"Necessary Evil" - supervillains save the world!

Game Master ZenFox42

Oh before i leave that was not all for 1 character the dictator is different to the undeadso is the badass normal
Bye

Rigor Rictus - your build looks ok from a PP POV, but I just want to point out that it will take 2 rounds for you to completely transform (1 action for the Shape Change, 1 action for the Growth). And I'm just curious, why did you make Increase Vigor with the Requires Activation modifier, when everything else is Contingent?

In your "stat bar" (to be discussed in Discussion soon), please include your human and changed Toughness, as you'll get +5 Toughness when changed.

ALL - it looks like everyone's got a PC! Please dot in to Discussion, there's some things I'd like to...well, discuss...before we start the game.

That is a good point about the 2 actions; that didn't occur to me. However, I believe he could still change in a single round if he needed to, by incurring a multi action penalty; it would just mean a -4 on any action conducted in the same round as his shift, as opposed to a -2 if he were to just shift.

I think the Requires Activation was a left over from a slightly different build where I can a few powers like that, which I replaced with growth as one of the last changes I made. I might need a couple more tweaks to make sure everything lines up thematically.

The problem is, if all you do in the round is activate the two superpowers, there's *no penalty at all*, because they don't require rolls.

Along the lines of needing an Agility-2 roll to draw two weapons in one round, how about this : if you activate both powers in the same round, you need to make a Spirit-2 roll. Success means that both powers activate, failure means only the Shape Change activates this round, and Growth activates the next round as normal.

I thought this was blocked by the "cannot take the same action twice" general rule. Wouldn't you need extra action w/ repeat action to do this?

my .o2 this sounds much more like contingent than requires activation.

The problem is, if all you do in the round is activate the two superpowers, there's *no penalty at all*, because they don't require rolls.

Along the lines of needing an Agility-2 roll to draw two weapons in one round, how about this : if you activate both powers in the same round, you need to make a Spirit-2 roll. Success means that both powers activate, failure means only the Shape Change activates this round, and Growth activates the next round as normal.

My question would be, "Is that a problem?" I'm all for closing loopholes or preexisting exploits that are vulnerable to abuse, but I can't see how this example might lead to abuse. Using one round more or less entirely to buff-up seems like a significant investment to me, and this game does not seem to have a lot of self-buffing powers that one could stack together.

I thought this was blocked by the "cannot take the same action twice" general rule. Wouldn't you need extra action w/ repeat action to do this?

my .o2 this sounds much more like contingent than requires activation.

You can't perform exactly the same action. However, a similar situation is specifically called out in the rules. If I fire a gun with my right hand, I can't fire it again as a second action; I can however fire a different gun with my left hand. Therefore, as he's not using the same power twice, but two different powers, it is allowed.

You can't perform exactly the same action. However, a similar situation is specifically called out in the rules. If I fire a gun with my right hand, I can't fire it again as a second action; I can however fire a different gun with my left hand. Therefore, as he's not using the same power twice, but two different powers, it is allowed.

Cool I stand corrected. Must have been thinking of something else.

I'm all for closing loopholes or preexisting exploits that are vulnerable to abuse, but I can't see how this example might lead to abuse. Using one round more or less entirely to buff-up seems like a significant investment to me...

I'm just trying to be fair. There's some dozen Powers that take a non-Free Action to activate. A PC with one of them takes one round to buff/power-up, so it stands to reason that a PC with two of them should take two rounds. Allowing you to buff-up in one round with two Powers isn't fair to the PC that only has one Power that requires activation.

Besides, Growth has the Fast Growth modifier (+2) that you can take when you reach Seasoned, which makes it a Free Action.

Sorry, but I'm going to stick with the Spirit-2 roll to activate both Powers in one round.

Changing the core rules is of course your prerogative as GM. However, if that's the case, I may swap the power out, as Growth was a bit of a last minute change to the build.

No problem, just let me know what new Power(s) you pick.

Added a limitation to his Shapeshift; Mundane Physiology. He can transform into any shape that makes physiological sense, but can't gain mystical powers by turning into a Gorgon or Unicorn. Fits with the Science/Medicine trappings of his powers. (-1 pt)

Dropped Growth. (-2pts)

Reduced Regeneration by a rank (-2 pts)

-5 points

Added Attack: Melee 2 (Heavy). Has the Contingent and Lethal mods, as well as the single limb limitation. Basically in addition to whatever natural weapon a form has, he can do oversized teeth (or whatever) that do Heavy damage. Does not have Stacking, so does Damage that works as an alternative to a form's natural weapons, but does not add to it. (+2pts)

Added Voice to Chameleon, so he can grow himself a voicebox when needed. (+2 pts)

Armor 2: Contingent on Shapeshift (Bony plates or thickened hide) (+1pt)

+5 points

So just to be clear, your Attack,Melee is a *second* attack mode (separate action) in addition to your creature's primary attack (claws, whatever)? If so, that's fine.

...Um, I don't see Mundane Physiology as a Modifier in SPC2 (or NE, or even SPC1). In fact, the basic description in SPC2 says that you *don't* get the special powers of any creature that you turn into (altho you can simulate such powers by spending "spare" PP in Shape Change on superpowers).

So, you have to drop some existing superpower by 1 point.

It's not a provided example, nor was it meant to be, I just made up the name. Limitation doesn't provide an exhaustive list, just examples of how powers could be limited, the key factor being that the limitation represent a limitation of some sort.

Basically, it doesn't fit with the character in my mind to be able to tap into supernatural or energetic effects via shape change, so I am suggesting a limitation that doesn't allow him to spend points on Super Powers that fall outside the natural realm.

To me, not being able to change into an intangeable ghost, a screaming banshee, a fire breathing Dragon, or teleporting/healing Unicorn seems like a significant limitation. Most of those are outside my current price limit, but for examples I could do right now that feel thematically inappropriate would be a creature with permanent invisibility, faeries with Jinx or Super Sorcery, or psions with telepathy or telekinesis.

Basically, if this limitation were approached, those would all be off limits. If not, I guess I could say he has a faerie, Sidhe, or Aelfheim in his family, thus unlocking those magic powers, but it feels cheesy. Really it was meant as a way to voluntarily limit the abuse potential of shape shifting. Your call.

Ok, no problem. It's just that when you make up your own Limitation, it'd be nice to say that you are, so I know.

Noted. Sorry, I thought it was obvious. I will make sure to point out anything similar that comes up in the future.

Hello ZenFox42! Thanks for the kind invite to join your game. I have read from p50 to the most recent post and it looks as though you presently have three anti-heroes larking around Atlantis in search of a mythical crown? I'm seeing a super wizard, a toxic goo boy and bestial shapechanger?

I'll give some thought to character creation. I do have the most recent PDF of the SWADE superhero companion, can I draw from that and reverse-engineer to fit the version of the rules you are using? I deleted the older companion when I got the new one. :s

Do you want me to create another super villain to join the Omega Cell, or can I roll up an entity that was captured and imprisoned by the Atlanteans, to get into the action ASAP?

I am looking for only one or maybe two PCs in a Savage Worlds post-Necessary-Evil Supers world. We have 4 PCs right now. You'll need the SWADE Super Powers Companion book.

We have plenty of heavy-hitters, so we're looking for "utility" supers. One PC already has Super Sorcery, so it and Super Science would not be good fits.

"Utility" can be diverse as : portals for quick transportation, multiple bodies that can co-ordinate actions in different places, intangibility and invisibility for scouting, or anything that can help foil the bad guys without necessarily punching or laser-eyeing them.

The build guidelines are as follows :

Starting at 40 SPP; max per power is 13 SPP.

The only two things in SWADE Supers that are not available are the Mind Control Power and The Best There Is Edge.

The total points you put into Armor, Toughness, and Force Field cannot exceed 13.

Everyone should use some of their SPP to boost their Parry and Toughness up to *about* 10 and 20, respectively, for *max* overall survivability. This is merely a suggestion, not a requirement - feel free to go with lower numbers. It also couldn't hurt to boost your RATN ("Ranged Attack Target Number") at least a few points above the default of 4 (maybe with the Dodge Edges instead of using SPP?).

I am pretty sure I have the Super Powers Compendium at home. Is this for evil characters or are they anti-heroes or something else entirely?

Since this is post-Necessary Evil, you can be a hero that's come out of hiding, a reformed villain, or an un-reformed villain. If you choose un-reformed, you'll have to keep me informed in private of what villainous things you're doing as the game progresses. If you're caught, you'll probably be thrown off the team. Meros (Dr. Destruction) has made it clear that everyone working for him must toe the line.

A "state of the world" description can be found HERE.

I will take a look at my book and see what I can come up with.

Here is my submission. If you want me to go more utility then this, let me know and I can go back to the drawing board.

On a side note, a great part of this character is if he says "I/Eye can do..." everyone will wonder if he is talking about himself in the third person. :D

The Powers look fine, and I'm not going to *require* you to be more "utility", but could you please humor me and come up with a list of maybe 3 or 4 several kinds of utility powers (just a list, not part of your build), anywhere from 3-15 SPP each?

Of course, the utility powers should be ones you'd find interesting to use.

So here are a few utility power sets using 3-15 points

Mentalist
Mind Reading (3)
Mind Shield (1)
Telekinesis (6)[Fine Control]
Telepathy (4) [Range]

Medic
Healing 9 (Cure, Fatigue, Restoration)

Copycat (13) [11 ranks, Partial Power]

I have mixed feelings about making the following suggestions, because it should be your character, but I'm also wanting to optimize his utility for the game...

TK could be very handy if you added Flight (no on else on the team can fly).

I was once in a game where the Telepathy option Switchboard was used, so that every PC could mentally "talk" to every other PC. Very handy for silent decision making during combat, or if the team splits up.

Adding those in to your existing Modifiers, that's 14 points right there. This is totally up to you, but how would you feel about switching out your Ranged Attack for these two? I'm fine with it if you don't want to.

If you go with it, you can put the 1 extra SPP into one of your existing powers as a Modifier, or pick a 1-point Power (like Mind Shield, or Dodge - to make you harder to hit with ranged weapons).

You will have also come across a V'sori assault blaster rifle (3d6, ROF 3, AP 4) to make up for the lack of a ranged attack. Later on, you'd probably come across some higher-tech weapons that could do more damage.

And, your backstory doesn't have to change much either - the experiments on your eyes just gave you your heightened senses abilities, and activated all the other latent Powers within you.

What are your thoughts about all this?

So I originally was torn between doing a Mentalist vs the Eye. I looked over the other characters and thought there was some unnecessary overlap with the Mentalist and so I went to the Eye instead.

I think the Eye ranged attack is part of his super eyes. If you think the Mentalist is more useful, then I am happy to go with that theme instead. But I would like to just shift to the following power package.

Force Field 8 [8]
Intangibility 4 [5, -1 Requires Activation]
Mind Reading 3 [3]
Mind Shield 1 [1]
Speak Language 1 [1]
Telekinesis 8 [3, 3 Fine Control, 2 Flight]
Telepathy 7 [2, 2 Range, 3 Switchboard]
Teleport 8 [2, 2 Portal, 1 Rapid Teleport, 3 Traverse]

This loses all the super senses, but with Mind Reading I should be able to get lots of useful information. I also added in the Telekinetic Flight and Intangibility so I should be really good at infiltration and then I can open a portal to let everyone else in. I also figured that being able to speak any language made a lot of sense for a Mentalist, so I dropped my Force Field a point to take that.

My main offense will be using Intangibility. I think I can use Rapid Teleport with Intangibility to get the +2 Gang Up. If this doesn't work then I would like to shift that point back to the Force Field. I am not sure if the bonus from Gang Up works on opposed rolls. I may carry a gun and shift some skill points into shooting, but the Wounding ability from Intangibility will be my primary attack.

If this works, I may need to move skills around as to make sure I have the skills to make this work. If this power package works I will update the rest of the character and change the background to make it more of a full body scan and to use the powers I have to escape.

Also, should I have any normal advances?

The Mentalist build is fine - how soon could you post in Gameplay? Your build wouldn't have to be final, nor your backstory perfectly polished, just enough to give a paragraph description of however much of your history you want to give to the group. Make a post here when you're ready.

I honestly can't think of a scenario I might present where you'd need to teleport 1000 miles or more (altho I can't guarantee it) - if you want you could put the 3 points from Traverse into something else.

...actually, I've just now started debating on an important feature of Teleport - you might want to hold on to those extra 3 SPP until I've made a decision.

DaRules say that Gang Up applies only to Fighting rolls, while your roll for an intangible attack is your Focus, so the +2 doesn't apply. That point would probably be best put towards Force Field.

No advances yet. The team is still on their first "mission".

I've just realized that the Portal Modifier to Teleport is not what a lot of people think it is (a doorway many people can walk thru). It simply connects two places in space that swords, bullets, and small "items" can be passed thru.

To move many people at once requires the Teleport Other option, which imposes stiff penalties on the number of people you can move at once. I suppose you could move one person at a time, but that just seems silly.

I'm making the following modifications to Teleport :
- Portal costs 5 SPP, and creates a doorway that any number of people can walk thru. It lasts for a minute, but can be closed by the creator at any time (but never while anything is halfway thru it).
- These are the penalties for the distance teleported or between portals unless you use Traverse : -1 for 200 feet (~30"), -2 for 2000 feet, -3 for 1 mile, -4 for 10 miles, -5 for 100 miles, etc. The "-4 penalty if you haven't physically seen the destination with your own eyes" penalty applies on top of that.

So, you can take the 3 SPP from Traverse and put them towards Portal.

Let me know what you think of this, I'm open to some debate...

Let me know what you think of this, I'm open to some debate...

So the basic Teleport power lets you teleport people with you.

"Carrying Others: The teleporter can take willing allies with him if he likes, but he can’t teleport them independently without the Teleport Other modifier (see below). The teleporter must touch those he wants to take with him and make a Focus roll even if he can see the target location. Each additional person subtracts 1 from the teleporter’s Focus roll, and whatever effects the teleporter suffers is shared by all (Shaken or Stunned from failure)."

The Teleport Other is if I want to teleport a foe 20 ft up and drop them, or teleport an ally to the other side of the door without going with them. Spending 5 points to do that seems like a lot.

The Portal power is a bit strange. It doesn't say how big the portal is supposed to be, but it does seem like the intent is to not let someone walk through it. Considering the base teleport and the Teleport Other both give a -1 per person it is definitely not meant to let you transport big groups easily.

On the other hand, I do think Traverse is important. I agree that it is incredibly unlikely I ever have to take the -8 to teleport anywhere in existence, but I think it is incredibly likely I have to teleport across town or from the ground floor to the penthouse. Even with the 2 point Range power you are not teleporting to a penthouse or even a block away. Heck, your probably not getting to the 5th floor. The penalty from taking others plus the Traverse Penalty will start to stack up, but if we need to get somewhere fast, it is still the best way.

So I think the best thing to do is to drop the Portal and take Super Skill (Focus) for 2 or 3. This gives me the best chance to do all the utility things I am set up to do.

Can skills go above d12 like stats with the Super ability? Or does it cap at d12? If it does not cap, I will take the 1 point from not doing the Gang Up and also put it into Super Skill. If it does cap at d12, I will put two points into it to get to d12, move one more to Force Field and shift some other skills around.

I can join whenever you are ready. I will create the character tonight and I will be ready to post as soon as you give the go ahead.

This is Malinor's character for the game. I updated his background to match the powers he used to escape. I need to just make sure that the skills/powers are finished based on what we do with the Super Skill and then I will be ready to go I think.

So the basic Teleport power lets you teleport people with you.

If you're touching them, yes - with a -1 to your Focus roll per person.

You're right, Teleport Other has limited usefulness.

FWIW, by my calculations the +2 Range would allow you to teleport from the ground to about the 29th floor of a tall building, and about 1 "short" city block or 1/3 of a "long" one. But being able to teleport up to 1000 miles for 1 extra SPP (and a -2 penalty) is probably the better deal.

I've checked the manual, and apparently there's no limit to Attributes and Skill values in Supers. So given your current Focus of d10, 3 more SPP would bring it up to d12+2.

We're ready for you to post your introduction in Gameplay!

Umm...I'm confused by your Attributes. They all start at d4, and you get 5 points for free. With your listed values, you've spent 7 points total, leaving you with 2 more Hindrance points to spend. You can boost your Attributes more (which would mean re-calculating your Skill dice), boost your Focus up to d12+4, or buy an Edge.

I believe the others started with $1000, so you can buy whatever equipment is in the Supers manual.

Umm...I'm confused by your Attributes. They all start at d4, and you get 5 points for free. With your listed values, you've spent 7 points total, leaving you with 2 more Hindrance points to spend. You can boost your Attributes more (which would mean re-calculating your Skill dice), boost your Focus up to d12+4, or buy an Edge.

I believe the others started with $1000, so you can buy whatever equipment is in the Supers manual.

I will handle purchases tonight.

I thought it was two hindrance points per point instead of 1. So I will kick Spirit up to d12. Which would let me start with Focus 12 and then I put three points into Super Skill (Focus) to go to D12+3 with my primary skill.

I also made two other changes. I dropped Transformation for Stubborn as a Minor Hindrance. My thought on this is that my Intangibility is an action and I plan on that changing what I look like. So having to double transform seemed a bit odd.

I also moved a point from Persuasion to Shooting so I can use the V'sori Assault Blaster if I had to in a fight. If you would prefer I not change one of these, let me know.

Oops, sorry, my bad - I looked at the Skills section in the book about Hindrance Points, which are 1 per die. You're correct, *Attributes* are 2 Hindrance Points per die, so you'll have to go back to the way it was. Very sorry for the confusion.

The other changes are no problem.