Working on some new character cards and would love some feedback from you guys. The first character is a type of water sprite found in Japanese folklore. You might have seen or heard about these in japanese movies/maga etc. I remember i first saw one in an episode of Starzinger

Anyway I would like some feedback on the abilities on Kappa. They are all based on how the folklore says. This is taken från wikipedia:

"As water monsters, kappa have been frequently blamed for drownings, and are often said to try to lure people to the water and pull them in with their great skill at wrestling.[12] They are sometimes said to take their victims for the purpose of drinking their blood, eating their livers or gaining power by taking their shirikodama"

Based on this text i have givin it the ability to be stronger when near water (the spaces near the bridges). Also as he lives in water he can cross the storm river when he wants. And also i wanted to give him an ability based on that he gains powers when eating their victims, as the text from wikipedia discribed.
and yes i know the art are not supposed to cover the entire window like this. its drawn by "unded"

so what do you think?

I like it! But how many bridges are there, currently? I think one by the City and one by the Sentinel? (maybe by the Village?) that means only 2 or 3 squares where this will be helpful. Of course, having an extra 3 strength helps with the Sentinel, but you this character doesn't need to fight him to get up to the Middle region, so maybe that is balance enough?

Thanks for the feedback 0beron! As Kappa is said to lure his victims to the water and then kills them i wanted to give him perks when he was near the water. But you are always near the Storm river that is everywhere! so i needed to find another solution so i though that i would use the two three bridges on the board. One by the Village, one by the City and also one crossing from the Sentinel to the hills. That way he can get some advantage when near water.

Yes he would get 3 extra points against the Sentinel.. but as he also have a built in "raft" ability he can cross the storm river whenever he wants, and therefore dont have to fight the sentinel.
Kappa lives in water so i thought that crossing the storm river would not be a problem for him. Do you think this ability is to good? or is it ok to have?

What do you think of the strength,craft, life, fate etc?

Perhaps his bonus might be better if it were taken down a peg to 2 points, as starting with 4 points of Strength he is a powerhouse on those 6? spaces straight off the bat.

It's always good to innovate when making characters, and giving them abilities that are mirrored from objects and followers. The "raft" ability gives him a third option for movement, which as we know is not a guarantee of safety! Dragon to the left, Demon to the right, Desert up above… Oh boy…

I might think about healing a life over gaining a life, but I would be okay with either option to be honest.

…and don't worry about the art taking up the whole "window". That's why the plug-in was made like that so you could do that if you wanted. Not all available art is as good when cropped out, and often the background can tell more of a story.

Anyway, the above are merely suggestions on first glance and might not be necessary after you have given him/her/it a thorough playtest, but overall it's good to see a bit of thought and theme going into a character rather than just another clone.

Yeah maybe should lower his strength one step. Might be too strong with his other ability when near water.

I first thought i would limit his "raft" ability with the adding of "if you roll a 6" to give the player the choice to cross the river. hmm

regarding the life gaining ability my first thought was just to heal live instead of gaining. but as trophy cards are important for gaining strength/craft you might now always want to discard one of these cards just to heal one life.. so thats why i decided to change it to GAIN a life instead. probably best to do a playtest and see as you say

I will say it is definitely a bit different from most other characters! Since I am thinking that the River will appear to run into the forthcoming City board set, there will be more bridges perhaps;

You may want to consider your evolution with Kappa after you see how that plays out. Maybe the Kappa will be more formidable against whatever Water Elemental dwells in the City (per the recent spoiler images)

-Oberon

I think you should make him strength 3/ craft 3

And change gaining a life to healing a life.

He is not so powerful as you think. They are only 4 spaces on the mainboard where he can use his +3 power ability. ( 3 spaces in the outer region, and 1 in middle region where the sentinel bridge is.

You could also add that the Kappa kills it's followers and that he gains a +1 strength in the next battle for each follower that he kills

He gains power by drinking their blood.

You could also add that a kappa may steal a follower from a character.

Another ability that you could add is: If the kappa defeats a animal, you may choose to heal a life instead of taking it as a trophy.

This is what a kappa is doing, if i read wikipedia:)

I hope you can do something with my idea's Thermoptic:)

Greetings,

Velhart

Six spaces. You can still end up fighting on the Village and City spaces.

talismanisland said:

Oh you are right Jon.

I forgot about that:)

Dragon scales has the most chances to appear there.

Thanks for the feedback Velhart! And i really like that you came up with some new ideas for abilites, just what i wanted!

I like the one that he can steal followers from other players. maybe could add this. and then replace the sacrifice a trophy and instead add the one you mentioned about sacrificing a follower. a useful combination. and it all fits in on how a Kappa is described in the folklore

Thermoptic said:

I am happy to hear that you like it:)

Stealing a Follower? Isn't that just like the Sorceress & Vampiress? Could you not make it a bit different from their joint ability to take Followers!

Ell.

talismanamsilat said:

Like taking a Follower as a reward, after winning a combat against a Character?

It´s still a bit different. The Kappa steals a follower, but then kills it by drinking their blood.

A Sorceress or Vampiress can keep the follower. ( i must admit that i have not add that to the text:)

Anyway, it´s just homebrew and not official:)

As said, like that you are putting a lot of thought into it.

I think it is a little strong but you would have to check by play-testing.

Negative abilities are under used, a patently water-dwelling creature would suffer in the desert. What about:

• Lose 2 lives in the Desert

First time I've been here and your character idea is pretty cool. I think taking the strength down a notch as other have suggested would probably balance him better but I wouldn't change anything after that.

I like the idea that he can discard a kill to gain a life as that is very unique and also requires some thinking over do I need that life or should I hang on to my trophy so I can get stronger.

Don't try to over complicate it I think the blend you have already is pretty cool and probably spot on (pending possible adjustments after play testing).

Great work!