Event dials were like dynamic, ever-changing Battlefield Conditions. But they never caught on, really, because they weren’t useable in tournament settings (since any player could vote down the use of Event Dials).
And rightly so. Just as many BFCs have the potential to either greatly enhance or hamper particular characters or team builds, so too do certain Event Dials. Indeed, as my Building for The Event Dial series showed last year, certain teams CAN’T be played with certain Event Dials at ALL.
But then came one final Event Dial unlike all the others: the Intrinsic Field Experiment 15 (Watchmen E-001). Like modern Special Objects, it has a point cost on your force. But just like other, no-cost Event Dials, it can be voted off the island HeroClix table.
And, just like that, you’ve lost 40 points of your force.
Because it’s literally a part of its player’s force, an opponent should not be able to nix its use without paying his own points to do so (as he would to use, say, Batman & Catwoman’s trait to remove an object from the game right off).
Hence, the #10 most-needed rule change for HeroClix:
Event Dials with a point cost must be played when on a force.
It’s only at the bottom because A) there’s only the above solitary example of the problem and B) event dials are pretty much a dead mechanic. But with this rule change, perhaps they could become a dynamic, balanced element in the metagame rather than the random, overly complicated thing they are.
Or were. Whatever.
But wait! Apparently, after I wrote the above text and was ready to post it up, it was revealed that one of the limited edition Special Objects in the Incredible Hulk set’s prize kit was essentially a new event dial, complete with point cost. So it seems that, in a small way, this change has been made, sort of.
Be here tomorrow for the INCREDIBLE HULK set edition of Token Totin’, the photographic record of how each Super-Strong figure can physically hold an object token. Then we continue the Top Ten Changes We Want for Clixmas!