Normal Distribution - Player's Guide Update

[WizKidsNECA]

The Giant Size X-Men expansion set has just been released, so it’s the perfect time for another update to the official documentation.

In the Player’s Guide, the biggest addition is the text of the game effects of all of the figures in the new set, including a clarification pointing out that the Fin Fang Foom’s Finger included in the OP kit is a 3D standard heavy object. Check out your nearest venue to see how they’ll be incorporating it into their prize pool!

http://wizkidsgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Finger-300x175.jpg

[Read More on WizKidsGames.com (http://wizkidsgames.com/blog/2011/03/18/normal-distribution-players-guide-update/)]

[Striker Mcbain]

Thanks. Not seeing any significant changes myself. If I'm missing them please tell me. Hooray for Foom's thumb?

[macewyndu]

what the difference between the modern-age players guide vs. golden-age players guide? And which one would be benefit to print out?

[Miraclo]

Mine came in a booster, oddly with two arms attached. It was in the same booster as my double-amputee Captain...

[lastcastle]

no errata for nightcrawler = fail in my opinion. harbringer's power was changed to only work on single base figs but nightcrawler can move collosuls. dumb

[red king]

no errata for nightcrawler = fail in my opinion. harbringer's power was changed to only work on single base figs but nightcrawler can move collosuls. dumb


So now the boys and I need more Nightcrawlers AND more colossals!

[Uniquist]

Nightcrawler is UNVINCIBLE!

[Mr Stranger]

Nightcrawler is a step in the wrong direction.

Fixed it for you.

I mean hell, he shouldn't have Shape Change at least.

[chrisdosmil]

And the whining has begun. Yay?

[PONX]

no errata for nightcrawler = fail in my opinion. harbringer's power was changed to only work on single base figs but nightcrawler can move collosuls. dumb

So now the boys and I need more Nightcrawlers AND more colossals!

Nightcrawler is UNVINCIBLE!

Nightcrawler is invincible when it comes to teleporting anything. including any and all colossal.

[nbperp]

what the difference between the modern-age players guide vs. golden-age players guide? And which one would be benefit to print out?

The Modern Age Player's Guide has ONLY those mechanics that fall in the Modern Age of sets (Avengers on up). The Golden Age edition covers everything (from Infinity Challenge through GSX).

[DaeRave]

C'mon guys, don't you remember that issue Nightcrawler teleported Galactus int-... huh?

Oh.

Nevermind.

[Ouchmaker]

Fixed it for you.

I mean hell, he shouldn't have Shape Change at least.

I agree, for someone like Nightcrawler who looks like a blue devil and uses an image inducer to look human when in a crowd, how can you really give him a named Shape Chape called IMAGE INDUCER. That's completely out of character. :cheeky:

[ChiRocker]

Can someone point me to the place where it actually talks about the lasting effects? I have skimmed through it twice and can't find the section (I need to update the Larfleeze thread).

[Thunderclese]

So since we have a shiny new Player's Guide, what does this mean for ATA's for GSXM?

[ChiRocker]

So since we have a shiny new Player's Guide, what does this mean for ATA's for GSXM?

The same with the DC75 ATA's and this player's guide. They always release the PG with a new set, but the ATAs are delayed to try to retain interest in the set after it is released (only logical reason I can think of). They will be released later and printed for the first time in the next PG.

[Thunderclese]

I suppose that makes sense... :cheeky:

Are there any 'guess the ATA' threads I can skulk about in until then...:laugh:

[Ouchmaker]

I suppose that makes sense... :cheeky:

Are there any 'guess the ATA' threads I can skulk about in until then...:laugh:

In the rumors section in general discussion.

[reklawyad]

no errata for nightcrawler = fail in my opinion. harbringer's power was changed to only work on single base figs but nightcrawler can move collosuls. dumb

The likely hood of Nightcrawler getting errata is just as likely as getting "Dickbats" in the PG for the DC75 Dick Grayson Batman.

Yes he can move a colossal, but he does need to hit first and he can only have a 13 max attack(yes yes +6 if you had 6 perplexes out there and used three on the target to modify the defense by -3)

If you are going to send him up there to bring back my colossal within range of everyone on your team, I think I'd probably thank you for that makes my job easier once you're done!!!!

[Quebbster]

The likely hood of Nightcrawler getting errata is just as likely as getting "Dickbats" in the PG for the DC75 Dick Grayson Batman.
Well, the JL Joker is no longer referred to as Emperor Joker... It's been, what, four years since the set was released? :)
But yeah... If Nightcrawler's point cost was incorrect, the errata would have been issued six months ago or so. It's not happening, accept it and move on.

[CustomCreator]

I think the sculpts in DC75 (like Captain Comet and non-eagle Superman) were the last time WizKids gave us the finger.

[RSIxidor]

How does this affect Larfleeze?

I'll go check the rules forum as well.

[SLVRSR4]

So, I see they changed Bane's venom pump to a free action. No longer can you mind control Bane to choose +3 and then attack a friend (damaging both)

[tyroclix]

I agree, for someone like Nightcrawler who looks like a blue devil and uses an image inducer to look human when in a crowd, how can you really give him a named Shape Chape called IMAGE INDUCER. That's completely out of character. :cheeky:

Especially the Image Inducer that lets him blend into the shadows...

:ermm: :cheeky: :grin: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Can Colossal figures Pulse-Wave when they are based?

On one hand I would say "Yes" because it doesn't target.

On the other hand I would say "No" because if you are based by an opposing character you cannot make a ranged attack against it.

[Heretic]

Especially the Image Inducer that lets him blend into the shadows...

:ermm: :cheeky: :grin: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Can Colossal figures Pulse-Wave when they are based?

On one hand I would say "Yes" because it doesn't target.

On the other hand I would say "No" because if you are based by an opposing character you cannot make a ranged attack against it.
To help players understand the rules for damage-colossal figures, I thought a quick review of the Colossal Size rules would be in order. If you are a veteran player, it’s not only good to review, but trust me, you don’t know everything there is to know about this combat ability.

Characters with the damage-standard and damage-giant symbol do not block lines of fire to or from this character.

Colossal figures are the biggest thing on the board and other figures might as well not be there when it comes to drawing lines of fire.

A character with this ability ignores the effects of hindering, elevated, and outdoor blocking terrain on movement.

When a colossal figure moves, the only terrain that slows him down is when he has to move around indoors. Those indoor walls and blocking terrain are a bit of a challenge. Also, remember that inside the figure moving will need an opening as wide as the character’s base. So those big bases might need to blow out some walls if they want to get where they want to go.

This character can’t be knocked back and can make ranged combat attacks against non-adjacent opposing characters when they are adjacent to opposing characters.

The knock back part is easy enough, in fact it applies to all multi-base characters. The ranged combat attack is sometimes confusing to people. Normally, a character that is adjacent to an opposing character is prohibited from making ranged attacks. There are some ways around this, such as the Sharpshooter combat ability, but in that case, the ranged attack that the character is allowed to make is still not allowed to be against a non-adjacent target. So when Cyclops is adjacent to The Hellfire Guard, the X-Men leader can still make ranged attacks against The Hellfire Guard, for example, using his Range Combat Expert. But The Hellfire Guard’s boss Magneto few squares away doesn’t have to worry about Cyclops… yet. This is not true if you replace Cyclops, with say, Apocalypse – who happens to be holding a slightly crushed Cyclops, so I think that would be a fair swap.

Colossal figures, like Apocalypse, can make ranged attacks against all non-adjacent characters. Naturally, they still need line of fire and the character needs to be within range. What’s interesting is that, unlike the Sharpshooter, they can’t make ranged attacks against the opposing characters that are adjacent to them, only the ones that are not adjacent. (They have no problems making close combat attacks against those characters though – that’s usually plenty!)

This character and a character on elevated terrain draw line of fire and make ranged combat attacks against each other as if they were both elevated, but terrain effects still apply normally. This character can make close combat attacks against elevated characters, even when this character is grounded.

These lines are just like the rules for damage-giant characters. A character on elevated terrain would not need to be “on the rim” in order to be able to draw a line of fire to a damage-colossal character, as they can treat the damage-colossalcharacter as if it was elevated (and vice versa). Close combat isn’t a problem across elevation either, as a grounded damage-colossal character can do so regardless of the targets elevation. If the damage-colossal character itself is elevated, while it’s free to make close combat against other elevated characters, it would not be able to make close combat attacks against grounded characters, at least, not through this ability.

This ability can’t be countered.

No one should have any trouble with this line, eh? No outwitting a Colossal Size. What are you going to do, squeeze the Frost Giant into a smaller box?

Now, wasn’t there something new that I was promised earlier? Something to take the edge off of players who hate giving up their turn when they’ve invested 500 points in that one big figure?

When this character has two action tokens, it can be given a non-free action. After the action resolves, deal it 1 unavoidable damage and do not remove action tokens from it at the end of the turn.

You read that right. Colossal characters used in a force – all of them, not just the ones in the Giant Size X-Men Super Boosters – can now be given an action every single turn as a bonus for having the damage-colossal damage symbol. It costs you, to be sure. But as the player, you can now make the choice.

Let’s review this ability in a little detail so that it’s clear how pushing damage and willpower come into play.

It’s round 1 and I need to decide what I’m going to do with my Apocalypse. He’s on his first click, sporting a 10 speed with Charge and 5 damage with Close Combat Expert. I move him the full 10 squares with a standard move action and place a token on him.

On round 2, I see that I have an opposing character just a few squares away. I give him a power action to Charge and he attacks the opposing character, dealing 5 damage! When Apocalypse gets assigned a second action token, he is dealt pushing damage. If he did not have Indomitable, he’d be taking a click of damage himself. But thanks to Indomitable, he can ignore pushing damage and end his turn.

On round 3, Apocalypse is sitting there with 2 tokens. Under previous rules, this would the time when the opponent would come in at Apocalypse full force. They’d be able to attack him knowing that Apocalypse would be powerless to retaliate. To be sure, players still have that option. If you want your Colossal character to rest and clear tokens, that’s a choice you can make.

With the new ability in Colossal Size, opposing characters can never rest easy again. On turn 3, Apocalypse can be given a non-free action. Since he has 2 tokens, he is not assigned a third one. And after the action resolves, he’ll be dealt 1 unavoidable damage. This is different from pushing damage – Indomitable isn’t going to help him this time. What’s more, Apocalypse does not get to clear this turn. So, during round 4, Apocalypse’s player can make the choice again – rest Apocalypse so that he can be given actions that do not cause damage or give him another non-free action, attempt to decimate his opponent, but give Apocalypse another unavoidable click.

[Puuka]

no errata for nightcrawler = fail in my opinion. harbringer's power was changed to only work on single base figs but nightcrawler can move collosuls. dumb

http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=341&pictureid=15070

I hate the whole Sheen Meme thing, but I had to do this one...


Click here for the original "Winning" one (http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=341&pictureid=15071)

[michiganj24]

Yeah cause changing Harbringer because she was so recently released
Well, the JL Joker is no longer referred to as Emperor Joker... It's been, what, four years since the set was released? :)
But yeah... If Nightcrawler's point cost was incorrect, the errata would have been issued six months ago or so. It's not happening, accept it and move on.

[SimonMoon5]

So now, a character can only use theme team PC once a round. THat's fine with me. I may have used it twice in a round with the same character once ever.

I'm not sure what this means: The red border on elevated terrain is elevated.

[SimonMoon5]

Something else I noticed which I found odd:

All-Star Squadron

Characters using this team ability modify their attack value by +1 when making a close combat attack against a character at least twice their point value.

"Their" was changed to "its". That strikes me as being grammatically incorrect. "Characters" and "their" (from "their attack value") are plural, so "its point value" is a weird construction. The "it" in "its" can only refer back to the last singular noutn which is "character". And I can't think of any character which is at least twice its own point value.

[Miraclo]

Something else I noticed which I found odd:

All-Star Squadron

Characters using this team ability modify their attack value by +1 when making a close combat attack against a character at least twice their point value.

"Their" was changed to "its". That strikes me as being grammatically incorrect. "Characters" and "their" (from "their attack value") are plural, so "its point value" is a weird construction. The "it" in "its" can only refer back to the last singular noutn which is "character". And I can't think of any character which is at least twice its own point value.
I agree, at least enough to say that if they changed it to "its" the beginning should have been changed to "A character..."

[reklawyad]

So now, a character can only use theme team PC once a round. THat's fine with me. I may have used it twice in a round with the same character once ever.

I must have missed that one

[Magneticlaw]

I agree, for someone like Nightcrawler who looks like a blue devil and uses an image inducer to look human when in a crowd, how can you really give him a named Shape Chape called IMAGE INDUCER. That's completely out of character. :cheeky:

He gets shape change for the same reason that all versions of Deadpool (except the worthless LE from MM) get phasing to represent his teleporting gizmo, and Punisher gets RCE, Psychic Blast, EE for his guns, Wolverine gets BCF, Exploit and CCE for his claws...etc, etc, etc...

[Magneticlaw]

So, I see they changed Bane's venom pump to a free action. No longer can you mind control Bane to choose +3 and then attack a friend (damaging both)

Really? I may have been the catalyst for that, since I posted that thread asking everyone's take on doing it - it seemed wrong on every level, even though it won me the game quite decisively. Thank you for pointing it out to me - rep to ya.

[tyroclix]

So now, a character can only use theme team PC once a round. THat's fine with me. I may have used it twice in a round with the same character once ever.

Love this change. Anything that reigns in Prob Control that no one pays for is a GREAT thing! What happens if a figure can use PC on their dial already. Is it still once per turn? Should be...

I'm not sure what this means: The red border on elevated terrain is elevated.

I was thinking SR Batman from DC75 since his trait works with the "red border" but I'm not so sure.

His Trait reads:
ROOFTOP TO ROOFTOP: Batman can use Leap/Climb. Once per turn, if Batman has no action tokens, he can be given a move action as a free action if he ends his movement adjacent to a red boundary line.

I don't think the effect is changed with that rule, though.

Batman can still be adjacent to a red border line and be on grounded terrain, right? Or is it trying to say that the red border line IS Elevated so to be "adjacent" you need to be on elevated?

[Quebbster]

Yeah cause changing Harbringer because she was so recently released

The Harbinger change was cosmetic, to match other wordings. That particular ruling was made soon after Crisis was released.

[Ignatz_Mouse]

Love this change. Anything that reigns in Prob Control that no one pays for is a GREAT thing! What happens if a figure can use PC on their dial already. Is it still once per turn? Should be...



I was thinking SR Batman from DC75 since his trait works with the "red border" but I'm not so sure.

His Trait reads:
ROOFTOP TO ROOFTOP: Batman can use Leap/Climb. Once per turn, if Batman has no action tokens, he can be given a move action as a free action if he ends his movement adjacent to a red boundary line.

I don't think the effect is changed with that rule, though.

Batman can still be adjacent to a red border line and be on grounded terrain, right? Or is it trying to say that the red border line IS Elevated so to be "adjacent" you need to be on elevated?


The latter. This was a pretty big deal in the rules forum for a while.

I don't much like it, as I think border lines ought to be on borders, but hey, there it is.

I do not like the PC change, as I don't like arbitrary changes and now all the people that I've told they can use PC twice, I now need to tell them they cannot. Senseless confusion. I don't know why it was changed.

[Thunderclese]

I don't think the effect is changed with that rule, though.

Batman can still be adjacent to a red border line and be on grounded terrain, right? Or is it trying to say that the red border line IS Elevated so to be "adjacent" you need to be on elevated?

Yeah they made sure to change both his and brick fig Spidey's wordings to where they have to be on the elevated side of the border at the end of the action. Which is kinda lame for Spidey, at least, being able to cling to the sides of buildings and all.

[SimonMoon5]

Love this change. Anything that reigns in Prob Control that no one pays for is a GREAT thing! What happens if a figure can use PC on their dial already. Is it still once per turn? Should be...


You can use it once for regular PC and once for theme PC, so a given character can only use PC twice (unless there's a third game effect that can give them the use of PC).


Powers and abilities that may only be used once per turn,
round, or game may be used accordingly for each way the
character may use the effect. (For example, a character
may use Probability Control once per turn through its own
power then again using the themed team mechanic.)

[Ignatz_Mouse]

#058 Gertrude Yorkes and Old Lace
 Lend a Dino begins: ―Once per action after an adjacent
friendly character's close combat attack...‖


That's entirely too bad-- as I once had her next to two figs with flurry!

[Questions]

Can someone point me to the place where it actually talks about the lasting effects? I have skimmed through it twice and can't find the section (I need to update the Larfleeze thread).

How does this affect Larfleeze?

I'll go check the rules forum as well.

It's the last bullet point under Powers/Abilities which starts on page 4 and it's actually on page 5 of the Golden Age Player's Guide.

From the Player's Guide:
If the duration of the effect of a power or ability is specified (ie, blocking terrain markers from Barrier), the effect ends when the power or ability is lost or countered. If the duration is not specified (ie, action tokens from Incapacitate), the effect remains when the power or ability is lost or countered.

As for RSIxidor's question, since Larfleeze's power does not specify a duration for his Orange Construct objects, they will not go away if Summon the Orange Lantern Corps. is countered or lost. (They will be removed if Larfleeze is KOd, but that is because his Orange Constructs trait tells you so.)

So now, a character can only use theme team PC once a round. THat's fine with me. I may have used it twice in a round with the same character once ever.

That is correct.

I do not like the PC change, as I don't like arbitrary changes and now all the people that I've told they can use PC twice, I now need to tell them they cannot. Senseless confusion. I don't know why it was changed.

This change brought themed team PC more in line with other once per turn powers. It never was clear why one character could use two themed team PCs in the same turn. Now it can't.

Yeah they made sure to change both his and brick fig Spidey's wordings to where they have to be on the elevated side of the border at the end of the action. Which is kinda lame for Spidey, at least, being able to cling to the sides of buildings and all.

They actually always had to be elevated. This makes Spider-Man have to be on the rim, though, which is probably what was always intended. (Before the change he could be elevated and one square away from the rim.)

[UniqueLoginNamor]

So Madrox can still Flurry without a friend, Rogue/Gambit can still attack 5 times, Juggernaut and colossal figs still has to stop near an enemy...

[Kevin187]

Why is Emperor Joker now just the Joker? Something to do with Japan? Or did that comic get retcon punched also?

[Questions]

Why is Emperor Joker now just the Joker? Something to do with Japan? Or did that comic get retcon punched also?

While the character is from the Emperor Joker storyline, the actual name on the character's dial is The Joker. This brings the character's name in the Player's Guide in line with the actual name on the dial.

[Kevin187]

While the character is from the Emperor Joker storyline, the actual name on the character's dial is The Joker. This brings the character's name in the Player's Guide in line with the actual name on the dial.

C. None of the above. Lol, gotcha.

[mithmyrr]

Just noticed, but the new player's guide has the Fantastic Four team ability as "When a character using the Fantastic Four team ability is KO’d" which matches the FF PAC downloaded from heroclix.com, but the printout of all team abilities I have from the previous player's guide has it as a character that possesses the FF team ability.

Is this an intentional conversion back to the old ability, or unintentional error when compiling the new guide?

[Questions]

Just noticed, but the new player's guide has the Fantastic Four team ability as "When a character using the Fantastic Four team ability is KO’d" which matches the FF PAC downloaded from heroclix.com, but the printout of all team abilities I have from the previous player's guide has it as a character that possesses the FF team ability.

Is this an intentional conversion back to the old ability, or unintentional error when compiling the new guide?

That was changed intentionally in the December Player's Guide. A wild card that is KOd using the Fantastic Four team ability will heal others. This also brings the Fantastic Four team ability in line with the other team abilities as it relates to wild cards.

[mithmyrr]

That was changed intentionally in the December Player's Guide. A wild card that is KOd using the Fantastic Four team ability will heal others. This also brings the Fantastic Four team ability in line with the other team abilities as it relates to wild cards.
Okay, thanks! I must have had an older player's guide then, as I never saw the change.

[synnth]

sweet. i'll download it and read it, good to keep updated.

[JohnnyKitsune]

I think the sculpts in DC75 (like Captain Comet and non-eagle Superman) were the last time WizKids gave us the finger.

You must not have seen the GSX LE Objects then, cause they most certainly gave us the finger, multiple times :p

[mccordlarsen]

Ok, so a couple of questions.

A. Because Perplex and Outwit specify a duration, does that mean that if someone say outwits my BCF. If I outwit their outwit on my turn I get my BCF back for that turn? Same with perplex? or I get my BCF back if I attack the outwitter and knock them off of that click? That's how I've always played, but was recently told that I was incorrect in thinking that I got my powers back after eliminating or countering their outwit.

B. What's this about Madrox flurrying without a partner? doesn't specifically say that he can use flurry as long as there is a friendly next to the target?

[nbperp]

Ok, so a couple of questions.

A. Because Perplex and Outwit specify a duration, does that mean that if someone say outwits my BCF. If I outwit their outwit on my turn I get my BCF back for that turn? Same with perplex? or I get my BCF back if I attack the outwitter and knock them off of that click? That's how I've always played, but was recently told that I was incorrect in thinking that I got my powers back after eliminating or countering their outwit.

You were correct, and it's always played that way.

For the record, when Outwit is countered/lost, countered effects come back instantly. For eexample, if you outwit my willpower and I push the character to attack you, damage you, and cause you to lose Outwit, I get Willpower back in time to save me from pushing damage.


B. What's this about Madrox flurrying without a partner? doesn't specifically say that he can use flurry as long as there is a friendly next to the target?

Because a character is friendly to itself. So when his power says he can use Flurry if it (the target) is adjacent to someone named Madrox, well, HE's Madrox, right? And he's friendly, too.

This is going to be errata'd to say "another friendly"

[Bat-Phreak]

So Madrox can still Flurry without a friend, Rogue/Gambit can still attack 5 times, Juggernaut and colossal figs still has to stop near an enemy...

Because a character is friendly to itself. So when his power says he can use Flurry if it (the target) is adjacent to someone named Madrox, well, HE's Madrox, right? And he's friendly, too.

This is going to be errata'd to say "another friendly"



Has anyone mentioned this?

PG: "Any game effect that grants the character a free action can never use that free action to initiate the action that granted the free action in the first place. (For example, the power action of Multiattack cannot be used to give the character a power action for another Multiattack)."

I'd say this pretty well stops the recurrsive PsyBlasting.

Ref this thread (http://hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=307384&highlight=sugah&page=11).

Juggy and Colossals still cannot ignore opposing characters during movement.

I am OK w/ this restriction for Juggy, helps game balance Juggy's SP somewhat, but I am mystified why a Sentinel / Frost Giant / etc must stop when adjacent to Lian Harper!?! :confused:

[Questions]

or I get my BCF back if I attack the outwitter and knock them off of that click?

Keep in mind getting your BCF back this way will usually do no good. Since you needed to give the character a close combat action to activate the BCF, it is very likely the character has performed its only non-free action for the turn so it won't be able to use BCF again. Even if you are in the middle of a Flurry action, you won't be able to use BCF for the second attack because you didn't have it when you gave the close combat action. (There are of course some characters who can benefit from this, but they are the exceptions and not the rule.)