But you don't get the same bonus for generic keywords as you do non-generics. You have to have more generics per point total than Non-Generics to qualify as a theme team.

Generic requires one character per hundred points, Non-Generic one per a hundred and fifty points. That's a big difference, and makes Non-Generic much easier to build a team around than Generic. I mean, sure, you have your Scientists and Martial Artists who are incredibly plentiful, but it's just that much easier to build an Avengers team, or a Gotham City team, and get the bonus despite a few deviations from the keyword for tactical purposes.

I like the Theme Team bonuses. I always built teams according to themes if I could help it - playing either the X-Men or the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, and I like there now being a gameplay-approved bonus for doing that.

I'm a bully now? I don't think I've ever been called that before ...

... I was actually being quite serious. I think it was a very good post.

I would argue that Asgardian is a fine "actual team" keyword. Yes it was applied a bit more broadly than it probably should have been, but you should be able to run Thor, the Warriors Three and a couple Asgardian Warriors and it's a perfectly legitimate, comic-accurate team. In fact, if anything that group should work better than most hero/villain teams, as they are a group of warriors who have probably fought together for centuries.

Gotham City? Sure, but you'd need a "Bat Family" (or something similar) keyword to replace it, as those characters have DEFINITELY learned to work together well.

You actually have the SAME EXACT bonuses. You just have different REQUIREMENTS.

This would be a horrible option for playing theme team. Playing theme team involves restricting your options of available figures in order to stick to a theme (while I am not a fan of generic keywords either, the pool of "Martial Artists" still is differant than having access to every single figure).

Increasing total number of available actions for the team amounts to pretty much nothing. Especially if you're not going to include generic keywords. The power bloat of the game has made it so the old days of 6 figures on a 400 point team are pretty well over, short of including something like Nurse or Researcher. The average figures are closing in on 100 points, with a good portion of the core affiliated characters from the JLA, Avengers, Fantastic Four, heck, even most of the marquee Xmen being unable to benefit from these extra actions you propose. When we look at how Leadership is essentially only good for swarm teams now, I cannot imagine any way that non-generic keyword theme teams are remotely worthwhile when unused actions are their only benefit.

PC works just fine. PC makes sense, given that the practiced coordination of real teams should be more likely to work than random happenstance teams. Human Torch should be more likely to succeed when Thing is backing him up with their rehearsed and well cordinated attacks than he would if he was teaming with, say, Batman. Add to that that using the PC involves a power action, so it is still inferior to regular PC and requires that one of your teammates actually take an action to assist you in some manner, and PC as an incentive seems to work just fine.

Now I just sit back and let all the sweet taxonomy rep roll in.



As a kind of addition to VGA's interesting thread, I have created a poll to register just how big an issue keyword abuse really is. It can be found HERE.

I think the only problem with generic keywords is that they allowed some really general ones (martial artist, scientist, mystic, etc...) to get outta hand in terms of numbers.

They have made the case and taken action on this sort of thing before, phasing out the mutant keyword cause it was getting too common. Maybe they can do the same thing with the more common keywords we're seeing now.

It was a late game tack on that gave you a modest bonus for trying to have a theme, which is something that people seemed to want.

They were a bit too loose, early on, with labeling certain folks "martial artist", "soldier" and "scientist". And you can't really get away with playing the same old "cheese" teams and following the Theme Team rules a lot of the time--one of the classic parts of a "cheesy" team is a medic. Getting a medic in your force *and* being a Theme Team is difficult, unless you are Police or Scientist. Using the more current figures, all you have access to it Nurse, who has no keyword at all.

Sense is irrelevant. As noted, an awful lot of the game is non-sensical, in terms of "real world logic". So ignore that. It is, on the other hand, a modest bonus for having a Theme Team that doesn't actually affect the game all that much. I mean, yeah, being first player and picking the map is certainly helpful, but if neither side has a Theme Team, it is a coin toss; if both players have a Theme Team, it is likely close to a coin toss; if one side as a Theme Team and the other doesn't, the Theme Team probably gets to pick the map and move first, which is an advantage. But so is not being bound by keywords. So likely a wash.

Again, a modest bonus. On a 300 point team, you probably get 2 or 3 Theme Team re-rolls for the game. Which is a pretty small benefit--yeah, it'll probably save you from an unfortunate critical miss once and a while, but at the cost of giving a guy a action token, possibly pushing them, and them not having done anything already. Probability Control is still a totally valid and effective power--it is highly unlikely that people aren't taking Probability Control (which works every turn, on both player turns, and costs nothing in play) 'cause they can use a costly re-roll 2 or 3 times a game.

How are you getting a one man Theme Team? By playing a 100 point game with a 100 point guy? Well, yeah, ok, that might happen. Play a bigger game, and no one is playing a one man Theme Team.

Well, you aren't--you need more guys on your team if you have a generic keyword as opposed to a specific keyword. Granted, not a huge difference, but something.

Wait--wasn't your main complaint about the Theme Team re-roll that it makes Probability Control less good, where this makes Leadership (which is already vastly less good than Probability Control) less good?

bul·ly [ boollee ]


noun (plural bul·lies)

Definition:

aggressive person: an aggressive person who intimidates or mistreats weaker people



transitive verb (past and past participle bul·lied, present participle bul·ly·ing, 3rd person present singular bul·lies)

Definition:

intimidate: to intimidate or mistreat a weaker person


[Mid-16th century. Probably < Middle Dutch boele "lover"]


bully for you! used to express approval (dated)used ironically

The end.

It's really great ice cream but I wouldn't go that far.

I personally feel that Generic theme teams shouldn't have the same benefits from Non-Generic theme teams. If I were to find a solution to reflect this without changing the core rules for theme team these would be the things I'd remove:

Generic theme teams should only assist in map selection and initiative rolls. Outside of that. I think Non-generic theme teams should be able to still have their PC rolls and BFC cancellation. This will promote a higher level of competitive edge for Non-generic teams yet still allow Generic theme teams to gain some sort of bonus.

This is just the kind of rules triage I was thinking myself. Stricter theme = better payout.

Yeah, maybe I should be more clear, but I was mostly thinking about how those keyword let the good guys and the bad guys play together without much reason. This goes back to where I think it would be nice if they would add an 'H' for hero and 'V' for villain on the dial (and then there'd be the neutral figures I guess) and make your teams accordingly.

I gotta agree with VGA....(Whoa never thought I would say that).....I think the PC needs to be changed so they have line of site at least...LAst several games I have played this has annoyed me the most...

personally I hate BFCs, nothing like having your whole team nerfed because someone played a stupid card.

characters still need to have line of site to use Theme PC.