W3 Guardians of Davion - released

Sounds like a fun play test. Thanks for sharing it. Let us know when you have decided how you want to adjust Alyssa - I also like Derek's suggestion. I look forward to putting more time in on playtesting these units.

Huskies and I got in a play-test with the Guardians and he enjoyed them. His recommendation was to bump their Phantom Step from 15 to 16. This was in a game when he went 8/23 on Phantom Steps (so about 35% instead of 30%), but I think the bump is good to keep them just under 100 points.

I concur with the slight bump from 15 to 16 to keep them at 95 points.

I still wouldn't mind renaming the power . . . Phantom Step sounds too similar to Phantom Walk to me, which is a very different power. Over four months ago, I suggested Evanesce 15. I have a few other suggestions as well, but if you want to stick with Phantom Step that is fine - just let me know if the name of the power is open to suggestion.

Now: Evanesce 16 or perhaps Evanescent Step 16. Again, I have other suggestions as well.

I still wouldn't mind renaming the power . . .

Card attempt #1.

I will think on changing Phantom Step to a new name.

Could I be picky and see if you could alter the image of the Guardians to have the one in the middle shifted to the back layer? Sort of like the Warriors of Ashra?

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=8408

Will do. It may take me a week or so to get back to the cards though.

So much for a week or so. Adjusting layers and moving them around only takes a few minutes. Something like this?

THANK YOU!! Yeah, I like that version better. What do you think?

NAME OF THE TEST UNIT: Guardians of Davion

THEME TEST: Are there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that do not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character should be able to do? Also consider whether or not this character's powers should affect destructible objects. PASS.

FUN TEST: Was the unit fun to play? PASS. But not in this battle.

FUN OPPOSITION TEST: Was the unit acceptable to play against? Could it be considered annoying? PASS. Derek was able to hit the Phantom Step 8 out of 18 times – and a couple of those misses were 15s. Grimnak chomps did the trick as well as hot dice from Damon.

USAGE TEST: Were all of the powers on this card used, or at least usable? PASS.

STRATEGY TEST: Does the unit offer any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game? PASS. But in this match, they offered little resistance to the Grut army even with the bump in defense from the Wardens at times.

BONDING TEST: Compare the unit card with all currently existing Bonding abilities. Are there any Bonding loops that do not stop appropriately? PASS.

SYNERGIES TEST: Think of all the current cards that would have synergy with the unit card. Are there any factors that could break the game by making a unit too powerful or too weak? PASS. I think with the changes made all is good. More testing is needed.

POWER CHECK: When considering the test unit against all existing units (including released C3V and SoV units) and all glyphs, are there any powers that could be overamplified and break the game? INCONCLUSIVE. More play testing needs to be done. They could be awesome in a castle siege battle.

DRAFTING TEST: Is this unit worth drafting? PASS.

MIRROR TEST: Consider the test unit against itself. Are there any loops that would upset the balance of the Game? PASS.

ARMY TEST 1

Did the unit perform adequately? What should be the unit's point value? Give a brief summary. [insert pass/fail, point value, and brief summary] INCONCLUSIVE. I could see dropping them to 90 points, but this battle was an aberration. Still, I haven’t seen them play as well as I would have thought in any of the tests. I would like to do more tests.

Map: Bridging the Fields of Fire

Army 1 (Derek): Alyssa Davion, Michael Davion, Guardians of Davion, Wardens of the Wood = 600 points.
VS
Army 2 (Damon): Heavy Gruts x3, Nerak The Glacian Swog Rider, Tornak, Grimnak
Skerak = 590 points.

Battle Report: Derek rolled the dice fairly well – Damon was on fire consistently rolling 75% or higher skulls when attacking and at least 50% shields when defending. Grimnak chomped Michael Davion with a 19 in round 2. Skerak was tough. Nerak and Tornak didn’t move. Derek was able to take out a squad of Heavies and put three wounds on Grimnak, but that was all. Damon had 448 points left. The Davions were slaughtered by chomps, Skerak, and Heavies.

Final thoughts: Love the design. Love the figures. The dice were woefully not in their favor in this battle, so I am going to reserve judgment. More tests are needed.

After 10+ play tests, I'm thinking we should drop the Phantom Step back down to 15 from 16 on the 20-sider roll.

I'm still hoping for a name change to the Phantom Step power - it sounds too similar to Phantom Walk that five of the Ninjas have.

How about Vanish 15?

Cool, I will modify them back to 15.

And Vanish 15 should be good. I'll see if I come up with any other names for it while I am working up the Bio.

Dimensional Step 15?

Dimensional Step 15 sounds good to me.

Vanish 9 is Isamu's power . . . and Vanish 15 is slightly different.

Dimensional Step incorporates Eravon's Fey Step a bit.

At this point, my vote would be to change it to Dimensional Step 15.

Oh, and I vote these guys as final (once we get that second power named).

Here is a card redo. I've adjusted a few things like brightness of the background and changed the name to Dimensional Step 15.

Looks good. Dimension Step 15 or Dimensional Step 15?

Improved a few things on the card.

Do you mind if we change Dimensional Step 15 to Vanish 15? I don't want Dimension/Dimensional to be used for different powers. Since we'll have 3 army cards with "Dimensional" I would like to be consistent:

For Movement:
Dimension Door
Dimensional Leap

Special Powers:
Vanish 15
Teleporting Strike
Tactical Portal


Sound good?

how about dimensional vanish, or teleport vanish?   Vanish 15 should be Isamu's roll at 15.  Here there is a reference to the first power, so dimension - door- should be referenced in the power, IMHO. Dimensional seems consistent.

First pass at Bio:


Guardians of Davion

An elite band of warriors, these enchanted knights hail not from a planet but from a mystical realm outside of Earth's material plane.  Davion was just one of many diverse domains that was created thousands of years ago by powerful mages.  These ethereal domains had magically forged atmosphere and gravity and they were only accessible through hidden gateways.  These portals allowed the Davions to travel between worlds.  The largest portals could act as a bridge from one realm to another for a few hundred people or supplies.  But most were small, secret passages only large enough for a few to travel together.

To the outside world, the Davions were sometimes labeled aliens or witches or even gods.  But in truth, they are a magically gifted people not much different than Earthlings.  Most Davions have a talent for infusing magic into items such as tools or weapons to strengthen or sharpen them.  Because of this, the armor and shields of the Guardians are lighter and stronger than they appear.

For more than Age, the benevolent Davions would transverse between worlds, often acting as scholars, teachers and protectors.  In their travels, they also learned the ways and culture of many races.  When they returned home, the collected artifacts from their journey would be added to their libraries and chronicled in works of art.

Key amongst the gifts of the Davion people is their ability to temporarily shift their entire body from the material plane into the ‘space in between.’  Most witnesses see this as a form of teleportation, where the Guardian simply vanishes and returns moments later in a new location.  In actuality, the Guardian opens a ‘door’ into an ethereal plane, slips inside for a few moments to traverses the distance there, and reappears in the new location back in the material world.  With the ability to create these dimensional doors, the Guardians can seemingly walk through walls, appear and disappear on the battlefield, and if timed correctly, avoid attacks altogether.

There are less than five hundred members of the House of Davion.  All have some minor magical talents like the Guardians, but a small number of the most gifted are elected to a governing council.  The twin siblings, Michael and Alyssa, are intrepid soldiers that serve the council as explorers.  Both Michael and Alyssa have shown a greater mastery of dimensional travel, allowing them to travel greater distances than most Guardians.  

Michael has honed his abilities and coupled them with his expertise at swordsmanship.  He will engage an opponent in combat and then suddenly disappear – reappearing in moments to either attack the same target from behind or launching a new assault on an unsuspecting foe a few yards away.

A skilled warrior herself, Alyssa can cross blades with equal vigor.  However, Alyssa is one of the rare dimensional navigators of Davion.  Navigators can open doorways that allow others to travel with them (even those not born with the magical heritage of the House).  When she finds the right doorway, Alyssa can take as many as two travelers with her.  In this role, Alyssa can reinforce a battlefront, or assist in a rapid withdraw.

While traveling through worlds, Michael, Alyssa, and several companies of Guardians, fell through a portal into Valhalla.  They encountered forces of Utgar and would have been captured if it were not for the intervention of Elves from Ashra and Aubria.  The Davion guards were brought before Ullar to share their tale as well as to hear what dangers lie in Valhalla.  The General promised to share his wealth of knowledge about other realms with the Davions in exchange for their aid in the fight against Utgar’s villainous army.  Michael and Alyssa agreed to the alliance, giving Ullar new allies in the Battle of All Time.

Derek S wrote:Looks good.  Dimension Step 15 or Dimensional Step 15?

How about Phase Step 15

Phase Step 15 or Teleport 15 or Vanish 15 or Teleport Vanish 15 all work for me.

- Rulings and Clarifications -
_______________________________________



- Combinations and Synergies -

Synergy Benefits Offered
-Protector: Dimensional Leap
Being a Protector, a Guardian of Davion may aid figures with the DIMENSIONAL LEAP placement power.  Figures with the DIMENSIONAL  LEAP power include Alyssa Davion, Michael Davion.
-Zogross Hardscale: Tribal Protection
Being a Protector that follows Ullar, a Guardian of Davion prevents an engaged figure from attacking Zogross Hardscale.

Synergy Benefits Received
-Acolarh: Ullars Amulet
Being a figure that follows Ullar, a Guardian of Davion may benefit from Acolarh’s ULLAR’S AMULET movement bonus.
-Aristeos: Nature’s Aura
Being a figure that follows Ullar, a Guardian of Davion may benefit from Aristeos defense Aura.

Synergy Imposed

As "Protectors" the Guardians also benefit from Zogross Hardscale's Tribal Protection.

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?p=1472772#post1472772

Good catch, added Tribal Protection to Michael and Alyssa as well.

Guardians of Davion: OP has been updated with the latest format. Dimension Step needs to be changed to Phase Step on the Army Card (though I'm still debating the name, so no need to rush).