From Panel To Play: Dark Star

CP88 Dark Star

Today on From Panel to Play, we’re about to learn how the darkest stars can shine the brightest. Join us as we take our first look at this mutant mistress of the Darkforce dimension, Darkstar!

Laynia Sergeievna Petrovna and her brother Nikolai Krylenko were among the first mutants in Russia whose potential was recognized by their government. They were onboarded into Russia’s own super-soldier program and trained to become superhuman operatives. Codenamed Darkstar, one of Laynia’s earliest missions was spearheading a strike team tasked with bringing the Black Widow back to her home nation. She later joined forces with the Winter Guard, an elite team of Russian operatives.

Darkstar can psychically access the Darkforce dimension’s extradimensional energies. Her consciousness is split between her physical body and its Darkforce representation, linking her to both dimensions. She can manipulate the Darkforce to behave like matter or energy, projecting energy as solid objects with steel-like density. Darkstar may teleport via the Darkforce dimension by opening a portal through which she and her allies can pass.

Darkstar brings the power of the Darkforce dimension to the tabletop. With it, she lands powerful strikes against her enemies, but much more important, supports her fellow Winter Guard during a crisis.

By calling on her link to the Darkforce, Petrovna can perform a quick Darkforce Strike, a Range 4 energy attack. However, she is a master at controlling these strange energies and can reroll all of the attack dice for the attack. While it is Strength 5, her ability to reroll the dice makes it a much more effective—and reliable—strike.

When she wants to deliver a devastating blow, however, she can unleash the full power of the Darkforce with her Rending Force attack. Only costing her 3 Power to use, this Strength 7 attack allows Darkstar to choose between Physical or Energy attack types, as she lashes out with raw energy or hardens it to act as a solid object. In either case, Rending Force hits with such brutal strength that it also has the Bleed special rule.

But the Darkforce is not just a bludgeon, and some of Darkstar’s most versatile abilities allow her to support her team in a pinch. Dimensional Portal is a prime example of this, helping Darkstar make up for the slower speed of some of her fellow Winter Guard. By boring a tunnel through the Darkforce dimension, she can teleport herself or another allied character within Range 3 of its current position, setting up an ambush, retreating from an unwinnable fight, or taking control of a valuable objective.

For those Winter Guard who find themselves in a hot zone of combat, Darkstar can also provide some added protection with her reactive power Darkforce Barrier. When she or an ally within Range 3 is the target of a non-Mystic attack, Darkstar can summon a barrier of pure energy to help defend against it. The target adds 2 dice to the defense roll against the attack and cannot be forced to move through an advance, push, or place effect caused by it!

That’s it for our first look at the darkest star in the northern sky!

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 Crimson Dynamo & Darkstar Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!