Inhumans

CP35 Crystal

Sure, princesses are great. But princesses who can manipulate the environment on a molecular level to produce raging infernos and maelstroms? They’re just better. This time in From Panel to Play, we’re taking a closer look at another member of the Inhuman Royal Family, Crystal.

Crystalia Amaquelin is the younger sister of the Inhuman Medusa and a part of the Inhuman Royal family. Her exposure to the Terrigen Mists as an infant allows Crystal to manipulate the four classical elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. She can summon the winds of a Category 3 hurricane, generate earthquake tremors of nearly 7 on the Richter scale, manipulate thousands of gallons of water, mold fire to burn, or protect, who she desires, among many other applications of her extraordinary abilities.

Of all the Inhumans, Crystal has the most sturdy bond with humanity. She spent much time among Earth’s people, partnering with terrestrial heroes on multiple occasions, like when she joined the Avengers to destroy Onslaught’s menace. Crystal’s rapport with humans led to Medusa appointing her as an ambassador of the Inhuman people. In this role, she helps with humanitarian efforts and oversight of regions threatened by the Terrigen Mists.

Crystal’s miniature is dramatic and full of intensity. She stands poised atop stones she has lifted from the earth, simultaneously sending out a wave of water to overwhelm her foes and holding a fist full of fire, just in case. She captures the sense of potential energy about to be unleashed in a torrent of elemental might.

Translating Crystal to the tabletop was a fun challenge. After all, she’s not just an Inhuman, but an Inhuman who can wield four distinct elemental powers as weapons. What is a humble developer to do? We couldn’t just give her four different attacks, each with their own unique special rules to reflect her incredible array of powers, right?

Nah, I was just kidding. That’s what happened.

Crystal has four unique attacks for her different elemental powers. All of them have a remarkable effect if the attack roll has any wilds, like pushing a target with a gust of hurricane-force wind or lighting it on fire with a bit of volcanic fire. Her attacks have a mix of different ranges, powers, and damage types, letting Crystal tailor her strikes to the current circumstances and her target.

Making things even better, Crystal’s mastery of her powers allows her to unleash a torrent of elemental fury. The Elemental Onslaught active power enables her to follow up one attack with another, though she can’t use one of the attacks she’s already used that turn. She’ll have to diversify her powers!

There’s more to say about how Crystal can make the lingering effects of her attacks stick around or use her innate Inhuman power to a better result, but that will be all for our first look at this particular inhuman.

Check back for our next installment, when we examine another of your favorite characters as they jump onto the table in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until then, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off.

CP34 Black Bolt & Medusa

The Inhumans are a tight-knit group of heroes. You could almost say they’re a family! With that closeness, they have developed some tactics to maximize their strengths in the face of a crisis.

As the king and queen of the Inhumans, Black Bolt and Medusa bring a considerable number of tactics into the field. The Black Bolt and Medusa character expansion includes four cards representing the Inhumans’ tremendous physical power and strategic might.

Attilan Rising calls back to the many times the Inhumans have suffered setbacks over the years. From its original home in the Atlantic Ocean to the Himalayas, to the Blue Area of Earth’s moon, the inhuman city of Attilan has been forced to relocate time and again. But the Inhumans have always risen to the challenge, no matter how dire. This tactic can be played by any injured Inhuman, giving 1 Power to each Inhuman character for each allied injured Inhuman.

Inhuman Royal Family is a useful card when you have the Power to spend and want to clinch victory, or if one or more of your valuable Inhuman characters is facing down a strike from a powerful opponent. When you use this tactic, any Inhuman character in your crisis team can spend 2 Power. Anyone who spent Power can reroll any number of dice in one attack or defense roll during the round. Best used early in a round, this tactic demonstrates the House of Agon’s pure might.

All Inhumans gain their unique powers from the Terrigen Mists through a process called Terrigenesis. Terrigenesis can awaken the abilities in normal humans, and in addition to empowering the House of Agon was responsible for creating heroes like Ms. Marvel. This unique tactic allows an Inhuman character to pay 3 Power and target an opponent within Range 3 holding a Civilian token. The civilian undergoes a sudden transformation, unleashing their newfound power against the character holding the token. You roll 4 dice, dealing 1 damage to the target character for each critical, wild, or hit in the roll. If this damage Dazes or KO’s the target, you also score 2 VP, a suitable reward for awakening a new Inhuman!

Lastly, Bitter Rivals is the sole Unaffiliated tactic in the character expansion. A hostile opposition isn’t the exclusive purview of the Inhuman royal family, after all! Bitter Rivals allows any character to call out an opponent, distracting them from supporting their teammates and weakening the whole team as a result. For 3 Power, any character who plays this tactic can choose an enemy character within Range 3. Until the end of the round, other enemies within Range 3 of the target roll 1 fewer die in both attack and defense rolls. On its own, this is a potent debuff, but when combined with some of the stronger attacks available to characters like Black Bolt, this can be devastating.

That’s all for the first batch of the excellent tactics the Inhumans bring to the battlefield. We’ll be back with even more discussion of Team Tactics cards in another Transmission.

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

CP34 Medusa

Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Terragenesis. Well, canonically, it’s Terragenesis. This time in From Panel to Play, we’re taking a look at the person whose ponytail has a kick like a mule, Medusa!

Like all Inhumans, Medusa gained her incredible powers through Terragenesis. Exposure to the Terragen mists enhanced her physical strength, stamina, and reflexes, giving her extraordinary ability to her hair. Every strand of Medusa’s hair is like an appendage that she can mentally control. Minute psionic forces across her hair give it the strength to lift tons of weight, bind captives of enhanced physical strength, or lash out like a whip faster than sound.

Among the Inhumans, Medusa is royalty. She is the wife of Black Bolt and acts as his interpreter, but is herself a master of statecraft. Like her husband, Medusa looks for a way to maintain peace between humans and the Inhumans but must also fight to protect her people. Medusa has joined forces with the Avengers of Earth and even Ronan the Accuser in her never-ending crusade to keep the Inhumans safe.

Medusa is a stand-out figure on the tabletop due to her superpowered hair’s dynamic nature and volume. It literally holds her off the ground with its complex and organic curves. Her hair has a fine texture sculpted in that painters can spend time blending and highlighting to make pop, but also looks great with a simple dry brush technique.

As you might expect, on the tabletop, Medusa uses her Inhuman physiology and unusual hair to significant effect. Her basic attack pummels a target with her mighty mane, battering her foe into submission with a whirlwind of luxurious locks. Braid Bash is a Strength 5 attack with the ability to knock a damaged target reeling. Like any good headbanger, Medusa can whip her hair in a veritable cyclone, so Braid Bash also has the potential to trigger Flurry, which allows her to make a followup Braid Bash attack.

Of course, Medusa’s hair isn’t limited to just whipping people in the face. She can also use it defensively, like thousands of super-strong tendrils that knock aside enemy strikes and impede her foes’ advance. The innate power Living Strands prevents an advancing or climbing enemy from overlapping Medusa with the movement tool, and enemies cannot change or reroll their attack dice when they target her with an attack.

Medusa is more than just her hair, though, and has other powers to reflect her inhuman physiology and the authority she wields as the queen of her people, but unfortunately, we are out of time for now. Be sure to check back for our next installment, when we examine another of your favorite characters as they jump onto the table in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until then, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off.