How Can I Make This?

[Saber]

Ok, so my very first game of champions is coming up, and I’ve got a character all built and ready to go. With the help of a friend, I was able to construct what I wanted to near perfection...

BUT

Lately, I've been looking over my character and saying, "their MUST be a better way to do this." So I bring the question to you, with hopes that your expert opinions will lead me to a well-built character. So here's the rundown of my character...

 

Joe Nobody was a cancer patient on his last days of life. Some secret government operation (Project Orpheus) steps in and sign's Joe's life over to them, claiming to have a cure. They inject poor Joe with experimental steroids and bombard his body with untested energy waves, hoping the steroids will strengthen his body so that the energy can kill the cancer.

 

Big Failure. The steroids act as a conductor, fueling his muscles with the energy to the point that his body can no longer handle the strain, causing a massive explosion.

The government finds Joe later, lying in a crater where their lab had once been, and still emitting dangerous amounts of energy. So Joe (who has grown significantly in size) is locked in a containment unit/body armor to protect everyone else from him. He breaks free and runs.

 

Now, my plans were to play Joe as a brick. Strong, Hulk-like hero encased in protective armor. But he has a catch. Still being very energy based, Joe tends to absorb unwanted energy into his body. So, when Joe gets hit in combat, his body uncontrollably absorbs the kinetic energy from the impact. Problem is, the suit can only handle so much power, and when Joe gets REALLY hammered on for a long while, he must vent all that excess power, resulting in a MASSIVE explosion.

 

The idea behind this "side effect" was meant to be a character building thing. A man, locked away from the world in this permanent armor, who is a danger to all around him. The explosion is meant to be rare, so it won't happen when he faces down some street thugs. But if he were up against the likes of Grond, or some other super villains with immense power, he must worry about the very real danger of destroying all those he would wish to save.

 

Now, here’s the thing. How can I build that. As I have it, I have 2 absorption effects (one for physical, one for energy) each costing 21 points (1d6 absorption, 80 point max, side effect -1). This is 42 points overall, yet it in NO WAY benefits me. I am essentially paying points for a disadvantage. The absorbed points do not go to anything I can use, and the explosion is something my character would avoid at any cost. I've bought these 2 absorption powers, yet all they bring me is fear and hatred from normal people, not to mention the possible plot hook that some villain captures me and uses me as his personal bomb.

 

Yet, I do like the effect, it really beings the character to life for me. So, the question is, how can I retain this effect, yet still get some use out of those 42 points? Is their a way to just have that as a disadvantage, so I can use the points elsewhere? Is their something cheaper I can buy that would simulate this effect? Is the power actually beneficial, and I just don’t see it?

 

Any help would be great. Thanks

[Agent X]

Re: How Can I Make This?

 

Originally posted by Saber

Ok, so my very first game of champions is coming up, and I’ve got a character all built and ready to go. With the help of a friend, I was able to construct what I wanted to near perfection...

BUT

Lately, I've been looking over my character and saying, "their MUST be a better way to do this." So I bring the question to you, with hopes that your expert opinions will lead me to a well-built character. So here's the rundown of my character...

 

Joe Nobody was a cancer patient on his last days of life. Some secret government operation (Project Orpheus) steps in and sign's Joe's life over to them, claiming to have a cure. They inject poor Joe with experimental steroids and bombard his body with untested energy waves, hoping the steroids will strengthen his body so that the energy can kill the cancer.

 

Big Failure. The steroids act as a conductor, fueling his muscles with the energy to the point that his body can no longer handle the strain, causing a massive explosion.

The government finds Joe later, lying in a crater where their lab had once been, and still emitting dangerous amounts of energy. So Joe (who has grown significantly in size) is locked in a containment unit/body armor to protect everyone else from him. He breaks free and runs.

 

Now, my plans were to play Joe as a brick. Strong, Hulk-like hero encased in protective armor. But he has a catch. Still being very energy based, Joe tends to absorb unwanted energy into his body. So, when Joe gets hit in combat, his body uncontrollably absorbs the kinetic energy from the impact. Problem is, the suit can only handle so much power, and when Joe gets REALLY hammered on for a long while, he must vent all that excess power, resulting in a MASSIVE explosion.

 

The idea behind this "side effect" was meant to be a character building thing. A man, locked away from the world in this permanent armor, who is a danger to all around him. The explosion is meant to be rare, so it won't happen when he faces down some street thugs. But if he were up against the likes of Grond, or some other super villains with immense power, he must worry about the very real danger of destroying all those he would wish to save.

 

Now, here’s the thing. How can I build that. As I have it, I have 2 absorption effects (one for physical, one for energy) each costing 21 points (1d6 absorption, 80 point max, side effect -1). This is 42 points overall, yet it in NO WAY benefits me. I am essentially paying points for a disadvantage. The absorbed points do not go to anything I can use, and the explosion is something my character would avoid at any cost. I've bought these 2 absorption powers, yet all they bring me is fear and hatred from normal people, not to mention the possible plot hook that some villain captures me and uses me as his personal bomb.

 

Yet, I do like the effect, it really beings the character to life for me. So, the question is, how can I retain this effect, yet still get some use out of those 42 points? Is their a way to just have that as a disadvantage, so I can use the points elsewhere? Is their something cheaper I can buy that would simulate this effect? Is the power actually beneficial, and I just don’t see it?

 

Any help would be great. Thanks

Take the absorption as a side effect on the character's strength. Look up side effect limitations in FRED, it will explain that you can use the Point Value of the Powers to qualify for the Side Effect Limitation. 42 Points (for both absorption powers) would be a 30 Points or 1/2 or more of the total active points of your brick if his strength is 50 or 60.

 

What does the absorption feed into?

 

The explosive effect itself would be a physical disadvantage.

[caris]

Personally, I'd drop the Absorption completely, and put the points into building a really big explosion, and then slap no conscious control on it. Treat the "absorption" aspect of it as special effect. I, as a GM, would still make you pay some points for it, because it does have some positive value. Mainly, in that you will still probably end up hurting whoever has been pounding on you all that time.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by caris

Personally, I'd drop the Absorption completely, and put the points into building a really big explosion, and then slap no conscious control on it. Treat the "absorption" aspect of it as special effect. I, as a GM, would still make you pay some points for it, because it does have some positive value. Mainly, in that you will still probably end up hurting whoever has been pounding on you all that time.

That would be much easier and avoid a lot of needless game mechanics. See Caris, you can change my mind.

[caris]

Originally posted by Agent X

That would be much easier and avoid a lot of needless game mechanics. See Caris, you can change my mind.

 

Yeah, but as a Gay Neo-Pagan Gamer, this is a rather minor impact on my personal life. Plus, I figure that your first response was pretty off the cuff, too.

[Dino]

I like the idea of writeing it up as a side effect, but I'd put it on a defensive power (like armor for the suit).

[caris]

Originally posted by Deejmeister

I like the idea of writeing it up as a side effect, but I'd put it on a defensive power (like armor for the suit).

 

You beat me to it Deejmeister, I just thought of that idea myself. Personally, as a GM, I probably wouldn't allow it as a side effect, or at best only as -0 lim based on the implied frequency from the above post. He should still definitely run it buy his GM anyways, as I've been told by other poster's here that I'm unusually unreasonable in my rulings.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by caris

Yeah, but as a Gay Neo-Pagan Gamer, this is a rather minor impact on my personal life. Plus, I figure that your first response was pretty off the cuff, too.

If it means anything to you, I'd break bread with you anytime.

[Ghost who Walks]

If the explosion is mostly a plot device, I'd buy it as a 0-cost side effect on his defenses (since he is a brick), claiming that his defenses are actually absorbing the energy into his mutated cells, and after they absorb too much, they must release the energy.

 

The trigger for the explosive effect can be accidental change, fitting with the Hulk motif. A logical cause for the change might be if he "takes any BODY", since he is a brick wearing armor.

 

I would buy the explosion as a power, with the limitation no concious control. It would be trigggered by the accidental change, or whenever the GM gets bored

[levi]

Here's the problem I see with this. I know that my players would use this "Disadvantage" to their advantage. If they ran up against a villain that was giving them a hard time and this brick was on the ropes, they would intentionally set him off by attacking him at range and blowing up the bad guy.

 

I rewrote Radium (from the CKC) for my campaigns with this effect see if any of it helps you...

[Griffonheart]

Sounds like you kinda are looking for a combination of Damage (DC) and Man-Bot (Freedom Force) he seems like a cool character.

 

I would probably go with the idea of using a disadvantage to take care of the absorbtion, unless of course it absorbs damage dealt in which case it does give you some benefit.

[loraxxx]

how about buying it as armor with the explosion as a side effect; uncontrolled; at gm's discretion....?

 

that way you could wind up going off at ANYTIME, effectively eliminating any additional tactical benefit, and heightening the aura of danger about your person--unless you also buy "danger sense" with the limitation that it only let's you know when you 're about to explode (1 round before)

 

combine that with some limitations, like a "reputation as a ticking time bomb;" or "fears harming innocents with his power" and you're good to go!!