Shadowlands Stalker

[planeswalker459]

Shadowlands Stalker
Cost: 20ish
HP: 50
Def: 16
Atk: +9
Dmg: 10
Special Abilities
Wookiee
Hunter (+4 attack and +10 damage against enemies with Savage)
Wall climber (This character ignores difficult terrain, enemy characters, low objects, and pits when moving as long as a square it occupies and a square it is moving into are adjacent to a wall)
Pathfinder (Allies are not slowed by difficult terrain within 6 squares of this character)
Stealth (If this character has cover, he does not count as the nearest enemy for an attacker farther than 6 squares when choosing targets)
Commander Effect
Allied Wookie's within 6 squares gain Wall Climber and Hunter


When the discussion first started about a wookiee with wall climber, this idea poped into my head. He is the fringe response to the Rebel Pathfinder. He has spent many years hunting in the dark shadowlands, and knows the terrors there quite well.

This experince lends itself to his commander effect and his SA. Imagine a horde of WEW charging across difficult terrain as if it was nothing, scaling walls, all jsut to get to you quicker? Scary thought indeed!

[maverick]

does this character need to be combatant himself?

[planeswalker459]

Well, to live in the shadowlands, one had to learn not only how to move and avoid danger, but also to fight it if there was no other recourse.

[gwek]

I like a lot of the concept, but have some philosophical issues. I kinda think he should be unique (although I have no idea who he'd be!), not a Wookiee, not Fringe, or some combo of these.

In terms of his own abilities (commander effect aside), this is hands-down the strongest non-Unique Fringe commander out there. His HP alone are 20 higher than any other non-Mando non-unique commander in the game, I think.

Stats aside, I don't know that he should be Fringe (assuming he remains a Wookiee). While there IS a Fringe Wook, and we've got some more custom ones (including at least one from me), the general trend with WotC has been to keep the Wooks and the Mon Cal in the "good guy" factions. While that's not hard and fast as far as rules go, the idea of the strongest non-unique Wookiee piece benefiting the "dark side" factions seems to run counter to it.

If you DO want to keep him Fringe and Wookiee, and change the image to make him a little "scarier." Maybe something like "Wookiee Renegade" or "Wookiee Exile." I know "Stalker" isn't exactly baby-safe, but if this guy can serve alongside the Sith, the image I'm seeing is a crazy hermit Wookiee who is one step away from being a Madclaw. Because, hey, the first thing I'm doing is pairing this SOB with my Sith Hanharr.

If you want to consider changing the faction, I think maybe he should be--wait for it--a Rebel.

No, seriously.

I know you're laughing right now, but hear me out. Make him either Rebel or New Republic and, using my "Wookiee Jedi Knight" logic, all four of the "light side" factions can get him.

[planeswalker459]

Surprisingly, I wasnt laughing. Its a valid option.

I thought about rebels, but decided, hey, if he has lived in the shadowlands for a while, he is not going to be overly friendly to people.

Timeline wise as well, he would fit the OR or Fringe more than the Rebels.


Fringe might be too potent for him, but with hanharr being the only sith wookiee atm, its a 1-1 trade, which isnt necessarily bad, but in the end, not worth the cost.

If we think we can come up with a truly better faction choice for him, Im all ears. I really want this guy to benefit Wookie's everywhere!

[gwek]

Okay, how about this:

1) Make him Old Republic
2) Change him so he costs less than 20
3) Give him Affinity to EITHER the Rebels or the New Republic

The net impact of that is as follows:

1) He can be in an Old Republic squad (of course), making him very effective with existing Old Rep Wookiee pieces

2) The Affinity allows him to be in both Rebel and New Republic squads (in one case directly, in the other, via Garm).

3) He can be in a Republic squad via Gree.

4) Finally, he can be in a Sith squad with Hanharr via my custom Saul Karath (assuming his cost goes to 20 or under). You an then supplement your Wookiee-themed Sith squad with Wookiee Commandos and custom Wooks.

5) He can't be in a "pure Fringe" squad, but that theoretically shouldn't matter. He also can't be in a Sep, Imp, Vong, or Mando squad--but none of those factions have any right or need to have Wookiees in 'em anyway!

[planeswalker459]

Sounds like a plan Gwek. See you in OR shortly.

[Jm419]

Very cool. Is Pathfinder a real ability, from WotC?

[planeswalker459]

yes it is. Pretty cool one too isnt it.

[gwek]

Okay, so we've tentatively settled on a faction.

If you want him to be able to help all Wookiees, we need to get the cost to 20 or under (to get him into the Sith).

My generator puts in at 24+... NOT accounting for the commander effect or Pathfinder.

First thing I'd suggest doing is looking at other Wooks. Drop the HP down to somewhere between 40 and 60. With two exceptions, all non-Unique commanders have 50 HP or less, and non-Unique Wookiees also top out at 50 HP.

Similarly, I'd look at Defense and Attack vs existing pieces. The current Defense and Attack are second only to the WEW, which may have been your intention, but it also sorta outclasses most other Wookiees (admittedly, at a higher cost, but still...).

In terms of Damage, I'd either drop it to 10, lose Double Attack, or both. There's about an even split between 10 and 20 damage, but none of 'em have Double Attack. Also, remember that most WotC commanders are not quite as tough as their non-commander peers.

I think the other special abilities look good, but would consider cutting Hunter from the commander effect. I understand why it's there, but it seems a little odd for him to give that ability when he doesn't have it (or anything similar) himself.

[Jm419]

Yeah. I agree about the CE. I'd keep the 20 damage, but cut the double attack.

[planeswalker459]

Removed double attack, restricted the range on the CE, lowered damage to 10, and gave him hunter.


What do we think?

[bountyhunter9]

Wow, I like this piece. Where are we going for cost: low-to-mid 20s?

[Jm419]

Wait, you don't want 20 damage?

[planeswalker459]

IfI can lower the cost by dropping the damage, Im willing to suffer that loss.