| HeroClix House Rules, Doc Nebula edition, January 9, 2004 UPDATED: April 4 2007 While WizKids' HeroClix is generally an excellent game, I personally feel
that there are places where concerns of technical game function overwhelm
faithfulness to the comic book combat that the rules are attempting to
simulate. For me, this is a real problem. Were this simply a
game in which sophisticated chess pieces were moved around a board and pitted
against each other, any consistent, playable rules would work fine. However, this is a game in which the major selling
point and appeal is the fact that the pieces are made to represent a variety of
superpowered characters/people that the target
audience reveres and will enjoy playing with vicarious representations of.
Since WizKids markets their game specifically to this
audience, and sells the game with ad copy on the boxes indicating that its
major feature is the ability to put various individual characters up against
each other and see how those conflicts resolve, I feel that compatability
with the superhuman combat they are attempting to model should be a significant
priority. And when game balance or rules function takes precedence over
consistency with how any comics fan knows certain characters and their
abilities work in the comic books, well, I find it troubling enough to endanger
the enjoyment I take from the game. I look at it this way: there are many customers of
the HeroClix game who aren't overly concerned with how flight actually works in comic books, or
if Daredevil should have Leap-Climb or not, and I understand that, and that's
fine. But those customers will be just as happy if the rules ARE consistent
with the fictional matrix that the game is attempting to simulate, because such
customers don't really care one way or another. Therefore, again, the rules
should model the fictional matrix of superhuman combat as presented in classic
superhero comics as closely as possible, because comics fans WILL care, and pure gamers won't know the difference. With this in mind, for my local HeroClix
games with a few friends, I have imposed various house rules, always with the
intention of making the game more closely resemble the type of conflicts played
out in the superhero comic books most of us love. Since I think these house
rules make the game play better, or, at least, play in a manner that more
closely resembles the comic books many HeroClix
players revere, these rules may be of interest to other players who, like me,
would enjoy having their HeroClix matches more closely
simulate comic book super battles. If I haven't noted a rule change below, we're using
the actual HeroClix rules. I'll list the house rules,
then probably add some comments clarifying them, or at least, adding my
opinions as to why I felt they were necessary, in italics after. Attacking –
- Movement
- Characters
may move up to their full movement value as shown on their dial at the
beginning of their movement. After concluding their move, they may make a close
combat action or attack on any adjacent opposing character as a free action.
This is a normal movement action and generates one action token. Characters with Super
Strength may pick up and attack with an object as a free action if they do not
move further than half their movement (rounding up) in that turn. Characters may move up to
half their movement value (rounding up) as shown on their dial at the beginning
of their movement. After concluding their move, they may make a ranged attack
on any character within their range that they have a clear line of sight to as
a free action. This is a normal movement action for any character and generates
one action token. Characters with Super
Strength may pick up and use an object to make a ranged attack as a free action
in the same turn, provided they do not exceed half their movement, rounding up.
Characters may only make one
free attack per movement, either close combat or
ranged. Figures moved by other
characters in any way other than by being thrown or knocked back may not take
any actions until the beginning of their controller's next turn. Flying -- Individual Flight figures may taxi/carry one other adjacent friendly figure ONLY if the carrying flight figure has either Super Strength, Hypersonic Speed, and/or a Damage Value of 3 or greater. If a Flight Figure has none of these, it may taxi/carry one other figure for half its Movement if it has a Damage Value of 2. If a Flight Figure does not possess Super Strength or Hypersonic Speed and its Damage Value is 1, it may fly according to the normal movement rules of that mode, but may not taxi or carry any other figure.
Flying and transporter characters meeting the prerequisites for taxiing other characters their full movement value may taxi characters that are not adjacent to them at the beginning of their movement, under the following conditions:
Taxiing character must be able to move to an unoccupied square adjacent to target character within their normal movement for the turn.
If a taxi character is attempting to taxi a non-adjacent friendly character, both the taxiing character and the non-adjacent friendly character will immediately take one click of damage when they become adjacent to each other during the taxiing character’s movement. This damage may be reduced normally but not transferred or evaded. The taxiing character may then carry the now adjacent friendly character for the remainder of its movement. It must set the carried character down as per taxi or transporter rules, whichever applies.
If a taxi character is attempting to taxi an opposing character, a successful attack roll must be made against the target opposing character as the two characters become adjacent. If this attack is successful, both the taxiing character and the now adjacent opposing character will immediately take one click of damage. This damage may be reduced normally but not transferred or evaded. The opposing character may then be carried by the taxiing character for the remainder of the taxiing character’s movement. The taxiing character must set the carried character down as per normal taxi or transporter rules, whichever applies.
If this attack to taxi is unsuccessful, the opposing character may make a close combat attack on the adjacent taxi character which unsuccessfully attacked it, as a free action.
Figures who are taxied may not take any action after they are taxied until the start of their controller's next turn.
One of the first things that bothered me about the HeroClix rules as they are written is the way flyers are
defined. Under HeroClix rules, ALL flyers can carry
one other friendly adjacent figure their full distance. Later rules revisions
attempted to mend some grotesque game imbalances caused by this, but the
problem wasn't flying figures carrying other flying figures, as sometimes
happens in comics in special circumstances (please don't tell me Thor can't
carry the Wasp, I just don't believe it) or figures being able to move after
being taxied, which always happens in comics when a flying figure hauls someone
else out into the middle of a fight. The problem was simply that not all superhumans with the power of flight can carry every other
superhuman. That's what needs to be fixed, and if you fix it, you tend to
restore game balance as a side effect. Therefore, in my HeroClix
house rules, flyers cannot carry other figures unless they are very strong,
which is represented by either the power Super Strength or a Damage of 2 or
higher. And flyers with Damages of 2 and no Super Strength aren't strong enough
to carry other figures for their full distance. This corrects a lot of inconsistencies, such as the
Vulture or the Wasp picking up the Hulk or the Abomination and hauling them willy nilly
around the board. The Wasp isn't quite entirely corrected, since she can still
move a normal or even oversized fig (like the Abomination) for half her
distance, which is kind of absurd, but the Wasp is an inappropriately defined
fig and you just kind of have to ignore her for the most part. This rule corrects
pretty much all the other flying figs I'm aware of and makes them more
consistent with how their characters are represented in comics, and it half
corrects the Wasp, so in that regard at least, I'll declare victory and retire
from the field. In point of fact, none of this really matters any
more, since with my new movement rules, I have put No Action After
Taxi or Telekinesis into effect, so hardly anyone will bother doing this any
more. But, still, if they do, the rules are there. Stealth
- Characters
using the Stealth power cannot be engaged by either close combat or ranged
attacks when they are inside Hindering Terrain. To all intents and purposes
advantageous to the Stealthed character, hindering
terrain acts as Blocking Terrain from its exterior side. *****A Stealthed
character hidden in hindering terrain does not obscure line of sight through
the square they occupy. There is no chance of 'accidentally' hitting such a
hidden character by shooting through their square at a character beyond them; the
Stealthed character is assumed to be keeping its head
down on an opponents turn. *****A Stealthed
character hiding in hindering terrain can be moved past by an opposing figure.
Since there is no line of sight to the Stealthed
figure, an adjacent opponent is not considered to be engaged unless the
adjacent opponent can somehow perceive and engage the Stealthed
figure in combat. *****A Stealthed
character may strike on adjacent opponent characters; the adjacent opponent
characters, however, cannot ascertain the precise location of the Stealthed character without using a specific power or
making a specific action, as below: *****Characters with the
power Super Senses automatically see Stealthed
characters even when those characters are concealed by hindering terrain. They
may attack them in Close Combat or with Ranged Attacks. *****Characters without
Super Senses may make either a normal Ranged or Close Combat attack for zero
damage if they choose on a Stealthed character hiding
in hindering terrain. Whether successful or unsuccessful, they take an action
token. If successful, they have 'spotted' the hidden character and may then
engage them in Close Combat, but not with Ranged Attacks. *****Characters with Super
Senses, or those succeeding in 'spotting' a Stealthed
character, may attack the Stealthed character
themselves, but they cannot guide another character in making an attack on the Stealthed character, unless they also have Leadership. Once again, this is all about trying to simulate how
things work in the comic books better than the conventional HeroClix
rules on Stealth manage to. In HeroClix, Stealth is
basically there simply to keep players from fielding nothing but figs with
ranged attacks. What Stealth does by the conventional rules is, effectively,
force opposing figures to engage a Stealthed figure
base to base to get a Close Combat attack, since Stealthed
figures cannot be in any way perceived by ranged attackers. I understand why WizKids
feels such a rule is necessary. However, the result is, opposing characters
immediately charge directly at a figure that, according to the rules, none of them can see, and then beat the hell out
of that same concealed figure that none of them know the precise location of.
This seems to deviate from the way something called 'Stealth' should work, at
least, to my mind. Of course each player knows exactly where a Stealthed fig is, there's no really sensible way to get
around that. But with my house rules, in which you simply CAN'T engage a Stealthed figure unless you have some superhuman way of
seeing them, or you search around their square until you find them, taking the
time and making the effort to do so, there is no motivation for simply running
right up to a Stealthed fig and attacking immediately
when your character cannot actually see the fig. In fact, there are very good
reasons to avoid the fig entirely, since it can engage an adjacent opponent, or
fire missiles at that opponent, without being engaged in return. Therefore,
opponents tend to either avoid Stealthed figs, or do
something logical and consistent within superhero combat models to locate those
figs' and either of those alternatives is more consistent and believable, in my
opinion, than the end result of applying the conventional HeroClix
rules regarding Stealth. I also very much like the fact that Super Senses can
be used to detect sneaky opponents, since all the Super Senses figures I know
of -- Daredevil, Spider-Man, etc -- do this sort of thing all the time. Purists
will shriek like little girls that this should make Super Senses characters
cost more in terms of point value, but our Stealth rules make Stealth
characters more effective, too, so I feel it's a wash. There is also another way within our house rules to
get around Stealth: Hindering
Terrain may be destroyed (reduced to open terrain) in the same manner as
Blocking Terrain may be reduced to Hindering Terrain, i.e., by the use of Super
Strength or applying three clicks of damage at once to the terrain square. This
is an automatic action that can be taken by any character with an appropriate
attack available, as with the destruction of Blocking Terrain. No damage is
done to a character hiding in the attacked terrain square; the attack merely
reduces the Hindering Terrain to Open Terrain, thus revealing any Stealthed figures hiding there.
If the Thing were closer to Deadpool's
hiding spot than the Torch, he could simply run over and uproot the whole
section of overgrowth, or rip the sod up like a tablecloth, as is often seen in
comics, and expose Deadpool that way. If Spider-Man
or Daredevil were nearby, they'd use their Super Senses to locate Deadpool and attack him. And if Turk or Grotto happened to
be ambling by and suddenly went suicidally insane,
they could try to spot Deadpool using their normal
human senses and if successful, they could run up and engage him in hand to
hand combat, and almost certainly die gruesome deaths in the very near future. In effect, this means that any character you have
with either Super Strength or a Damage of 3 can get rid of Hindering Terrain,
just as such characters could turn Blocking Terrain into Hindering Terrain, or
such characters can yank Object Tokens that Stealthed
characters are using as cover out from under them. This seems logical and in
fact isn't even a 'house rule' as such, since there is nothing in the rules
forbidding this and WizKids hasn't issued a FAQ as of
this writing doing so. While there are, admittedly, many methods of dealing
with Stealthed characters under the standard HeroClix rules, most of them require not only certain
specific powers (Energy Explosion, Pulse Blast, etc) but they also require
setting up certain situations that are difficult to bring about, to say the
least. And even if one does make such an attack successfully, managing to get a
click of damage to a Stealthed character only 'deals'
with the character if it has only one click of Stealth, for example, and while
many do, many others do not. The most common method under conventional HeroClix rules is simply to run up to the Stealthed figure and engage it in close combat, and that is
the method pretty much all characters will use under those rules, and I simply
find it to be utterly contrary to common sense for characters to be able to do
this. Under my house rules, every method listed above to
deal with Stealthed characters still works, except
for running up to them and hitting them, which is the one that makes the least
sense. In addition, there are now three additional methods to successfully deal
with Stealthed characters hiding on Hindering
Terrain: Super Senses, a normal 'spotting roll' as detailed above, or by
applying certain levels of force to reduce the Hindering Terrain to Open
Terrain. It can be argued that my house rules for Stealth
make the power even more annoying than it already is, in a game in which
apparently Stealth characters are almost universally loathed by opponents. It
can also be argued that my house rules are more complex than HeroClix's
standard rules are. Those are both valid
arguments, and again, my rules are pretty much always designed to the purpose
of making the game more consistent with the superhero combats we see portrayed
in comic books. Other players with other priorities probably shouldn't consider
using these house rules. Elevated
Terrain - A character on elevated terrain may choose to move from elevated
terrain to grounded terrain without utilizing special powers that ignore
terrain (Flight, Phasing, Leap Climb) or map features designed to facilitate
this movement (ladders, stairs) simply by moving from the edge of elevated
terrain to an adjacent square in grounded terrain. Characters that do this are
dealt 2 clicks of damage by the impact and must end their movement in the
adjacent grounded square they have moved into unless the damage dealt has been
reduced to 0 by some means. Super Senses may not be used to avoid this damage,
but all other damage reducing powers apply. Characters may deliberately
choose to move from an elevated square to a grounded square occupied by an
opponent character. If they do this, each character is dealt 1 click of damage
and the player controlling the opponent character chooses which adjacent
grounded square the moving character ends its move in. If there is no adjacent
square that the falling character could end up in legally, the move is
disallowed. Soaring characters may drop
carried characters at any point in their movement in any square adjacent to
whichever square they occupy while dropping them. The carried character will be
dealt 2 clicks of damage and its turn will end in the square it lands in unless
that damage is reduced to 0. Characters may be dropped on opposing characters,
see rules above. This rule is here for
the pure and simple reason that it drives me absolutely insane when one of my
characters ends up stuck up on top of some building, or some mad scientist
machine, because some flyer ferried them up there and then left. If the Human
Torch carries the Thing up to the top of a building and then leaves him there,
the Thing will just jump the hell off that building if he needs to get back
down to the street. The second part of the rule is to let big strong
tough characters deliberately hurl themselves onto enemies from high up in the
air. This sort of thing happens in comics all the time. You don't do it if
you're Aunt May, obviously, unless you want to get hurt, but the Vision once
did it to Count Nefaria and it's a legitimate attack
tactic. Soaring characters can do it without being on elevated terrain, obviously, they simply have to start their move
adjacent to the grounded character they want to fall on, click down to
hovering, and take/deal 1 click of damage. Their opponent would then decide
which adjacent square they would end up in, and their movement would end in
that square, with them in hovering mode. The third part of the rule, again, is to allow
things that happen in comics, like the Angel dropping Colossus from a great
height onto the Blob's fat head. Water
- Water is not considered to
obstruct line of sight (for purposes of making attacks) unless a character
entering it has the dolphin symbol next to their movement rating. However, if a
character DOES have the dolphin symbol on their dial, then water acts as
hindering terrain in all applicable ways, i.e., their Defense is increased by 1
against Ranged Combat Attacks, or there is no line of sight to this character
if it has Stealth or some other ability that simulates Stealth. Squares of water terrain
should be defined at the start of the game as being either Shallow
or Deep. Characters with the boot
symbol on their dial may wade through Shallow water terrain at a movement of 1.
Characters with the boot symbol have their movement reduced to 0 upon entering
Deep Water terrain. Their movement returns to normal when they leave Deep Water
terrain. Characters with the boot
symbol on their dial who find themselves in Deep Water terrain at the beginning
of their controller's turn immediately receive an action token to signify that
they are struggling to stay afloat. They may not take any actions or use any
powers other than as specified further in this section. When these characters
have two action tokens on them they receive one click of Drowning
damage. Action tokens are not removed from such characters until they are
removed from water terrain. Each time an action/drowning token is taken after
the first two, Drowning characters take another click
of damage. Characters with the boot
symbol who possess movement powers that normally allow
them to ignore the effects of Hindering Terrain such as Charge, Leap Climb,
Phasing/Teleport, or HyperSonic Speed may move at
half their normal Speed while in Shallow Water terrain. Such characters may
roll 1 d6 each turn they are in Deep Water terrain. On a 4-6 they may move up
to half their movement that turn. They will still receive any damage they might
normally receive from accrued action (drowning) tokens at the beginning of the
turn. Characters with Toughness
will not take the first click of damage received from Drowning, but afterwards
will take drowning damage as normal as drowning tokens accrue. Characters with
Invulnerability will not take the first three clicks of damage received from
drowning, but afterwards will take drowning damage as normal as drowning tokens
accrue. Characters with Impervious will not take the first four clicks of
damage from drowning, and may roll 1 d6 as normal when taking damage; on a 5-6
all Drowning damage is reduced to zero although accrued drowning tokens remain. Sub-Mariner is considered to
have a dolphin token at any time he is not Flying. All this strikes me as
simply much needed clarification of how Water terrain works. I don't know if
there are any clix with Stealth and a dolphin symbol,
but if there are, they should certainly be able to hide in water, and any fig
with the dolphin symbol should at least get the +1 to its defense for being
able to swim well enough to dive when someone is shooting at it. This means that Force Blast is a little handier on
the maps with water features, and Telekinesis can be very handy indeed. It also
means some common sense needs to be applied, as always, to map features; it is
unlikely that Hercules could not simply wade back out of the koi pond outside the supervillain
hide out on one side of the Indy map, although, if he were two squares in, he'd
take two turns doing it, since he'd be moving at a Speed of 1 while in the
water squares. The big lake in the park, on the other hand, would
be trouble for anyone tossed into it if they couldn't fly or swim. Objects
- For
purposes of being grabbed and used as a close combat or range weapon, or picked
up and thrown, normal sized characters are considered to be Light Objects,
while Giants are considered to be Heavy Objects. *****If a character with
Super Strength wishes to pick up a friendly character and throw him up to six
squares, or use him as either a ranged or close combat weapon, he may do so
automatically. Characters are treated as light or heavy objects for this
purpose (see above), and therefore have a range of 6 or 4, and if thrown into
another character or Blocking Terrain or onto open terrain, characters deal and
are dealt one click of damage. If a friendly character is used as a weapon in
Close Combat, it is dealt the attacker's normal damage plus one click. The
attacker takes an action token as normal, but may pick up and use a friendly
character as a weapon in one action. *****If a character with
Super Strength simply wishes to pick up and throw an adjacent friendly figure
six clicks (or less) they may, as an automatic action with no roll. The thrown
figure will be dealt one click of damage upon landing, which will be reduced as
normal by damage reducing powers, and which can be avoided by Super Senses on a
roll of 5-6. This damage is not dealt to characters with Leap/Climb. *****If a character with
Super Strength wishes to pick up and throw an adjacent opponent, or use that
opponent as a weapon in a close combat attack, they must make a Close Combat
attack for zero damage on the adjacent opponent and take an action token as
normal. If successful, the opponent may not make any attempt to breakaway
unless they possess Flight, Leap-Climb, Super Strength, or Plasticity. If the
captured opponent possesses these powers, they may breakaway on a 4-6 on a d6
on their next movement turn, if they can make a normal movement action. (If a
character who possesses Phasing is grabbed, they can
simply leave on their next turn, as normal, again provided they may make a
normal move action.) *****Opponent characters who are grabbed to be thrown or used as weapons by opponents
may, if they can be given an action, make a Close Combat attack on the
character grabbing them on their next turn. If they do at least one click of
damage to the grabbing opponent, they are considered to be free, but still
adjacent. If not, they are still grabbed, and on any following turn in which he
may be given an action, the opponent who has seized and held them may either
throw them up to six spaces, or use them as a weapon in a close combat attack
on any other legitimate target. ***** Again, characters are
considered Light or Heavy Objects for these purposes; however, characters are
not destroyed after one use. Instead, they take whatever damage they are
dealing out to the target opponent. (If an opponent has Damage Resistance
powers like Invulnerability or Toughness, it doesn't help the grabbed character
being used as a flail. If Mr. Hyde is using Daredevil to hit Doc Samson for 4
clicks every turn, it doesn't matter that Doc Samson is only taking 1 of it
past his Invulnerability. DD is taking all four clicks, until he manages to
escape, or becomes the Goo Without
Fear and is removed from the game.) *****A thrown opponent will
either travel 6 or 4 spaces, or strike any blocking terrain or character within
his path. The thrown opponent coming into contact with blocking terrain or
another character will come to rest in the space adjacent to whatever they
struck between that object and the throwing character. *****If a character holding
an opponent takes a click of damage for any reason, and the grabbed character
may be given an action, the grabbed character may make a breakway
roll and on a 4-6 escape, although they will still be adjacent to the opponent
who had previously captured them. *****Characters remain
grabbed until they escape, are thrown, are removed from the game, or the
grabbing opponent is removed from the game. Thus, a character may be used as a
weapon for several turns if that character cannot escape. Grabbed characters
may be flailed against Blocking Terrain or the ground if the grabbing opponent
desires as a normal Close Combat attack, and will take the Grabbing Character's
normal damage plus one click. *****Opponent flying
characters may not be thrown as ranged weapons. As soon as released, opponent
flying characters are considered to have made an automatic breakaway roll.
Flying characters may be used as close combat weapons normally by the above
rules. *****Thrown characters are
not considered to be taxied or telekinesised, and
therefore, may take action as normal after being thrown, if they were not dealt
damage by it. If a thrown character is dealt damage by being thrown, they
cannot take action until the start of their next turn. This rule allows a lot of things you see in comics
but that aren't currently possible under standard HeroClix
rules, like the classic Fastball Special that Colossus and Wolverine often perform
where Colossus throws Wolverine at a distant opponent. It also allows what I
call the 'Bam Bam Move', in which a strong character picks up an opponent and
either whirls him around his head before throwing him into a wall, or slams him
repeatedly into the ground. I personally feel that the ability to perform such
common and basic maneuvers greatly enhances this game, and that the additional
complexity of these rules is well worth that increased flexibility. Knockback - If
an attack roll comes up doubles (2 3s, 2 4s, 2 5s, etc) and it strikes the
target opponent successfully and does damage, the opponent character will be
knocked back a total number of squares equal to the number of clicks they
actually take, on a straight vector from the successfully attacking character.
If this causes the knocked back character to strike another character, both
characters take one click of damage from the impact, and the knocked back
character comes to rest in the square formerly occupied by the character they
have struck, while that character is moved one square over on the same vector.
If this causes more characters to be struck and displaced, each additional
impact causes an additional click of damage to each participant. If a knocked back figure
encounters either Blocking or Hindering Terrain with 3 or more spaces of
movement left on its knockback, it destroys the
terrain feature and goes through. The remaining knockback
movement is reduced by 1 space, and the figure takes 2 points of knockback damage if it was knocked through Blocking Terrain, or 1 point of damage if it was knocked through
Hindering Terrain. Knockback still occurs normally (when doubles are rolled on
an attack that is successful), however, my house rules
allow characters to be knocked back into each other, instead of coming gently
to rest on the square adjacent to a nearby character without actually touching
that character. My reasoning here is simple: HeroClix
rules which specifically prevent knocked back characters from hitting each
other seem to result in each character having some sort of mystic anti-kinetic
force field around them that only protects them against other characters being
hurled in their direction by knockback. This seems
contrary to observed cause and effect in superhero comic books, in which
Captain America frequently punches, say, the Scorpion, in such a way as the
Scorpion flies backwards and smashes into Mr. Hyde. The rule about knocked-back characters destroying
terrain features was come up with by another gamer named Brent Wiggers, and it also simulates something that happens
constantly in comic books, namely, superhumans
hitting other superhumans so hard they knock them
through stuff -- cars, walls, dumpsters, buildings, etc. I think it's a great
rule, and I'm happy to insert it here after Brent suggested it to me via email. Actions - There
are four types of actions: movement, close combat attack, ranged attack, and
general, generic 'actions', as defined on the Powers and Actions Card. If a
character moves, attacks, or uses a power stating 'give this character an action token', they take an action token. Characters may
never take more than one action token per turn, unless a rule specifies
otherwise. If a character does not take
an action token in any particular turn, remove all action tokens accrued to it
over previous turns at the end of that particular turn. Duplicate characters No
battle may contain two identical figures with the same proper name (battles may
contain as many duplicates of generic figures, like Hydra Agents, or SHIELD
troopers, as you want to put out there). Different temporal versions of the
same character (a Black Panther veteran and rookie piece, for example, or two
different Spider-Man figures from two different sets) may be employed in the
same battle, but a strong rationale should be devised to explain why these two
different versions of the same character are in the same location at the same
time. Players may use one figure
to take the place of another, similar figure if they don't have the desired
figure, provided the figure used as a substitute does not have its powers or
dial altered in any way. In other words, if a player doesn't have a Batman
piece, he can substitute a Black Panther and call it Batman, but it has only
the powers of the Black Panther piece. The reason for this
should be obvious, but let me state it anyway: to me, these figures aren't
simply game pieces on a chess board. They represent fictional characters who,
in my childhood, seemed as real to me as, well, anyone else I knew, or at
least, any celebrities, and I dislike players who simply disregard continuity
and consistency in building their teams. So you can't have three veteran Saturn Girls on your team if you're playing by the
Doc Nebula House Rules, because that's flatly absurd, and if that strikes you
as a problem, then, well, what can I say. Go play Yu-gi-o,
you brat. Theme teams Teams
constructed entirely of characters which all legitimately belong to various superteams with various assigned TAs within this game may
all be given that team's TA for the battle, regardless of whether the
particular rev being used has that TA on its base. In other words, if someone
puts together a team of the rookie Wasp, the veteran Black Panther, the
experienced Hercules, and the rookie Scarlet Witch, that player can call them
Avengers and move them all as if they have the Avengers Team Ability. This
supplants any other TAs they may have on their bases, however. * Themed teams receive a bonus to the roll to determine who will be the first player equal to the number of characters on the force. If you have five characters on your Legion-themed team, you get a +5 to your roll when you determine who will be first player. Play a themed team, and you have a better chance of picking the battlefield where the battle will take place! * Themed teams adapt and overcome unexpected conditions more easily than other teams. A themed team may (but does not have to) cancel one target battlefield condition during a game (chosen when battlefield conditions are revealed, and cancelled for the remainder of the game). It may only be an ordinary day if a themed team wants it to be! * Themed teams can work together to change the course of the battle at a crucial moment: for each three characters on a themed team, a themed team may use Probability Control once during the game (though they do not possess it for any other purpose, such as feat prerequisites). When you use this effect, you place an action token on the character using Probability Control, though the token may not be placed on a character currently taking an action, or a character that already has two action tokens.
This is simply me throwing myself a bone. I enjoy
playing theme teams and in-continuity teams, and this rewards me somewhat for
doing it, giving me a slight advantage over players who neither know nor care
anything about the actual continuity of the heroes they are moving around on
the board, and who simply put heroes in teams depending on their powers. This
rule also exists to encourage players to find out something about the
continuities and histories of the pieces they are playing so they can take
advantage of it. Unification
-- a Unified team is a team in which every member has the same TA. Medics and PC pieces Non-unified
teams may field no more than one Support and one Probability Control piece per
battle. This is actually a compromise rule. I personally
LOATHE Medics, at least, medics being used in teams of superhumans.
No superhero or supervillain team in the world has
ever gone into action with paramedics running along behind. It's flatly
ridiculous that these pieces even exist, and I'd like to simply forbid them
outright -- although I would allow, say, a SHIELD team, or some other non-super
powered force, to take medics with them into combat with superhumans,
that's only sensible; those guys are just normal Joes. But the Avengers and the
JLA would never take a medic into combat with them; they'd be putting the poor
guy in danger -- and I don't think the Brotherhood or the Masters of Evil would
be able to hire medics, at least, not competent ones. Leaving aside the fact that medics have no place
whatsoever in superhero comic book combat, their powers are ridiculous. A paramedic
doesn't repair damage or 'heal' anyone, they stabilize
someone for transport to a hospital. If Wolverine has just inordinately messed
up your Dr. Doom piece, no medic is going to be able to do anything about it,
realistically. Just deal with it and move on. Beyond this, these games are long enough without
everyone running to the back to get healed like little crybabies the second
they get a scratch. I don't go so far as to want to outlaw the Support
power entirely, but I do think it should be restricted to characters where it's
obviously a superhuman power, as with Dr. Strange. Healing someone of damage
like this simply isn't within the boundaries of current medical technology; it
has to be a superhuman feat. As to Probability Control pieces, well, it's a
legitimate power that some characters have, and the way PC works is as good a
simulation of the Scarlet Witch's hexes or the Black Cat's bad luck jinx as
any. But I hate PC, and I don't play against any team with more than one PC
piece on it. If I need a 10 or higher to hit someone, and I roll an 11, you'd
better just leave it alone or I'm going to get pissed. When the dice gods favor
me, it's blasphemy to interfere. Giant Figures
- When
they were first announced, I disliked some aspects of WizKid's
special rules for Giant Figures. Since then, I've play tested a few games with
my Giant-Man fig, and I no longer object to them. Essentially, what they mean
is that a normal sized fig cannot make a Close Combat attack against a Giant
fig unless it has either Leap-Climb, Flying, or
Phasing-Teleport. Figs without these powers are considered engaged two squares
away from a Giant fig, and the Giant can attack THEM in Close Combat, but they
can't attack IT. This bothered me when I
first read about it, but since then I've realized that this is actually
consistent with how giants are treated in superhero comics. Unless you can fly,
leap around like a crazed gorilla, turn intangible, or teleport, you aren't
going to get close enough to a giant to whack it one with your bare hands. The
giant will simply step over you, like Giant Man does to various Masters of Evil
all the time in early Avengers issues. I also intensely disliked
the rule saying giants couldn't be carried or TK'ed.
However, having given this more thought as well, I realized that in point of
fact, nobody ever does carry a giant around with them, and I don't really mind
them not being able to be TK'ed, either. However, in
my House Rules, characters with Super Strength can throw a Giant Figure, if
they want to. Thor could certainly grab Hank Pym, spin him around a few times,
and lob him at the Radioactive Man if he took it into his head to do so. He
most likely wouldn't, but it's possible. To make Giant Figures work
perfectly, I've added one rule -- a Giant Figure can carry a normal sized figure
exactly as if the giant sized figure were a flyer. Giants often carry their
teammates into combat, so this is perfectly plausible. Using my house rules,
this means a Giant needs either Super Strength or a damage of 3 to carry a
normal sized fig its full Speed Value. A damage of 2 without Super Strength
will allow it to taxi a normal sized fig half its speed value, and if it has
none of these, then a Giant fig can't carry anyone anywhere. While on this subject, the
Bat Sentry is a Giant Figure and is subject to all the Giant Figure rules. Bat
Sentries are also not Uniques; if you have more than
one, then you can play them all, especially if you've got Kingdom Come Batman
in there ordering them around. Transporters: The
rules for transporters are hereby modified as follows: Transporters do not receive
any special attack options. Special attack options are not necessary for
transporters under these house rules, since all figures can move and attack. Figures being carried by
Transporters may take one action at any point during the turn while they are
being carried before they have been set down. Transporters do not need to set
down carried figures at the end of the turn in which they pick them up. Carried characters may take
no further actions for the remainder of the turn following being set down by a
Transporter. Unlike flyers, Transporters
do not need to have Super Strength or a minimum damage of 2 to carry other
figures. However, like flyers, Transporters may carry any other figure,
including other Transporters. Flyers may also carry Transporters if they
qualify to taxi at all. No Action After Taxi would
apply to any Transporters carried in this way. If we're going to have a
special class of people on winged horses and hoverbikes
and antigravity sleds and what have you who can transport other figures around,
then by all means, let's let them transport other people around in a way
consistent with how it happens in comics. If Hawkeye is going to pick up the
Scarlet Witch on his flying snowmobile, she can certainly sit behind him and
throw hexes (use her Probability Control or a range strike) while he's Soaring
at 200 feet above the battlefield. Moonstar could
certainly give Professor X a ride high above some conflict so he could use his
mind control powers with clear lines of sight. And if the Black Widow wants to
ride along behind the Black Knight on his Wundagorian
anti-gravity bike, she can certainly zap a few people with her widow's bite as
she goes by them. What this effectively does is let a Transporter give
any figure it carries a free attack as the two of them go by a target. This is
clearly more than WizKids wants characters to be able
to do, but my house rules allow more mobility than WizKids
normal playing rules, and this is more consistent with how things work in
superhero comics, so I'm content with it. POWERS/TEAM
ABILITIES NOTE: To keep things cleaner, I have eschewed
assigning action tokens to powers that already require movement or attacks.
Therefore, if a power description says 'when a character is moving' or 'when a
character makes a close combat attack' or some such, it is assumed that the
character takes an action token already for that implicit, underlying action. Now, I have rewritten several of these powers in
such a way that they have become MUCH more effective, and HeroClix
purists are going to be screaming their fool heads off that I've completely
unhinged the balance of the game in terms of the point costs assigned to
various figs. Let it be said once and for the record: I Do Not Care. These
rules are better than what they replace, and it is as simple as that. Now -- play clix! SPEED
SUPER POWERS: FLURRY:
This character can hit an opponent twice as often as a normal character can.
(Optional) Give this character an action token. This character may make two
close combat attacks, making two separate attack rolls, against either one or
two legitimate close combat attack targets. Both close combat attacks still
generate only one action token. Those paying close attention will already see the
gist of what I'm doing here -- I'm simply stating 'give this character an action
token' rather than breaking things down into different types of attacks,
different types of actions, and all that other crap that WizKids
uses to keep the superman down. If using a power should take an action token, I
will tell you here. Most powers simply augment actions that already provide an
action token, like any movement, or any attack, and WizKids
has a tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be, so they
can do annoying stuff like keep characters with Flurry from doing a double
Incapacitation shot by distinguishing between 'close combat attack' and 'close
combat action'. We'll have none of that here, boyo. LEAP/CLIMB:
This character can leap or climb over characters and terrain. (Optional) When
you give this character a move action, it automatically breaks away and ignores
the effects of other characters, elevated, and hindering terrain on movement.
This character may end his movement on elevated or outdoor blocking terrain.
This character may make a close combat attack against a figure in an adjacent
square regardless of the target's elevation. PHASING:
This character may phase into another plane of reality and reappear someplace
else on the battlefield. (Optional) When you give this character a move action,
it may ignore the effects of all characters and terrain features on movement.
It may end its turn on top of outside blocking or elevated terrain, but it may
not end its turn on inside blocking terrain. EARTHBOUND:
This character is grounded and has the boot speed mode instead of its printed
speed mode. If this character is soaring when it gains Earthbound, this
character is dealt 2 damage. This power can not be
countered. Just an aside -- I am emotionally outraged to have WizKids 'add a power' that is, in effect, a diminution to
the character. Powers should be cool, not something you dread to see come up on
the dial. Having said that, I understand perfectly how this opens things up in
the game, allowing characters that fly when they are rested and strong to lose
that power later on after they've been beaten up a little, and allowing figs on
flight stands to have an activation click where they can't fly. Nonetheless, I
wish WizKids had found a way to do it other than
making it a power. Super powers should add to the character, not subtract. CHARGE:
This character can move and then make a more powerful close combat attack using
the same action. (Optional) When moving adjacent to an opposing character, this
character automatically breaks away and may move up to its speed and make a
free Close Combat attack/action. When moving adjacent to a target opposing
character, this character ignores all movement modifiers caused by hindering
terrain or other opposing characters. After moving adjacent to an opposing
character and making a successful Close Combat attack on that opposing
character, this character may add 1 to the resultant damage if that damage
result is 1 or greater. Characters using Charge may not make any Ranged Attacks
in the same turn as they make a Close Combat attack. Characters using Charge
may not end their movement in the same square as they began their movement. You wouldn't think things would have to be this
complicated, but I didn't want to simply have the +1 be to damage value,
because someone charging with Blade/Claws/Fangs should get to add 1 to their
dice roll. On the other hand, I couldn't simply add 1 to all damage done,
because then people would be doing 1 damage on a successful Outwit attack, if
they Charged up to the fig first. I suppose you COULD
Charge up to Superman and smack him a good one with those Kryptonite Gloves of
yours, but still, it seems cleaner to keep damage out of Outwit. MIND CONTROL:
This character may momentarily cause an enemy to come under their influence. (Optional) Give this character an action token. This character attempts an attack for 0 damage on an opposing target figure. If the attack is successful, the opposing figure becomes a friendly figure until the end of the turn, or until you give that figure an action token, or until you choose to end the Mind Control, whichever occurs first. If more than one character is being Mind Controlled by the same character, and one or more of those characters are KOed while Mind Controlled, victory points are awarded to the player who is controlling them at the time. Characters making successful Mind Control attacks take 1 click of damage for each 100 points of the target's point value which cannot be reduced or evaded. If a character with this power has a range value of 0, assume that his range value is 4. PLASTICITY:
This character can stretch his body into any shape. (Optional) This character
only fails to break away on a die roll result of 1. Opponents trying to break
away from a character with Plasticity must roll a 6 to successfully break away.
FORCE BLAST:
This character can knock back other characters and objects with a forceful
blast. (Optional) Give this character an action token. Choose one of the
following options: * Move one adjacent
opposing character directly away a number of spaces equal to the Attack Value
of the attacking character. The target of Force Blast automatically breaks away
and ignores the effects of hindering terrain and moving through squares
adjacent to other characters while it is being moved in this way. This attack
does not inflict damage, but the opposing character may suffer damage from knockback per those rules. * Make a Close Combat
attack on an adjacent opposing character. If successful, that character takes
an additional action token if it has one or fewer action tokens already, with
all normal effects of having this many action tokens. Move opposing character
directly away a number of spaces equal to the Damage Value of the attacking
character. The target of Force Blast otherwise moves and suffers knockback effects as in the first option. * Make a Ranged Combat
Attack on a target opposing character. If successful, move opposing character
directly away from attacking figure a number of spaces equal to the Attack
Value of the attacking character. The target of Force Blast otherwise moves and
suffers knockback effects as in the first option. HYPERSONIC SPEED: This character moves incredibly fast. (Optional) When you give
this character a move action, it automatically breaks away and may move through
squares adjacent to opposing characters, and it may ignore hindering and
elevated terrain modifiers. It may not end its movement inside blocking or
hindering terrain. During its movement, this character may expend 2 from its
Speed value at any time to make a Close Combat attack on any opposing character
it happens to be adjacent to. It may do this as many times as its remaining
Speed value allows. If any of these close combat attacks are unsuccessful, the
character immediately expends another 2 movement without actually moving from
the square it is in. Characters with HyperSonic Speed
may carry other characters as if they were flyers, with the same limitations to
taxiing as seen under 'Flying'. When you give a character with HyperSonic Speed a move action, it may not use any other
powers on its dial until that move action is completed. I've been toying for a while with a way to make
Hypersonic Speed much simpler, and at the same time, make it work the way it
works in comics. In comics, superspeedsters can run
up and often even through walls and other sheer surfaces, across bodies of
water, and, in general, they just whiz around in a manner that the normal HSS
rules don't allow. Making the Flash, for example, climb the stairs when we all
know he'd just run up the wall, or stop dead if he hits a bush, is just silly. It's also silly to have two different modes for
Hypersonic Speed, one in which you smack someone as you run on by, the other in
which you park yourself next to them and then do some bizarre Super Flurry in
which their defense gets steadily higher until you finally miss. This is all
convoluted and rather ridiculous. If a superspeedster
wants to run over to you and pummel you 17 times and then run away again,
they're going to, assuming they're fast enough to do it. My redefinition of HSS makes it much simpler, and in
many ways, makes it much more effective, which, given how egregiously it gets
abused now, may not be a good thing. Superspeedsters
will now be able to start outside close combat range, run in and launch
multiple close combat attacks, and then run away again -- assuming they manage
their movements correctly. I've taken some things away from HSS, however. I
cannot think of any examples in superhero comics where a character traveling at
HyperSonic Speed has launched a ranged attack. So
under these rules, if KC Superman or Amazo want to
smack someone, they certainly can, in fact, they can probably do it several
times -- but they're going to have to get in close to do it. If they do the math
right, they can save a few inches of movement to get away with after they whack
someone a few times, too. But they won't be able to dart out from behind a
chimney, blast someone from 100 feet away, and then duck back under cover again
any more. At least, not under these rules. I've also taken away the ability to use any other
powers on the dial while moving (and/or attacking) with HyperSonic
Speed. The fact is, the ability to combine Close Combat Expert or Exploit
Weakness with a HyperSonic Speed close combat attack
barrage is just too powerful, and it makes sense that a character moving this
fast would not be able to concentrate on the use of any of these other powers,
anyway. HSS characters may still use free actions like Outwit or Perplex, but
they will have to use them either before they begin their move or after they
end it. In case these rules need more clarity, I'll give an
example -- Amazo has a Speed of 10. He is 4 squares
away from Aquaman. He moves 4, bringing him adjacent
to Aquaman. He now has 6 movement
left. He spends two movement and launches a Close
Combat attack on Aquaman, which hits. Aquaman takes 3 clicks of damage,
and Amazo now has 4 movement left. Amazo spends 2 more movement and launches another attack.
If this one hits, Aquaman will take another 3 clicks
of damage, and Amazo will have 2 clicks of movement
left, which he can use for one more close combat attack, or which he can use to
retreat with . If it misses, Amazo will have to spend
another two movement due to the miss, and suddenly
find himself out of movement, and stuck there adjacent to a now very angry King
of the Seven Seas. RUNNING SHOT: This character can move and make a ranged combat
attack in the same action.
(Optional) When this character moves, it receives one free action during its movement
that it may use to make a ranged combat attack. It may continue to use the rest
of its movement after making this ranged attack. What I've done here is lift a
block of text from the old HyperSonic Speed rules and
give it to Running Shot. It works out well in playtesting. STEALTH:
Hindering terrain blocks line of sight to this character. (Optional) Any line
of sight drawn to this character that crosses hindering terrain, including the
square that this character occupies, is treated as though it crosses blocking
terrain. All attacks require a clear line of sight or they cannot be made. There's a whole separate 'Stealth' section elsewhere
in these rules, but this says it pretty succinctly. Under my House Rules, you
cannot attack what you cannot see, either at range or from an adjacent square.
There are various ways to establish a clear line of sight on a Stealthed character under my House Rules, including using
Super Senses, making an Attentiveness Roll with normal senses, or blowing up
whatever the Stealthed character is hiding on, but in
my system, if line of sight is obscured to a character, that character cannot
be attacked. ATTACK
SUPER POWERS BLADES/CLAWS/FANGS: This character can deliver 1 to 6 clicks of damage
after a successful Close Combat Attack. (Optional) Give this character a close
combat action. If the attack succeeds, roll 1 six-sided die. This is the number
of clicks of damage you inflict on the target figure instead of this
character's normal damage value. ENERGY EXPLOSION:
This character's ranged combat attack can do damage to all figures adjacent to
the target, and is not obstructed by characters or hindering terrain.
(Optional) Give this character a ranged combat action and reduce his damage
value to 1. A successful ranged combat attack does damage to the target figure
and every figure in a square adjacent to the target. When determining line of
sight for an Energy Explosion attack, ignore the effects of intervening
characters and hindering terrain. PULSE WAVE:
This character can make an unfocused range attack that can impact everything
within a certain radius of him. (Optional) An opposing character must be within
range for this power to be used. Give this character a ranged combat action.
Reduce his range value by half for purposes of this attack. Draw lines of fire
to every figure (friendly and opposing) within range in every direction. These
lines of fire ignore the effect of figure bases and hindering terrain, as well
as all team abilities and powers possessed by characters within range. If lines
of fire can be drawn to two or more characters, halve the attacker's damage
value for the duration of the Pulse Wave attack to 1. Make only one attack
roll. If that attack roll result is a 2, all Pulse Wave damage is done to the
attacking figure only. If the attack roll result is a 12, add 1 to the Pulse
Wave damage done to all figures, objects, and terrain within range. Any other
result causes Pulse Wave damage to be done to all characters and
objects/terrain within range of the Pulse Wave attack. Pulse Wave damage is
reduced normally by powers, abilities, or effects that reduce or avoid damage,
although it cannot be transferred (Mastermind). If a power, ability, or effect
reduces Pulse Wave damage done to a character to 0, or allows a character to
avoid the damage, and that character has 0 or 1 action tokens, that character
receives an additional action token as a result of the Pulse Wave attack, and
suffers the effects that would normally result from the addition of such a
token. If Pulse Wave does 3 or more damage to any objects or terrain, those
objects are destroyed, hindering terrain is reduced to open terrain, and
blocking terrain is reduced to hindering terrain. Instead of making Pulse Wave a multitarget
attack that might or might not hit every target within a certain distance of
the attacker, but which, if it DOES hit, always does at least one damage, I've
almost completely reversed its effect, turning it into a power which nearly
always hits (unless something goes badly wrong with the attack) but whose
damage can be reduced normally... however, even if a character takes no actual
damage from it, they still have a chance of being stunned and rendered immobile
the following turn by a Pulse Wave attack. This makes it, in some circumstances,
against very tough characters, a sort of mass Incapacitate attack. Pulse Wave
now also effects objects and terrain within its range,
as well, which strikes me as logical. QUAKE -
Character can scatter surrounding characters with a single devastating blow. (optional)Give this character a close combat action. Make
only one attack roll. If that attack roll result is a 2, all Quake knockback or damage is done to the attacking figure only.
If the attack roll result is a 12, add 1 to the Quake knockback
or damage done to all figures, objects, and terrain within range. All
characters adjacent to the attacking character take damage and knockback equal to the damage value of the attacking
character. Quake damage can be reduced normally by damage reducing effects and
powers, but cannot be evaded or transferred. Quake damage/knockback is reduced 1 for hovering adjacent characters.If a damage reducing effect
reduces Quake damage to 0, knockback is still taken,
and knocked back characters receive an additional action token and any normal
effects of receiving that extra token. Objects receiving 1 or 2 Quake damage
are knocked back away from the attacking character. Objects and terrain taking
3 or more Quake damage are destroyed or reduced from blocking terrain to
hindering terrain. I have, effectively, made Quake a close combat version
of my extensively redefined Pulse Wave. Again, it seems to me that this is how
this power works when it is used in comic books. SUPER STRENGTH:
This character has superhuman levels of strength and can pick up objects and/or
characters and hurl them around, or use them as weapons to inflict additional
damage. This character may destroy terrain. This character's damage is more
effective against tough opponents, as well. (Optional) When you give this
character a move action, during this action, the character may pick up an
object in this character's square or an adjacent square and hold or carry it.
If this power is lost or countered while the character is holding an object,
immediately place the object in the square this character occupies. If you give
this character a close combat action against adjoining blocking or hindering
terrain, or you give this character a ranged combat action in which it throws
an object at blocking or hindering terrain within its range value, the blocking
or hindering terrain it targets with this attack is reduced by one terrain
level to either hindering or open terrain, respectively. If you give this
character a successful close combat action against an opponent, any damage done
by that successful attack may not be reduced below 1, except by a successful roll of 5-6 by Impervious characters. Knockback from a successful close combat attack that does at least 1 damage using Super Strength is automatic. Super Strength may also be used to pick up and throw
both friendly and opposing characters, as defined under Objects,
elsewhere. Super Strength is the fundamental comic book
superpower, the one that pretty much all others are measured against. When I
first started playing HeroClix, the only fig with
Super Strength in my first IC Starter Set was Mr. Hyde. My brother and I were
looking at the dials and reading the various power definitions, and when I
picked up Mr. Hyde, I asked him 'What's green on attack?' My brother looked it
up and said 'Super Strength'. I immediately said 'Cool! What's
that do?' I figured it had to, you know, do more damage, or let you drop
kick someone into orbit, or let you knock down walls, or pick
up buildings -- actually, I figured it should let you do all of the above, and
then some, because Super Strength is just da bomb,
baby. When my brother read me the Super Strength
definition, I was rather disappointed. Yeah, being able to pick up object
tokens and beat people with them is cool, but, but Super Strength should also
be SO MUCH MORE. So, in my house rules, it is. You can knock down
walls with it, you can pick your buddy up and throw him with it, if you hit
someone else with a super strong punch, it doesn't matter how tough they are,
they're still going to take at least one click of damage from it, and, yes, of
course, you can pick up dumpsters and motorcycles and beat people over the head
with them. THAT's how Super Strength should work, dammit.
INCAPACITATE: This
character may use either a close or ranged combat attack to add an action token
to a target opposing figure. (Optional) When this character successfully hits a
target figure and the target has 0 or 1 action tokens, place an action token on
the target figure, but do no damage to the target figure. If a target figure is
given its second action token, it is considered pushed and takes 1 click of
pushing damage. This power has no effect on characters that already have 2 or
more action tokens. See how simple life gets when you don't have to be a
rules monkey? Get rid of the phrase 'close combat action' and suddenly, you CAN
Flurry and Incapacitate on the same turn. Why is this hard? PSYCHIC BLAST:
This character fires a mental blast. (Optional) When this character makes a
ranged attack, damage done by that attack cannot be reduced by any power or
effect that reduces damage, although it can be evaded or transferred to another
character by appropriate power effects. SMOKE CLOUD:
This character generates a cloud of smoke or darkness. (Optional) Give this character
an action token. This character may move up to half its Speed Value and place
up to 4 Smoke terrain markers on the battlefield, starting at any square within
its range that it has clear line of sight to. Smoke terrain acts as hindering
terrain in terms of movement and as blocking terrain in terms of line of sight,
including at adjacent corners between squares filled with Smoke markers. A
character with a range of 0 may place the markers in its square and in adjacent
squares. Smoke markers must be adjacent to each other, and remain in place
until the beginning of their creator's next turn or until the power is
countered or lost. This terrain is not elevated. A few minor changes. Smoke now acts as hindering terrain for purposes of
moving out of it or through it, and blocking terrain for purposes of drawing a
line of sight through it. You can also put Smoke terrain marker up right on top
of a character; your own if you want to give it some cover, or an opponent's if
you want to slow it down and/or keep it from shooting at you next turn. In most
of the heroic fiction I've read or watched, people tend to throw their smoke
bombs AT the enemy, so not being able to set up smoke markers on the same
square as an enemy has never made any sense to me, nor has the idea that you
can shoot through smoke with only a -1 modifier for hindering terrain. This
should fix all that. POISON:
This character has a poison or toxin that damages his target. (Optional) At the
beginning of your turn, this character delivers 1 click of damage to each
opposing character in an adjacent square. TELEKINESIS:
This character can physically manipulate objects, itself, and other characters
using only the power of its mind. (Optional) Choose one of the following actions per turn: (1) Give this character a movement action. Move this character up to its full speed
value, while treating this character as if they have the wing movement symbol
on their dial, without the capacity to Soar, for the
remainder of the turn. When using this
option, characters may taxi another figure, or carry an object token, as if
they had Super Strength, under all normal rules of taxiing or carrying . (2) Give this character an action token. Target any object within 10 squares of this
character that the character has a clear line of sight to. Move this object to
any other open square within 10 squares of this character that the character
has a clear line of sight to. If the object targeted is an opposing character,
this is considered a ranged attack and a normal ranged attack roll must be
made. If the object is a friendly character, treat that character as any normal
object. (3) Give this character an action token. Target any object within 10 squares of this
character that this character has a clear line of sight to. Use this object to
make a ranged attack on any opposing character within 10 squares of this
character that this character has a clear line of sight to. Treat this as if
the object is being thrown by a character with Super Strength. If this object
is an opposing character, two ranged attack rolls must be made; to target the
first opposing character being used as a weapon, and to then hit the second
opposing character with the first opposing character if the first attack roll
is successful. Characters are treated as light objects for this purpose; if one
character is thrown at another, each character takes one click of damage. This
still only generates one action token. (4) Give this character an action token. Move all adjacent characters directly away
from this character a number of spaces equal to its Damage value. These target
characters automatically break away and ignore the effects of hindering terrain
and moving through squares adjacent to other characters while they are being
moved in this way. This action does not inflict damage, but the target
characters may suffer damage from knockback per those
rules. (5) Give this character an action token. Target an adjacent square of blocking or
hindering terrain that is not an Object token. Reduce this terrain type to
hindering or open terrain, respectively. Characters moved by Telekinesis other than the
figure using Telekinesis itself may not take any other action until the
beginning of their controller's next turn. Major changes to TK, and long
overdue ones, in my opinion.
These changes are mostly motivated by the fact that in a system where every
figure can move and attack, TK as defined by WizKids
is very nearly pointless. However, I have long wanted to make TK work more like
it does in comics, and now it will.
STEAL ENERGY:
This character gains power after a successful close combat attack. / Give this
character 1 click of healing when it applies clicks of damage to a figure after
a close combat attack. Optional:
Add 25 points to any character with Steal Energy. Modify the power by adding
the following effect: When this character successfully does close combat damage
to another character, it may choose to use any one specific feature of the
target character's dial until the end of its controller's following turn. 'Any
feature' includes anything pertaining to the figure's abilities showing on the
dial before being damaged by this Steal Energy attack, including movement mode,
super powers, the presence of a flight stand, individual stat numbers, range
value, number of range targets, or team ability. DEFENSE
SUPER POWERS SUPER SENSES:
This character can avoid being hit in combat, and can visualize its
surroundings via superhuman sensory perceptions. (Optional) When this character
is successfully hit by an attack, its controller may roll one six sided die. On
a result of 5 or 6, this character evades the attack. Characters with Super
Senses ignore the effect of Hindering Terrain in terms of drawing line of
sight, the effects of Smoke Cloud, and the effects of any Battlefield Condition
cards that limit range or line of sight. Characters with Super Senses may also
roll one d6 when attacking characters with the Shape Change power, and on a
result of 5-6, Shape Change does not affect them. (Make this roll before the
target character rolls to activate Shape Change. If this roll succeeds, the
target character does not roll for their Shape Change.) TOUGHNESS:
This character is more resilient than a normal human. Subtract 1 from any normal
damage inflicted on this character. Toughness does not reduce pushing or
critical-miss damage. DEFEND:
This character can share its defense value with friendly figures in adjacent
squares. (Optional) Any friendly figure in a square adjacent to this character
may use this character's unmodified defense value instead of its own. COMBAT REFLEXES
-- This character is harder to hit in hand to hand combat, if it wants to be.
(Optional) Add 2 to this character's Defense Value against Close Combat
Attacks/actions. This character may also
choose to be Knocked Back by any successful close combat hit. Any Knock Back damage this character takes
may be reduced to zero. Being automatically knocked
away from an attacker when hit just doesn't cut it any more, when every figure
can just run up and hit you all over again next turn. This is a neat re-definition that makes certain
figs VERY hard to hit in hand to hand combat. Suddenly your Veteran ENERGY SHIELD/DEFLECTION: This character's defense is improved against ranged
combat attacks. (Optional) Increase this character's defense value by 2 versus
ranged combat attacks that target or can affect him. The only change I made here is a minor one, and will
probably never matter -- I made this power optional, because, honestly, it is.
If Captain BARRIER:
This character can create up to 4 squares of blocking terrain. (Optional) Give
this character an action token. This character may move up to half its Speed
Value and create
4 squares of blocking terrain anywhere within the character's range. Place 4
Barrier markers on the map using the following guidelines: all 4 squares of
blocking terrain must be in squares adjacent to each other. A character cannot
move or fire through the diagonal corner where two Barrier markers are
touching. This barrier uses all the standard rules for blocking terrain. This
terrain is not elevated. This barrier remains in place until the beginning of
your next turn. If Barrier Terrain is
set up on a square containing a character, the character takes no damage but is
considered to be surrounded on six sides (front, back, right, left, top, bottom) by Blocking Terrain as long as the Barrier remains
in place. Once again, I got rid of the restriction against
setting Barriers up in squares that already have something or someone in it. I
won't go so far as to have people take damage from suddenly finding themselves
in the middle of blocking terrain, since while Firelord
certainly should do damage to folks with his Barriers, Iceman, for some insane
reason, does not, nor would Green Lantern. However, people could certainly be
surrounded by flames and unable to move for a turn. Pinning someone in one spot
is a feature sadly lacking from HeroClix, and this
will help to remedy that. I grant you it's not perfect; some barriers you
should be able to ignore if you're Invulnerable (like fire) while others you
should be able to smash out of if you have Super Strength (like ice), and still
others you should be able to jump over or down from on top of with Leap/Climb,
like a sudden granite wall created by Avalanche. Nonetheless, it's closer to
perfect than it has been; under these rules, if someone sets a Barrier up on
top of you, then the square you are on is considered to be surrounded by
blocking terrain, and you aren't moving next round unless you have Phasing. MASTERMIND:
This character can deflect damage onto a teammate in an adjacent square.
(Optional) When this character is the target of a successful attack (either
close or ranged combat), all the damage it would normally receive from the
attack can be inflicted instead on any friendly character with a lower point
value in an adjacent square. Any damage-reducing powers
possessed by the character receiving the damage reduces this damage per
the standard rules. WILLPOWER:
This character is very strong willed and can exert themselves greatly without
becoming tired.(Optional). This character does not
take pushing damage. IMPERVIOUS:
This character is extremely hard to hurt through normal physical means.
(Optional) When this character is dealt damage, roll 1 six-sided die. On a
result of 5 or 6, the damage taken is reduced to 0. On a result of 1 to 4, the
damage taken is reduced by 4. INVULNERABILITY: This
character reduces damage delivered to him by 3 clicks. Subtract 3 from any
damage dealt to this character. Invulnerability does not reduce pushing or
critical miss damage. REGENERATION:
This character is capable of healing from great damage at superhuman speed.
(Optional) Give this character an action token. Roll 1 six-sided die. Turn this
character's combat dial this many clicks to the left, back towards their
starting click. Do not advance them further than their opening click. DAMAGE SUPER POWERS RANGED COMBAT EXPERT: This character is more effective at range. (Optional) When this character makes only a single
ranged attack per turn, they may add 2 to any damage dealt if that damage is
not already 0. Ranged Combat Expert may not be used when employing an object as
a weapon. I've never believed that the Hulk can't throw
something when he's enraged, or that the Punisher couldn't lose his temper and
simply machine gun an entire room full of Columbian cartel members. This drops
their range, but they can still make a ranged attack. SUPPORT:
This character can heal friendly figures. (Optional) If this character is not
adjacent to an opposing character, give this character an action token, reduce
its Damage Value to 0, and choose one of the following: (1) Make a close combat
attack against an adjacent friendly character that is not adjacent to an
opposing character. Yeah, characters with Support can now heal
themselves. I could never see why they shouldn't be able to give themselves a
shot of morphine, or slap a bandage on themselves. Certainly Dr. Strange should
be able to make his own boo-boos go away. So now they can, and they can do it
on any roll but a 2, too. Don't thank me, just send money. EXPLOIT WEAKNESS
- This character can find a weak spot in any target.(Optional)
Reduce this character's damage to 3 if it is greater than 3. Damage dealt by a
close combat attack cannot be reduced any further by any power or power effect
that reduces damage. Yeah, yeah, I suck. Nonetheless, three clicks of
damage on a close combat attack that goes through anything is enough,
especially for a HyperSonic Speed fig, given that I
am making this a free damage effect, rather than a power action. I honestly
think that when you start taking Exploit Weakness damage higher than 3, the
power is broken. This will fix it. ENHANCEMENT:
This character increases the damage delivered by friendly ranged combat
attacks. (Optional) Any friendly figure given a ranged combat action while in a
square adjacent to this character will deal 1 extra click of damage to any and
all figure(s) successfully hit by the attack. PROBABILITY CONTROL: This character bends the laws of probability in
their own favor. (Optional) Once during your turn, this character allows you to
re-roll one dice roll, or to force an opponent to reroll
one dice roll. Use the re-rolled result instead of the original result. At any
time during an opponent's turn, this character allows you to force the opponent
to re-roll one dice roll, or to re-roll one of your dice rolls. This character
must be within 10 squares of the figure performing the action/dice roll and
have a clear line of sight to that figure. Figures with Probability Control may also be used to
protect the result of a dice roll you find desirable. If an opponent should use
Probability Control to reroll a die, or to make you reroll a die, and you prefer the original roll to stand,
you may use your Probability Control to cancel the re-roll attempt. Your
Probability Control piece must be within 10 squares of the figure that would be
making the new roll and have a clear line of sight to that figure. Screw that 'you can only use
this power once when it's not your turn if you have more than one opponent'
crap. It's not like
people don't hate PC pieces and try to kill them as fast as they possibly can,
anyway. This will just make them hate 'em even more. SHAPE CHANGE:
This character can change its shape to deceive opponents. (Optional) When this
character is chosen as the target of an attack, roll 1 six-sided die. On a
result of 5-6, the attack cannot be made; the character has fooled the attacker
by appearing as a friendly or harmless character. The attacker takes an action
token and ends its action. When this character makes an attack, roll one 1 six
sided die. On a result of 5-6, the target of the attack has its defense value
reduced to 0, and damage dealt by this attack may not be reduced below 1, or
transferred using Mastermind or other power effects. Shape Change sucks hard under WizKids
rules, and you can't do much with it without having it get completely out of
hand, but by giving it an offensive effect and increasing the chances of it
going off, you at least give poor Beast Boy and Plastic Man something.
Presumably, if an opponent sees a green butterfly come flitting up to him, or a
red and white ball bounce over to him, he'll ignore the silly thing long enough
for the hero in question to get in a really solid shot on him. CLOSE COMBAT EXPERT: This character is more effective in hand to hand
combat than at range. (Optional) Damage dealt in close combat by this character
is increased by 2, if that damage is not already 0. This power may not be used
if more than one close combat attack is made per turn. PERPLEX:
Forget it. There is no possible way to make this power make sense. Just deal
with it. (Optional) Once during your turn, this character may modify any Combat
Value (including Range) for any character in play by 1, up or down. This effect
lasts for the duration of your turn. This character must be within 10 squares
of the target character and have a clear line of fire to that character. If the
target character is damaged or healed during the turn, the effect ends. If this
power is countered or lost during the turn, the effect ends. LEADERSHIP:
With this character in command of your force, your force is more effective. (optional) This character may add an action to your action
total for the turn. At the beginning of your turn, roll 1 six-sided die. On a
result of 4, 5 or 6, add one extra action to your normal action allotment for
that turn. You may only gain one extra action each turn with this power, even
if you have more than one figure with Leadership. Optional:
Add 20 points to any character with Leadership's total point value. Modify
Leadership by adding the following: This character may use any power currently
showing on the dial of any adjacent friendly character which shares this
character's team ability. Optional: Add 30 points to
any character with Leadership's total point value and modify Leadership by
adding the following: Give this character an action token. This character may
remove one action token from any friendly character who shares this character's
team ability, provided the target friendly character is within 10 squares and
this character has a clear line of sight to that character. OUTWIT: This character may use some unspecified effect to counter
an ability of an opponent. (Optional) Once during your turn, as a free action,
this character may make a ranged combat attack for 0 damage.
A successful attack will allow the character to turn off any single power
currently possessed by its target. If
this character is adjacent to an opposing character, it may turn off any single
power currently possessed by an adjacent opposing character as an automatic
free action, without any dice roll. This
effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn. If this character has a
range value of 0, treat its range value as 4 when using this power. This range
cannot be further modified. If Outwit is countered or lost, the cancelled power
returns immediately. Everyone agrees Outwit is broken and needs to be
fixed, but nobody can agree on how to do it. After trying out several different
options, this one seems to work best to me. Making Outwit at range a free
attack for 0 damage, like Mind Control, limits it to the range of the character
trying to do it (or 4, if the character has a range 0), and forces the Outwitter to actually hit the target with something,
instead of just sneering at them from across the board. This has several salubrious effects. First, the
extra attack roll and the limited range are annoying, and since it is very
exasperating to have someone Outwit one of your figs,
it should be a little aggravating for them to do it, as well. Second, by giving
it an attack roll, Outwit becomes a power that you can roll a 2 on and take
damage from, and it can also be re-rolled by Probability Control. Third, the
Mandarin becomes the only click in the game that I am aware of whose Outwit
range actually INCREASES under this house rule, and I like the Mandarin, so nuts
to you if you don't. On the other hand, to counter complaints that this
makes end-dial Outwit useless, because it usually comes up at a time when
Attack Values are very low, I am still allowing Outwit to work automatically if
the Outwitter is adjacent to its target. So when
Spider-Man gets that last desperate click of Outwit before his lights go out,
all he has to do is move adjacent to Doc Ock and he
can still get it off without worrying about his AV. Team Abilities 2000 AD: At
any time during the game, you may declare an opposing team or character as your
target. Once this target has been chosen it cannot be changed. All 2000 AD
members increase their Attack Value by 1 when attacking this target. Members of this TA reduce all damage dealt to them by 1. They do not take pushing damage, and no damage done to them is considered to be unavoidable or irreducible.
AVENGERS : : If every member of your force is an Avenger, you may choose one Avenger on your force per turn. For the remainder of your turn, this character may receive a modifier to their Attack Value equal to +1 for every 2 Avengers on your force (rounding down). This is a free action. If every member of your force is not an Avenger, then Avengers on your force may perform a move action without using one of your actions for the turn. Mark any character who moves this way with an action token.
BATMAN ALLY: (optional)
Any line of sight drawn to this character that passes
through hindering terrain, including the square that this figure occupies, is
treated as though it has been drawn through blocking terrain. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. BATMAN ENEMY:
A Batman Enemy can use the attack value of any other Batman Enemy in an
adjacent square. Birds of Prey may use In Contact With Oracle for no cost.
B.P.R.D. -- Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense :
B.P.R.D. members act as wild cards. They can use any team ability that any
friendly figure in play possesses. They may use this ability only once per
action.
If all members of a force are B.P.R.D., they may use the following Team Ability instead of their wild card TA: All members of B.P.R.D. are immune to the effects of the Mystics and Crossgen TAs.
BROTHERHOOD:
If all members of a force are Brotherhood members, at the beginning of the game
you may choose any Team Ability other than a Wild Card Team Ability. Members of
the Brotherhood on your force have that Team Ability for the duration of the
game. If any members of your force do not have the Brotherhood TA, you may not
use this team ability. Instead, members of the Brotherhood may move on your
turn without their movements counting toward your turn action limit. CALCULATOR:
Members of this team act as wild cards. They can use any team ability that any
friendly character on the battle map possesses. They may use this ability once
each action.
If your entire team is comprised of Calculators, you may use the following Alternate TA instead of the above TA:
Choose one member of your Calculator force. Give that member an action token. For the remainder of that turn, this character may use either Perplex, Outwit, or Leadership as if that power is showing on its dial. All Calculators on a force are always considered to be within range of each other for use of powers that affect each other, even powers that normally only affect adjacent teammates. All Calculators on a force always have line of sight to each other.
CHAMPIONS : Prerequisites -- Iceman, Angel, CRIME SYNDICATE OF CROSSGEN : When this character takes damage from an attack, it
deals 1 damage to the attacker. This damage may not be reduced, evaded, or
transferred. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. CRUSADE : All attack rolls made by the Crusade team that
result in doubles, except two 1s, do 1 extra click of damage, unless damage is
already a 0. DANGER GIRL : When a totally hot Danger Girl is chosen as the
target of an attack, roll 1 six-sided die. On a result of 5-6, the attack
cannot be made; the character has stunned her attacker with her astonishing
beauty. The attacker takes an action token and ends its action. When any totally hot Danger Girl makes an attack,
roll one 1 six sided die. On a result of 5-6, the target of the attack has its
defense value reduced to 0, and damage dealt by this attack may not be reduced
below 1, or transferred to another figure.This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. DEFENDERS : If every member of your force is a Defender, once
per turn, choose a Defender on your force. Until the beginning of your next
turn, you may give this Defender a modifier to his Defense Value equal to +1
per 2 Defenders on your force, rounding down. This is a free action. If any
members of your force are not Defenders, then this TA may not be used. Instead,
Defenders which are adjacent to each other may use each other's unadjusted
Defense Values as a free action. FANTASTIC FOUR:
When a member of the Fantastic Four team is defeated (shows 3 FATAL FIVE: Prerequisite: Validus, Emerald Empress, Persuader, Mano.
If a Fatal Five member deals damage to an opponent and that damage is reduced to 0, the opponent will receive an extra action token. If the opponent already has 2 or more action tokens, the opponent will be dealt one click of damage that cannot be evaded, reduced, or transferred. If this TA is applied, it replaces any other TAs on the dial.
FLASH ROGUES' GALLERY: Prerequisites: Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, Professor Zoom, Weather Wizard, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, Trickster.
Flash Rogues add +1 to their Attack Values when attacking any figure with HyperSonic Speed showing on its dial. Whenever Flash Rogues are successfully hit by any figure using HyperSonic Speed, they may roll a d6. On a result of 6, the attack misses. If this TA is applied, it replaces any other TAs on the dial.
FRIGHTFUL FOUR:
Prerequisites: Wingless Wizard, Trapster, Medusa, Sandman, Hydro-man, Titania,
Klaw. Choose a TA. When an opposing
member of this TA is KOed, all members of the Frightful
Four on a particular force gain one click of healing. If the chosen TA
is the Fantastic Four, all members of the Frightful Four gain 2 clicks of
healing. All members of the Frightful Four and the Fantastic Four TAs are
considered to be Arch Enemies to each other. If this TA is applied, it replaces
any other TA on the figure base for the entire battle. GREEN LANTERN CORPS : A member of the Green Lantern Corps is considered
to be a Transporter, with the following modifications: A GLC member can transport
up to 8 friendly figures when the Green Lantern moves by either soaring or
hovering, as if Super Strength were showing on their dial. All taxied figs must
be adjacent to the GL. Members of the Green Lantern Corps may also do the
following: Give a GLC member on your team an action token. Any
friendly figure within 10 squares of that GLC member that the GLC member has a
clear line of sight to gains +2 to Defense Value until the start of your next
turn.
This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities.
HYDRA : For each Hydra member adjacent to a friendly figure
making a ranged combat attack, add +1 to the attacker's attack value. The
adjacent Hydra members must also have a clear line of sight to the target. INHUMANS: Prerequisites - Black Bolt, Medusa, At the beginning of the game, choose any Team
Ability that is not a Wild Card Team Ability. Assign it to an individual Inhuman figure in your force. This TA remains for the
remainder of the game. If you have more than one Inhuman on a force, you must
choose a different Team Ability for each Inhuman. TAs which duplicate
each other in effect (Batman/Kabuki, etc) may not be duplicated among the Inhumans on your force. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. INJUSTICE LEAGUE : For every member of this TA after the first that is
adjacent to an opponent character, the opponent character must subtract one
from its Defense Value for the remainder of the turn. JLA : If every member of your force is a JLA member, you
may choose one JLA member on your force per turn. For the remainder of your
turn, this JLA member may receive a modifier to their Attack Value equal to +1
for every 2 JLA members on your force (rounding down). This is a free action.
If there are any members of your force that do not have the JLA Team Ability,
you may not use this team ability. Instead, members of the JLA may move on your
turn without their movements counting toward your turn's action limit. JSA : If every member of your force is a JSA member, once
per turn, choose a JSA member on your force. Until the beginning of your next
turn, you may give this JSA member a modifier to his Defense Value equal to +1
per 2 JSA members on your force, rounding down. This is a free action. If any
members of your force are not JSA members, then you may not use this TA.
Instead, JSA members which are adjacent to each other may use each other's
unadjusted Defense Values as a free action. KABUKI : (optional)
Any line of sight drawn to this character that passes through hindering
terrain, including the square that this figure occupies, is treated as though
it has been drawn through blocking terrain. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. KINGDOM COME : Whenever an opposing character is placed adjacent
to a member of this team, roll one 6 sided die. On a result of 1-2, the
opposing character must be placed instead on a non-adjacent square and end its
action. Kingdom Come members do not need to make this roll. Characters may be
knocked back or Force Blasted adjacent to Kingdom Come members without making
this roll. LEGION OF SUPERHEROES : Members of the Legion of Super Heroes act as a wild
card. They can use any team ability that any friendly figure in play possesses,
once per action.
If your entire force is composed of Legion of Superheroes characters, you may choose to use the following TA instead of the wild card TA: Members of the Legion of Superheroes may double any positive modifier to their Defense Values that affects them. Opposing characters must divide their range values by 2 (rounding down) when making ranged attacks at members of the Legion of Superheroes. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities.
Members of this TA may roll 1 d6 when hit by Incapacitate or Mind Control attacks. On a 4-6, the attack does not hit.
MASTERS OF EVIL:
Members of the Masters of Evil may take
an additional non free action token during a turn when they have 2 action
tokens already. Any Masters of Evil
receiving a third action token will take one unavoidable
damage at the end of the turn. When
two or more members of the Masters of Evil are adjacent to each other, they can
all attack the same opponent simultaneously, resulting in one action token
being placed on the Master of Evil of your choice, provided that Master of Evil
does not already have 3 action tokens. MINIONS OF DOOM:
Members of the Minions of Doom act as a wild card. They can use any team
ability that any friendly figure in play possesses, once per action. If your entire force is composed of Minions of Doom, you may use the following Team Ability instead of the wild card Team Ability: Minions of Doom may copy any Team Ability that any opposing figure possesses, once per action. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. MORLOCKS
- When making close combat attacks, a Morlock gains
+1 to its Attack Value per adjacent friendly character that is also adjacent to
the target of its close combat attack. MYSTICS : When
this figure takes damage from any attack, it retaliates with a magical blast
that does one click of damage to the attacker. This point of damage may not be
reduced, evaded, or transferred. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. Members of this TA reduce all damage dealt to them by 1. They do not take pushing damage, and no damage done to them is considered to be unavoidable or irreducible.
OUTSIDERS:
A member of this TA may not have its dial altered in any way by opponents when adjacent to another member of this TA. A member of this TA may modify the combat values of any adjacent member of this TA by 1 as a free action, once per turn. This team ability may not be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. POLICE : For each police force member adjacent to a friendly
figure making a ranged combat attack, add +1 to the attacker's attack value.
The adjacent police force member members must also have a clear line of sight
to the target.
SERPENT SOCIETY
- Members of the Serpent Society ignore the effects of other characters,
hindering, and elevated terrain while moving. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. S.H.I.E.L.D. : A friendly figure occupying a square adjacent to a
SHIELD agent delivers 1 extra click of damage when it hits with a ranged combat
attack. This counts as an action for the SHIELD agent, and causes the SHIELD
agent to take an action token. SINISTER SYNDICATE : Sinister Syndicate members can use the attack value
of any friendly Sinister Syndicate member in an adjacent square. SKRULLS :(Optional)
When this character is chosen as the target of an attack, roll 1 six-sided die.
On a result of 5-6, the attack cannot be made; the character has fooled the
attacker by appearing as a friendly or harmless character. The attacker takes
an action token and ends its action. When this character makes an attack, roll one 1 six
sided die. On a result of 5-6, the target of the attack has its defense value
reduced to 0, and damage dealt by this attack may not be reduced below 1 or
transferred to another figure. Skrulls make breakaway rolls on 2-6, and characters
attempting to break away from Skrulls only do so on a result of 6. This team ability cannot be copied by Feats or wild card team abilities. SPIDER-MAN ALLY : Members of the Spider-Man team act as a wild card.
They can use any team ability that any friendly figure in play possesses, once
per action. If your entire team is composed of Spider-Man figures and/or figures with the Spider-Man TA, you may use the following Alternate Spider-Man Ally TA instead of the above TA:
When any Spider-Man figure or member of this TA is adjacent to any other friendly Spider-Man Ally or Spider-Man figure, the higher cost figure may act as a transporter towards the lower cost figure. When any Spider-Man figure or Spider-Man Ally is adjacent to any opposing Spider-Man figure or Spider-Man Ally, that Spider-Man figure or Spider-Man Ally may make a close combat attack on the opposing Spider-Man figure or Spider-Man Ally as a free action.
Members of the Squadron Supreme may add 1 to their Defense Value for every adjacent member of the Squadron Supreme. Members of the Squadron Supreme may add 1 to their Attack Value for every adjacent member of any other Team Ability.
SUICIDE SQUAD : When an adjacent friendly figure is KOed, Suicide Squad members may Regenerate as a free
action. SUPERMAN ALLY:
Characters on this team ignore the effects of hindering and Smoke Cloud terrain
(including team abilities that grant hindering terrain bonuses) on movement and
combat. Shape Change only effects them on a result of
6. SUPERMAN ENEMY: If
two Superman Enemies are adjacent, the figure with the highest point value has
the Outwit super power. If that figure already has Outwit, this special ability
does not work. TITANS : At the
beginning of an action in which two friendly members of this team are adjacent
to each other, give one of those characters an action token and deal 1 damage
to it. This damage may not be reduced, evaded, or transferred. The other
adjacent, friendly member of this team is healed of 1 damage.
TOP COW : You may give a Top Cow team member a move action
that does not count towards your allotment of move actions for the turn. ULTIMATES : - Characters on this team ignore the effects of
hindering and Smoke Cloud terrain (including team abilities that grant
hindering terrain bonuses) on movement and combat. Shape Change only effects them on a 6. ULTIMATE X-MEN : At any time during the game, you may declare an
opposing team or character as your target. Once this target has been chosen it
cannot be changed. All Ultimate X-Men increase their Attack Value by 1 when
attacking this target. X-MEN : At the beginning of an action in which two friendly
members of this team are adjacent to each other, give one of those characters
an action token and deal 1 damage to it. This damage may not be reduced,
evaded, or transferred. The other adjacent, friendly member of this team is
healed of 1 damage. GENERAL NOTE:
For both Battlefield Conditions, Feat Cards, and
anything else where written rules denote "Stealth", the Batman
Ally/Kabuki Team Ability can be used interchangeably. BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS -- Under Doc Nebula's House Rules, Battlefield
Conditions are not deployed tactically or strategically. They are instead used
to rectify one of HeroClix most egregious failings --
the lack of anything remotely like strategic or tactical surprise as an element
in this game. Let's face it, in HeroClix
you know everything that's going on from the very start of the game onward. You
know what figs your opponent is playing and what, if any, Feat Cards he's
modified them with. And if you only deploy Battlefield Conditions the way WizKids has ruled you should, then, yeah, you get a
surprise at the start of the game, but the way it works out in practice is,
either you brought an Ordinary Day so your opponent can't slap down an Atlantis
Rising and then romp you utterly with his All Dolphin Movement Symbol Squad, or
you didn't, in which case, you're screwed. Anyone who plays in games where
Battlefield Condition cards can be deployed, and who doesn't keep a pack
of Ordinary Days in their shirt pocket to keep the match honest, is just crazy
from my point of view. Even if you do play with the normal BC rules,
though, you only get one surprise per game -- or, I suppose, if you and your
opponent both put a BC into effect, then you have two different BCs operating, like Crosswinds and Atlantis Rising, just to
make sure every non-Swimmer on the board is thoroughly screwed. But even so,
this still isn't a surprise; once the game starts, you know what's going on. The way I do Battlefield Conditions is truly random.
Each player rolls two six sided dice at the start of his/her turn. On a result
of 10 or higher, or 4 or less, a random Battlefield Condition comes into the
game (you can create a table with a little work, or just do what we do, which
is have one player shuffle the BC deck without looking at it, while the other
player picks a random number from 1 to however many BC conditions you currently
have in there). Once you have a Battlefield Condition in play,
subsequent rolls of 4 or less, or 10 or higher, will either add a new
Battlefield Condition while leaving the first in play (if the dice roll is
doubles, which rolling a 4 or less, or a 10 or higher, results in more often
than not) or causes the BC in play to be put back in the deck (where it could
come out randomly again after the deck is shuffled and a new random number is
chosen). With this system, it's possible to end up with a
game which has half a dozen Battlefield Conditions in play at once. (If you
don't like this, then you can either eliminate the doubles rule, or load up
your BC deck with Ordinary Day cards. We only play with one, but often times,
when Disbanded or Atlantis Rising or Crosswinds or Proximity Mines or Deep
Shadows is out, and somebody's team is being utterly screwed over by it, people
are just praying for an Ordinary Day to come out and wipe out every BC in
play.) Again, the reason to play with this is so as to
introduce an uncontrollably random and unpredictable element into the game. If
you never know when an Earthquake is going to pop out and go off, well, it's
impossible to plan your team around it. Similarly, if Aquaman
or Namor is going to decide to get pissy and hit the city your teams are fighting in with a
tidal wave, it's not like you're going to get advance warning. Some BC cards require a little modification when
used this way -- INFILTRATION
-- when Infiltration comes into play, assume that any characters qualifying for
the effect (those with Phasing/Teleport, Smoke Cloud, Stealth, or the dolphin
movement symbol showing on their dial) may be moved immediately up to half
their unmodified movement value into either Hindering Terrain or water terrain
respectively, as a free action. This effect only happens once, when
Infiltration first comes into play; however, if Infiltration remains out for a
series of turns and a figure in play suddenly gains one of these powers while
Infiltration is out, it may use the Infiltration movement modifier at the start
of its controllers first turn with that power showing on its dial. ATLANTIS RISING
-- When Atlantis Rising comes into play, roll one six sided die. The result is
the number of player turns that all non-elevated water terrain remains Shallow
Water. After that number of player turns, all non elevated Water Terrain is
considered to be Deep Water (see my House Rules, Water Terrain, for effects of
Shallow and Deep Water Terrain). DEBRIS --
When Debris comes into play at random after the game has started, instead of
placing 3 additional object tokens per player onto the board, each player
places three Debris markers in open squares on the board. Debris markers are
the markers on the back of Barrier, Smoke, and Special markers that represent
former Blocking Terrain that has been smashed down into Hindering Terrain. FEAT CARDS
- A few Feat Cards require either revision, or at least, additional notes, to
work properly under Doc Nebula's House Rules -- BRILLIANT TACTICIAN: Prerequisites: Outwit and Perplex (each must be
somewhere on the character's dial) Choose a character. When the character uses
Perplex, it may affect every target friendly character within 10 squares. The
character must have a clear line of fire to each target. EXTENDED RANGE --
This is a fantastic card when used in conjunction with Pulse Wave, as the power
is redefined under my rules. If you're facing a lot of really tough characters
and you just want to go for the mass Incapacitate effect, use this card to
increase your Pulse Waver's range while lowering his/her damage to 0,
guaranteeing that everyone in range takes the extra action token (unless you
roll a Fumble, in which case, it's just you). FANTASTIC FOUR
-- Babies and losers love to snivel and whine about this new TA and even make up
house rules forbidding it at their venues, but I say it's the greatest TA ever
created and finally makes the Fantastic Four nearly as formidable in clix form as they are in the comics. Yeah, okay, if you
manage to take out Sue Storm this TA should go away, instead of letting
everyone suddenly have the next highest member's Defense Value, but I don't
care. The FF should be nearly impossible to beat and this Feat Card/substitute
TA makes it so. And if you're playing Battlefield Conditions the Doc Nebula
way, well, you can always hope for a Disbanded or an Isolation to come into the
game and completely screw the guy playing this TA against you. WizKids has stated that this substitute TA cannot be
accessed using the Thunderbolts Feat Card, which also strikes me as childish
and wank-like; the Avengers should certainly be able
to benefit from the Wasp flying around their opponents heads and using her
stings to distract them, for example. So under my House Rules, you can
certainly give a team of Avengers this substitute FF TA, if you want to. FASTBALL SPECIAL
-- My House Rules allow characters with Super Strength to pick up other
characters and throw them as if they were Light Objects. This makes Fastball
Special kind of redundant as a Feat Card. Given the limitations on the card
(each character must have the same TA, the thrown character must be grounded,
have Toughness, and not have a damage value higher than 3) I find the Feat Card
nearly unworkable anyway, as well as hopelessly inconsistent with how the Feat
generally works in comics, or could work (there's no reason the Thing can't
throw Spider-Man at someone, for example, and while most versions of Wolverine
have Toughness, not all of them do). So in general, I find this Feat Card to be
pointless under my House Rules. Having said all that, though, the Attack Value
and Damage Modifiers are definite pluses over how a similar move would work
under my Rules, where your Super Strength figure would simply toss a teammate
at an opponent, do Light Object damage to both the opponent and the teammate,
and then the teammate would launch an attack of his own. FLASHBANG:
Prerequisite: Smoke Cloud Choose a character. (optional)
When the characer is given a move action, it may move
up to its full Speed Value and it may use Smoke Cloud as a free action either
before or after the move action. If the character does not take any other
action this turn, it may use Smoke Cloud as a free action. FORTITUDE --
Some necessary notes: INSPIRING COMMAND:
"Prerequisite: Leadership or Mastermind. Characters with the same team ability
as this character are not dealt pushing damage when a second token is placed
upon them if they are adjacent to this character at the beginning or end of an
action." I've changed 'team symbol' to 'team ability' so wild card characters
can join a force and get some benefit from having a leader on their team, and
I've entirely done away with that nonsense about needing to have a lower point
value than the leader to get this benefit. As if Captain REPULSOR SHIELD:
"Prerequisite: Impervious or Invulnerability. This character ignores other characters' Force Blast and Ranged Combat Expert. Psychic Blast damage is reduced to 1 and cannot be increased." RIP IT UP:
"Prerequisite: Super Strength. Before this character begins any movement, you
may give it a Debris token that may be used in combat as a Light Object." SIDEKICK:
"Choose two characters. The first character must have a point value at least
twice that of the second character. The two characters must be adjacent to each
other in order to use this feat. The first character may only carry the second
character if the first character is a transporter, or the Passenger card is
utilized; the second character may never carry the first character. (Optional) The second character uses the first
character's defense value and/or any Defense Power the first character may have
showing on its dial instead of its own when it is attacked by an opposing
character." SLIPPERY
Add the following line of dialogue: "Members of the Serpent Society TA pay 0
for Slippery and automatically qualify for the card." SWINGLINE:
"Prerequisite: Foot movement symbol. Choose a character. This character ignores
Hindering Terrain for movement purposes, and may move freely between elevated and
non-elevated terrain. If this character succeeds at a ranged combat attack
against a target opposing character with the wing movement symbol, the target
gains Earthbound until the beginning of its controller's next turn." Eliminate
the +1 to Movement. Same cost. TAUNT:
"Choose a character. Give this character an action token. Give this character a
ranged combat attack targeting a single opposing character within 6 squares. If
the attack succeeds, it deals no damage. The target must either attempt to move
adjacent to or attack this character next turn." TRICK SHOT:
"Prerequisite: Plasticity or Ranged Combat Expert. When not adjacent to an
opposing character, this character ignores the effects of hindering terrain and
other characters on line of sight. If a path to a target opposing character can
be drawn from this character that is within this character's range in squares
and is not interrupted by Blocking Terrain, this character may make a ranged
combat attack on target opposing character."
POLYMORPH – Prerequisites – Character must be represented by more than one distinct power dial. At least one of these power dials must have the power Shape Change on it, OR, at least two different power dials representing this character must (1) show different movement types (boot, wing, dolphin) and/or (2) show different damage types (fist, giant).
COST: Pay the cost of the most expensive figure, then average the costs of all additional figures representing this character for this game. If only one additional figure is used, pay half that figure’s cost.
Place one figure representing this character in the starting area at the beginning of this game. Whenever the figure in the game has its dial turned in either direction, turn all off board figures representing this character the same number of clicks in the same direction (do not advance any figure past its starting click into KO slots). At any time during subsequent turns of the game, as a free action, player may switch one of the off-board figures representing the character for the figure in the game. Off-board figures may not be placed on the board if KO slots are showing on their dials.
WARP IN: Prerequisite -- Phasing/Teleport Cost: 25 points. This character is not placed on the board at the start of play in the normal starting area. Instead, this character's controller chooses any open square on the board during any turn after the first. Roll 1 d6. 1-2 Figure is placed on board in any open square. Give figure an action token, it may take no further action that turn. 3-4 Figure is placed on board in any open square. This is a free action, but figure may take no non-free actions for rest of turn. 5-6 Figure is placed on board in any open square. This is a free action, and figure may take any normal action for normal cost. Once this has been done, remove WARP IN from game. Only one instance of WARP IN may be played per character per game.
If character with WARP IN is a Transporter, or has the Passenger Feat Card, it may carry one other friendly figure with it into the game. This friendly figure also remains off the game board with WARP IN figure until they are both brought into the game simultaneously.
SACRIFICE PLAY: Prerequisite: Characters must have same Team Ability. COST: 5 points per character. Choose more than one character with same Team Ability. When two or more such characters are adjacent, and one of these characters is KOed, it instead remains on its final slot before being KOed. Choose an adjacent character also using this Feat Card and KO that character instead.
RESCUSCITATE/REVIVE: COST: 10 points Choose a character. When this character is KOed, do not award victory points. Place three action tokens on this character. Opponent who KOed this character may remove one action token at the start of his/her turn. When KOed character has no further action tokens, remove character from board and award victory points. While KOed character remains on board, it may be Healed or Regenerated as normal.Automatic Regeneration will not work while a figure is KOed. If character is Healed or Regenerated, reduce number of action tokens on it to 1.
OTHER STUFF - * * *No attacks on the first turn - Over the
course of many games, I've evolved a 'no attacks on the first turn' policy that
seems to work well. It's not an actual 'rule', but when nobody can attack
anybody else on the first turn, it has two positive effects - first, people
tend not to 'turtle' quite so much (i.e., sit there and refuse to move their
pieces until the other players are fully engaged, which is just maddening to
those of us who actually like to PLAY this game), and second, it makes being first
player something of an advantage (because after the first turn is over, first
player can actually attack first) instead of a horrible disadvantage, as I've
found it to be when you're moving all your pieces out onto the board, after
which, during the first turn, every other player can then take a free shot at
you, having seen your disposition. 5 actions per turn - No matter how high the build point total of the game, it can
be a good idea to max the total number of actions allowed per player per turn
at 5. This really helps speed up big games, and also makes Leadership
worthwhile in larger games, as well. Map Features -- WizKid's rules cannot be sensibly applied to all the various
cool and interesting details on their maps. I'm simply going to pass along some
of the decisions my gaming group has found useful over the course of many games
on various maps: Super-elevated terrain -- anything set on top of a rooftop, which is already
elevated terrain, like a chimney or a water tower, is super-elevated terrain.
Characters on top of super-elevated terrain have line of sight to any square on
a lower terrain type, unless that square is directly blocked by other super
elevated terrain. Example:
Umar moves to the top of a chimney jutting up above a
rooftop. (She can do this, she's got Phasing.) Umar
now has line of sight on pretty much anyone else on the board unless they are
standing behind another chimney or some other terrain feature that juts up
above the level of the surrounding elevated terrain. If Baron Zemo and the Enchantress are standing on a nearby rooftop
within Umar's range, and Baron Zemo
is between Umar and the Enchantress, Umar can still hit the Enchantress, as she has line of
sight due to being on super-elevated terrain. Sloping roofs/surfaces -- One map in particular that I can think of has what
is obviously meant to be a sloping roof. Our ruling is that characters further
up the slope are elevated over the top of characters further down the slope.
This is a useful place to stack SHIELD or HYDRA agents so they can all be
adjacent to each other and still have line of sight on the same target.
However, opponents have a nice array of targets to shoot back at, as well. Reducible elevated terrain -- We mostly use this rule for the dinosaurs on that
cool museum map. You can hide on a dinosaur's head, and this is elevated
terrain, but because our rules allow hindering terrain to be destroyed like
blocking terrain, and because someone should be able to walk up to a giant
model of a dinosaur and wreck it if they were that mean, we rule that some
elevated terrain features are 'reducible', which simply means, you can reduce
them to nothingness. A good solid general rule is, if someone can hide on it --
and most terrain features actually detailed on maps, like chimneys and water
towers and dinosaur heads and such can certainly be used to hide on -- then it can be blown up or
knocked to pieces. On or under -- Various map details -- countertops, tables, chairs,
crates in warehouses, etc -- obviously should represent some sort of elevated
feature. Characters moving on top of these should be considered to have line of
sight over intervening characters at ground level. This can be extremely
advantageous (although, remember, if you can see and shoot at them, they can
generally see and shoot at you, unless you have Stealth). Because of this, we
declare when we move onto such a feature 'on top of or under', which is to say,
is Robin hiding under the table, or is he on top of it? This may seem trivial, but it's not. For non-Stealthed characters, the decision means either having line
of sight over everyone else's heads (which can be critical) but also having
everyone else be able to shoot back at them, or losing line of sight due to
intervening characters' which also works both ways. Even for Stealthed
characters, though, it's important to declare 'on top of or under', as they may
lose Stealth through various means after taking their positions. |
