Putting this one on ice just now until ST is ready to rejoin.
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@Lady Frost: Mmmm - on the face of it the Hellfire Shipping Company is potentially a little too on the nose, but am not discounting it given its ties to UK & Ireland... The Frostfire/Frostfyre Society as an oppositional force does work tho'... Hellfire Club
Frostfire Society (Conceptual Opposite)
@ST: Its just 1d6 for every point of Vigour you have - so 10d6 for both HTC & HTK. Like it - aligns with no death's in the historical version but gives him a great backstory.
Am collating your PCs onto some reference sheets for myself as I'm doing so reviewing the builds and will put some suggestions as I go (have spoilered not for secrecy but for spacing) :) Jack-In-Irons: First off the bat I've a revised image of JACK-IN-IRONS that's more in keeping with your original concept art. Looking at Jack's build I'm going to suggest that we think about his Health 1 Fast Recovery vs Regeneration... reason being that his chains can grapple as a weapon - but can also be damaged as a result of someone superhumanly strong breaking out of them... The Chains will have a HTK value that Regeneration will heal much quicker... Spoiler:
For example, really heavy chains with welded links might be DC3, and thus have an HTK Damage Divider of 4; light chains might be DC5 with a Damage Divider of 2; leather thongs might be DC6 with no Damage Divider; etc.
Thus to snap the heavy chains would require 2HTK times their divider of 4 or 8HTK. By adding this value to 15, the actual Strength of the bindings is found to be 23 tie it is equal to the Strength required to tear them apart, since a character with that Strength would have the necessary Damage Modifier, for each point over 15, to inflict the necessary HTK damage). Thus these heavy chains inflict ld6 plus 23 points of hypothetical damage. You can modify the HTK value or the hypothetical damage to reflect other factors, either reducing the value if the bindings were hurriedly tied, for instance, or increasing it if, say, the victim were tightly bound from head to foot by a character with great Strength... So based on above even if we said his Newgate Chains had 10HTK, means they would reform 1d6HTK per action (as opposed to 1D6 per Half-Hour with Fast Recovery) but he'll lose out on quicker recovery of his HTC. Does mean if someone busts out of his chains he could be without them for an hour or so - however this might be a cool "limitation" per say. He'll still be a superstrong/agile brawler while his chains "reform". Let me know what you reckon chief. Regards the chains as a weapon - they are very cool - they'll inflict damage as a 1H Concussion Weapon (2d6HTC/1D6HTK) but as per below when grappled foes will take 3d6HTC/1D6 Hypothetical damage at the same time... which is brutal. Spoiler:
Grapples by a weapon do the normal weapon damage and 1d6 grapple damage on
If the grappler attempts to pull the victim over, or rip something from their grasp, then the Damage Modifier for Strength can be counted. This does not add to the hypothetical damage, but gives the figure that must be resisted by the victim to avoid being pulled over. Have noted his "chain swing" movement is 16m (double his normal ground movement) which means he can get around really well too. Envisaging his "Sunday Punch" as literally him just wrapping the chains round his fist and clocking someone cold. Going forward there is loads to build on Jack. We can introduce powers based on the ghosts of the chains, improved weapon skills with the chains themselves, wallcrawling as the chains fasten to anything on a wall and pull him up (like Doc Ock) - lots and lots of potential :) Also not sure if you ever rolled HTC/HTK for Jack??
@Yaguar: Looks perfect mate. Great rationale all round. Do we all know each other to meet in secret ID at the cafe ? The cafe is just the rendezvous point - could be Lady Frost has paid the owner to open early/stay late... (night cafe?) and not ask questions. So you can all be there in costume - early morning or late at night. If you all had shared origin then being in secret/alter IDs would make sense - right now you're a loose affiliation of newly minted heroes who know each other directly/indirectly. Your first source is from Lady Frost's network and fits the rationale of the scenario - but rest assured I'll be tapping into all the group's backgrounds as the game develops. You'll also come across potential sources to add to a character's network (depending on how you interact with said NPCs). Also on the subject of campaign content - Golden Heroes traditionally uses the catch-all currency of Golden Pounds or GP... I give you our version of Golden Pound, a gold Sovereign showing Queen Victoria - draw from it what you will...
No worries - take your time - been patient enough with me folks, so leastways I can return the favour :) Initial meeting will take place in a London cafe (or "caff" in Londonese) - an East End greasy spoon where Lady Frost's contact'll give us their intel...
You'll also need to start thinking about how you all know each other... Game will commence in London - where most of you should be operating or at least present in the city (as superheroes) - perhaps you've just moved there, perhaps not. Lady Frost will be the initial conduit for the opening scenario, so you should have a potential connection to her or be connected to a connection... Perhaps couple of you have teamed up previously - put your thinking caps on :)
Jack-In-Irons: As a supernatural super-punk with ties to the mining industry would suggest that Jack would have Backing of 2 (local community), Heroism of 2 or 3, Identification of 2 (he's a punk wrapped in chains), PR ??? and Practice 1. I'd go 4 for PR as its more slanted toward the public - see him showing concern for folk (well most folk - traffic wardens and bank managers are likely to get a chain lashing lol). So total of 12 - which makes sense as many folk (who don't know him) will believe the scurrilous media headlines about him battling coppers or sticking his V's up at authority. Will play up on that having certain subcultures seeing him as "one of their own" vs a "anarchistic vigilante"
Like it. Like it alot... Public Status: 16 - Accepted (would likely make him borderline popular in Bonnie Scotland)
What did you think on the kilted look? Too on point or still awesome?
Sysgofd: Like Whiteface our Welsh Sci-Shadow isn't the most approachable - but he isn't lacking in heroism... Backing ??, Heroism 3... Identification likely a 2 (cloaked in shadow with a bionic arm), PR 3 (?) and Practice 1.
@All: Really good way for us to pick through the characters - work out what makes them tick and tweak any power arrays should we see fit. Open forum - interested to see what you all come up with - my suggested ratings are just what struck me at first read-through. @All 2: Updated the Campaign tab with some more setting info and links to some existing Extranormals of note. Hopefully the fun I'm having world-building is coming across in the glimpses I'm showcasing in content and images.
Whiteface: Think our emponomous Jester of Justice is an anomaly here as for Backing he's likely got a 1 (?), Heroism could be 1-3, Identification is likely a 1 or 2... Public Relations could be anything lol and for Practice I'm going to let him have a 2 (as he's taken down Lord Ramsbottom's burgeoning crime-ring)
Should we give our thoughts on the various above scores? Both your suggested ratings and our own? Yeah mate 100% - was just my musings to kick us off thinking about these characters. @Whiteface: No problem bud - as/when is fine, you've not missed much as frankly I've been terribly busy and terrible at updating :S
Finally we have PERSONAL STATUS: Which is a measure of how happy a character is with their prowess as a Superhero; how well adjusted they are to their role in life; and so on. CONSCIENCE: Has the character ever done anything of which they are ashamed? Is there anything in their life that they do not want others to know? CONSCIENCE Ratings:
1 Real skeleton in the cupboard 2 Minor secret 3 Average 4 Nothing to be ashamed of 5 Pure as the driven snow INITIAL RATING: Unless anything in the character's Rationale indicates otherwise, most characters will start with a Conscience Rating of 3. EXPRESSION: How good is the character at letting their hair down and getting all their worries off their chest? Do they have any friends or family to confide in? Do they bottle up their feelings? Are they lonely? EXPRESSION Ratings:
1 Total hermit with no friends or relatives 2 Secluded introvert 3 Average 4 Out-going with plenty of close friends and relatives 5 Totally well-adjusted INITIAL RATING: Most characters will begin with a rating of 3 for Expression. However, in certain circumstances this may vary depending upon the Rationale and Background of the character. For example, if the character's Background states that they are an orphan, then they would begin with a rating of 2. SUCCESS RATE: This is a reflection of how successful the character is crime-fighting activities. SUCCESS RATE RATING:
This rating can range from O to 5 since it is simply the number of scenarios, out of the last five that the character took in which they could be said to have succeeded. INITIAL RATING: A character's Success Rating will always start at O, since they have not yet completed any scenarios. PUBLIC RESPONSE: This reflects the effect on a character of the public's reaction to them. Consequently, this depends almost entirely on the character's Public Status Level. PUBLIC RESPONSE RATINGS:
1 Public Status of 5-10: spat on and vilified 2 Public Status of 11-15: mistrusted 3 Public Status of 16-20: average 4 Public Status of 21-25: popular 5 Public Status of 26-30: cheered wildly INITIAL RATING: The character's initial rating will be the rating
SECURITY: This is the most important aspect of a character's Personal Status and is rated from 1-10. It is a reflection of their mental state. How secure do they feel? SECURITY RATINGS:
1 Paranoid/fatalist 2 Extremely nervous and insecure 3 Pessimist 4 Why does everything always happen to me? 5 Average 6 Always looks on the bright side 7 Quiet confidence 8 Optimist 9 Very confident 10 Total self-confidence, no harm can befall me! INITIAL RATING: Most characters will begin with a rating of 5 for
FINAL PERSONAL STATUS: Once all five areas have been rated, the five ratings are added together to give a total ranging from 5-30 for the character's Personal Status and its effects are detailed below: PERSONAL STATUS LEVEL:
Status | State of Mind | Effect on Character 5-10 | Jinxed | Private life a mess; loses 2 DUPs per scenario for moping, etc; Resource Level drops; Critical Miss on 1 or 2 (see Combat)
Note: The benefits are cumulative. For example a character with a Personal Status of 28 gains +5 vs. Mental Attacks and the 3 Hero Points. HERO POINTS: Hero Points may be added to or subtracted from any die roll that the character or an opponent has just made, at the player's discretion. Each Hero Point may only be used once per scenario. Thus a character with a Personal Status of 29 and therefore 4 Hero Points could affect four die rolls by +1 or -1; one die roll by +4 or -4; or any combination in between reflects the ability of a true comic-book hero to perform heroic acts because of their faith in what they are doing.
DETECTIVE POINTS These are a measure of how good the character is at investigating crimes, following up on leads, and so on. The more Detective Points a character has, the more likely they are to discover the vital piece of information which will lead to the secret hide-outs of Supervillains, etc. The five different areas to be evaluated are: METHODS
METHODS Ratings:
1 Makes no effort in this area. 2 Occasionally looks for clues, questions witnesses, etc. 3 Average 4 Conscientiously searches for clues, questions witnesses, etc. 5 Does everything possible INITIAL RATING: All characters should start with a rating of 3
PUBLICITY: This is a reflection of how much attention the media pay to the character. The more the newshounds are following a character, the less likely that character is going to be to work secretly in detecting villains. PUBLICITY Ratings:
1 Every action receives a blaze of publicity 2 Regularly reported in the news 3 Average 4 Only mentioned in exceptional circumstances 5 Totally unknown INITIAL RATING: All characters start with a rating of 3 for Publicity. APPROACHABILITY: This is a measure of how likely people with titbits of information are to offer them to the character. The more normal and human the character appears and the more accessible are, the more likely they are to receive information. APPROACHABILITY Ratings:
1 Shunned by everyone and difficult to contact 2 Occasionally approached by desperate individuals 3 Average 4 Receives fairly steady supply of information 5 Gets hot tips from all over the place and can be easily contacted INITIAL RATING: Since this rating depends to a large extent on the character’s Public Identification Rating, it should start at the same that rating. POWER USE: Does the character have any superpowers that would be useful in detective work?. POWER USE Ratings:
You must rate your character from 1-5 by assessing the usefulness of their powers in this area. Typically useful powers would be Disguise (see Skills), Information spell (see Magic), Heightened Senses, Shapechange, etc. INITIAL RATING: The initial rating should reflect any powers that are inherently of natural benefit in detecting, not those which the character must deliberately make an effort to use; for example, Unconscious Probability Manipulation, or Heightened Sense rather than Disguise Skill or an Information spell. Most characters will therefore start with a low Power Use Rating. CONTACTS: This is the most important factor in solving crimes. The more Contacts a character has, the more likely they are to get relevant information and to know whom to go to for it. CONTACTS Ratings:
1 No contacts whatsoever 2 Occasionally gets minor tips from one unreliable source 3 Few minor contacts of variable degrees of reliability 4 Few reliable minor sources 5 Average - Several reliable sources of minor information 6 Sources for almost all minor information and occasional major source 7 Complete sources for minor information and several major contacts of varying reliability 8 Several reliable major sources 9 Many reliable major contacts within authorities or criminal world 10 Has a total 'in' with either authorities or criminal world INITIAL RATING: Most characters will start with a rating of 3-5 depending of their Rationale. Having a criminal past does not necessarily guarantee any reliable contacts. FINAL DETECTIVE POINTS: Once all five areas have been rated, the five ratings are added together to give a total ranging from 5-30 for the character's Detective Points. You will use this rating as a guide to how likely a character is to recognise or know of villains and Thugs, how likely they will be able to trace their hideout etc... FINAL DETECTIVE POINTS Rating:
Rating | Standing | Effect 5-10 | Streets? | Waits for villains to come to them
My musings on the above for you lot (and some spoilers on the further prep I've been doing): Jack-In-Irons: As a supernatural super-punk with ties to the mining industry would suggest that Jack would have Backing of 2 (local community), Heroism of 2 or 3, Identification of 2 (he's a punk wrapped in chains), PR ??? and Practice 1.
Benjamin Farn/Yaguar?: Backing 3 (presuming as ex-military he has a respect of sorts for authority), Heroism 1 or 2 - depends how you see him operating... but he has claws and hunts (literally) criminals... Identification is probably a 2 or 3, PR ???? and Practice 1.
Lady Frost: Guess she is probably the most manistream superheroic of the group, albeit she's an ex-criminal lol. Lady Frost's Backing would be 3 or even 4 (depends if she's an "official" rep or hero of her Shipping Company? If latter she'd have 4 rating. Heroism would also be 3 or even a 4. Identification 3, PR ???? and Practice 1. Lady Frost is likely shaping up as the "face" of the team (again ironic given she's a former criminal...)
Stoirm Laird: Heroism is 3 at very least. He's an armoured Highlander - so could be a 4 (but I'm bias lol). Heroism would be 3 or even a 4, while Identification would be 3 (maybe 2?). PR ??? and Practice a 1.
So from above have a review and see what you reckon. Public Relations will be very much based on how you all plan to interact - haven't guessed there although 2-4 would be the gamut we're likely to sit in.
Excellent - right, on with first order of business then... PUBLIC STATUS
The five different areas you must evaluate are: BACKING
BACKING Ratings:
1 No backing 2 Backing of local community group/authority 3 Known to get on with police, etc 4 Full backing of police, government department or large and respected commercial organisation 5 Known to operate with complete government approval INITIAL RATING: Initially, most characters are presumed to have ventured onto the streets as a Superhero and will be known to the authorities. Therefore each character will usually start with a rating in
HEROISM
HEROISM Ratings:
1 Anti-hero 2 Vigilante 3 Slightly suspect 4 Regular Hero 5 A real goody two shoes INITIAL RATING: Most characters will usually start with a
IDENTIFICATION
IDENTIFICATION Ratings:
1 Obviously not human (alien, mutant or android) 2 'Different' 3 Average 4 'One of the gang' 5 The person-next-door INITIAL RATING: If the character is basically a 'normal' person, that is their Superpowers are primarily enhanced Attributes such as Superstrength or their powers are bestowed by special equipment, then they start with a Public Identification Rating of 3. However, if the Rationale of the character is such that they are obviously, or are known to be, a mutant or alien, or their powers are such that they might appear to be startlingly non-human they would start with a Public identification rating of 2 or even 1. PUBLIC RELATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS Ratings:
1 Hates the public and makes it obvious 2 Ignores the public altogether 3 Stand offish 4 Shows general concern for the public 5 Bends over backwards to give the right impression INITIAL RATIN: Virtually all characters start with a Public Relations Rating of 3. This may vary slightly in rare instances as this rating depends almost entirely on how the player role-plays the character and how they allocate the character's DUPs during the Campaign. PRACTICE
PRACTICE Ratings:
1O Saving the world 9 Saving the nation 8 Saving the city 7 Confrontation with a major Supervillain and supporting team of Supervillains 6 Confrontation with a major Supervillain or a team of Supervillains 5 Confrontation with Supervillain or team of minor Supervillains 4 Confrontation with a minor Supervillain or team of organised terrorists or mercenaries 3 Riot, fire or other major disaster or a confrontation with a Thug-like Supervillain 2 Minor crime or confrontation with Thugs 1 The hero makes an appearance INITIAL RATING: As stated in the section on Backing, it is assumed that the character has already appeared on the streets and tackled a few hoodlums becoming known to the police and public. Thus all characters start with Practice Rating of 1. FINAL PUBLIC STATUS
PUBLIC STATUS LEVEL: 5-10 Who? 11-15 Disliked/Resented 16-20 Accepted/tolerated 21-25 Popular 26-29 National Figure 30 Legendary
Alright gang - its been a while and I'm finally free (in a nice way) of visiting family and work has become much more manageable. Appreciate for some of you this one's now in the rear view mirror, so just looking for a roll call to see if there's sufficient interest to plow on. Gunn's Superman and the FF movie also reignited my passion on this one somewhat so I'm keen if any of you are...
No worries mate - am uber busy so pause button on the finishing of the character gens. Will get up to speed just work and family visitors are monopolising my time at the moment.
Might be closer to the weekend before i get some breathing space lads - summer shutdown season is upon me here in the North Sea and I've just kicked off our involvement in an 8 well P&A (Plug and Abandonment) campaign that'll see me and my team through to end of Sep. Needless to say work is kicking my hairy arse but I'll get back on it once I clear my feet. Your collective patience is hugely appreciated.
You can start with 8 with Rich Advantageous Background. Cool - I'll get a bunch more Campaign Ratings stuff posted through the weekend. Work's kicked up a notch at the moment with a big offshore campaign we're involved in (I'm in Oil & Gas Operations) so time's been stymied somewhat.
@Jack: I like that... He's probably on the dole (Social Security) but doing "cashers" to top up his coin and live hand-to-mouth. Characters can raise enough funds to operate at a level of one higher than normal for a one off transaction, i.e., they cash some bonds, take time job, pawn something valuable, or work overtime, etc. When doing so the character must devote 1 DUP (Day Utility Phase) each time. The type of life the character leads obviously depends upon Financial Resource Level. The table below gives the clothes, dwelling place,
In some instances, a character may have a life-style that reflects a different Financial Resource Level since it is from the job, for example, rather than from the character’s pocket. In these instances, you should allocate the character a Financial Resource Level and a Life-Style Resource level. [FINANCIAL RESOURCE LEVEL DWELLING/TRANSPORT/COMMUNICATION/WARDROBE] Level 1: Gutter or Doss House/Foot/Grapevine/Rags or Charity Shop
[FINANCIAL RESOURCE LEVEL REPAIRS/REPLACEMENTS TO GEAR] Level 3: Costume rips
Characters can hire one-off usage of Material resource levels at two levels lower than their current Financial Resource level (or one level lower if they devote a DUP to raising additional resources) if they know how to use the equipment. If they do not know how to use the equipment, they must also hire technical support. This will reduce the level of Material resources they can afford by one. For other items characters require, just set a Financial Resource level needed to use it and see if the individual character can afford to use
CAMPAIGN RATINGS - FINANCIAL RESOURCE LEVEL This essentially is what equipment a character can afford to buy to supplement their starting equipment, what sort of medical care they can afford, whether they can afford to repair damaged equipment, and so on... all of this is determined by their Financial Resources level. A character's Financial Resource Level is rated on a scale of 1-10. Initially, you should determine the Financial Resource Level for each individual character. Some characters will have had their initial
[FINANCIAL RESOURCE LEVEL] Level 1: Starving - always in debt. You could be destitute or penniless.
CAMPAIGN RATINGS In a Campaign, further attributes and characteristics must be determined for each character to flesh them out. The following covers additional
The characters must be rated by you in these additional areas for playing a Campaign. Guidelines are given for initially assessing the rating for a character. Thereafter, the ratings will fluctuate from scenario to scenario during the Campaign and the ratings will be reassessed the ratings for each character at the start of each scenario taking account of the circumstances of the particular scenario, how the player has been playing the character, whether the player has devoted any DUPs or made an effort to improve a rating, whether they have done enough to maintain a rating, etc, and inform the player of any changes to their Ratings and any other effects, such as Hero Points and a drop in their Finances, etc. These Campaign Ratings are important since they affect the development of the individual characters. Most of them can be increased or decreased depending on the characters performance, but, equally, they are influenced by events outside the player's control. Consequently, it will be my role as SUPERVisor to ensure that while your Superheroes are out saving the world, events in their private lives are still continuing apace. A parent might be killed in a car crash, someone might uncover a secret in the character's past, or a someone disguised as one of the PCs might appear in public and commit a small crime in an attempt to blacken the character's name and reputation.
- Land of Confusion, Genesis
All good - will get a guide to the Campaign Ratings up over the weekend and we can get them nailed down (and aligned with PC backgrounds). Also going to disconnect this Dicussion Thread and reconnect to a new campaign - so things may go haywire/you lot might not get updates. EDIT: Seems to have worked, so please go ahead and dot/delete in the Gameplay Thread
Hey All - work and RL have snuck up on me this week with bunch of stuff landing in my lap. Will have a good look at the game thread situation over the weekend and may have to untether this thread and link to new game thread... see how that plays out. Once I get that up and running we'll be better placed. Meantime we can start working on your Campaign Ratings if the PC crunch is all done and dusted. I'll get something up on this on the morrow. @ST: All might not be lost... perhaps View has yet to come out :D
Et Al. Will give it another day or so for the Tech Goblins to fix the game thread. If naught happens I'll untether this discussion and recruitment from the current campaign page and set a new one up (and reconnect)... Hopefully that'll work...
Welcome back hombre - okay let's do a review of your character and take it from there. Photon:
Here's what I PM'd previously - can't recall if we agreed on way forward? Looking over Proton have a couple of suggestions... Ego 3d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 2) = 4
Power roll = 1d6 ⇒ 3 + 4 = 7 Powers! 1d100 ⇒ 85 Vigour +1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Have a think on what fits - have a villain I'd also like to tie you in with. Free Advantageous Background! Perhaps Previous Training - Ego +2? This could be down to meditation or therapy he completed to manage his new state? Answers to Benjamin/Jaguar: You multiply your original speed - so 7m x 19 (STR) = Up to 133m in a round... not too shabby at all :) So if you charge in (using Speed while on the ground) you'd gain +4 damage mod. Leaping into combat you gain +2 damage mod. So different attack "modes" if you like for him, both netting a damage mod. No problem with you subbing Claw damage in lieu of the normal hand/foot damage at the end of a charge or leap. Remember you'd choose where to add the damage mods; could be his leaping claw is 2d6+2HTK, 1d6HTC, while his charge could be 2d6HTK & 1d6+4HTC. In both cases you'd still need to spend 1 full frame recovering after the attack.
So i pushed your illustration through the AI sausage machine, then spent more time that I care to disclose fine tuning... got this in the end: And also came up with couple of versions of your logo: Jack-In-Irons: Looking at his Powers I count 6 allocated with you only taking Pugilism 1 (which I think fits him well - he's a street brawler rather than a seasoned boxer or fighter). Based on his origin I'd suggest Health 1: Regeneration or Fast Recovery?
I zay nichego :) Brings to mind the Rocky IV quote when the Russian spokesman is talking about Drago: 'As you can see, it highly advanced state of the art equipment and makes a man into a better man, a super, a great athlete into super athlete by harnessing all his strength. Most of the world is ignorant to body chemistry, we wish to educate your country."
Have populated the Campaign Tab with setting info and some morsels of plots to come... I'll be putting a bunch of material in there over the coming week - idea is to kick off gameplay in a week or so (depending on if gameplay thread is activated by the Tech Goblins) - if not I'll create a new campaign and link this discussion thread to it - have held off trying this incase it all goes "Pete Tong"... so if anyone's tried it successfully before let me know :) Anyhoo - have a read - look forward to hearing what you think!
@MG: Looks good :) - prefer aliases to be your superhero persona please. Re: Format nothing preferred. Right now just capture all the pertinent info (re: crunch) for your character and some background/origin info. Some rough notes on what you'd like to develop would be useful, but we've time to get that nailed down. Let me also have a play around on a sheet layout and I'll see what makes most sense for me/you guys. @All: Am working on some campaign notes that I'll start to populate in the Campaign Tab. Haven't heard back from Crimson_King so might be we're down to 6 in the group - will keep the slot open as I know RL can stymie folk. Have also got a bunch of non-Golden Heroes material that I'm converting (short adventures/encounters etc - mainly from 3PP for Villains & Vigilantes + M&M) - once I get them all nailed down we'll have a firm plan to kick off the game.
Alright then MG - let me know if these work for you:
Hey ST - that totally works. Father is a striking miner - perhaps picket leader (was "supervisor" to the strikers picket lines - who we're heavily targetted by police under Thatcher's iron hand. Thatcher sought to privatise the NHS (National Health Service) and cuts/bills were really there to hit the poor or those who had saved to enjoy retirement. The fat cats stayed fat. Mother dying of cancer whilst social care was hit would have had made sense. Young Jack would have likely had to look after her while his Da was on the picket lines. Makes for a heady cocktail of youthful rage and quest for social justice - really like that. Demonstrations were often just broken up by police with heavy handed verve. Back in the 80s you were just as likely to get pulled into a van (Black Maria - a paddy wagon) and given a "do'ing" to teach you a lesson. So Jack running also makes perfect sense. Brilliant origin - very on brand for this game mate.
@Benjamin Farn: Ah getcha. Sorry I was taking things literally with the Jaguar - pastiche of Black Panther/The Leopard/etc.. Okay, how does this work? Hopefully more in line with your vision: Yaguar (He Who Kills With One Leap)
Let's give it a shot. I can also just put a . after the name or something.Alias created. I swapped Stunner for the martial arts upgrade. That may give me an extra power roll? I've lost track. Will take another look later. Done. Should be freed up... (waits with trepidation)
@MG: Here's a first pass at a concept piece for Lady Frost - little bit of Eva Green, meets Torrie Wilson drawn by Marc Silvestri lol. Now some of the rationale comes from the notion that there is another cold based villain in our world - Frosturm - a Swiss cryo-scientist whose a jobbing bad-guy. He does however create some decent freeze-tech - perhaps during a crime your character worked briefly with him (was inspired enough by his equipment to raid his safehouse when the job went sour - perhaps he betrayed your gang?) Anyhoo... the gloves and harness were some of his prototypes which you took as "reparations" - your natural agility and health meant you alone could wear them without experiencing torpor side-effect, and they allow you to blast/ice up your skin... If above works - we could change Energy Attack 1 and Tough Skin 1 to Cybernetics 2 [Power Simulator for the these powers]. Advantage of device s over innate means a Brilliant Scientist can modify or improve them... Food for thought. If I'm way off base let me know - as we'd still need to think why she's gone "good" :) Edit 2: Have also done Lady Frost in a more traditional, yet with slight villainous undertones (in a Frank Quitely style). She looks heroic but her expression is one is disdain and superiority...
Yes! Yes! Yes! Any pro-wrestling reference gets full marks from me :) Lady Frost works nicely. Nice to have a female character in the ranks. The gang you mentioned I believe is the Forty Elephants who feature in the Disney+ series A Thousand Blows. yeah bit before our time (last active in the 50s) but we're also rewriting history with Maggie Thatcher as a cold, unemotional cyborg so we've open house so have a female gang still be active.
Alias created. I swapped Stunner for the martial arts upgrade. That may give me an extra power roll? I've lost track. Will take another look later. Hey ST: I actually created a Jack-In-Irons profile ages ago as a pre-holder for a M&M horror game pitch (if one ever came up). If you want the correct nom-du-guerre then let me know and I can delete my profile and hopefully free up the alias?
Final revision (honest) of Whiteface - tipping the nod more to his medieval Jester of Justice moniker and less scary clown tropes. Bit more "superheroey" and much more clownlike that some of the previous "serial killer vibes" lol. Ultimately let me know what's ticking your boxes and what's not :)
Right gang - let's look to get profiles up and running (for those who have not got one yet) this week and powers firmed up - so I have a broad overview of the group's capabilities. We can continue with our background chats and I'll also start tying in characters to the wider vista we'll be operating in (links to organisations/NPCs/Villains etc). Loving the group thusfar :) - interestingly though no female characters at all... (which is fine but am a little surprised at).
I think I would prefer Intuition. I put it in my background as the God whispering warnings. So I will stick with that and drop the heightened senses. Cool - nice rationale and works perfectly. His Heightened Senses may develop as the campaign unfolds ;) @Oceanshieldwolf: Hah! Great minds think alike - had some plans relating to Ol' Jack-in-Irons - but a link (pardon the pun) to Gyve works well also.
And just realised I'm also channeling Art the CLown from Terrifier lol - a heady mix!
MG: Okay let's start with the powers: Tough Skin 1 & Agility 1: Nice counterpoint to each. You have a decent dodge but can take a lickin' (which is handy)... Vigour 1: Also damned handy - he's tough but recovers well and can soak up what he's hit with. Energy Attack 1 [Ice/Cold]: Again - very nice offensive power. It messes with folks Damage Dividers (Energy Attack reduces them by -2). So he's got the other side of the ball sorted also. Blast folk, keep out of harms way, when it lands shrug it off and blast repeat. Advantageous Backgrounds: Contacts: Criminal - keep - no-one else in the group has it and its damned handy. Does he still have a cold hand in the criminal underworld? What was his role? Boss? Capo? Assassin? Fixer? Advisor? Or does he come from a criminal family or his best bud is a crim? Have a think on where this connection is and what it means to him now. Position of Power - Need to think on what this is. Again could be he still has a role in the criminal world, but that would be at odds with what the group are trying to do. He has aides and a decent financial level. Perhaps living off his ill-gotten gains?? Maybe he's went legit and has his own company or consults for someone... This one is a little more tough to work in cleanly, but I'm sure you'll come up with something creative. Previous Training: +2 to one ability or +1 to two. Bumping DEX to 18 makes most sense here. And that's his 7 Power Rolls. Plenty to work with. Nothing about him suggests tech or inventor. More likely a mutant or supernatural? Initial thoughts? Perhaps you hail form an overseas part of the British Commonwealth - like Hong Kong? He was involved with Triad gangsters over there and since 1984 when UK signed a pact to secede Hong Kong to China the UK allowed Hong Kong citizens the right to apply to become fully nationalised British citizens. Perhaps you've been sent over to "escape" the life of Triad culture? Conversely you're someone whose used their ill-gotten gains to go legit or perhaps work as an expensive defence lawyer (hence the Criminal Contacts) - just you use the "insider" knowledge you get to exact revenge as your alter-ego? Perhaps your an accountant/finance advisor who invests (helps to launder) money for criminal organisations all the while collating dossiers on them - again using the Enemy of my Enemy mantra?? Dunno - just spitballing :)
How well does this Scottish translator work? Aye haggis - decent enough ;) @Benjamin Farn/Malinor: Intuition also has the whole "right hunch" add-on while to me Animal Senses is more apt and variable (thinking the amount of times Wolverine sniffed out a rat or an ambush o'er the years). @Ridge: Cool. Might see what I can come up with that's more apt. Could be he keeps his costume clean and tidy - pretty much the only thing he does lol. For some reason I just see him as a full time vigilante - like you said in his origin - sleeping in late and fighting crime with a happy smile by night. Up to you on the powers - Psi does give him something different but does it fit? Still think Unconscious Probability is very slapstick and apt. @MG: Yeah am happy to delve in mate - guess we need to nail down his codename/alias and take it from there.
And the eponymous Stoirm Laird in all his glory. Part Thor, part Storm, Part William Wallace, Part 80's scottish music icon Jesse Rae...So, awesome! Wee bit of homework for ye - should you feel the urge to drop ane or twa into Stoirm Laird's verbage :)
And here's our resident wildman: JAGUAR is all his animalistic fury (and in the style of Art Adams :) Think the group has an awesome eclectic mix of characters - as befits the 80s!
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