From Panel to Play: Bishop

In today’s From Panel to Play we visit the time traveling, energy absorbing mutant, Bishop!

Lucas Bishop was born in a dystopian future where Sentinels ruled over both human and mutant alike. Tattooed with a “M” over his right eye to make it obvious to everyone that he was a mutant and forced to live in a concentration camp, Bishop began to see the Exhumes, a group of human-hating mutants, as heroes. This began to change when he was attacked by one and saved by the X.S.E., a group founded to follow the ideals of Charles Xavier that he viewed as enemies. When Bishop and his sister, Shard, were attacked by another group of mutant criminals, Bishop’s mutant powers awakened and drew the attention of the X.S.E. officers who responded to the attack.

The X.S.E. offered Bishop a position in their ranks that he soon accepted on the condition that Shard was given the same offer. They both went on to graduate from the academy and joined the X.S.E. as officers with Shard eventually leading her own squad. When a former officer, Trevor Fitzroy, turned criminal and led Shard’s squad into an ambush by Emplates, vampiric creatures who feast on mutant powers, she was struck down and became one of them. Bishop couldn’t save her.

When he returned to the X.S.E., Bishop began hunting Fitzroy who was eventually caught and sent to prison. Unfortunately, Fitzroy was able to escape via a time portal, and Bishop pursued him through it and ended up meeting the original X-Men. Fitzroy was caught again, but with no way to return to his home time, Bishop remained with the X-Men. His methods and knowledge of a possible future caused some strife within the group.

Bishop enters Marvel: Crisis Protocol as a Threat Value 4 character. He has 6 Stamina on his Healthy side and 3 for his Physical and Mystic defenses and 4 for his Energy defense. When he dove into the time portal he was carrying his standard issue XSE Blaster. This energy weapon boasts an impressive Range 4 with 5 dice and generates power for Bishop equal to the damage dealt. Additionally, if the enemy is too close, the superheated energy will cause the target to gain the Incinerate special condition.

Bishop’s next attack takes the energy he absorbs and sends it back at his enemies. Return with Interest is an Area 2 attack that can be Physical, Energy, or Mystic and allows him to spend extra power to add additional dice to every attack! There is also a chance that his targets will be Pushed away from him and gain the Slow special condition.

Bishop’s first superpower is Absorbed Energy Conversion which costs 3 Power to use. He uses his absorbed energy to throw nearby terrain features or characters of Size 4 or less Medium distance.

His second superpower is Mutant Energy Absorption. Bishop’s mutant power allows him to absorb energy from attacks directed his way. This superpower demonstrates this by allowing him to use each Wild result in his defense roll to change the Critical, Wild, and Hit results in his attacker’s roll to Blanks. He then gains 1 Power for each die in the attack roll changed this way. This superpower applies to all attack types making it very useful for generating Power and avoiding damage.

Unfortunately, all this stored energy has to go somewhere and if it isn’t released it can harm Bishop. Overload is an Innate superpower that will punish him for holding too much energy for too long. At the start of the Power Phase, if Bishop has 8 or more Power, he will take one damage due to the stress of holding so much of it. Players may want to send Bishop into the thick of their enemies to make use of his Absorbed Energy Conversion and Return with Interest to limit the amount of Power he is holding each Round.

Finishing up his card we find three potent Immunity superpowers–Incinerate, Poison, and Stun–as his ability to absorb energy makes it impossible for these special conditions to stick to him.

That’s all we have for Bishop so it’s time to take this portal home. 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. Pre-order your copy of Bishop at your local game store or through the webstore today.