Agreed. That does have potential, but one would have to make sure she’s different enough from garden-variety Parse.
Hence my suggested Power.
I feel like a hacker Parse would have more to do with deck search and manipulation, maybe something like “Name a keyword. Discover 1 Villain card matching that keyword, then put that card on top of the Villain deck.”
So, I have a question. Exactly what brings the Iron Five together, and what is their goal? It’s a really scary and fun idea, but if they are all of the “I will stop all crime violently, even petty crime and even vigilantism!” then they’ll all end up fighting each other.
1 Like
Parse is already the best villain deck manipulation hero by far (Dark Visionary can give her a run for deck manipulation in general, because she works on the environment). Being any better at it would be pretty much game breaking. If you don’t like my suggestion of dealing damage of different types, then maybe she could let a hero draw one of the top X cards from their deck whenever she would deal X damage.
“Discover” would play the Villain card, so probably not helpful for the heroes!
1 Like
Yeah, hence my “something like.” None of the new keywords do exactly what I’d want, so maybe some “when that card would be played, instead…” language would have to get in there. Or…maybe that’s a risk/cost associated with the power! In most cases, saying “Device,” “Ongoing,” “Minion,” “Citizen,” etc. wouldn’t come with a downside as I wrote the power. But anything with a “when this card enters play” or “One-shot” probably does. That’s the villain’s virus scanner catching her, I guess!
I just don’t think “hacking” translates well into “damage.” In my mind, for it to really feel like hacking, it has to have an aspect of access to the Villain, particularly if you then get to manipulate the villain. I suppose revealing the top card of the villain deck and triggering different effects off of the card type could be one way to create the right flavor. Making the villain damage themselves could also be in keeping with it. Regardless, I think something manipulation-y leans into Parse rather than making her too powerful. After all, you’re going to use either the base power or Extrasensory Awareness, not generally both.
2 Likes
I was just thinking of the hot garbage that would be discovering Devastating Aurora, only to have it put back on top and played again the next turn! 
3 Likes
I agree that hacking would be best represented by some sort of deck manipulation. Or perhaps just deck-viewing. Something like . . .
Reveal and replace the top # cards of one non-Hero deck.
Great question. What brings them together is Iron Legacy. The fight with him in the core reality ended with the Visionary shunting him into another timeline. So I assumed that, given his power level, that would be a pretty common result of heroes of a universe fighting him.
So, he got bounced around a bunch of realities. During that bouncing, he meets the future members of the IF. Then, Iron Legacy suffers a resounding defeat by the heroes of some reality. So he gathers the team.
Later he is separated from the rest of the team and ends up back in his original reality, where he is destroyed with it.
As for the team’s goal, well, it’s pretty much just Iron Legacy’s goal: stop anything they perceive as a “villain” ruthlessly and permanently before it could do any harm, using any means necessary.
Regarding their team cohesion, all of them really only care about vigilantes who get in their way. If they don’t stop each-other from doing their things, they get along fairly well.
1 Like
The immortal mystic Zhu Long knew that it would not be long until the armoured tyrant Iron Legacy came after his secluded temple. So, the Master Dragon, deciding that he needed insurance against the grief-stricken dictator, used his powers over Life and Death to resurrect the one being whom he knew would be stronger than the angry superhuman: Paul Parsons’ own daughter.
Few could escape the zombified Death-Wraith’s undead horde. A small number of survivors and refugees were led by the mist-cursed master of magic NightMist — along with the other remaining mortal mages — through a portal to the relative safety of the now-vacant Realm of Discord. Once the refugees were safe, Faye Diamond explored the strange realm, and eventually stumbled across the Oracle of Discord. Desperate for power with which she could confront the Death-Wraith, NightMist fought the Oracle, and managed to usurp its interdimensional magicks.
The ruthless Omni-Bunker tightly controlled Megalopolis and its surrounding cities. But one woman heard the cries of injustice in the city, and travelled there to liberate those under Vance’s oppressive rule. She used her superhuman abilities to free many, and, during her crusade to free the metal of Megalopolis, Choke also became a hero to the people there.
The violent Energy Storm created by the power-mad TachAeon was becoming a growing threat, and Ivan Ramonat was growing increasingly worried that it would threaten his homeland of Mordengrad. So, he gathered a small team of the remaining superhumans and vigilantes, and stormed the insane scientist’s headquarters, in an attempt to stop the cosmic disaster. But, in the ensuing battle, Ramonat was killed, and the duty of stopping TachAeon fell to his ally: the unpowered British vigilante Nigel Lowsley. However, Nigel was able to use one of Ivan’s invention to siphon a portion of the fierce storm’s power, lessening its threat. But, instead of letting the siphoned energy harmlessly dissipate, Nigel took a risk, and imbued himself with the cosmic power.
Zero’s wrath at being used manifested itself as a massive, perpetual blizzard. Tens of thousands of civilians were caught in the ice storm, and super-heroic attempts at evacuation were met with mixed success. Yet, one man excelled in weathering the sub-zero conditions, and was able to evacuate many innocents. And while doing so, The Yeti helped himself to some of the valuables that the blizzard had left unguarded.
NightMist, infused with the power of the Oracle of Discord, peered out into other realities. She saw these worlds, ruled by ruthless tyrants. And she saw Iron Legacy gathering allies, and forming his deadly Iron Five. But she also saw heroes, the brave few who stood up to these vile villains. Faye Diamond knew that, if The Multiverse were to remain free, she would need a team of her own.
3 Likes