Me, that’s who! The article that generated the most responses in the short history of my column was the one where I invited players to roll up random Vs. System characters on the charts we use here in R&D. Well, the ones I use, at least. You can find that article here.
From the responses I received, it became abundantly clear that none of you believed I ever actually used the charts to design cards. Break out your sporks, because it’s time to eat crow. Not only did I use the very charts I posted to design some of the Sinister Syndicate characters in Web of Spider-Man, but I have photographic evidence to prove it.
Some of the other designers weren’t so hip to the idea of randomly rolling dice to create characters, but dice don’t lie, argue, or demand further testing. I will admit now that I did cheat a bit by not rolling on the team chart or the name generator, as we were working on the Web of Spider-Man set at the time and needed to design specific characters. The first character I decided to make using the charts was Shriek. Despite her name, there was very little screaming and crying going on after the charts proved their worth the first time out of the gate.
Here’s a picture of me arranging the charts and making Danny sit still long enough to witness my die rolls. There were some people who thought I might cheat and fudge die rolls to make the character more thematic, but I assured them that the dice are nearly conscious of the faith we put in them and would not let us down.
With that, my first die roll was underway—the one for character cost.
Character Cost Chart
Roll Result
1–8 What you roll is what you get.
9 Prove it, 9+
10 Prove it, 10
As the d10 spun on the table, all eyes widened. Finally, the die settled on a 2. Shriek would be a 2-drop. Huzzah! Good job, chart and trusty d10. Next up is the ATK and DEF chart.
A 2 again! At this point, Danny started wondering if the die was loaded, but I assured him that no one would be foolhardy enough to rig a d10 to always roll a 2. You’d rather roll a 9 or a 10 every time if you had your druthers.
ATK and DEF Chart
Roll Result
1 <--
2 -1D
3 -1A
4 2/2
5 2/2
6 2/2
7 +1A
8 +1A
9 +1D
10 -->
The follow-up roll was a 4, making Shriek a 2 ATK and 2 DEF with a –1 DEF modifier. So that gives Shriek 2 ATK and 1 DEF. It’s not great, but I’m hoping that her ability makes up for the small-ish stats.
The next chart is the power chart.
General Character Power Chart
Roll Result
1 Payment
2 Payment
3 Payment
4 Payment
5 Continuous
6 Continuous
7 Triggered
8 Triggered
9 Drawback
10 Roll two more times
See, Danny, two rolls in a row that weren’t 2s! A nice-looking 5 is going to give Shriek a continuous power. I was really hoping to roll a 10 twice in a row, but alas. Let’s see what the possibilities are for Shriek’s lone power.
Specific Character Power Chart
Roll Result
1 Other characters get +1 ATK.
2 _______ gets +1 DEF for each resource you control.
3 Army
4 Your opponents may not play plot twists with threshold
costs of [roll 1d10] or less.
5 Roll again, but add the phrase “while ______ is defending”
to the power.
6 Roll again, but add the phrase “while ______ is attacking”
to the power.
7 Roll again, but add the phrase “while you control [roll 1d10]
or less resources” to the power.
8 Roll again, but add the phrase “while you control a
<teamname> character” to the power.
9 Roll again, but add the phrase “while ______ is ready”
to the power.
10 Roll again, but add the phrase “with a cost of [roll 1d10]
or less” to the power.
If you didn’t know that the die roll eventually landed on a 1, then you haven’t spent enough time looking over the Web of Spider-Man set. I was pretty happy with the 1, as it meant that Shriek could be part of an aggressive Sinister Syndicate weenie deck. Danny was surprised that the chart worked so well for Shriek and was even more surprised that Mike and Dave gave it the thumbs up. Mike also declared, “Next card!” which is the final word on any individual card argument.
The next card for me to design was Beetle. Back to the charts!
First, I rolled on the Character Cost chart.
Eek! Another 2. Why don’t I ever get to design any beefy dudes? Because I use these charts and dice, that’s why. Sorry, Beetle, you’re going to be small. Hopefully I can roll his stats well.
Another 2. Rats!
Yikes! Sorry about that, Danny . . .
Another 2. Cripes! I try to explain to Danny once again that the die isn’t loaded. At this point he’s adamant that the die is loaded and that I’m stupid. Ha—he’s only half right! So Beetle is going to end up with a -2 DEF. I finally roll something other than a 2 (a 6) to give him 2 ATK and 2 DEF with a -2 DEF modifier, making him 2 ATK and 0 DEF.
And now, to the power chart! I roll another 6! A continuous power again. Not bad.
(If you didn’t realize that I was going to roll a 2 on the continuous powers chart, then you either haven’t seen the card, or you skipped the middle section of this article.)
Danny now realizes the benefit of using a loaded die. By not rolling high on the chart, I avoid all the restrictions that many characters suffer when trying to use their powers.
At this point, Danny is pretty ticked off and goes to Mike to tell on me. After a closed-door session, where I swear I could hear dice being rolled, they emerge to tell me that I’m stuck with the card but I have to give it a boost.
I finally decide to get serious and spend the rest of the day testing out boost abilities for Beetle. After several trial games testing a few ideas, I finally whittle the field down to just one—the one that appears on his card today. There was some question as to whether the boost cost of 3 I was running with was good enough. After much debate, I knew there was only one way to decide what his boost cost should be . . .
Next week, part 3 of the Stall Tactics article. Get it? I’m stalling on the last installment of the article!
Questions, comments, and ridicule may be sent to mhyra@metagame.com.