From Panel to Play: Web-Swinging Heroes

Coming soon to Marvel: Crisis protocol is the Web-Swinging Heroes Affiliation Pack. This valuable pack includes 4 key members for anyone looking to start a Web Warriors affiliation or just expand their collection of high-swinging heroes.

Amazing Spider-Man

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 and leading them into a fight, the Web-head is always ready to swing in and save the day.

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.

Black Cat

Felicia Hardy, daughter of an infamous cat burglar, initially used her athletic prowess to follow her father’s example in a life of crime as the Black Cat. When she wasn’t stealing priceless art or heisting a fortune in jewels, she enjoyed toying with Spider-Man. Despite standing on the opposite side of the law, Black Cat allied with Spider-Man against common foes, helping him to combat villains like the Kingpin and Doctor Octopus. Never satisfied with her abilities, Black Cat was envious of those with great powers. She made a deal with Wilson Fisk in order to gain superpowers of her own, which let her inflict bad luck on those around her. Now, Black Cat struggles between her criminal and heroic natures, making her an unpredictable piece of New York’s superpowered scene and a bad cat to have cross your path.

Felicia Hardy is a tricky cat to pin down. On the tabletop, she has numerous abilities to get her into—and out of—trouble. With an emphasis on evasion, a sprinkling of good old-fashioned robbery, and the ability to turn her foe’s luck bad, Black Cat is a troublemaker you’ll want to have on your side of a crisis.

Black Cat isn’t what you’d call a heavy hitter. She can ruin somebody’s day with a rake of her Cat’s Claws thanks to the Pierce special rule, but she isn’t on the team to dish out damage. This is proven by her Troublemaker attack, which lets her leave a target staggered and confused as she backflips away to safety. Though it hits at Strength 6, Troublemaker actually trades in the potential to deal damage for interesting special rules and effects. When it lands, Troublemaker is limited to a single point of damage, but leaves the target Staggered and lets Black Cat make a short advance thanks to the Elusive special rule. Bye, Felicia!

That’s not the only tricky way Black Cat can move around. No self-respecting cat burglar would be caught without a way to get to Wilson Fisk’s penthouse (that’s where he keeps all the good stuff), so Black Cat brings a nifty Grappling Hook. For 2 Power she can shoot a line to anywhere within Range 2 and reel herself in. It’s perfect for accessing open windows or getting clear of the path of a charging Venom.

Backflips and ziplines are fun and all, but Black Cat can also help immensely during a crisis by practicing the family business—larceny. Swooping in out of nowhere, she can steal whatever bit of world-threatening menace her opponents have conveniently collected for her. The Master Cat Burglar active superpower lets Black Cat pay 3 Power to pilfer an asset or civilian token from an enemy in Range 1. The ability to steal assets (and victory points) is likely to paint a large target on her back. Fortunately for her, people that cross this Black Cat’s path tend to run a streak of bad luck: their bullets end up being duds, their punches miss the mark, and things just don’t go their way. The Bad Luck innate superpower reflects this, preventing attackers who target Black Cat from modifying their attack rolls.

Agent Venom

When Flash Thompson finished college he joined the military, which cost him both his legs in the line of action. When the United States government offered him the chance to serve once more as an experimental bioweapon, he accepted the Venom symbiote and became Agent Venom. He has since led an eventful life, joining forces with the likes of the Web Warriors, S.H.I.E.L.D., and even the Guardians of the Galaxy!

Agent Venom swings into the game with a tasty combination of Klyntar symbiote powers and heavy ordinance… it’s like chocolate and peanut butter!

Take a look at his three attack options. First up, Klyntar Firepower is a Physical attack with decent range. Agent Venom snaps off a volley at his target at Strength 5, with the potential to inflict a bleeding injury on them if you roll any wilds. For more of a sure thing, he can pay 1 Power to toss an Incendiary Grenade at the target, an Energy attack that lights its target on fire after dealing damage.

Last but not least, Agent Venom has an amazing crowd-control attack in the form of Symbiote Special Forces. A whirlwind of lead and flesh in the form of a Beam 3 Strength 7 attack, this volley has the potential to provoke the symbiote into a storm of Lashing Tendrils, dealing 1 damage to any enemy character within Range 2 of Agent Venom! But his attacks are just a part of what Agent Venom brings to the table. Symbiote Web Swing is an affordable Active superpower that allows him to ride a line of webbing to a point within Range 3—which pairs well with his Wallcrawler innate superpower, if he’s looking to scamper into position. He can also draw on the conditioning of Project Rebirth 2.0, an Active superpower that lets him remove any one special condition he is currently suffering.

Being a symbiotic warrior is an exercise in cooperation. Flash Thompson and Venom both bring their best to this partnership. While he might best be remembered as Peter Parker’s school bully (despite them becoming friends later in life), Thompson was also an All-Star Quarterback. Now he can use the talent that let him throw a tight spiral to fling terrain up to Size 3 at his opponents. And Venom amps the team’s aggression with Symbiotic Instincts, which deny their victims the ability to modify defense dice during Agent Venom’s attacks.

Spider-Woman

Young Jessica Drew’s powers began as a desperate father’s attempt to save his ailing daughter. Poisoned in the early 20th century by the uranium that was common in her childhood home in Transia, her father sought a… let’s call it unorthodox remedy. Johnathan Drew, an expert in the regenerative properties of certain arachnids, injected his daughter with an experimental serum and placed her in a genetic accelerator, where she remained for decades. When she emerged, she had unusual powers and eventually took on the identity of Spider-Woman. Under this moniker Drew has been a spy, a private detective, a double agent of both S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra, an Avenger, and a superhero serving countless organizations.

She’s quick, she’s multitalented, and she brings an amazing package of abilities to the tabletop for her 4 Threat. Spider-Woman makes fantastic use of all the bio-electric abilities that turn-of-the-century genetic engineering can provide!

Bio-Electric Strike has a good range and power, but this spider’s bite packs more of a punch as it courses through the nervous systems of those on the receiving end. The Neuro-Disruption special rule allows Spider-Woman to inflict one of the Poison, Shock, or Stun special conditions on her target for every wild in her attack roll.

However, bio-electricity isn’t the only spider-power she has—Spider-Woman takes her web-slinging namesake’s strategies seriously. Intoxicating Blast is a mighty Strength 7 energy attack that causes the target to drop all objective tokens it is holding. Additionally, if the target character has the Poison condition, she can take advantage of their addled mind to cause her target to move closer before dealing damage.

In addition to her attacks, Spider-Woman has an array of superpowers to represent her gear and the talents she’s developed over her long career. Using the winged webbing on her suit, she can place herself around the battlefield with I Don’t Fly, I Glide. When she’s close to a dazed opponent, she can use her extensive training as a covert operative to Interrogate that character. The intel she gains from a grueling interrogation allows you to increase the number of VPs from Crisis Cards during the Cleanup Phase by 1—knowledge really is power!

Rounding out her skillset, her training as a Martial Artist lets her add blank results against attacks from within Range 2, her covert ops training gives her the Stealth innate superpower, and she has the Immunity [Poison] and Wallcrawler superpowers!

Tactic Cards

Included are 7 useful Tactic Cards for Web Warriors or specific characters, including 2 staples for any Web Warrior squad!

Web Warriors are always looking out for each other, and nothing epitomizes this more than Spider-Tracker. This card allows a Web Warrior to nimbly move away after an enemy has moved closer to attack them. Get out of their Spidey!

If they manage to hit, maybe they need a short break with Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes. These delicious snacks allow any Web Warrior to remove one damage and the slow special condition for a single power.

The rest of the Tactics Cards found in this Affiliation pack are sure to give the Web Warriors loads of strategic options when building a squad.

 

If you’re ready to expand your Web Warriors affiliation with these Web-Swinging Heroes, be sure to pre-order them at your friendly local game store or through the Asmodee webstore today!

That’s all for today! Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!