I love your Duo! It tweaks the mechanics of the game while maintaining the balance. Excellent take.

Duo was easily my favorite part of Mega Man 8 (outside of begrudging admiration for making a game where E-tanks were unnecessary). I loved his separate, more-grandiose story and the way his design is sort of a missing link between classic Mega Man and Mega Man X. He's so interesting and distinctive that I could see him given his own franchise, much as Zero got.

I gotta say that I'm really enjoying this thread. I have never played Mega Man in any way, shape, or form (nor do I have any desire to do so), but the amount of thought and care you've put into this is pretty awesome.

I particularly like the explanations of how/why you designed the dials, especially the special powers. You've done such a good job with the explanations that I feel like, if I sat down and started playing Mega Man, I'd actually know what was going on.

Really, really well done.

Wow, thanks! One thing I can definitely say for any Mega Man neophyte reading my thread, at the very least, my dials can offer you an order with which to approach the stages and which weapons to use against which boss. Granted, knowing that stuff is only half of the battle, so there's that.

I'm really glad that these are coming across as well as they are. It's by far the most fun I've had with designing a fantasy set, so I'm glad that it's as good for the spectators as it is for me. Thanks again!

Astro Man
Real Name: Astro Man
Team: Robot Masters
Range: 4
Points: 50
Keywords: Cosmic, Robot, Robot Masters

10 9 18 3

10 9 18 3

10 9 18 3

9 8 17 3

9 8 17 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Weak to Homing Sniper: When Astro Man takes damage from a Special Power called "Homing Sniper", he takes one additional click of damage. "STRIKE" ignores the Robot Masters team ability.
Oh, How Did You Find Me? I Feel So Embarrassed!: When opposing characters can draw line of fire to Astro Man, he may use Sidestep.
I've Come Here... But I Don't Know What to Do!: Astro Man can use Phasing/Teleport and Stealth. If he moves half his speed value or less using Phasing/Teleport, he may make a Ranged Attack as a Free Action.
Astro Crush: BREAK: Give Astro Man a Double Power Action to use Pulse Wave as if he had a range value of 8, modifying his attack value by +1.

Like Mega Man 7, Mega Man 8 split your Robot Master selection in half. After defeating Duo, the second set of four arrive. For my money, Astro Man was the easiest to manage of the second set, since even though they have their own distinct weakness cycle, Flash Bomb did pretty well against him as a secondary weakness.

Astro Man doesn't cost much, and his dial isn't long, but he's got a lot going for him. Flight and a decent speed value keep him mobile, not to mention his special Speed power which grants him Phasing/Teleport. Defenses are high throughout, and a good chunk of Super Senses keeps him evasive. Damage is a steady 3 all dial long, with Perplex up front to boost his fairly low attack value and Shape Change to the back for extra evasion. Stealth is also built into his Speed special, to keep him hidden from prying eyes. His inherent cowardice prompts him to run away whenever he's spotted, so if his enemies can see him, he gets Sidestep to work with to try and find cover.

But it's not all about hiding and running away and evading attacks. Astro Man has his own offensive punch when the going gets tough. If he Phases half his speed value or less, he can lash out with his companion orbs as a free attack.

But his real power is in Astro Crush, which can grant him a massive Pulse Wave, but at the cost of a double power action. It also inherently boosts his attack value, to help him hit those targets a little more easily. If Astro Crush manages to get an enemy isolated, he's in biiiiig trouble...

Whoa, I LOVE that Astro Man. He's got a ton of options, but his dial is wonderfully concise. His "Oh, How Did You Find Me? I Feel So Embarrassed!" is just a fantastic ability. Targeting-triggered sidestep? Such a killer idea.

Thanks! Yeah, I really wanted to acknowledge his cowardice, and was thinking "maybe he gets a speed boost when others can see him, or maybe he gets a defense boost..."

But tacking on Sidestep, but only when he can be seen, felt really good, and new. It's situational, and allows him to be played in different ways depending on what your enemies can do.

Ah, Mega Man 8. I mostly enjoy this one. Lookin' good. Frost Man's especially on point!

Always love seeing Duo get some notoriety. This dial isn't straight forward beatstick with hypersonic like I was expecting... And that's great! The gimmicks are all cool and pretty much everything is there from what I recall. I thought for sure his special power would be the same as Clown Man's for that bounce move. It's creative they're different even if they really do seem like they should've been the same. So I'm conflicted on that, but I actually lean towards liking it.

Aqua Man
Real Name: Aqua Man
Team: Robot Masters
Range: 6
Points: 60
Keywords: Robot, Robot Masters

8 10 17 3

8 10 17 3

7 10 17 3

7 9 17 3

6 9 16 2

6 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Weak to Astro Crush: When Aqua Man takes damage from a Special Power called "Astro Crush", he takes one additional click of damage. "BREAK" ignores the Robot Masters team ability.
I'm Aqua Man! But You Can Call Me Handsome, Guy!: At the beginning of the game, choose one opposing character and modify Aqua Man's defense by +1 this game, but only when targeted by that character's attacks.
Try This! : Aqua Man can use Leap/Climb. If he moves half of his speed value or less using Leap/Climb, he can then use Quake as a free action.
Water Balloon: HYDRO: Aqua Man can use Flurry, but with ranged attacks instead of close attacks.

No, not that Aqua Man. This one's a robotic water tank, which is either more or less interesting depending on how much you like that Justice League guy.

As with many Robot Masters, Aqua Man is not one of Wily's designs. He was originally a water quality control robot, working in a processing plant to make sure the water was clean and potable. And then along came Wily.

Aqua Man is nimble and quick, bounding around his arena, causing geysers to erupt from beneath him when he lands. He's constantly spraying water out, making it difficult for ranged attacks to hit their mark. He also oddly enough totally flirts with Mega Man, making for yet another odd character choice on Capcom's part. This game is full of those choices.

In Heroclix, Aqua Man begins the game by choosing one opposing character to awkwardly flirt with, bolstering his defenses against that particular character. He'd just better hope that that character doesn't have access to Astro Crush, because his flirting won't do him any good against that cosmic pulse wave.

He's a nimble Leap/Climb-er, bounding around the stage to find the perfect positioning, or to let loose with a Quake to bust up his opponent's clusters.

But he may prefer to keep his distance, where he can pummel foes with Water Balloon. Water Balloon was a tricky weapon to work with, because in-game, it's highly unremarkable. It's a very basic ranged attack, and not one you're likely to rely too much upon when playing the game. However, it can be pumped out at a rapid pace, so that's what I went with. It's a ranged Flurry, so that's what you'll likely want Aqua Man to do, take a vantage point and rely on his Deflection to keep him safe while he douses his foes with a deluge of Water Balloons. And that top-dial Probability Control can make sure those Water Balloons find their mark.

Later in the dial, he can snap up Barriers to obstruct enemy advances, and Perplex either himself or his allies. Aqua Man has a lot to offer his team, especially if he's played smart and cautiously. He's not the guy you rush out into the thick of the fray, but if you play him smart, he'll leave your opponents all wet.

I thought about doing it the same, but I imagined with something called Giga Tackle, he could make contact and keep going, dragging his target with him before tossing him away. It just felt right, you know? And I like Duo being just as much a strategy piece as a straightforward beatstick.

Sword Man
Real Name: Sword Man
Team: Robot Masters
Range: 0
Points: 60
Keywords: Martial Artist, Robot, Warrior, Robot Masters

9 11 18 2

8 11 17 2

8 10 17 2

7 10 17 2

7 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Weak to Water Balloon: When Sword Man takes damage from a Special Power called "Water Balloon", he takes one additional click of damage. "HYDRO" ignores the Robot Masters team ability.
Let's Make This a Fair Fight.: At the beginning of your turn, choose Combat Reflexes or Energy Shield/Deflection. Sword Man can use that power until your next turn.
Flame Sword: BURN: Sword Man can use Blades/Claws/Fangs. Sword Man can destroy a single square of adjacent Hindering Terrain as a Free Action.
Kao de Kahna: Give Sword Man a Power Action to place a Heavy Object from outside the game on a square of clear terrain within three squares. He may place it in a square occupied by a character, and if he does, he may immediately use Charge as a free action against that character, modifying damage dealt by +1.

I was torn with Sword Man. Specifically, what to do about Flame Sword. BURN was obvious, and needed to be included, but I pondered also including SLICE since, you know, it's a sword. But I opted against that in the end, going instead with its ability to burn away cover much like Scorch Wheel does.

Sword Man is a fast and aggressive Blades fighter, able to switch up his defenses as necessary, giving him some solid defensive choices depending on the situation he finds himself in.

Flame Sword keeps his damage output potentially high, but also helps his ranged combat allies by clearing out obstructions. It's especially good against those Stealthers who like to hide directly in Hindering Terrain, as he can slice them down and burn away their cover in one fell swoop.

Later in his dial, he picks up a new trick - he drops a massive statue from above. He can either drop it in a clear square, giving a Super Strength user a nice Heavy to work with, or he can drop it on an enemy's head, giving him a free Charge on the enemy with a boost to the damage dealt by the attack. If I have my wording right, he can combo that with Flame Sword for some massive pain.

Search Man
Real Name: Search Man
Team: Robot Masters
Range: 6
Points: 70
Keywords: Robot, Soldier, Robot Masters

8 11 17 3

8 11 17 2

7 10 17 2

7 10 17 2

7 10 16 2

7 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Weak to Flame Sword: When Search Man takes damage from a Special Power called "Flame Sword", he takes one additional click of damage. "BURN" ignores the Robot Masters team ability.
"Begin Mission." "Yes, Sir!": Search Man can use Stealth. When Search Man occupies clear terrain, you may give him a Power Action to place three Sniper Blind Tokens in squares of clear terrain within range and line of fire. One of the Sniper Blind Tokens must be placed in his square. Sniper Blind tokens are considered hindering terrain for all purposes. Search Man may draw line of fire from any Sniper Blind token. When Search Man is hit by an attack while occupying a Sniper Blind token, roll a d6. 1-2, Search Man takes damage as normal and all Sniper Blinds are destroyed. 3-4, Search Man evades the attack, the Sniper Blinds he occupied is destroyed, and he is placed in another Sniper Blind Token. 5-6, Search Man evades the attack, the Sniper Blinds he occupied is destroyed, and he is placed in another Sniper Blind Token, and any adjacent opposing characters take one click of unavoidable damage. No one result can be achieved more than once per set of Sniper Blinds. If you achieve the same result as before, reroll until a new result is achieved. Search Man cannot generate Sniper Blinds if any are still on the field.
Homing Sniper: STRIKE: Search Man can use Precision Strike and Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain.

Okay, let's just get this out of the way. Yes. Search Man requires a heck of a lot of reading. That secondary trait is lengthy, unwieldy, and a bit dense. But I feel like it accurately recreates what he does in his boss battle, and justifies that hefty cost compared to his less-than-stellar Defense and Damage values.

In the game, Search Man sets up three bushes, and is hiding behind one of them. One of them has a decoy, and the other has a bomb. Which one is the real Search Man behind? Only way to find out is to pick your shrub and make your attack.

Since obviously, Heroclix players can tell where a character is, it's a bit trickier to randomize where he's hiding. So instead, when you make the attack against him, he rolls a d6, and each grouping has a 1/3 chance of going off. Maybe you've hit him, maybe you found his harmless decoy, or maybe you've set off his trap. That latter option is why you're really going to want the option to ignore Hindering Terrain on your line of fire. A melee attack will do it, but you might just fail and set off his bomb instead.

Homing Sniper gives him deadly ranged prowess, allowing him to hit Precisely, ignoring Hindering Terrain with his shots. He may not cause a lot of pain with his hits, but they'll do some damage at least.

Leap/Climb and Willpower keep him moving, and then Barrier gives him a chance to impede enemy progress. He can Enhance his allies with supporting fire up top, and Shape Change at the end keeps him even more difficult to hit.

Search Man is a finesse piece, as all snipers should be. Play him right, and he'll confound your enemies all game long.

EDIT LOG: Modified secondary trait to prevent the same result from occurring multiple times.

I'd been tempted to suggest throwing a longer range on Sniper Man for his namesake, but the sniper blinds nicely compensates with that. Think you did a pretty great job on the character! Of 8's robot masters, he's always the one I have the most trouble remembering, for whatever reason... Least psychotic, maybe?

I originally had him with a longer range, then I realized that a clever player could nearly cover the whole board in combination with those Sniper Blinds, so I dropped it down to not make it too broken. It's still pretty scary as it is, and can cover a ridiculous amount of ground.

I'm glad you like! I was worried with this one, as that may just be one of the wordiest traits around, and still I ended up missing an important bit in my initial posting that could potentially make him unstoppable if you kept rolling right.

Splash Woman
Real Name: Splash Woman
Team: Robot Masters
Range: 5
Points: 60
Keywords: Robot, Light Labs, Robot Masters

7 10 17 3

7 10 17 3

7 10 16 2

6 9 16 2

6 9 16 2

6 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Weak to Hornet Chaser: When Splash Woman takes damage from a Special Power called "Hornet Chaser", she takes one additional click of damage. "SLICE" ignores the Robot Masters team ability.
You Have a Right to Live!: Friendly characters with Real Name: Albert Wily can use the Light Labs Team Ability, but only to target characters with this Trait. Friendly characters with Real Name: Thomas Light can use the Dr. Wily team ability, but only to transfer damage to characters with this Trait.
Modeled After a Mermaid: Modify Splash Woman's speed by +3 and defense by +1 if she occupies Water Terrain.
Laser Trident: HYDRO: Splash Woman can use Precision Strike, targeting all opposing characters in a straight line within her range and line of fire, dividing damage normally for multiple targets. This attack can ignore Stealth only if Splash Woman can draw a line of fire to the first target.
Siren's Song: Give Splash Woman a Free Action to place a Trophish Bystander as described on this card adjacent to her.


Trophish
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Keywords: Animal, Robot

7 9 17 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Tiny Aquatic Robot: If, at the end of your turn, Trophish is not occupying Water Terrain, KO it.

Welcome to Mega Man 9! I deliberately made the decision to skip Mega Man & Bass, both because it's a slap-dash game mostly made up of recycled enemies and elements, and it's one of the only Mega Man game whose difficulty is derived from poor design and unfair enemy placement. It's not a fun experience, and I'm not going to unleash that on you guys.

After Mega Man 8, Mega Man took a lengthy break. MM&B was designed in Japan to the MM8 that SNES users could play, and didn't make it to the US until the Game Boy Advance a few years later, but aside from that, Mega Man appeared to be all but dead. Battle Network was going strong, and X limped along into some weird territory, but Mega Man himself was nowhere to be seen.

But then, in 2008, Mega Man 9 arrived to digital stores everywhere, twelve years after Mega Man 8. Twelve. Years.

The game opens to find that an entire generation of Dr. Light's robots have run amok, and Doctor Wily takes advantage of it to cast Light as the villain, and he the hero who can truly save the day. While Light gets arrested, Mega Man and his pals are determined to prove Light's innocence and save the world from these robots.

Of course, SPOILERS I suppose since this isn't THAT old, Dr. Light is innocent. His robots were nearing an expiration date, and in desperation they turned to Dr. Wily, who under the false promise of saving them, reprogrammed them instead.

Mega Man 9's premise brings about some interesting moral questions. Is it right to assign these robots expiration dates? They're clearly sentient enough to fear death, and clearly not all robots are sentenced to such fates, as Mega Man, Roll, Rush, Proto Man et al live outside of expiration boundaries. It's an interesting new wrinkle to the Mega Man mythos, and for once casts the villains in a highly sympathetic light - well, except Wily. He's still a jerkwad.

But that's not the only new ground Mega Man 9 broke! It also introduced the first female Robot Master, Splash Woman! Of course, Splash Woman is also the weakest and easiest of the game's bosses, so maybe it's not such a bold stance for feminism. But she's got a cool design and a great weapon, so let's dive in! Heh. Dive.

Splash Woman is a mermaid robot, so she's not terribly quick on dry land. However, put her in Water Terrain, and she's highly dangerous, quick, aggressive, and hard to hit.

She's a ranged fighter, using her Laser Trident to great effect to zap down lines of enemies with armor piercing pings. Laser Trident is my favorite weapon in the game, as it tears through enemies, not stopping upon hitting like other weapons do. It's a great way to clear out groups of enemies. It's not a Stealth buster on its own, but if it can draw line of fire to the first enemy in a line, it can continue on that path, even if one or more targets are Stealthed.

Splash Woman also summons fish robot minions, speedy little Trophish who can use Hypersonic Speed to decent effect, pairing it with Precision Strike to cause minor damage to whoever they hit. Just try to keep them in the water, because they will die all on their own without it. They're quite useful in keeping their mistress safe, as she can use her own Mastermind to transfer damage to them if need be.

And finally, that tertiary trait. All Mega Man 9 Robot Masters will have this trait, representing their fear of expiration and Wily's manipulation of that. I initially thought of making it a one-time resurrection much like the Turtles Unplugged "Continue...?" traits, but that didn't really work for me. Then I went back to my designs on the original Robot Masters. Instead of altering the Robots team abilities, this trait grants friendly Doctors new team abilities to use on them, homaging the initial conceit that Dr. Light had gone evil, but Wily was using it to his own ends. Therefore, these robots give the Doctors each others' team ability, and especially in Splash Woman's case, changes the way you play her, especially if she ends up on a very dry map and on Dr. Light's team.

Concrete Man
Real Name: Concrete Man
Team: Robot Masters
Range: 4
Points: 60
Keywords: Brute, Robot, Light Labs, Robot Masters

7 10 18 3

7 10 17 3

7 9 17 2

6 9 17 2

6 9 16 2

6 8 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Weak to Laser Trident: When Concrete Man takes damage from a Special Power called "Laser Trident", he takes one additional click of damage. "HYDRO" ignores the Robot Masters team ability.
You Have a Right to Live!: Friendly characters with Real Name: Albert Wily can use the Light Labs Team Ability, but only to target characters with this Trait. Friendly characters with Real Name: Thomas Light can use the Dr. Wily team ability, but only to transfer damage to characters with this Trait.
Tackle: Concrete Man can use Charge. He may use it as a Free Action against a target he hit with Incapacitate, but modifies his attack value by -1.
Concrete Shot: BREAK: Concrete Man can use Incapacitate, dealing 1 click of penetrating damage to hit targets. Give Concrete Man a Free Action to remove a square of Rubble Terrain within range and line of fire, or to place a square of Blocking Terrain within range and line of fire. If this square of Blocking Terrain is adjacent to the rim of terrain of a higher elevation, it is treated as a ladder to the elevated terrain

Man. I struggled with this one. Concrete Shot is a very unique power that has a lot of utility very specifically for a game like Mega Man 9, but its use in Heroclix isn't so obvious. It took me a lot of thought to even narrow down the Type it would be, but settled on BREAK even though FREEZE was an option.

Concrete Man is a big tough robot, with solid defenses with plenty of damage reducers. He's not very fast and he's not causing a heck of a lot of damage overall, but he's good at slowing his enemies down and causing them some unavoidable pain while doing it. That'll open them up for attacks by his allies.

Concrete Shot also gives him some terrain modification features. First up, he can fix holes in walls. This can very good for when you want to seal up an escape route your allies just took, or when you want to restore some damage your enemies did. He can also drop blocking terrain, providing immediate cover, and if he places it right, a convenient stepping stone to a higher elevation.

Early in his dial, he can Charge in for some melee hits, and if he uses Concrete Shot first, can do it for free but at a minor penalty to his attack value. This might be a good use for a Light Labs team ability to pre-compensate for that loss and really let him take it to the enemy.

He doesn't have a wide array of abilities to his dial, but what few abilities he does have are varied and versatile.