{"id":1114,"date":"2016-03-25T13:53:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T13:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/67272bb316.nxcli.io\/heroclix\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2016-10-13T19:31:47","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T19:31:47","slug":"design-insight-optional-traits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wizkids.com\/heroclix\/2016\/03\/25\/design-insight-optional-traits\/","title":{"rendered":"Design Insight – Optional Traits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Optional Traits<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The focus of most of the recent Design Insight articles has been to inform players about changes\/updates to rules or game mechanics. Today\u2019s article, however, is to introduce a brand new mechanic:\u00a0Optional Traits<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0Optional Traits<\/strong>\u00a0may be technically a new mechanic, it combines two long-standing and recognizable HeroClix concepts \u2014\u00a0traits<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0add-on effects<\/strong>. Traits (indicated by the Trait star) grant powers\/abilities to characters that are not linked to specific clicks on the character\u2019s dial; instead, they are available to the character throughout their dial. Add-on effects are any game effect that a player would assign to characters on their force by paying additional points when building their team. Some examples of add-on effects throughout the history of HeroClix include Feats, Additional Team Abilities, and any equipment\/equippable game elements that would be assigned during force construction (such as the Entities and Construct attachments from\u00a0DC Comics HeroClix: War of Light<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Optional Traits<\/strong>\u00a0are traits that will only be in effect for a character if the player paid the additional cost as indicated on the character\u2019s card next to the\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>.\u00a0Optional Traits<\/strong>\u00a0are indicated by the Trait star symbol with a black background (instead of the white background on standard Traits). An example of an\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>\u00a0indicator can be seen on the recently previewed\u00a0Marvel HeroClix: The Uncanny X-Men<\/strong>\u00a0005a\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"DI<\/a><\/p>\n

Emma Frost<\/strong>\u2019s base point cost is 80 points \u2014 however, with this\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>, players may pay 85 points for\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong>\u00a0when building their force to be able to add the 005b\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong>\u00a0Prime to their sideline and be able to benefit from the additional effect of the\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0Optional Traits<\/strong>? At times, when we are designing dials for characters, we have ideas for game effects that may be compelling but situational. In the case of\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong>, her\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>\u00a0is predicated upon the player not only\u00a0having<\/u>\u00a0005b\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong>\u00a0but also\u00a0NOT having<\/u>\u00a0any other Prime figure on their force (as you would not be able to add another Prime to your force \u2014 even on the sideline). So, rather than designing\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong>\u00a0at 85 points with a standard Trait and having the answer be \u201cToo bad, so sad\u201d if the player did not happen to have 005b\u00a0Emma Frost<\/strong>, we thought it would be better to make this an optional effect. This way, players don\u2019t feel as if there are wasted points in her cost for a game effect that they are not able to utilize.<\/p>\n

A trait requiring a certain replacement figure is, of course, just one example of why we might implement an\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>. Others may include game effects predicated on sharing keywords with other figures on your force\/having another specific named figure on your force; or for game effects that work better on larger teams or higher-point\/multi-player games. Another possible implementation is to tie a group of figures together thematically through a shared\u00a0Optional Trait<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 similar in fashion and function to Additional Team Abilities printed on character cards.<\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for other\u00a0Optional Traits<\/strong>\u00a0on figures in upcoming HeroClix sets \u2014 until then, double check your math!<\/p>\n<\/div>

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