"Standard" Power Level -- Not So Super?

[Gary]

Agents are most dangerous when operating with supervillains. A bunch of agents by themselves usually get annihilated since the PC's go first, hit harder, are hard to hit, take much less damage, and go more often.

 

However, when facing a mixed group of villains and agents, the PCs can't afford to concentrate on the agents. And agents can usually be built tough enough to survive 1 area effect or explosion attack. That means that the agents can get attack actions off, which means that their entangle guns and flash guns pose a serious threat to the heroes. And even their wimpy 8-10d6 EB blasters have a decent chance of actually knocking the heroes off their feet, which opens them up to the villains. Also, you can use the agents to annoy. Give them some basic martial arts with a couple of levels and have them fight defensively, protecting the mentallist or energy projector in the back. Maybe 1 or 2 with missile deflection. They can also do annoying things such as legsweeping or throwing the heroes. Base 5 OCV from dex, +2 levels, and +2 OCV from the legsweep maneuver means that they suddenly become likely to hit most heroes.

 

And if these agents are fanatical followers, you can have them Dive For Cover in front of an attack aimed for a villain. That would be annoying to the players.

[Metaphysician]

Originally posted by Killer Shrike

I agree completely with this part.

 

 

As far as agents go, I dont have any problems w/ elite agents if they serve a purpose as I dont think it should take a "named" villain to threaten the PCs, but they should be elite, as in the connotative meaning of elite = few. If there are relatively many "elite" agents, then they arent really elite, they are baseline.

 

Im more prone, when using agents, to have a serious threat be a gaggle of mooks lead by a super-elite agent and maybe 2 elite agents in "non-com" type roles, a kesser threat being a smaller force composed of about half as many mooks and 1 elite agent leader.

 

A real crack team might be a crew of 5 to 10 or so of the "elites" lead by a "super-elite", and such a team should be occasional. When such a team shows up the players shouldnt say "These guys again? Yawn; we fought them yesterday", because such teams are used uniformly. They should say "OH $#&^!!! What did we do to deserve these guys?", and start sweating knowing that they can win but that it will require concentration and teamwork.

 

IMO of course, Others MMV

 

Sounds about right. While a squad of six well-equipped, well-prepared Superhuman Combat Specialists with terrain advantage and vehicle support is a threat to any superteam, its not the kind of thing VIPER sends against any random enemy. Its the kind of thing it sends after major heroes or hero teams when they roll very low on their Hunted by VIPER disadvantage or disrupt a *REALLY* major VIPER operation/base.

[Metaphysician]

I don't see Eurostar *ever* being in the open in a group. If they aren't in an active mission, probably urban ( so gratuitous military force is out of the question ), they are either at one of their very secret HQs or in individual cover IDs.

[GestaltBennie]

Ironically, the perrenial complaint against VIPER has always been that they're too weak to be taken seriously.. I thpught we did a reasonable job of rgiving them enough tools to be a threat in the 1993 book, but I've still heard people say: "finally VIPER's a credible threat" in regards to the current book, when I thought we did that ten years aao.

 

No, agents shouldn't be strapping on 14d6 attacks as a matter of course (or at least they don't in my game). I understand that some GMs will look through the weapons section of VIPER, chortle obnoxiously, and annoy their players. Unfortunately, you can't give GMs tools for high-end agents or for "we're pulling out all the stops" climactic scenarios without feeding this impulse. And, much like a parent who gives the keys to the sports car to their kid and implores them to stick to the speed limit, all the campaigning advice in the world doesn't help when the GM has an adolescent mindset.

 

Asa for the lack of personal factor;, not every adversary can be the Green Goblin. VIPER serves a similar role to the Daleks on Dr. Who - the Daleks on their own are extremely boring ciphers, but (when written well) they create interesting and tense. situations. They're the Faceless Enemy, and that's a legitimate role for an villain or organization to fill in a campaign.

 

I won't even get into the issue of con games, except to say that when players bring they're own PCs, you're inviting your own special Hell, and it's better to make things weak and adjust the power level on the fly. Far more than a campaign game, you want the con games to be fun, and since gamers at a con games are operating outside their normal comfort zones, you want to be really careful about what you're throwing against them.

 

Scott Bennie

[RDU Neil]

Back to topic...

 

Though I love discussing the appropriate use of Agents... I just thought I'd chime in with my concept on "Super enough?"

 

350 is new hero, slightly experienced. If they have raw power, they likely have less skill in using it. It's New Teen Titans/New Warriors/60s-70s era Avengers.

 

If you really want to be good... I just say go with more points.

 

450-550... and I think you get the feel of most comics sub-JLA or Authority. Most agent battles are walk overs, unless surprised and overwhelmed.

 

To get to the truly world beater level... you gotta be 600+ and I'd say closer to 750 or more... in power. I have PCs who have gained EXP from 275 up to 600+, and they are world class... but much of their influence is political, and they really couldn't stand toe to toe with a military brigade... ALMOST... but not quite.

 

That's the feel of my campaign, though... as there are only a few characters, NPCs really, that are more powerful than they are... Omega Class as I call them. The 600 pt PCs are still thought of as "the big guns" and truly are... but not in a casual "nothing can touch me" way. They still need organizations and political clout to avoid military strikes. If they went on the offensive, though... hit and run assaults... there is not much to be done without sending a squadron of other metas after them. Military would be too slow and easy to avoid.

[Chuckg]

Trebuchet -- re: your options #1 and #2...

 

VIPER 5e /does/ have the power to execute option #1, in several places, quite easily...

 

... the problem is, the act of them doing so would get them *put* in category #2. Right then and there.

 

That's why the Supreme Serpent is deliberately holding VIPER back from open conquest of anywhere, while they work on the covert economic and political conquest of Africa(*) -- he's playing the "iceberg" strategy. He is deliberately refusing to reveal the true extent of VIPER's capability to the opposition until the opportune moment arrives.

 

AAMOF, so much of VIPER's true firepower is concentrated /outside/ the regular Nest structure -- I refer here to Dragon Branch, the five 'Super Nests', and the military forces that directly answer to the Council of Thirty and don't go through the usual Nest chains of command -- that I'm getting the impression that the entire purpose of the whole "Nest" thing is simply to make some revenue on the side while giving UNTIL and the superheroes somebody to go chase.

 

And also, perhaps, to provide a 'farm team' to recruit specially promising candidates from into the *real* VIPER army.

 

If my above speculations are correct, then my respect for the Supreme Serpent as a world-class Devious Bastard, already high, will increase even further.

 

 

 

(*) And once that's done, /then/ VIPER will be ready to come out and reveal the true extent of its power. One or two countries like Iraq can be beaten on by a world coalition. But an entire /continent/?

 

That would make VIPER a true world superpower, or even hyperpower... able to restart a new Cold War, only instead of "the West vs. the Soviet Bloc", it'd be "the West vs. Continent VIPER".

[Chuckg]

re: what Scott Bennie said about the VIPER 14d6 blaster rifles -- well, yeah. Those "Sledgehammers" must cost an arm and a leg apiece -- VIPER would never pass them out unless they, and by 'they' I mean 'some portion of the VIPER command structure significantly /above/ the Nest Leader level', were specifically trying to make your life suck.

 

IOW, if you start seeing whole squads of Superhuman Combat Specialists armed with 14d6 blaster rifles and 10d6 RKA tripod-mounted railguns, the first question you should ask yourself is "What the heck did I do that honked off the Supreme Serpent personally?"

[Kristopher]

As has been said, MOST supers CAN'T survive a nuke, throw a car miles away, or walk through a hail of gunfire.

 

350 points is quite powerful, really.

 

Agents _should_ be a threat sometimes.

 

350 points is well beyond the "teen hero" level. I also don't agree with the paltry point levels set forth by DOJ for that kind of game, but that's another story.

[Kristopher]

IMO, throwing another human being 123 meters *IS* epic!

[Agent X]

Originally posted by Killer Shrike

I agree completely with this part.

 

 

As far as agents go, I dont have any problems w/ elite agents if they serve a purpose as I dont think it should take a "named" villain to threaten the PCs, but they should be elite, as in the connotative meaning of elite = few. If there are relatively many "elite" agents, then they arent really elite, they are baseline.

 

Im more prone, when using agents, to have a serious threat be a gaggle of mooks lead by a super-elite agent and maybe 2 elite agents in "non-com" type roles, a kesser threat being a smaller force composed of about half as many mooks and 1 elite agent leader.

 

A real crack team might be a crew of 5 to 10 or so of the "elites" lead by a "super-elite", and such a team should be occasional. When such a team shows up the players shouldnt say "These guys again? Yawn; we fought them yesterday", because such teams are used uniformly. They should say "OH $#&^!!! What did we do to deserve these guys?", and start sweating knowing that they can win but that it will require concentration and teamwork.

 

IMO of course, Others MMV

Hey, if Red Skull is leading the agents it's a whole new story.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by Kristopher

As has been said, MOST supers CAN'T survive a nuke, throw a car miles away, or walk through a hail of gunfire.

 

350 points is quite powerful, really.

 

Agents _should_ be a threat sometimes.

 

350 points is well beyond the "teen hero" level. I also don't agree with the paltry point levels set forth by DOJ for that kind of game, but that's another story.

My complaint is when Viper Agents can go toe to toe with the team in the open.

[Guest innominatus]

Originally posted by Kristopher

As has been said, MOST supers CAN'T survive a nuke, throw a car miles away, or walk through a hail of gunfire.

 

 

That's true; my point is that among the published characters in the Champions Universe, even the absolute best the world has to offer (the ones who OUGHT to be able to do such things) often STILL can't perform these "benchmark" feats.

 

However, I do agree that a 350 pt. character can be pretty powerful -- if the points are spent efficiently, and with an eye toward what their powers mean in real-world terms. And it's interesting that you bring up the subject of teen heroes -- what originally got me thinking about the subject was my attempt to design a team of teenage metahuman operatives under the control of a renegade U.S. Army colonel. Basically, the team (working name: "The Army Brats") are a group of "test-tube babies", engineered from genetic material cultivated from various metahumans who served in the armed forces at some point or other in their careers. In addition to refining the genetic code to improve upon the original donors' powers, the young supers received a specially devised "enrichment" program, trained by both retired supers and the best minds the military had to offer to maximize the children's potential as metahumans. As a result, The Colonel ended up with a team of superhumans who are more comfortable and more skilled in the use of their powers than most adult metahumans (the children have had powers their whole lives, whereas most supers don't receive them until adolesence or adulthood). Sort of like if Professor's X's School for Gifted Youngsters had been a military school....

 

As an example, here's a writeup of the team's "brick", codenamed "Charlie" (the other team members are "Alpha", "Bravo", "Delta", "Echo", and "Foxtrot".) I had several criteria for designing the character: he should be no more than 350 points, he should be able to use his Strength in more creative ways than just "punch as hard as he can until his opponent falls over", he should be able to survive a nuclear blast, throw a car at least a mile, and transport himself and his team anywhere in the world in under an hour. Here's what I came up with, for your consideration:

 

CHARLIE HAWTHORNE (Callsign: "Charlie")

 

60 STR 50

26 DEX 48

28 CON 36

13 BODY 6

13 INT 3

10 EGO 0

15 PRE 5

20 COM 5

30 PD 18

24 ED 18

5 SPD 14

18 REC 0

56 END 0

57 STUN 0

 

33 Super-Strength & Flying Power Stunts: 50 pt. Multipower, x2 END (-1/2)

2 (u) a.) Enhanced Throwing: +50 STR, Only to Increase Throwing Distance (-1), Inversely linked to object weight (-1/2) (END=10)

1 (u) b.) Super-Strength: +45 STR, x4 END (-1 1/2), Doesn't Affect Figured Characteristics (-1/2) (END=16)

1 (u) c.) That About Wraps It Up: 6 DEF 3d6 Entangle, No Range (-1/2), OIF Object of opportunity (-1/2), Full Phase to use (-1/2), Only as much DEF as object used (-1/2) (END=8)

2 (u) d.) Tear Ya Limb From Limb!: 2d6 HKA (4d6 w/STR), Armor Piercing (+1/2), Full Phase to Use (-1/2) (END=8)

1 (u) e.) Shockwave: 5d6 Flash vs, Hearing, Variable Advantage (either Indirect, 1 Hex AE, or Explosion, +3/4), MegaScale (1"=10 hexes, +1/4), Does Knockback (+1/4), Double Knockback (+3/4), x3 END (-1), Full Phase to Use (-1/2), No Range (-1/2) (END=12)

2 (u) f.) Tough As All Get-Out: 1/2 PD & ED Damage Reduction (1/4 Resistant), Costs END to Activate (-1/4), x3 END (-1) (END=15)

1 (u) g.) Super-Leaping: +10" Leaping, x16 NCM, x3 END (-1) (END=6)

1 (u) h.) Bullets Just Bounce Off Me!: Missile Deflection vs. All Ranged Attacks, Usable on Others (+1/2), +2 to Roll, Costs END (-1/2) (END=6)

1 (u) i.) Super-Running & Swimming: +12" Running, x4 NCM; & +6" Swimming; x3 END for Both (-1) (END=6/3)

1 (u) j.) Around the World in Eighty Minutes: 10" Flight, MegaScale (1"=10km, Scalable to 1"=1km, +3/4), Not Usable in Zero-G (-1/4), Limited Manueverability (-1/4) (END=6)

1 (u) k.) It's Just Across Town: 5" FLight, x64 NCM, Not Usable in Zero-G (-1/4), Limited Manueverability (-1/4) (END=2)

1 (u) l.) How Do You Think We Fund This Little Operation?: 3d6+1 Major Transform (into Diamond), Limited Target (Lump of Coal, -1), Extra Time (1 Turn, -1 1/4), All or Nothing (-1/2) (END=10)

1 (u) m.) No One Could Survive That!: Desolidification (Vulnerable to Adjustment Powers), Invisible to Touch (+1/4), x3 END (-1), 1/2 DCV Concentration Throughout (-1/2), Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2), Limited Defense (Reduces attacks by 3/4 before subtracting defenses, -1/4) (END=15)

2 "To The Moon, Alice!": MegaScale for 60 STR (1"=1km, +1/4), Only for Knockback Distance (-1/2), Requires STR Roll (-1/2), x10 END (-4) (END=10)

27 13" Flight, 0 END Persistent (for 1st Inch Only, +1), 1/2 END (for 12", +1/4), Not Usable in Zero-G (-1/4) (END=1)

15 Super-Tough Skin: 15 PD 12 ED Damage Resistance

1 Acid Resistance: Hardened Defenses for 2rPD 2rED

8 Casual Strength Bracing: -6" Knockback Resistance, Not Usable While Actively Bracing (-1/4), Non-Persistent (-1/4)

7 Tough As All Get-Out: Life Support: Immune to Pressure/Vacuum, Heat & Cold

6 Fast Healing: 1d6 Healing, 0 END Persistent (+1), Self Only (-1/2), Extra Time (1 Hour, -2)

-5 Not So Fast On His Feet: -1 DCV

2 +5 PRE Defense

6 High Range Radio Perception, OIF Wrist Communicator (-1/2), Flashed by Sight & Radio Senses (-1/2)

3 Breakfall 14-

3 Demolitions 12-

3 Navigation (Air & Land) 12-

2 PS: Metahuman Operative 11-

3 Systems Operation 12-

3 Tactics 12-

3 Teamwork 12-

3 WF: Small Arms, Knives

3 Scholar

1 KS: Military History & Customs 11-

2 KS: The Military/Mercenary/Terrorist World 12-

2 KS: The Superhuman World 12-

 

200+ Disadvantages

10 Physical Limitation: Doesn't Know His Own Strength (Frequent, Slight)

10 Physical Limitation: Diminished Sense of Touch Due to Super-Tough Skin (-2 to approrpiate Skill/PER Rolls)

10 Distinctive Features: Registers as a mutant on Detectors

20 Psychological Limitation: Super-Patriot (Common, Total)

20 Psychological Limitation: Completely devoted to teammates & Col. Hawthorne (Common, Total)

10 Psychological Limitation: Showoff

20 Watched by Federal Government 11- (More Powerful, NCI)

20 Hunted by Warlord 8- (More Powerful, NCI)

20 Social Limitation: Subject to Orders

10 Social Limitation: Minor (15 years old) (Frequent, Slight)

[Metaphysician]

Originally posted by Kristopher

As has been said, MOST supers CAN'T survive a nuke, throw a car miles away, or walk through a hail of gunfire.

 

350 points is quite powerful, really.

 

Agents _should_ be a threat sometimes.

 

350 points is well beyond the "teen hero" level. I also don't agree with the paltry point levels set forth by DOJ for that kind of game, but that's another story.

 

Thats why I specified the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans. They may have been teens, but they were hardly inexperienced or weak.

[Kristopher]

Originally posted by Agent X

My complaint is when Viper Agents can go toe to toe with the team in the open.

 

How many agents per superhero?

[megaplayboy]

Sometimes I think that "Champions genre" is a whole different animal than "comic book superhero genre". A lot of the differences seem guided by game mechanics/balance considerations. It often looks like compromises were made to limit the capabilities of game heroes compared to their literary counterparts. The most ironic thing is that often in veteran Champions groups, when one suggests playing characters at the level of capability presented in comics, some players will recoil in horror, as if it were somehow unnatural to actually play at that level.

 

I don't really know if there's a solution that would please everyone, except to suggest that some folks are entirely too fixated on game mechanics and not enough on genre simulation and having fun(I know the counter-argument is that playing a game above their "comfort level" is no fun for them).

There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Interesting character innominatus. Overall he does feel ‘experienced’ in terms of his power usage and the origin was one that I had not considered before. I like it.

 

I think that the biggest single thing I saw that didn’t ring true was the ‘doesn’t know his own strength’ Disadvantage. He has been training for *years* and has the tricks to back it up … and yet he *still* doesn’t know his own strength. I don’t buy it. Some of those tricks require a lot of finesse.

 

I’m not a huge fan of buying negative DCV levels with powers either. IMO that would have made a better physical limitation. But that’s a minor quibble.

 

For an uber-brick his BODY also seemed just a tad low.

 

Finally it seems to me that the military would have trained a big boy like this a bit better in hand to hand combat in addition to nifty ways to use his natural strength. A few combat levels and/or martial maneuvers would have been the perfect icing to this cake IMO.

 

Thanks for posting!

[Metaphysician]

Originally posted by Kristopher

How many agents per superhero?

 

Well, if its a team of beginning level heroes, and a squad of Superhuman Combat Specialists, one per one. OTOH, the Champions would have to do something suicidally stupid to get VIPER to sic that kind of force on them.

[RDU Neil]

Originally posted by megaplayboy

Sometimes I think that "Champions genre" is a whole different animal than "comic book superhero genre". A lot of the differences seem guided by game mechanics/balance considerations. It often looks like compromises were made to limit the capabilities of game heroes compared to their literary counterparts. The most ironic thing is that often in veteran Champions groups, when one suggests playing characters at the level of capability presented in comics, some players will recoil in horror, as if it were somehow unnatural to actually play at that level.

 

I don't really know if there's a solution that would please everyone, except to suggest that some folks are entirely too fixated on game mechanics and not enough on genre simulation and having fun(I know the counter-argument is that playing a game above their "comfort level" is no fun for them).

There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere.

 

To some extent, I agree. I'd also say that I think Champions and other super RPGs have had an effect on comics, as well. I'd bet a lot of modern comic writers have gamed... they've been forced to reconcile that a PC Hero without resistant defense will EVENTUALLY get unlucky and get killed. When you take the genre out of the "total control by the writer" then many of the inconsistencies and glaring stupidities of the classic comic book genre become very evident.

 

To that end, I've never gamed to "emulate a genre" Approximate it, perhaps. Inspired by it... certainly... but anyone who has ever thought about RPGs vs. source material realizes that the medium MAKES the genre. Comics are different from books are different from movies are different from RPGs... though all may feature the same character and similar plots.

 

To me, the joy of Hero is that it created the genre in a way I thought much MUCH better than the comics themselves. I don't enjoy reading Superman, where this godlike being's existence really doesn't change the course of humanity. It is not only for game balance that the Hero System brings supers "down to earth"... but I think it allows for a much more believable and internally consistent world building experience.

 

Sorry about the rant, but it bugs me when people imply that "fun" can only be had by genre emulation... when the fun I have comes from doing the "superhero thang!" better than any comic ever has. I personally think my game IMPROVES on the comic genre, tossing out the really cheesy stuff... and the Hero System helps to support that.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by Kristopher

How many agents per superhero?

It shouldn't matter, honestly. Base Agents shouldn't be more than interference. The heroes shouldn't get hit very often at all and it shouldnt' take them out when they get hit - unless there is a plot device sort of trap or the like. This is my thinking for a standard comic book type hero.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by megaplayboy

Sometimes I think that "Champions genre" is a whole different animal than "comic book superhero genre". A lot of the differences seem guided by game mechanics/balance considerations. It often looks like compromises were made to limit the capabilities of game heroes compared to their literary counterparts. The most ironic thing is that often in veteran Champions groups, when one suggests playing characters at the level of capability presented in comics, some players will recoil in horror, as if it were somehow unnatural to actually play at that level.

 

I don't really know if there's a solution that would please everyone, except to suggest that some folks are entirely too fixated on game mechanics and not enough on genre simulation and having fun(I know the counter-argument is that playing a game above their "comfort level" is no fun for them).

There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere.

I agree. I don't actually play Thors and Captain Atoms although I'd like to once in a while. However, I try to simulate what I like about the genre, which is most of it.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by RDU Neil

To some extent, I agree. I'd also say that I think Champions and other super RPGs have had an effect on comics, as well. I'd bet a lot of modern comic writers have gamed... they've been forced to reconcile that a PC Hero without resistant defense will EVENTUALLY get unlucky and get killed. When you take the genre out of the "total control by the writer" then many of the inconsistencies and glaring stupidities of the classic comic book genre become very evident.

 

To that end, I've never gamed to "emulate a genre" Approximate it, perhaps. Inspired by it... certainly... but anyone who has ever thought about RPGs vs. source material realizes that the medium MAKES the genre. Comics are different from books are different from movies are different from RPGs... though all may feature the same character and similar plots.

 

To me, the joy of Hero is that it created the genre in a way I thought much MUCH better than the comics themselves. I don't enjoy reading Superman, where this godlike being's existence really doesn't change the course of humanity. It is not only for game balance that the Hero System brings supers "down to earth"... but I think it allows for a much more believable and internally consistent world building experience.

 

Sorry about the rant, but it bugs me when people imply that "fun" can only be had by genre emulation... when the fun I have comes from doing the "superhero thang!" better than any comic ever has. I personally think my game IMPROVES on the comic genre, tossing out the really cheesy stuff... and the Hero System helps to support that.

Based on what I've seen coming out of superhero rpgs, I would never say it is better than the comics, at least the comics I read years ago.

[Kristopher]

Originally posted by Agent X

It shouldn't matter, honestly. Base Agents shouldn't be more than interference. The heroes shouldn't get hit very often at all and it shouldnt' take them out when they get hit - unless there is a plot device sort of trap or the like. This is my thinking for a standard comic book type hero.

 

So 5 agents per hero, with the agents using cover and teamwork, should still be hopeless against a superhero team?

[Kristopher]

Originally posted by megaplayboy

Sometimes I think that "Champions genre" is a whole different animal than "comic book superhero genre". A lot of the differences seem guided by game mechanics/balance considerations. It often looks like compromises were made to limit the capabilities of game heroes compared to their literary counterparts. The most ironic thing is that often in veteran Champions groups, when one suggests playing characters at the level of capability presented in comics, some players will recoil in horror, as if it were somehow unnatural to actually play at that level.

 

I don't really know if there's a solution that would please everyone, except to suggest that some folks are entirely too fixated on game mechanics and not enough on genre simulation and having fun(I know the counter-argument is that playing a game above their "comfort level" is no fun for them).

There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere.

 

Personally, I think most players grossly OVERestimate the power level of comic book characters.

[megaplayboy]

Originally posted by Kristopher

Personally, I think most players grossly OVERestimate the power level of comic book characters.

 

I think they overestimate the capabilities of the Batman and Capt. America types and underestimate the capabilities of the Hulk/Thor/Supes types(and even characters like Storm, for that matter), if that makes any sense to you.

[Guest innominatus]

Originally posted by Vanderbilt_Grad

I think that the biggest single thing I saw that didn’t ring true was the ‘doesn’t know his own strength’ Disadvantage. He has been training for *years* and has the tricks to back it up … and yet he *still* doesn’t know his own strength. I don’t buy it. Some of those tricks require a lot of finesse.

 

I’m not a huge fan of buying negative DCV levels with powers either. IMO that would have made a better physical limitation. But that’s a minor quibble.

 

For an uber-brick his BODY also seemed just a tad low.

Thanks for posting!

 

Personally, I don't think the "Doesn't Know His Own Strength" is that out of line. With the +45 Strength boost, Charlie is up half a MILLION times stronger than a normal human being. With a 26 DEX he's been engineered to have better coordination and fine motor control than even most metahumans. But imagine if you were yourself in a world where everything around you was THOUSANDS of times more fragile than they currently are. It'd be like living in a world made of wet tissue paper and soap bubbles! When Charlie "loses control" of his Strength, it's actually only a fluctuation of 1/32,000th of his total muscle power -- pretty restrained if you ask me, but it's still enough break bones or bend steel...

 

Of course, adding more BODY and some Combat Skill Levels also occurred to me; but when you deliberately limit yourself to a certain number of points, certain sacrifices have to be made! I figure the higher base DEX and Regeneration help to compensate for it, as well as the fact that he often uses the Shockwave power to knock someone down and lower their DCV, and then follows up with an enhanced-Strength wallop. The Negative DCV represents the fact that, though Charlie has the superior reaction time and hand-eye coordination, he's been deliberately trained to RESIST his reflexive urge to dodge away from attacks, since it's often Charlie's job to shield his more fragile teammates from attack...