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Zelc
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« on: June 06, 2011, 04:29:56 pm » |
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3/14/2012: Updated costs, added boosts vs. Fear checks, added Ritual effect conflicts.
THIS FACTION NEEDS A NAME! PLEASE SUGGEST IDEAS
Some background:
One day, I was thinking about potential new mechanics, and I came across what I thought was an interesting idea. Gee, what if instead of penalties to dice and courage for being in the yellow/red, a faction got those penalties as bonuses instead? It seems to fit a savage faction. Plus this faction can come with a bunch of cool damage-for-benefit mechanics for command cards. I thought about it some more and filed it in the back of my head.
The very next day, gull makes a post about a similar idea (I now realize it's not exactly the same idea I had). So this means it must be a cool idea!
Fluff:
The theme fits with a faction of wild savages, who go fight with greater zeal as they are hurt. I'm leaning towards wild beastmen. They're also experienced in dark druidic blood-rituals, which provides their command card theme. In MTG colors, this would be a Green-Black deck.
Crunch:
The faction's units get stronger as they take more damage. Their command cards and faction ability involve manipulating their damage to gain effects. This faction has no units with a ranged attack (ok, there's a spell that can give another unit a ranged attack, but it's on a ~500 point unit)!
Unit Ability:
Savage Fury: This unit suffers no penalties to attack dice or courage for being in the yellow or being in the red. Instead, this unit gains (+1) +0/+0 and C +1 if it's in the yellow and (+2) +0/+0 and C +2 if it's in the red.
All non-elder units in the faction get this ability except for the Druids.
Elder Fury: This unit suffers no penalties to attack dice or courage for being in the yellow or being in the red. Instead, this unit gains (+1) +0/+0 and C +1 if it's in the yellow or in the red.
All elder units in the faction get this ability except for the Elder Druids.
Double Strike: During any phase, if this unit makes an engaged attack against a unit, it makes an additional engaged attack immediately afterwards in the same phase. The additional engaged attack does not get impact hits.
The centaurs gain this ability while Charging.
Harasser: If this unit would make a rout check, you may choose to have it rout instead. At the beginning of the Post-Combat Courage Phase, if this unit was engaged during this turn's Combat Phase, you may choose to have it rout even if it isn't making a rout check in this phase.
You may choose to have the unit rout even if the unit would pass all rout checks. If you choose to have this unit rout through this ability, it routs even if it was unengaged at the start of this phase.
The Wolfen have this ability.
Army Ability:
Blood Magic: During your Movement and Command Phase, you can spend one Command Action to mark up to 2 Blood Magic boxes on units you control.
During any Movement and Command phase, you may erase 1 Blood Magic box on a unit you control to deal 1 damage to that unit. This damage does not cause rout checks.
If you play a Command Card or a unit you control casts a spell that would deal damage to a unit you control, you may erase two Blood Magic boxes on that unit to prevent 1 of that damage.
At the beginning of the combat phase, you may heal 1 damage on a unit you control by erasing a number of Blood Magic boxes on that unit equal to its Blood Demand. If the unit is in the yellow, this cannot heal the unit into the green, and if the unit is in the red, this cannot heal the unit into the yellow or green. This is a heal effect. (A unit's Blood Demand is equal to its evade + toughness - 1 and will be printed on the back of the card.)
Command Cards
Ritual of Strength
Play during your Movement and Command Phase.
Choose one:
Deal 1 damage to a Beastmen unit you control. This damage does not cause rout checks. That unit gains A(+1) +1/+1 on its next attack this turn. You may not play red command cards on this unit during that attack. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
OR:
A Beastmen unit you control gains A(+1) +0/+1 on its next attack this turn. You may not play red command cards on this unit during that attack.
Note it’s slightly worse than a Might without paying the 1 damage, since you have to pre-commit to it.
Ritual of Wisdom
Play during your Movement and Command Phase.
Choose one:
Deal 1 damage to a Beastmen unit you control. This damage does not cause rout checks. Draw two Command Cards. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
OR:
Draw a Command Card.
This might be too vanilla.
Ritual of Courage
Play during any Courage phase, after your unit fails a Courage check.
Choose one:
Deal 2 damage to the unit which failed the Courage check. It automatically passes all Courage checks this turn. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
OR:
The unit rerolls the Courage check.
Ritual of Decrepitude
Play at the end of any Movement and Command Phase, before any attacks are declared.
Choose one:
Choose a Beastmen unit you control and deal 1 damage to that unit. This damage does not cause rout checks. One enemy unit of your choice engaged with that unit suffers a (-2) -1/-1 penalty to its next engaged attack this turn. You cannot play blue Command Cards on that attack. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
OR:.
One enemy unit of your choice engaged with a Beastmen unit you control suffers a (-1) -0/-1 to its next engaged attack this turn. You cannot play blue Command Cards on that attack.
I know the penalty is huge, but you’re taking 1 point of damage automatically.
Ritual of Pain
Play at the end of any Movement and Command Phase, before any attacks are declared. Choose a Beastmen unit you control. Deal 1 damage to that unit and 1 damage to one enemy unit of your choice engaged with that unit. This damage does not cause rout checks. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
Units
For the most part, point costs are determined by finding an existing unit that goes 50/50 with the proposed unit (let's call this the Even Matchup Unit), then applying a 0.5%-3% discount to reflect that these units are backloaded and lose earlier than their counterparts in other factions.
Unit Points Distribution: (color indicates Core, Standard, or Elite; ?? means the point cost is more approximate than the others)
72: Ratmen
116: Elder Ratmen
178(??): Wolfen Longstriders
191: Leonin Warriors
197(??): Wild Centaurs
213: Spine Beasts
267(??): Loxodon Druids
272: Elder Leonin Warriors
284(??): Elder Wolfen Longstriders
287: Minotaurs
304: Elder Spine Beasts
354(??): Elder Wild Centaurs
403: Elder Minotaurs
500(??): Elder Loxodon Druids
Note: Each unit has Blood Magic boxes equal to its base Blood Demand.
I'm not going to star stats that change due only to Savage/Elder Fury. If this ever gets printed, those stats should probably be starred.
Ratmen
72 points; Core
A (4) 4/4; D 1/1; H 2/5/3; C 8; M 3.5"; R --
Savage Fury, Blood Demand 1, C +2 on Fear checks.
The dregs of Beastmen society, Ratmen just manage to breed faster than they die.
Elder Ratmen
116 points; Standard
A (5) 5/4; D 2/1; H 2/5/3; C 9; M 3.5"; R --
Elder Fury, Blood Demand 2, C +2 on Fear checks.
A ratman that survives three years is recognized as an elder. Even they rarely see their fourth year.
Leonin Warriors
191 points; Core
A (4) 5/5; D 2/2; H 4/3/3; C 10; M 3.5"; R --
Savage Fury, Blood Demand 3, C +2 on Fear checks.
Elder Leonin Warriors
272 points; Standard
A (5) 6/5; D 2/2; H 4/3/3; C 11; M 3.5"; R --
Elder Fury, Blood Demand 3, C +2 on Fear checks.
Spine Beasts
213 points; Core
A (5*) 5*/5*; D 2/2; H 4/3/3; C 10; M 3.5"; R --
Savage Fury, Blood Demand 3, C +2 on Fear checks.
A (-1) -0/-0 while Charging. A (+0) +1/+0 vs. Cavalry and/or Large units. A (+0) +0/+2 while Holding vs. Charging Cavalry and/or Large units.
Warriors quickly learned not to charge into a curled-up Spined Beast. The smart warriors learned from the dumb warriors, and the dumb warriors learned from experience.
Elder Spine Beasts
304 points; Standard
A (6*) 5*/6*; D 2/2; H 4/3/3; C 11; M 3.5"; R --
Elder Fury, Blood Demand 3, C +2 on Fear checks.
A (-1) -0/-0 while Charging. A (+0) +1/+0 vs. Cavalry and/or Large units. A (+0) +0/+2 while Holding vs. Charging Cavalry and/or Large units.
It's more efficient to grow your own weapons.
Note the 6 power actually makes this guy a decent candidate to take on large units, which usually have high toughness.
Minotaurs
287; Core
A (3) 6/6; D 2/3; H 4/3/3; C 11; M 3.5"; R --
Savage Fury, Blood Demand 4, Passes all Fear checks.
Unlike cows, minotaurs eat meat. Lots of meat.
This guy carries 1 big axe. These guys have pretty good defense but their offense is weak until they get into the yellow. They cost quite a bit though, so you’ll probably want to match them up against a good enemy unit and hope they do some damage while they tank it.
Elder Minotaur
403 points; Elite
A (5) 6/6; D 2/3; H 4/3/3; C 12; M 3.5"; R --
Elder Fury, Blood Demand 4, Passes all Fear checks.
This guy carries 2 big axes. Indeed, both hands are for killing.
Wolfen Longstriders
178 points(??); Standard
A (4*) 5/5; D 2*/1; H 1/1/6; C 6; M 5"; R --
Savage Fury, Blood Demand 2, C +6 on Fear checks.
Harasser.
D +3/+0 and A (+2) +0/+0 during the Courage Phase. If Wolfen Longstriders routs, it automatically rallies at the end of turn. Passes all rout checks while routing.
Elder Wolfen Longstriders
284 points(??); Elite
A (5*) 5/5; D 3*/1; H 1/1/6; C 7; M 3.5"; R --
Elder Fury, Blood Demand 3, C +6 on Fear checks.
Harasser.
D +3/+0 and A (+2) +0/+0 during the Courage Phase. If Elder Wolfen Longstriders routs, it automatically rallies at the end of turn.
Passes all rout checks while routing.
Wild Centaurs
197 points(??); Standard
A (3*) 5/5*; D 2*/1; H 2/1/3; C 9; M 6"; R --
Savage Fury, Blood Demand 2, C +2 on Fear checks.
Cavalry.
D +1/+0 and A (+0) +0/+1, and gains Double Strike while Charging (this is in addition to the normal Charging bonus). Gains C +1 while Charging if the unit is in the yellow, and gains C +2 while Charging if the unit is in the red.
The Wild Centaurs trade the skill and civilization of their Ravenwood brethren for pure savagery.
The Double Strike simulates 0" Javelins that get the Charge bonus. 6 to 10 dice on the charge + 1x impact hit, but only 3 to 5 dice on subsequent combat rounds.
Elder Wild Centaurs
354 points(??); Elite
A (5*) 6/5*; D 2*/2; H 2/2/3; C 10; M 6"; R --
Elder Fury, Blood Demand 3, C +2 on Fear checks.
Cavalry.
D +1/+0 and A (+0) +0/+1, and gains Double Strike while Charging (this is in addition to the normal Charging bonus). Gains C +1 while Charging if the unit is in the green, and gains C +2 while Charging if the unit is in the yellow or in the red.
Elder Wild Centaurs can't match the Ravenwood Centaurs' legendary skill with the javelin, but they can match their legendary skill at killing.
The Double Strike simulates 0" Javelins that get the Charge bonus. 10 to 12 dice on the charge + 1x impact hit, but only 5 to 6 dice on subsequent combat rounds. Note the Ravenwood Centaurs essentially get 18 dice on the charge (12 of them at -2 power though), and don't need to lose 29% of their HP to get all of the dice.
Loxodon Druids
267 points(??); Standard
A (3) 4/6; D 1/3; H 4/3/3; C 13; M 3.5"; R --
Blood Demand 3
After your units have been deployed but before assigning standing orders, you may choose a unit you control with the Savage Fury or Elder Fury ability. That unit gains the Avatar of Anger effect.
While unengaged, can cast Spells: Infuse, Ritual of Speed, Invest Avatar of Anger.
While engaged, can cast Infuse, but must target this unit.
Only the wisest and toughest vegetarians can survive in a meat-eating world.
Note these guys have regeneration, although it’s slightly worse than usual since it takes up all of the unit’s Blood Magic boxes and isn’t automatic when unengaged. The body (including the “regeneration”) should be about 167 points and the spells should be worth about 100 points. The body stats are approximated and I will probably need to adjust them.
Elder Loxodon Druids
500 points(??); Elite
A (3) 4/7; D 2/3; H 4/4/4; C 14; M 3.5"; R --
Blood Demand 4
After your units have been deployed but before assigning standing orders, you may choose a unit you control with the Savage Fury or Elder Fury ability. That unit gains the Avatar of Anger effect.
While unengaged, can cast Spells: Greater Infuse, Ritual of Speed, Ritual of Vines, Invest Avatar of Wrath.
While engaged, can cast Greater Infuse, but must target this unit.
Elder Loxodon Druids are the leaders of Beastmen society.
Note these guys have “regeneration”, although it’s slightly worse than usual since it takes up all of the unit’s Blood Magic boxes and isn’t automatic when unengaged. The body (including the “regeneration”) should be about 250 points and the spells should be worth about 250 points. The body stats are approximated and I will probably need to adjust them.
Loxodon Druid Spells:
Infuse: Cast during your Movement and Command phase, after all Final Rushes are made. Mark up to three Blood Magic boxes on your units. Loxodon Druids can cast Infuse and make engaged attacks in the same turn.
Ritual of Speed: Cast during your Movement and Command phase, after all Final Rushes are made. Deal 1 damage to up to three of your units (this damage does not cause rout checks). Those units gain +2 MC and cannot Final Rush this turn. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
Invest Avatar of Anger: Cast at the beginning of your Movement and Command phase. Spend two Command Actions, and the caster cannot move this turn. Choose a unit you control with the Savage Fury or Elder Fury ability. That unit gains the Avatar of Anger effect, and change its Standing Order to an unmodified "Close". If this would cause you to control more units with the Avatar of Anger effect than Loxodon Druids, remove the Avatar of Anger effect from one or more of your units until this is no longer the case (those units do not make a rout check).
Avatar of Anger:
A unit with the Avatar of Anger effect gains A(+0) +1/+1, D -1/-1, +1 MC, Large, Fearsome, and passes all Courage checks. It always has the "Close" Standing Order and may not be given a Standing Order Modifier or be directly controlled. Reduce the unit's Blood Demand by 2 (to a minimum of 1).
Only one unit per Loxodon Druid you control may have the Avatar of Anger effect. If you control fewer Loxodon Druids than units with Avatar of Anger, you must immediately remove the Avatar of Anger effect from one or more units until this is no longer the case. Units who lose the Avatar of Anger effect in this way must make a rout check in the next Courage phase (unless this was caused by the Invest Avatar of Anger spell).
Loxodon Elder Druid Spells:
Greater Infuse: Cast during your Movement and Command phase, after all Final Rushes are made. Mark up to four Blood Magic boxes on your units. Elder Loxodon Druids can cast Infuse and make engaged attacks in the same turn.
Ritual of Speed: Cast during your Movement and Command phase, after all Final Rushes are made. Deal 1 damage to up to three of your units (this damage does not cause rout checks). Those units gain +2 MC and cannot Final Rush this turn. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
Ritual of Vines: Cast during your Movement and Command phase, after all Final Rushes are made. This spell deals 1 damage to the caster (this damage does not cause rout checks). An enemy unit of your choice gains -1 MC and A(-2) -0/-0 during its controller's next turn. This is a ritual effect (units cannot be affected by more than 1 ritual effect per phase).
Invest Avatar of Wrath: Cast at the beginning of your Movement and Command phase. Spend two Command Actions, and the caster cannot move this turn. Choose a unit you control with the Savage Fury or Elder Fury ability. That unit gains the Avatar of Wrath effect, and change its Standing Order to an unmodified "Close". If this would cause you to control more units with the Avatar of Anger effect than Elder Loxodon Druids, remove the Avatar of Wrath effect from one or more of your units until this is no longer the case (those units do not make a rout check).
Avatar of Wrath:
A unit with the Avatar of Wrath effect gains A(+2) +1/+1, D -1/-1, +1 MC, Large, Terrifying, and passes all Courage checks. It always has the "Close" Standing Order and may not be given a Standing Order Modifier or be directly controlled. Reduce the unit's Blood Demand by 2 (to a minimum of 1).
Only one unit per Loxodon Elder Druid you control may have the Avatar of Wrath effect. If you control fewer Loxodon Elder Druids than units with Avatar of Wrath, you must immediately remove the Avatar of Wrath effect from one or more units until this is no longer the case. Units who lose the Avatar of Wrath effect in this way must make a rout check in the next Courage phase (unless this was caused by the Invest Avatar of Wrath spell).
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