In between posts I'm unpacking a rather large shipment of Clix from an Ogre who should be unpacking his planet-eating-giant (and I ain't talkin' about Unicron!) right about now.

But then he should take damage when moving someone, should not be able to blindly go through a wall (he usually needs to see where he's teleporting), and should probably croke if he tries moving a giant. With this game though, HSS is the closest thing we've got to give him an accurate power. Phasing Teleport just doesn't cut it even though the name is more accurate.

Don't use the X-Men movies for referencing powers. Those movies took quite a few liberties. Juggernaut anybody? Now I'm going to go shoot myself in the head with an adamantium bullet so I forget those memories.

Jumping back in with this one.

I like the Indomitable, the Leadership Trait, and the end-dial Stealth to help give him a chance with that Regeneration.

I see what you're going for, but we're largely back to the direction of the earlier Caps that I kept objecting to, which is at least in part minimizing the shield too much.

A proper Cap (IMHO, of course) will have two targets and multiple clicks of a SP that grants Charge and Running Shot. I'd also give him something (probably folded into the Trait) to allow him to ignore the effects of hindering terrain on movement. I wouldn't want to go all the way to Leap/Climb, but I don't see him having to stop dead on hindering nor have his Speed cut in half when he goes to move off it.

I'm on the fence as to how much I want damage-reducers in there, but I believe I want it there part of the dial. With his shield in hand he's survived direct blows from Hulk-level (including the Hulk) attackers.

I understand the desire to keep the points down, but this is Captain America and we have the magic of Special Powers to work with. We can cram 150 pts or more of ability in 100 pts or less!

Something I like, which I was discussing with someone else, is that he could use Impervious when targeted by a Ranged Attack, and Super Senses and Combat Reflexes when targeted with a Close Combat Attack. It's an idea. Another thought for a special power to represent him throwing his shield is he could make a ranged attack, then if he connects, he can make a 2nd ranged attack, drawing a line of fire as if he occupied the square of the 1st target. It would show how his shield will deflect off targets and is more balanced than the HoT version.

IIRC, Kurt's LoS teleportation is only necessary when he's unfamiliar with the environment, but was a restriction he placed in himself (albeit for safety's sake) rather than one of his power (IIRC he once teleported Avalanche to a spire of a building when he couldn't see it for example).

That said, Kurt is unimpeded by LoS if he's working with, say, a telepath and/or intel.

As for the rest, sometimes the source material must yield to game mechanics.

Aren't we due for someone to start a thread complaining about comic accuracy soon? Maybe sprinkle in a touch of Xplosion Iron Man along with some strategy and tactics and we'll be set.

Speaking of Hypersonic Speed, I know it's unlikely to happen because it's still considered to be over-powered by many, but I still like the idea of being able to have a HSS character be able to trade in 2 or 3 Speed points for any attacks, as speedsters generally either hit multiple targets or try to lay a beat-down on a single one. If one of the attacks misses, the action ends and he's stuck where he is. In order to try to keep it a bit more reined in, perhaps stipulate that if the Damage value showing is more than 3 it's reduced to 3, too. If a character plans to just make a single attack then it can operate as it does currently.

I'd endorse both of these.

Muncho, make HeroClix exactly how I want it... OR I'll keep complaining!!!!

As long as it's not option 2. There were some guys that thought that was a viable strategy. It was painful to watch. I could see if it's a last resort type thing. Counting on it just wasn't right.

Agreed on all points.

It does bring us back to one of the other notions in dial design: Should they design them to demonstrate what the character is physically capable of doing, or what the character would actually do -- the latter being a matter of demonstrating some restraint, be it based on fear or ethics?

This often came to mind during various discussions over the years of the Superman dials, usually with respect to the Damage values and HSS run-and-gun attacks. Should the designers be creating versions that fight as Superman generally does, or what he would be capable of doing if up against a perceived monstrous threat and/or if an enemy took control of him?

To put it another way, should the dial designers attempt to preemptively play the part of game masters in an RPG, trying to enforce combat behavior based on the personality of the character?

I would say tell him "Your being slapped in the face!" but he could literally do that.

Right. Option 2 was one of the early designer attempts to simulate that move - with the awful restraint of not giving him a movement power even to start - but it never lived up to the intent. (Of course, if you mention it in a larger audience it'll just be a matter of time before someone regales everyone with how he not only made it work, but that he did so often and took down amazing opponents with it.)

Anyway, what I suggested would be the New #2.

Yeah! This. We're just trying to be reasonable here.

Clix can't give 100% faithful translations of characters. I've accepted that. But giving them something that they have no real reason to have is baffling... Or NOT giving them something moreso (XP Mystique anyone?).

Seth breathed new life into the game (IMHO) when he started giving characters powers you wouldn't think they should have.

Maybe my main complaint with Nightcrawler (keep in mind he's my favorite character) is that his clix is far more powerful than he has any right to be. If he needs HSS, cut down his movement. If you give him super senses, cut down his defense.

He also never needed shape change. Since when does he use an image inducer in combat?

I'm ranting big time on poor Kurt.