Edge WIP

[archer]

I've done little to no character building in 6th for a 400 point superhero. But I've had in mind doing a updated riff on a cybernetic bioengineered quasi-hero from a dystopian future so I'm combining . A bit more Shadowrun than the original Six Million Dollar Man, Deathlok, Cable, or a host of other heroic bionic characters from books, movies, or TV still in much the same spirit. 

 

A deliberate attempted brain wipe of the memory but not the skills before the installation of a cybernetic brain which drives most of the body's systems. The two time jumps to bring her to our present muddled her cybernet while bringing back parts of the original personality. So partial amnesia but a core driving force to accomplish a mission.

 

She was originally a "Renaissance woman", scientist who moonlighted as a thief and hustler working for a quasi-anarchist pro-tech group. When that relationship started falling through, the group decided to not risk losing her altogether and decided to get one last use from her as their guinea pig/agent.

 

This is still very much a work in progress so I've jotted down random notes whether or not they fit the original character concept in amongst the things in more serious contention.

 

I don't have a good feel for average OCV, DCV, defenses, or STUN for 400 point characters in 6th so any ideas in that area would be appreciated. I have access to Champions Complete but no other 6th books. I can try to comb through numerous downloads but I don't have access to HERO software (or any money) so finding a wide variety of opinions wouldn't go swiftly.   

 

I'd originally intended the character to be part of the new Champions setting which we tried to get started in this forum during spring of last year. I'll probably still post it to that dedicated website once I settle on a final form.

 

Enhanced STR but probably sub-superbrick level, unless I say "screw the Martial Arts and just pump up STR". I've got a couple of interesting ways to do that without it being just a straight point dump.

Laser pistol/ray gun

several minor movement powers probably in a multipower

I don't have those worked out yet because they're easier. Most of what I do have is the flavor parts which were more interesting but probably less used in combat.  

 

 

Edge 

(That's her chosen alias from her previous life due to her drive to do anything to gain an edge over an opponent or in a situation. The people who wiped her saw no reason to change it since that was part of what they liked about her. Part of her edge is that she doesn't tell people that she's bioengineered or cybernetically enhanced: what they don't know, they won't try to counter. She looks like a normal person who is in excellent shape.)

 

Mary Sue Eddington (not her birth name but the one assigned by the wise guys who wiped her personality)

 

CSL 2 pt OAF pistol -1 Unified Power -1/4 as a cyberlink from the pistol to her brain

INT Unified Power -1/4 her increased intelligence is a cybernetic augment which also allows her to process most of her body's powers plus process input from a few of her gadgets

 

Autofire?

8 Defense Maneuver I-IV Unified Power -1/4

4 Eidetic Memory 5 Unified Power -1/4

1 ABSOLUTE RANGE SENSE 3 OAF -1

1 ABSOLUTE TIME SENSE 3 OAF -1

1 BUMP OF DIRECTION 3 OAF -1

1 LIGHTNING CALCULATOR 3 OAF -1

3 SPEED READING 4cp for x10 speed Unified Power -1/4

2 Infrared Perception 5 Unified Power -1/4 OAF visor -1

2 MENTAL AWARENESS 5 Unified Power -1/4 OAF visor -1

4 NIGHTVISION 5 Unified Power -1/4

5 RADIO PERCEPTION 12 Unified Power -1/4 OAF -1

4 ANALYZE normal sight 5 Unified Power -1/4

 

1 Life Support: No need to sleep.  Five minutes Extra Time only to activate (-1)  Unified Power with the other two Life Supports only -1/4

 

2 Life Support: No aging.  Extra time five minutes only to activate (-1)  Unified Power with the other two Life Supports only -1/4 

 

2 Life Support: Immune to all terrestrial diseases. Extra time five minutes only to activate (-1)  Unified Power with the other two Life Supports only -1/4

 

Those three Life Supports shut off if she is knocked unconscious or goes to sleep and must be activated again when she awakes.

 

1 Life Support: Diminished eating/drinking once per week

2 Safe Environment: Character is safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum 2

1 Safe Environment: Character is safe in High Pressure 1

2 Safe Environment: Character is safe in High Radiation 2

2 Safe Environment: Character is safe in Intense Cold 2

2 Safe Environment: Character is safe in Intense Heat 2

 

 

2 Luck 1d6 OAF Probability Generator (-1) Unified Power -1/4

4 Mental Defense of 12 Gestures (-1/4) Incantation (-1/4) OAF -1 Unified Power -1/4

 

2 Navigation Unified Power -1/4

2 Combat Driving Unified Power -1/4 (free TF: Small Unmotorized Ground Vehicles bike, rollerblade, skateboard, etc.)

2 Combat Piloting Unified Power -1/4 (free TF: Small Unmotorized Air Vehicles glider, parachute, etc.)

0 TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles (Background skill)

1 TF: Common Motorized Air Vehicles Unified Power -1/4

1 TF: Space Vehicles Unified Power -1/4

2 Systems Operation Unified Power -1/4

2 Computer Programming Unified Power -1/4

2 Tactics Unified Power -1/4

3 Jack of All Trades

1 PS Vehicle Thief

1 PS Locksmith

1 PS Pickpocket

1 PS Burglar

1 PS Fence

3 Streetwise

3 Sleight of Hand

3 Trading

3 Forgery

3 Lockpicking

2 Security Systems Unified Power -1/4

2 Electronics Unified Power -1/4

4 Cramming Unified Power -1/4

2 KS: Superpowered Beings of early to mid-21st century Unified Power -1/4

 

5 Defensive Strike 

3 Leg Sweep

4 Martial Disarm

4 Martial Strike

5 Offensive Strike

 

3 Scientist

1 Bionics (sheer parts replacement)

1 Cybernetics (integrating nervous system)

1 Robotics

1 Optics

1 Genetics

1 Virology

1 Mutations

1 Nanotech

1 Weapons Systems

1 Propulsion Systems

1 Vehicle Systems

1 Computer Systems

1 Metallurgy

 

 

4 Contact: 11< Underworld procurer and inventor of high tech paraphernalia, Contact has very useful Skills or resources, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Good relationship with Contact. (Very late in his life he was someone who helped build the second time machine.)

 

1 Perk: Letters of Marque and Reprisal from the US Congress 2087 to execute against all enemies: foreign, domestic, past, present, future, and imagined.

 

146 points total so far

 

PS Retro-techer

 

There were two time jumps back. In the intermediate one, she had to convince people to help her build a machine to go further back to their original target date. The jumps caused memory problems in her.

 

The primary problem in the future of the US is water. The climate didn't change as much as many models had predicted. But the unrestrained use of surface and subsurface water by industry, agriculture, and unmitigated population growth in areas without sufficient water to support them depleted aquifers, reservoirs, and the ecosystems of every major river in the US.

 

There was "wasteful hording" of tech which might have helped. There was a rapid growth of an anti-science movement. There was fear of GMO's particularly in agriculture but a substantial minority also objected to modifying humans to live longer and to consume fewer resources. Government money was used to prop up unsustainable populations and unsustainable agriculture rather than trying to find solutions to societal problems. By the time the government started seriously considering changing policies, it was too impoverished to implement them.

 

In 2066, the 35 justices of the Supreme Court ruled that warrants and writs are legal cross-time and that the executors of legal documents should be judged solely according to the rules of their time period of origin. At the same time, the Court ruled that time travel devices remain a restricted technology. The decision was 18 to 17 with the Republo-Crats, Technologists, Neo-Change, and some Anarchist Rights justices in favor with the Neo-Stasis, Water Rights, Westists, People's Party, and Anarchist Rights justices against. 

 

In 2088, the Worlds Freedom Alliance obtained permission from Congress in the dead of night on a holiday weekend (when most of the Congressmen were absent) to send their agent into the more distant past: decades rather than days. Their technology was unfortunately not as refined as they might have hoped.

 

Two Dubious ideas:

Duplication -1/2 Lockout

Multiform   Unified Power -1/2 Gestures -1/2 Not while Duplicated -1/4 OIAID -1/4

 

Multiform Usable on Others as an attack +1 Standard Range + 1/2 Trigger when first gets Multiform power Uses END Lockout -1/2

 

Complications:

Patriotic

Information junkie

On A Mission: obtain and widely distribute any and all technology and knowledge

Hunted by major corporations

Reputation: Alarmist nut who claims to be from the future

 

STR 1
DEX 2
CON 1 
INT 1
EGO 1
PRE 1
COM

OCV 5
DCV 5

OMCV 3
DMCV 3
PD 1
ED 1
SPD 10
REC 1
END 1 per 5

BODY 1
STUN 1 per 2

 

Character copyright boilerplate  

[Echo3Niner]

I love the concept and backstory.  The technical concept does remind me mostly of Deathlok (the OG Deathlok, from the comics).

 

As for decent concepts of point averages to use, I cobbled this list together from other threads (this info came from others), many years ago, when I was struggling with the concept of how to maintain balance in character creation; it may help:

 

I'm not sure how much is too much to post, so here's the guidelines for 6E Standard Superheroic:
 
Characteristics: 10-40
SPD: 3-10
CV: 7-13
DC: 6-14
Active Points: 40-80
Skill Points: 25-80
Skill Roll: 11-15-
Def/rDef: 20-25/12-18 

 

Short version: For standard 400-point superheroes, 6ed recommends Powers generally run from 40-80 AP; defenses should run 20-25 with 12-18 resistant, OCV & DCV should run in the 7-13 range, and typical Damage Classes should be around 6-14. These are absolutely just guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules; they don't necessarily prohibit a character with an OCV of 14 and a 15 DC attack, but they signal to both Player and GM that such a power is above the normal range and thus deserving of a closer look. Does that help?

In my experience, to get a good balance in the game, characters should meet these basic standards:
 
1) They have enough Defense + Con to take an average attack without being Stunned.  So if your average attack is 12D6 (42 Stun), 20 Def and 23 Con is about as fragile as you'd want to get.  Weaker than that and you're very vulnerable to being knocked out of the fight.
 
2) They have enough Defense + Stun to take 2-3 average attacks without being knocked unconscious.  So with your 12D6 (42 Stun) average, about 20 Def and 45 Stun or 25 Def and 40 Stun is about as low as you'd want to get.
 
3) You want to have some amount of resistant defense and/or special defenses (power defense, mental defense, flash defense) if those powers are going to come up with any regularity.  You do not have to have a lot of the special defenses, because those attacks are rare, but if you are going to be hit by them once a battle, or once every other battle, you should have something to ensure you are not neutered by them.  5 points of special defenses is usually enough to take the edge off.
 
4) Beware of powers that can take down an enemy in one shot.  Any type of unusual power combination (megascale teleport usable as an attack) can end up disrupting the game.  Continuous Uncontrolled NNDs and the like can be quite difficult to stop.  Anything that has more than a +1 advantage probably needs to be looked at closely -- it might be fine, it might be woefully ineffective, or it could be amazing.
 
5) Speed ranges should be within about 2 of one another.  If the campaign average is 6, then a guy with a 3 speed is going to be very bored during the game.  A guy with a 9 speed is going to make everyone else bored.
 
6) OCV/DCV more than 3 outside the average can be difficult to deal with.  If I have an OCV of 8, and the villain has a DCV of 12, it will be very difficult for me to hit him.  There are ways around this (spreading an attack, a brick throwing a car at him, etc), but it will require taking extra measures.

[archer]

19 hours ago, Echo3Niner said:

I love the concept and backstory.  The technical concept does remind me mostly of Deathlok (the OG Deathlok, from the comics).

 

As for decent concepts of point averages to use, I cobbled this list together from other threads (this info came from others), many years ago, when I was struggling with the concept of how to maintain balance in character creation; it may help:

 

I'm not sure how much is too much to post, so here's the guidelines for 6E Standard Superheroic:
 
Characteristics: 10-40
SPD: 3-10
CV: 7-13
DC: 6-14
Active Points: 40-80
Skill Points: 25-80
Skill Roll: 11-15-
Def/rDef: 20-25/12-18 

 

Short version: For standard 400-point superheroes, 6ed recommends Powers generally run from 40-80 AP; defenses should run 20-25 with 12-18 resistant, OCV & DCV should run in the 7-13 range, and typical Damage Classes should be around 6-14. These are absolutely just guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules; they don't necessarily prohibit a character with an OCV of 14 and a 15 DC attack, but they signal to both Player and GM that such a power is above the normal range and thus deserving of a closer look. Does that help?

In my experience, to get a good balance in the game, characters should meet these basic standards:
 
1) They have enough Defense + Con to take an average attack without being Stunned.  So if your average attack is 12D6 (42 Stun), 20 Def and 23 Con is about as fragile as you'd want to get.  Weaker than that and you're very vulnerable to being knocked out of the fight.
 
2) They have enough Defense + Stun to take 2-3 average attacks without being knocked unconscious.  So with your 12D6 (42 Stun) average, about 20 Def and 45 Stun or 25 Def and 40 Stun is about as low as you'd want to get.
 
3) You want to have some amount of resistant defense and/or special defenses (power defense, mental defense, flash defense) if those powers are going to come up with any regularity.  You do not have to have a lot of the special defenses, because those attacks are rare, but if you are going to be hit by them once a battle, or once every other battle, you should have something to ensure you are not neutered by them.  5 points of special defenses is usually enough to take the edge off.
 
4) Beware of powers that can take down an enemy in one shot.  Any type of unusual power combination (megascale teleport usable as an attack) can end up disrupting the game.  Continuous Uncontrolled NNDs and the like can be quite difficult to stop.  Anything that has more than a +1 advantage probably needs to be looked at closely -- it might be fine, it might be woefully ineffective, or it could be amazing.
 
5) Speed ranges should be within about 2 of one another.  If the campaign average is 6, then a guy with a 3 speed is going to be very bored during the game.  A guy with a 9 speed is going to make everyone else bored.
 
6) OCV/DCV more than 3 outside the average can be difficult to deal with.  If I have an OCV of 8, and the villain has a DCV of 12, it will be very difficult for me to hit him.  There are ways around this (spreading an attack, a brick throwing a car at him, etc), but it will require taking extra measures.

 

Thank you, that's exactly the kind of information I was needing.

 

Glad you like the idea so far.

 

I'm struggling through fights with my doctor and pharmacy so haven't gotten back to working on it. Hopefully sometime this weekend.