Ugh. OK. So I said I’d have this installment up “some time this weekend?” Yeah. Didn’t happen. So I’m not making those kinds of promises anymore. Just look out for new posts, all right? All right.

E001 MUTANT MASSACRE

Based on the classic X-Men crossover circa issue 210 or so of the Uncanny X-Men series.

BRING: Character cards (and/or an official keyword list).

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which a character that has a point value of more than 30 points is knocked out or eliminated.

WHAT IT MEANS: Unlike many other dials, which turn at the end of each round, Mutant Massacre only turns when characters leave the game. This means that various conditions can affect your game for a pretty long time, especially the first:

MASSACRE (Black, slots A-H): Before the beginning of the first turn, each player declares a keyword. During the active player’s turn, if an opposing character that has the keyword named by the active player takes damage, after it takes damage deal that character 1 unavoidable damage. Critical hits to all characters deal an additional 1 damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: Any character with a keyword could be a target for extra harm, and this condition lasts a LONG time. You’ll want to seriously consider fielding characters without keywords. They will not be as vulnerable to the MASSACRE condition. By the same token, you should avoid theme teams entirely.

HELP FROM ARTIE AND LEECH (red, slots C-D, G-I): At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. On a result of 4-6, a single character on your force that can’t already use Outwit can use Outwit once during that turn. In addition, if the result was a 6, you can also give an action token to one opposing character that has zero action tokens.

WHAT IT MEANS: Consider fielding Power Cosmic/Quintessence figures. They’ll essentially be immune to this condition. Anti-Outwit feats/powers like The Society, Outsmart, Fortitude and Stealth will help as well. Willpower and Indomitable will be less vulnerable to the token dump, at least.

EMERGENCY TRIAGE (cyan, slots E-F): At the beginning of your turn, all of your characters that have two action tokens are healed of 1 damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: Another good reason to invest in characters who can push freely through Willpower or other means to gain free healing.

SUMMING IT UP: Mutant Massacre can truly make for a rough game for the unprepared. This is one dial that’s infinitely more fun when you can build for it. At the very least, avoid keyword themes.

Next time, we’ll look at the next phase of event dial development: Evolutionary War.