Okay—anybody got thoughts on XP expenditures? I've got 4 towards base, 3 to learn break fall, which leaves 7.
I found a note somewhere saying "increase CON" because I keep getting CON-stunned; if I put 4 XP into it, that leaves another 3 XP potentially towards base stuff (or to learn a skill the party might be missing?). Does anyone else want to go in with me on that gene sequencing, database, and spoofed IP box stuff, or should we worry about it later?
As many have said, I like what advice you can give without spoilers. If you think there's useful advice/system feedback to give us that can be generalized (without spoiling potential recurring NPCs) that'd be interesting.
For myself, I think:
- It was tough to predict what Celerity would do, so I spent more than a few phases sitting, waiting. I'm not sure what else to do there (other than somehow getting better intel, if someone has extra senses or long-range communication)
- Note to self (should it ever come up) don't trip desolid folks again. ;-)
- More generally, I suspect I may find that vs folks with breakfall I might be better off declining the 'throw' part of my flying throw, and just make it a strike. I'll have to experiment with that.
- I (player) am a bit unsure how to knock a normal out without hospitalizing them. My read is that it's not really possible. (I'd assume they'd have at least 20 STUN, and maybe more like 30, but lets say a zero point normal with 10 BODY, 20 STUN. An 8d6 punch should do ~28 STUN--likely bringing an unarmored normal to -6 STUN, which they'd wake up from in a couple turns--but it'll also do ~8 BODY--bringing them to 4 out of 10 BODY, and causing physical injuries that will take them 6 wks to recover from.) Do I have that right? Is there another option I have (or could buy)...short of an NND which doesn't fit the character? Can one intentionally cut back their BODY without pulling back on STUN?
- My decision to delay until Seg 3 DEX 1 to run noncombat (knowing I'd get to regain my full DCV in Seg 4 DEX 30) worked out great. I should remember that as a general strategy, where applicable.
I'd happily take feedback from mdt or anyone else.
As far as XP suggestions:
- The teamwork skill. Take familiarity for 1 pt if you haven't yet. Eventually mdt will let us know we've practiced together enough to spend 3 pts on the full skill.
- Oh and increasing CON is almost always an optimal thing to do (assuming it matches your character image). 10 pts gets you +5 CON which comes with +1 ED (worth 1 pt), +1 REC (worth 2 pts), +2.5 STUN (worth 2.5), +10 END (worth 5). Assuming you've put points into all of those already (or want to) and you decide to leave those figured characteristics the same, you're getting 10.5 pts back for every 10 pts you spend on CON...not to mention being better at avoiding getting stunned, and at any CON rolls. Now *THAT's* a bargain!
For myself, I've been RPing my mental defense practice with Vi for a month now and I'll certainly spend 5 pts on that. The rest of my XP are TBD.
Cheers,
Yeah. I'd been thinking of boosting Con on Taru. I just feel like high-con, but not-high body fits my image of her. High endurance, but still fragile. Like a battery!
But again... I like so many other things.
It seems consensus is not to reveal weaknesses of the villains in order to keep them recurring. Would it be possible for you to share your character building philosophy that should become evident/obvious with game-playing experience? Meaning what should be our go to strategies when faced with certain power sets? I think that should help everyone, maybe to the point of leaving it pinned to the campaign info tab.
As for my xp spend, I've already got 4 in the base. I've asked to spend 5 and 1 to reduce the -1/2 limitation to -1/4. Beyond that I would spend a point for the teamwork familiarity.
Cheers
@Rocket
This maneuver allows an attacker to Knock Out his opponent without permanently injuring him.
To Pull a Punch, an attacker takes a -1 OCV penalty for every 5d6 (or 5 DCs) in the attack. If the Attack Roll succeeds, the punch (or other HTH attack) does half the BODY it would normally do, and the KNockedown and Knockback are calculated from this BODY. However, if the attacker makes his Attack Roll exactly, he dos full damage to his target.
This is how bricks and martial artists hit normals.
Rocket has a second option that's much safer. The average normal has 2PD and 20 stun, the average soldier or merc or human martial artist has 4 PD and 30 stun.
Rocket can run around and around said normal and punch them 2-3 times doing 4D6 each time. He's not likely to put them in the hospital doing so. 4d6 average is 4 body 14 stun, so a normal usually will go down after two or three hits, and take 2 to 6 body. As long as they don't go below 0, they are not in danger of dying, and will need taped ribs or a splint. If you don't want to injure them at all, you should do the pulled punch route.
@MUD
There are five major types you'll run into in the game. You may run into a mixture of them.
Mundanes - These are normal humans, with normal characteristic maxima. They do not pay for powers, they only have equipment and normal things it's reasonable for them to have. They are between 0 and 50 points. The mercs you encountered were 25 point normals. They had SMGs, claymores, and some combat skill levels.
Superthugs - These are superhumans who have power, but are generally at a lower level than the party average. Some characters may become Superthugs as the game progresses, as you outstrip them in power level. They generally range from 100 to 300 pts. They are generally weaker than the characters. Snowjob is a Superthug.
Regular Opponents - These are superhumans who have powers and abilities equivalent to your own characters. This power level ranges from about 300 to 450 points. You have a good shot at taking these guys on if you're smart and careful, but bad dice rolls on either side can decide a match. Clerity and Wing-Girl are Regular Opponents. All your instructors were also Regular Opponents (with one exception).
Boss Opponents - These are superhumans who have powers and abilities that are much more powerful than you are. They are tough nuts to crack, but the entire team can bring them down if they are careful and work as a team. This will generally devolve into a slugging match. They generally have power levels in the 450 to 750 range. Bosses can skirt some of the campaign restrictions on defense levels, attack levels, or both. Midnite is a lower level Boss.
S-Class Bosses - These are superhumans who have powers and abilities that far outstrip your characters. It's possible to take down an S-class boss, with luck and teamwork, but expect several people to be knocked out, and chances for PC death come into play. S-Class Bosses have power levels in the 750+ range and generally ignore the campaign restrictions on attack levels and defense. Sanction is an S-Class Boss.
Now, there is also divisions by overall type :
Cannon - A cannon is generally someone who dishes out way more damage than they can take. A Cannon may be a Glass Cannon if they can't take much damage at all, or if they have some fatal weakness. A cannon may be a projector, or a melee character. The important thing is, they are specialized in laying down damage on a target and making it hurt. Aegis is a cannon.
Punching Bag - A punching bag has a lot more defense than offense capability. They can take a punch, take another one, take a shot, take a blast, and crack wise all day long. Punching bags generally don't do as much damage as they can take, their shtick is to slow you down and bog you down while a cannon finishes you off. They are often teamed up with Glass Cannons. Midnite is a Punching Bag (as was evidenced by everyone hitting the hell out of him and him not even budging).
Pro from Dover - A Pro from Dover does one thing, and does it really well. Like shoveling. They aren't much good for anything else, and if their shtick doesn't work, they have nothing to fall back on. However, they are a maestro at their shtick, and perform well above their weight class when using it. Clerity is a Pro from Dover.
All Around Joe - An All around Joe is a well rounded character who doesn't excel at any one thing, but also doesn't have any situation where they don't have at least some option of what to do. An All Around Joe is somewhat hard to play as they don't really shine in any given situation, but they also don't suck at any situation. Whip was an All Around Joe.
Monopoly Mike - A Monopoly Mike isn't necessarily good at anything... other than having a bunch of 'Get out of Jail Free' cards. They may be hard to hold, or they may have an excellent method of getting the hell out of dodge, or they may have some way of getting rescued. This could be power sets that make them hard to keep locked up (Celerity or Aegis for example) or they might have powers that make it easy for them to escape (Snowjob or Aegis for example), or they may have access to powerful patrons (the guy who always gets pulled out by his NSA buddy to do a government job in exchange for release).
People can be mixtures (Celerity is a Pro Monopoly Mike from Dover, Aegis is a Cannon Monopoly Mike).
Hope that helps some?
Perfect. Thanks. Your description really reset my expectations.
Cheers
I've just gone through the process of dropping out of 10 of my 13 games. If you're seeing this, it means I'd like to stay in this one, if you'll have me. I know that my post quality has dropped a lot, as has my post quantity.
Hopefully, by dropping the number of games I'm in so significantly, I'll be able to maintain a presence in the ones I'd like to stay in. I'll understand if you don't want to keep me, given the circumstances.
You're fine. I'm hosed at work right now as well.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting over here being incomprehensibly busy. But one day I'll get to bed before 5 am...
Any updates Vi?
I have reminded him twice, as of an hour ago.
I'll call him after he's off work.
Hello.
My name's Matt. Violet told me about this game a little while back, and the possibility of joining it.
I don't have a character yet, but I am working on a couple of possible concepts, both of them martial artists. Can I assume we're working with standard Hero 5e rules (200+ 150 in disadvantages), and is there anything crucial I should know before I present any ideas? Do you have any questions for me?
Looking forward to confabbing.
We have a Martial Artist (Snapdragon) already, so it might be advisable to figure out something non-toe-steppy.
Check This Post for a list of our characters and types.
Don't worry, I step on everyone's toes. Snapdragon does weird things with her martial arts, so it shouldn't be a problem.
(IIRC, though, we're low on projectors—a guy who punches sword beams at people could always be fun)
Mud's XP expenditure wish list:
* 5 XP - Reduce the -1/2 limitation (only on ground) of Mud's multi-power to -1/4 (not while flying OR touching a surface)? He's learned to control the raw elements of solids.
* 1 XP - Same with the Tremor Sense. I think 1 XP would change the same limitation from -1/2 to -1/4, too.
* 1 XP - Familiarity with Teamwork
cheers
GM is overwhelmed currently. When whelmed, will post more.
Hello to new guy.
Yes, low on projectors (only 1 and only partial projector). Martial artist could work, of course, as well.
We could really use another projector. A Martial Artist/Projector hybrid (Kaaaaaaaa... Meeeeeeee.... Haaaaaaaaa....) could be really useful.
Yeah... I don't think anyone on our team currently targets ED.
There's a lot of fun ways you could go—firebender type guy who uses kung fu to control the elements; streetfighter-esque ki puncher; weapon master with a flamethrower; boomerang specialist, etc—you could go with a martial artist, but I'd recommend utility beyond stand-and-punch, because that's currently 2/3 of our team. Literally, currently 4/6 characters fight with their fists. (On a sliding scale—Aegis and Mud hit hard but with mediocre accuracy, while Snapdragon and Rocket are accurate but with less power)
Okay, I have a couple of ideas I can work on tonight.
Quick question: As far as projectors are concerned, do arrows count (I'll have to put some flame arrows in there to affect ED)?
I mean, it's your character? I think the bigger question is whether you want to fight using a weapon focus, and whether you want to have attacks tied to your STR or based on fixed-damage energy blasts.
Also, energy whips are always cool.
***
My advice is probably to pick a source of your power that you like (whether some kind of kinetic energy projection, years of kung fu that turned into magical powers, or just cool weapons, etc.) and that would go with a compelling character/story, and work from there—the GM will help a lot with worries about balance etc.
He's also very likely to pick apart your build if you self build to point out mistakes. :3
Archer seems fine to me! Welcome aboard.
Rocket needs to go talk to his girlfriend in the RP posts. :P
Also, an Archer would be pretty rad.
Well, I have an archer idea, and an energy projector idea. The energy projector's likely to be done first, but I don't expect the archer to take very long (famous last words).
Rocket totally needs to RP with his gf. Sadly, Rocket's player is frantic with work, finishing everything I need to this week. Then I fly to NYC on Saturday, to Iceland on Monday (for fun), back to NYC two weeks later (for a week of work), then to PA for a week (with my wife's family) and not back home to Oakland until July 2.
I certainly plan to get some RP posts in there...but it's hard to get enough time/brainspace right now. (Discussion or quick combat posts are easier at the moment).
Looking forward to doing some real RP though. Soon. Hopefully.
In the meantime, please forgive.
Down to doing the hard part: Disadvantages for both characters.
This could take a while…
Ooh! But disadvs can be a great way to flesh out personality. Alternately, if you summarize the premise of each character, the comments/peanut gallery would be happy to call out suggestions.
Yea a surprising amount of aegis disads are 'is a rich dick'
Yeah, I never knew that rich dicks has it so rough. ;-)
Yeah, I never knew that rich dicks has it so rough. ;-)
If you're doing your own build, just remember I'll want to tweak it potentially.
No worries. GM narration is not required for PC role-playing. Or, for PC narration of character development.
cheers
If you're doing your own build, just remember I'll want to tweak it potentially.
Kind of thought as much, no worries. I've nearly finished disads with one. Where should I send it?
Put it on google drive and PM me a link (if it's PDF or doc), e-mail me at MDTPATHFINDER at Yahoo dot com if it's a HDC file.
It's been suggested to me that I ask for help with disadvantages. Currently I have 95 points worth (45 in hunted's, 50 in psych limitations), and I definitely need more.
For the record, this is my archer character is a former cop who was set up for a fall by the Russian mob. Now he's striking back, and they're hunting him for it of course. He's a bit Frank Castle-like in this respect (though he's not from the "kill 'em all' school of justice), so let your imaginations fly.
What've you got so far?
We're actually... loosely... affiliated with a Russian Mob. :P
45 is a looooot of hunteds....
Hmm. Are any of his powers superhuman, or does he just have a bow that he's really good at using? Because, like, a superhuman archer would have really good reflexes, sense of the wind, and distance vision—so maybe pupil dilation hurts his vision in either light or darkness, maybe he's extremely sensitive to a certain type of sight, sound, etc. Maybe he's got weird-shaped hands/fingers (or extra thumbs) and has to wear special gloves to conceal them, except those gloves get in the way of his powers. Etc.
I'm avoiding suggesting social/psych limitations because for a regular guy they can be hard to play, so I assume people know how to pick the ones they want to RP.
Archer:
In case it's not one of your hunted's all of us have:
20 Hunted: US Government 8- (Mo Pow; NCI; Harshly) 8-
Seems like you'd have:
15 Social Limitation: Secret Identity Frequently (11-),
I'd probably need to see your draft sheet (or hear more about your powers and vision for the character) to comment more. Feel free to browse all of our sheets for inspiration though.
Me:
Just a reminder, I'm traveling to Iceland these next two weeks with family...followed by a week of work travel in NYC...followed by a week of visiting the inlaws in PA. I'll be back home the week of July 4th.
I plan to squeeze in times for at least short posts, but I'm afraid I may fall further behind on roleplay.
As long as you bring us all back an Icelandic Pop Singer each, we should be cool, man.
Make sure mine has a fox motif. The ones who go with geese are always so WEIRD.
To make things easier, here's what I have so far…
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3ATYE8ri5rgcXlCcWlCMVNpaHc
He's currently a norm, but I do have an idea for making a metahuman archer.
As long as you bring us all back an Icelandic Pop Singer each, we should be cool, man.
Out here in California, we call it "soda," not "pop."
I'm a Cali native, and I was referring to music, you silly, silly person.
The important California distinction, I'm sure you will agree, is that Southern Californians needlessly complicate things by adding "the" in front of highway designations.
"The 101"? No, sorry, it's just 101, man. It's just 101.
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The important California distinction, I'm sure you will agree, is that Southern Californians needlessly complicate things by adding "the" in front of highway designations.
This is actually the worst thing. Carry on.
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I actually knew what she meant...
Just remember, Icelandic Pop Singers do not fit in the overhead bin, can not be gate checked, and can not be called 'luggage'.
@Mud : Fake ID is 1 character point.
@Mud : Fake ID is 1 character point.
Ok. Add that to the list. I'm pretty sure I've the room.
Cheers
Less then 12 hours in and I've already met two people named Bjork. I'm fairly certain that neither of them is a pop singer, though I think one sells soda pop.
I actually knew what she meant...
Just remember, Icelandic Pop Singers do not fit in the overhead bin, can not be gate checked, and can not be called 'luggage'.
I'm pretty sure we can find at least one who goes by "luggage," though.
Would that count?
Sorry I haven't been posting, I've been working 50+ hours a week, plus travel, plus being exhausted and/or sick on the weekends from overworking.
Things should start to return to normal again next week.
I've got two characters from the new player, and will be going over the second one tonight/tomorrow, so hopefully we can get started shortly.