New House Rule

Because?

EDIT: Is it because people keep forgetting what they put on the top of their deck, I know I have!

matchstick nailed it.  I was going to post the same word.

So there's no real gameplay reason behind it, just "because comics"?

New House Rule, Expatriette can only track her HP with bullet casings, if you have no bullet casings then you can't play as Expatriette.

If anyone needs any, I have plenty. I keep saving them to reload, despite the fact that I know I'm never actually going to do it. I also make more on a fairly regular basis. :-P

New House Rule, you can't play the card Cyro Chamber unless you are actually in a cyro chamber.

New House Rule:

you can't draw from Ammo Drop unless you get little boxes on parachutes and throw them up into the air whenever a villain card is destroyed.

although those comments are in jest, they do have a bit of truth to them.  Now if its more fun for you to play the game like that, then whatever....  but your logic is at a serious failing here.  And furthermore, playing with deck face up is not purely a cosmetic thing,  it is a game advantage, to an already powerful character.

Your thought process seems to be essentially "because Visionary is the psychic character, she gets more information about her deck."      But what you apparently dont realize is that Visionarys 'being the psychic character'  is already represented by her deck.

It would be like saying, "because Tachyon is the fast character, she gets to take another turn on the Environment turn.  Why?  Because she's fast."    or "because Tempest controls the weather, he doesn't take damage from certain Environment cards.  Why?  Because he controls the weather."

I am SO doing this.

>taking anything in this thread seriously, besides the ammo drop thing

Honestly. Obvious Joke is obvious.

Actually, I wouldn't really call her... THAT powerful.

I mean, she's better than someone like Haka by far, but she's nowhere near Wraith's level of badassitude. Especially if you play with modified Rook City Wraith, where she has the option of putting the card back on top of the deck.

I've seen you mention this before, but it wasn't the place to call you out on it.  Why do you think Haka sucks so much?

I see what you did there.

Ok, you want to know my problem with Haka?

well, my MAIN problem is that my friend was playing him wrong. He spent the entire game trying to play like Bunker or Tachyon, where he charges that one attack for one massive-damage-fest, when he should really be dealing out damage continually. After I figured that out, I didn't hate him as much.

The other thing is, his payoff isn't that great. With Wraith, you get to a point where no one is taking damage, the villain deck is basically at your beck and call, and you can throw out lots of damage to multiple targets as well. With Haka, you can do SOME cool stuff -- like stealing all of the thugs and underbosses -- but he takes so much work to get there, and even then Haka of Battle isn't that great of a boost. He doesn't do much damage; 3 damage to 2 targets tops vs. Wraith's 3 damage to 3 targets or Ra's 30 damage to all non-hero targets with Plague Rat and Drawn to the Flame, and you can only ever play one card and use one power each turn, so you can't prepare quickly like with Wraith's Impromptu Invention or Bunker's Upgrayedd Mode.

.... so we're being serious again, I take it?   

First off you're vastly overplaying Ra.    Or perhaps you are technically correct, but when the Enhanced Edition comes out Drawn to the Flame will be revised, so you may as well begin playing it as a single attack now.    Although I still find Ra to be quite good even without that card so point taken but-  anyway, this isn't about Ra.

Not everyone does the same thing, and not everyone is purely about damage.  Although if damage is your game I think a fair case can be made that Haka can belt out a fair amount of it.  But Haka's a tank.  He's got Ta Moko, and the most hp in the game.  8 more max hp than wraith, and unparalleled ability to abosrb damage without tricks.  He doesn't have to rely on things being a specific element for him to absorb damage, he just plays a Haka of shielding and nulls the next 2 damag he would take.    He can heal a lot with either Haka of Restoration or more preferably Vitality Surge.  He has a lot of card drawing with his Haka of X and Vitality Surge, and Mere, and Dominion, he can frequently have quite a big hand to dump into Haka of Battle for a huge hit.  Not as much as some others, granted, but it keeps with the general theme that:

Haka needs very little build-up.  He is good right out of the gate.  He is good after his stuff gets destroyed, he needs very few cards and he can get them very easily,  he has SIX different cards in his deck that let him draw extra cards (Haka of Vitality/Shielding/Battle, Vitality Surge, Mere, Dominion) which I believe is more than any other hero.

His pay off is that he can prevent cards from coming out again; the damage he deals from Savage Mana is secondary to the effect of removing the cards from play entirely, where they cannot do any damage to the heroes. It's like a damage reduction card and a charge-for-big-shot card all in one.

He takes 1 card to "get there", how is that hard work?

I'll give you the damage... but again, I think you're looking at only part of the card. The  9 "Haka of..." cards give you a possibly useful boost AND card cycling, card cycling is an important ability.

If we're talking about cards let's mention Rampage, doesn't help you get set up but it does deal a shedload of damage (and I've no idea where 30 damage comes from with Ra, and against Plague Rat? He has only 1 additional target, all targets is not all that).
And let's also mention Punish the Weak, which I see as his defining card. With this he's like a pack of lions, picking off the weakest enemy and then moving on to the next weakest, thinning out the herd. The fact that the heroes get to make the choices means that you could do 4 damage to each target with the Taiaha or 6 damage to everyone with Rampage if you're lucky! (and only 1 damage to each hero incidentally)

Edit: Ninja'd by only 20 minutes! (Note to self, next time don't get distracted by looking on wiki to find out how to pronounce Taiaha)

On the subject of which hero we find underpowered, has anyone had trouble with Absolute Zero?  I love the guy, but if his equipment gets destroyed, he gets punked like no other.  I really like the character, his theme, and what he can do with his deck.  However, if I had to say that any character was a bit underpowered, it'd be him considering how reliant he is on his module cards and dealing damage (I've had games where he couldn't deal any damage for two or three turns, and it shut down pretty much any options he had).  By no means am I an expert on this game, but my group has consistently had problems with him.

Absolute Zero is a very tough character to use, but he is far from underpowered. He has plenty of Modules so he can almost always have back up, plus he has ways to get them from the deck so it's even better. As soon as he gets rolling though he'll be beating the baddies in no time at all. Play against a villian who doesn't destroy equipment so often in a environment that also doesn't and get some good practice and learn his deck then losing equipment cards won't cause so much grief.

Christopher has made a post about advice on Absolute Zero in someone's topic but sadly I couldn't find it or else I would of posted the link as well.

Edit: Scratch that, it was a post about Fanatic. Though I think the Absolute Zero advice may be in one of the podcast, can't recall which one.

The 30 from Ra came from an actual game I played against Plague Rat. He has a lot of Ongoing cards, so at the time he had 6 out, and everyone was buffed for +4 damage. (Or at least, Ra was.) So, 1 + 4 for each ongoing card is 30, and that is a pretty weak usage from my experience. Only against Plague Rat, though.

As for Haka, I guess I never considered him to be a defensive hero... I guess I'll have to look into that a bit more.

Absolute Zero is a badass, especially if you have someone like Legacy to boost damage. As long as you don't lose your two modules, you're basically untouchable. Twist the Ether doesn't hurt either.

He's complicated, yes, but his payoff is great.

... Actually, I think I'll just make a topic on people's favorite and least favorite heroes, and why everyone's least favorites aren't as bad as they think. (mine included, of course.)

Huh, interesting. I read Drawn to the Flame as a total, not separate instances of damage... I might have to revise my opinion on that. But if you're right then it's not 30 damage in a single shot, it's (1+x) damage inflicted on each target (ongoing cards) times, subject to any reductions your targets might have (e.g. Biometric Plasma Vat would reduce each instance of damage by 1, not the total)

That is correct. It's the same thing with Fanatic's Exorcism, Visionary's Brain Burn, Haka's Savage Mana (!!!) and Pterodactyl thief, which means they change in relative effectiveness to the X powers depending on how many buffs are around. 3 Obsidian Fields? The 1-per-card powers are absurdly strong. Twisted Back Alleys and 2 Genebound Guards? Probably stick to the X damage powers if you want anything to come of it.

The cards were always intended to deal damage all in one hit, so things like Drawn to the Flame in the second edition are using the variable "x" so they will no long get buffed a lot of times.

It's this part in particular that makes me feel that he is a bit underpowered.

You're doing it wrong. It is
(1 * Ongoings) + 4
NOT
(1+4) * Ongoings

No I'm not.

"Back during the core set Indianapoiis demoes (back in November) Chris stated that, as long as you were consistant, you could treat the "for each" cards as multiple instances of damage (each one buffed or debuffed as necessary), or add them all up and deal a single instance of damage (only buffed or debuffed one time), so long as you treated all "for each" cards the same thoughout the game.  He also stated that he was going simplify this in the future, and it appears in most cases he is replacing most of the "for each" cards with text that utilizes algebra to come up with a single instance of damage."

I can see where you're confused.

The wording in the original deck isn't very clear, "Ra deals each non-hero target 1 fire damage for each villain ongoing card in play"
However, In the Enhanced Edition, The Card says "Ra deals each non-hero target X fire damage, where X = the number of villain ongoing cards in play."

And I furt---- gets axed by Christopher for revealing too much.

Yeah, I was gunna say.  To be fair, his reading was correct with the old wording, but won't be with Enhanced Edition.

Well, I don't HAVE Enhanced Edition, do I? How would you expect me to know what they changed and what they didn't?

Chris on AZ strategy was in BGG forums, not here. I'll look for it when I get to a proper desktop.

I thought so too and I've been looking since Ronway posted that but I can't find it, if you can then you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din

I can't find it either. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong... But I do remember Christopher sharing some AZ tips.

Was it audio? As in podcast?

But the same applies to just about everyone who takes on Citizen Dawn since she wipes out the entire Hero play field. The only real disadvantage Absolute Zero has is that he can't use his Innate power right from the start, but with the amount of Modules and Module realignments in the deck then you should always have at least one of them in your hand. Not to mention all characters have at least three cards they need to start functioning to the best of their ability, sure they can do stuff straight from the gate and of course games could end before than but it isn't purely Zero's fault. Also just having one module will give him the ability to do somethings, he would be capable of healing one damage and that's not really bad at all.

Still going with Citizen Dawn he is still really useful, he is the only hero that can heal from the damage of one of the villian cards (Citizen Winter) while others just become immune. Also Citizen Summer and Hammer both will cause him to do damage back to any other villian, while I believe most of the others would strike the one doing the damage. So "underpowered" isn't really a correct word for him, complicated is something that would fit better. Just because someone doesn't fit a playstyle you like doesn't make him underpowered after all.

His default power, when both of his Modules are destroyed (which many villains and environments can do quite easily with only one card) is not only ineffective, but actively harms him.  This doesn't make him a bad character, or a poorly designed one, but that does make him underpowered.  If you strip every other character of their bells and whistles, they at least have the potential to do something helpful.  Absolute Zero does not.  Even if you shoot the Wraith's Utility Belt and all of her sharp and 'sploshiony goodies fall out, she can still at least soak some damage.  Haka has the potential to crunch a Genebound something-or-the-other for some damage.  Bunker can draw a card.  Zero merely makes his cold colder or burns at any temperature above frozen tundra.  Thematically?  Tragic and interesting, providing a potential for conflict, character development, and team dynamics with the other members of the Freedom Five.  Mechanically?  It isn't very fun.

But if it gets destroyed you'll still be able to play a card on the same turn you have the option to use a power and nine times out of ten if you are going to be facing someone that destroys equipment cards then you should of prepared for it and already had back up Modules in your hand. So he'll either be able to heal himself or even deal one damage to himself and a enemy.

If I don't have a module in hand, in play or a way to draw one I generally don't play a card or use a power, that allows me to draw 2 cards.

I have to say I think that is an often underrated 'power'.

This.

I sometimes forget not everyone uses this as much as we do. Many heroes will never need to take advantage of this, but for AZ it's fundamental to who he is - and the reason he can succeed, in my opinion. It helps to have Visionary helping out (and Argent Adept and NightMist, when they can), but I've found he can usually do some really good stuff by just sitting out for a bit.

Unless he has Subzero Atmosphere in his opening hand and you're playing Dawn... 8)

At Origins, a fan of the game was talking to Christopher, telling him how he didn't think AZ could ever work, so Christopher offered to show him what AZ could do. Christopher, arenson9, and the fan sat down for a game with Christopher playing AZ. I don't remember all the details (I was running a demo at the time), but I remember on his first turn, Christopher just drew two cards. They ended up losing, but the fan agreed that AZ did a great deal more than he'd ever seen him do (AZ was the last hero in play), and he had a better understanding of what was possible with AZ.

Maybe you just need to stop by the >G booth at a con and have Christopher play AZ for you. ;)

Rabit

I certainly don't have a problem with house rules, but only if they make the game more fun.  I think the balanced games where you win or lose by the skin of your teeth are the most fun so my house rules are only used to try to make the game more balanced.  I think playing Visionary's deck face up does not balance the game.  It gives way too much advantage to the heroes.  If you can't remember what you put on top, oh well.  You can blame it on the brain hemmorhage Visionary has.

And you can only use AZ's deck after it's been in the freezer. ;)

I was testing a houseruled Gloomweaver, but had to stop, now that I enter my games in the statistics.

Houserule :

At the start of the villain turn, if there is at least one Vaudoo Pin in play, play the top card of the villain deck.

At the end of the villain turn, if there are two or more Vaudoo Pins in play, play the top card of the villain deck.

House rule: Whenever you destroy a target with fire damage, you have to set it on fire.

I've been spending far too much money on replacement cards...

How do you deal with radiant damage?

Shine it with a flash light!

Take it down the street and have it consecrated.  We know this *very* understanding priest.

I think we have the most fun with projectile damage though...

Sonic damage requires you to scream at cards.

Alternatively, you could stick them in a pimped-out car with big enough bass amps to blow out human eardrums.

I always hate driving next to people with loud music and high bass. I've heard from a friend that his friend went through cars faster than most people go through shoes, he always had the music so high it was literally shaking his car apart.