Aloyzo's Arsenal #15: You make the card! Part 4: Card Effect!

You don't use Nova Axe?

I remember the pre-buff cleanse cards that were totally useless most of the time, so I'm happy to see some nice hybrids.

 

Just wondering, if the monster Aloyzo's was themed after Halloween, is this Aloyzo's themed after Election Day in the U.S.?

Also, these are some interesting choices! I voted for helmet not because I wanted better helmet choices but because I thought it had potential for interesting and unusual cards, and it did turn out that way! Thanks, Aloyzo!

I was amused by Terrifying Visage because I actually considered submitting something with Reactive Trip to Aloyzo's last month, and Terrifying Visage is like a combination of Reactive Trip and my previous year's Ooze Shove. I haven't yet decided whether I'll vote for it, though.

 

Yes.

 

Is there a chance that Aloyzo creates multiple items, that all have the same winning card on them?

 

I voted Scout's Vigil because warriors are getting so many cool new things to kill wizards with from CM, dancing on the grave that first began with the (completely justified) burfft nerf. Terrifying Visage, a silver card that makes it impossible to run away from an adjacent warrior, would really screw over wizards. It would also screw over elves, whose graves have also been danced upon with the (justified but imo overdone) EM nerf and comparatively impotent new CM traits.

I would also be okay with Ready to Strike if that ends up being the runner up to Visage.

 

It's a very good thing that you have so far left out card art and flavor text on these cards, as I would probably have voted based on that. However, I sincerely hope you will add flavor text to whatever gets chosen eventually. I get a real kick out of reading those little phrases and quotes.

 

Yes.

Whether or not there will be flavor text depends on whether or not there is room on the card. For instance, Scout's Vigil has no room for flavor text. Ready to Strike has plenty. As for art, it will likely be Aloyzo's Arsenal quality--that is, cobbled together by yours truly

 

This may seem silly, but this is causing me to change my vote to Ready to Strike, because I assume it will be re-balanced before being implemented. Wait! is there enough room on terrifying visage?

 

Did you draw the art for laboratory mayhem?

 

The Buttery Rundown



Statistical assessments are based on comparative ranking against the other proposed cards, not off inherent valuation. Highest value is best ranked, lowest value is worst ranked.
Spoilers have additional notes.

Versatility: How adaptable the card is to different builds or situations.
Potency: How much kick the card has, when played to its most favorable usage.
Creativity: How much the card adds in new build concepts or gameplay considerations.
Balance: How balanced (underpowerd OR overpowered) the card is to its cost. (Additional Balance Notes)

Clear Mind
Acting as a combination of a racial attachment removal card and the boost effect from Arrogant Armor, the main utility of this card is in enhancing Arro-handicap builds, by adding an Arro element to helmets, thus making such builds more consistant.
However, the added terrain removal element adds a fair bit extra versatility to the card, allowing it to act as an all-around mage canceler. A good all-around, but a bit of an uninteresting card- so if our aim is to boost the appeal of helmets, this may not be the best choice.

Versatility: 4
Potency: 3
Creativity: 2
Balance: 6


Disengage, Soldiers!
Utilizing very familiar [and thus rather uninteresting] helmet mechanics, D,S! is far more potent than it may at first seem. In a game that relies on positioning, what is (at most favorable usage) effectively a map-wide violent spin (gold) at silver quality is quite potent.
First off, if you position with it in mind, it can let you dominate the field- easily taking VPs, easily going after weak enemies while protecting your own, easily defending against strong enemies. At silver, it's the most potent move card we've seen yet.
Moreover, it adds a rather potent boost to terrain-heavy parties, potentially giving warriors all the benefits they normally get from team moves for such parties, while also having the additional ability to manipulate enemies onto the terrain.
That synergy, along with the inherent potency of the card, is exactly why I feel this is the worst possible option to vote for- existing potent mechanics don't need added boosts, and further, appealing to niches is something I was under the impression we didn't want to do with the new helmet card.

Spoiler

Flip side, one can argue that the card makes for a good counter to terrain parties, as well. Nevertheless, that's like boosting radiation and saying "well at least there's genetic boosts". [In this metaphor, purge/etc isn't available as a universal cure-all.] It's still emphasizing niching over more balanced mechanics.

Versatility: 3
Potency: 6
Creativity: 1
Balance: 2


Scout's Vigil
Combining a range-1 roll-boosted Cause Fumble that can't self target with a high-roll-requiring, more versatile Quick Reactions, this downside-heavy card combines existing helmet themes with a classic "Defender" concept, something that warriors have been missing.
At silver, a range-1 2+ block melee makes SV a reasonable-to-slot defensive card, though the block itself is burdened by its ally-only limitation, and weak in potency compared to cards like Parry (or even Cause Fumble, which does the same thing, only better).
On the other side of things, the card draw element can be potent with a lot of luck, and gives the card a versatility edge, but mostly it'll end up as an unpredictable card draw element that you'll struggle to activate.
This is a card that heavily relies on restrictive positioning or die roll luck, and the two benefits of the card seem a bit at odds with one another.

Spoiler

Added negative, this cheaper and much more versatile card would pretty much push out the viability of Quick Reactions.
Even if QR gets boosted to 3+ die roll (currently at 4+) on this card's release, the difference between gold and silver, combined with SV's extra versatility, would make QR more often falter by comparison than not.
As our aim is presumably to enhance helmets with new cards, and not to replace existing card appeal, this seems a poor option.
(Additional Notes)

Versatility: 2
Potency: 1
Creativity: 4
Balance: 1


Ready to Strike
Traditionally, defensive strike mechanics in RPGs are the purview of tanks. However, the expense of retaining such a card, as well as the fact that tanks in CH typically don't have the offensive emphasis to encourage moving away from them, limits that appeal in CH.
However, RtS has some interesting synergies: Vanguards can use it to pressure enemies. Control wizards can use it to further try damaging enemies with control spells, along with Path of Knives. Bash-based tanking can become viable, with RtS triggering as melee opponents are forced to move back into melee after a bash.
The card is rather a straightforward one, but it appeals reasonably to both offensive and defensive builds.

Versatility: 1
Potency: 2
Creativity: 3
Balance: 5


Terrifying Visage
I find this to be the most awkwardly associated design of all the options. It's a combination of trying to force ranged control onto warriors [and conceptually speaking, do we really want 2x, 3x items with that?] while also offering offensive-supporting move cancelling.
As a downside, this card dilutes the playstyle of warriors a bit. On the upside, it has a fair bit of potency: It can serve a primary function as a support to PoK or Terrain wizards, it can offer a non-parryable VP-challenging approach for things like Death March, and it can boost offensive characters by handicapping efforts to escape from them. Versatility is high, potency is high, and appeal is high. In the end, this preference for this card really all boils down to how well you think it suits warriors, and how much you want to play against warriors with such potent control mechanics.

Versatility: 5
Potency: 4
Creativity: 5
Balance: 3


Trailblazer
Really the most intriguing of the lot. It's quite a creative way of explaining warrior-based terrain removal, and gives warriors a way to counter terrain both for themselves, and allies- something that could help counter the prolific terrain emphasis of many mage parties. As a terrain removal card, silver is a decent cost for the effect.
But then, you have a potent and VERY versatile keep mechanic, as well- the free move allows the warrior to maneuver over terrain and in between enemies alike. As far as appeal factor, this seems to be the very most compelling card- users would want to slot this for defensive purposes, for positioning dominance purposes, for offensive purposes, for general mobility purposes.. add in the fact that it gives users an emergency counter for terrain-based opponents [or support for your own terrain based mechanics], it's by far the most versatile card presented here.

Spoiler

Versatility: 6
Potency: 5
Creativity: 6
Balance: 4

 

@DunDunDun Does a higher balance rating indicate the card is more powerful/useful, or that it is more balanced?

Edit: I have questions about what you mean by your other stats too. could you explain em all?

 

Maybe one line. And yes, it does seem silly.

I drew the vast majority of the placeholder art, yes. But I don't mean that I will draw the art for the winning card; rather that I will put it together from bits and pieces--as necessary--of existing/unused Ben artwork.

 

Oh, good. Glad to hear it. I think I'll stick to my guns for scout's vigil then, it just might have the scouting run card art, which I quite like.

 

Violent Spin has Push, whereas Disengage, Soldiers! / Terrifying Visage has Slide Back. Nevertheless, I don't want to see more ranged universal move cards for warriors.

 

I added in introduction explanation section, let me know if that helps.

I'm aware, and I accounted for that. Slide Back still will often function just as well, and the utility remains the same. For the most part, however, I was trying to rate all the cards off their least AND most favorable potential applications, so the emphasis was intentional.

Arguably none of the cards are inherently over or underpowered, persay, so it seemed better to emphasize the gameplay demands the cards could impose on those at risk of encountering them, along with the balance considerations for those building with them.

I'm really rather opposed to including either of the move enemy cards- they both seem a bit dubious in regards to their effect on class balance, especially at such a low quality tier.

 

Since this new card(s) was voted to be on a helmet the new card(s) for it will only be on a helmet.... yes, so wizards can't use it?

 

No, wizards can wear helmets.

 

i'll bite. what's the scale? @DunDunDun

 

When could wizards where a helmet, and what level that slot unlocked?

 

Thanks for the intro. I'm all clear on everything except for balance. Does a low or high balance value mean it's unbalanced?