{"id":16766,"date":"2023-01-20T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/67272bb316.nxcli.io\/heroclix\/?p=16766"},"modified":"2023-01-23T13:59:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T18:59:26","slug":"ramping-up-the-fun-heroclix-2023-rules-update-1-terrain-markers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wizkids.com\/heroclix\/2023\/01\/20\/ramping-up-the-fun-heroclix-2023-rules-update-1-terrain-markers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramping Up the Fun! HeroClix 2023 Rules Update 1: Terrain Markers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greetings HeroClix Masterminds!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Over the past two years we have examined and learned from our last rules update. The 2021 rules update lived up to its goals of making the game more accessible to players, and we still\u00a0 plan to adhere to the spirit of that update. Whereas that update focused on streamlining the core gameplay, this small slate of changes will focus on increasing the excitement and flavor of most games without markedly increasing the complexity of its rules. Rules you read about in these articles won\u2019t take effect until closer to the release of <\/span>Marvel HeroClix: Spider-Man Beyond Amazing<\/span><\/b>, when players have the updated rulebook in-hand. As with all rules updates, we will reveal the PAC and Comprehensive rulebook ahead of that release.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the course of this series, we will walk you through all the upcoming changes. Our goal is to both demonstrate the fun behind these changes as well as to clarify any initial questions that you may have. Individual articles will go more in-depth, but in broad strokes this specific rules update began with a single question: <\/span>How do we make standard objects matter again?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Standard light and heavy objects have long been overshadowed by equipment. Worse, they have been relegated to a single function: augmenting an attack early in the game. As we discussed ways to improve objects it became clear that we encountered broader issues of maps, terrain, and customization. This rules update quickly became known as the \u201cTerrain Update\u201d among our designers and testers, as our experiments with new object rules evolved into new terrain marker rules. To put the core of this update as simply as possible: <\/span>Objects will be considered a type of terrain marker, and players may place terrain markers (including objects, blocking, water, hindering, or elevated) on the map during setup. Each player may include up to three terrain markers on their build, in any combination between objects, the standard 1×1 square terrain markers, or the new markers we\u2019re about to discuss.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Much like with the current rules for objects, during setup each player may place their three terrain markers anywhere on the map outside of their starting areas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While this is an undeniably a large update to the rules, it\u2019s in many ways smaller than the 2021 update. A few PAC powers will receive tweaks to give them greater interactivity with terrain, but the mechanics of the game will largely play the same as they have. We<\/span> also will take this opportunity to clean up the comprehensive rules and make some tweaks that have been long requested, and we hope you<\/span> will be as excited to see them over this series as we are to show them to you! Over this and the following three articles, we will break down all the new information in this rules update.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Making a Mark(er)<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

As mentioned, objects will fold into the umbrella of terrain markers, but with this comes a secondary change. We will retire the terms and distinction between \u201cLight\u201d and \u201cHeavy\u201d objects. Objects going forward will be a single sub-category of terrain markers, with standard objects most closely resembling what were previously light objects:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n