You know what, I think you’re right. I’m going to give him a defensive reaction instead of stronger punching, it fits better and will be useful for a few of his teammates tricks.
Dire Control would be funny, but his animal control is just that animals are naturally calm around him.
Protect the Weak is certainly nice and reliable, and the fact it works on any Attack is pretty great. Leveraging a d12 never hurts either.
Wait, is it off-limits? Assuming only Iron and Diamond Age heroes count towards the current limit, I only count Synthesis, Jitterbug, and now Adamant.
Oh, dear.
Oh, dear.
My tracking document lists Nightguard as a Physical Powerhouse, but he’s definitely a Sorcerer, which means that my tracking document has mistakes in it, too. Which means that I either have to go back and read through every hero individually to see who else I made a mistake with or just give up…
I have no idea how useful this would be, but I do have a spreadsheet of the background/power source/archetype/personality/principles of each Venture hero so far - you could just check the ones that are different under the hopes that we didn’t both make the same mistakes?
Venture Comics Heroes.xlsx (12.8 KB)
H’okay.
My main tracking document is now updated. It looks like I’m actually closed out on the Experimentation Power Source, the Transporter Archetype, and the Inquisitive Personality.
There’s a good chance my list of “which pairs of things require a reboot” is out of whack too, but that’s going to be such a slog to fix that I’m just going to roll with it and remind myself not to build an eighty-character spreadsheet without having backups.
…and I just have the worst possible timing, oops. Glad you were able to get things sorted out.
No worries and thanks for the offer! It might have helped speed things up, but I’m too quick for my own good sometimes. 
Adamant is such a good name! 
Stuart Goddard certainly thought so back in the day. 
The Randomizers:
Background 7, 4, 5 [Options: Military, Academic, Law Enforcement, Tragic, Dynasty, Adventurer]
Power Source 6, 4, 2 [Options: Training, Experimentation, Nature, Powered Suit, Tech Upgrades]
Archetype 6, 1, 6 [Options: Speedster, Close Quarters Combat, Armored, Psychic, Form-Changer]
Personality 9, 10, 8 [Options: Fast Talking, Inquisitive, Alluring, Naive, Jaded, Arrogant]
Eli
Real Name: Eli Walsh, First Appearance: Veilwalkers #1, March 2019
Background: Academic, Power Source: Training, Archetype: Armored
Personality: Jaded, Principles: History, Detective
Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d8. Health: 32 [Green 32-25, Yellow 24-12, Red 11-1]
Qualities: Investigation d12, Finesse d10, Magical Lore d8, Insight d8, Self-Discipline d6, Student Living d8
Powers: Deduction d10, Agility d8, Presence d6
Green Abilities:
Yellow Abilities:
Red Abilities
Out
The second of Veilwalker’s new apprentices was Eli Walsh. Eli was a 28-year-old grad student specializing in occult history, who was fascinated by magic and mysterious realms. Unfortunately for Eli, the general consensus in academic circles was that actually studying magic was pointless; it was too specific, too arcane, and above all too dangerous, and was a banned research subject on nearly every college campus. As a result, they were considered by their peers to be a loose cannon, dangerous to be around and constantly on the verge of expulsion for their desire to learn more about the magical world.
When Eli’s research indicated to them that a major magical event was in progress, they rushed down to observe and record it, only to find themselves in the middle of a catastrophic rip in the fabric of reality. Eli wasn’t a mage, but they were a fast learner and a good listener, and they quickly stepped in to act as Veilwalker’s assistant in closing the rift. Impressed by Eli’s dedication and focus, and more than a little worried that they would cause a rift if left to their own devices, Karita agreed to take them in as one of her new assistants.
As a member of the Veilwalkers, Eli was driven and a bit cynical, constantly aware of their lack of power compared to their fellows. They could puzzle out magical rituals when needed, but didn’t have the innate awareness of magic to excel at them. Instead, what they brought to the team was a phenomenal mind and a keen memory, which often helped the others know where to apply their own strengths. Eli did not, in the early days of the Veilwalkers, have a heroic codename. They kept mulling over what they might take, but nothing seemed quite right.
Behind the Scenes
This is not how I would normally build a character, but I got into it and wanted to see how far I could push the “has no powers” shtick. Armored is a weird choice, but I didn’t want to go Form-Changer and everything else was a choice that would require a reboot instead of a new character.
Eli relies almost entirely on Deduction for nearly everything they do; they’ve some Agility and Presence for when things go wrong, but most of the time it’s all the one thing. They also have so many qualities. Every situation, there’s something to do, and their green d10 means that they’re pretty solid even if they get stuck with a bad power die. They even have to use Deduction with their Magical Lore to figure out how to work a spell properly.
Obviously, they’re also magical Sherlock Holmes. They deduce everything about people by looking them over, figure out their weaknesses to attack them in Yellow, and make grand deductions and solutions in Red.
Seems pretty viable mechanically. I like the concept - they’re a uniquely talented specialist, not an unpowered sidekick, and I bet they get very angry when someone mistakes them for a Snapper Carr or Rick Jones type.
I really wish they’d put out a proper FAQ for the game. This one causes a direct rules conflict - you technically can’t ever carry out clause three in full. You Attack 1+X targets and have to assign each a different bonus, but you only have X bonuses to apply.
And that’s not even considering how you apply exclusive bonuses, which you can only ever apply one of in a roll. If you have (say) three P+E bonuses do you still Attack four targets while only getting to apply one E bonus? Probably, but it would be nice to be sure about RAI. Such convoluted RAW for an effect that’s just terribly inefficient compared to a simple MIn die multi-target Attack.
Maddening. Years since release and still no FAQ page on the GTG site or even the wiki, and what rules questions have been answered (and the answers that were reversed or modified later) are scattered across multiple podcast episodes. Not helpful for folks new to the game, or anyone really.
Funny, I was just trying to remember the text we’d been using on that homebrew version of Deflection. Saves me hunting for it up-thread.
Minor note - Eli is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
Other than that though, yes on all counts!
For Turn the Tide, my assumption has always been that clause three is meant to say “Apply a different bonus to each extra Attack”. I’ve also tended to assume that that clause overrides the usual rules about P/E bonuses; you can’t apply your P/E bonus to all of the attacks, but if you have multiple P/E bonuses, you can apply one to each attack (but not multiple to the same attack), and I allow a P/E bonus to be applied to both the main attack and one of the extra ones because, as noted, it’s not that strong an ability.
Pronouns fixed.
Would be nice if we sure about the designer intent on that ability, though.
The Randomizers:
Background 10, 5, 3 [Options: Performer, Academic, Struggling, Unremarkable, Medical, Retired]
Power Source 3, 3, 5 [Options: Genetic, Mystical, Nature, Powered Suit, Cursed]
Archetype 7, 4, 4 [Options: Marksman, Armored, Flyer, Sorcerer, Minion-Maker]
Personality 3, 6, 8 [Options: Impulsive, Distant, Fast Talking, Inquisitive, Stoic, Decisive]
Harbinger
Real Name: Glenn Hawthorne, First Appearance: Veilwalkers #1, March 2019
Background: Unremarkable, Power Source: Cursed, Archetype: Minion-Maker
Personality: Decisive, Principles: Peace, Destiny
Status Dice: Green d8, Yellow d8, Red d8. Health: 30 [Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1]
Qualities: Self-Discipline d10, Finesse d8, Otherworldly Lore d6, Alertness d6, Homespun Wisdom d8
Powers: Infernal d12, Stone d10, Vitality d10, Intuition d8, Intangibility d6
Green Abilities:
Yellow Abilities:
Red Abilities
Out
The final initial member of the Veilwalkers was at once the team’s most easygoing and dangerous member. Glenn Hawthorne was a man in his mid-forties, a father of two children who were off at university and whose wife had died a few years earlier. He did woodworking in his spare time, volunteered at a local charity that helped renovate homes for the poor, and went on occasional fishing trips with his buddies. He’d had his share of sorrows, but his life was pretty good. Until, during one of his fishing trips, he happened to be in the proximity of Adam Clay’s attempt to tear open the fabric of magic, and the backlash shattered one of the seven seals that bound Glenn Hawthorne together, causing demons to spill out of his flesh.
It was thus a surprise to Karita when a man in a fishing vest and a small swarm of shockingly helpful earth-demons showed up to help close the magical rift that Adam had opened. Glenn wasn’t sure what was going on, but these strange little critters were tearing their way out of his flesh (it tickled a bit, he told the team later) and seemed to need a serious talking-to to keep them in line. The demons drew Glenn to the rift, which he knew right away didn’t seem right, and he did what he always did - he pitched in.
Once the rift was closed, Glenn was able to corral the demons and order them back to their home realm, and he agreed to come with Karita and learn what was up. As it transpired, Glenn was a living gateway to a demonic realm, destined to one day open a permanent path for that realm to exist. If he died, the portal would be reborn in someone else, so Glenn figured his best bet was to stay with the Veilwalkers, figure some things out, and maybe teach these demons not to be so ornery all the time.
Over the course of Veilwalkers, Glenn became both a student and a romantic interest for Karita, the two of them keeping an eye on their younger teammates and trying to figure things out. Glenn hated fighting, and tried his best to keep the demons he could summon into the rocks and dirt of the world from causing trouble; it remained to be seen if he could change the nature of a monstrous realm, but he was certainly going to try.
Behind the Scenes
I wasn’t planning on another minion-maker, but almost every option was closed off by being a different hero, so it was this or bring back the Drifter. It was close, but I think this is more interesting.
Because he’s ridiculous and I love him. He’s like Red Green, if Red Green was a living demonic gateway for a realm of unimaginable horrors who were almost totally beholden to him when summoned. He’s determined to find ways for these horrors to be nice folks, and who knows, he might actually succeed. Also, in a pinch, he can summon one to attack and have it Infernal-blast him over and over to heal up.
Harbinger adds Unremarkable to the list of things that aren’t available for my final three heroes.
Nifty concept for sure. The roleplaying potential with his demonic minions is a real selling point.
“Woah, hey, not so rough, Chip, we’re not trying to kill anyone here. Just eat their guns and settle them down a bit so we can turn them over to the police.”
Because of course the rock demon is named Chip.
This is another one of those Reactions (like Armored’s Deflection) that seems like it needs a major improvement to function properly. It’s pretty rare for a minion-maker to have more that three henchthings out at a time, and fewer isn’t uncommon at all. Yes, the Red Summon Minions abilities can change that radically, but you’d have to twist to use them early and even then they’re still d6 minions.
So most of the time, you’re using your reaction to stop (being generous) three damage. Often it’ll only be one or two damage. Might not even be useable at all. And to do anything you have to lower the die size of one of your precious minions.
Compare that to a “vanilla” defensive reaction that’s tied to a d10 P/Q. That’ll stop an average of 5.5 damage, and can benefit from bonuses and some dice-fixing tricks. And there’s no drawback to using it or a need for a minion in play. Even if you keyed the reaction to a lousy d6 P/Q you’d still be stopping 3.5 average damage with the same bennies, which is strictly better than the minion-maker reaction unless they’ve managed to create 4+ minions and keep them in play.
The simple fix is to change it from a reaction to an innate ability, but that runs the risk of it getting out of control when combined with the Red Summons tricks. I think you could block that by just altering the text to this though:
At that point you’ve got a damage reduction ability akin to the ones Armored and Physical Powerhouse have, but this one A) can affect any damage type and B) scales based on creating and preserving minions while also causing minions to degrade as you use it. It has a higher cap than the GYRO-scaling damage reduction but reaching 4+ is going to require major effort and the drawback makes it hard to sustain even a 2-3 point reduction unless your minions are being ignored - in which case you’re probably winning handily and don’t need damage reduction so much.
Minor typo, left out the **d6 **die size.
Nothing I’ve seen of Red Green rules out the possibility that he is, in fact, a living demonic gateway for a realm of unimaginable horrors who were almost totally beholden to him when summoned.
I think the trick with this ability is that as a damage reduction effect, it stacks with Defend actions, and can be used to react to non-Attack damage sources, which aren’t super-common but do happen. So if one of your minions is Defending you, you can add that bonus to this one to get a significant top-up, and as a minion-maker it’s not hard to get a buddy whose job is to effectively give you a bonus Defend each turn.
It could probably still use a slight glow-up, but it’s not as bad as it first looks.
This is the most remarkable sentence I have ever seen. XD
The Randomizers:
Background 7, 4, 9 [Options: Military, Law Enforcement, Tragic, Dynasty, Medical, Created]
Power Source 5, 2, 8 [Options: Training, Mystical, Relic, Powered Suit, Tech Upgrades, Cursed]
Archetype 6, 6, 8 [Options: Close Quarters Combatant, Flyer, Psychic, Minion-Maker, Form-Changer]
Personality 4, 4, 3 [Options: Impulsive, Mischievous, Stalwart, Fast Talking, Decisive]
Veilweaver
Real Name: Karita Denton, First Appearance: Veilwalkers #1, March 2019
Background: Law Enforcement, Power Source: Mystical, Archetype: Psychic
Personality: Fast Talker, Principles: Mentor, Magic
Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10. Health: 32 [Green 32-25, Yellow 24-12, Red 11-1]
Qualities: Investigation d10, Finesse d10, Magical Lore d10, Sheriff of Lostwood d8
Powers: Necromancy d10, Postcognition d10, Awareness d8, Transmutation d8, Telepathy d8, Shapeshifting d6
Green Abilities:
Yellow Abilities:
Red Abilities
Out
The final founding member of the Veilwalkers, of course, was their tutor and mentor, Karita Denton herself. Over the years, Karita had studied her supernatural abilities, learning to refine and control them; she was not as powerful as she had been, but was far less likely to accidentally create chaos while attempting to cast spells. As a member of the Twilight Carnival, Karita had spent years helping supernatural creatures emigrate to the hidden town of Lostwood, and had eventually settled in the town and become its sheriff, adjusting her title to Veilweaver and solving disputes while protecting her new town from magical and mortal dangers as the rest of the Carnival continued its travels and found new people needing help.
The magical rift that Adam had created threatened the stability of Lostwood, and Karita responded as she always did - she solved the problem, and then reached out to the people who had caused it to offer them help and succour. However, she also needed help herself. The tear that Gabirol had sought to open was rippling through local ley lines, creating new magical problems and damaging seals and barriers that had been set up over the past centuries, and Karita was worried about her ability to deal with all of them. Instead of calling the Carnival back from saving the lives of monsters, she chose to recruit her three surprise students, forming a new team which she named after her old superhero moniker - the Veilwalkers.
Karita was not particularly suited to the sort of magical training that her students needed, but she was learning, and she was willing to do her best, using her Sight to help them with their unique problems and teaching them the rituals that she had painstakingly learned over more than twenty years of magical service. With her as their leader, the Veilwalkers were prepared to become a new generation of heroes - if they could survive the challenges ahead…
Behind the Scenes
A lot of the new teams post-timeskip get formatted as “one older team member keeping an eye on a group of youngsters”, and Veilwalker is no exception. If the dice hadn’t worked out, she’d be in a supporting role instead, acting as a heroic lieutenant, but I was able to finagle a build for her so here we are.
Psychic interacts well with Mystical, giving Karita an extra die without losing any abilities compared to other characters. She’s mostly an indirect character, but she’s got some direct ghost magic in Green and a really nasty trick that she doesn’t use often in Red.
She’s certainly learned some control since her early days.
Ritual Banishment is such a terrific way to take the wind out of a villain’s sails in Red. I’ve seen it produce an eight point swing on their next action, which is enough to make anyone look enfeebled. Even better with 3d10 pool and probably a P+E bonus in place to use with it.
