From Panel to Play: Beta Ray Bill

CP130 Beta Ray Bill

When the subject of today’s From Panel to Play announces that it is hammer time, you better stop. We’re taking a look at the old Godslayer himself: it’s Beta Ray Bill!

After the destruction of his home galaxy by the fiery Surtur, the wandering Korbenite people looked to Beta Ray Bill as their chosen champion, following him across the cosmos to find a new home. Enhanced with cybernetic augmentations, Beta Ray Bill led the exodus toward the Milky Way Galaxy, where he eventually crossed paths with the Mighty Thor. When Bill got his hands on Mjolnir, the hammer determined him worthy and granted him the power of Thor! While Bill would return the hammer to Thor, Odin decreed that the hammer Stormbreaker be forged for Beta Ray Bill.

Beta Ray Bill is a flying powerhouse that is immune to three of the ten special conditions in the game: Bleed, Incinerate, and Poison—chock it up to those Korbinite cybernetics.

Bill’s hammer Stormbreaker gives him a solid Strength 5 physical attack with the ability to Stun his targets, but when he uses it to Summon the Storm he can unleash a torrent of energy in the form of a Strength 6 energy attack that is the bane of anyone who flies: against a flying character, the storm batters them and lets Bill reroll 2 dice in the attack roll, even failures! That’s great for Beta Ray Bill, because it lets him fish for wilds to trigger the Shock special rule.

Beta Ray Bill is also known as the Godhunter, due to him hunting down the being Galactus to avenge the destruction of the Korbinites’ second homeworld. Anyone who is willing to consider taking a hammer to a planet-eater’s face deserves such a grandiose nickname—and attack to boot! The Godhunter energy attack starts out with a base Strength of 5, but Bill adds dice equal to the target character’s size and the strike has the potential to hurl its target, throwing them Medium after the attack.

Bill has been known to boast about his strength, claiming it was great enough to crush moons barehanded. That may or may not be the case, but he is phenomenally strong. The Immeasurable Strength active superpower lets him throw terrain of Size 4 or less up to a Medium distance.

Much of his strength and durability is thanks to the potency of his Korbinite Cybernetics. In addition to granting him strength, it is also represented by a reactive superpower allowing him to reduce damage he suffers by 1 for the cost of a single Power. He should pretty much always have the Power to do it thanks to Blessed by the Allfather, an innate superpower that grants him additional Power during the Power Phase as if he were Asgardian himself. And even when he takes damage, the Honorbound superpower lets him advance a Short distance to his attacker!

That’s all for our first look at the Champion of Korbin and Alpha Plus threat, Beta Ray Bill! Be sure to check back in the future 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 the Beta Ray Bill & Ulik Character Pack at your local game store or through the webstore today!

Until next time, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!