From the Workbench: HeroClix

I've been a big fan of HeroClix for years. I haven't played it as much as I'd like, but with the recent Star Trek Tactic sets, I've started to rekindle my love of the game and get others into the game, too.

Naturally, I want to enhance my game with fine laser-cut bits. That means terrain and counters. So far there's only been one terrain piece and it needs major revisions (See this entry).

But for counters, I had a few ideas. the first is action tokens. A character can have at most two actions, so I made a set of action tokens that would link as a pair and span the top of a character's card.

Also seen here are the "Outwit" tokens. When a character has an Outwit applied to them, one of their abilities is nullified until the beginning of the next turn. My thought was that the tokens could cover the entry on the card would keep it easy to remember.

When I showed these to people online, I got some good feedback. Some people don't like having counters on the cards, so I reworked them to sit closer to the figure on the board. I also changed the fonts to try and be more like a comic book. ... I'm not sold on the font change and the next version will probably go back to the blocky letters.

Instead of just sliding together, these will lock in place. There is a bit of wiggle room due to how they were cut, but they'll stay together pretty well.

Here's a show of the new Outwit tokens, too.

Lastly, something I was working on were tokens for "Perplex". When a character is the target of a Perplex, one of their four stats are affected, either +1 or -1. Speed, Attack power, Defense, or Damage. Hopefully, the following are rather obvious.

That's it for now on the HeroClix front. As always, I need your guys' feedback! What works, what doesn't? What could be better? And what do you want to see next?

My next plan is for Light and Heavy objects. In the game, characters with Super Strength can pick up objects and use them as weapons. But, I'm not entirely sure what would work well for objects in the game. I'm thinking of street signs for light objects and lamp posts for heavy. But more suggestions would be wonderful!

From the Workbench: Brony Edition

I'll preface this by saying that I'm what Internet calls a "Brony". I started watching the new My Little Pony series during the first season and I've been watching it ever since (though, I admit I haven't seen any of season 4 yet. I'm so behind!)

My wife, in all her nerdy loving glory, bought me every starter deck for the My Little Pony CCG for Christmas last year. My short review is that, like the show, it's simple enough that kids can get into it and understand it and enjoy it... But not dumbed down to the point where the parents can't have fun. It'll probably never beat out Magic: the Gathering, but it's a solid game.

The only thing I don't like about the game is that it uses these little cardboard counters to represent your points for the turn. That wouldn't be so bad if they used thicker card like the old Pirates of Spanish Main game, but they used the same cardstock as the game cards... And as bright and colorful as the main cards are, the counters are just bland white-ish circles with a black number on them. "1" or "5". 

Naturally, I thought I could do better. I designed these a little while ago. Counters for the six main Elements of Harmony, but going for "resemble but are legally distinct".

 Done in craft plywood for a starter. Fast forward to last week when I bought some purple acrylic for my favorite of the Mane Six...

The starbursts don't show up well in the picture, but they stand out fairly well in real life. The acrylic looks a little too dark for me, and I may go for a lighter purple next time. However, they look GREAT against a light.

So, that done, I'm at another dilemma. How do I carry it? Just have a little pouch with my tokens and then use a deck box? Nuts to that! I have a laser, an imagination, and a good source for MDF!

There! Now everything goes into a nice stylish box. And I'm wearing my Brony nature on my sleeve. 

This of course leads to the next natural thought. This makes for a nice box for MLP cards, and could easily be used for Magic: the Gathering and other CCGs. I think I could sell these and offer some custom art on the top... Since, I really can't sell copyrighted art.

Deck boxes with a side area for counters. Coming soon to Game Geek Alchemy!

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All My Little Pony images are copyrighted and/or trademarked by Hasbro. I'm claiming "Fan work, fair use" on the deck box.