Some good ideas here.
Surf: Alchemy abilities are cool, although they would almost certainly replace either Sith Sorcery or Transfer Essence, which is fine, but would subtract from the overall 'syngery' of the piece. Nothing wrong with that, but considering that synergy was an area of focus in my design, we should probably start a new one instead.
Agree on Hanharr. Personally, I'd envision him as similar to Bossk TH power level, with a high 20s cost and high HP, but (compared to Bossk) lower defense, higher attack and some different abilities. From Gwek's version, we could probably drop BH (minor bonus; it does mean he's not affected by some of the BH CEs/SAs, but his character doesn't exactly strike me as the bounty hunter type [debatable], even if he was one), and Rolling Cleave (he doesn't seem like the type to "roll" in combat, although it could be considered that he would simply take a step/continue with his momentum from the attack, that would provoke an AoO), and possibly Rend or Deadly Attack. I usually see Hanharr as using the Ryyk Blade things in combat, although if he was using his claws Rend would be appropriate.
Door control: I don't think the Sith should have cheaper door control than other factions, because I don't see the Sith as a group that makes controlling doors a priority. That being said, doors shouldn't stop them either. Blowing up doors is fine, but I'd rather see something that counters Override specifically, as that is the root of the door problem. IMO, Override should not be as powerful as it is, and door control should not be such an important part of the game. But anyways, I'd like to see something that overrides Override. So maybe we could give the Sith a FP that either:
A) Costs 1 FP to use, is usable on that character's turn and 'blows open' a door within LoS (like Satchel Charge). Probably on either a cheap piece or one with FR.
B) Something that functions similarly to Advanced Battle Meditation but suppresses Override for the rest of the turn instead of CEs, OR forces all doors on the map open (overriding Override) for the rest of the turn. This would probably make more sense on a "tech" piece, but the second option (which I prefer) I kind of invision as a strong Force user (not necessarily Unique) holding the holding the doors up with a force that's stronger than the door can exert downwards by itself (which would explain why it overrides Override). We could also allow the FP to choose between forcing all doors on the map open or closed, depending on just how much door control we think this FP should have. I don't like the idea of forcing all doors closed so much, but it would give the Sith Override without giving them Override
Gwek: Sorcerer: IMO, I don't see too much of a problem with SS and TE on a cheaper piece. Namely, because the best way to use this piece is to "bomb" a large group of enemies by first moving in a fast piece (probably the 10-point DHMoSB), TEing the Sorcerer in at the end of the round, and then using SS at the start of the next round. Obviously relies on quite a few things: being able to get the DHMoSB into place (pretty easy, but not always possible), out-activating the opposing squad, and winning initiative. "Bombing" will also become less effective if your opponent has his units spread over a larger area. Also, you're almost certainly sacrificing over 30 points just to pull this off (the DHMoSB, then the Sorcerer, unless your opponent rolls terribly and you're actually able to move the Sorcerer away). If done correctly, it could activate a large portion of your opponent's units, giving your squad time to set up, move melee characters in without getting shot for a round, fire away, etc.
It is an important point that only characters costed 50+ have Sith Sorcery, all of those characters have Force Renewal. Sure this guy can gain FR pretty easily, but he is extremely limited in what he can do. He can only make use of Dark Sorcery if he's not using FPs, which is a waste of 25 points. I think her lack of any other options would at least allow a sub-50 piece (or sub-30) to be considered, and only deemed undercosted for a reason other than the fact that it's a sub-50 piece with SS.
Can you explain your concern with TE and the Sith's other positioning options? Sorry, I don't see the conflict: there isn't much to gain from combining swapping and TE. Is it something else?
And yeah, you're right, Dark Sorcery DOES read like a CE. It should read: (Replaces attacks; choose 1 ally within 2 squares to gain Force Renewal 1 and Sith Rage until the end of the round, or until this character is defeated.). Also, she should have three Force points, not four. No reason for her to have more than three.
Juggernaut: Hehe, looks like I was REALLY hooked on synergy that day. I just loved the combo of Draw Fire and that ability I suggested: forcing your opponent to target a piece it doesn't want to, then hitting (and quite hard) one of their pieces, possibly staying alive. I like the idea of both abilites on him. Maybe we could drop Soresu for something like this? I'm not sure how important Soresu is to the design, but we could probably increase the HP by as much as 20 and drop the attack by one or two if we make the switch. Cost would probably go down if anything, but it could stay where it is.
Hsiss: Actually, the Nexu is a great comparison! Similar concepts (stealthy and ambushing prey), and (hopefully, in the case of the Hsiss) well-costed. A mid to high 20s cost would probably be about right, IMO.
Hanharr: Already said some things above, and a Wookiee Rage power could provide a damage boost and maybe a defensive boost (I think it did both in the old KotOR games), such as DR10 or Dark Armor, etc. for the rest of the round. It would have to be balanced by a penalty of some sort, maybe that he is unaffected by commander effects or gains Savage if he uses it?
Being the clever sort (lol not), I searched Bloo Milk for custom Wookiee Rage abilities. Surprisingly, there were none. Looks like he has his niche, even among other customs!
Headshot: Lots of possibilities here. For example:
Replaces turn: Make 1 attack against an enemy within line of sight, ignoring cover. Damage from this attack cannot be prevented or redirected. If a natural 19 or 20 is rolled on this attack, the enemy is defeated.
That combines some ideas. It depends on whether we'd want to put it on just Dessel or on the operative/sniper and possibly Dessel. Headshot could:
1-Provide a damage bonus (meh)
2-Cause unpreventable damage
3-Kill on a crit or a 19-20
4-Be an automatic crit on a hit (obviously only if it doesn't include the most recent option)
5-Ignore cover (only if the character doesn't have Accurate Shot)
etc.
Personally, I prefer combining options 2 and 4, maybe 5 if the character doesn't have AS (which would keep the cost down and be one less ability for the character).
2nd post: I really don't have much to say about Alchemy at this point (maybe the Celeste discussion burned me out? idk), because it's such a complicated ability, but the versions of Alchemy-type abilities that I like are ones that buff already existing allies, rather than turning enemies into allies or something fancy like that
. That said, Dark Sorcery does just that, so maybe Alchemy would fit better on another piece? (Or we could go with a different Sorcerer than what I suggested).
Hanharr is more of a Fringe character, but we could make a version of him from the time of his service under Kreia, which is arguably what made him (in)famous.
A Sith Grenadier with a unique Grenade ability (I think it was Adhesive Grenades, or maybe Cryo) is something I've seen before; it could work here.
[/8000 character reply]