From Panel To Play: Iron Fist

CP49 Iron Fist

Sure, lots of people know how to punch things. But how many people can draw on the spirit energy of an ancient dragon to make their punches superhumanly strong and impervious to pain or damage? That’s gotta be a much shorter list. This time on From Panel to Play, we’re looking at Danny Rand, inheritor of the Rand-Meachum Corporation, adventurer, Hero for Hire, and the Iron Fist!

Danny Rand is a martial artist and the master of the mystical Iron Fist, which allows him to harness and focus his chi to devastating effect. As a young child, Rand traveled with his parents to the hidden city of K’un-L’un, which his father discovered years earlier. Rand’s parents died in the treacherous mountains, but the mysterious city’s inhabitants took him in and taught him the martial arts. Later, he confronted and defeated the dragon Shou-Lao. Plunging his fist into the dragon’s molten heart gave him the Iron Fist’s power and burned Shou-Lao’s mark on his chest.

Rand returned to America, where he ultimately met and befriended Luke Cage. Together they formed Heroes for Hire, Inc. The pair offered their extraordinary talents to help protect New York City’s citizens who needed them the most.

Iron Fist’s miniature is a snapshot of the last thing his opponents ever want to see. The master martial artist leaps into the air, summoning the power of Shou-Lao’s spirit and his own Chi into the terrifying Iron Fist strike. Whoever is on the receiving end is about to have an awful day. The dragon-shaped wave of energy holding Iron Fist in the air is an excellent opportunity for painters to show off their object-source lighting skills. Still, it can also be painted with simple washes and highlights thanks to the miniature’s incredible detail.

On the table, Iron Fist is a ticking time bomb for the enemy forces. As Iron Fist pummels opponents with flurries of Chi Strikes, a solid Strength 5 energy attack with the potential to stun his targets, he is gradually building up Power. This is further enhanced by his innate power Immortal Weapon. As one of the Immortal Weapons, the champions of the Seven Cities of Heaven, Iron Fist can manipulate his chi’s flow. In the game, this power gives Iron Fist 1 bonus Power during the Power Phase.

Once Iron Fist has accumulated enough Power and focused his chi’s flow, he can unleash the Iron Fist’s devastating power. With a punch strong enough to bring down a Helicarrier, he strikes with an astounding Strength 9 energy attack. This strike’s shockwave is strong enough to cause enemy characters within Range 3 of the initial target to suffer damage, and whoever is on the receiving end of this empowered punch can be Staggered and thrown back from the impact. Perhaps more damaging for the enemy’s plans, if the Iron Fist attack’s target didn’t already have an Activated token, this attack places one on them. He won’t be able to do it all the time—in early stories, this attack left Iron Fist drained and exhausted —so you’ll have to spend 8 Power to pull off the strike.

While his Iron Fist attack is undoubtedly eye-catching, Iron Fist has other attacks and powers to reflect his martial arts mastery. Unfortunately, that’s all we have time for today!

That’s all for our first look at how Iron Fist leaped Panel to Play. Check back for our next installment, when we examine another of your favorite characters as they jump onto the table in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until then, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off.