!

Mini Pics:

Spoiler Alert!

Background:

Spoiler Alert!

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Love what Stars and STRIPE does for both Hawkman (JSA) and Stargirl. Does anyone else benefit from it currently? Wonder if we'll ever have a Temporal Defense JSAer.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

I'm hopeful it helps those armies work pretty well!

Atom (the Mystery Man) can remove OMs to power up Atomic Punch. Doctor Fate (I) can also remove OMs for d20 modification but he's not really worth building around IMO.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Sure, though he's not a terrible throw-in. Good calls on both of those. Really neat power to help boost the faction in a subtle way.

 

[MrNobody]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Kent V. Nelson also appreciates it.

We probably need to do a brief library sweep to make sure there’s nothing insanely funky going on with the adjacency bit, but it’s a neat mechanic.

EDIT: Yukio’s Jujutsu definitely interacts weird, as an example.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Good call on Kent V.

We probably need to do a brief library sweep to make sure there’s nothing insanely funky going on with the adjacency bit, but it’s a neat mechanic.

EDIT: Yukio’s Jujutsu definitely interacts weird, as an example.

Jujutsu's second part works against adjacent attacking figures, and STRIPE always counts as adjacent via his power, so Jujutsu's second part would always trigger. They both have movement powers that trigger after attacking but that's no different than the interactions like Vibroshock Knockback where both players get to move the defending figure. It's kinda weird but not unprecedented at least.

JUJUTSU
When rolling defense dice, each blank rolled counts as an additional shield. After defending against a normal attack from an adjacent attacking figure, if Yukio does not take any wounds, she may switch places with the attacking figure. Figures moved by Jujutsu never take any leaving engagement attacks.

 

[MrNobody]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

I’m more just thinking about the thematic weirdness of the two characters suddenly switching places. It’s not a huge issue though.

 

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Yukio rides the rocket fist back on its return trip, then uses the momentum to chuck Stripe away with an epic Judo throw.

All theme weirdness can be solved by assuming people do insane epic comic book things.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

COMPETITIVE REVIEW BOARD CHECKLIST

Spoiler Alert!

Efficiency- Check to see if your design is providing armies with turns/moves/etc. to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to keep up with your output.

1. Does your design allow itself or figures to move/attack/take a turn/etc. instead of/in addition to your normal turn for revealing an Order Marker? Is it granting these benefits to too broad a range of units? Does it combine with other powers to create overly long or powerful chains of actions?
no

2. Does your design allow you to take actions during an opponent's turn? Can it combine with other powers to create tediously long reactions to enemy actions or a restrictive environment?
no

3. Does your design allow you to rearrange your Order Markers or otherwise bypass the costs of Order Marker requirements on the special powers of other figures?
yep that's the idea

4. Is your design doing anything outside of a player's turn, at the start or end of the round? Is the effect too powerful by itself or when combined with other powers?
no

5. Does your design have any powers that trigger anytime it moves as opposed to only when it moves normally on its turn? Will it be too efficient when combined with figures that grant extra moves to figures?
no

6. Is your design adding or subtracting from initiative rolls? Will it pair too easily with other figures that alter initiative or have powers triggering on the results of initiative rolls?
no

Potency- Check to see if your design is wounding/removing/etc. enemy figures, increasing the chances of other figures in your army doing so, or otherwise directly effecting the number of figures available to players to a degree that would make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to recover from.

1. Does your design have a chance to inflict wounds or destroy figures? Is it getting these chances too frequently or having to high a chance of success? Is the power balanced against expensive targets that can cause a massive swing in the game when destroyed?
No

2. Is your design adding to the stats or 20-sided die rolls of other figures in your army? Is it a boosting a broad enough range of units effectively enough to become a 'mandatory' draft or inhibit future design space? Can it be combined with other boosts too easily?
No

3. Will your design benefit from stat boosts or other enhancement to an overpowering degree? Will it restrict future growth within its faction or point cost by limiting available boosts to others?
Benefits from stat boosts so he wounds enemies more often, but that's minor compared to multi attackers or deadly strike dudes.

4. Does your design take control of enemy figures permanently or temporarily? Is it too difficult to for your opponent to regain control of their figure or recover from the losing the figure? Does the method of taking control expose the enemy figure to the powers of other figures in your army that can easily destroy it?
No

5. Can your design heal itself or others or revive itself or others? Is it doing so in a way that an opponent cannot hope to overcome in certain scenarios?
No

6. Does your design place enemy figures on its card or otherwise have an unconventional method of temporarily removing enemy figures from play? Will it guarantee your victory against a single remaining enemy figure?
No

Chicanery- Check to see if your design is preventing your opponent from taking actions with too much ease or is otherwise causing negative play experience through tactics that make your opponent feel you're 'not playing fair'

1. Does your design restrict the movement of enemy figures, or allow you to move enemy figures? Can it do so in a way that results in an unwinnable scenario for your opponent if they are down to one figure, posses only figures with a range of 1, etc.? Can your design easily combine with other figures to greatly impede enemy figures or otherwise gain an excessive advantage?
No

2. Does your design effect/change the placement of an enemy's Order Markers, or remove their Order Markers entirely? Can it force Order Markers to go onto cards that have no figures on the battlefield? Can your design easily combine with other figures to completely dictate the placement of an enemy's Order Markers or remove all of their Order Markers?
No

3. Does your design inhibit your opponent from attacking your figures or make attacking a losing proposition? Are there scenarios or combinations that make your opponent totally unable to harm your figures through attacking?
No

4. Does your design directly negate the powers of enemy figures or otherwise ignore them in a way that can completely disrupt the opponent's strategy or leave them feeling like they are stuck playing figures without special powers?
No

5. Does your design become overly powerful in a podded group of figures, or provide significant benefit to your army without leaving your Start Zone?
No

6. You can attack your own figures in Heroscape, does your design have any powers that will trigger off of doing so or otherwise wounding/destroying your own figures? Is this intentional on your part? Will the design be too efficient or potent when doing so?
No

CONSISTENCY CHECKLIST (LONG FORM)

Spoiler Alert!

1. Are the character’s name and secret identity listed in a consistent format with the rest of the project? If the character shares a name and/or secret identity with another character is it properly clear whether or not they are the same character?
Consistent.

2. Consider the listed Species. Are the design’s power level, point level, and statistics (life, move, range, attack, and defense numbers) within the established range for that species? If it’s an outlier, is there thematic justification for this?
yes similar to Iron Man

3. Consider the listed Uniqueness. Does the power text properly reflect whether the figure is a Hero or a squad, and whether it is Event, Unique, Uncommon, or common? If it’s Event, are the powers written with consideration for Event Hero rules? If it’s Uncommon, are the powers written to avoid stacking? If it’s common, are the powers written with this in mind?
Unique Hero

4. Consider the Class and Personality. For each, is it a reuse? If so, is the character thematically consistent with other members of that Class or Personality? If not, is there a preexisting Class or Personality that would fit as well that could be used instead? Are there any existing synergies with that Class or Personality that are undesirable or that this Design would create that would be undesirable for preexisting members of that Class or Personality?
reuse for both

5. Consider the listed Size. If the figure is double based, is it Large or Huge? Is the chosen miniature’s physical size consistent with other miniatures in the chosen size category? Consider the listed Height. If you stack hexes up next to the figure, does the number listed for the height match up the layers of stacked hexes that match the miniature’s physical height?
Yes

7. Consider the listed Life number. Is this number consistent with other figures of the same species?
yes

8. Consider the listed Move number. Is this number consistent with other figures of that power level?
yes

9. Consider the listed Range and Attack numbers. Is this number consistent with other figures that use the same type of weapon or power to attack?
yes

10. Consider the listed Defense number. Is this number consistent with other figures of the same or similar species and with the same or similar armor or other defensive equipment?
yes

11. Does the figure have Super Strength? If it does or doesn’t, was this determined on the standard of that character demonstrating three things: A. The ability to throw a car B. The ability to survive a fall from a tall building and C. The ability to knock back another person when punching them?
Definitely super strength

12. Examine all of the special powers. Are there other powers that fit the same theme already in existence in the project? If so, can they be reused? If they can’t, can those other powers be used as a basis for the mechanics and wording?
2 new powers

13. Examine any movement powers. Do they keep the figure’s speed consistent with other figures of their species and power level?
n/a

14. Examine any offensive powers. Do they keep the figure’s offensive potential consistent with other figures with the same powers and power levels or skills and weaponry?
yes

15. Examine any defensive, healing, or other tanking powers. Do they keep the figure’s survivability consistent with other figures of the same powers or power level or species and armor class?
n/a

16. Examine any leadership powers. Do they exceed the activation potential of the best existing leaders? If so, is there thematic justification for this?
N/A

17. Consider any powers that reference darkness, electrical, figure movement, fire, gas, ice, kryptonite, light/sensory, magical, poison, psychic, stealth, or water-based abilities. Do these behave in similar ways to other powers of this type, including mentions of immunities?
N/A

18. Is it clear for all special powers what phase of the turn and how they are triggered, what phase of the turn they are active in, and when and how they cease being active?
Should be clear

19. Are special powers listed in game, round, and turn order?
yes

20. If a special power includes a D20 roll, does it make sense to list a number by the title?
N/A

21. If a power is being reused, are the title and wording copied accurately?
N/A

22. Has the power title or a very similar one been used before with vastly different mechanics?
no

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Got about 205 on the calculator, so I think you're in the right range. Second power seems like almost as much of a liability (makes him vulnerable to adjacent defensive powers like counter strike) as a plus (gets around non-adjacent defensive powers and has a small movement attached).

Both powers only doing their good thing when he wounds also keeps their value down, as does the first power being tied to a C-level faction.

So, yeah, 200 seems like a good place to test at.

Pre-yea for initial. I need more stuff I know in public testing.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (breathing)

Agreed on the second power being as much of a weakness as a strength.

I’ll propose for initial

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (Vote for initial)

Looking for a few more votes here

 

[MrNobody]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (Vote for initial)

Yea

 

[tcglkn]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (Vote for initial)

Yes

 

[Lord Pyre]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (Vote for initial)

Still catching up, sorry! Looks good though! Yea

If you want you could designate his fists to be a Power Armor power much like the Spider-Verse stuff: "Power Armor: Rocket Powered Fists" so we can keep working on Power Armor synergy.

Though obviously this guy is keyed into the JSA pretty hard so he wouldn't be a great pick.

The Adjacency thing with the fists is weird in some cases like counterstrike, but I haven't thought of anything game breaking. Are there any weird engagement strike abilities that would trigger if they don't move into engagement, for example? Just keep an eye out for anything, but I think we'll be good for the most part.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (Vote for initial)

This passes

I'm fine with the power armor modifier if the people building the power armor faction want that. I have no idea what that synergy is going to look like. I was also thinking of reusing the Rocket Powered Fists on Android 16 (who isn't in power armor) depending on how I liked the power here, so I'm not sure if that changes anything. But I'm also not 100% on reusing it if I think of something cooler in its place.

I don't think there should be any weird interactions but I'll keep an eye out in the tests.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (waiting for initial)

I believe any Engagement Strike stuff (like Wonder Girl's) trigger during/after movement, whereas this is in the attack phase with no movement esq triggers involved, so I think it's probably good?

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (waiting for initial)

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: What Zebras Have

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: STRIPE (200), Stargirl, Wildcat, Black Canary JSA, Mister Terrific Terry (900) VS Cap, Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Falcon (900)

Spoiler Alert!

JSA and Avengers each move up. Stargirl takes advantage of her powers to movement bond while carrying her slower allies up. Stargirl is targeted early as her force field is quite handy, and she falls. Stripe doesn’t ever replace her X marker (he missed his attack when he had a chance to do so). Stripe takes out Falcon.

Mister Terrific and Wildcat are taken out. While the JSA has strong heroes individually, they seem to struggle as an army compared to the Avengers, who are a well oiled machine with powers that synergize with each other really well. Stripe is a very solid beatstick, especially being able to move enemies, but he falls to the Avengers too in the end.

Despite the loss I think the Stripe/Stargirl combo is pretty nice and worth using.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Captain America (1 wound), Winter Soldier (3 wounds) win.

___________________________________________________________​

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: STRIPE (200), Stargirl, Power Girl, Doctor Fate (V. Nelson) (1020) VS IJL: Lex, Grodd, Clayface, Deathstroke (1020)

Spoiler Alert!

The Injustice League has Clayface engage Stargirl early on, limiting her usefulness. Despite this setback as well as taking multiple wounds from Clayface and Deathstroke, the JSA gets the first kill, taking out Deathstroke - but that gives Clayface the green kryptonite. Stripe manages to knock the Kryptonite away by wounding Clayface.

Clayface kills Stargirl with Claymation - but the Hand of Fate saves her! Clayface then kills Doctor Fate before he could do anything else. Power Girl takes out Grodd. Clayface kills Power Girl with Claymation. Clayface kills Stripe. Clayface is a nightmare to put down, but he can’t do much to Power Girl either, so a long struggle ensues. Power Girl takes out Clayface then Lex is no trouble for her.

This was a Clayface and Power Girl game, it feels like no one else did anything.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Power Girl (5 wounds) wins.

___________________________________________________________​

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: STRIPE (205), Atom, Hawkman, Superman (Kal-L) (965) VS Captain Cold, The Top, Girder, Mirror Master Sam, Magenta, Weather Wizard I (965)

Spoiler Alert!

The battle starts quickly, with Hawkman moving his JSA allies up and Mirror Master doing the same for the Rogues. Hawkman burns OM3 to bond with Stripe and give him +1 attack, and Stripe hits Magenta for 2 wounds, bringing OM3 back to Hawkman. Hawkman takes out Magenta, then each side trades blows for a little.

The next round, Stripe’s first attack is blocked, so he’s unable to replace Hawkman’s OM3 right away. The Rogues take out Superman, who sucks against special attacks. Hawkman takes out Weather Wizard, then Stripe puts a wound on Mirror Master. Stripe and Hawkman take out The Top.

The Rogues finally kill Hawkman. Stripe kills Girder. The Rogues take out Stripe. Atom finishes off Mirror Master. Cold ices Atom.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Captain Cold (1 wound) wins.

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Stripe is fun and has some nice mechanical synergy with the rest of the JSA. He’s a solid beatstick and his Large size gives him a few useful immunities. It’s harder to time the OM replacement power correctly - you don’t always know when Stargirl will trigger it, and with 5 attack, Stripe doesn’t always get that wound in. But that’s pretty balanced as it’s a pretty huge moment if Stripe can replace Stargirl’s X marker, as that’s another free attack blocked.

With Hawkman, Stripe has some really impressive synergy - Stripe benefits from the attack boost from Hawkman so he can more easily replace Hawkman’s used OM. But Hawkman is fairly average defensively, so it balances out. Definitely worth testing that combo again though as that felt like his best pairing.

Felt pretty close at 200. Could go down or up a little I imagine, but I’d be surprised if he ended up outside the 180-220 range.

 

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (initial is in)

Which Mirror Master Sam did you use? The world must know! (probably the actually useful one)

--

On the power armor stuff, you could also just give him the regular power armor power if you wanted. You have the space and it's pretty minor.

I personally think it would be cool if he had power armor (either the regular one or a 'spiderverse' thing), but I'm biased. Would be great to be able to do an original recipe Star-Spangled Kid II Cortney that had like a 'Power Armor carried' power that lets her ride around on Stripe.

--

On the Hawkman stuff, is it thematic for him to be basically a must have pairing there?

Like my experience with Stripe is he really only worked with the JSA as like an extension of Stargirl, and mostly as a tech support guy and not super often, not a dude who was hanging with Hawkman as a full member. More JSA adjacent than JSA core.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (initial is in)

I used normal Sam, the one with both his own legs.

Sure, we could just straight up add the Power Armor power. Didn't realize it was such a minor power, especially at 6 defense.

STRIPE fought alongside the JSA a few times. Stargirl's a main member and Pat in STRIPE came along depending on the arc. So yeah, not Hawkman's best buddy or anything. And the JSA often had members drop in and out like that since their roster was pretty big. Personally I like the synergy and it's not like the JSA Hawkman was really used before anyway.

 

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (initial is in)

To clarify, I'm not against him working with Hawkman. More just thinking we might want to plan on having some other JSA options down the line with ways to shore up Hawkman so Stripe isn't the only game in town.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (initial is in)

Makes sense. Digging the synergy here. Pre-yea for public testing. I'll definitely try him with Hawkman if I get the chance to playtest here.

 

[Arch-vile]

Re: The Book of S.T.R.I.P.E. (initial is in)

Yeah, that’s a solid idea. Maybe a JSA Hawkgirl could be geared towards him. We could also use a JSA Wonder Woman and Batman if we really go old school.