All About Theme Teams
In HeroClix, a theme team is a team of figures that all have one keyword (NOT Team Ability symbol) in common. For instance, you can build an Avengers-keyword team, or build a Generic Soldier team based off the Soldier keyword. You can even build a Teen-keyword team using pieces from Marvel and DC! There are myriad keywords in the game, so your only job is to find one you're interested in and start building!
How Many Characters Do You Need to Make a "Team?"
You need at least 2 characters that share a keyword to make a theme team, according to the 2014 Rulebook.
How to Find a Character's Keywords
Figures with character cards have the keywords listed at the top of their card, right beneath their name. See Star Sapphire, below:
Uncarded figures' keywords are listed in the Uncarded Figure Keyword List.
Named Keywords vs. Generic Keywords
There are two types of keywords: Named and Generic. Named keywords are like "Violet Lantern Corps," "Avengers," "Sentinels of Magic," etc.--they designate a SPECIFIC team. Generic keywords are more like hero categories, like "Soldier," "Warrior," "Psychic," "Teen," etc. On really new character cards, keywords in italics are Generic keywords, while the normal-text keywords are Named keywords.
Whether a keyword is Generic or Named makes a difference--Generic keyword teams don't get one of the benefits of a Theme Team, where Named keyword teams do.
Benefits of Running a Theme Team
Bonus to Initiative Roll
With a Theme Team, you get +1 to your "roll to see who goes first" for every character on your team. NICE!
Use of Additional Team Abilities
Theme teams can use Additional Team Abilities (ATAs), which augment your game even further. ATAs can give your team members additional powers, special abilities, or even weird game effects!
(Bonus: the ATA you use doesn't have to be used on every character, which means that even a member or two of a Generic keyword teams can use a Named-keyword ATA. More about that on this HCRealms forums post.)
Theme Team Probability Control (Named Theme Teams Only)
Named theme teams get what's called a Theme Team Probability Control (TTPC)--a limited use of Probability Control based on the number of characters you're running and the point total of the game you're playing. (Example: if you have 6 characters and you're playing a 600-point game, you have 6 TTPCs available. If you have 4 characters in a 600-point game, you have 4 TTPCs. If you have 8 characters in a 600-point game, you have 6 TTPCs.)
When you want to use a TTPC, you put an action token on another friendly character who hasn't acted this turn, and who can see the character that made the roll. If this action token is the friendly character's second token, remember to push them.