Last Night In Gotham

[ThePickleLives]

Hey guys. I just recently created a few custom hero cards to use in LNOE. We've played them a few times and they seem okay but I'm still fairly new to the game so I was hoping to get some input from the TZG community. Enjoy LoL (I'll post more characters later)

[StayPuft]

These are AWESOME! I especially love Batman and Robin's ability to summon each other if they run into too many zombies alone. I think that is really unique and cool. Though... interesting question... How would this work if (for example) Robin wasn't in the game? I'm assuming then Batman could not use this. You may want to specify on the card to avoid confusion.

My only concern with these is that I wonder if Batman and Bane's extra abilities give a little too much power. After all, adding +2 to any fight dice seems like it would give a huge edge. I would think it might be better to have some sort of condition on this so it can't be used all the time, or something like that.

With Bane's ability to add two fight dice, why would you ever NOT use that? So, it skews the fights pretty far, as it would give Bane four fight dice unless the zombies can use a card to cancel some of his fight dice. This maybe should be another conditional thing. Like, maybe Bane juices up, and you have to roll to see if it works. Maybe on a roll of 5 or 6, he gets the two extra fight dice, and otherwise he doesn't.

Even so, these are awesome, and I love the ideas for their extra abilities. Please don't misunderstand. I don't mean to discourage you at all. These are great, and I really appreciate you sharing them. Just offering constructive ideas. I'm just not too sure if those two may skew things a bit too much. Anybody else have thoughts?

[PJON]

Hi, i sorta think they are a bit over powered as well. But....what if these two were on the Zombie Team ?

[ThePickleLives]

Those are awesome pics PJON. I just might have to make zombie hero versions for the zombies to use. I've also been talking to a friend of mine about creating an actual Batman scenario where he fights against the villains (possibly zombified?) while trying to complete an objective.

I was thinking about adding stipulations to Bane and Batman after last night's game. I have to redo the Batarang ability as it was too easy to daze zombies (which i thought was okay since Batman is a pro at it LoL). He now has to roll a 4+ to daze and he CAN throw it through walls just like a gun. For his Martial Arts ability, what if he can't use a weapon when he uses the ability? Or should i try like you said and make it activate with a 4+ roll?

With Bane i could do something similar but if he has to roll a 5+ to "inject the venom" then i can let him use fight cards on an unsuccessful roll.

[vikinglad]

These seem pretty fun. I like Robin as is. The summoning is a cool idea. I like the activation rolls idea too. Are there official "FIGHT" cards for heroes? I thought this was just a zombie thing, but I can't remember right now. Aren't they just events or items (weapon or not)?

You could get some tight heroclix figures to play this with. Batman is $.99 on ebay right now.



...and check out this oddball custom zombie Batman I just found. Neato, huh?

[StayPuft]

That's cool that you got a chance to play test it, Pickle. I would definitely say that adding a condition to Batman and Bane's stronger abilities would help. For example, as mentioned that maybe Bane would have to roll to determine if the venom was successful. Though, that was just off the top of my head. I've not yet made or even used any custom stuff, so maybe some of our more veteran players can offer thoughts. Maybe it could even be that on a roll of 5 he gets one extra fight dice, on a roll of 6 he gets two extra. Just a thought.

As for Batman's ability to add +2, I hate to keep relying on dice rolls, but that is the only thing I can think of to balance that ability a little if you choose to keep it. Anybody else have thoughts in either case?

[ThePickleLives]

I love that zombie batman heroclix. Where did you find it? I just recently bought the batman above it yesterday. And yea. We use heroclix whenever the custom heroes are used in the game.

For Bane, I was thinking about changing his injection ability to only be used when in a space with 2+ zombies and the roll of a 3+ or 4+. Or maybe using a D3 to determine how many extra fight dice he gets. I just thought of that right now. LoL

For Batman, I might just scratch the Martial Arts ability. Maybe using the grappling hook to jump into a building up to 2 spaces away on the roll of a 4+? Or a smoke screen to evade a fight with a zombie with a 4+ roll? Not too sure. I'll have to give it some more thought. I think i'll try looking for that zombie batman heroclix now. LoL

[vikinglad]

(07-18-2012 07:02 AM)ThePickleLives Wrote:  I love that zombie batman heroclix. Where did you find it?

Oddly enough, it is the first image I get from Google with "Batman Heroclix."

[ThePickleLives]

So here's how i changed the Batman and Bane hero cards:

Bane
Juiced Up! - may "inject the venom" to get an extra fight dice for every 2 zombies in the same space as the hero.

Batman
Martial Arts Expert - may add D3 to any of the hero's fight dice. Activated on the roll of 5+. Cannot use guns except for the Signal Flare.

Haven't had a chance to play test them yet though.

[Orguss]

A few problems that I see, one of them you addressed by changing batman's MAE ability. Now I think it's too weak, when it was originally too strong...

1) Bane's juiced up, has no downside, nor does it have a restriction. I can use that ability 10,000 times. I also win on ties. I kill anything and everything. Even if it's like the baseball bat where something negative only happens on a 1 or 2, you can still keep abusing it. I've gone 15 times on the baseball bat and that's 1 fight dice. This is 2, or 1 for each 2.

2) I think you capture the flavor of what you're trying to do, but then stray too far from a normal LNoE template.
Bane's Bust through the wall, the ability should be called Bust through the Wall - May move through walls. It's more simplistic, still captures what you're trying to convey, and you don't even need to have the locked door reminder, because why go through the door when you can move diagonally into the building anyways.

Robin is perfect. Balanced with the originals. A decent ability that could be useless. Love it. Great job.

I hope you don't take my criticism as too harsh. I really love the idea and I'm surprised I didn't do these myself. I also appreciate the new ideas you've brought to the board. I'd recommend going on and doing others. Perhaps a set of Robin's. Tim Drake, Grayson, and Todd. Oracle/Batwoman, or both. Who's to say there isn't more than one Robin in the game? :P

You could further go and make villians to accompany the game, over powered that sways more to a AToE scenario. You're fighting thugs all day until the villian makes his appearance somehow.