Many thanks, friend! Glad that they impress you after your Universal Monster dials were so strong.

I've got a ton of passion for these characters and movies, so it was fun exploring them and their abilities in (hopefully) movie-accurate ways, as well as discussing what makes their films so enduring.My thanks, friend! That's a solid note for giving him more variety. He had a stop clip by his dragon form, but not for when he was attacking with ice spikes. I've swapped the STOP click location and added a hair more mobility to make him feel better.

I've also sent you some rep! Thanks again!

“Production hell” is a term you often hear used in the film, tv, and video game spaces and typically describes extremely long production times plagued by uncertainty, mismanagement, going over budget, last minute changes, and often overly ambitious goals. THE WOLFMAN (2010) experienced all of those.

In it, Larry Talbot (Benicio del Toro) returns to his father John Tablot’s (Anthony Hopkins) estate to grieve with his recently deceased brother’s widow Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt). Shortly thereafter, he is bitten by a werewolf and tries to control his transformations while he investigates his brother’s apparent murder-by-werewolf.

Like a werewolf, the WOLFMAN is split between two competing types of film. The first is a dour, slow burn gothic drama following Larry’s investigation and the slow realization that the murderer is closer than he thinks —and is acting against him. The other is a balls out, over the top slasher film with some of the craziest kills you’ve ever seen. There is NOTHING as discordant as Larry’s understated romance with Gwen vs. the Wolfman ripping out a man’s liver with his teeth and shaking it before the camera.

WOLFMAN’s duality in tone hurts the film because the two competing styles of films don’t work with each other. It means the film is occasionally too fast & frenetic for its somber, deliberate period drama and alternatively too slow and dull for its modern slasher sensibilities.



#049 The Wolfman
Real Name: Lawrence "Larry" Talbot
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 50
Keywords: Werewolf Pack, Monster, Mystical, Celebrity

9 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

7 11 18 3

7 10 17 3

6 10 17 3

6 10 17 3

KO KO KO KO

6 10 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Full Moon: At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6 once for all friendly characters with the Full Moon trait. On a result of 1-3, click The Wolfman to click #8 and click him to click #2 at the end of the turn or before he takes any damage, whichever comes first.
Discovering Father's Secret: Every time an opposing character uses Mastermind, Leadership, or Probability Control, gain 1 Mission Point.
Frenzied Beast: Charge, Leap/Climb, and Flurry.

Director Joe Johnson (Of CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE ROCKETEER, JUMANJI, and others) was called in to save the troubled WOLFMAN production, but his input wound up raising the budget through complicated reshoots.

Universal’s own uncertainty and producer mismanagement would see famed special effects guru Rick Baker turn in a set of animatronics for the werewolf only for them to be covered by CGI effects. Famed composer Danny Elfman would turn in a full score, only for Universal to abandon it, hire another composer who would ALSO turn in a full score, then change their minds and go back to Elfman’s work.

This kind of wasteful indecision means that the film cost far more than it should have.

The film also stars a ton of A-list actors including Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, and Emily Blunt. They’re all extremely talented, but they all command a high price tag. That’s funnier when you realize that Hugo Weaving’s constable character could easily have been cut without the movie losing anything vital.



#050 Gwen Conliffe
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 5
Points: 30
Keywords: Villager, Spy

5 10 17 1

5 10 16 1

5 10 17 1

5 10 16 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

Searching for My Husband's Killer: Whenever an opposing character uses Blades/Claws/Fangs, Steal Energy, or an effect that allows them to turn to a different part of their dial, gain 1 Mission Point.

To be clear, THE WOLFMAN is by no means a bad or incompetent movie; just a confused one. Each individual element is thoughtful, considered, artful, and impressive. Every setting is atmospheric, baroque, and engrossing. All the actors are swinging for the fences with their best performances. The creature effects are cool, believable, and gut-churningly violent. The sweeping score reinforces all of this. Every scene, in isolation, is great…

…but put together, it just never adds up to a cohesive whole.

And that’s just the theatrical edition.

The director’s cut is a much longer, more dramatically complex film that dedicates more time to the palace intrigue between Larry, John, and Gwen. All of those scenes are, of course, well-wrought, but the added dramatic interest doesn’t erase the fact that a deeply discordant film is just made longer and more drawn out.



#051 Singh
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 6
Points: 20
Keywords: Villager, Soldier

6 11 17 2

6 10 17 2

5 10 16 1

5 10 16 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

Sir John Talbot's Butler: Support.

UPDATE 10/30/23 - Thanks, No-Name & ComicJunkie!

Dang. That’s a butler that puts even Alfred to shame. That’s some crazy shooting power.

Haha y'know, it's crazy, but there hasn't been a dialed Alfred since Batman: Alpha, and no Alfred has more than 4. It's like his sharpshooting never made it to the game.

In Singh's case, I believe he served in one of the Afghanistan campaigns with John Talbot, and he knows Talbot's a werewolf, so I can buy it.

Haha but I'll never deny that I sure do give preference to sniper characters. I'm still getting used to the idea that 8 is a big deal for today's game!

Is someone questioning why Bruce Wayne’s adoptive parent doesn’t bring a gun to a HeroClix match?

Didn’t see Wolfman but presenting an 80 year old butler in the peak of physical condition and an eagle eye better than Floyd Lawton isn’t selling it to me.

I mean, NOT Floyd can shoot a Target at 8 and ignore anything between him and it. Singh needs real good positioning and nobody up in his face.

With the average speed brought down to 6 getting in his face is the inherent problem. That is the number one reason range values are reined in.

When that range value was common so was 14 movement and a default of 10 square free powers. Reined into 6 minimum range we stopped getting 9-12 range values and a speed cap of 12 outside of outliers. Now that the default is 4 printed values very rarely exceed 7 and are priced accordingly. They’ve gone through so many steps to reduce the range dominance of the game this feels like a huge step backwards to me on a 30 point supporting character. Getting to shoot twice and clear before the average 50 point characters can engage them seems a bit much, especially compared to bang/buck of the rest of the set.

I very much appreciate that breakdown.

Ok, in that case, is Marcia here also a problem and is the solution to give them both 6 range?

https://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showt...4#post12258454

Personally speaking, although I do understand the adjusted stat values, I don't appreciate what they do to characters who make ranged attacks. 6 doesn't seem much more than 4 to me, and 4 is generally represented as a handgun. 8 feels reasonable for a long-range rifle, even if 10 would make the most sense.

Fully realize this is a soapbox that I can yell from, but won't expect anything to change.

I have no answer only evidence. When Outwit had a default 10 the SHIELD Sniper had a 10 range (0 damage). That was out first direct reference. Most prominent snipers I think of in comics are Winter Soldier and Deadshot. Floyd got a 9 once and the first reps of Buck included the 10. These were all in the 10 square era.

Default range changes to 6 for Outwit, Prob, Perplex, etc. Minus Watcher On The Wall the almighty Outwit was gone. Deadshots got 6 range as did most Bucky’s except for 2 with 7’s. I don’t collect much anymore so the sculpts with Sniper Rifles since 2020 will need to be pointed out to me.

Evidence is that Sniper rifles stay in line with Outwit and Prob. I agree that 4 on a a sniper feels underwhelming. 5-7 depending on skill seems more in line but they need to fit a certain point bracket to maintain balance with other characters.

Again, I appreciate all that!

In that case, I’ve adjusted Marcia & Singh accordingly. Dropped down their range, tweaked their points to better represent their differences in options. Much obliged!

Even with a werewolf Anthony Hopkins, THE WOLFMAN bombed in theaters and with critics. Universal’s president at the time called it a “crappy” film that was “one of the worst movies we have ever made.”

And like… that’s squarely on you, bro.

At no point during filming did Universal seem to understand what kind of movie they wanted to make and for whom. Is it an Oscar grab? Is it a popcorn movie for teens? Clearly it began life as a smaller, scrappier, $90 million horror flick, but the powers that be meddled with it past the point of it possibly ever making its money back.

Get ready to hear that a lot.



#052 The Wolfman
Real Name: Sir John Talbot
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 5
Points: 55
Keywords: Werewolf Pack, Monster, Mystical, Celebrity

9 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

7 11 18 3

7 10 17 3

6 10 17 3

6 10 17 3

KO KO KO KO

6 10 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Full Moon: At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6 once for all friendly characters with the Full Moon trait. On a result of 1-3, click The Wolfman to click #8 and click him to click #2 at the end of the turn or before he takes any damage, whichever comes first.
Manipulating the Townsfolk: Every time an opposing character uses Shape Change, Perplex, or Outwit, gain 1 Mission Point.
Cerebral Predator: Charge, Stealth, and Flurry.
The Beast Takes Over: Battle Fury & Exploit Weakness.

Lol wtf is WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US (2012), and why are we talking about it?

Well, fun story— the film had been planned sometime during THE WOLFMAN’s production as a spin-off sequel. When that movie failed, Universal sent their script to their ludicrously industrious direct to video division, which is still turning out sequels to the likes of TREMORS (1990), DRAGONHEART (1996), THE SCORPION KING (2002), JARHEAD (2005) (wtf), and R.I.P.D. (2013) (again, wtf).

So technically, this was intended to be a Universal monster movie.

In WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US (WtBAS), Charles (Ed Quinn), a werewolf hunter styled after Hugh Jackman’s Van Helsing, and his band of werewolf hunters, all characterized exclusively by their choice of exotic weapons, travel to a Romanian town to hunt a werewolf. In that town, Daniel (Guy Wilson), assistant at the morgue, begins to have werewolf nightmares as the brutal killings continue.

With a $5 million budget and shot on location in Romania, this is a surprisingly good action-horror movie with surprising amounts of gunplay, explosions, fights, and werewolf action. …You just have to remember that it’s low budget and that it's trying its little heart out.



#053 Charles
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 5
Points: 50
Keywords: Warrior, Past

5 11 18 3

5 11 18 3

5 11 17 3

5 11 18 2

5 10 18 2

5 10 17 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

Setting up Traps: At the beginning of the game, you may place up to 6 Trap Tokens on the map, at least 4 squares from any starting area and each other. // At the beginning of your turn, if an opposing character is within 3 squares of a Trap token, you may roll a d6 that can't be rerolled. 1-2: No Effect. Remove the marker. 4-6: All characters within 3 squares of this marker are dealt 3 damage. Remove the marker
Full Moon Stakeout: Stealth & Sidestep.

If I’d level any real criticism at WtBAS, its structure & characters could be stronger. Charles is a fine Van Helsing cowboy, as is Daniel a decent innocent lad with a dark secret, but they’re never anything more than stock characters in a werewolf whodunit. If today’s dial doesn’t give the secret away, the film’s mere description does.

In the film’s favor, it looks legit for being shot on location; its gore is strong, as is the worldbuilding; and the werewolf effects are impressive for its era. Charmingly, after the CGI transformations, the film mostly uses a dude in a just-barely-believable suit.



#054 Daniel
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 5
Points: 50
Keywords: Werewolf Pack, Monster, Scientist, Past

5 10 17 1

5 10 17 1

5 10 17 1

5 9 16 1

5 9 16 1

5 9 16 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

Werewolf Nightmares: At the beginning of the game, generate 054b Werewolf Bystander token on the map within 5 squares.



#054b Werewolf
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0

7 11 18 3

There’s a Darkness Within Me…: 054b Werewolf has Autonomous until the first time it would take damage this game. When it does, place 054 Daniel on his card. 054b Werewolf has Daniel’s keywords and remaining clicks as its own.
Full Moon: At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6 once for all friendly characters with the Full Moon trait. On a result of 1-3, clear an action token from this character. On a result of 4-6, this character has +1 combat stats until the beginning of your next turn.
Berserker Beast: Charge & Flurry.