The Imagineer-third attempt (Ben, please delete the others)

[John515]

One more time!!!!

[lemming]

Cut and Paste is the way to post them.

IMAGINEER

 

Player: John C. Kohn

 

Val	Char	Cost
20	STR	10
29	DEX	57
23	CON	26
13	BODY	6
18	INT	8
18	EGO	16
10	PRE	0
14	COM	2
13	PD	2
13	ED	1
6	SPD	21
10	REC	2
40	END	-3
35	STUN	0

6" RUN02" SWIM04" LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 148

 

Cost	Power	END
140	Imagination Pool: VPP, 70 base + 70 control cost, Powers Can Be Changed As A Zero-Phase Action (+1) (140 Active Points)
14	Armored Costume and Longcoat: Armor (7 PD / 7 ED) (21 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) (added to Primary Value)
2	Really Cool Shades: Flash Defense (5 points) (Sight Group) (5 Active Points); OAF (-1)

Powers Cost: 156

 

Cost	Martial Arts Maneuver
4	Fast Strike: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +2d6 Strike
5	Kick: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, STR +4d6 Strike
3	Legsweep: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, -1 DCV, STR +1d6 Strike, Target Falls
4	Martial Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

Martial Arts Cost: 16

 

Cost	Skill
3	Acrobatics 15-
3	Breakfall 15-
3	Sleight Of Hand 15-
3	Stealth 15-
3	Scholar
9	1) KS: Superpowers (INT-based) (10 Active Points) 20-
2	2) KS: Superheroes (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 13-
2	3) KS: Supervillians (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 13-
2	4) KS: The Superhuman World (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 13-
2	5) KS: Alien Races (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 13-

Skills Cost: 32

 

 

 

 

Total Character Cost: 352

 

Val	Disadvantages
15	Social Limitation: Secret ID, Frequently (11-), Major
20	Psychological Limitation: Code Of The Hero, Very Common, Strong [Notes: Fights Fairly, Treats others w/respect (esp. women/authority figures), always keeps promises, attempts to fulfill requests for help]
20	Psychological Limitation: Code Versus Killing, Common, Total
20	Psychological Limitation: Novice Hero, Very Common, Strong
15	Psychological Limitation: Overconfident, Very Common, Moderate
20	Hunted: Gli-Ta-Kil, More Powerful, 11- (Frequently), Harshly Punish
20	Dependent NPC: Mom and Dad, Normal, 8- (Infrequently), Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID, Group DNPC (x2 DNPCs)
20	Dependent NPC: Nosy Old Ms. McCreedy, Landlord, Incompetent (-20 points or lower), 8- (Infrequently), Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID

Disadvantage Points: 150

 

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 2

Total Experience Available: 13

Experience Unspent: 11

[John515]

thanks! there's a whole bunch of background stuff too that didn't come up. how do i post that?

[Zed-F]

Well, you have a big honking VPP, which you seem to intend to use in combat since you took a zero-phase advantage on it, but you have no power skill, so you can't change it in combat...

 

For 10 more points you could get a 60-point VPP with zero phase and no control roll; alternatively you could just drop it to 60 points and use the 20 leftover points to buy a control skill, or change to a 60-point VPP with no control skill and a 1/2 phase to change slots.

[Argus]

Control Skill

 

Originally posted by Zed-F

Well, you have a big honking VPP, which you seem to intend to use in combat since you took a zero-phase advantage on it, but you have no power skill, so you can't change it in combat...

 

For 10 more points you could get a 60-point VPP with zero phase and no control roll; alternatively you could just drop it to 60 points and use the 20 leftover points to buy a control skill, or change to a 60-point VPP with no control skill and a 1/2 phase to change slots.

 

He is using the PowerSkill 20- for the control skill. (10 points

[Kristopher]

I didn't see it on the Skills list.

 

Wait, you're refering to the Knowledge Skill. OK.

[Zed-F]

Ah - I didn't see any indication that that was supposed to be the power skill on the writeup, but if you say so....

 

I don't think you are supposed to use a KS as a power skill. A power skill is supposed to be a 3/2 skill, not a 2/1 skill. That's just a matter of adjusting the roll to reflect the proper points cost, however, though the roll might wind up being a bit low.

[Argus]

Originally posted by Zed-F

Ah - I didn't see any indication that that was supposed to be the power skill on the writeup, but if you say so....

 

I don't think you are supposed to use a KS as a power skill. A power skill is supposed to be a 3/2 skill, not a 2/1 skill. That's just a matter of adjusting the roll to reflect the proper points cost, however, though the roll might wind up being a bit low.

 

If you buy a KS - Int based it becomes a 3/2 skill.

I know that Scholar takes 1 point off the top, but does it really matter?

 

A.

[Zed-F]

If you buy a KS as int-based, it becomes a 3/1 skill, not a 3/2 skill. Certainly you can't buy a 3/2 skill that starts at a base of 13- and buy it up to 20- with only 9 character points.

[Ranxerox]

Originally posted by Zed-F

If you buy a KS as int-based, it becomes a 3/1 skill, not a 3/2 skill. Certainly you can't buy a 3/2 skill that starts at a base of 13- and buy it up to 20- with only 9 character points.

 

Agreed.

 

Otherwise people would just buy scholar and then buy all of their other skills as knowledge skills - i.e. KS:Stealth, KS:Shadowing, KS:Combat Piloting, etc. Knowledge skills just allow your character to know things. They don't let your character do things.

[Kristopher]

While I admire the attempt to save points, using the KS is going to draw a lot of objections. As you have seen.

[Ndreare]

You are allowed however for a +1/4 advantage to use a Background skill (like KS) instead of a "Power" skill for powers and control.

[Argus]

KS..

 

Originally posted by Zed-F

If you buy a KS as int-based, it becomes a 3/1 skill, not a 3/2 skill. Certainly you can't buy a 3/2 skill that starts at a base of 13- and buy it up to 20- with only 9 character points.

 

My mistake, I must be remembering something else. Maybe I'm thinking V4.

 

A.

[John515]

A character can base a KS on INT for 3 charater points, giving a base (9+(INT/5)) roll. Each +1 to the skill roll costs +1 character point.

- HERO 5th Edition

 

HERO Designer calculated everything correctly.

[Doug McCrae]

So who is the Imagineer and how did he come to be?

[CDad]

You can base a KS on INT, but that is still a Knowledge Skill; the Power Skill is specifically for things like VPPs.

 

 

This is the "I can do anything, any time" Green Lantern/Quasar hero. His Novice Hero and Code of the Hero Disads kind of balance him out, but...

 

I don't know about anybody else, but I see ALMOST BROKEN written all over this Character. Apply a -1 Limitation from a few minor limitations (Gestures & Incantations come to mind), and you can have 70 AP of FF, a 14d EB that can have the precise SFX for the other guy's vulnerability).

 

I've had players make this sort of character, and it always throws the campaign on it's side. They outshine everyone, get all the limelight, make it extra hard to develop plots; then the player can't understand why nobody else wants to play the campaign any more.

 

 

That being said, Green Lantern, Quasar, Silver Surfer, Captain Mar-Vell, and the other Cosmic Wielders are among my all-time favorites!

 

That's a great character concept, just dang nigh impossible to curb the player in - the whole Pandora's Box thing...

[Zed-F]

A combat-speed VPP is not that bad, if the player is experienced and mature enough not to abuse it. Such a player won't blow away campaign defense caps by taking a 70-pt. FF unless that's the only thing he's doing. Such a player won't take a 14d6 EB against a vulnerability unless said vulnerability is obvious from the character's POV, not from the player's POV. Such a player won't hog the spotlight or outshine another character in that character's specialty. Such a player will often have a selection of pre-made and pre-approved powers that they will typically use, and will keep things reasonably simple when they have to depart from their usual powers, so as not to slow down the game.

 

Whether to allow a combat-speed VPP character in a game comes down to whether you trust the player not to abuse it.

[Zed-F]

Originally posted by John515

A character can base a KS on INT for 3 charater points, giving a base (9+(INT/5)) roll. Each +1 to the skill roll costs +1 character point.

- HERO 5th Edition

 

HERO Designer calculated everything correctly.

 

It's calculated correctly for a knowledge skill, not for a power skill (which is what is required to control a VPP.)

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by CDad

I don't know about anybody else, but I see ALMOST BROKEN written all over this Character. Apply a -1 Limitation from a few minor limitations (Gestures & Incantations come to mind), and you can have 70 AP of FF, a 14d EB that can have the precise SFX for the other guy's vulnerability).

 

I've had players make this sort of character, and it always throws the campaign on it's side. They outshine everyone, get all the limelight, make it extra hard to develop plots; then the player can't understand why nobody else wants to play the campaign any more.

I think the problems really come outside combat. The VPP jockey can do whatever is required to speed thru the plot - desolidification, invisibility, aids that never wear off, drains that never wear off, teleport, telepathy, mind scan, mind control, N-ray vision - the HERO System mother lode.

[John515]

The basic idea of the character is that he was near-obsessed with the supers world as a child and early adolescent. James collected piles upon piles of books, newspaper/magazine clippings, videos, and photos of both heroes and villians. About halfway through high school, he was witness to a large supers battle and moved in to get a better look. As the battle progressed he began to see that the heroes were getting the worse of it and their numbers began to dwindle. "I can believe he just didn't use his TK to hit him from behind with that dumpster like (hero) did last year!", he thought to himself. When that dumpster began to move on its own and clobbered one of the viillians, he knew something was different. "Coincidence. Someone is using their powers from behind cover". Someone was.......

Before long, the street itself had reached up and encased one of the baddies and another fell unconcious after his flight just stopped working and he fell about 200 feet to the ground. This was enough to turn the tide of the battle and the heroes on the scene emerged victorious. As James left the scene, he began to wonder what else he was capable of. So he rode out to the outskirts of the city to test himself in solitude. Before long he began to see that he could do just about anything he could imagine, just like the supers! He could become a superhero and join the ranks of those he had admired for so many years. He knew that he had to prepare first, and develop the control and skills he needed to use his powers reliably. After finishing high school, he set out for the big city to begin his career as a superhero.

 

My GM, Argus, has been good about keeping a balance as far as abuse of the pool. I am fully aware of the potential for abuse here, but I also don't want to harm a perfectly good game, so I police myself. Believe me, I've had my share of skill roll failures at inopportune times. The best one was the forgetting to buy down the END cost on an autofire attack I used. I blasted the villian (who stayed up, BTW), and I fell into a very deep sleep. Power Pools are very flexible....like rope, if you catch my drift.

[Vorsch]

A few points about your character

 

he has dex 29 and spd 6, and martial arts, and the ability to increase both ( Dex spd and str ). Also 20 def with the ability to get massive.

 

Also has str 20 and con 23, and 13pd 13ed, whats in the background that justifies your comic geeks superhuman stats ( i read coimics but i dont have the physique of batman ) regrets

 

Your power skill should be legal, but only to duplicate known powers, its knowledge not creativity ( ironic considering your name )

[freakboy6117]

yeah I might buy the boosted stats as only in hero ID with an instant transform to represent him using his power to become what he imagines a super hero to be, instead of a the weedy mortal he is make his i nstant change reverse if knocked unconcious. then you can use the extra points from selling back your normal body and con to puny weakling status to get a proper power skill.