Welcome back to Coastal Clix! This time, we’ll be looking at the ins and outs of three powers with similar mechanics: Super Senses, Shape Change, and Impervious. A common mistake for newer players is treating all three powers as operating the same way; even experienced players can occasionally make this mistake. We’ll be looking at each of them, how they’re similar, and most importantly, how they differ and can be best played or played against.



Knew it was Coming: Super Senses

Super Sen ses is probably the most common of these powers. We’ll look at it first, as we can use its basic mechanics for discussing Shape Change and Impervious.

As usual, let’s begin with the details on Super Senses from the 2014 PAC.

SUPER SENSES: When this character is hit by an attack, you may roll a d6 before damage is dealt. On a result of 5 or 6, this character evades the attack.

So here we see the basic thread that all three of our powers share: rolling one die and, on a result of 5 or 6, avoiding/reducing/not being targeted by an attack. In the case of Super Senses, the attack is evaded.

Because Super Senses “evades” an attack, the single die roll occurs after it’s determined that the attack has hit. Here’s a quick sequence of events:

Opposing figure rolls to attack you. Dice are rerolled via Prob or other powers, if applicable. If the attack hits, roll one die for Super Senses.

This is a good time to note: NONE OF THESE THREE POWERS CAN BE REROLLED VIA PROBABILITY CONTROL. This has nothing to do with these powers, as they can be rerolled. The limitation, rather, lies within the timing of Probability Control itself. Don’t worry; I’ll be repeating this later in the article. For some reason, it’s easy to forget, and I’ve been guilty of it myself!

Each of our three powers today deals with damage in a different way. As seen above, Super Senses “evades” an attack. There are a few powers and game effects to note when using or playing against Super Senses.

Precision Strike causes attacks to be unable to be evaded. Super Senses is rendered useless.

Pulse Wave ignores Super Senses just like it ignores everything else. Where’d He Go : Shape Change If Super Senses is the most common of our solo-die powers, then Shape Change is a close second. It’s become more common to see the power on dials, and there are numerous game effects that grant Shape Change. SHAPE CHANGE: When this character is chosen as the target of an attack, you may roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, the attacker can’t target this character with an attack this turn and the attacker may choose another target character instead. The attacker then makes the attack unless there are no targets, in which case the action resolves without an attack. Unlike Super Senses, where an attack is evaded, Shape Change makes you unable to be targeted by the attack. This has some interesting applications on the table. Let’s look at our order of operations again.

Opponent declares your figure the target of an attack. You roll Shape Change. If the roll fails, the attack proceeds as normal. If the roll succeeds, you cannot be targeted by this attack, and the opponent is free to seek another legal target for the attack. If none exist, the action ends.

As you can see, Shape Change differs significantly from Super Senses despite their similar mechanics. I know I’ve forgotten that I can attack another eligible target if my initial target rolls Shape Change. The other important note is that the roll happens before any attack rolls and can cause the attack to end before it really even starts.

There are a handful of ways to effectively deal with Shape Change.

Battle Fury completely ignores Shape Change.

Pulse Wave behaves with its usual degree of ignorance.

While not a counter to the power, always try to give yourself a “backup target.” If your first choice makes the Shape Change roll, you won’t lose out on the action entirely.

Not Even a Scratch: Impervious

Our third power, Impervious is much less common than Super Senses and Shape Change. It’s more commonly seen on high-point figures as an opening defense power. The reason for this is that Impervious also carries some guarantees:

IMPERVIOUS: When this character is dealt damage, roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, the damage dealt is reduced to 0. On a result of 1–4, the damage dealt is reduced by 2.

While Super Senses evades and Shape Change avoids targeting, Impervious is a reducer like Toughness or Invulnerable. The order of operations for Impervious is similar to Super Senses.

Opposing figure rolls to attack you. Dice are rerolled via Prob or other powers, if applicable. If the attack hits, roll one die for Impervious. On a 5 or 6, damage is reduced (important) to 0. On a 1-4, damage is reduced by 2.

For new players, Impervious is almost always introduced as “Invulnerable and Super Senses together.” This can be a handy way to quickly learn how to handle the mechanical side of the power, but it can cause problems when trying to figure out which powers to employ against Impervious.

Obviously, reducing damage by at least 2, and possibly to 0, is quite potent. Like every power, however, there are ways around it.

As a reducer, Impervious is bypassed by any source of Penetrating damage (most commonly Exploit Weakness or Penetrating/Psychic Blast).

A successful hit with Precision Strike will still deal 1 damage even through a 5 or 6 Impervious roll.

Pulse Wave. You know by now.

Putting it All Together

Let’s look at one last example of these powers in action, this time, all together at once. Assume that your figure has Super Senses, Shape Change, and Impervious at the same time. (Not all that difficult in the current game). In this case, let’s pretend it’s the same (no longer legal) Ion-possessed Dex-Starr that we slaughtered with Pulse Wave in our previous article. This time, he’s not getting knocked by the king of attack powers. He’s just getting shot at…so good luck.

Opponent displays poor judgement by declaring Dex-Starr as the target of an attack. Roll for Shape Change. If successful, Dex-Starr cannot be attacked. If it fails, continue. Opponent rolls attack dice. Reroll if applicable. REMEMBER: THIS IS THE ONLY TIME DURING THIS ATTACK YOU’LL BE ABLE TO USE PROB! NONE OF THE POWERS WE’RE DISCUSSING IN THIS ARTICLE CAN BE REROLLED VIA PROBABILITY CONTROL!!! Roll for either Super Senses. If successful, the attack is evaded. If the roll fails, then proceed to… Roll for Impervious. If successful, the attack hits and damage is reduced to 0. If the roll fails, the attack hits and damage is reduced by 2. In the event that the opponent manages to hit and land damage, congratulate them and encourage them to pursue a life of high-stakes poker.

Rolling Out

There you have it–a quick look at each of the gambling man’s defensive options. They all rely on a single die roll to deal with incoming attacks, but as you can see, they do so in very different ways. Remembering how each of them works and how to effect them can be the key to keeping your figures alive or taking down your opponent’s. Also remember: these powers get better the more of them you can stack on a single figure. Super Senses and Shape Change together are much better protection than just one or the other.

Quick tip for working against these powers when stacked: bring Pulse Wave. As a second option, bring Precision Strike. It will get you past two of the three (even if Impervious reduces the damage) and you can work around Shape Change.

That’s all I’ve got this time! Hopefully you and the players in your group will find this quick breakdown of these three powers useful, and I hope that I’ve answered some common questions. Thanks as always for reading!