Advanced Design Week 8 - Turn Around

I was working on the Totem of Xthotl psyker ability. It is a really fun idea that Jason came up with, so I was hoping I could develop it some more to make it a fun defensive psychic ability to use.



This is my idea for the totem. To go through the logic for the different values associated with it, here is a small list:

• Range 36": I made it this so it could be used to aid most of your army even if they are spread out a bit, this is half the board length, and equal to the board width.
• Location must be within 3" of friendly unit: I did this to "balance" the range that the totem ability has. It can be used on far away areas IF the player has units there. This is to keep the totem as being a defensive ability as it therefore can't be used too much to provide advance "cover" for friendly units. 
• Scattering 2D6 - Mastery Level: I used the scattering mechanic for this to give a drawback to the ability. It gives the possibility of the totem scattering far enough away to benefit the enemy as it is for any unit, and not just friendly units. However, having a powerful psyker will allow you to reduce the effect of the scatter. I feel like this gives this ability some nice variety in results and doesn't always guarantee a beneficial use for the caster.
• 3+ Invulnerable Save: I chose to give the totem a 3+ invuln save as I wanted to give sufficient motivation to use this ability. It is a very powerful save.
• Charge 3: I chose to make it cost 3 charges to cast as I felt this sufficiently balanced out the powerful effect of the 3+ invulnerable save. Having it cost that many charges creates a high risk of getting Perils of the Warp, about a 7% chance actually (chance of rolling 2/3 sixes).

Overall I think this ability is pretty well balanced, with a high risk, high reward setup. I think it will add a nice defensive aesthetic to the psyker loadout.

On another note, I'm turning my act around for the rest of the semester. I felt like I was kind of coasting, or at least not doing my best all of the time. So the rest of the semester I will be truly giving 100% towards this class.