Submission: Shadow Court Beastie (Changeling)

If you don't know understand what a Beastie is in the World of Darkness, let me explain.

Beastie shape change into people's nightmares and feed on their fear.

Examples:
Pennywise from IT.
"Freddy" Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.
The Thing from the movie, "The Thing"
The Creeper from Jeepers Creepers

A "beastie" is the changeling kith for this type of creature.

It's too cheap. Even without a permanent rush, it's too hard to justify 6 life @ 3 pool that grows in strength and bleed and gains life without an action. Let's assume you're running an ally deck, so you run unmasking. Grafted into a Ghoulet deck, you can make it cost 1, block @ 2 intercept, and get abruptly out of hand.

I'd up cost, let it burn life for bleed, and get stronger only for the taking a hit.

Just too much for cheap as is.

It's too cheap

I could be convinced some card effects need to change slightly, such as the timing on the life gain (or maybe remove the life game because it isn't a mechanic we want). However from a math perspective the card is balanced, the evidence is below. I can't find any justification for a 4 pool cost as the card would fall into the underpowered category. Using Shadow Court Beastie with Winterlich or Sébastian Goulet seems pretty fair. Players should be using cost reduction with Allies and events like the Unmasking are not guaranteed. Yes, I fully expect this card would be used in an ally deck, but my hope is that it will be more than just Gangrel antitribu and Kiasyd. Unless you are arguing that cost reduction vampires are too good, but that seems like a different conversation.

The evidence is below.

Base stats
1 strength (each change is +/- 1.5 points)
1 bleed (each change is +/- 1.5 points)
X life, X is the pool cost of the ally. (each change is +/- 0.5 points)
Allies gain pts to spend on abilities equal to their pool cost + 1.

0 is balanced.
negative numbers are overpowered (they spent more points than they should have)
positive numbers are underpowered (they had unspent points).


For 3 pool ally.

1 strength
1 bleed
3 life
4 pts to spend on abilities.

Shadow Court Beastie
1 strength = base
0 bleed = +1.5 pts
6 life = -1.5 pts
+1 intercept = -1 pts
Permanent bleed and strength from trigger, combat related, on damage only = -2 pts
Gains a life per turn = -1 pts
4 + 1.5 - 1.5 - 1 - 2 - 1 = 0

Balanced.

Now let's compare to other 3 point non-unique allies.

Dauntain Black Magician (Changeling)
3 strength = -3.0
0 bleed = +1.5
4 life = -0.5
1st action = -1.0
2nd action = -1.0
4 - 3 + 1.5 - 0.5 - 1 - 1 = 0

Balanced. However the abilities are so specific that they are almost worthless.

Gargoyle Slave
2 strength = -1.5
0 bleed = +1.5
3 life = 0
Disadvantage = +0.5
Prevent 1 damage = -1.5
Gain life as action = - 0.5
4 - 1.5 + 1.5 + 0.5 - 1.5 - 0.5 = 2.5

Underpowered
Should have flight, more life and strength.

Herald of Topheth
3 strength = -3.0
1 bleed = 0
5 life = -1.0
flight = assumed to be 0.
3 basic disciplines = -3.0
action combat rush = -1.5
Gain a life per turn = -1.0
Disadvantage = +2.0
4 - 3 - 1 - 3 - 1.5 - 1 + 2 = -3.5

Overpowered.

Outcast Mage
0 strength = +1.5
1 bleed = 0
2 life = +0.5
2R strike = -2.0
maneuver = -1.0
4 + 1.5 + 0.5 - 2.0 - 1.0 = 3

Underpowered. If he had a strength, gained a life and his strike was 3R he would be balanced.

Rom Gypsy
0 strength = +1.5
0 bleed = +1.5
2 life = +0.5
1R strike = -1.0
maneuver = -1.0
tap for +1 stealth = -1.5
4 +1.5 + 1.5 + 0.5 - 1.0 - .1.0 - 1.5 = 4

Underpowered. Should have a strength, a bleed, a life and 2R strike.

Shadow Court Satyr (Changeling)
1 strength = 0
1 bleed = 0
3 life = 0
Re-usable combat ability as vampire = - 3.0
Mimic discipline = -1.0

4 - 4 = 0

Balanced

War Ghoul
4 strength = -4.5
0 bleed = +1.5
5 life = -1.0
Disadvantage = +1.5
action combat rush = -1.5
Prevent 1 damage = -1.5
Burn ability = -1.0
4 - 4.5 + 1.5 - 1.0 + 1.0 - 1.5 - 1.5 - 1.0 = -2.5

Overpowered

Also keep in mind. The card has a base bleed of 0, so...

Beastie has to enter combat somehow.
Probably with a rush action or block an action of +1 stealth or lower.
In the resulting combat, it has to lose life (and not die) so if the opponent plays Dodge or S:CE, then the trigger does not go off.

Okay, so, I think your reasoning for the new, revised design is solid. Focusing more than splattering the effect all over the place is most often a good thing, and it makes for tighter, more balanced and more fun designs.

I kind of like your reasoning here. Getting the full value out of a 3 beastie requires some work, but can be comboed to a big effect.

In prolonged combats (Traps, Mod connections, ANI based off-combat presses, anything of sorts) during a block makes him pretty scary as a bruise bleeder. It's not easy to control his life amount though. That said, for the idea I'll give four golden stars out of five.

I'm afraid the additional effects you slapped on him might too easily become the main uses for him. A global +1 Intercept is just too strong for a bruise/bleed/management ally you're trying to do, since it'll effectively hamper tool-up and vote decks just as much. And that dedicated blocking kind of goes past Beastie's intent?

Unmasking and radios make for good ally block fodder as is. If you want to add anything to him, I'd do a more focused approach, as Sabbat is all about different block effects: reflecting Abbot, +1 Intercept against Bleed or actions only?; reflecting Eternal Vigilance, unlock and block by paying a life? That would give him a self-managing ability as well.

I think 6 life seems a bit too much to be honest. War Ghoul's the shining star and staple of allies. Be very careful not to exceed it's power level. Not saying you're doing that here, but just be aware of this. Existing power cards should not be creeped past in power level.

The regeneration window is a bit weird within consistency, but I understand why you put that to the end of turn instead of unlock phase. If we tinker about the card, it could be at unlock, but then again consistency might not be an issue here. Just mentioning.

The obvious combos with Beastie are self-damaging effects. How many do we have?

Name: Talbot's Chainsaw
[Jyhad:R, VTES:R, CE:R, KoT:R]
Cardtype: Equipment
Cost: 3 pool
Unique weapon.
Strike: 3 damage. If bearer is ready during your unlock phase, a ready minion you control takes 3 unpreventable damage. Bearer cannot hunt. Bearer may enter combat with a minion controlled by another Methuselah as a +1 stealth action. Bearer gets a press, only usable to continue combat on the first round, and may prevent up to 1 damage each combat.
Artist: Jim Nelson; Tom Wänerstrand

Name: Abyssal Hunter
[BH:R2]
Cardtype: Ally
Clan: Lasombra
Cost: 2 pool
Demon with 4 life. 3 strength, 0 bleed.
Hunter can inflict 1 damage on any minion as a action. During your unlock phase, a ready vampire you control takes 1 damage. Burn the hunter if any ranged aggravated damage is done to him, even if it is prevented.
Artist: Jeff Holt

I'm pretty sure there are others, are there?

@Kraus:
It only pumps when it loses life in combat. Which I feel is a very interesting effect, but has 2 drawbacks:

Book keeping: I'm not saying add counters, but there has to be something keeping track of it's added strength and bleed. This isn't crimson sentinel or masochism, it triggers the same time in different incriments though, and those both have counters. Allies with non life counters that are good just run pathos counters, and those keep track of how long the dead hookers stats around.
So, something needs to exist for book keeping.
Second, again, it could EASILY bleed for 3-4 the turn after it's recruited. Play it, goes to 7 life during discard phase, it blocks some schmuck (Keith moody, Jao bilr, Jephta hester, Le din tho, you get the idea) and plays trap. The aforementioned schmuck has hands for one three rounds. (In this example, Keith doesn't make it that long, and the others go to torpor unless they prevent alot of times, since Beastie hits one, two, three, for six. If they soak in the middle, they drop round 4 because trap reset, etc)

Three bleeder with 4 life next turn. you have an Inner Circle member for 3 pool and a trap.

This issue is compounded with the free standing intercept. With 1-2 media location, one being channel 10, and an unmasking out, you can conceivably block anyone except block fails and stealth bleed choking on stealth. These cards are reasonable if you're playing an ally deck maximizing efficiency of Beastie.

I wasn't detailed in expressing it's too much: your cost is too low for standing intercept once you properly weight life total and price the "hulk" ability as bleed and strength increase with no limit and factor in a regenerate with no ceiling that happens at EoT. I admire the use of a point system, and frankly using it is the simplest way to make a quantitative argument about balance. However, no ally exists with this "hulk out" ability, so the defining detail of the Ally is what makes it not fit cut and dry.
Now, limiting the life and pump takes extra text, and it's almost right, imo. But, as priced and given starting life and Regen, it should only get extra strength from ability, and could maybe burn any amount of life for intercept or up to 2 bleed.
Or reprice, or remove intercept and lower life to a range where it dies easier, since it gains another life before anything can touch it (other than Cogged rush or madness network rush...) It's gotta be more fragile to be able to bleed like an IC member with so little effort, or like lucian the perfect with more effort. Or, put a garou price on it. As is screams unique and still overkill. Adjust away from there. Because you seriously can have tons of these with sabbat weenies and run it like imbued table poison and giggle as everyone wants to beat you with a shoe......