From Panel To Play: Arnim Zola

CP76 Arnim Zola

Being super intelligent doesn’t necessarily make you a good guy, as is demonstrated by the subject of today’s From Panel to Play. He’s what you get when you stuff 10 pounds of mad science into a 5 pound sack—or, in this case, robotic body. It’s Arnim Zola!

Doctor Arnim Zola was a Swiss scientist and the lead of Project Nietzsche, which attempted to create super soldiers for the purpose of world domination. Zola was an early pioneer in biochemistry and genetic engineering, working from notes left by the Deviants. He was responsible for the suspended animation that allowed the Red Skull to live into the modern age, and replaced his mortal human body with an artificial one, allowing the mad scientist to continue his work to the present day.

On the tabletop, Arnim Zola crams a whole lot of mad science into his robotic body. First off, his Prototype Weapons attack allows Zola to fire off a blast of energy perfectly suited to any foe, thanks to the ability to choose what kind of attack it will be from Physical, Energy, or Mystic. The strange prototype is further enhanced by the Hydra Ingenuity special rule, allowing you to add one of the Bleed, Shock, Slow, or Stun special conditions for every wild in the attack roll! When you’re facing this kind of scientific genius, you can never predict what he’s going to throw at you next!

Zola can also use his ESP box, a device that allows him to control his creations, as a weapon to rattle the weaker minds of those who face him. A Focused ESP Box Blast is a Strength 6 Energy attack that allows Zola to take control of his target, moving them a Short range, which can also Slow a target with a wild result.

The degree of technological innovation in Zola’s machine body gives him even more tools to deal with those who would stop him. When faced with a dangerous foe, Zola can rely on his Experimental Enhancements to produce even more powerful attacks. For 3 Power, Zola adds two dice to his next attack roll, but clearly these enhancements are still in the prototype phase: if the enhanced attack roll produces a failure, Zola takes 1 damage.

It’s not just his own attacks that can benefit from Zola’s mad genius, however. He can leverage his engineering talents to enhance his allies as well. Hydra Engineering is a reactive power he can use whenever he or an allied character in Range 4 is attacking or defending. Zola can spend up to 3 Power, allowing the chosen character to reroll 1 die per Power spent during the Modify Dice step. Like his personal enhancements, this can have unpredictable results, though, and if the roll produces any failures the character gains the Bleed special condition.

Not that Zola needs to worry about bleeding. His artificial body protects him from such petty concerns as bleeding and poison, which is enough to make any scientist a little cocky. That’s probably why Zola is known for his Scientific Hubris, an innate ability that grants him 1 Power every time he rolls at least one critical!

That’s it for our look at the man in the box. Be sure to check back 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 own copy of the

Baron Strucker & Arnim Zola Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today. Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!