Greetings HeroClix Masterminds!
Welcome to the final article on the 2023 rules update. If you haven’t read the previous articles, you can find Article 1 HERE, Article 2 HERE, and Article 3 HERE. For this final article, we’ll be sharing the new Comprehensive Rulebook, and going through some of the other tweaks we made to the game. If you’re excited to dive into the new rules yourself, you can find the new Comprehensive Rules HERE. Before we get into the rules, though, we have something cool to show…
New Character Cards
Beginning with Marvel HeroClix: Spider-Man Beyond Amazing we will unveil a new format for character cards. Character dials are moving to the front of the card for easier reference, and the character’s sculpt is on full display! Improved Ability symbols are being moved to just above the dial, making them easier to read at a glance. We are saddened to announce that we are discontinuing flavor text for standard powers, but it was a necessary cut. The space we saved by doing so allowed us to make more visually appealing cards, and it makes the cards an easier reference to use for new players and veterans alike.
The HeroClix Design Team has also retooled the Spider-Man team ability! Starting with Marvel HeroClix: Spider-Man Beyond Amazing, the Spider-Man TA will read “Super Senses, but only succeeds on a [6]. If this character can already use Super Senses, instead increase the result of its roll for Super Senses by +1.” As with Minions of Doom in the past, we’re continuing to replace the wild card team abilities (other than Team Player). While we can’t wait to see what strategies players will use this new TA for, that’s the smallest of the changes we have to go over today.
Guess Who’s (Knock) Back?
Similarly, another long-requested fix is the reintroduction of knockback damage. Knockback damage had been removed from the 2021 rules update to help streamline the game, but fans have clamored for its return.. With the expanded focus on terrain in this update, it only made sense to return it to the game. Going forward, if a character’s knockback path ends because the next square is blocking, a map edge, a higher elevation, or because that character fell to a lower elevation, they are dealt 1 damage. The same applies to a character that’s occupying an elevated marker that’s either destroyed or picked up from under their feet.
After You
The change our most competitive fans will likely be happiest to hear is our rewrite of rule 8.1h. The active player no longer has total control over the order simultaneous triggers resolve in. Rather, the active player orders and resolves only their own effects, then their opponent orders and resolves their effects. If any new effects are triggered while the existing simultaneous triggers are being resolved, players simply take turns resolving everything they control, then letting the other player resolve everything they can until nothing is left resolving. Each player will always get to control how their own effects resolve. For games with more than two players, resolutions happen in turn order.
OLD:
8.1h Timing of Multiple Triggered Effects: If multiple triggered effects would resolve at the same time, the active player chooses in which order they resolve.
NEW:
8.1h Timing of Multiple Triggered Effects: If multiple triggered effects would resolve at the same time, the active player’s effects must resolve first. To do so, if any simultaneous effects resolve “immediately”, the active resolves any such effects of theirs in the order of their choice, then their opponent resolves their “immediately” effects in the order of their choice. Then, repeat that process for any simultaneous effects that don’t resolve “immediately” until all simultaneously resolving effects have resolved. If either player has any effects trigger while their opponent is resolving effects, they must wait for that opponent to finish resolving effects before they can resolve those new effects.
There’s No “I” In “Themed Team”
We’ve made two big changes to themed teams. Firstly, the initiative bonus has been standardized. While the 2021 update did a lot to curb the dominance of larger themed teams, it was clumsy to explain in practice. With this update, all themed teams will receive a +3 bonus to the roll to determine first player, regardless of how many characters they have.
Secondly, we are eliminating Themed Team Probability Control. We know this has been a longstanding and beloved part of team building, so we did not do this lightly. Testing and tournament data reliably showed that the majority of TTPC uses were during the initial attack of the game, in an attempt to either secure an early lead or prevent the opponent’s TTPC-enhanced attack from landing. This meant that TTPC in practice overly advantaged aggressive “alpha strike” strategies, so to disadvantage alpha strike strategies, promote creative slow-burn teams, and preserve the overall health of the game, we made the difficult choice to cut Themed Team Probability Control.
Toe the (Side) Line
We also took some time to reexamine the sideline in HeroClix. Over the past few years it’s become a more important part of team building, so we felt it was due some careful consideration. With this rules update, the size of the sideline is being cut to two game elements per 100 points of the force build, or 6 elements for a 300 point team. Shrinking the sideline makes the choice of what elements to use more meaningful, especially as more SIDELINE ACTIVE effects come out. We’ve also eliminated the rule that all sideline elements need a reason to be sidelined and can only be referenced for that reason. This was a necessary rule in the days when dials on cards could not be seen by opponents, but it’s since become largely irrelevant, causing more rules questions than it solves. While some characters may receive a slight increase in effectiveness, we don’t foresee any major balance issues from removing this rule.
Cross the Red Line
Lastly, we saved one last bit of terrain news for this article. With the growing focus on placeable terrain, we took steps to ensure that no team could be locked out of play on the map. Going forward, all characters can move across a red elevation line, not just fliers or other characters with Improved Movement: Elevated. If they do so without using a transition square or Improved Movement, their movement stops immediately. Also, we’re adding a rule that during setup, terrain markers cannot be placed on printed transition squares, to keep players from locking off sections of the map. On some maps you might even see transition squares that don’t denote stairs or ladders, but doorways between areas of the same elevation. Because these same-elevation transition squares don’t cross an elevation line they won’t affect movement in any way, but they will note spots that can’t be blocked during game setup.
Odds and Ends
We’ve also made a number of minor tweaks to the rules. There’s nothing new in this section, just a bit of polish and incorporating WIN rulings into the text of the comp. For our die-hard rules fanatics, we’re just going to rattle off all the little fixes.
1.1a- Defined Sets.
1.1b- Defined Rarity.
1.9b- Clarified that Team-Up Cards are a type of Alternate Character Card.
1.9c- Defined Legacy cards.
2.6- Added that characters unequip and drop held terrain before entering the sideline.
6.3b- Clarified adjacency through corners.
7.2- Added the “no instructions when it’s not your turn” ruling.
7.7- Added an explanation regarding actions that can’t be completed.
7.9- Fixed a typo (you’re to your).
10.8- Clarified that an automatic breakaway is a successful breakaway.
19.4- Added that characters can use the Team Abilities on their dial.
20.7a- Added an explanation of how to determine if an effect is tied to a specific instance of a power.
21.4- Clarified multiple players having die replacements.
21.6d- Clarified that generated terrain is friendly to the force that generated it. Added that generated terrain markers use the default values for their type.
23.1b- Added that gained keywords are lost if the character goes to the sideline or is removed from the game.
24.6- Defined what tags are.
25.3b- Clarified that the Other Identities section here no longer applies in any sanctioned format.
25.5b- Clarified the timing on placing special terrain.
25.6a- Clarified that you can run multiple Locations so long as only one of them is using bonuses.
Section 27- Added a section containing the full Powers and Abilities card.
The portion of the Comprehensive Rules addressing PAC powers also reflects the changes mentioned in previous articles.
And that’s it for the 2023 Rules Update series! Before we go, we’d like to leave you with one final preview of the next set. We’ve put a lot of care into this update, and are excited to see players bringing it to their tables!
Sincerely,
The HeroClix Design Team
