I had an Idea for how to Handel sidekicks. My friends and I Like SotMV but we always only have three players. My thought is what if a sidekick could be an AI controlled extra player.
Each sidekick would be related to another hero in play and have an AI script similar to the villains.
Example
(Side 1)Sparrow the girl acrobat -Wraiths Sidekick- 20 HP
If Wraith Is incapacitated flip Sparrow
If Wraith has Micro Targeting Computer in play, Sparrow deals 1 target 3 Projectile damage and ends her turn
If Wraith has 20 or more life Select A player that player may draw a card now.
If Wraith has 19 or less life Sparrow deals up to 3 targets 1 Projectile damage each.
(Side 2) The new Wraith Sparrow no more -Wraith- 20 HP
On the new wraiths turn play using wraith deck
Sneak
Power: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to Wraith
In this example sparrow scouts ahead if everything is ok relaying Information to the team and valiantly defends Wraith when she is hurt. And if wraith ever falls she takes up her name and cause. It gives the wraith player a little more to do and fills in the vacant seat with a script entail wraith falls and the player can take over.
Maybe a future expansion could introduce new heroes balanced to have sidekicks like that but playing the current game… you would need to house-rule a super advanced mode for the current villains if you were going to play with awesome helpful sidekicks.
Thank you spiff that was my point, to fill in for missing players with an AI script instead of players playing extra characters.
I think it fits theme and story and is the best way right now to add Sidekicks to the game.
Now it’s true that Wraith has more effect on the game but it is cooperative and seams more fun to me then having a player play two different characters with two different decks you have to switch between.
I totally agree. People on these forums seem to be paranoid about anything that adds extra power to the heroes, but I like anything that adds flexibility. If it’s just me and a buddy and I want to take on Citizen Dawn, I say bring out the sidekicks!
Something that has been suggested before when only having two people but don’t feel like playing more than one hero at a time is if the hero you are playing because incapacitated then you select a new hero and that hero enters plays. Almost the same idea, but you can’t play Visionary and her sidekick Vocalary, which is basically playing Visionary twice since if she incapacitates you’ll continue the deck with said sidekick.
Now the way I see sidekicks being added in is probably a hero card that can be drawn and it could either be a one of a kind one-shot or ongoing card.
I think this would be more fun - if you are going to keep using the character’s deck after they are incapacitated, then you might as well just start the game with +10 or so more HP.
Also, Spiff, either in the rule book or on the forum (I can’t remember where I saw it) the creators said that when playing with two people, each person can/should control two heroes for a well balanced game.
I guess I just enjoy the challenge more than I enjoy winning. YMMV
I had an idea about how to implement a “sidekick”. How about just making a sidekick be the incapacitated version of another hero? That would be less powerful than a full-blown hero, you wouldn’t need to track hp or use a deck, and in some cases, the incapacitated version of a hero is still really powerful. You could just create a “sidekick name” for each hero, and then use those for an added boost without too much bookkeeping. It should also add a nice difficulty slider, since you could effectively play with 2.5 heroes, 3.5, etc. Thoughts?
I like that idea. We play with incapacitated heroes helping out all the time since we don’t have a lot of players. I’d love to have some new art that I could use to print out sidekick cards even if what they did was a copy of what a current hero does on his incapacitated side.
When I floated this idea originally in the “NPC” topic (http://greaterthangames.info/forum/index.php/topic,161.0.html), people were horrified at the idea of giving the heroes any additional power, even though it was something you could do currently if you wanted.
If you’re not interested in the topic, then stop reading it. You’re not actually trying to get the people who are interested in it to stop talking about it, are you?
How about you keep those kinds of opinions to yourself and not flame others here. I was merely agreeing with another on this forum that happens to have had the same opinion as I. Let’s be adults and not discuss this any further.
Heh, it’s hardly a flame. My point is just that posting that you wished people would stop talking about a topic (signaled by your agreement with “enough already”) may not be the most useful thing to add to the conversation.
Back on topic, the example with sparrow I created was an idea on how to add the flavor of sidekicks to the game with out breaking it. In fact I was basing the sidekick on the flipped character Idea just instead of you picking their power to use it was based on a game state. Not all characters would have side kicks and not all side kicks are carbon copies of their mentors. I was going for more flavor. The flipped character idea is a good one. Printing sidekicks with that format would be easy and cheap you could print a sidekick for every character in the base game and expansion on just twelve cards adding a lot to the game with little cost to the designers or players.
Interesting thread. I like the idea of just using the flipped version of the hero card, but adding some fluff can’t hurt, so to that end I came up with a few sidekick ideas. What do you think to these? Some are better than others, so please feel free to improve on names, backstories etc. Also, any thoughts on whether each should simply use the reverse powers for their respective hero or have more themed or mentor-specific powers?
Nightingale (Troubled teen with hypnotic sonic powers, steered away from a life of crime and taken under Wraith’s wing)
Tama (Haka’s long-lost son)
Kid Comet (Dr Meredith Stinson is not the only super-speedster around. After being caught in a tumultuous explosion of space debris Kid Comet blazes his own trail!)
Vogg (Tempest’s faithful G’nkk Hound travelled with his master across the cold reaches of space in that escape pod to crash-land on earth, only to be captured by agents of F.I.L.T.E.R. Now he is free, and back at his master’s side.)
Hotwire (A street punk caught by an Isothermic Transducer malfunction in Absolute Zero’s first foray into the field. Now he needs a containment suit of his own to hold back the raging temperatures within him. Wracked by guilt, Absolute Zero has sworn to stand by the bitter youth.)
King Tut, the Boy King (Spoilt? Arrogant? Convinced of his divine right to rule all he surveys? Check, check and check. Worse still this reincarnated little tyke might just have the raw power to put his meglomaniacal plans into action. Thankfully he has the Mighty Ra as a mentor to show him the righteous path.)
Cognos (No-one can say for sure when Visionary’s ego became a physically manifest, independent entity, but these days it is often seen by her side, a giant floating eye, scintillating with psychic power)
Sister Sanctity (Not all of the witnesses to Fanatic’s revelation at the convent looked upon her with horror. Dumbstruck at the back of the church, one novice felt her soul transformed at the divine revelation of an angel upon the earth. In that moment she became forever Fanatic’s disciple, sworn to aid her in the endless battle against evil.
Private Page and his radio-controlled regiment (Tousle-haired and freckled, this chipper youngster might seem an unlikely companion for the mighty Bunker, but with his battalions of pint-sized tanks, choppers and miniature mechanical troops he is a regular one-man army.)
Like em all Carlos. What If we keep the original formula I had up above but get rid of the flip and side kick HP.
Master character has a specific Ongoing or Equipment card out do X
Master is over so much health do Y
Master is under so much health do Z
Master is incapacitated use two different of their incapacitated powers
I was thinking more of using the flipped version of the hero for each. That said building an interesting AI for each would be fun too.
I suppose the main benefits of using the existing flipped powers are less additional work to do, and that we know playtesting has already proved each character would be balanced.
