Character idea...wher do I start (Newbie)

[Jester]

Maybe it's just that I haven't played a points-based RPG before, or maybe I'm an idiot, but I'm not even sure where to start with creating this character I have an idea for...I have both Champions and the basic rules. So, here's my idea...help?

My character is I'm guessing gonna fall under energy projector, but I think I'd like him to have a little of a few types.

Here's the general story behind his powers...I haven't exactly thought of their origin yet...He's got an unusually high amount of energy in his body (maybe static [as in electricity] or maybe some other exotic form), and because of this energy field in his body, he's got the power of regeration (the high amount of energy speeds up his metabolism, keeps him young, helps him heal really fast - like Wolverine). He's also a little stronger than the average person and has well above average reflexes. His offensive power is going to be some specially designed guns that draw on the energy in his body and fire energy blasts which he can use for stunning damage or actual body damage. I'd also like to have a special sword or something that he can charge with the energy. I'm wanting him to be a crack shot with the guns. And I'd like him to kick major butt in the h2h combat arena, too...an all-around, James Bond meets Wolverine meets I don't know who else kind of guy. :)

As far as limitations go, I'm thinking he'll be hunted by some organization or enemy, the story of which I'll come up with later. I don't know if it'd be cool or not, but I'm also thinking of having it so that if he doesn't release his energy after a certain amount of time, he'll explode with the force of a very large nuclear bomb! :eek:

Now, where in the heck do I even start?! Any ideas how many points I should allocate total for him? As far as determining his abilities, how does that work? Do I start with just 10 for all of them and then buy up points as I see fit? I keep seeing power frameworks referenced here, too.

Thanks. This whole character creation process is pretty darn involved and confusing. :confused:

[Rechan]

Well, look at Tom McCarthy's reply at your last post: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3715

As to how to do the points... Um... Doh. :) I'm new too.

[Jester]

Yeah, that takes care of the really good with the guns thing, but I'm lost everywhere else! Thanks!

[Monolith]

I suggest before you start building a character you take the characters from Champions and run some combats with yourself. Get a feel for the different types of characters and what each brings to the table. After you have had Pulsar shoot it out with Sapphire, Defender and Devastator go at it, and Nighthawk kung fu Green Dragon you will get a better feel for things like Characteristics, Powers, Skills, and Disadvantages. It is much easier to have an understanding of how to build characters if you have had a few combat sessions under your belt. It becomes more clear why someone might need a higher DEX or CON, or what Regeneration really means if you can see through example how useful they might be.

As far as power levels, if you are building superheo characters I suggest you look on the table on page 15. Standard Superhero is the module you should be emulating.

[Monolith]

Originally posted by Jester
He's got an unusually high amount of energy in his body (maybe static [as in electricity] or maybe some other exotic form), and because of this energy field in his body,
This is just the special effect of how his powers work and should not be worried about.


he's got the power of regeration (the high amount of energy speeds up his metabolism, keeps him young, helps him heal really fast - like Wolverine).
Regeneration is a standard power. Look under Healing in FREd.


He's also a little stronger than the average person and has well above average reflexes.
Take a look at Nighthawk, and then also look at the chart on page 58 of Champions for where characteristics fit within the standard Champions Universe.


His offensive power is going to be some specially designed guns that draw on the energy in his body and fire energy blasts which he can use for stunning damage or actual body damage. I'd also like to have a special sword or something that he can charge with the energy.
This is probably just a Multipower. Slot 1 has an Energy Blast (stunning damage). Slot 2 has a Ranged Killing Attack (lethal damage). Slot 3 has a Hand-To-Hand Attack (sword non-lethal). Slot 4 has a Hand-To-Hand Killing Attack (sword lethal). The Multipower has a Focus Limitation to show that he needs certain weapons to be able to use those powers.


I'm wanting him to be a crack shot with the guns.
Many levels with Guns.


And I'd like him to kick major butt in the h2h combat arena, too...an all-around, James Bond meets Wolverine meets I don't know who else kind of guy.
Some Martial Arts.

You might also want to read the Archetypes section in Champions and then play around a little with the Random Character Generator. That will give you some really good ideas about what starting characters should look like.

[Tom McCarthy]

Well, the first draft is usually a bit out of whack, but let's try a few things.

20 STR

This costs 10 points (base is 10 points, then 1 pt for every point over that). I grab it out of the air, since a hero who fights in close combat is usually above 10 STR. It allows him to lift about 4 times as much as a typical hero (ie., firefighter or policeman) but doesn't stretch the bounds of what a human might be capable of.

20 DEX or 26 DEX

This really depends on the 'look and feel' of the universe you play in. You want a martial artist-like level of close combat capability. In some campaigns, that means 26 DEX. In others, it means 20 DEX (or even lower), plus some skill levels. 20 DEX costs 30 points; 26 DEX costs 48 points (first 10 are free, 3 points per after that).

18 CON (maybe 23)

This is general health and toughness. I pluck these numbers from the air as breakpoints for most round-offs, so commonly seen values. They cost 16 or 26 respectively, and generally show great overall health and durability.

10 BODY (maybe more)

I usually start with a low BODY total, but if your defences turn out to be low, or all non-resistant, buy it up a bit.

13 INT

This only costs 3 points, and makes the character a little more perceptive and capable with all intelligence skills. If it's outside your concept, fine, use 10. Going below 10 may draw snickers. Below 8, better be prepared to justify it.

11 EGO

This only costs 2 points, and makes it slightly tougher for mental attacks to hit you. Again, easily dropped.

20 PRE

It costs 10 points, but you're more impressive and less easily cowed by the opposition. Definitely worth considering, but if the concept doesn't support it, toss it.

12 COM

Hey, for 1 point, you can look better than average.

After this, it's figured characteristics. The base value is a function of primary values set above, so they fluctuate a bit.

15 PD

Assuming STR 20, the base is 4, and the cost then is 11. For a campaign with 10 DC attacks typical, (1.5xDCs) is low defences. Think martial artist or mentalist.

20 ED

Assuming CON 23, the base is 5 and the cost is 15. This is average defence, and an electrical guy is probably going to have more ED than PD.

6 SPD

Scrappy little guys are typically fast, and 6 is pretty fast for a starting character (4 would be slow, anything over 6 better be a key part of the concept). Assuming DEX 20, the base is 3 and the cost is 30.

9 REC

Assuming 20 STR and 23 CON, this is the starting value. I love high REC, but I buy it up later as points allow.

46 END

This is also the base value for 23 CON. Bump it up later if justified by the END costs of powers.

32 STUN

This is the base value for 10 BODY, 20 STR, 23 CON. 40 is a nicer value, but see how the points stack up.

That's 138 points in characteristics.

For the gun, let's assume it will be 9 damage classes, a multipower, an OAF gun, and a slot for energy blast and another for killing damage. It looks like this.

22 Projecting Electricity: Multipower, 45 pt reserve, OAF beam projector gun
2u Lethal blast: 3D6 RKA (4 END)
2u Stun blast: 9D6 EB (4 END)

So 26 points, and it costs 4 END to fire either shot.

For the sword, try 2D6 HKA (3D6+1 w/STR), OAF sword projector for 15 points, or squeeze it into the multipower for more savings.

The healing factor probably looks like the Lycanthropic Regeneration on P120 of the rules, without the silver limitation, so 40 points.

To round the character out, you probably want to buy some martial arts maneouvres and 4 extra damage classes, some Combat skill levels (with shooting and martial arts), some Lightning reflexes, and some background skills.

Exploding like a bomb might be done several ways. Define it as a physical limitation. Or build an END Reserve to draw on, and have the END Reserve have low REC but maybe an absorption to the END Reserve, and a big explosion that goes off whenever the END Reserve is full.

[Tom McCarthy]

Good tip there from Monlith about the random character generator. Try choosing promising sounding paths in the character generator and see if it gets you in the neighbourhood.

[misterdeath]

Ok Mr Jester, where in the 'ville do y'all live.

D

[TheTemplar]

If you've picked up the Champions genre book, Jester, check out the "Weaponmaster" archtype. It will pretty much give you everything you're looking for here. Other than that, everything Monolith advised is right on the money. Have a few sparring matches using premade characters to familiarize yourself w/ combat (something I REALLY wish I had done before I started playing..combat was lost on me for about 2 sessions, and I'm pretty RPG savvy.)

It sounds to me like you've got your character concept pretty well nailed down. That's good. A lot of new players make the mistake of starting with their character sheet, as opposed to starting with their character concept. As far as your Characteristics ranges, and given that you are creating a "weapon master" type character (who are very skills and powers heavy) I would suggest trying to spend 125 pts. or less on your characteristics. The Energy in your body makes you a "metahuman" (as opposed to normal) so the Normal Characteristics Maximum rules don't apply to you...but you still want to save points here if you can. Based solely on what you've got here, I would go with:

STR: 20 (10 pts.)
DEX: 23 (39 pts.)
CON: 25 (30 pts.)
INT: 13 (3 pts.)
EGO: 11 (2 pts)
BODY: 15 (10 pts.)
SPD: 5 (17 pts.)
STUN: 40 (2 pts.)
END: 50 (0 pts)

Now, I've left out your PD and ED because I don't know what type of Armor you'll wear (be it Force Fields or Armor or Bulletproof Spandex, whatever.) As well as your movement, because I don't know if you're character has any special movement powers or not, but you've got the numbers of what in any campaign I've been in would be a solid weapon user here, and it only cost you 113 pts. Assuming you're playing a 350 pt. game, that leaves you 237 pts. to buy skills, talents, perks, powers, and martial arts with. I went high on your CON, based on your character concept. To me, a character with strong regenerative ability should have a Constitution that would be significantly higher than what would be considered "normal." This will help your CON rolls (which aren't TOO frequent..but it would fit your concept to exceed in that area.) And everything else is fairly modest, but balanced. You would want to pick up some CSL's with your guns, or sword, or martial arts..whichever you want to excel with. Hope this helps!

-T

[Jester]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! So, how many points do you think I should start with???

I live in Franklin, actually.

[misterdeath]

Originally posted by Jester
Thanks for the suggestions, guys! So, how many points do you think I should start with???

I live in Franklin, actually.

Depends on the campaign you're playing in.

350 is the standard, so I'd go with that for practice. If you're looking at a "solo" type character, the Star of His Own book, I like 450 points.

Sometimes I find creating the same character at several different levels is a fun exercise. Sort of mimicing the "team character sheet" vs "solo character sheet." (Only Batman has more points in JLA than in his own books, everyone else is less powerful in the team book.)
____

Hmmm, most of the other Champs players live in Antioch (or thereabouts). Me, I'm about half an hour away from Franklin toward I-40.

D

[Pattern Ghost]

I really like Tom's suggestions, but there's anotheralternative for doing Regeneration. The description makes the regeneration sound like more of a secondary schtick. Here's one way to buy it:

Instant Regeneration: Armor +6PD/+6ED, Hardened (+14) 22 pts. Special effect is that the wound happens, but it's healed almost instantly.

High Recovery: A REC of 15 ( would cost 12 pts with a 20 STR and 23-25 CON) will let you heal 1 BODY every two days. It also helps you recover faster from STUN damage in combat.

With these options, you can ignore some smaller wounds, which heal even in combat, and you heal other BODY damage really quickly. You'd also bounce back into the fight pretty fast.

For skills, if you have Champions for Fifth Edition, there are several combat-oriented 50 point skills packages to chose from, which should work well, perhaps with a little tweaking.

Martial Block and Martial Dodge are your friend. So is Martial Throw, Takedown, or Legsweep. Pick the damaging attacks to suit your concept. A successful block sets you up to attack first next phase, Martial Dodge adds a great DCV bonus for only 4 pts, and any of the maneuvers that take your opponent off his feet put him at half DCV and make him burn a half phase to stand back up unless he has breakfall or some of the movement power adders.

Speaking of which, Breakfall is probably your friend. You really don't want to be on the ground (and at half DCV) with low defenses.

As to the point total, that's up to the GM if it's for a game. If it's just for the sake of practicing character construction, then 350 is a safe bet, as that's the "standard" power level and there are many PC and official writeups of NPCs at that level for you to use as a basis of comparison. You can probably fit this character into 350 quite comfortably.

One more idea: No Range Penalty advantage is your friend if you want to hit consistantly, though it's a bit pricey. (PSLs may work out cheaper, depending on the size of the attack.)

[Pattern Ghost]

Here's a really quick shot at the character, sans Disads. (Heh, feel free to ignore, I was a bit bored and decided to build him.) Took about fifteen minutes or so, mostly time spent copying, using the skill sets in Champions 5th, and the suggestions from this thread:

20 STR 10
26 DEX 48
25 CON 30
12 BDY 04
13 INT 03
11 EGO 02
18 PRE 08
12 COM 01
10 PD 06
20 ED 15
6 SPD 26
15 REC 12
50 END 00
35 STN 00
---------
CHAR: 163
---------

POWERS

37 Multipower: Pistol, 75 pt. Reserve, OAF (-1)
u4 10d6 EB vs ED, No Range Penalty (-1/2)
u4 3d6+1 RKA vs. ED, No Range Penalty (-1/2)

15 Multipower: Sword, 30 pt. Reserve, OAF (-1)
u1 +6d6 Hand Attack vs. ED, Hand to Hand Attack (-1/2)
u1 2d6 HKA vs ED

25 Rapid Regeneration: Armor +10PD/+10ED, Hardened (-1/4)
---------
87 POWERS TOTAL

SKILLS (Acrobat Set and Gunman Set, modified)

20 Martial Arts, Classic Comic Book (Combined Ranged Levels and MA pts)
32 +4 Levels w/All Combat (Combined 5 pt levels, netted 3 spare pts)
05 Acrobatics 15- (lowered 2pts, dropped redundant)
05 Breakfall 15- (lowered 2pts, dropped redundant)
03 Contortionist 14-
03 Stealth 14- (free choice, from net 3 from CSL combining)
03 Paramedics 12- (free choice, from background skill allotment)
05 Fast Draw 15-
02 WF: Small Arms
03 Weaponsmith 12-
03 Streetwise 13- (free choice, from background skill allotment)
03 Tactics 12- (free choice, from background skill allotment)
02 AK: Campaign City 11- (free choice, from background skill allotment)
02 KS: Superhuman World 11- (free choice, from background skill allotment)
03 Teamwork 14- (free choice, from background skill allotment)
06 +3" Running (9" total)(bought w/spare pts)
----------------
100 SKILLS TOTAL

DISADVANTAGES: Pick 150 pts.

For Characteristics, I mostly went by Tom's recommendations based on your description, but boosted the Energy Defense since he's charged with energy. I boosted the REC to 15 as I mentioned

For powers, I used the multis for the weapons and did the armor-as-regeneration schtick.

For skills, I took the Acrobatics skill set, the Gunman skill set from Champions 5th and mashed them together. Some levels in PER modifiers might be handy, but I decided to put more in skills and some running. (Note, odd numbers in movement powers are handy, b/c you get the round off on the half move.) You might want Rapid Fire skills as well. With 100 pts alloted, there's plenty of room to play around.

[Jester]

Wow...thanks! As soon as I finish reading the rules, I'll understand what all that meant! heheheheh....