BCZ Retrospective XXIII: New Boss Powers.

The Boss Powers in BCG are primarily defensive, with some Powers that do Direct Damage for offensive purposes. I largely tried to avoid direct attack and defense buffs, because Bosses could end up being unbeatable when you stack those with the buffs they can get at Threshold Levels 3 and 4. In BCZ the PCs have many more ways to buff themselve and also have access to all sorts of new utility powers, upgrades and weapons... So I figured I would give Bosses the same utility toolset plus the simple attack and defense buffs that BCG didn't give them.

Much like I did for the original set of BCG Boss Powers, I'll be grading these on how much they let you ham it up as GM by calling them out loud. Without further ado, let's begin!

Catch me if you Can
This gives Bosses access to something that they would otherwise not be able to do: Teleport. It's not amazing, but if your Boss depends a lot on positioning and already has most of its kit, then this is a pretty decent pick. Ham Rating: Medium. The name fits pretty well and it's a pretty okay taunt, but it's the least bombastic thing in the world.

Crush the Insect
This is a very, very nasty surprise to pull on PCs with low Systems. Everything I said about Invasive in the BCG Retrospective applies to this Power: It's a cheap trick that can be very frustrating and unfun, so it more than does its job but it should be used sparingly... Or with parties that are ready for and expect Plot Armor Damage. Ham Rating: Good. This really should've been called "Crush you like an Insect", then it would've been Great.

I Can Read Your Every Move
I set out to adapt Combat Profiling, specifically by making the rules as similar as possible, and the results are... Mixed. On one hand, it's pretty simple and flavorful. On the other hand, it doesn't really do a lot. The buff only occurs during your next Turn, and the PC has control over whether it happens or not. Arguably, this could've been better as a pseudo mind control power, where the Boss 'predicts' what is going to happen and/or sets up a trap and forces the PC into it. My other problem with it is that the buff is only relevant to Bosses that specialize in direct combat, and this is the kind of power that you give to NPC tricksters and tacticians who should have Systems higher than Might. Ham Rating: Great. The callout is very flavorful and threatening, so at least we end on a high note!

Marked for Death
This is one of those straightforward attack and defense buffs I mentioned... And it's a pretty good one! +4 Attack and Defense, even if it is only against a single target, shoudl let you down a PC in 3 attacks instead of 4 and possibly negate some debuffs that need to meet your Defense to have an effect. Probably my favorite of this whole bunch, in mechanical terms, because it goes on so many builds. Ham Rating: Medium. A simple change like "Mark you for Death" would increase the rating to Good. It's easy enough to make the change and make yourself understood, so it's not bad.

Souls Bound by Gravity
I don't remember what came first, the idea of naming a power after Char's phrase or making a debuff that removes Flight. Whatever the case, the result is inarguably flavorful. It originally didn't have a range limit, which made it kind of bullshit as all Extreme Terrain anywhere forever would wreck your shit until the Boss died. At least now the Boss has to be close to the PCs and can't spend its Turns running away while forcing them to suffer Extreme + Difficult + Withering Terrain hell combos. Ham Rating: Meh. This depends entirely on whether you get the reference or not and, even then, it's not a particularly menacing line. Bump this to Great if you're Shuuichi Ikeda.

You are in my Sights
Aiming is a pretty good and simple buff, but it's too good to make it easily accessible to PCs without jumping through a hoop por two. With that said, there's no reason that Bosses can't have it, and if I'm going to do that then might as well let them use it to buff Grunts and Rivals as well. Ham Rating: Good, but would be Great if it was "Sniping the Targets" or even "I've Got you in my Sights."

So I think the BCZ Boss Powers average out to good, if not spectacular. Two are solid, two are conditional, one is meh and the last one is PTSD-inducing on munchkins without systems. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't pick out better names for them, but from a mechanical standpoint there's only one dud among them. And, er, that's it! I really don't have much more to say here. There's no big essay or profound realization to be had here. Sometimes stuff is just okay and that's fine!

Next: New Boss Upgrades

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