Hi all!
After some debate, I've decided to try my hand at a PbP and decided on Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition as my game of choice. As such, I thought I should post to see if there would be enough interest for it here. :)
Details:
- The game will take place in Emerald City, a west coast companion to Freedom City.
- The campaign will begin with the 'Silver Storm' series of modules, but will also involve stories and themes unique to the players.
- The PCs will take the place of the Sentinels as one of the very few hero teams based in the area.
While the game will be the standard PL 10, I'd like to have any initial concepts started out at PL 4-5. The storm is intended to be used as an 'origin' source for the PC's although they may have some minor powers prior to the event. Note that YMMV as this is just my interpretation of the initial module and gives a good reason for folks to band together.
I'd also like to see an indication of 'why' your character would consider being a hero. Whether it's money, helping out the needy or something completely different, it doesn't matter specifics, just that you would be willing to be part of a hero team.
Also, Emerald City has had very little paranormal activity up unil now, so it might help to to explain why you would be in such a place. :)
Looking forward to feedback too :)
|
Super exciting! I got to GM a couple M&M games for friends recently but we're all so busy that it never had a shot at becoming a regular thing.
I've an idea that's pretty fully formed for a regenerating former mercenary whose taken a hard look at his life and realized that he's basically broke, friendless, and has lost a huge chunk of memory from a decade long booze and drug binge (which is why he's now penniless). His name is Connor Hurt. He just goes by Hurt. Because that's his thing. He gets hurt and he gets back up.
To fit him into something lower than PL10 I'd just have to tone down his offensive capabilities some. Then when he has access to the greater resources later he can upgrade to his kickass pistols and knives.
Slight change to first post: Game will be PL 10, 150PP. Go ahead and post your full PL10 concept here. If I can get 3 or 4 interested players I'll definitely run this. :)
|
|
I'll post up some additional descriptive stuff later. Here's the crunch.
Abilities 56
STR 5 (10)
FGT 5 (10)
STA 5 (10)
AGL 5 (10)
DEX 4 (8)
INT 0 (0)
AWE 4 (8)
PRE 0 (0)
Skills 13
Close Combat [Knives] 4 (2)
Athletics 4 (2)
Acrobatics 4 (2)
Ranged Combat [Pistols] 4 (2)
Intimidation 6 (3)
Investigation 6 (3)
Advantages 3
Contacts (1)
Interpose (1)
Quick Draw (1)
Powers 76
Regeneration 20 [Alternate Effect: Reduced Action Energizing Resurrection Healing 4] (21)
Protection 5 (5)
Immortality 1 (2)
Immunity 11: Life Support & Aging (11)
Body Slide: Teleportation 10 [Removeable] (16)
Flat Blades: Strike 5 [Penetrating 5, Multiattack, Easily Removable] (9)
Magnetic Acceleration (MA) Pistols: Blast 4 [Penetrating 3, Multiattack, Easily Removable] 9
Secure Sat-Com: Communication 4 [Subtle (1), Easily Removable] (3)
Defenses (2)
Parry
Dodge
Will 2
Fort
Well I am interested, but frankly my experience with 3e is about.. zip, I have the pdf but I really only just glanced it over. Soo I will need a fair degree of help with character making.
No problem, I'll be glad to help. :) What did you have in mind for a concept?
Hmmm... doesn't seem to be too much interest out there.... am I wrong folks? :)
I'm still interested but we need one more. I had a concept in mind and tried work up a working version in MnM 2e to get a feel for it just to realize it would make a cool villain and a unusable hero hehe.
Currently I am working to hammer out a concept of a sorcerer type character in a lovecraftian power theme and the second concept is a more mundane character ala the spirit or the Phantom Reporter, but I haven't settled one either. But we still need at least one more so...
I think this will get off the ground after all. :)
YuenglingDragon : Hurt looks fine to me offhand. I can throw it in Herolab to be sure nothing major is missing :)
Zouron: I think could work with either concept. :) The sorcerer would make an interesting contrast to the tech of the area, and the 'Spirit' would work too, maybe something due to old native American influences?
Deadmanwalking: sounds good to me. Could fit the origin into the story nicely. :)
Let's officially make this the recruitment thread. Go ahead and post concepts or builds, and if needed I can help by running them through HL to clean them up. :) So far too, looks like you three may be it. :)
|
Joseph Williams aka Seizure
Biography:
Joseph Williams had a rather idyllic childhood for a while. His parents were poor, but they really loved both him and each other and took very good care of him. Then, when he was eight years old, they were both killed in a car accident, of all things. From there, he was shuttled through an endless sequence of foster homes. He wasn't cute enough and was far too quiet, and just never got picked for adoption by anyone.
He was always a really nice guy, the kind who legitimately cared about his fellow human beings and wanted to make the world a better place. He was also pretty smart, and worked hard to get into a profession that would allow him to help people. Specifically, people as unfortunate as he had been. He succeedsd in doing so by becoming a Social Worker, and worked hard to make things better. Unfortunately he was also really bad at backing down, even when he should, and wound up on the wrong side of a rather large man with a knife who'd been abusing his kids, his outbreak occurred then, and he threw the man across the room with telekinesis, and, in a fit of rage, literally rewrote the man's mind. An act he still feels guilty over, as that amounts, at least in his opinion, to the death of one man and creation of another, and the man's crimes didn't warrant execution.
Since then, he's been attempting to do as much good as possible, but in a smart way. Towards this end, he's been making as many powerful friends as he can without doing anything wrong, and in furthering that goal he's let a few people know he's a telepath. He, for the most part, leaves people with the impression he's a low-level telepath with nothing resembling Mind Control, Mental Blast, or Telekinesis, and certainly not superhuman toughness. This has resulted in a few calls for help from various people, and some favors owed him, but no major problems yet. He's considering doing the whole superhero thing (and has picked the name 'Seizure'), but hasn't made the leap just yet.
On the lighter side of things, while in college, Joseph was always a shy, kinda geeky, guy, but made friends and had quite a lot of fun. He still keeps in touch with several friends from there when he can. He also discovered RPGs in college, and manages to get in a game here and there, despite his busy schedule.
Personality:
Joseph is, as mentioned above, a really nice guy. He's also quiet, and a bit shy around women he's attracted to. His most defining feature, however, is probably a sense of responsibility. He believes that, as human beings, everyone has a responsibility to do as much good as they can, and that, as someone with powers, the scope upon which they can work is broadened immeasurably. This also means that he takes tresponsibility for the consequences of his actions, or of his failures to act, very much to heart and considers them carefully before acting.
Physical Apearance:
Nothing special. He's got frizzy brown hair, brown eyes, and is a little too pale. He's not ugly or anything, but he's nothing special either. He tends to blend into a crowd. He does have a nice smile, though.
Tactics:
In combat, Joseph's tactics depend on what he's facing. Versus large numbers of weak opponents, he'll use Mental Blast to good effect, while single, powerful, enemies are more likely to result in him using Mind Control to end things quickly. If, for some reason, his foes are immune or of above average resistance to his mental powers, he'll fall back on his Telekinesis, using the Perception range version against dodgy types and the other version on bricks.
PL 10
Abilities
Strength 0, Stamina 8, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 4, Awareness 8, Presence 2/11
Powers
Immunity 1 (Sleep) (1 pp)
Protection 7 (7 pp)
Super Senses 6 (Accurate, Acute, Extended 1, Radius, Mental Awareness) (6 pp)
Mental Blast 7 (Area-Burst, Selective Attack, Subtle 2)
AP: Mental Blast 10 (Subtle 2, Insidious 2)
AP: Move Object 10 (Perception, Damaging, Precise, Subtle 2)
AP: Move Object 12 (Damaging, Accurate 4, All Out Attack, Power Attack, Precise)
AP: Mind Control 10 (Subtle 2, Insidious 2)
AP: Mind Reading 10 (Effortless, Subtle 2) + Enhanced Presence 9 (Flaw: Only people whose mind he's read) + Enhanced Intimidate 9 (Flaw: Only on people whose mind he's read)
AP: Mental Tranformation 10 (As Mind Control, but the final condition applied is Transformed instead of Controlled, and allows him to do things like erase memories or rewrite their personality) (Subtle 2, Insidious 2) (50 pp)
Advantages
Connected, Fearless, Jack of All Trades, Well Informed, Ultimate Effort (Will Saves),
Skills
Deception 9 (+11/20), Expertise: Social Worker 6 (+10), Insight 12 (+20), Intimidate 0/9 (+2/20) Investigation 6 (+10), Perception 4 (+12), Persuasion 9 (+11/20)
Offense
Initiative +0
Move Object +8 (+12 Damage)
Various Perception Range effects.
Defense
Dodge 5, Parry 5
Toughness 15, Fortitude 8, Will 12
Power Points
Abilities 44 + Powers 64 + Advantages 5 + Skills 23 + Defenses 14 = Total 150
Seizure looks good for the most part, although I do have a couple of comments/ suggestions:
* Subtle 2 - I've never been really sure about this level of Subtle. To me, one level is enough to cover 90% of the situations. I'd prefer if could drop these back to just Subtle.
* Insidious 2 - I'm curious as to why this modifier?
* Mind Control/Transformation - kind of a dangerous ability :) what's stopping him from say wiping everyone he meets or simply making people think he's paid for something when he hasn't?
In the Power Profiles (Mental Powers) supplement, there is a Limited: Third Degree Only modifier that might work for you. The first two degrees of an affliction only serve as placeholder for reaching the Third degree. They have no real effect on the target. That might actually be the effect you're looking for if I understand the intent of your build.
* Mental Awareness - Are you looking at this as detecting the use of mental powers in your area or as detecting actual minds?
Yuengling: in taking a closer look, I see a couple of potential issues with Hurt. These may be by design, but I want to make sure they're pointed out just in case they're not. :)
* Combat PL - As is, right now you look to be about a PL 9 with your to-hit chances, but only about a PL 5 damage when you hit. You're also looking I be a PL 7 or so for Defenses too in terms of Dodge/Parry and Fort/Ref/Will save bonuses. Your toughness is right at PL 10 though so good there :) Definitely a top Agent, possible difficulties at the Hero level.
|
|
Yuengling Dragon:
Speaking as someone who's created a lot of characters for this game you have one simple problem, and it's one that needs solving: You ignored the Equipment rules and bought low-powered Gadgets.
Skip buying the Flat Blades, the Gun, and the Communicator as Gadgets, you can buy the following instead:
Equipment 4
Pair of Pistols (Stats as an SMG) (12 EP)
Knives (2 EP)
Communicator (1 ep)
And 5 more ep of general stuff (silencers, for example).
Buy 8 more ranks of Guns, and 5 more of Knives, plus, say, 5 of Perception. That'll cost 9 points.
Buy Protection to 8. 3 points.
Buy Dodge and Parry both to 7. 4 points.
Buy Power Attack, since your base damage is low.
That will vastly increase your survivability at no cost to you, offensively. I highly reccomend it.
You also probably don't need more than Teleport 5, and if you do want more range than that you can grab the Extended Extra, rather than actually have a high ranking. That could potentially save you 8 more points to distribute.
Something I'd like to see, is if this was a movie or TV series, who would you see playing your part?
|
|
Seizure looks good for the most part, although I do have a couple of comments/ suggestions:
* Subtle 2 - I've never been really sure about this level of Subtle. To me, one level is enough to cover 90% of the situations. I'd prefer if could drop these back to just Subtle.
Well, I can if you like, but the basic idea is that without psychic powers of some sort his victims simply can't notice anything going on. If you're cool with that I can dfinitely drop it to 1.
* Insidious 2 - I'm curious as to why this modifier?
Looking at it, I'd probably remove it from the Mental Blast, but the basic idea is that even after, say, his Mind Control has worn off people will still continue to claim they did whatever he made them do of their own free will. They don't even notice that their behavior is different. It's intended to be a bit creepy.
Though if I'm dropping Subtle to 1, I'll do the same with Insidious (with both requiring psychic powers to notice or figure out). Cool?
* Mind Control/Transformation - kind of a dangerous ability :) what's stopping him from say wiping everyone he meets or simply making people think he's paid for something when he hasn't?
Nothing except the fact that he considers it incredibly immoral to mess with peoples' heads without a hell of a reason. I mean, why doesn't Superman rob banks? Because it's wrong.
Part of the point of the character, for me, is that he has this ridiculously easy to abuse power set. He's basically above the law, because it can't touch him...so what code does he follow? What kind of man is he? That's always a fun question to ask, and in this case the answer is "A pretty good guy."
In the Power Profiles (Mental Powers) supplement, there is a Limited: Third Degree Only modifier that might work for you. The first two degrees of an affliction only serve as placeholder for reaching the Third degree. They have no real effect on the target. That might actually be the effect you're looking for if I understand the intent of your build.
Sounds workable...what would I get instead? I mean, a 10 point extra sounds cool but what would I buy with it. Hmmmm...
* Mental Awareness - Are you looking at this as detecting the use of mental powers in your area or as detecting actual minds?
Definitely minds in general.
|
|
Something I'd like to see, is if this was a movie or TV series, who would you see playing your part?
And here's the revised build:
PL 10
Abilities
Strength 0, Stamina 8, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 4, Awareness 8, Presence 2/11
Powers
Immunity 1 (Sleep) (1 pp)
Protection 7 (7 pp)
Super Senses 6 (Accurate, Acute, Extended 1, Radius, Mental Awareness) (6 pp)
Mental Blast 7 (Area-Burst, Selective Attack, Subtle)
AP: Mental Blast 10 (Subtle, Insidious, Precise)
AP: Move Object 10 (Perception, Damaging, Precise, Subtle)
AP: Move Object 12 (Damaging, Accurate 4, All Out Attack, Power Attack, Precise)
AP: Mind Control 10 (Subtle, Insidious, Precise)
AP: Mind Reading 10 (Effortless, Subtle) + Enhanced Presence 9 (Flaw: Only people whose mind he's read) + Enhanced Intimidate 9 (Flaw: Only on people whose mind he's read)
AP: Mental Tranformation 10 (As Mind Control, but the final condition applied is Transformed instead of Controlled, and allows him to do things like erase memories or rewrite their personality) (Limited - Third Degree Only, Subtle, Insidious, Precise) +10 more pp worth of effect (49 pp)
Advantages
Connected, Fearless, Jack of All Trades, Well Informed, Ultimate Effort (Will Saves),
Skills
Deception 9 (+11/20), Expertise: Social Worker 8 (+12), Insight 10 (+18), Intimidate 0/9 (+2/20) Investigation 8 (+12), Perception 4 (+12), Persuasion 9 (+11/20)
Offense
Initiative +0
Move Object +8 (+12 Damage)
Various Perception Range effects.
Defense
Dodge 5, Parry 5
Toughness 15, Fortitude 8, Will 12
Power Points
Abilities 44 + Powers 63 + Advantages 5 + Skills 24 + Defenses 14 = Total 150
Deadman: yes, Subtle or Insidious by itself will require Mental Awareness to detect.
The Mental powers profile also had a bit of clarification regarding Mental Awareness which i agree with. MA is more for sensing the effects and emanation of psychic energies. For detecting minds, this would be a better way to build it: Senses 6 (Detect Minds, Radius, Extended, Acute, Accurate) (6 pp)
Add a 1 pp AE for the mental awareness and your detecting minds, but then able to focus on the Psychic energies if need be at the expense of knowing where the minds are.
Also, who's the pic of? Doesn't look familiar, but then the pic seems to be from a UK site, and I don't get to see a lot of UK TV :)
I just remembered one thing I hadn't seen on any build yet..... Complications :) Remember, need 1 Motivation and at least one other :)
|
|
Deadman: yes, Subtle or Insidious by itself will require Mental Awareness to detect.
The Mental powers profile also had a bit of clarification regarding Mental Awareness which i agree with. MA is more for sensing the effects and emanation of psychic energies. For detecting minds, this would be a better way to build it: Senses 6 (Detect Minds, Radius, Extended, Acute, Accurate) (6 pp)
Add a 1 pp AE for the mental awareness and your detecting minds, but then able to focus on the Psychic energies if need be at the expense of knowing where the minds are.
Also, who's the pic of? Doesn't look familiar, but then the pic seems to be from a UK site, and I don't get to see a lot of UK TV :)
Ah, gotcha. That sounds good, and I will arrange it on the next iteration.
As for the pic, I honestly have no idea. I was looking for someone who fit my vision of the character and found it on Google Image Search. At least, I think that's what happened, I originally made this character (in 2E) for a game that never quite got off the ground several years ago, and I got the picture back then, so I'm not positive.
I just remembered one thing I hadn't seen on any build yet..... Complications :) Remember, need 1 Motivation and at least one other :)
Hmmmm...
How about:
Doing Good (Joseph is a good guy, and he wants to make the world a better place, that's the big motivation in his entire life, really),
Justice (He also wants to rotect the innocent, especially children, and punish the guilty. Indeed, his responses to really bad people are likely to be extreme and possibly terminal or worse than terminal),
Responsibility (The motivation version, basically feeds in to the two previously listed above),
Honor (Of a specific sort, he's pragmatic to some degree, but there are specific lines he won't cross),
Identity (He does have a day job, and the identity to go with it),
Relationship (I'd like Joseph to get a girlfriend at some point, and he already has friends),
Secret (He did rewrite a guy's entire personality once. He doesn't angst about it, and I'd hate for it to come up all the time, but it should probably be mentioned at least once)
And finally one of my own: Doesn't Know When To Quit (Joseph is constitutionally incapable of backing down. It doesn't matter if the fate of the world is in the balance, he does not give in to threats and he will not compromise his principles. Think Rorschach at the end of Watchmen, though Joseph's not quite that bad.)
That look good?
Wow. You didn't have to go with that many, but all of them do look good. If you want to pare them down to 3 or 4 I wouldn't have an issue. :)
I'll keep track of the others though to maybe inspire further adventures :)
|
|
Wow. You didn't have to go with that many, but all of them do look good. If you want to pare them down to 3 or 4 I wouldn't have an issue. :)
I'll keep track of the others though to maybe inspire further adventures :)
I can definitely drop Secret (which shouldn't come up too often) and Responsibility (which is really covered by Doing Good and Justice, anyway), but I'm not sure about outright dropping any of the others...
I do think I'll fold his inability to back down in with his code of Honor. They're basically two sides of the same unwillingness to compromise on certain points, so that works for me.
That'll leave him with: Doing Good, Justice, Honor, Identity, and Relationships.
That work?
Hey guys don't forget about http://www.d20herosrd.com/ a Mutants and Masterminds 3e SRD site I whipped up recently.
Yep, I saw that and it's a great resource for when I'm at work and don't have my books on my iPhone :) (some of the layouts on it and d20pfsrd go wonky on he iPhone though but I can live with it :) )
Deadman, that sounds like a good lineup of complications that I can work with... <insert evil laugh here> :)
I am gonna post my first attempt tomorrow, then you can pull it apart for my lack of understanding of the rules ;)
|
|
Hi, sorry I've been away from the thread a bit. Crazy at work and stuff. Todat is St. Patty's Day so I will be drunk later. If I have time today before the drinking, I'll look over Hurt's crunch and see where I can make some changes. I made him as an NPC for a game I was GM'ing and didn't pay too much attention to his creation. I'm sure there are efficiencies I can find. I'll also write up some background and complications. If I can't get to it today I'll definitely put some time into it tomorrow.
Thanks for your patience.
Sounds good. I'm just getting stuff together, and since at the moment it looks like it's you three we'll get everyone in a place where they're ready to go and get started. :)
|
|
Doing some edits to crunch now. I think we'll use the knives rather than the pistols for the most part. The pistols are mainly for things he, for some reason, can't get to. With the knives, he'd be doing PL10 damage, but I forgot that you need to add the modifiers to STR damage if you want them to add. So some quick edits and he'll do more damage. I'll probably drop his Str some. He's not meant to be too superhuman in regards to stats. Just essentially immortal.
I did purposefully leave his defenses a little low. His regeneration is fairly high and I wanted him to have a fairly cavalier attitude about getting hit. We'll see how that goes. I am thankful for the feedback, though because I'm fairly new to M&M. I just started when John put together the M&M SRD and told us contributors about it. Second draft forthcoming.
---
Abilities 48
STR 3 (6)
FGT 4 (8)
STA 5 (10)
AGL 5 (10)
DEX 3 (6)
INT 0 (0)
AWE 4 (8)
PRE 0 (0)
Skills 14
Close Combat [Knives] 4 (2)
Athletics 4 (2)
Acrobatics 4 (2)
Ranged Combat [Pistols] 6 (3)
Intimidation 6 (3)
Investigation 6 (3)
Advantages 3
Contacts (1)
Interpose (1)
Quick Draw (1)
Powers 74
Regeneration 20 [Alternate Effect: Reduced Action Energizing Resurrection Healing 4] (21)
Protection 5 (5)
Immortality 1 (2)
Immunity 11: Life Support & Aging (11)
Body Slide: Teleportation 7 [Removeable] (12)
Flat Blades: Strike 10 [Penetrating 5, Multiattack, Easily Removable] (15)
Magnetic Acceleration (MA) Pistols: Blast 7 [Penetrating 3, Easily Removable] 8
Communicator (1)
Defenses (11)
Parry 4
Dodge 3
Will 2
Fort 2
|
|
Unsolicited Advice. With my apologies if it's unwelcome:
You're knives don't work if you're adding Str, both because that'd be +8 to hit with +13 damage, and because you clearly haven't bought Multiattack to 13. If you drop them to Strike 9, and note Multiattack is 12, you'll only have to drop Penetrating to 4, that'll be a legal PL 10 offense, and the cost won't even change.
Also, you could easily make the Pistols also a full PL 10 offense by switching some Penetrating (or even some of Blast itself) to Accurate, if you liked. Or reduce their cost to almost nothing by makng them an AP on the knives (you could even skip guns entirely and just go with a ranged AP being thrown knives, which, being super-science, come back to you...that actually sounds really cool).
And, Regeneration or not, I'd really max out my Parry & Dodge/Toughness save pair were I you. Maybe with two more points of Protection, if you wish to keep the flavor of him getting hit. Also, you might grab All-out Attack for more of that flavor, plus mechanical effectiveness to boot.
I'd also buy some Perception, just beause I have a hard time envisioning a mercenary without it. But that last part may just be me.
After much thought and rework I have a first draft for my character: Esoteric
The theme is a Lovecraftian sorcerer seeking redemption from past sins.
Any feedback is welcome!
Esoteric
Esoteric (Edward Pickman Derby the Third) - PL 10
Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 4, Awareness 0, Presence 1
Advantages
Artificer, Attractive, Benefit, Wealth 5 (billionare), Contacts, Defensive Roll 4, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 10, Languages 4, Ritualist, Well-informed
Skills
Expertise: Business 5 (+9), Expertise: History 6 (+10), Expertise: Magic 16 (+20), Insight 1 (+1), Investigation 10 (+14), Perception 1 (+1), Ranged Combat: Pistol 5 (+5), Technology 2 (+6), Vehicles 2 (+2)
Powers
Amulet of the Elder Sign (Removable)
. . Sensing the Magic: Senses 3 (chaos, Awareness: Magic, Radius: Magic Awareness, Tracking: Magic Awareness 1: -1 speed rank; Custom: rce of any unknown magical source)
. . That which was, shall be: Senses 4 (chaos, Postcognition, Advantages: Eidetic Memory; Uncontrolled)
Bolt of Esoteric Magic: Magic 10 (chaos, DC 25; Accurate 5: +10, Affects Insubstantial 2: full rank, Penetrating 9; Check Required 10: DC 20 - Magic)
. . Esoteric Tricks: Variable 4 (Alternate; chaos; Affects Insubstantial 2: full rank; Slow)
Curse of the King in Yellow
. . Camera Obscure: Invisibility 4 (Linked; chaos, Total concealment from all visual senses; Feature 4: visual recordings and playbacks turns up as noise; Limited to Machines, Permanent)
. . Immortality: Immortality 2 (Linked; chaos, Return after 1 week; Innate)
. . Immunity: Immunity 21 (Linked; chaos, Aging, Common Descriptor: Technology, Life Support; Innate)
. . Regeneration: Regeneration 2 (Linked; chaos, Every 5 rounds; Innate, Persistent)
Power Settings
Nightmares of R'lyeh (Powers: Sleep: Concentration Cumulative Cloud Area Sleep 10)
The Rats in the Walls (Powers: Rat Swarm: Summon 5)
The twisted form of the Gug (Powers: Form of the Gug: Morph 1, Massive Horror: Growth 5, Massive Talons and Fangs: Strength-based Strike 4, Nameless Fear: Affliction 4)
Visions of Madness (Powers: Affliction: Burst Area Affliction 10)
Equipment
Audio Recorder, Car, Cell Phone (Smartphone), Commlink, Light Pistol, Motorcycle, Stun Ammo, The Family Mansion, Undercover Shirt, Video Camera
Offense
Initiative +0
Affliction: Burst Area Affliction 10 (DC Will 20)
Bolt of Esoteric Magic: Magic 10, +10 (DC 25)
Grab, +0 (DC Spec 10)
Light Pistol, +5 (DC 18)
Massive Talons and Fangs: Strength-based Strike 4, +6 (DC 19)
Nameless Fear: Affliction 4, +0 (DC Will 14)
Sleep: Concentration Cumulative Cloud Area Sleep 10 (DC Fort 20)
Throw, +0 (DC 15)
Unarmed, +0 (DC 15)
Languages
Ancient Egyption, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin, Sumarian
Defense
Dodge 5, Parry 5, Fortitude 2, Toughness 6/0, Will 5
Power Points
Abilities 10 + Powers 71 + Advantages 28 + Skills 24 (48 ranks) + Defenses 17 = 150
Background, Personality and Appearance:
Biography:
Edward's childhood was one of seclusion, his parents were heavily involved in the family business and travels across the globe leaving him home in the family mansion under the care of the servants and the private teachers or travelling across the globe especially with his mother Julia. When Edward was ten his father began having bouts of severe depression and stopped involving himself in the family business, instead gaining a keen interest in bizarre artifacts from across the globe, an interest that disgusted Julia. When Edward was 14 his mother found out that his father involved him in the studies of these artifacts and it caused extreme fiction between his parents and not a week later the servants found Edward's parents dead in the library it seems that Edward's father had taken a fireplace poker to his wife's skull, killing her in a fit of rage then afterwards doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire burning to death, at least this was what the police concluded. Hence forth Edward became a much more secluded boy and dug even deeper to the passion he had shared with his father, the ancient tombs and artifacts.
At the age of 16 just two years after the death of his parents Edward was accepted at Harvard with a major in history and in business. He mostly studied business out of a duty towards the family name and for the day where he would take the leadership of the family estate. His true passion was the strange and occult history of the degenerated societies in Europe during the dark ages and all the way back to the Sumarians. After finish his studies he travelled to modern day Iraq to study the ancient ruins of Sumar. Here he sought to study the clay tablets that were the vault of the knowledge of Sumar. During an expedition in 2003 war broke out and Edward and his team had to go underground to avoid capture by the Iraqi army. He didn't surface until 7 years later, in Turkey in a small Kurdish village, as the only survivor of his team. During his debrief by the US authorities he claimed that he could little remember of the time of his capture and after a year long legal battle to regain his legal properties he once again is in full control of his somewhat diminished family fortune.
Personality:
Edward is by nature a fairly selfish individual that has never learnt to truly regard others as his equal but rather he tend to interact with people like one would servants; Be generous and fair if you want a happy "staff". This can make him come off as quite arrogant. He can be extremely polite when he wants but generally he is a bit off handish and he has yet shown much interest in members of the gentle sex. His nature can also make him rather rash in his decision and he is not always as thoughtful and slow to act as he should be.
Appearance:
Edward is by nature a fairly selfish individual that has never learnt to truly regard others as his equal but rather he tend to interact with people like one would servants; Be generous and fair if you want a happy "staff". This can make him come off as quite arrogant. He can be extremely polite when he wants but generally he is a bit off handish and he has yet shown much interest in members of the gentle sex. His nature can also make him rather rash in his decision and he is not always as thoughtful and slow to act as he should be.
Complications:
Motivation: Redemption: Edward wish to do good has very little to do with a sense of what is the right thing to do or what is just, however he feels a deep desire to redeem himself for what happened to his friend and the men and women under his care during the Iraq expedition.
Obsession: Grotesque Artifacts: The obsession with occult and mystical artifacts of a bizarre and grotesque nature is a fascination that has never left Edward and he can be quite ruthless and single minded in the pursuit to obtain access to them, with little regard to consequences.
Reputation: Weird and eccentric: During his time as a college student Edward gained quite a reputation for being weird, it even earned him a nickname "Esoteric Ed" as he was called, he was actively shun by many of his peers and the reputation still clings to him, which in fact is the reason why his hero alias is Esoteric, for a journalist, a miss Georgina Davis, whom had attended literary classes with him wrote a scathing article condemning Edward during the legal battle to regain his property accidently wrote his name as Esoteric rather than Edward, a error that somehow manage to get through to printing.
The truth is that Edward seemed almost cursed with a bad luck of running into people who despises him or has heard the rumors real or imaged about him and his interests, when dealing with business and high society matters.
Responsibility: Family Business: Despite having excellent executor for the family business, there are a few events and meetings that Edward cannot get out of.
Secrets
Secret: Treasonous ancestry
The Pickman Derby's are a family of old money, most of which come from land possession and investments in financial institutions, however the family name is relatively new. Edward's great grandfather was Baron Wilhelm von Hessen, but he was stripped of his title for the crime of high treason and exiled to the United States, however most of the family wealth was in Swiss bank accounts and thus mostly preserved. When Edward's grandfather inherited the wealth of the von Hessen at the death of his grandfather he immediately changed his name from Heinrich von Hessen to Edward Pickman Derby.
Enemy: Order of the Yellow Sign
Those with money always have enemies and Edward is no different, however in Edward’s case the enemy is not directed at his wealthy persona but rather from his seven years in Iraq, for during his time he encountered a mystical group called the League of the Yellow Sign, very little is known of these enemies of the civilized world, however they tend to work through fanatic occultists, sociopathic madmen or manipulator third world terrorists.
Secret: Not Sole Survivor
The official record state that only Edward returned from Iraq, but the truth is one more member of the team survived, James Norrys.
Edward returned from the expedition with strange mystical powers, however that which had been James Norrys bore little resemblance of anything human, but rather a deformed rat like creature with mad red eyes and in black fur, a silent degenerate cannibal is all that remains of James Norrys locked up in the deepest cellar of the Pickman Mansion.
James Norrys had been Edward's one friend during his stay in collage, James had been a rather uninspired young man with many of the classical geek hobbies like computer, role-playing games and the occult, and this interest had struck a chord with Edward and the two had become fast friends. After collage the two had fallen apart for a few years until the expedition to Iraq, James had been married but had just gone through a messy divorce and had drowned himself in his hobby to escape reality. During a visit to an exhibit concerning witchcraft in medieval France James had had that ill fated run in with Edward, Edward had tried to cheer up his friend by inviting him along of the expedition and James had made the choice that damned him, to accompany Edward to the Middle East.
Bike, Car, Family Mansion and Summon spell minion
Car: Rolls Royce Phantom - PL 10
(Alternate of Motorcycle)
Strength 7, Defense -2, Toughness 8, Size Large
Features:
Alarm 2, Hidden Compartments 4, Navigation System 4
Powers
Speed: Speed 5 (Speed: 60 miles/hour, 900 feet/round)
Power Points
Abilities 4 + Powers 5 + Advantages 0 + Features 10 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 1 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 20
--------------------
Motorcycle: Suzuki GSXR600 Full Black Sportbike - PL 10
Strength 1, Defense 0, Toughness 8, Size Medium
Features:
Alarm 1, Navigation System 2
Powers
Speed: Speed 6 (Speed: 120 miles/hour, 1800 feet/round)
Power Points
Abilities 1 + Powers 6 + Advantages 0 + Features 3 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 3 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 13
--------------------
The Family Mansion: Pickman Mansion - PL 10
Toughness 6, Size Large
Features:
Garage, Grounds, Gym, Holding Cells, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Personnel, Security System 3, Workshop
Power Points
Abilities 2 + Powers 0 + Advantages 0 + Features 12 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 0 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 14
--------------------
Rat Swarm - PL 5
Strength 7, Stamina 12, Agility 1, Dexterity 1, Fighting 0, Intellect -4, Awareness -4, Presence 3
Advantages
Fearless
Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+3)
Powers
A Thousand Bites: Damage 5 (DC 20; Triggered 20: 21 uses - Triggered by being inside the rat swarm)
. . Plague
. . . . Plague: Broad Progressive Weaken 8 (Linked; Affects: Weaken abilities, Resisted by: Fortitude, DC 18; Broad: Weaken abilities, Incurable, Innate, Progressive; Custom: 1 hour between each check, Noticeable: Swelling around the wound and later boils and soars over the entire body)
Massive Swarm: Growth 12 (+12 STR, +12 STA, +6 Intimidate, -12 Stealth, -6 active defenses, +3 size categories, +1 speed ranks)
Swarm of Rats (Activation: Standard Action)
. . A Thousand Bodies: Insubstantial 2 (Gaseous; Permanent)
. . Flight: Flight 0 (Speed: 2 miles/hour, 30 feet/round)
. . Immunity: Immunity 0
. . Scurries over the floor and up the wall: Movement 2 (Wall-crawling 2: full speed)
There are always more rats: Regeneration 20 (2 per round; Innate)
Offense
Initiative +1
A Thousand Bites: Damage 5, +0 (DC 20)
Grab, +0 (DC Spec 17)
Plague: Broad Progressive Weaken 8, +0 (DC Fort 18)
Throw, +1 (DC 22)
Unarmed, +3 (DC 22)
Complications
Hatred: These rats hate all living things are gladly will tear anything apart
Reputation: Rats are known disease carriers
Languages
Native Language
Defense
Dodge -4, Parry -4, Fortitude 12, Toughness 12, Will -2
Power Points
Abilities -16 + Powers 83 + Advantages 1 + Skills 2 (3 ranks) + Defenses 5 = 75
|
|
@ Zouron: Feedback from me. First off, I realy like the idea of the character. He seems fun and evocative.
Now, on to mechanical stuff:
Advantages: Artificer and Ritualist are literally the same effect, just drop one would be my advice.
Also, you can buy Vehicles in an array, so you can save 12 Equipment points by buying the Motorcycle as an Alternate Power on the car.
Skills: The Pistol skill is probably not gonna be that useful, but you knew that.
Powers:Okay, the format you used made these difficult for me to understand, but here's what I think you have:
Amulet: Grants 4 pp worth of Super Senses and Eidetic Memory. Costs 3 pp
Bolt of Esoteric Magic: An attack effect with various extras and flaws, totalling 26 pp. It has an Alternate Power of Variable Power 4. So 27 pp, total.
Camera Obscure: Permanently invisible, but only to machines, with a neat special effect. Should cost 4 pp.
Immortality 2. 4 pp, simple.
Immunity 21, with Innate. 22 pp.
Regeneration 2, with Innate and Persistent. 4 pp.
Followed by several sample uses for the variable power array. Or are they Alternate Powers? I can't tell. The Sleep one is also massively more expensive than you caqn afford, and probably buildable more afforadably.
I only count 64 power points of stuff there. 68 if those last four are Alternate Powers. I also think that there are better designs for the magical bolt, which I'll go into in a bit.
Defenses: His Will seems a little low for someone who's survived what he has, but maybe that's just me. It is actually free for you to drop his Defensive Roll by 2 and buy him Stamina 2, since you can just use the points you put in Fortitude already.
Summoned Minion: I don't think that Triggered is the way to build the rats attack. More like Area-Shapeable. Indeed, something like a Rat Swarm is probably better built as a Shapeable Area attack than it is as an actual summoned monster, after all there are, in your own words, 'always more rats', so attacking them is futile anyway.
Alright, those are actual mechanical 'this just works like this' stuff. Now on to advice.
#1: You need full PL level defenses, or close to them. It's just the way the game works. Otherwise characters cannot properly be calibrated as threats to the group.
My advice for how to do this, thematically, is simple: Raise Stamina. His Immunities and Regeneration clearly indicate that he has gained an unnatural resilience due to his experiences, just expand on that. Stamina 10 goes a long way towards fixing that problem.
#2: I think your Magic is less than ideally designed. I'd build it like this:
Damage 10 (Perception Ranged, Penetrating 10, Affects Insubstantial 2, Check Required - Magic DC 22) Note: The DC is 22, because a 1 always fails and you have +20.
AP: Variable Power 6 (Check Required - Magic DC 22) Note: You buy the Afects Insubstantial with the 30 p gained.
AP: Sleep 10 (Cumulative, Cloud Area, Check Required - Magic DC 22) Concentration is silly on area or Perception range attack powers, IMO. Also, not affordable.
AP: Damage 10 (Perception Ranged, Shapeable Area, Check Required - Magic DC 22) - How I'd do the rats.
AP: Growth 4 + Enhanced Strength 6, Strike 4, Unarmed Combat +6, Morph 1, Intimidate +18, Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Power Attack. Check Required - Magic DC 22, Alternate Form - Standard Action.
AP: Affliction 10 (Conditions need to be listed, Will Save, Burst Area, Cumulative, Chek Required - Magic DC 22)
Totals 35pp.
So, what I'd do total:
Drop the following: Artifier, Attractive, 2 Ranks Wealth (millionaire is plenty), 4 Ranks Defensive Roll, 4 Ranks Equipment (I'd drop the Pistol, as well as making the motorcycle an AP), 2 Points Fortitude Save, 1 point Will Save, 5 Ranks of Pistol, 1 rank each of Insight Technology and Perception, the existing Magic Bolt array.
That saves 34 points from powers, and 19 from other stuff.
I would buy Awareness 1, Stamina 8, and the Magic Power outlined above.
That's still not quite good enough defensively...but it's getting there.
I'd then drop the Immunity (Technology). It's cool...but you need better defenses more than you need it, and it strikes me as a GM nightmare. I'd use that 10 points to raise Stamina to 11, and Dodge and Parry to 7. With the vest (which still works) that's the full PL 10 defenses available, for relatively little given up.
Been a long day... I'll look things over and reply tomorrow.
Welcome Robertness, Can certainly fit you in and I think Deadman and I along with the others will gladly help you build your concept. :)
Oh, and thanks Deadman for the hints and advice, and to all for the opportunity for me to flex my GM muscles. :)
Thanks for the tips (and the praise for the theme), I'll do my best to rework it more appropriately... sorry about the format but it is the one Herolab gives.
Just a few question:
First how do you get the invisibility to four? as far as I can see it is a
permanent 0/rank (sustained to continuous (+1/rank) to permanent (-1/rank))
feature +1pp (not just a description change but actually messes up the recording permanently and possibly hides others in the same view as him)
limited to machines -1/rank
concealment 4 (8pp)
thats a:
0 (4x0) + (4x-1) -4 + 1 + 8 = 5pp
or is there something I am missing?
Next!
Immunity (Technology) is something I really wanted, something that could be a great help but would also actually be something of a hindrance, sorta an ability that would literally make him be out of touch with the modern world backed up by the high-tech version of no reflection in the mirror power. So I really really really want to hear what Arky says before I remove it completely.
Thirdly!
I kindda wanted the summoned rat swarm to be a wildly uncontrolled mass of rats that attacked everyone and would surge forward continuing to attack people round after round until destroyed or whatever, and would aim for the nearest living creature.
A huge part of it is that the spells should have some rather uncontrollable elements or downright negative side effects, that is why I did it as a minion.
BTW You are right magic is totally messily made sorry about that! and I was abusing variable power, I wasn't actually aware of that, I just thought it seemed like just the thing to use to represent various spells, that could be changed out given sufficient time and his study. Giving him more more flexible power array that could be changed by replacing one power or spell with another and so forth. That way I could build up a small library as I came up with ideas.
Concerning the twisted form of the Gug: it was intended as a mix of a boost to someone else with a side order of a curse. Namely that it would compel the victim to attack people nearby friends and foes alike unless they passed a will save (ie. their will triumphed over the essence of the twisted monster they were). Finally it was suppose to have a really weak fear aura that could make minions go "OMG what a horrible create" and be fearful or run away from it when they saw it for the first time in an encounter.
The sleep power will be totally reworked in the image you presented... hopefully. The wealth will go down a bit but I want him to be insanely rich rather then just rich.
And while herolab didn't say it car and motorcycle were alternates of each other *sighs* teaches me trust the output format. Also it killed the tons and tons of descriptive text I had added to the various stuff hehe.
****************************
robertness I have no problem as such with the idea and it is very flattering that you been inspired by my character. Though I do think you should see if you couldn't make him more independent of my character, just in case.
|
|
Firstly, I suppose that might indeed justify the Feature. I was envisioning it more like the thing in Frailty, if you've ever seen that, with only his image being blurred out or missing.
Secondly, my advice can definitely be taken independent of dropping the Immunity...you'd just need 10 pp from somewhere else (though I dunno where). I just think the GM adjudicating an immunity to technology in general is going to be...annoying and difficult. Or would be for me.
As for the Rat Swarm...hmmmm, I can see where you're coming from. One moment and I'll build that for you.
And, well, you can use Variable Power for that, it'll just take more actions, as in a Standard Action to switch each time you do so. You should probably have at least a few options for non-Variable Power effets to avoid needing to always do this.
As for the Gug thing: Oh! I misunderstood. I'm...not sure how to build that properly. Turning people into things is usually the province of Affliction (and the Transformed condition), and boosting other people up is probably the single thing the system's worst at, so I don't think that's gonna work. And I got the Fear Aura, but those are obnoxiously hard to build, and not that effective at low levels, so I thought giving it a truly ridiculous Intimidate score would have a similar effect and be better vs. equal level opponents. I also think the ability to do it to himself is fun, though maybe that's just me.
And the motorcycle doesn't have to be an AP on the car, it's just cheaper that way.
...
Rat Summoning:
AP: Summon 7 (Active, Heroic, Horde, Multiple Minions, Attitude - Unfriendly, Check Required - Magic DC 22)
Rat Entities
PL 10
Abilities
Strength 8, Stamina 18, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect -4, Awareness 2, Presence 0
Powers
Growth 8 (Permanent, Innate, 17 pp)
Immunity 10 (Mental Powers) (10 pp)
Incorporeal 2 (Innate, 11 pp)
Regeneration 20 (20 pp)
Strike 2 (Strength based, Explosion Area 10) (12 pp)
Advantages
Fearless
Skills
Perception 6 (+8), Intimidate 6 (+10), Stealth 0 (-8),
Offense
Initiative +0
Explosion Area Strike +10 Damage
Defense
Dodge 2, Parry 2
Toughness 18, Fortitude 18, Will 2
Power Points
Abilities 16 + Powers 70 + Advantages 1 + Skills 6 + Defenses 12 = Total 105
There, nearly unstoppable rat things, you summon two of them...and then they rip into everything in the area, since they don't like you much and are dumb as a box of rocks. You can dismiss them, but that's basically the only power you've got over them.
|
|
Unsolicited Advice. With my apologies if it's unwelcome:
Entirely welcome. I appreciate the help.
You're knives don't work if you're adding Str, both because that'd be +8 to hit with +13 damage, and because you clearly haven't bought Multiattack to 13. If you drop them to Strike 9, and note Multiattack is 12, you'll only have to drop Penetrating to 4, that'll be a legal PL 10 offense, and the cost won't even change.
Not adding Str. I recently learned that you can only add Str to damage if your Str was all the same modifiers. So I'd have to buy multiattack for Str. But looking at it, I can do that and if I drop penetrating to 4 up damage to PL11.
Also, you could easily make the Pistols also a full PL 10 offense by switching some Penetrating (or even some of Blast itself) to Accurate, if you liked. Or reduce their cost to almost nothing by makng them an AP on the knives (you could even skip guns entirely and just go with a ranged AP being thrown knives, which, being super-science, come back to you...that actually sounds really cool).
I'm never entirely sure how to feel about AP's. I put an alt on regen because I thought it would be cool for him to cut his wrist and pour some blood on an injury and have it heal. But tossing an AP on the knives to get a ranged attack feels kind of like I'm abusing the rules to squeeze out more power on the guy. However, I'm kind of a huge fan of the idea of pistols with big honking bowie knife bayonets on 'em. DM Arknight, what do you think?
And, Regeneration or not, I'd really max out my Parry & Dodge/Toughness save pair were I you. Maybe with two more points of Protection, if you wish to keep the flavor of him getting hit. Also, you might grab All-out Attack for more of that flavor, plus mechanical effectiveness to boot.
If DM Arknight is ok with the change to make shooting an AP on the knives (or vice versa), I'll make the change.
I'd also buy some Perception, just beause I have a hard time envisioning a mercenary without it. But that last part may just be me.
Maybe a normal mercenary yes. I imagine Hurt as somewhat more heedless.
After knocking in a few doors, Hurt finally found what he was looking for. New weapons. Magnetic acceleration guns that sent small bits of metal hurtling so fat that they hit like truck. Blades with a monomolecular edge that cut through anything like...really sharp knives.
"Freeze! City PD! And why the hell are you narrating? We could hear you down the hall."
Hurt turned around slowly to face the four police officers. "Was I saying all that out loud? That's embarrassing. I just got off a binge that lasted the better part of a decade. I'm not sure I'm totally back to normal. But that's not the point. I'm a hero. You guys don't need to worry."
For some reason, they didn't lower their guns. "Newsflash, pal, heroes don't rob weapons labs. Hands behind your head. Kneel on the ground."
Hurt didn't move to obey.
"You're narrating again."
"Sorry. Look, I'm turning over a new leaf here but I'm outa dough and I really need some gear to fight crime with! A regular pistol was good enough to kidnap my new pet hacker nerd but I need something better to fight guys with superpowers. PS, the internet is awesome. Not only is it chock full of porn, but these nerds can find out anything with it. That's how I knew these were here."
"Wait, who did you kidnap?"
"Some guy. I keep him locked up and he finds out things for me to be heroic with. That's the plan anyway. I'll release him back into the wild in a few months and grab another. The plan is foolproof. It is a foolproof plan. Look this has been fun, but I really need to bolt before someone that can actually stop me gets here. Feel free to shoot me. No hard feelings."
With that, Hurt dashes through the door clutching his bounty of new toys. Taking him up on the offer, the cops shoot him but he'll heal. The next group of cops has a taser, which hurts and makes him pee a little but he keeps moving. He's soon out into the night. Shot all to hell but free.
This was not my best work but it's ok. My take on Hurt is that he was a mercenary for quite a bit of time and amassed some wealth. But something he did in the early nineties pushed him over the edge. He bought a metric butt load of C4 and made took it out with him to the Nevada desert and blew himself up. And about a week later, he woke up again, naked and sore but whole. With suicide apparently off the table he spent the next decade drinking and taking drugs at a rate even his regenerative abilities couldn't cope with. He only recently awoke from this stupor to find himself in a filthy alley in Emerald City, festooned with needles like a messed up porcupine. Finally at the rockiest of rock bottoms, with no one to turn to and nothing left to spend on oblivion, he just stared into the sun, the glare burning his retinas which would heal and the process would continue. Then someone blocked the sun. A figure in a cape. The cheers from the street proved the caped figure to be a hero of some sort. And the people cheered for him. He was liked, maybe even loved. And he probably never did something that made him decide to make a tracksuit out of explosives and wear it out in the desert. So that's where Hurt is at. Old hand at killing, new at the hero gig. Either the binge or the explosion damaged his memory so he can't really remember what happened before. He knows he did something horrible. He knows he lived a while before that. He vaguely remembers a horse and a sixshooter. But its all hazy.
|
|
Entirely welcome. I appreciate the help.
In that case, glad to be of help. :-)
Not adding Str. I recently learned that you can only add Str to damage if your Str was all the same modifiers. So I'd have to buy multiattack for Str. But looking at it, I can do that and if I drop penetrating to 4 up damage to PL11.
Yep, it's definitely workable.
I'm never entirely sure how to feel about AP's. I put an alt on regen because I thought it would be cool for him to cut his wrist and pour some blood on an injury and have it heal. But tossing an AP on the knives to get a ranged attack feels kind of like I'm abusing the rules to squeeze out more power on the guy. However, I'm kind of a huge fan of the idea of pistols with big honking bowie knife bayonets on 'em. DM Arknight, what do you think?
If DM Arknight is ok with the change to make shooting an AP on the knives (or vice versa), I'll make the change.
Well, considering how many APs I have, and Esoteric's Variable Power, I doubt he'll object to a simple melee/ranged AP.
And don't think of it as being more powerful, it's really not. You can only do one thing a turn, and if it's a PL appropriate offense (especially one worth the same number of points), it'll be about as effective a thing (well, barring specific vulnerabilities of the target), all APs give you is more options for what that thing is.
Maybe a normal mercenary yes. I imagine Hurt as somewhat more heedless.
Yeah, okay, I can see that.
...
And the backstory looks fun, though he certainly won't have a pet hacker any more by the time Seizure winds up working with him. Kidnapping for one's own convenience is not the sort of thing he'll put up with, and (being psychic) is the sort of thing he'll find out about if it's an ongoing thing.
Also, we're a surprisingly dark little group here. I mean, Esoteric's an arrogant Mythos-mage, Hurt's a former killer for hire, and even Seizure is willing to do some pretty bad stuff in a good cause.
|
|
Well, considering how many APs I have, and Esoteric's Variable Power, I doubt he'll object to a simple melee/ranged AP.
And don't think of it as being more powerful, it's really not. You can only do one thing a turn, and if it's a PL appropriate offense (especially one worth the same number of points), it'll be about as effective a thing (well, barring specific vulnerabilities of the target), all APs give you is more options for what that thing is.
Sir, your points, they are valid. Hurt will have some sort of crazy gun knife. Maybe like this?
And the backstory looks fun, though he certainly won't have a pet hacker any more by the time Seizure winds up working with him. Kidnapping for one's own convenience is not the sort of thing he'll put up with, and (being psychic) is the sort of thing he'll find out about if it's an ongoing thing.
It's just kind of a funny story to explain the contacts advantage. I think if Seizure asked him, the hacker would say he wants to stay and work. But that's mainly because Hurt knows how to find him now. The hacker (I think I'm going to name him Shakey but he's always quivering in fear when he's with Hurt) is not a white hat at all. He's a bad guy, in a white collar crime, just stealing from folks sort of way. Identity theft, maybe corporate espionage and all that kind of stuff. He's working his debt to society off. In any case, I think it'll be fun to roleplay.
Also, we're a surprisingly dark little group here. I mean, Esoteric's an arrogant Mythos-mage, Hurt's a former killer for hire, and even Seizure is willing to do some pretty bad stuff in a good cause.
This is true. GM, you ok with the slightly dark angle this group might end taking?
STR 3 {multiattack] (9)
FGT 4 (8)
STA 5 (10)
AGL 5 (10)
DEX 3 (6)
INT 0 (0)
AWE 4 (8)
PRE 0 (0)
Skills 15
Close Combat [Knives] 4 (2)
Athletics 4 (2)
Acrobatics 4 (2)
Ranged Combat [Pistols] 6 (3)
Intimidation 6 (3)
Investigation 6 (3)
Perception 2 (1)
Advantages 4
Contacts (1)
Interpose (1)
Power Attack (1)
Quick Draw (1)
Powers 67
Regeneration 20 (21)
Alternate Effect Healing Blood: Healing 4 [Reduced Action Energizing Resurrection]
Protection 7 (7)
Immortality 1 (2)
Immunity 11: Life Support & Aging (11)
Body Slide: Teleportation 7 [Removeable] (12)
Monomolecular edge bayonets: Strike 8 [Penetrating 4, Multiattack, Easily Removable] (13)
Alternate Effect Magnetic Acceleration (MA) Pistols: Blast 8 [Penetrating 4, Easily Removable]
Communicator (1)
Defenses (13)
Parry 4
Dodge 3
Will 3
Fort 3
|
|
That definitely works, I only see two fairly minor problems, and one other thing:
First, the big problem: by my calculations you now do +8 to hit for +11 damage in melee, and +9 to hit for +8 damage at range. So not quite Pl 10 yet.
I'd move a skill rank from Pistols to Knives, drop the Gun's Penetrating by 2 and give it Accurate 2.
That'll give you +9 to hit, +11 damage in melee, +12 to hit +8 damage at range. Both unambiguous PL 10 attacks.
Second, the little problem: You appear to be 1 pp over, since you've actually got 16 in skills, not 15.
And then the note: Having bought Fortitude up to +8, and having even more than that in Protection, you can have up to Stamina 8 for free simply by reassigning the points. It's up to you whether you want to do that or not.
On another note, you don't really need Power Attack, as you have Penetrating and decent dmage on your attacks. I might go All-Out Attack instead. It seems more the character's style.
...
As for the hacker thing...I don't think Seizure would accept those excuses. Like at all. People don't stop having the right not to be kidnapped and enslaved because they do white-collar crime. And remember, he's psychic, if the guy's only staying because of fear, he'll know.
Maybe a similar guy who owes you big (money-wise), allowing the same relationship without the kidnapping? Or who actually did something like directly steal from you, and this is how he avoids your vengeance? Seizure's not a real law-and-order guy, and he'd probably be cool with something like that, where this really is the guy paying off a debt to Hurt personally, where he wouldn't be with just grabbing a guy.
|
|
Oops on the pp miscount. Dropping power attack to make it right.
I'll also follow your advice on the attacks.
I think that's a fine compromise on my pet nerd. Looking over your background materials, I can see that Seizure is not going to be able to be deflected with some jokes and self-serving explanations. We'll say Shaky stole a bunch of cash from Hurt while he was living in binge town.
STR 3 [multiattack] (9)
FGT 4 (8)
STA 5 (10)
AGL 5 (10)
DEX 3 (6)
INT 0 (0)
AWE 4 (8)
PRE 0 (0)
Skills 15
Close Combat [Bayonets] 6 (3)
Athletics 4 (2)
Acrobatics 4 (2)
Ranged Combat [Pistols] 4 (2)
Intimidation 6 (3)
Investigation 6 (3)
Perception 2 (1)
Advantages 3
Contacts (1)
Interpose (1)
Quick Draw (1)
Powers 67
Regeneration 20 (21)
Alternate Effect Healing Blood: Healing 4 [Reduced Action Energizing Resurrection]
Protection 7 (7)
Immortality 1 (2)
Immunity 11: Life Support & Aging (11)
Body Slide: Teleportation 7 [Removeable] (12)
Monomolecular edge bayonets: Strike 8 [Penetrating 4, Multiattack, Easily Removable] (13)
Alternate Effect Magnetic Acceleration (MA) Pistols: Blast 8 [Penetrating 2, Accurate 2, Easily Removable]
Communicator (1)
Defenses (13)
Parry 4
Dodge 3
Will 3
Fort 3
Complications
Recognition & Acceptance: Hurt doesn't really want to be a better person, per se. He really wants, I guess you might call it a support structure. He wouldn't. I don't think he could articulate this. But he's been alive too long and spent most of his long life alone or only in the company of mercs as crappy as him. Somewhere in the small sliver of his mind that can still empathize and self-evaluate, there's a belief that if he wasn't around such crap people he wouldn't have done whatever thing it is that haunts him. Or if he had, he could have been kept from the self-destructive path
Accident: I think this is a good one because it works on a couple levels. First, the terrible tragic thing he did and his desire to prevent that kind of thing. Second, the fact that he's new to heroism and limiting collateral damage means he might mess up from time to time. Luckily, no one has been dumb enough to give him explosives yet so for a little while, collateral damage might be limited just by virtue of limited armament...
|
|
I was actually referring to having a 5 each in Bayonets and Guns, it doesn't quite work otherwise, and is quite legal. You don't have to have even ranks in a skill.
Other than that, looks good. :)
I was under the impression that you could exceed PL limits in theory but that the waste points were unusable until there was a PL increase. So I have a total bonus of 10 but I can only use 9 of it. If I'm making that up I'll just switch the point to a point in the Close Combat advantage and have a solid +9 attack
Just touching base while I have a couple of minutes here at work....
I love the way everyone's working out so far, and appreciate the working together to develop cohesive characters. The group is definitely a bit ummmmm... Shadowy? But I think it will make for some interesting RP. The end concept is to set up a team that a city could get behind and call their own. Even General Han Solo started out deep in the shadows running drugs from time to time, so I think there's hope.
Are you all ok with your characters going in that direction? For Hurt, it would be a major support system, for Esoteric and Siezure both it would mean a balancing of any darkness that might build up.
Besides, if the White Queen and Magneto can be part of the X-Men, we can work it out. :)
I'll try to have some more in depth comments after I get home from work. It's a pain to do a lot of cut/paste/copy from my iPhone :)
|
|
I was under the impression that you could exceed PL limits in theory but that the waste points were unusable until there was a PL increase. So I have a total bonus of 10 but I can only use 9 of it. If I'm making that up I'll just switch the point to a point in the Close Combat advantage and have a solid +9 attack
Oh, you can! But that'll leave you with only +11 to hit with ranged. Here's what I mean and advise:
Close Combat [Bayonets] 5 (2.5)
Ranged Combat [Pistols] 5 (2.5)
An entirely legal skill distribution (and why skill costs aren't usually listed like you do).
Are you all ok with your characters going in that direction? For Hurt, it would be a major support system, for Esoteric and Siezure both it would mean a balancing of any darkness that might build up.
Honestly, Seizure already is in that direction. He's a hero. Hell, he's a social worker, and his basic goal is to help people...he's just also very much not the kind of character who'll draw the line at murder, or even some stuff debatably worse than that (like mind-wiping villains into drooling vegetables, or reprogramming them to wet themselves at the thought of him) if the villain's bad enough. I mean, he'll take a thief in to the police, maybe even a crime boss, but a serial killer or pedophile? Probably dead or worse. This is the kinda guy who'd execute the Joker out of hand.
I was honestly expecting someone a bit less...extreme to restrain that tendency, and he'd probably be fairly chill about not rocking the boat. But it's not looking like that's gonna rock the boat with this group, so...
I sent a PM to robertness to see if could convince him into being some kind of a guiding light for folks... So maybe Siezure will have that bit of restraint available. :)
|
|
I don't know, if might be fun to go all Punisher with this one. M&M seems to lend itself to a bit of campyness (campiness?). If it works with the story you've planned, I can do it.
---
Seizure is, I think, a very interesting character and aptly named, too. His neuron's have to be randomly misfiring to get himself to a bizarre code of morality. Mind rape is ok (albeit horrible as you point out) but he gets mad if Hurt forces a criminal to work against other criminals for a period not to exceed 6 months assuming good behavior.
Hurt isn't a philosopher but I think even he could see this dichotomy. Oh, that'll be a fun scene...