I. Nova V'Ger
- Nova V'ger has a voracious appetite for knowledge; she needs to know anything and everything about anything and everything. Her magic powers have been gifted to her by a mysterious entity called Tiangong. She dreams of traveling to the stars and discovering the location of the true genasi homeworld.
Nova is played by Kim Richards, a member of The High Rollers D&D crew, based in the UK. The High Rollers stream each week at the High Rollers Twitch page. For more info on Nova, the High Rollers crew, and the homebrew world of Aerois created by professional dungeon master Mark Hulmes, check out the High Rollers Aerois wiki.
Nova is a Tank and Support Champion who understands knowledge is power. She buffs her most intelligent allies for each monster killed, protecting herself with her Hexblade, Tiangong. When you want to add Nova to your formation, you can swap her with Jamilah (Slot 11).
II. Nova's Stats
| Race: Air-Genasi | Alignment: Chaotic Good |
| Class: Warlock (Hexblade) | Gender: Female |
| Age: 20 | Affiliation: Heroes of Aerois |
| STR: 7 | DEX: 16 | CON: 16 |
| INT: 15 | WIS: 8 | CHA: 20 |
Role: Tanking, Support
Eligible for Patrons: Vajra Safahr, Mirt the Moneylender, and Strahd von Zarovich.
III. Nova's Design
It's always fun to work closely with a creator to make their character come to life, and Kim Richards was no exception. Kim provided us with a depth of material to draw from, including information about Nova's backstory that has still yet to be discovered on High Rollers(!). Like Kim, we've had a great time adding a bit of a science-fiction spin to D&D spells and abilities -- for example, turning 5E's Warlock Invocation, Tomb of Levistus, into Failsafe.As a Champion, Nova is an explorer and a scientist, so we wanted to highlight those qualities in her Idle Champions design. Her main abilities focus around discoveries related to the internal anatomy of monsters and bosses, and sharing that knowledge with the party in the form of buffs to other intelligent party members.
With the addition of the final member of the Aerois team, Lucius Elenasto in Simril 4, Nova received updates to her Formation Abilities and her Aerois Synergy
IV. Nova's Abilities
Basic Attack
- Dissect — Nova leaps out and slices through the nearest enemy with Tiangong. The slash produces a spark of green flame. If her attack kills the enemy, and the enemy is a normal mob, it is guaranteed to drop a monster heart (once as Curiosity is unlocked).
Formation Abilities
- Curiosity — Nova is intrinsically curious about the world around her. When monsters are killed, there is a chance she will collect a trophy from it. Trophies augment her abilities and reset every run. Bosses always drop monster brains, which provide big buffs but only drop once per boss per run. Normal monsters have a 10% chance to drop monster hearts, which can be farmed indefinitely and provide smaller buffs.
- Discovery — Nova increases the damage of the five Champions in the formation with the highest Intelligence score by 100%. In the case of a tie for fifth place, all Champions with the given INT score are affected. This effect is buffed by 0.1% for each monster heart she has collected (stacking additively and then applying multiplicatively), and 10% for each monster brain she has collected (stacking multiplicatively and then applying multiplicatively).
- Close Encounters — Nova increases the effect of Discovery by 100% for each enemy attacking her and each point of enemy/boss enrage, stacking additively and then applying multiplicatively.
- Slow — Nova's attacks slow the movement of enemies she damages by 50% for 5 seconds. Enemies that are Slowed by this ability deal half damage to Nova. This effect does not stack if it is applied again before it expires, but the cooldown is refreshed.
- Failsafe — When Nova becomes Overwhelmed, Tiangong creates a protective barrier around Nova, giving her 250 points of temporary HP and stunning her until the shield is broken or she is no longer overwhelmed. This can only trigger once per area (changing areas resets it so it can happen again). The amount of temporary HP granted is increased by 5.75% for each monster brain she has collected, stacking multiplicatively.
- Protective Field — Nova increases the max health of all other Champions by 25% of her base max health.
- Cosmic Resonance — Heroes of Aerois are automatically buffed by Discovery and are not included in the calculations for highest INT score.
- Aerois Synergy — Nova contributes to the Aerois Synergy Pool as follows: 60% per Champion buffed by Discovery (multiplicative). Discovery is then increased by 25% of the total Aerois Synergy Pool.
Specializations
- Mass Appeal — Discovery — now applies to the top eight Champions by INT score, up from the top five.
- Journaling — Increase the effect of Discovery by 100%
Ultimate Ability
- Activate Tiangong — Nova levitates up in the air as Tiangong floats in front of the formation, releasing three waves of blue energy that deal big damage (each deals 1/3rd of her stated ultimate damage) to all enemies. The damage is increased by 1% for every 20 monster hearts Nova has collected, stacking additively.
V. Nova's Legendary Equipment
| Slot 1: Global DPS |
Slot 2: Global DPS |
Slot 3: Max Health |
| Slot 4: Buff Discovery |
Slot 5: Ultimate Damage |
Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown |