Arena Rex Forums

I agree that she seems too squishy, but she's squishy in her standard version too. That just seems to be the way she is. I don't think we should try and "upgrade" her with these expanded rules and make her better. I think we should keep her basic feel the same, just with a different number of cards.

So, how would we do her 3 stage version? As I recall, she (and many others) had three stages in playtest, so maybe we could just use that one directly... it would then be the other two non-playtest gorgons that would be tricky.

Looking at her playtest version, it is very different from her final version, so using it directly might not be so smart - but tweaking could work. Her playtest form was:

Playtest Stage 1:
Mov 5, Atk 5, Def 2, Arm 1
Lure (draw enemy closer to you at the cost of a fatigue), Swift, Cold blooded, Constrict (ignore armour of enemies in base contact)

Playtest Stage 2:
Mov 6, Atk 6, Def 2, Arm 1
Swift, Constrict (ignore armour of enemies in base contact)

Playtest Stage 3:
Mov 7, Atk 7, Def 1, Arm 1
Feral (must keep activating until exhausted), Instinctive (cannot use favor)

I'm thinking that the best way to keep the spirit of the playtest version might be to keep the final stages 1 and 2 and make them into stages 2 and 3 of the extended Euryale. For that, we would need a new stage 1. Maybe something like this.

Suggestion Extended Stage 1:
Mov 5, Atk 5, Def 3, Arm 0
Lure (draw enemy closer to you at the cost of a fatigue), Swift, Cold blooded, Constrict (the new one)

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So then my suggestion for the extended Euryale would be:

Extended Stage 1:
Mov 5, Atk 5, Def 3, Arm 0
Same damage tree and vitality track as playtest stage 1.
Lure (shift target enemy model 3" directly towards you at the cost of a fatigue), Swift, Cold blooded, Constrict (enemy models in base contact take 1 damage)

Extended Stage 2:
Mov 6, Atk 6, Def 3, Arm 0
Same damage tree and vitality track as official stage 1.
Swift, Cold blooded, Constrict (enemy models in base contact take 1 damage)

Extended Stage 3:
Mov 7, Atk 7, Def 1, Arm 0
Same damage tree and vitality track as official stage 2.
Swift, Hot blooded, Constrict (enemy models in base contact take 1 damage)

So two of the stages are the same as the official rules, there's just a new stage 1 added.

I think the key to remember is that with house rules, you should never ever make them strong. That's the way to get people to not want to play with your house rules. If you want power, use the official rules. House rules should only ever add diversity, not power. That's my opinion.

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Lure is an interesting concept, but I'm curious if the reason it was dropped is because it doesn't really work in this game. I'd be very concerned she could circle around a pit and pull people in without any real counterplay. It's not even really a risk for her being a Titan and all. 3" is also a really long way and oddly, in this game it also just leaves you wondering why you don't spend the Fatigue to move close to them. There are certainly reasons, but its that whole "no range" thing that makes that kind of ability a little odd.

Now I'm looking at Medusa. I would say that for her single stage form, I would just use her second normal stage. Which basically just swaps Taunt for Mirror compared to the first stage. So:

Medusa Limited (single stage)
Mov 6, Atk 6, Def 2, Arm 2
Same damage tree and vitality track as official stage 2.
Mirror, Ichor

Mirror is just the more interesting rule in my opinion.

The problem is how to make a third stage. Since there is no playtest version of Medusa or Stheno, there is no help to be found. To me, the hardest part is making up an entirely new damage tree. It's kinda hard to type out in words here on the forum, it kinda requires some picture editing software involved.

Should a third stage for Medusa come before or after her normal two stages? I'm currently thinking that it would be most fun to make a new "after" stage. Following the pattern of her normal stages, she should have the same stat line, and Ichor. So she should have one or two new rules mainly.

Just off the top of my head... Second Wind? And Nero's Triumph? So she would be something like:

Medusa Extended Stage 3:
Mov 6, Atk 6, Def 2, Arm 2
Damage tree and vitality track to be determined.
Ichor (can use vitality favor to do damage or heal instead), Second Wind (can use vitality favor to remove fatigue from herself instead), Triumph (earn 2 favor when she defeats an enemy model)

Just an idea for what might feel thematically appropriate and interesting. I feel like Triumph makes sense because she likes a spectacle (hence Taunt), and Second Wind because she is getting more excited and active because she is close to defeat - she wants to work hard to defeat any remaining foes. SW also kinda functions like an expansion of Ichor - instead of having two Ichor options, she has three.

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And as for Stheno... for her three stages, I am thinking of adding a new stage before the others. I don't want to mess with the fact that she becomes Violent and Planted as she is close to defeat.

Her signature ability is Dance of Death, so that obviously has to stay. I am thinking that she could have Agile too, so she can move through small based opponents. She seems like the agile type with her dancing moves. And maybe Relentless, so she can remove fatigue even while exhausted. Or is that too much?

Her single stage version is kinda tricky. Both her normal two stages have one strength and one weakness, that are both extremely different. So my inclination would be to not actually pick either of those to represent her single stage. But rather the new one...

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So this would be my very basic suggestion for a Medusa single stage version card.

Does anyone actually get why she has a 0 damage box in her tree? It seems so weird and meaningless...

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And another card mock-up for the suggested third Medusa stage. I just randomly tweaked the damage tree a little as I don't really know what I am doing with it.

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I remember them saying the was to "balance" her

Which I think really really hurts her usability. There's now plenty of gladiators with and no such drawback. Hopefully they update her cards at some point

Balance is a weird thing, and it evolves over time, as you point out. I think most game companies are of the opinion that errataing rules just to make some models more or less appealing is a bad thing that should be avoided, and errata should be limited to rules technical issues that aren't related to power level.

I do think that Medusa's tree looks weird with that in there for no good reason, since it's a weakness that really doesn't seem justified. But I think that in the greater scheme of things, I prefer some models being better than others (which will always happen whatever we do) over regular balance errata. The game just feels more comfortable and down to earth when model rules only change when they *have to* (like Dextarius' rules not working), rather than whenever we feel like it.

Unless they actually do a new "edition" where all the model rules are up for revision at the same time, and they also print new edition cards for all the changed models that we can get as one pack. That is usually a good thing, and something that will have to happen eventually if the game keeps surviving and growing.

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Thanks for the ideas! I'll start work on them all, and speaking on medusa, I'm going to charger her 0 to a 1-2 because it just doesn't make sense.

On another note, my Gorgons finally arrived and I'm done building them, so look forwards to a painting log soon