Help on two powers (well one anyway)

[Lord Mhoram]

Need help coming up with a construct for a particular effect. The character is basically a blob, well an amoeba (the character in the amazing amoeba powers thread actually) - he can generate psuedopods from any portion of his body, and he has 360 degree senses - every part of him is just as the same as every other part.

So in the game today, he took knockback. It makes sense within special effect that he wouldn't have to spend a half phase to re-orient himself... something I didn't even think of when building the character. But that can actually be a pretty effective ability - at a 5 speed if he got knocked down every phase, that would be 5 half phases he doesn't loose.

 

What would be a good way to build that ability.

 

The best we came up with (basically using mechanics, and throwing out any implied effects of the power) is a 1" teleport with the "right yourself" adder, 0 end persisitant, trigger (which autoresets instantly) and fully invisibile power effects - and the limitation that it only rights him - so by the mecahnics of the power he is "righted" as soon as he is knocked down - so by SFX of the character he just extends a psuedopod out from whatever part of his body is convienent.

If anyone can come up with a "cleaner" build than that please post it.

 

 

The other thing is something I'm sharing as much for the fun value as anything. At the end of the session someone burned something, and the GM described the smoke, and I said jokingly out of character "Meeb grabs it and just holds it inside to hit someone with a smoke based NND" which everyone there got a kick out of and we threw together this little goofy thing.

 

Multipower (30) 4 charges OIF, 11- chance to loose a charge when taking body damage.

1) phosperous - 6d6 Flash

2) Sleep gas - NND breathing

3) Darkness 1 hex, lasts on phase (the charge) and all sight (smoke)

4) RKA 2d6 (Acid)

 

The idea is that he just keeps a bubble within himself holding these chemicles or gasses in a hypercompressed state and just lets them out at approriate times.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

Ungodly Breakfall?

[Intrope]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

Actually, just buy the position shift adder (+5pts) on his 'running'. It's normally only for flight or teleport, but it suits the character so why not?

 

And I like the smoke bubble trick--very clever!

 

Don't suppose you've posted this character anywhere?

[Vigil]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

I agree, the position shift adder on running makes sense, although you could do it on clinging too, I imagine. It's not quite the way the adder was intended but, hey, that's what the Hero system is for. You mentioned the basic concept of the charcter and I was wondering if you built it (?) with stretching and extra limbs, both indirect (+1/4)? I have a character, also named amoeba who was nun who was bonded to a Lovecraftian horror (probably a shoggoth or a formless spawn) in a sacrifice to the darrk powers. My amoeba has the 360 degree spatial awareness thing, also, but all of her offensive abilities are indirect: stretching, her HKA, etc. Sounds like a cool character and I really like the gas bubble thing also.

[Kristopher]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

I'll put in another vote for Position Shift, which is probably what I was thinking of when I read the questions the first time, and I was sitting here saying to myself, "Darnit, I know there's supposed to be a way to do that...what the heck am I thinking of?"

 

(OK, so it wasn't quite so PG, but you get the idea.)

[Rapier]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

So in the game today, he took knockback. It makes sense within special effect that he wouldn't have to spend a half phase to re-orient himself... something I didn't even think of when building the character. But that can actually be a pretty effective ability - at a 5 speed if he got knocked down every phase, that would be 5 half phases he doesn't loose.

 

What would be a good way to build that ability.

Um, BreakFall?

 

EDIT: I see Whammex2 beat me to it. Breakfall allows you to recover from a KB without falling. Just buy that bad boy up. Its a heck of a lot more intuitive, and without and rules stretching. The only down side is that it is going to be more expensive than the Position Shift Adder on Running. As a GM I wouldn't let you take the adder on Running.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

Yeah the breakfall could work but it being a function of his physiology, so it should work if he were stunned (and thus couldn't breakfall), and instantaneous.

 

Figured something with position shift, in one form or another.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

Don't suppose you've posted this character anywhere?

 

Not yet. Will be going up on my webpage when I keep my character sheets as an ego thing, but I haven't scanned in the artwork a friend did for me (he does all our character sketches - he did the pencil/ink that my avatar is from).

 

I plan to post him here, at somepoint as well.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)Well as people asked here he is.Please note, before freaking out about his build, the GM prefers older edition styles for a number of things. He allows (and actually prefers) ECs to be for non end using powers, and is a very loose constructionist about limitations and frameworks. He also uses Quirks from Gurps.Also please excuse the many spelling mistakes, I haven't gone through and cleaned it up yet.

Meeb Val Char Cost 50 STR 0 18 DEX 24 25 CON 30 15 BODY 10 18 INT 8 18 EGO 16 10 PRE 0 6 COM -2 10 PD 0 10 ED 5 5 SPD 22 15 REC 0 50 END 0 50 STUN -3
10"	RUN	8
2"	SWIM	0
10"	LEAP	0

Characteristics Cost: 118

Cost	Power	END
30	Alien body: Elemental Control, 60-point powers
30	1) Strong Ameoba: +40 STR, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2)
20	2) Srugs Off Damage: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 75%; Always On (-1/2)	0
20	3) Shrugs off Damage: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 75%; Always On (-1/2)	0
37	4) Ameoba Senses: Targeting with Hearing Group plus Spatial Awareness (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Range plus Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees) with Sight Group	0
15	5) Malleable Form: Shape Shift (Sight, Touch and Hearing Groups, any shape), Instant Change, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Cannot change color or details, shape only (-1)	0
31	6) It's an Ameoba: LS (Eating Character does not eat; Immunity All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity All non-terrestrial diseases,biowarfare agents, Poisons and chemical warfare Agents; Longevity Immortal; Safe Environment: Zero Gravity; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in High Radiation; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing; Sleeping Character does not sleep)	0
10	Damage Resistance (10 PD/10 ED)	0
5	Extra Limbs (as many as needed)	0
33	Shapshift stuff: Multipower, 50-point reserve, all slots Linked to shapeshift (-1/2)
7m	1) Psuedopods: Stretching 8", Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4)	2
3u	2) Psuedo pods all over the place: Area Of Effect (up to 5" Any Area; +1) for up to 50 Active Points of STR	5
2u	3) Ooze around things (including attacks): Desolidification , Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4); Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2)	2
2u	4) Big Glob of Amoeba in your breathings apparatus: EB 4d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), NND ([standard]; LS Breathing; +1); No Range (-1/2), Must Be Used with Grab (-1/2)	0
1u	5) Big Honkin' Psuedopod: HA +2d6; Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2)	1

Powers Cost: 246

Cost	Skill
4	KS: Galactice Trivia (his broken memories) 14-
2	SS: Physics 11-
2	SS: Chemistry 11-
3	Deduction 13-

Skills Cost: 11

Val	Disadvantages
50	GM defined
15	Distinctive Features: Big ol' alien Amoeba (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
10	Social Limitation: Big ol' Alien Amoeba (Frequently, Minor)
10	Physical Limitation: Big ol' alien Amoeba physiology (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)
10	Susceptibility: 3 or more body after all defences in one shot, 2d6 damage Instant (Uncommon)
20	Hunted: The people who captured me before I became sentient 8- (As Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish)
5	DNPC: The Petersons and the McDonalds 8- (Slightly Less Powerful than the PC; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills; Group DNPC: x2 DNPCs)
15	Psychological Limitation: Protective of Innocents (Common, Strong)
15	Psychological Limitation: (Common, Strong)
10	Psychological Limitation: (Common, Moderate)
10	Psychological Limitation: Doesn't Understand the world just yet (Common, Moderate)
1	Quirk - Emits a high pitched whine when excited
1	Quirk - Voice abilities are not yet fully functional - talks in strange cadences or tones
1	Quirk - Never stays still or in the same shape
1	Quirk -
1	Quirk -

Disadvantage Points: 175

---

Cost Summary:Base Points:200Disadvantage Points: 175Total Experience Available: 3Experience Unspent: 3Total Character Cost: 375Height: 0.01 mHair: N/AWeight: 100.00 kgEyes: N/AAppearance: Meeb is a green man sized amoeba. He is enclosed in a fairly tough out membrane that is virtually transparent. Because of his physiology and this membrane he is very resistant to attacks. The membrane is generally non porous, and so Meeb is not a "slimy amoeba" - toutching him is reminesicent of squeexing and stretching an old Stretch Armstrong toy. He can assume just about any shape, due to the fact that he has no real form, however any form he takes still looks like Meeb. He could be a chair, but it would be a green ameoba looking chair. His default form looks sorta like an old bean bag chair.Personality: Meeb is in a sort of a newborn state, having only recently come back to his sentience. He is exploring the world, trying to find out how to fit into this new world. He has memories, but they are very scattered and incomplte, but they are slowly coming back.

He does mantain his base personality even with the memory loss and unsutity of his new situation, and over the many centuries in the many worlds he has visited he has been a member of the police or orginizations with similar aims, so he has quickly drifted into the role of superhero.

Quote:"eeaiayoiaayoiaiaioeyeoieo... oh, sorry, I meant 'throw me at them'"Background: In the far reaches of history, on a forgotten planet in the Andromeda Galaxy the first Ae'i'eoeuly came to sentience. Over the centuries, it split and slowly the race grew. Each member of the species had all of the memories of all it's predicessors (but not others of the same generation from other lines after all this is more racial memory rather than a hive mind). As they grew the filled thier planet, and expanded outward, and conquered a number of solar systems which let to a huge intersteller war; a war which truce was found before one side or the other completely was completely killed off. The Ae'i'eoeuly started into thier racial adolescence with war, and grew to realize that others, even if they did not share the memories of the primal one were not a lesser form of life.

Over the millenia, many of the Ae'i'eoeuly have wandered the galaxy and some even beyond. But the race became spread out, and thier rate of thier mitosis slowed.

One member of this race travelled through a number of wormholes and other cosmic shortcuts and came to the Milkyway Galaxy. He spent over a thousand years there interacting with races, and following his belief and his personal ideals. He usually ended up in some form of security or police work. He liked helping others, and with his talents from his race, and his long knowledge he did it well, and helped many people. However about 100 years ago, he shlupped when he should have shlorped, and lost. He was tossed into intersteller space.

One of the interesting abilites of the Ae'i'eoeuly is their ability to go into what they call "fugue state". They contract into a dense ball, and get a rigid outer shell. This protects them from virtually anything. Well the policeman went into fugue state when he was tossed into intersteller space. He ended up making a blazing reentry (well, entry really) into Earth's atmosphere. The increadibly high heat of the entry burned the shell off, and when he impacted (which left a good sized crater) he impacted in his normal form. Normally this would cause little difficulty, but as he did not come out of his fugue state normally, the impact shattered his memories and the physicallity of his mind.

His broken form was found by a large criminal orginization who took him back to thier labs and studied him. During this time, the phycical mechanism that was his mind repaired itself, at least to some extent, and his awareness of where he was and what was going on was there subconsciously the whole time. One day he got prodded and he prodded back saying "Don't do that". The researchers called in the agents and the alien form fought them and ran.

He realized he couldn't hide, and ran to the suburbs where he ran into a pair of cousins who befriended him. George and Stephanie. They got to know him, and helped him in whatever ways they could. Now it wasn't long before thier parents found out. Stephanie's parents worked in superhero relations with the government, and George's mother was in Primus. When they discovered the alien, whom the kids had nickenamed "Meeb", they were worried, but were calmed after a number of discussion with him. They had planned to help out the refugee, and were having a "famlies council" when the orginization who had held Meeb attacked. Meeb defended the families along with Mrs Peterson, the Primus agent. They were defeated, and Meeb realized that his presence would cause danger for his new friends and decided to move somewhere else.

Powers/Tactics: Meeb is strong and because of his unique shapeshifting phsyiology is very versitile. He can utilize his ability to alter his shape to hit people at range, exert his strength over large areas, generate multiple psuedopods to strike, or flail around, to many targerts. Most all of his abilities are reflections of those abilities. He speaks by vibrating his outer membrane, and isn't very good at it yet, but in time he should be able to reproduce just about any sound. His senses are extensive, he recieves data in the visible light spectrum (and again as he returns to his full abilities this will increase), able to read vibrations in the air, both as sound and as a sort of extended touch sense.

Tactics are fairly non existant. Meeb has only recently come back into sentience after a very long fugue state, and hasn't developed many yet.

Campaign Use: PC

[John T]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

Don't know if this is quite what you were looking for, but might be helpful: I've considered adding Position Shift to the list of viable adders for Shapechange. It requires the Instant Change adder and the ability (however you might define the effect) to change from a "fallen" person to a "standing" person. Your character has all this.

 

Remember the scene in Terminator 2 where Ahnold slams the T-1000 into a wall face-first, and it "reverses" itself by shapechanging? Same idea.

 

John T

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway)

 

Yeah the breakfall could work but it being a function of his physiology, so it should work if he were stunned (and thus couldn't breakfall), and instantaneous.

 

Figured something with position shift, in one form or another.

 

Well, if he's stunned, he probably goes "splat" and would need to take the half phase to pull himself back together.