12.23.2011

E1M5: PINBALL WIZARD

by C. Steven Ross

[DESIGNER'S NOTE: As per Rules Compendium, "entering a square" includes entering a square due to forced movement. This distinction is the central basis for the map design and cannot be neglected.]

Pinball Wizard: All creatures are immobilized and immune to the prone condition.

The Drain: At the start of each creature's turn, that creature is pulled 3 squares towards the bottom of the map. Each creature chooses the exact direction of the pull, but cannot voluntarily reduce the total distance of the pull. If a creature starts or ends its turn below the Flippers (ie. off the board), it dies.

Humiliation: A creature rolling a natural 1 on an attack roll is pulled 5 squares towards the Drain. The direction of the pull is always straight down and cannot be diagonal. If a creature starts or ends its turn below the Flippers (ie. off the board), it dies.

Drop Target (1/turn): A creatures entering this square immediately deals 5 damage to all of that creature's enemies. This damage cannot be reduced or negated in any way.


Extra Ball (1/turn): A creature entering this square may choose one dungeoneer to immediately use Respawn. A dungoneer using Respawn in this way does not die.
Bonus Points (1/turn): Creatures entering this square gain a +5 untyped bonus to their next damage roll made before the end of their next turn.
Telethrower: A creature that enters a telethrower square ends the triggering forced movement and slides 4 squares in the direction shown.

Respawn Terrain Power
At-Will (teleportation)
Trigger: You start your turn dead, dying or begin your first turn of the encounter.
Effect (No Action): You regain all hit points and healing surges, remove all failed death saves and conditions, refresh all encounter powers and power points, and teleport to the teleport square. If the destination teleport square is occupied, that creature dies. You then push yourself 2d6 squares away from the Plunger.
If a creature is occupying the teleport square, that creature dies.


Combo Shot Terrain Power
At-Will
Trigger: A creature attempts to enter a square occupied by another creature on your turn.
Effect (No Action): The triggering forced movement ends and you must push both creatures 2 squares away from each other. You cannot voluntarily reduce the total distance of the push.
Special: If this power triggers during your turn, you may take any available actions to you before applying the effect of this power.

Elastic Impact Terrain Power
At-Will
Trigger: You hit a creature with a melee attack.
Effect (Free Action): After resolving the attack, slide the triggering creature 1 square.

Flipper Terrain Power
At-Will
Trigger: You start your turn in the Flipper area.
Effect (No Action): You push yourself 1d6 squares away from the Flipper. You cannot voluntarily reduce the total distance of the push.

Bumper Terrain Power
Bumpers are 2 square diameter circles on the left hand wall and in the center of the map.
At-Will
Trigger: A creature attempts to enter a square occupied by a Bumper.
Effect (No Action): The triggering forced movement ends and you must push the creature 2 squares away from the Bumper. You cannot voluntarily reduce the total distance of the push.


Slam Tilt Terrain Power
At-Will (1/turn)
Trigger: You reduce 2 or more enemies with at least 1 hit point to 0 hit points or fewer during the same turn.
Effect (Free Action): Slide each creature on the map up to 2 squares.

11 comments:

  1. Tum te tum.. this map looks hilarious, although I have no idea how it would pan out.

    First big comment though is that I think you want to be able to have starting characters able to curl around the corner at the top right (and thus if they roll 16 on the initial push, they could in theory make it to the extra ball).

    Second comment: Bumper doesn't really work mechanically - I can tell what you want it to do, but due to the rounded corners, you'll always be able to move further from your origin than your current square even with the bumpers in the way, so it would never trigger. Unless bumper is meant to mean any wall, not just the round spot on the left wall and the round spot in the middle.

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  2. The top curve DOES actually work the way intended. If you roll a 15 or 16 on your initial push, you get shot out of the Plunger and then pulled 2 squares towards the Extra Ball due to The Drain.

    The Bumpers are definitely supposed to be the rounded thing on the wall and the circle in the center. I'm not 100% following you on how it doesn't work. For example, let's say you're right above the central Bumper and get pulled down (as is wont to due with The Drain). If you'd like to bounce off of it, you pull yourself towards it, the forced movement can't complete, and thus you are pushed away. If you would prefer to slip past it, you aim the pull to skirt the edge and you drop. I put some thought into the terrain powers/features to distinguish who is doing the forced movement so that the character being moved USUALLY can direct that movement, kind of a door prize for having Speed 0.

    Unless I'm totally missing something here?

    Thanks always for the cunning tactical insight!

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  3. Wow; you sure love to push that envelope don't you? Your mind takes you to some wonderfully bizarre places and I'm happy to be along for the ride

    Bumper: how about it triggering merely if a dungeoneer is adjacent?

    Also, I'd like to see some lights around the middle that give you a boost to damage when you move over them.

    Great stuff!

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  4. It's abundantly clear how the toop curve is intended to work, but technically according to RAW, once you got to the top, you couldn't be pushed to the left (in D&D physics those squares would be the same distance away from the plunger).

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  5. Oh crap, you're right. To the Death Labs!

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  6. Alright, try this on for size.

    Also of note, I updated Respawn to only push 2d6. I *think* it works how it's intended now.

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  7. All right it could work now; but with 2d6, now you only just reach the top with 12, so you'd never go further in one round; I would keep the 2d8, then if you roll more than 12, anything higher than 12 would trigger bumper off the top corner wall (assuming we can trigger bumper off of all walls, which I think is a good idea).

    As for bumpers, lets say the map goes from A to K left to right, and 1 to 15 top to bottom (so you die if you end in row 16 or lower), and you are currently at E8. Now I am pulled 2 toward row 16, which I am currently 8 squares away from. Therefore, to be pulled legally, I must end 7 squares away from it. So I can go to any of D9, E9, or F9. Lets say I choose F9. Now I choose the second square of the pull, and legally, I must choose G10, since E10 and F10 are both occupied by the bumper; by the current rules of forced movement, going to E10 or F10 is not legal, since you cannot occupy those squares; and since you do have a choice (G10) you are not forced to stop due to the bumper, so the bumper cannot trigger. (Similarly, if you had been in E9, you would be forced to go to D10, and the bumper would still not trigger.)

    What you might want to say is that for this map walls/bumpers are LEGAL possibilities for forced movement squares; but if you choose one of their squares, then you trigger the bumper terrain power.

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  8. If you start where the ball is (that's the only teleport for the map), wouldn't you hit the peak at a starting roll of both 11 and 12?

    I see what you're saying about there still being a legal choice for forced movement in just about all cases involving bumpers and the like. I'll try and revise the wording to be more to my intent.

    Thanks again for the sharp eye!

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  9. Can folks teleport? Are dwarves like, the magnet-ball? Any humiliation?

    Slam Tilt is exactly how I imagined it - but it's not clear whether it affects every creature on the board or not.

    I pictured this board as having a powerful current (like 8 or so?), but leaving the PCs with movement. I think this way is more awesome.

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  10. Like all FTDM things, I always have a sharp eye for how the Dwarves will fare. An all-Dwarf team wrecked the competition at GenCon and took away the prize. While Dwarves' reduction of forced movement may seem like a godsend in that they're not "falling" as fast, and I admit that is a very good thing, they are also much "slower" on this map and have a big disadvantage in overall mobility because of it. They may still wreck this map, but I want to see how it pans out.

    I see what you mean on Slam Tilt, I'm rewording to include everybody.

    Teleportation is a-ok. I've already got a race-class combo in mind that I think will do well on this map, and one that I would never expect to do well on anything 4E D&D ever, FTDM or no. It's quite lovely!

    Humiliation is listed towards the top of the post; it pulls you 5 squares towards the Drain.

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  11. incidentally, as I'm not a big forced movement person; since you don't specifically say it stops, if you trigger a second forced movement during your original forced movement, do you then complete the original forced movement after completing the second (triggered) movement? With the succubus map it specifically said you stopped, and I'm just not sure about what is required in this case.

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