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From Panel To Play: Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme

CP67 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme

Some things prove that what’s already strange can get so much stranger. This time on From Panel to Play, we’re taking another look at one of the best spellslingers in the business as he moves from Panel to Play with an all-new version. It’s Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme!

Stephen Strange has had many unusual encounters, but none have tested him so much as losing his connection to the arcane power of Earth. Without his magical mastery, Stephen Strange was forced to seek out new allies and a new source of energy beyond the boundaries of Earth before he could reclaim the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

On this journey to rediscover his magical abilities, Strange enhanced his arsenal of arcane skills with magic of alien origins and battled for the control of one of the Infinity Gems. This new vision of Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme sees him with a suite of new, powerful abilities. He’s traded in his Bolts of Bedevilment for the Baleful Bolts of Balthakk, which calls on Balthakk to conjure powerful electrical charge. This attack hits at Strength 5 and has the Pierce special rule, representing the electricity coursing through the defenses of Strange’s target.

He also has learned the Deadly Daggers of Daveroth, a spell the Shadowqueen once used against him. This hail of daggerlike energy allows Doctor Strange to choose why kind of attack it will be: physical, energy, or mystic and inflicts the Poisoned special condition on a target it damages.

His last and most potent attack is the Shining Circle of the Seraphim, a spell that surrounds Strange with a blazing radiance to damage his foes and cleanse his allies. Costing 6 Power, this Strength 7 mystic attack has an Area 2 range but only hurts hostile characters. As the radiance scorches those who oppose the sorcerer, it purifies and heals his allies thanks to the Cleanse and Salve special rules. Cleanse allows Strange to remove 1 condition from himself and each allied character within Range 2, while Salve removes 1 damage instead.

Representing his time and experience as a sorcerer, Doctor Strange has a new suite of abilities. They reflect his greater control over magic as well as the practical experience of facing down elder evils and rival spellcasters.

His Scalpel of Strange ability demonstrates the (pardon the expression) surgical precision with which the doctor works with a team. With it, he can teleport himself or a friendly character nearby away, pulling them from the line of danger or setting them in position for a sudden strike.

When he becomes the Sorcerer Supreme, the Vishanti bestow their blessings on Doctor Strange. This comes in the form of Chosen of Vishanti, an innate power that gives him 2 additional power during the Power Phase.

Also denoting his rank as Sorcerer Supreme, Strange bears the Eye of Agamotto once worn by his master, the Ancient One. In Strange’s hands, the Eye allows him to modify and reroll failures in his dice rolls.

Last but not least, the Mystic Armor of Strange grants him additional protection against attacks that rely on energy or mystical forces. When targeted by one of these attacks, the armor allows Strange to convert one of the attacker’s hit, wild, or critical results to a blank for each wild Strange rolls in defense.

That’s all for our first look at the good doctor in his status as the Sorcerer Supreme!

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Doctor Strange & Clea Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Ancient One

CP64 Ancient One

They say you’re as young as you feel. Our subject today has been feeling young for a very, very long time. Today on From Panel to Play, we’re examining someone so old that when she walked into an antique shop, they tried to sell her, the mystic monk from the 1200s: the Ancient One!

The Ancient One is a native of Kamar-Taj who has defended Earth from mystical threats for centuries. As the Sorcerer Supreme, she has trained countless acolytes who found their way to Kamar-Taj in the mystic arts, including her own successor: the famed neurosurgeon Stephen Strange.

As you might expect from someone who’s been around since the 1200s, the Ancient One has a few tricks up her sleeve. Displaying her magical mastery with almost casual ease, the Ancient One has potent Mystic attacks and a bevy of defensive options.

Her two core attacks that cost no power to use, Shards of the Seraphim and Fangs of Farallah, allow the Ancient One to tailor her strike to her opponent’s weaknesses. Whether calling down the keen Shards to pierce through an enemy’s defenses or summoning the maw of Farallah of the Hunt to rob them of their power, these attacks both have respectable Strength.

But the Ancient One doesn’t need to rely on the physical strength of her spells to damage her opponents. When facing resilient foes, she can strike the spirits of their astral selves rather than their mere bodies. Astral Strike costs her 4 Power and strikes at Strength 8, but because she’s bypassing the target’s physical self, it cannot add criticals to the defense roll or roll extra dice produced by criticals. If she damages the target, it becomes Staggered from the experience of having its spirit knocked around!

The Ancient One also has a potent mixture of spells and innate talents she can rely on in battle. She can summon the Mists of Hoggoth to act as a portal allowing her to appear within a close range of her current location or call on the Winds of Watoomb to cause a blast of air to fling an attacker to within range of where her martial arts experience can help her to defend herself.

Most importantly, though, the Ancient One is one of the wearers of the Eye of Agamotto. Created by one of the Vishanti, a trio of god-like supernatural beings, this relic grants the Ancient One the power to repel mystical perils like Dormammu. Whenever she makes a defense or dodge roll, the Ancient One can call upon the power of the Eye to reroll 2 dice in her roll, and she can also draw upon it to gain an additional Power during the Power Phase.

That’s all for our first look at this ancient sorcerer.

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Mordo & Ancient One Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Blade

CP48 Blade

Here to prove that some people are always trying to ice skate uphill, on today’s installment of From Panel to Play we’re looking at the foremost leech exterminator around, Blade!

Eric Brooks is Blade, a human-vampire hybrid who has sworn to rid the world of the bloodsucking fiends for good. Using the advantages his unique physiology offers, he has trained himself to be the perfect vampire hunter.

Blade’s mission started on the day of his birth. When his mother Tara Brooks suffered complications during labor, a doctor named Deacon Frost was brought in. Instead of helping Blade’s mother, Frost, a vampire, drained the woman of her blood, inadvertently passing on aspects of his vampirism to the child, making him immune to the bite of a vampire.

This immunity served Blade well in the following years, as he developed into one of the foremost slayers of vampire-kind in the world. A frequent ally of Doctor Strange and leader of the Midnight Sons, Blade will not rest until he’s planted a stake in the heart of the last vampire.

Blade leaps into battle (literally!) with a dynamic miniature that captures him as he descends on the grasping hands of some undead nasties that are about to have a really bad time. His trenchcoat gives the miniature an excellent sense of motion and drama, while his snarling expression shows how ready Blade is to slice up some bloodsuckers.

On the tabletop, Blade is a solid package for his threat. He brings a plethora of edged weapons into every crisis in the form of his signature katana and a whole bunch of throwing glaives, both of which deal a decent amount of Physical damage. Plus, they can impose the Bleed condition on his targets.

You know who loves bleeding targets? Half-vampires, that’s who. Blade’s Mystic Night of the Dhampir attack hits a target for a respectable Strength 7, and if his target already has the Bleed condition, he can reroll any number of attack dice before making a Medium advance. And if the target doesn’t have the Bleed condition already, Night of the Dhampir slaps it on.

Bleeding targets benefit Blade in other ways, as well. His innate superpower Vampiric Immortality rewards the Daywalker for each other character (friend or foe!) currently suffering the Bleed condition in Range 2 with 1 Power and by removing 1 damage!

Perhaps most exciting is the fact that Blade has a Leadership for the Midnight Sons affiliation. Bump in the Night gives every member of the affiliation the ability to spend 1 Power during their activation to be placed within Range 1 of their current position, perfect for refining the position of the team or driving deep into an enemy formation. Like some sort of stake. Into the heart of the enemy.

You get the idea.

If you’d like to learn more about how Blade and the powers he’s gained by his unique physiology, be sure to check out his full rules when they become available, and don’t forget to pre-order your own copy of the Blade and Moon Knight Character Pack from your local gaming store or our website. Until then, this has been Atomic Mass Transmissions’ first look at this sword-slinging fighter of all things hemophagic.

Until the next time, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Moon Knight

CP48 Moon Knight

When the moon hits your eye, like the might of an ancient Egyptian god that grants you incredible powers, that’s-a Moon Knight…

Marc Spector’s journey to becoming the hero Moon Knight was not a simple or straightforward one. A former boxer, U.S. Marine, CIA operative, and mercenary, Spector was already an extraordinary man before the events that would transform him. After joining the archaeological expedition of Raoul Bushman, Spector’s employer double-crossed him and left him for dead.

That’s when Spector’s life took a turn for the strange. The Egyptian god Khonshu approached the dying man and offered him a second chance at life in return for serving as his avatar on Earth. Spector agreed and was resurrected with superhuman abilities as the Moon Knight, his strength, endurance, and reflexes becoming stronger as the moon grows full. And like the phases of the moon, Moon Knight goes through a cycle of changes as he passes from one personality to the next.

Moon Knight’s miniature captures him dramatically looking over the city from atop a rooftop, the wind pulling at his enormous cape. His posture is that of a poised sentinel, with his cape giving him a dynamic feeling of movement to offset his steady posture.

Moon Knight brings a lot of options to the tabletop for his Threat. His martial prowess is reflected in the speed and accuracy of his attacks. With his Bo Staff, he has the innate ability to reroll any number of attack dice and has the potential to Stagger his target with a wallop upside the head. For targets at range, Moon Knight carries a stack of silvery Throwing Crescents, which he can pepper his target with thanks to the Rapid Fire special rule.

When Moon Knight wants to land a heavy hit, he can spend 4 Power for the Avatar of Khonshu Mystic attack. Appearing within Range 1 of his target, Moon Knight lays down a Strength 7 strike that pushes targets of Size 2 or less.

This stealthy, wall-crawling character has something else up his white sleeves in the form of his innate power, Multiple Personalities. This makes him an unpredictable threat that can throw your opponent’s plans into disarray, since not even you know what the Chosen of Khonshu is capable of turn to turn. At the start of his activation, you roll one die. Depending on the result, Moon Knight might gain an extra action to advance, more dice on his next attack roll, extra power… or nothing at all! The phases of the moon might be predictable, but Marc Spector is not.

If you’d like to learn more about the moon god’s chosen champion, be sure to check out his full rules when they become available, and don’t forget to pre-order your own copy of Moon Knight alongside Blade from your local gaming store or our website. Until then, this has been Atomic Mass Transmissions’ first look at this hooded crime fighter.

Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

Team Tactics Talk: Amazing Spider-man & Black Cat

CP53 Amazing Spider-man & Black Cat

In this installment of our Team Tactics Talk, we’re looking at the three new cards that come in the Amazing Spider-Man & Black Cat Character Pack.

It’s no secret that Felicia and Peter make a powerhouse duo. Black Cat is one of the few people able to keep up with Spider-Man’s acrobatic style, and The Cat & The Spider proves the usefulness of their combined agility. When Peter Parker (as the Amazing Spider-Man or otherwise) is within Range 2 of an allied Black Cat, they can both spend 1 Power to use this tactic. Parker proceeds to turn Felicia into a gymnastic web-a-pult projectile, throwing her Medium range. A Black Cat always lands on her feet, of course, so she doesn’t suffer collision damage from the throw and can immediately interact with objective tokens without spending Power!

We’ve talked about Team Tactics that give you new movement options before, but The Cat & The Spider adds another level of utility with that extra interact action. It not only extends the range of your board control but gives you the chance to snag an objective in an extract mission before your opponent knows what’s happening.

The next tactic, Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes, is a Web Warrior tactic that demonstrates the power of starting your day with a good breakfast. Parker’s doting aunt knows that these cakes of buckwheat and whole wheat flour, with some buttermilk and molasses, are not only Peter Parker’s favorite, but they have what it takes to keep a good Web Warrior in the fight. This tactic allows any Web Warriors to spend 1 Power to remove the Slow special condition and one damage immediately.

Most of the Web Warriors rely on their impressive Movement speed, and being limited to the Short movement tool can be a monkey-wrench in your plans. Being able to shut the condition down on your whole team is a handy tool to have in your back pocket, and removing damage is just icing on the (wheat) cake.

Lastly, the Spider-Tracker tactic is another display of Peter Parker’s engineering genius. These small devices adhere to whatever Spider-Man throws them at—including witless goons who end up leading him right back to their hideout! In-game, Spider-Tracker gives you a useful off-turn movement. When an enemy character ends a move within Range 4 of an allied Web Warrior, that character can spend 2 Power to use the tactic, advancing a Short distance.

There are a lot of different ways Spider-Tracker can be useful in a game. Is there a heavy-hitting enemy character closing in on one of your vulnerable Web Warriors? Thanks to the Spider-Tracker, you’ll know when they’re coming and be able to move a short distance away and hopefully out of range of an attack. Is one of your foes closing in on a vulnerable objective? With the Spider-Tracker, you’ll know where they’re headed and can move in to contest the point. Forgot where you parked? Spider-Tracker!

That’s it for the cards in The Amazing Spider-Man & Black Cat Character Pack, but be sure to check back for more Team Tactics Talk on other Character Packs. Don’t forget you can preorder your copy of The Amazing Spider-Man & Black Cat at your local gaming store or through our website.

Until next time, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: The Amazing Spider-Man

CP37 The Amazing Spider-Man

This time on From Panel to Play, we’re looking at what happens when a teenage hero grows up. Take a look overhead, because we’re talking about the Amazing Spider-Man!

After years of being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter Parker has matured into a capable and skilled hero, who has been a part of the Web-Warriors, a team of Spider-Men from across the multiverse. Along the way, he has amassed a gallery of colorful rogues who go out of their way to bring down Spider-Man, though with little success.

A little older, a little wiser, the Amazing Spider-Man continues to fight for what’s right, even when doing so puts him in a difficult situation. Whether he’s following orders from other heroes or sharing his hard-earned wisdom with the next generation of Spider-Men, the Webhead is always ready to swing in and save the day.

The Amazing Spider-Man swings into action with a new miniature. Appropriate for this older-and-wiser Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man has a more dramatic pose than before. He’s swinging on some webline from an antenna mast as an explosive detonates below, one hand ready to fire his web shooter to continue his swing through the city.

Years of living as Spider-Man has honed Peter Parker’s abilities. He’s seen it all, from retirees with wingsuits to alien symbiotes bonding with… questionable human hosts. Reflecting this wealth of experience, the Amazing Spider-Man has a set of upgraded abilities.

Compared with his younger self, the Amazing Spider-Man is tougher and more durable. He’s more capable of shrugging off superpowered punches and energy blasts than he was before, and he’s earned a bit more Stamina to go with it. When he decides to dish out attacks rather than taking them, Parker has learned a few tricks.

Even Spider-Man’s most basic attack has a little extra flair to it. Using one goon as a springboard, he lets his impetus carry him down to smack another target with the dismount. The Spider Strike attack’s Momentum special rule lets Parker choose another target within Range 2 of his initial one, moving him to within close range and dealing collision damage as he drops on them. Plus, if he lands this attack after using his Web Swing power, the added momentum of swinging through the city lets him land the Spider Strike at Strength 7!

And when he really wants to make a point, the Amazing Spider-Man can prove he can do Whatever a Spider Can, laying a Strength 8 beatdown that ends with Parker swinging clear of his target before using his webbing to hurl a dumpster at them.

With his new powers, Peter Parker has a whole new set of responsibilities. He is a leader to the Web Warriors, showing them the ropes (the webbing?) of what it takes to be Spider-Man. His Leadership, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Team, lets Parker show his teammates how to put their webbing to the best use, slowing a nearby target by tangling them up. In addition, he can use his fast mouth and witty banter to help distract the enemy. The Witty Banter reactive superpower lets Spider-Man fire off a distracting quip when anyone tries to attack a member of his team, giving him the ability to reroll one of the dice in the attacker’s dice pool.

Peter Parker has even more tricks up his sleeve, but that’s all we have time for today. Check back next time when we dive in with a closer look at yet another character for Marvel: Crisis Protocol!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Scarlet Witch

CP63 Scarlet Witch

What do you get when you take the daughter of a powerful sorceress, subject her to unethical genetic experiments, and mark her as the vessel of an elder god with one eye on stepping into the mortal world? You get Scarlet Witch, that’s what!

Along with her twin brother Pietro, Wanda Maximoff was abducted at a young age by the High Evolutionary and subjected to unrestricted experimentation. Wanda is the Scarlet Witch, possessing the power to alter reality and receptive to magical energy as a powerful sorceress. The mutant Magneto rescued the pair from a group of humans intent to do them harm and brought them into the fold of his Brotherhood of Mutants. After ending her time in the Brotherhood, Scarlet Witch has served with numerous teams of powered individuals.

Scarlet Witch’s miniature rises from the earth within a crackling storm of chaotic, magical energy. Wearing her iconic red costume and distinctive headpiece, she is a striking figure on the tabletop, and the intricate pattern of magic surrounding her gives her a dramatic punch that’s hard to beat.

Scarlet Witch brings a little bit of chaos to her opponents in a game of Marvel: Crisis Protocol. With multiple opportunities to impose special conditions on the opposing force, and powers that make it hard for an enemy to shake those conditions, Scarlet Witch can be a potent controller in your roster.

As you might expect, both of Scarlet Witch’s attacks are mystic. They have decent ranges and above-average Strength, but what makes them stand out is the special rules representing the forces of reality manipulation and chaos magic Scarlet Witch can command. Her basic Hex Bolt attack is a great example. Hitting at Strength 6, Wanda weaves a bit of debilitating chaos to hex her enemies with the Chaos Magic special rule. For each failure in her attack roll, her target suffers from a list of different special conditions. This ability to impose multiple special conditions is just one of the various tools in Scarlet Witch’s arcane arsenal.

Her attacks aren’t the only place where Scarlet Witch does new and exciting things with her dice. The Elder God Chthon selected the young Wanda Maximoff to be a vessel of his power on Earth, which bestows her with unique and potent capabilities. The Chosen of Chthon innate superpower allows Wanda to add failures to her rolls when attacking, defending, or dodging. She literally alters the probability of success in her favor (to the tune of about 12 percent per die)!

There’s a whole lot more in Wanda’s suite of superpowers, including an ability that prevents enemies from removing certain special conditions while they’re in proximity to her, the ability to soar above the battlefield, and more, but that’s all we have time for today.

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore here.

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Iron Fist

CP49 Iron Fist

Sure, lots of people know how to punch things. But how many people can draw on the spirit energy of an ancient dragon to make their punches superhumanly strong and impervious to pain or damage? That’s gotta be a much shorter list. This time on From Panel to Play, we’re looking at Danny Rand, inheritor of the Rand-Meachum Corporation, adventurer, Hero for Hire, and the Iron Fist!

Danny Rand is a martial artist and the master of the mystical Iron Fist, which allows him to harness and focus his chi to devastating effect. As a young child, Rand traveled with his parents to the hidden city of K’un-L’un, which his father discovered years earlier. Rand’s parents died in the treacherous mountains, but the mysterious city’s inhabitants took him in and taught him the martial arts. Later, he confronted and defeated the dragon Shou-Lao. Plunging his fist into the dragon’s molten heart gave him the Iron Fist’s power and burned Shou-Lao’s mark on his chest.

Rand returned to America, where he ultimately met and befriended Luke Cage. Together they formed Heroes for Hire, Inc. The pair offered their extraordinary talents to help protect New York City’s citizens who needed them the most.

Iron Fist’s miniature is a snapshot of the last thing his opponents ever want to see. The master martial artist leaps into the air, summoning the power of Shou-Lao’s spirit and his own Chi into the terrifying Iron Fist strike. Whoever is on the receiving end is about to have an awful day. The dragon-shaped wave of energy holding Iron Fist in the air is an excellent opportunity for painters to show off their object-source lighting skills. Still, it can also be painted with simple washes and highlights thanks to the miniature’s incredible detail.

On the table, Iron Fist is a ticking time bomb for the enemy forces. As Iron Fist pummels opponents with flurries of Chi Strikes, a solid Strength 5 energy attack with the potential to stun his targets, he is gradually building up Power. This is further enhanced by his innate power Immortal Weapon. As one of the Immortal Weapons, the champions of the Seven Cities of Heaven, Iron Fist can manipulate his chi’s flow. In the game, this power gives Iron Fist 1 bonus Power during the Power Phase.

Once Iron Fist has accumulated enough Power and focused his chi’s flow, he can unleash the Iron Fist’s devastating power. With a punch strong enough to bring down a Helicarrier, he strikes with an astounding Strength 9 energy attack. This strike’s shockwave is strong enough to cause enemy characters within Range 3 of the initial target to suffer damage, and whoever is on the receiving end of this empowered punch can be Staggered and thrown back from the impact. Perhaps more damaging for the enemy’s plans, if the Iron Fist attack’s target didn’t already have an Activated token, this attack places one on them. He won’t be able to do it all the time—in early stories, this attack left Iron Fist drained and exhausted —so you’ll have to spend 8 Power to pull off the strike.

While his Iron Fist attack is undoubtedly eye-catching, Iron Fist has other attacks and powers to reflect his martial arts mastery. Unfortunately, that’s all we have time for today!

That’s all for our first look at how Iron Fist leaped Panel to Play. Check back for our next installment, when we examine another of your favorite characters as they jump onto the table in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until then, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off.