From Panel to Play: Colossus

CP57 From Panel to Play: Colossus

Here’s an old saying that a man with cold hands will have a warm heart. Well, when those hands are made of Siberian metal, then that man’s heart must be hot as Hel. This time on From Panel to Play, we’re taking a look at the X-Man who can wear fridge magnets as fashion accessories; it’s Colossus!

Born in Siberia during Communist rule, Piotr Rasputin is a mutant with a skin of steel and a heart of gold. He can transform his entire body into organic metal, granting him superhuman strength, durability, and stamina. Colossus is a gentle giant, however. He is sometimes reluctant to use his physical strength in combat, feeling a responsibility to use his powers to improve the lives of mutants and humankind. He has been a cornerstone of the X-Men for many years, acting as a sage and calm presence of strength among the team.

Colossus adds some defensive clout on the tabletop, with abilities that give him staying power while helping protect the other members of his team. He has decent Stamina and respectable defenses, especially against physical attacks. When it comes time to dish out a bit of behavioral correction in the form of punches, he strikes with the added impact of his bioorganic steel flesh.

Colossus’ basic attack, Strike, swings his metal appendages and lands as a Strength 5 physical attack. Catching a right cross from a steel fist is enough to rattle almost anyone, so this attack has the Concussive Force special rule, which adds a chance for Colossus to cause the target to lose 1 Power on a hit. For tougher opponents, the Siberian X-Man can bodily slam his targets into the ground with a heavy Supplex in the form of the X-Slam: a Strength 7 attack that stuns his target and has the chance to stagger it as well. But if his opponents aren’t within arm’s reach, Colossus isn’t totally without options. His mutant-enhanced strength lets him pick up interactive terrain of Size 3 or smaller and chuck it Medium range.

But Colossus is more concerned about keeping his teammates safe from harm, sometimes at his own expense. Big Brother has him putting his steel body in the path of harm to shield his companions. For 2 Power, when an enemy targets a character within Range 2 of Colossus, he becomes the target of the attack instead.

Colossus can soften the blow of the enemy attack with Bozhe Moi when he makes this noble sacrifice. With this exclamation, Piotr manages to escape the worst of a physical or energy attack, adding 2 dice to his defense roll.

Piotr can rely on his Organic Steel innate superpower to protect him for any damage that does make it through. His metal flesh deflects enemy attacks and reduces the damage he takes by 1.

And while some heroes bring out the big guns when they get injured, Piotr doubles down on his protective nature. Bozne Moi becomes innate on his injured side and passively adds blanks in his physical and energy defense rolls to his successes.

That’s it for our look at this steely hero!

Be sure to check back for our next installment of From Panel to Play when we look at Gambit in Marvel: Crisis Protocol! Pre-order your own copy of the Colossus & Magik Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore here.

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!