From Panel To Play: Star-Lord

CP18 Star-Lord

Peter Quill was abducted from Earth at a young age and raised by a ruthless group of alien renegades to become one of the greatest thieves in the galaxy. Adopting the name Star-Lord, his natural charisma and leadership capabilities made him a natural leader for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Quick on the draw and a skilled star pilot, Peter Quill is also blessed with inhuman parentage. As the son of J’son of the Spartax Empire, Star-Lord possesses superhuman abilities that make him even more dangerous to defy in deep space. Wielding his twin Element Guns, Clarice and Terry, which can replicate any of the four classic elements, jet boots, and technologically advanced alien helmet, Star-Lord is well equipped to confront any foe.

Though he lost his original family on Earth, Quill has forged a new one with the Guardians of the Galaxy. With this team of unlikely heroes, he has played a pivotal role in some of the most significant events in the cosmos, like the Annihilation War and Phalanx Invasion. When he isn’t mouthing off to beings of unfathomable power, Star-Lord leads the Guardians of the Galaxy to protect countless worlds against all manner of cosmic threats.

When it came to translate Star-Lord into miniature form, we held nothing back. Descending on a column of smoke from one rocket boot, Star-Lord’s miniature has it all. High tech alien mask and impressive double-barreled blasters? Check. Shoulder back that no doubt contains some stolen goods from a distant world? Check. Dynamic trench coat blowing in the wind? Double check. Star-Lord’s miniature is a bold, heroic pose that captures everything that makes Peter Quill such a fun and interesting character and makes a great centerpiece to any Guardians of the Galaxy team.

Star-Lord has made a career out of saving the galaxy, and his rules needed to represent his cocky attitude, brash nature, and the technological toys he’s amassed over the years.

On the tabletop, Star-Lord is an effective mid-range fighter who can get into the thick of battle easily by flying there with his rocket boots. His Element Guns attack have a decent range and power, but when Star-Lord performs a Full Auto attack, he throws out 7 attack dice with the Elemental Blast special rule. Representing the onslaught of elements hitting one after the next, for each Wild Star-Lord rolls he gets to pick the Bleed, Shock, Slow, or Stun conditions for his target to suffer. With all four conditions, he can leave his target a total wreck: suffering 1 damage, reduced to Slow speed, losing a die from attack rolls, and unable to gain more than 1 Power. It’s enough to make any opponent cautious.

Star-Lord is much more than a pair of pistols, however. As the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, he needs to make snap decisions and formulate clever plans with no warning. We’re talking about Peter Quill, though, so he most just wings it. The Winging It leadership ability represents Star-Lord thinking on his feet and allows him to discard any Team Tactics card to grant an ally 3 special Winging It tokens. That character can discard their Winging It tokens to reroll 2 attack, defense, or dodge dice, probably thanks to Star-Lord’s encouraging shout of “Just shoot him!” or “Try not to die!” Motivating speeches are the hallmark of an effective leader, after all.

Anyone who’s fought beside Star-Lord can attest to his courageous spirit. He’s bold, almost to a fault, getting himself into dangerous situations that he probably shouldn’t survive. Peter Quill manages to scrape through the most dangerous situations, often to his companions’ surprise. That’s it for our look at Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord. Be sure to check back for our next installment of From Panel to Play, where we look at more denizens from beyond the stars. See you then!

Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off.