Ax0r's Villains - The Author and The Great Paradox

Old Rules & Gameplay Boards SotM Villain Contest Discussion [Closed]
1

Well, after many interruptions, I've at least had a look and a comment on other people's entries. Some of those comments are very brief, and I apologise to those people - I'll be putting in some more thought and a more comprehensive opinion as soon as I find the time.

 

So now, it's time for me to unleash my own creations on the forum, and [bask in the glow/burn in the fiery wrath] of your opinions.

 

The Author

The Author is a fount of misplaced vengeance manipulated into action by a mysterious woman, now with the power to control the heroes and their destiny!

Document includes villain story, description, deck list, quotes, art descriptions. Addendums include design process, goals, and a synopsis of a six-issue comic arc detailing the heroes' first encounter with The Author.

I thought about The Author a lot, but didn't play test him at all. I feel like the numbers are pretty good, but would obviously benefit from some balancing.

The Author

 

The Great Paradox

The Great Paradox arose from nothing, gaining form and sentience, and is now hurtling the multiverse towards it's inevitable end.
This villain uses new mechanics to simulate the villain cards moving through time, while altering their relative power depending on the order in which they are played!

Dcument includes villain story, description, deck list, quotes, art descriptions. Addendum is less organised than for The Author, and is more a collection of my thoughts.

The Great Paradox was play tested once or twice solo, just to ensure that his mechanic works as desired. Numbers are probably close, but dfficulty of this villain can vary a lot, and would certainly benefit from balancing.

The Great Paradox

 

Opinions and criticism is more than welcome!

2

Ok, I thought I had seen creative entries, and then I saw The Author... WOW!

 

That is the most unique and thematic entry that I have seen here. I love the surreality of it all. I'll have to give it another read to really grasp it all, but I LOVE the ideas behind it.

3

The Great Paradox has the first new mechanic that made me go WOW, that's awesome.

4

I love both of these ideas; I haven't seen any others like them on here. They're pretty cool, especially the Author. I love the idea of having a lot of unique cards in a deck with just one copy of each, and the whole "story" element in his deck works with that pretty well. 

As for the Great Paradox, I got a little confused on how it worked, but I loved the ideas. Having those two sets of villain character cards could make for some exciting games. Great job.

5

The author is really fun, I can see him in a Grant Morrison story. I need time to read all the cards (I'm at work) but overal one of the more original entries. The names of the card types are really original too...

 

Also your entry "The Great Paradox" has a greater name than my character Paradox. Also I love your use of paradoxes, Shrodingers Cat gave me a giggle. I'm just wondering if The Great Paradox is the only barber in a town and shaves only those who do not shave themselves... who shaves The Great Paradox?

6

Well, either he doesn't shave, seeing as he doesn't really have hair, or even a face. Alternatively, The Impossibility Seed grows the hair, and The Unmaker just does his thing. No shaving necessary.

=P

 

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

7

Thought I'd write a quick guide to how a villain turn works for "The Great Paradox", seeing as its a whole new mechanic, and it might be difficult for people to envision from just reading the deck.

 

Start of villain turn, the villain play area looks like this:

[Impossibility Seed]                   [Card A] [Card B] [Card C] [The Unmaker]

 

When the villain plays a card, the card is alway placed next to The Impossibility Seed, as per the villain's modified rules (normally we just play the next card at the end of the row).

 

So after the villain has played a card, the play area now looks like this:

[Impossibility Seed] [Card X] [Card A] [Card B] [Card C] [The Unmaker]

The end of villain turn now proceeds as follows:

1. Card X's end of turn effect happens.

2. Card A's end of turn effect happens, modified by Card X's modifier.

3 and 4. Card B and Card C have their end of turn effect, modified by Cards A and B respectively.

5. Card C's consume effect occurs, and then Card C is removed from play.

6. The three remaining cards are slid to the right, leaving an empty space next to The Impossibility Seed, ready for the next card to be played.

 

So at the end of the villain turn, the play area now looks like this:

[Impossibility Seed]             [Card X] [Card A] [Card B] [The Unmaker]

 

Now, if the villain has been flipped, either by a player skipping a turn or 'Reverse Flow' coming up, after playing a card, the villain play area would instead look like this:

[The Unmaker] [Card A] [Card B] [Card C] [Card X] [Impossibility Seed]

The cards would now be resolved in reverse order, with Card X first, Card C modified by Card X, and so on. Then the consume effect of Card A would activate, and it would be removed from play.

 

One thing to keep in mind - unlike every other villain, if a card comes into play in the middle of the villain turn (For example, 'Ship of Theseus' destroying the card in front of it, causing a new card to be played), these new cards are played next to The Impossibility Seed. Card resolution has already passed beyond this point, so these cards do not take effect until the next villain turn.

 

Because of the limited hp difference between the two villain cards (only The Impossibility Seed can be attacked, but it is immune if it's hp is too far beow The Unmaker), heroes will be forced to flip the villain multiple time through the game. Villain healing is often directed to The Unmaker only, to force the heroes to flip the villain to continue when they otherwise may not have wanted to.

8

What happens when Ship of Theseus' end of turn effect attempts to resolve if the next villain card is The Unmaker? Does it destroy The Unmaker?

9

I'd probably reword the card to specify that it destroys the next paradox card, or the next non character chard, or some such. It could also be argued that nothing happens at all, as the Unmaker cannot be targeted (perhaps this could be reworded instead)

When I tested, I didn't actually have the paradoxes modifier affecting the villain character card if it dealt damage as part of a Consume effect. You could certainly do it that way, but I didn't think of it when writing the cards, so I don't know how much effect it would have.

The intent of the card was that it would "burn through" the paradoxes already in play, and causing new ones to be played. Thematically, the Ship of Theseus is destroying paradoxes and then rebuilding new paradoxes with the "parts".