I think the idea of sidekicks with a low amount of health (5 to 10 hp) is supported by the game rules… simply put they would usually be targeted by things that target the hero with the lowest health.
Once I get my friends playing again (we stopped until I get my 2nd edition) I might try homebrewing something like this and seeing how it works. Villains could also do this with stuff like team ups versions of villains or artifacts. For example you could have a “Team Up” version of Omnitron who has his own health and an effect at the start of the villains turn. It would not be as bad as 2 villains with 2 decks, but it would allow for some extra situations.
I’m torn on this one. My tendency is to say that sidekicks are something to be avoided. In general, sidekicks were a thing of 40 years ago. Now adays sidekicks are out, a forgotten relic and painful reminder of when superheroes were posterboys for cheesy dialogue and campy visual effects. I don’t think we want to bring that into SotM in a meaningful way.
I’m in the camp of sidekicks just having their own hero decks, and playing them like normal heroes. This probably assigns a little more power to sidekicks than history does, but it keeps thing simple, and still fun. There’s room for particular cards in a deck - like Potential Sidekick from Spite’s deck, or some hero that might have a really important sidekick concept built into their deck. As a whole, though, I don’t think we need more things to add to the existing heroes.
Wait… You mean sentinels is a serious superhero game? I guess nobody sent me the press release. Especially since there are some campy cards already. Hippo man anyone? (at least the new edition will change the creepy aspect of that card).
Sentinels definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously and that’s part of its charm. I think there is room for sidekicks. Not all of them have to look like 50’s Robin. Dr. strange always had a rotating group of assistants who were not kids.
I think everything that needs to be said about sidekicks is said on Spite’s “Potential Sidekick” card. Sidekicks are well meaning normals that put on a makeshift suit, inspiring those around them to do good and rise to the challenge, who eventually get dead. Hard. Plus, this is a cooperative game for multiple players to team up with each other to fight a villain or villains together. Adding delicate but somewhat useful Sidekicks seems to remove the focus from the players and their heroes. I know Unity has her bots, but from a thematic standpoint they’re high tech machinery, not kids in spandex. I love sidekicks and the way they’re used in various superhero settings, but this setting doesn’t seem to be one for sidekicks. Yet. It may happen in the future, but for now I’m cool with seeing more heroes and locales rather than building up established characters’ supporting casts.
As for Thokk and Company, I suppose that’s a fair point. I dunno, SotM is kinda a mix between serious and not-as-much. I am likeing the balancing act between serious and camp as it stands, and I suppose what I was trying to say, is I’m worried that Sidekicks would tilt that balance more towards camp than I would like.
I dunno… I get the feeling that young Thiago represented the Jason Todd of the Sentinels’ universe, the one that Batman The Wraith couldn’t save, the failure that haunts them (until they come back).
Instead of sidekicks think Generation X or Young Justice, the young, up-and-coming heroes who are excellent at what they do but who still need the experience before they can deal with the Earth shattering events that the Sentinels deal with… but I guess that’s more an expansion with young heroes in it rather than a new set of cards and mechanics.
First thought, reading a couple of the just previous posts… What about a deck in which the current heros all get hit with a youth ray, so it is a deck comprised of young versions of the current heros (perhaps from a parallel time) battling together, with some awesome game combos (normal synergy between hero decks), but in the same deck. Could be cool.