From Panel to Play: Spectacular Spider-Man

CP143Spectacular Spider-Man

Hey web-heads, we hope you’ll agree that we managed to snap a picture of his good side as we take a look at the topic of today’s From Panel to Play: Spectacular Spider-Man! We know it’s been said a million times, but with great power comes great responsibility, and the knowledge you’ll gain today is definitely a great power, so be sure to use it wisely!

Peter Parker was once just an average, science-loving kid (well…average except for the scientific genius part). Having gained superpowers from accidental exposure to a radioactive spider, he found himself able to stick to walls and lift cars! This sudden shift in circumstances soon found him starting down a path less than heroic, but the tragic murder of his uncle steered him into the life of a superhero and would guide his choices from that point forward.

He may not have started life with any formal combat training, but he has learned through the school of hard knocks how to hold his own in a fight. His enemies never know where he’ll be on the battlefield and need to be prepared for an attack from any angle. One thing you may not anticipate about someone that spends most of his time in New York City, Spider-Man has somehow managed to collect one of the most varied set of villains of any hero around. He hasn’t even been a formal member of many superhero teams at this point in his life, but S.H.I.E.L.D operatives do tend to find themselves in some crazy situations!

Spectacular Spider-Man is a new, 3 Threat version of Peter Parker. This version of the character joins us with a standard set of defense stats, with 3 across the board for Physical, Energy and Mystic defense. He sports 5 Stamina on both his Healthy and Injured sides and swings around the battlefield with his Medium movement.

An enemy may first notice Spectacular Spider-Man as he comes in with a Swinging Strike. This Range 3 Physical attack hits with a Strength of 5 and costs 0 Power to use. It won’t be generating a lot of Power for this character, but since it always allows him to gain 1 Power, the consistency is nice. Even better, a Wild and Hit rolled during the attack will trigger the Elusive special rule, allowing him to Advance Short after the attack is resolved.

A staple of almost any encounter with Spider-Man is seeing a few balls of web flying across the battlefield. His Impact Webbing is able to reach across the battlefield, hitting enemies from Range 4 away. It’s a 4 dice attack that will also automatically generate Peter 1 Power and on a Wild, can Push Size 2 or smaller characters Away Short.

You’ll notice that Spectacular Spider-Man doesn’t have a way to generate massive amounts of Power for himself, but as a steady drip of water can erode rock, the steady and guaranteed influx of Power has its own force behind it.

One of Spider-Man’s most memorable traits is his running commentary during battle. As much as no one likes to lose a fight, it’s the quips and scathing comments that many enemies remember most. After all, how can the other villains take you seriously when your knocked about by something named Web-Head Wallop!? Although it may not have an intimidating name, there isn’t anything comical about this Strength 7 attack. It costs 4 Power to use and requires him to be within Range 2 of the target enemy (but we’ll see why that won’t be a problem shortly). Always one to fully utilize his environment, when this attack contains a Wild and Hit result, you can choose a Size 2 interactive terrain feature within Range 3 and destroy it. The target character will then suffer a collision as though the terrain had been thrown at them. Catch!

Spectacular Spider-Man’s first superpower is an active superpower that embodies the first thing that comes to mind when most people think of Spider-Man. Gracefully swinging across the battlefield, the Web-Slinger is able to place himself within Range 3 of his current position. This superpower will cost him 2 Power to use and although it can only be used once per turn, the guaranteed Power generation on his attacks will mean he will almost always have access to it when he wants it.

You wouldn’t think it of such a small thing, but proportionally, Spiders are incredibly powerful! When scaled up to human size, that means we are looking at an individual with superhuman strength.Proportionate Strength of a Spider costs 3 Power to use (which he can basically guarantee each round by making 2 attacks!) and allows him to Throw Size 3 or less characters within Range 3 Short. This means most characters are going to find it hard to sit around Securing an Objective when Spider-Man wants to be there himself.

Something almost as iconic as the picture of him swinging through a city is Peter’s Spider-Sense. This precognitive power acts as an early warning sign for almost any kind of danger. This is represented on the tabletop as an innate superpower that allows him to reroll up to two of his dodge dice or two of his defense dice against Physical and Energy attacks.

Lastly, Wall Crawler isn’t a just a nickname used by enemies and allies alike. It’s also an innate superpower that allows Spectacular Spider-Man to Advance across terrain he otherwise wouldn’t be able to. He is a Size 2 character, which would normally mean larger terrain pieces would slow him down, but Wall Crawler allows him to count as Size 5 when Advancing.

When you’re ready to swing into action, be sure to pre-order your copy of the Earth’s Mightiest Core Set at your local game store or through the webstore today. Also, be sure to check back later for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!