Once again, this is all about trying to simulate how things work in the comic books better than the conventional HeroClix rules on Stealth manage to. In HeroClix, Stealth is basically there simply to keep players from fielding nothing but figs with ranged attacks. What Stealth does by the conventional rules is, effectively, force opposing figures to engage a Stealthed figure base to base to get a Close Combat attack, since Stealthed figures cannot be in any way perceived by ranged attackers.
I understand why WizKids feels such a rule is necessary. However, the result is, opposing characters immediately charge directly at a figure that, according to the rules, none of them can see, and then beat the hell out of that same concealed figure that none of them know the precise location of. This seems to deviate from the way something called ‘Stealth’ should work, at least, to my mind.

Of course each player knows exactly where a Stealthed fig is, there’s no really sensible way to get around that. But with my house rules, in which you simply CAN’T engage a Stealthed figure unless you have some superhuman way of seeing them, or you search around their square until you find them, taking the time and making the effort to do so, there is no motivation for simply running right up to a Stealthed fig and attacking immediately when your character cannot actually see the fig. In fact, there are very good reasons to avoid the fig entirely, since it can engage an adjacent opponent, or fire missiles at that opponent, without being engaged in return. Therefore, opponents tend to either avoid Stealthed figs, or do something logical and consistent within superhero combat models to locate those figs… and either of those alternatives is more consistent and believable, in my opinion, than the end result of applying the conventional HeroClix rules regarding Stealth.

I also very much like the fact that Super Senses can be used to detect sneaky opponents, since all the Super Senses figures I know of… Daredevil, Spider-Man, etc… do this sort of thing all the time. Purists will shriek like little girls that this should make Super Senses characters cost more in terms of point value, but our Stealth rules make Stealth characters more effective, too, so I feel it’s a wash.

There is also another way within our house rules to get around Stealth:

Terrain –

If the Thing were closer to Bullseye’s hiding spot than the Torch, he could simply run over and uproot the whole section of overgrowth, or rip the sod up like a tablecloth, as is often seen in comics, and expose Bullseye that way. If Spider-Man or Daredevil were nearby, they’d use their Super Senses to locate Bullseye and attack him. And if Turk or Grotto happened to be ambling by and suddenly went suicidally insane, they could try to spot Bullseye using their normal human senses and if successful, they could run up and engage him in hand to hand combat, and almost certainly die gruesome deaths in the very near future.

In effect, this means that any character you have with either Super Strength or a Damage of 3 can get rid of Hindering Terrain, just as such characters could turn Blocking Terrain into Hindering Terrain, or such characters can yank Object Tokens that Stealthed characters are using as cover out from under them. This seems logical and in fact isn’t even a ‘house rule’ as such, since there is nothing in the rules forbidding this and WizKids hasn’t issued a FAQ as of this writing doing so.

While there are, admittedly, many methods of dealing with Stealthed characters under the standard HeroClix rules, most of them require not only certain specific powers (Energy Explosion, Pulse Blast, etc) but they also require setting up certain situations that are difficult to bring about, to say the least. And even if one does make such an attack successfully, managing to get a click of damage to a Stealthed character only ‘deals’ with the character if it has only one click of Stealth, for example, and while many do, many others do not.

The most common method under conventional HeroClix rules is simply to run up to the Stealthed figure and engage it in close combat, and that is the method pretty much all characters will use under those rules, and I simply find it to be utterly contrary to common sense for characters to be able to do this.

Under my house rules, every method listed above to deal with Stealthed characters still works, except for running up to them and hitting them, which is the one that makes the least sense. In addition, there are now three additional methods to successfully deal with Stealthed characters hiding on Hindering Terrain: Super Senses, a normal ‘spotting roll’ as detailed above, or by applying certain levels of force to reduce the Hindering Terrain to Open Terrain.

It can be argued that my house rules for Stealth make the power even more annoying than it already is, in a game in which apparently Stealth characters are almost universally loathed by opponents. It can also be argued that my house rules are more complex than HeroClix’s standard rules are. Those are both valid arguments, and again, my rules are pretty much always designed to the purpose of making the game more consistent with the superhero combats we see portrayed in comic books. Other players with other priorities probably shouldn’t consider using these house rules.

This rule allows a lot of things you see in comics but that aren’t currently possible under standard HeroClix rules, like the classic Fastball Special that Colossus and Wolverine often perform where Colossus throws Wolverine at a distant opponent. It also allows what I call the ‘Bam Bam Move’, in which a strong character picks up an opponent and either whirls him around his head before throwing him into a wall, or slams him repeatedly into the ground.

I personally feel that the ability to perform such common and basic maneuvers greatly enhances this game, and that the additional complexity of these rules is well worth that increased flexibility.

Knockback -

Knockback still occurs normally (when doubles are rolled on an attack that is successful), however, my house rules allow characters to be knocked back into each other, instead of coming gently to rest on the square adjacent to a nearby character without actually touching that character. My reasoning here is simple: HeroClix rules which specifically prevent knocked back characters from hitting each other seem to result in each character having some sort of mystic anti-kinetic force field around them that only protects them against other characters being hurled in their direction by knockback. This seems contrary to observed cause and effect in superhero comic books, in which Captain America frequently punches, say, the Scorpion, in such a way as the Scorpion flies backwards and smashes into Mr. Hyde.

The rule about knocked-back characters destroying terrain features was come up with by another gamer named Brent Wiggers, and it also simulates something that happens constantly in comic books, namely, superhumans hitting other superhumans so hard they knock them through stuff… cars, walls, dumpsters, buildings, etc. I think it’s a great rule, and I’m happy to insert it here after Brent suggested it to me via email.

Actions -

There are four types of actions: move, close combat attack, ranged attack, and general, generic ‘actions’, as defined on the Powers and Actions Card. If a character moves, attacks, or uses a power stating ‘give this character an action token’, they take an action token. Characters may never take more than one action token per turn.

If a character does not take an action token in any particular turn, remove all action tokens accrued to it over previous turns at the end of that particular turn.

Duplicate characters –

Theme teams –

Medics and PC pieces –

Giant Figures - When they were first announced, I disliked some aspects of WizKid’s special rules for Giant Figures. Since then, I’ve play tested a few games with my Giant-Man fig, and I no longer object to them. Essentially, what they mean is that a normal sized fig cannot make a Close Combat attack against a Giant fig unless it has either Leap-Climb, Flying, or Phasing-Teleport. Figs without these powers are considered engaged two squares away from a Giant fig, and the Giant can attack THEM in Close Combat, but they can’t attack IT.

This bothered me when I first read about it, but since then I’ve realized that this is actually consistent with how giants are treated in superhero comics. Unless you can fly, leap around like a crazed gorilla, turn intangible, or teleport, you aren’t going to get close enough to a giant to whack it one with your bare hands. The giant will simply step over you, like Giant Man does to various Masters of Evil all the time in early Avengers issues. I also intensely disliked the rule saying giants couldn’t be carried or TK’ed. However, having given this more thought as well, I realized that in point of fact, nobody ever does carry a giant around with them, and I don’t really mind them not being able to be TK’ed, either. However, in my House Rules, characters with Super Strength can throw a Giant Figure, if they want to. Thor could certainly grab Hank Pym, spin him around a few times, and lob him at the Radioactive Man if he took it into his head to do so. He most likely wouldn’t, but it’s possible.

To make Giant Figures work perfectly, I’ve added one rule – a Giant Figure can carry a normal sized figure exactly as if it were a flyer. Giants often carry their teammates into combat, so this is perfectly plausible. Using my house rules, this means a Giant needs either Super Strength or a damage of 3 to carry a normal sized fig its full Speed Value. A damage of 2 without Super Strength will allow it to taxi a normal sized fig half its speed value, and if it has none of these, then a Giant fig can’t carry anyone anywhere.

While on this subject, the Bat Sentry is a Giant Figure and is subject to all the Giant Figure rules. Bat Sentries are also not Uniques; if you have more than one, then you can play them all, especially if you’ve got Kingdom Come Batman in there ordering them around.

POWERS/TEAM ABILITIES

NOTE: To keep things cleaner, I have eschewed assigning action tokens to powers that already require movement or attacks. Therefore, if a power description says ‘when a character is moving’ or ‘when a character makes a close combat attack’ or some such, it is assumed that the character takes an action token already for that implicit, underlying action.

Now, I have rewritten several of these powers in such a way that they have become MUCH more effective, and HeroClix purists are going to be screaming their fool heads off that I’ve completely unhinged the balance of the game in terms of the point costs assigned to various figs. Let it be said once and for the record: I Do Not Care. These rules are better than what they replace, and it is as simple as that. Now – play clix!

SPEED SUPER POWERS:

FLURRY: This character can hit an opponent twice as often as a normal character can. (Optional) Give this character an action token. This character may make two close combat attacks, making two separate attack rolls, against either one or two legitimate close combat attack targets. Both close combat attacks still generate only one action token.

Those paying close attention will already see the gist of what I’m doing here – I’m simply stating ‘give this character an action token’ rather than breaking things down into different types of attacks, different types of actions, and all that other crap that WizKids uses to keep the superman down. If using a power should take an action token, I will tell you here. Most powers simply augment actions that already provide an action token, like any movement, or any attack, and WizKids has a tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be, so they can do annoying stuff like keep characters with Flurry from doing a double Incapacitation shot by distinguishing between ‘close combat attack’ and ‘close combat action’. We’ll have none of that here, boyo.

LEAP/CLIMB: This character can leap or climb over characters and terrain. (Optional) When you give this character a move action, it automatically breaks away and ignores the effects of other characters and hindering terrain on movement. This character may end his movement on elevated or outdoor blocking terrain. This character may make a close combat attack against a figure in an adjacent square regardless of the target's elevation.

PHASING: This character may phase into another plane of reality and reappear someplace else on the battlefield. (Optional) When you give this character a move action, it may ignore the effects of all characters and terrain features on movement. It may end its turn on top of outside blocking or elevated terrain, but it may not end its turn on inside blocking terrain.

EARTHBOUND: This character is grounded and has the boot speed mode instead of its printed speed mode. If this character is soaring when it gains Earthbound, this character is dealt 2 damage. This power can not be countered.

Just an aside – I am emotionally outraged to have WizKids ‘add a power’ that is, in effect, a diminution to the character. Powers should be cool, not something you dread to see come up on the dial. Having said that, I understand perfectly how this opens things up in the game, allowing characters that fly when they are rested and strong to lose that power later on after they’ve been beaten up a little, and allowing figs on flight stands to have an activation click where they can’t fly. Nonetheless, I wish WizKids had found a way to do it other than making it a power. Super powers should add to the character, not subtract.

CHARGE: This character can move and then make a more powerful close combat attack using the same action. (Optional) When moving adjacent to an opposing character, this character automatically breaks away and may move up to its speed and make a free Close Combat attack/action. When moving adjacent to a target opposing character, this character ignores all movement modifiers caused by hindering terrain or other opposing characters. After moving adjacent to an opposing character and making a successful Close Combat attack on that opposing character, this character may add 1 to the resultant damage if that damage result is 1 or greater. Characters using Charge may not make any Ranged Attacks in the same turn as they make a Close Combat attack.

You wouldn’t think things would have to be this complicated, but I didn’t want to simply have the +1 be to damage value, because someone charging with Blade/Claws/Fangs should get to add 1 to their dice roll. On the other hand, I couldn’t simply add 1 to all damage done, because then people would be doing 1 damage on a successful Outwit attack, if they Charged up to the fig first. I suppose you COULD Charge up to Superman and smack him a good one with those Kryptonite Gloves of yours, but still, it seems cleaner to keep damage out of Outwit.

MIND CONTROL: This character may make an attack to give an action to an opposing figure. (Optional) Give this character an action token. This character makes a close combat or ranged combat attack for 0 damage on an opposing figure. If the attack is successful, give an action to the target figure as if that figure were a part of your force. This character takes 1 click of damage for each 100 points of the target's point value. If a character with this power has a range value of 0, assume that his range value is 4.

PLASTICITY: This character can stretch his body into any shape. (Optional) This character only fails to break away on a die roll result of 1. Opponents trying to break away from a character with Plasticity must roll a 6 to successfully break away.

FORCE BLAST: This character can knock back other characters and objects with a forceful blast. (Optional) Give this character an action token. Move one adjacent opposing character directly away a number of spaces equal to the Damage value of the attacking character. The target of Force Blast automatically breaks away and ignores the effects of hindering terrain and moving through squares adjacent to other characters while it is being moved in this way. This attack does not inflict damage, but the opposing character may suffer damage from knockback per those rules.

HYPERSONIC SPEED: This character moves incredibly fast. (Optional) When you give this character a move action, it automatically breaks away and may move through squares adjacent to opposing characters, and it may ignore hindering and elevated terrain modifiers. It may not end its movement inside blocking or hindering terrain. During its movement, this character may expend 2 from its Speed value at any time to make a Close Combat attack on any opposing character it happens to be adjacent to. It may do this as many times as its remaining Speed value allows. If any of these close combat attacks are unsuccessful, the character immediately expends another 2 movement without actually moving from the square it is in. Characters with Hypersonic Speed may carry other characters as if they were flyers.

I’ve been toying for a while with a way to make Hypersonic Speed much simpler, and at the same time, make it work the way it works in comics. In comics, superspeedsters can run up and often even through walls and other sheer surfaces, across bodies of water, and, in general, they just whiz around in a manner that the normal HSS rules don’t allow. Making the Flash, for example, climb the stairs when we all know he’d just run up the wall, or stop dead if he hits a bush, is just silly.

It’s also silly to have two different modes for Hypersonic Speed, one in which you smack someone as you run on by, the other in which you park yourself next to them and then do some bizarre Super Flurry in which their defense gets steadily higher until you finally miss. This is all convoluted and rather ridiculous. If a superspeedster wants to run over to you and pummel you 17 times and then run away again, they’re going to, assuming they’re fast enough to do it.

My redefinition of HSS makes it much simpler, and in many ways, makes it much more effective, which, given how egregiously it gets abused now, may not be a good thing. Superspeedsters will now be able to start outside close combat range, run in and launch multiple close combat attacks, and then run away again… assuming they manage their movements correctly.

One thing I’ve taken away from HSS, however, is range strikes. I cannot think of any examples in superhero comics where a character traveling at HyperSonic Speed has launched a ranged attack. So under these rules, if KC Superman or Amazo want to smack someone, they certainly can, in fact, they can probably do it several times – but they’re going to have to get in close to do it. If they do the math right, they can save a few inches of movement to get away with after they whack someone a few times, too. But they won’t be able to dart out from behind a chimney, blast someone from 100 feet away, and then duck back under cover again any more. At least, not under these rules.

In case these rules need more clarity, I’ll give an example – Amazo has a Speed of 10. He is 4 squares away from Aquaman. He moves 4, bringing him adjacent to Aquaman. He now has 6 movement left. He spends two movement and launches a Close Combat attack on Aquaman, which hits. Aquaman takes 3 clicks of damage, and Amazo now has 4 movement left. Amazo spends 2 more movement and launches another attack. If this one hits, Aquaman will take another 3 clicks of damage, and Amazo will have 2 clicks of movement left, which he can use for one more close combat attack, or which he can use to retreat with . If it misses, Amazo will have to spend another two movement due to the miss, and suddenly find himself out of movement, and stuck there adjacent to a now very angry King of the Seven Seas.

RUNNING SHOT: This character can move and make a ranged combat attack in the same action. (Optional) When this character moves, it receives one free action during its movement that it may use to make a ranged combat attack. It may continue to use the rest of its movement after making this ranged attack.

What I’ve done here is lift a block of text from the old HyperSonic Speed rules and give it to Running Shot. It works out well in playtesting.

STEALTH: Hindering terrain blocks line of sight to this character. (Optional) Any line of sight drawn to this character that crosses hindering terrain, including the square that this character occupies, is treated as though it crosses blocking terrain. All attacks require a clear line of sight or they cannot be made.

There’s a whole separate ‘Stealth’ section elsewhere in these rules, but this says it pretty succinctly. Under my House Rules, you cannot attack what you cannot see, either at range or from an adjacent square. There are various ways to establish a clear line of sight on a Stealthed character under my House Rules, including using Super Senses, making an Attentiveness Roll with normal senses, or blowing up whatever the Stealthed character is hiding on, but in my system, if line of sight is obscured to a character, that character cannot be attacked.

ATTACK SUPER POWERS

BLADES/CLAWS/FANGS: This character can deliver 1 to 6 clicks of damage after a successful Close Combat Attack. (Optional) Give this character a close combat action. If the attack succeeds, roll 1 six-sided die. This is the number of clicks of damage you inflict on the target figure instead of this character's normal damage value.

ENERGY EXPLOSION: This character's ranged combat attack can affect all figures in squares adjacent to the target. (Optional) Give this character a ranged combat action and reduce his damage value to 1. A successful ranged combat attack affects the target figure and every figure in a square adjacent to the target, delivering the attacking character’s damage value to each figure successfully hit. Make only one attack dice roll; compare that result to the defense value of the target figure and every figure in a square adjacent to the target.

PULSE WAVE: This character's ranged combat attack can affect every figure within half his range value. (Optional) Give this character a ranged combat action. Reduce his range value by half for purposes of this attack. Draw lines of fire to every figure (friendly and opposing) within range in every direction. These lines of fire ignore the effect of figure bases and hindering terrain, as well as all team abilities and powers possessed by characters within range. If clear lines of fire can be drawn to two or more figures within range, reduce this character’s damage to 1. Energy Pulse will inflict this character’s Damage Value to each figure successfully hit. If there is only a clear line of fire to a single figure, Energy Pulse will deliver this character's normal damage if the target is successfully hit.

QUAKE - Character can scatter surrounding characters with a single devastating blow. (optional)Give this character a close combat action. This character’s damage value becomes 2 if it is greater than 2. Make a single attack roll and compare the result to the defense values of all characters adjacent to this character. Each character that suffers damage suffers knockback.

One change I’ve made to this power is removing the word ‘opposing’ from in front of ‘characters adjacent to this character’. If Gorgon stomps his hoof, or the Hulk smashes both his fists into the ground, all their buddies who are standing nearby are going to go flying just the same as their enemies are.

SUPER STRENGTH: This character has superhuman levels of strength and can pick up objects and/or characters and hurl them around, or use them as weapons to inflict additional damage. This character may destroy terrain. This character’s damage is more effective against tough opponents, as well. (Optional) When you give this character a move action, during this action, the character may pick up an object in this character’s square or an adjacent square and hold or carry it. If this power is lost or countered while the character is holding an object, immediately place the object in the square this character occupies. If you give this character a close combat action against adjoining blocking or hindering terrain, or you give this character a ranged combat action in which it throws an object at blocking or hindering terrain within its range value, the blocking or hindering terrain it targets with this attack is reduced by one terrain level to either hindering or open terrain, respectively. If you give this character a successful close combat action against an opponent, any damage done by that successful attack may not be reduced below 1.

Super Strength may also be used to pick up and throw both friendly and opposing characters, as defined under Objects, elsewhere.

Super Strength is the fundamental comic book superpower, the one that pretty much all others are measured against. When I first started playing HeroClix, the only fig with Super Strength in my first IC Starter Set was Mr. Hyde. My brother and I were looking at the dials and reading the various power definitions, and when I picked up Mr. Hyde, I asked him “What’s green on attack?” My brother looked it up and said “Super Strength”. I immediately said “Cool! What’s that do?” I figured it had to, you know, do more damage, or let you drop kick someone into orbit, or let you knock down walls, or pick up buildings… actually, I figured it should let you do all of the above, and then some, because Super Strength is just da bomb, baby.

When my brother read me the Super Strength definition, I was rather disappointed. Yeah, being able to pick up object tokens and beat people with them is cool, but, but Super Strength should also be SO MUCH MORE.

So, in my house rules, it is. You can knock down walls with it, you can pick your buddy up and throw him with it, if you hit someone else with a super strong punch, it doesn’t matter how tough they are, they’re still going to take at least one click of damage from it, and, yes, of course, you can pick up dumpsters and motorcycles and beat people over the head with them.

THAT’s how Super Strength should work, dammit.

INCAPACITATE: This character may use either a close or ranged combat attack to add an action token to a target figure. (Optional) When this character makes either a ranged or close combat attack, reduce its damage value to 0. When this character successfully hits a target figure and the target has 0 or 1 action tokens, place an action token on the target figure. Treat the target as if it was given a non-pass action. If a target figure is given its second action token, it is considered pushed and takes 1 click of pushing damage. This power has no effect on characters that already have 2 action tokens.

See how simple life gets when you don’t have to be a rules monkey? Get rid of the phrase ‘close combat action’ and suddenly, you CAN Flurry and Incapacitate on the same turn. Why is this hard?

PSYCHIC BLAST: This character fires a mental blast. (Optional) When this character makes a ranged attack, damage done by that attack cannot be reduced by any power or effect that reduces damage, although it can be evaded or transferred to another character by appropriate power effects.

SMOKE CLOUD: This character generates a cloud of smoke or darkness. (Optional) Give this an action token. This character may place up to 4 Smoke terrain markers on the battlefield, starting at any square within its range that it has clear line of sight to. Smoke terrain acts as hindering terrain in terms of movement and as blocking terrain in terms of line of sight, including at adjacent corners between squares filled with Smoke markers. A character with a range of 0 may place the markers in its square and in adjacent squares. Smoke markers must be adjacent to each other, and remain in place until the beginning of their creator’s next turn or until the power is countered or lost. This terrain is not elevated.

A few minor changes. Smoke now acts as hindering terrain for purposes of moving out of it or through it, and blocking terrain for purposes of drawing a line of sight through it. You can also put Smoke terrain marker up right on top of a character; your own if you want to give it some cover, or an opponent’s if you want to slow it down and/or keep it from shooting at you next turn. In most of the heroic fiction I’ve read or watched, people tend to throw their smoke bombs AT the enemy, so not being able to set up smoke markers on the same square as an enemy has never made any sense to me, nor has the idea that you can shoot through smoke with only a –1 modifier for hindering terrain. This should fix all that.

POISON: This character has a poison or toxin that damages his target. (Optional) At the beginning of your turn, this character delivers 1 click of damage to each opposing character in an adjacent square.

TELEKINESIS: This character can physically manipulate objects and other characters using only the power of its mind. (Optional) give this character an action token and choose ONE of the following actions:
(1) Treat this character as if they have the wing movement symbol on their dial, without the capacity to Soar, for the remainder of the turn.
(2) Target any object within 10 squares of this character that the character has a clear line of sight to. Move this object to any other open square within 10 squares of this character that the character has a clear line of sight to. If the object targeted is an opposing character, this is considered a ranged attack and a normal ranged attack roll must be made. If the object is a friendly character, treat that character as any normal object.
(3) Target any object within 10 squares of this character that this character has a clear line of sight to. Use this object to make a ranged attack on any opposing character within 10 squares of this character that this character has a clear line of sight to. Treat this as if the object is being thrown by a character with Super Strength. If this object is an opposing character, two ranged attack rolls must be made; to target the first opposing character being used as a weapon, and to then hit the second opposing character with the first opposing character if the first attack roll is successful. Characters are treated as light objects for this purpose; if one character is thrown at another, each character takes one click of damage. This still only generates one action token.
(4) Move all adjacent characters directly away from this character a number of spaces equal to its Damage value. These target characters automatically break away and ignore the effects of hindering terrain and moving through squares adjacent to other characters while they are being moved in this way. This action does not inflict damage, but the target characters may suffer damage from knockback per those rules.
(5) Target an adjacent square of blocking or hindering terrain that is not an Object token. Reduce this terrain type to hindering or open terrain, respectively.

Characters moved by Telekinesis may not take any other action until the beginning of their controller’s next turn.

Major changes to TK, and long overdue ones, in my opinion. These changes are mostly motivated by the fact that in a system where every figure can move and attack, TK as defined by WizKids is very nearly pointless. However, I have long wanted to make TK work more like it does in comics, and now it will.

STEAL ENERGY: This character gains power after a successful close combat attack. / Give this character 1 click of healing when it applies clicks of damage to a figure after a close combat attack.

DEFENSE SUPER POWERS

SUPER SENSES: This character can avoid being hit in combat, and can visualize its surroundings via superhuman sensory perceptions. (Optional) When this character is successfully hit by an attack, its controller may roll one six sided die. On a result of 5 or 6, this character evades the attack. Characters with Super Senses ignore the effect of Hindering Terrain in terms of drawing line of sight, the effects of Smoke Cloud, and the effects of any Battlefield Condition cards that limit range or line of sight. Characters with Super Senses may also roll one d6 when attacking characters with the Shape Change power, and on a result of 5-6, Shape Change does not effect them. (Make this roll before the target character rolls to activate Shape Change. If this roll succeeds, the target character does not roll for their Shape Change.)

TOUGHNESS: This character is more resilient than a normal human. Subtract 1 from any normal damage inflicted on this character. Toughness does not reduce pushing or critical-miss damage.

DEFEND: This character can share its defense value with friendly figures in adjacent squares. (Optional) Any friendly figure in a square adjacent to this character may use this character's unmodified defense value instead of its own.

COMBAT REFLEXES – This character is harder to hit in hand to hand combat, if it wants to be. (Optional) Add 2 to this character’s Defense Value against Close Combat Attacks/actions.

Being automatically knocked away from an attacker when hit just doesn’t cut it any more, when every figure can just run up and hit you all over again next turn. This is a neat re-definition that makes certain figs VERY hard to hit in hand to hand combat. Suddenly your Veteran Cheshire looks pretty good, doesn’t she?

ENERGY SHIELD/DEFLECTION: This character's defense is improved against ranged combat attacks. (Optional) Increase this character's defense value by 2 versus ranged combat attacks that target or can affect him.

The only change I made here is a minor one, and will probably never matter – I made this power optional, because, honestly, it is. If Captain America doesn’t want to block an incoming laser blast, he doesn’t have to. This means the power will be able to be shut off by Mind Control, but, well, again, if you Mind Control someone and tell them to HOLD STILL so you can shoot them, they should be able to obey you.

BARRIER: This character can create up to 4 squares of blocking terrain. (Optional) Give this character an action token. This character creates 4 squares of blocking terrain anywhere within the character's range. Place 4 Barrier markers on the map using the following guidelines: all 4 squares of blocking terrain must be in squares adjacent to each other. A character cannot move or fire through the diagonal corner where two Barrier markers are touching. This barrier uses all the standard rules for blocking terrain. This terrain is not elevated. This barrier remains in place until the beginning of your next turn.

Once again, I got rid of the restriction against setting Barriers up in squares that already have something or someone in it. I won’t go so far as to have people take damage from suddenly finding themselves in the middle of blocking terrain, since while Firelord certainly should do damage to folks with his Barriers, Iceman, for some insane reason, does not, nor would Green Lantern. However, people could certainly be surrounded by flames and unable to move for a turn. Pinning someone in one spot is a feature sadly lacking from HeroClix, and this will help to remedy that. I grant you it’s not perfect; some barriers you should be able to ignore if you’re Invulnerable (like fire) while others you should be able to smash out of if you have Super Strength (like ice), and still others you should be able to jump over or down from on top of with Leap/Climb, like a sudden granite wall created by Avalanche. Nonetheless, it’s closer to perfect than it has been; under these rules, if someone sets a Barrier up on top of you, then the square you are on is considered to be surrounded by blocking terrain, and you aren’t moving next round unless you have Phasing.

MASTERMIND: This character can deflect damage onto a teammate in an adjacent square. (Optional) When this character is the target of a successful attack (either close or ranged combat), all the damage it would normally receive from the attack can be inflicted instead on any friendly character with a lower point value in an adjacent square. Any damage-reducing powers possessed by the character receiving the damage reduces this damage per the standard rules.

WILLPOWER: This character takes no damage from a push. (Optional). This character does not take pushing damage.

IMPERVIOUS: This character is extremely hard to hurt through normal physical means. (Optional) When this character is dealt damage, roll 1 six-sided die. On a result of 5 or 6, the damage taken is reduced to 0. On a result of 1 to 4, the damage taken is reduced by 2.

INVULNERABILITY: This character reduces damage delivered to him by 2 clicks. Subtract 2 from any damage dealt to this character. Invulnerability does not reduce pushing or critical miss damage.

REGENERATION: This character is capable of healing from great damage at superhuman speed. (Optional) Give this character an action token. Roll 1 six-sided die and subtract 2 from the result. Treat a negative result as 0. Turn this character’s combat dial this many clicks to the left, back towards their starting click. Do not advance them further than their opening click.

DAMAGE SUPER POWERS

RANGED COMBAT EXPERT: This character is more effective at range. (Optional) When this character makes only a single ranged attack per turn, they may add 2 to any damage dealt if that damage is not already 0. Ranged Combat Expert may not be used when employing an object as a weapon.

BATTLE FURY: This character may not be taxied or targeted by Mind Control. The character’s range is halved (rounding up) when making ranged attacks.

I’ve never believed that the Hulk can’t throw something when he’s enraged, or that the Punisher couldn’t lose his temper and simply machine gun an entire room full of Columbian cartel members. This drops their range, but they can still make a ranged attack.

SUPPORT: This character can heal friendly figures. (Optional) If this character is not adjacent to an opposing character, give this character an action token, reduce its Damage Value to 0, and choose one of the following: (1) Make a close combat attack against an adjacent friendly character that is not adjacent to an opposing character.
(2) Reduce this character’s Defense Value to 0. This character makes a close combat attack against itself.
If the attack succeeds, roll one six sided die. Turn the target character’s combat dial this many clicks to the left, back towards their starting click. Do not advance them further than their opening click.

Yeah, characters with Support can now heal themselves. I could never see why they shouldn’t be able to give themselves a shot of morphine, or slap a bandage on themselves. Certainly Dr. Strange should be able to make his own boo-boos go away. So now they can, and they can do it on any roll but a 2, too. Don’t thank me, just send money.

EXPLOIT WEAKNESS - This character can find a weak spot in any target.(Optional) Reduce this character’s damage to 3 if it is greater than 3. Damage dealt by a close combat attack cannot be reduced any further by any power or power effect that reduces damage.

Yeah, yeah, I suck. Nonetheless, three clicks of damage on a close combat attack that goes through anything is enough, especially for a HyperSonic Speed fig, given that I am making this a free damage effect, rather than a power action. I honestly think that when you start taking Exploit Weakness damage higher than 3, the power is broken. This will fix it.

ENHANCEMENT: This character increases the damage delivered by friendly ranged combat attacks. (Optional) Any friendly figure given a ranged combat action while in a square adjacent to this character will deal 1 extra click of damage to any and all figure(s) successfully hit by the attack.

PROBABILITY CONTROL: This character bends the laws of probability in their own favor. (Optional) Once during your turn, this character allows you to re-roll one dice roll. Use the re-rolled result instead of the original result. This character must be within 10 squares of the figure performing the action and have a clear line of sight to that figure. At any time during an opponent's turn, this character allows you to force the opponent to re-roll one dice roll. Use the re-rolled result instead of the original result. This character must be within 10 squares of the figure performing the action and have a clear line of fire to that figure.

Screw that ‘you can only use this power once when it’s not your turn if you have more than one opponent’ crap. It’s not like people don’t hate PC pieces and try to kill them as fast as they possibly can, anyway. This will just make them hate ‘em even more.

SHAPE CHANGE: This character can change its shape to deceive opponents. (Optional) When this character is chosen as the target of an attack, roll 1 six-sided die. On a result of 5-6, the attack cannot be made; the character has fooled the attacker by appearing as a friendly or harmless character. The attacker takes an action token and ends its action.

When this character makes an attack, roll one 1 six sided die. On a result of 5-6, the target of the attack has its defense value reduced to 0, and damage dealt by this attack may not be reduced below 1, or transferred using Mastermind or other power effects.

Shape Change sucks hard under WizKids rules, and you can’t do much with it without having it get completely out of hand, but by giving it an offensive effect and increasing the chances of it going off, you at least give poor Beast Boy and Plastic Man something. Presumably, if an opponent sees a green butterfly come flitting up to him, or a red and white ball bounce over to him, he’ll ignore the silly thing long enough for the hero in question to get in a really solid shot on him.

CLOSE COMBAT EXPERT: This character is more effective in hand to hand combat than at range. (Optional) Damage dealt in close combat by this character is increased by 2, if that damage is not already 0. This power may not be used if more than one close combat attack is made per turn.

PERPLEX: Forget it. There is no possible way to make this power make sense. Just deal with it. (Optional) Once during your turn, this character may modify any Combat Value (including Range) for any character in play by 1, up or down. This effect lasts for the duration of your turn. This character must be within 10 squares of the target character and have a clear line of fire to that character. If the target character is damaged or healed during the turn, the effect ends. If this power is countered or lost during the turn, the effect ends.

LEADERSHIP: With this character in command of your force, your force is more effective. (optional) This character may add an action to your action total for the turn. At the beginning of your turn, roll 1 six-sided die. On a result of 4, 5 or 6, add one extra action to your normal action allotment for that turn. You may only gain one extra action each turn with this power, even if you have more than one figure with Leadership.

OUTWIT: This character may use some unspecified effect to reduce the effective powers or abilities of an opponent. (Optional) Once during your turn, as a free action, this character may make a close combat or ranged combat attack for 0 damage. A successful attack will allow the character to turn off any single power currently possessed by its target. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn. If this character has a range value of 0, treat its range value as 4 when using this power. This range cannot be further modified. If Outwit is countered or lost, the cancelled power returns immediately.

Everyone agrees Outwit is broken and needs to be fixed, but nobody can agree on how to do it. After trying out several different options, this one seems to work best to me. Making Outwit a free attack for 0 damage, like Mind Control, limits it to the range of the character trying to do it (or 4, if the character has a range 0), and forces the Outwitter to actually hit the target with something, instead of just sneering at them from across the board.

This has several salubrious effects. First, the extra attack roll and the limited range are annoying, and since it is very exasperating to have someone Outwit one of your figs, it should be a little aggravating for them to do it, as well. Second, by giving it an attack roll, Outwit becomes a power that you can roll a 2 on and take damage from, and it can also be re-rolled by Probability Control. Third, the Mandarin becomes the only click in the game that I am aware of whose Outwit range actually INCREASES under this house rule, and I like the Mandarin, so nuts to you if you don’t.

Team Abilities

2000 AD: At any time during the game, you may declare an opposing team or character as your target. Once this target has been chosen it cannot be changed. All 2000 AD members increase their Attack Value by 1 when attacking this target.

AVENGERS : Avengers may perform a move action without using one of your actions for the turn. Mark any character who moves this way with an action token.

BATMAN ALLY: (optional) Any line of sight drawn to this character that passes through hindering terrain, including the square that this figure occupies, is treated as though it has been drawn through blocking terrain.

BATMAN ENEMY: A Batman Enemy can use the attack value of any other Batman Enemy in an adjacent square.

B.P.R.D. – Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense : B.P.R.D. members act as wild cards. They can use any team ability that any friendly figure in play possesses. They may use this ability only once per action.

BROTHERHOOD : Brotherhood members may perform a move action without taking one of your actions for the turn. Mark any character who moves this way with an action token.

CHAMPIONS : – Any Champion may taxi any other Champion their full movement, as if that Champion were a flyer with Super Strength, and the carried Champion was a non-flyer. Champions taxied in this manner ignore the No Action After Taxi rule. (Currently this TA applies only to the Experienced versions of CT Black Widow, Hercules, the Ghost Rider, the Angel – Archangel, I suppose – and Iceman, and any of these characters can and occasionally did carry any of their teammates into combat during the Champions brief existence. If this TA is applied, it replaces any other TA on the figure base for the entire battle.)

CROSSGEN : When this character takes damage from an attack, it deals 1 damage to the attacker. This damage may not be reduced, evaded, or transferred.

CRUSADE : All attack rolls made by the Crusade team that result in doubles, except two 1s, do 1 extra click of damage, unless damage is already a 0.

DANGER GIRL : When a totally hot Danger Girl is chosen as the target of an attack, roll 1 six-sided die. On a result of 5-6, the attack cannot be made; the character has stunned her attacker with her astonishing beauty. The attacker takes an action token and ends its action.
When any totally hot Danger Girl makes an attack, roll one 1 six sided die. On a result of 5-6, the target of the attack has its defense value reduced to 0, and damage dealt by this attack may not be reduced below 1, or transferred to another figure.

DEFENDERS : A Defender can use the defense value of any friendly Defender in an adjacent square.

FANTASTIC FOUR : When a member of the Fantastic Four team is defeated (shows 3 KOs in the stat slot), every other friendly Fantastic Four team member receives 1 click of healing.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS : A member of the Green Lantern Corps can carry up to 8 friendly figures when they move by either soaring or hovering, as if Super Strength were showing on their dial. All taxied figs must be adjacent to the GL. A member of the Green Lantern Corps may, as a free action, add the powers Energy Shield/Deflection or Combat Reflexes to any friendly figure until the beginning of the next turn. Target friendly figure must be within 10 squares of the Green Lantern Corps member using this ability, and there must be clear line of sight between the two figures.

HYDRA : For each Hydra member adjacent to a friendly figure making a ranged combat attack, add +1 to the attacker's attack value. The adjacent Hydra members must also have a clear line of sight to the target.

INJUSTICE LEAGUE : When two or more members of the Injustice League are adjacent to an opposing figure, they can all attack using only one of your actions. Mark any character that attacks this way with an action token.

JLA : Justice League members may perform a move action without using one of your actions for the turn. The character may not use this action to make an attack. Mark any character that moves this way with an action token.

JSA : A member of the Justice Society can use the defense value of any friendly Justice Society member in an adjacent square.

KABUKI : (optional) Any line of sight drawn to this character that passes through hindering terrain, including the square that this figure occupies, is treated as though it has been drawn through blocking terrain.

KINGDOM COME : Whenever an opposing character is placed adjacent to a member of this team, roll one 6 sided die. On a result of 1-2, the opposing character must be placed instead on a non-adjacent square and end its action. Kingdom Come members do not need to make this roll. Characters may be knocked back or Force Blasted adjacent to Kingdom Come members without making this roll.

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES : Members of the Legion of Super Heroes act as a wild card. They can use any team ability that any friendly figure in play possesses, once per action.

MASTERS OF EVIL : When two or more members of the Masters of Evil are adjacent to an opposing character, they can all attack using only one of your actions. Mark any character who attacks this way with an action token.

MINIONS OF DOOM : Members of the Minions of Doom act as an enhanced wild card. They can use any team ability that any figure in play possesses, once per action.

MORLOCKS - When making close combat attacks, a Morlock gains +1 to its Attack Value per adjacent friendly character that is also adjacent to the target of its close combat attack.

MYSTICS : When this figure takes damage from any attack, it retaliates with a magical blast that does one click of damage to the attacker. This point of damage may not be reduced, evaded, or transferred.

POLICE : For each police force member adjacent to a friendly figure making a ranged combat attack, add +1 to the attacker's attack value. The adjacent police force member members must also have a clear line of sight to the target.

SERPENT SOCIETY - Members of the Serpent Society ignore the effects of other characters, hindering, and elevated terrain while moving.

S.H.I.E.L.D. : A friendly figure occupying a square adjacent to a SHIELD agent delivers 1 extra click of damage when it hits with a ranged combat attack. This counts as an action for the SHIELD agent, and causes the SHIELD agent to take an action token.

SINISTER SYNDICATE : Sinister Syndicate members can use the attack value of any friendly Sinister Syndicate member in an adjacent square.

SKRULLS :(Optional) When this character is chosen as the target of an attack, roll 1 six-sided die. On a result of 5-6, the attack cannot be made; the character has fooled the attacker by appearing as a friendly or harmless character. The attacker takes an action token and ends its action.
When this character makes an attack, roll one 1 six sided die. On a result of 5-6, the target of the attack has its defense value reduced to 0, and damage dealt by this attack may not be reduced below 1 or transferred to another figure.
Skrulls make breakaway rolls on 2-6, and characters attempting to break away from Skrulls only do so on a result of 6.

SPIDER-MAN ALLY : Members of the Spider-Man team act as a wild card. They can use any team ability that any friendly figure in play possesses, once per action.

SUICIDE SQUAD : When an adjacent friendly figure is KOed, Suicide Squad members may Regenerate as a free action.

SUPERMAN ALLY: Characters on this team ignore the effects of hindering and Smoke Cloud terrain (including team abilities that grant hindering terrain bonuses) on movement and combat. Shape Change only effects them on a result of 6.

SUPERMAN ENEMY: If two Superman Enemies are adjacent, the figure with the highest point value has the Outwit super power. If that figure already has Outwit, this special ability does not work.

TITANS : At the beginning of an action in which two friendly members of this team are adjacent to each other, give one of those characters a power action and deal 1 pushing damage to it. This damage may not be reduced, evaded, or transferred. The other adjacent, friendly member of this team is healed of 1 damage.

TOP COW : You may give a Top Cow team member a move action that does not count towards your allotment of move actions for the turn.

ULTIMATES : - Characters on this team ignore the effects of hindering and Smoke Cloud terrain (including team abilities that grant hindering terrain bonuses) on movement and combat. Shape Change only effects them on a 6.

ULTIMATE X-MEN : At any time during the game, you may declare an opposing team or character as your target. Once this target has been chosen it cannot be changed. All Ultimate X-Men increase their Attack Value by 1 when attacking this target.

X-MEN : At the beginning of an action in which two friendly members of this team are adjacent to each other, give one of those characters a power action and deal 1 pushing damage to it. This damage may not be reduced, evaded, or transferred. The other adjacent, friendly member of this team is healed of 1 damage. OTHER STUFF - * * *No attacks on the first turn - Over the course of many games, I've evolved a 'no attacks on the first turn' policy that seems to work well. It's not an actual 'rule', but when nobody can attack anybody else on the first turn, it has two positive effects - first, people tend not to 'turtle' quite so much (i.e., sit there and refuse to move their pieces until the other players are fully engaged, which is just maddening to those of us who actually like to PLAY this game), and second, it makes being first player something of an advantage (because after the first turn is over, first player can actually attack first) instead of a horrible disadvantage, as I've found it to be when you're moving all your pieces out onto the board, after which, during the first turn, every other player can then take a free shot at you, having seen your disposition.
'No attacks on first turn' means exactly that... no player can do ANYthing to target or effect another player's clix, including attacks that do no damage. You CAN get base to base with another players' clix if you want to, as long as you don't actually attack them. So, yes, you can jump in there with your Plasticity piece and screw someone over royally, but you cannot ATTACK that piece.

Map Features –
WizKid’s rules cannot be sensibly applied to all the various cool and interesting details on their maps. I’m simply going to pass along some of the decisions my gaming group has found useful over the course of many games on various maps:

Super-elevated terrain – anything set on top of a rooftop, which is already elevated terrain, like a chimney or a water tower, is super-elevated terrain. Characters on top of super-elevated terrain have line of sight to any square on a lower terrain type, unless that square is directly blocked by other super elevated terrain.