[GB] Heroes

[Eliahad]

Exactly that, actually. Standard list. And then for specials 1 special that augments one of the standard powers and one special that give some other activated benefit.

[Eliahad]

To expand a little:

Andrew had a thought of, "If you wanted to pump all of your Hero Points into one Herculean effort you should be able to do that."

Which led me to the thought of: If we have a menu of standard actions that you can take, but you can take as many of them as you like on your turn." So if you wanted to charge someone 3 hexes away from your hero you could:

Move 1 Hex (that's the movement action.)
Sprint 1 hex for 2 HP
Knock Down for (1 HP, with the ability to charge the action for more.)

And there you've created a Bull Rush.

If you wanted to throw someone to a specific hex:

Grab (1 HP)
Throw (1 HP)
(And then however many extra you want to charge the action for.)

If you just wanted to Shove or Kick them one hex away from their current hex:

Shove (1 HP)
(And then however many extra you want to charge the action for.)

You have to declare which actions you are taking before you take them. The defender can defend everything outright by paying the HP cost +1 of everything. Or if you, as defender, can pay half of the cost, they can defend their choice of half the actions (rounded down).

[Mike]

That's pretty cool. I like that. I would want to say that on a standard turn, no more than 2 hexes of movement total.

[Eliahad]

Yeah, so maybe no extra Hero traits that let you gain extra hexes.

Also, I like this because it simplifies what we put on the player aid. "You can do these 4 things in any combination." Or however many it ends up being.

[Mike]

I don't mind a special or a card that lets you push to three. But it should cost if it's something we allow. We'll see.

[Eliahad]

Oh! And I see 3 uncontested actions:

Sprint (1 hex movement)
Kick (Uncontrolled Godball - kick the ball 1 hex to one of the 3 hexes away from the direction of your hero. No idea how to word that better. )
Throw (Controlled Godball - throw the Godball up to 2 hexes away.)

[Eliahad]

Also, also! If we do this right, we don't have to change the rules between the single player game and the team game. The difference is one is a single player game, and one is a team game.

[Mike]

And I know we have a no dice rule, but we MIGHT want to consider random placement for a loose ball. Could be straight up d6 to pick a direction, or it could be d8 with six directions, defender chooses, attacker chooses.

[Mike]

Just a thought.

[Eliahad]

[FlameBlade]

Hm. Given how slowly one restores HP, one would be afraid to pump it all into HP, knowing that one could use it to attempt to break away at the earliest chance. I can see movements away from fracas with godball being the paramount priority. Now, question is, how do you encourage heroes to spend, spend, spend?

[Eliahad]

Do we need to?

[Eliahad]

I just played a couple of rounds by myself just to see what it felt like. I had 2v2v2, just Heroes, no traits. 1 point refreshed to your pool at the start of your turn, 1 point refreshed if you took no Hero Action, max pool of 8. Goals were created by pillars of heaven with 1 space in between them, centered on the second ring on the side opposite your starting positions. Scoring would be either throwing the Godball between them (1 point), or running through it (3 points).

1. Turn order is going to be a big deal in the team game. I don't think that we want it to be 'everyone takes their turn on one team.' Then the next team goes. I think it needs to be alternating.

2. I haven't sat down and thought about what the minimum number of actions are needed to perform a goodly number of different maneuvers. I'll try and find a little time to do that.

3. Throwing and kicking the ball makes a big difference in the feel of the game, I think I'm going to like it. Sprint added a lot of motion, throwing and kicking adds even more.

4. Someone (Orange, for whatever that means) was threatening to score within 4 turns of the start of the game. He got clobbered by the other two teams, but if there had been enough HP in their pool, they could have made it.

5. If a ball is thrown through an occupied hex, that player needs to be able to spend HP to try and catch it. (I like 2 again.)

6. We need to figure out fumble mechanics. Who decides? I still like the idea that if a Hero causes a fumble, the defender picks. If a God forces a fumble, then the God who caused the fumble picks. But that's just me.

7. Should HP be refreshed at the beginning or end of the round?

8. Teams might be the way to go, but I also can see how this will work in a free for all game as well.

(Free for all might be helped by having shared goals. And the idea that Pillars of heaven can be moved...to widen the goal (and it will have to be stated that you cannot close someone's goal completely) appeals to me in a giggly sort of way.)

[Eliahad]

REACTIONS! They had been bugging me and I couldn't figure out why. I don't want them to be standard actions, because I think it would be too many to remember, and cause unnecessary extra rules, but if it's turned into a special ability and each Hero has one, then you only have to remember the one for your Hero. (I mean, you'll have to know what other people have, but it keeps you from being overwhelmed by the number of choices and kicking yourself for forgetting some little thing further down the list.)

Heroes have three traits then:

Passive
Active
Reaction

Reactions are the only one that can be activated on someone else's turn!

And if 2 traits is better, then it could be just choose 2 of those three options for your traits.

This makes me happy.

[Wowie]

Literal movement of the goalposts might cause issues if the goalposts don't line up with the hexes, as much as I am also made giddy by the idea. How would you decide which hexes become the goal area?

[Eliahad]

But it would be so much fun! I think you're right, ultimately. We're still torn on the exact scoring mechanism. (That is a discussion for a different thread.

I came to the realization about Hero Actions. Throw Hero, Slam and Steal/Force Fumble powers could all be reserved as special powers that are unique to certain Heroes. And as much as we want a "Steal" action, that also can be achieved from Knocking Down Heroes that hold the Godball.

Here's what I propose then. 7 Possible Hero Actions, and except for Rest, you can perform multiple hero actions on your turn.

Rest - Take no Hero Action this turn and restore 1 HP.

Sprint - 2 HP - Move 1 additional hex. You must also pay the cost associated with moving into that hex as if this were a move action.

Kick Godball - 2 HP - If the Godball is uncontrolled and adjacent to you, you may kick it 1 hex into one of the 3 hexes away from you.

Throw Godball - 2 HP - If you control the Godball, you may throw it to any hex that is up to 2 hexes away. Any Hero in that hex automatically catches the ball. Draw a straight line from the center your Hero's hex to the target hex. If this line crosses a hex, or side of a hex containing a Hero, that Hero may intercept the Godball by paying 2 HP. (Pictures will make this very clear.)

Shove - chargeable - Hero in adjacent hex is pushed 1 hex into one of the 3 hexes away from you. If they control the Godball, they maintain control of the Godball.

Knock Down - chargeable - Hero in adjacent hex is knocked down. If they controlled the Godball, it falls into a hex of your choosing.

Grab - chargeable - Your hero grabs the target Hero. On their next turn they must pay 2 HP for their move action and they may not Sprint.


That's 1 rest action, 1 move-based action, 2 Godball specific actions, and 3 interactive actions. That seems like a good number of basic actions that everyone has to remember, and then from there you can have an ability or 2 that gives you a couple more action choices that are specific to your character. Mayhaps?

[Wowie]

I like it.

[FlameBlade]

Neat thing about having card-based for action, is that if someone is grabbing, that person gives grab card to the other player, covering the movement area..maybe?

[Wowie]

It occurs to me, that Grab, Knockdown, and Shove should still maintain minimum costs in order to prevent the most powerful actions (Knockdown especially, now that it seems to have been buffed from when I last saw it.) from being performed too cheaply. Also, it should be clarified whether or not you can perform the same action multiple times in one turn, now that multiple actions are allowed.

[Eliahad]