Critique this character please

[garou]

Campaign guidelines - 300 pt base, 150 is disads. AP cap is basically 500 per turn - so if you have SPD 4, you can have 125 AP per phase, but a Spd 8 speedster is going to be about 60-65 AP. (Rough guideline, but I'm trying to stick to it).

 

Concept: Partially based on the Wild Cards character of Golden boy, but with some changes.

 

Whammo

Player:

Val Char Cost

75 STR 65

15 DEX 15

25 CON 30

25 BODY 30

15 INT 5

10 EGO 0

20 PRE 10

20 COM 5

 

15/36 PD 0

10/30 ED 5

5 SPD 25

20 REC 0

50 END 0

76 STUN 0

 

6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

15" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 190

 

Cost Power END

50 Strength attacks: Multipower, 50-point reserve

1u 1) Rope Reach: Stretching 6", Side Effects (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Only To Cause Damage (-1/2), Always Direct (-1/4), no Noncombat Stretching (-1/4), No Velocity Damage (-1/4), Range Modifier Applies (-1/4) 0

2u 2) Crack the whip: Energy Blast 6d6, Side Effects (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0), Indirect (Same origin, any direction; +1/2) (45 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (-1/4), Limited Range (-1/4) 4

3u 3) Breaking: Dispel 9d6, any Technological Object power one at a time (+1/4), Cumulative (+1/2) (47 Active Points); No Range (-1/2) 5

1u 4) Insta-barrier: Entangle 5d6, 5 DEF, Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0) (50 Active Points); Only To Form Barriers (-1), No Range (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (-1/2) 5

2u 5) Big Wrap Up: Entangle 5d6, 5 DEF, Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0) (50 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (-1/2) 5

2u 6) Improvised Weaponry: Energy Blast 6 1/2d6, Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; Damage to local environs; +0), Variable Special Effects (Any SFX; +1/2) (49 Active Points); OIF (Appropriate materials of opportunity; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Limited Range (15"; -1/4) 5

2u 7) Sluggo: Hand-To-Hand Attack +5d6 (25 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) 2

2u 8) Boxer's Flurry: Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) for up to 75 Active Points of Punch (19 Active Points) 2

3u 9) Lethal force: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 3d6 (6d6 w/STR) (45 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2) 8

 

62 Bioelectric force field: Armor (21 PD/20 ED) 0

30 Tough metabolism: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% 0

10 Tough metabolism II: Energy Damage Reduction, 25% 0

7 +15 PD (15 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about half of its effectiveness (Only to protect against damage sustained when performing move by/throughs; -1)

7 Flight 8", x4 Noncombat (25 Active Points); Extra Time: full phase, only to activate (-1/2)Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Only In Straight Lines (-1/2) 6

7 Fast healer: Healing 1 BODY, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (20 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Turn (Post-Segment 12) (-1 1/4), Self Only (-1/2) 0

5 Life Support (Longevity: Immortal) 0 (Note: Whammo is not aware of this, it is a side effect of the rapid healing)

10 Sight Group Flash Defense (10 points) 0

Powers Cost: 206

 

Cost Skill

3 Breakfall 12-

2 PS: Bricklayer 11-

2 KS: Guitars 11-

5 PS: Musician (Guitar) 14-

3 Trading 13-

1 Bribery 8-

1 Language: Musical notation (basic conversation)

3 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Agricultural & Construction Vehicles

3 Conversation 13-

15 +3 with HTH Combat

2 KS: Police procedure 11-

3 Hoist 12-

3 Streetwise 13-

4 Survival (Urban) 13-

2 CK: Millenium City 11-

2 CuK: Millenium City music scene 11-

Skills Cost: 54

 

Total Character Cost: 450

 

Val Disadvantages

20 Enraged: Enraged in combat (Very Common), go 11-, recover 14-

10 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching)

5 Physical Limitation: Medical-resistant skin (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) [Notes: Brick book lists it as 10, but he does heal reasonably quickly, so it's only an inconvenience when seriously hurt.]

10 Physical Limitation: Doesn't Know Own Strength (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Physical Limitation: Must Use Powers At Full When Excited/Agitated (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)

15 Psychological Limitation: Overconfidence (Very Common, Moderate)

15 Psychological Limitation: Feels he must prove himself (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Attention seeker (Very Common, Moderate)

15 Psychological Limitation: Reluctant to kill (Common, Strong)

10 Reputation: Novice superhero, 11-

15 Social Limitation: Public Identity (Very Frequently, Minor)

10 Social Limitation: Not taken seriously (Frequently, Minor)

 

 

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 300

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

 

Background:Bright, but unfocused was typically how a teacher would describe Andrew. Lazy, slacker, and bound for trouble were usually said only in the teacher's lounge, but certainly no one was pushing Andrew to focus on his studies. His mother ran off with the drummer from Wailing Dregs when Andrew was only five, and his father crawled into the bottle. When Andrew was eighteen and out of high school, he left home. After six months on the streets, Andrew came back, only to find the house foreclosed and his father gone. Without a home, and no prospects for college, Andrew drifted from low-end job to low-end job. During this period of marginal employment, he spent a lot of money on beer, and a fair amount in nightclubs, and a couple dollars on a beat-up six string.

 

Playing the guitar came naturally to Andrew. For the first time in years, possibly ever, he found something that he liked doing. He began to supplement his wages from the local greaseburger with what he could earn by playing on a streetcorner. The money wasn't good at first, but as he got better, he began to think about making a career out of it. So, he quit his day job and started looking for a band. Days turned into weeks, and Andrew crashed at friends, in abandoned houses, and at shelters. What little he made went to pay back what he owed, or to buy a slightly better guitar.

 

Eventually, he went back to work, this time getting the chance to learn the trade of bricklayer. During the nights and weekends, he kept plugging away at his music, bouncing from band to band, learning how to write his own lyrics and improving his technique. Recently, he'd been given a shot as lead guitarist in a band, and was looking at quitting his day job once he had a regular gig.

 

Unfortunately, it was not to be. One afternoon, while Andrew was eatinng lunch at the local mall, his world changed. Foxbat, during one of his routine mad escapades, had managed to. . . .aquire a piece of advanced technology, presumably alien in origin. Foxbat had decided to stop by the nearest bookster (while in costume) to steal everything he could about UFOs. While playing around with it (and looking though an X-Files novel), Foxbat was attacked by a hero and heroine, who managed to disable the ping-pong gun in gthe initial blast. Feeling desperate, and more than a little whimsical, Foxbat aimed the device at the heroe. With an audible "whoosh", the hero was turned into a newt. As Foxbat turned toward the heroine, the device hummed and parts moved as it turned into a new configuration. As Foxbat fired, the heroine dived out of the way. The beam blasted out of the store and across the food court, ricocheting off several mirrored pillars and finally hitting Andrew square in the chest. Foxbat beat a hasty retreat, dropping the device which was now glowing red and burning a hole in the carpet.

 

Andrew woke up three days later in the hospital, in perfect health. He felt better than ever. He was a bit puzzled, however, with the hospitals decision to use such a weak material for the bedframe, as he crushed it quite easily. And the sink in his room came apart under the slightest pressure. (Andrew doesn't even like to think about the tiolet fixtures.) It wasn't until he watched the news that night that he realize the truth: he must have superpowers!

 

This surely would help his music career. But, until it does, he might as well fight crime. It's good press, and a lot less hazardous than being a supervillain. Unfortunately, his first foray as a superhero was almost a complete disaster. The villain got away, along with the loot, and Andrew causes a lot of inadvertant property damage. The fact that he took the name "Whammo" probably isn't helping any either.

 

Personality/Motivation: Andrew doesn't want to be a hero for its own sake. He does, however, want to be loved and admired by millions, and figures that this is his ticket to it. He really wants to prove himself - not just as a hero, but also as a musician.

 

Quote: Stop, evildoer, and face justice!

 

Tactics: Whammo is really wet behind the ears. He doesn't know a whole lot about his powers, and while he has some natural aptitude, he hasn't learned to think tactically or how to maintain composure in combat. And the less said about his flight, the better.

 

Edit - had a chance to thumb through Ultimate vehicle today. Got rid of takeoff/landing for flight, changed to extra time, will add -0 FX of requiring running to take off and landing by slamming into things.

[incrdbil]

Re: Critique this character please

 

 

I dont have time for a full review, but a couple of things just set off my GM alert. More later this evening.

 

2u 8) Boxer's Flurry: Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) for up to 75 Active Points of Punch (19 Active Points) 2

 

Naked advantage in Multipower--GM's permission.

 

 

20 Enraged: Enraged in combat (Very Common), go 11-, recover 14-

 

Even with a 14-recovery, this could get your novice hero in a lot of trouble, nto to mention making him incapabel of cooperating with his team.

 

10 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching)

 

at 450 points, the poilce are not more powerful. Primus sure. FBI, yes (assuming you give the FBI its own paranormal supers). But police to me normally means local city and state policee, who are less powerful, but with extensive Non Combat Influence.

 

 

10 Physical Limitation: Doesn't Know Own Strength (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Physical Limitation: Must Use Powers At Full When Excited/Agitated (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)

 

God help the first innocent he tries to save.

[garou]

Re: Critique this character please

 

I dont have time for a full review, but a couple of things just set off my GM alert. More later this evening.

 

Boxer's Flurry

 

Naked advantage in Multipower--GM's permission.

 

First, thanks. I'll try to answer any additional questions or concerns.

 

Yeah, I know I need Gm's approval. I've gotten naked advantages on Str approved on a couple other characters (bricks all), so it probably won't be a problem. He's also not skilled enough to reliably hit on all three punches.

 

 

Enraged

 

Even with a 14-recovery, this could get your novice hero in a lot of trouble, nto to mention making him incapabel of cooperating with his team.

 

Fortunately, it's just enraged. When triggered, he's going to pound on one bad guy after another, ignoring teammates. I could change it to "when he takes Body damage".

 

 

Watched, police

 

at 450 points, the poilce are not more powerful. Primus sure. FBI, yes (assuming you give the FBI its own paranormal supers). But police to me normally means local city and state policee, who are less powerful, but with extensive Non Combat Influence.

 

An individual police officer is less powerful. A full SWAT team is probably less powerful. The full resources of MCPC are certainly more powerful. If they can deal with Grond, they can deal with Whammo. (I want to add NCI, and didn't because I ran up against point limits. I should just add the -5 custom adder and include it so that I do not forget.

 

 

 

Doesn't know own strength, must use full abilities in combat

 

God help the first innocent he tries to save.

 

Or teammate. So yes, if he grabs someone to pull them out of the way, he's going to use full strength. If he punches a mugger, it's going to be full strength. If he flies at someone, it's full bore (once he actually manages to take off, having aimed at them first). He's aware enough of this, and even enraged, he should still be able to use other things (like the entangle, the indirect EB, etc - but if those fail, he's going to take a swing). Likewise, while he might shove people out of the way, he's probably going to try to shield them first with his body (or the insta-barrier) - but he won't hesitate to shove someone out of the way (and into a building across the street) if it gets them out of the way of a speeding semi.

 

 

I might just petition the GM to allow me more than 60 points of psych disads - I had more I wanted to add, but ran up against the 60 pt limit. I'd rather than some of the disads above were RP'ed (and occasional) and added the more common naive, black & white morality stuff that I will be RP'ing anyway.

[odinraven]

Re: Critique this character please

 

Hmmm. Well I'd never play this character cause I don't care for looking like a moron. Other than that it looks good but you might consider upping your dex a bit. Your defenses, while good, have their limits and with a 5 DCV you'll get hit alot, and your OCV is almost as bad. Add 3 points to your dex and it'll up your CVs one point and cost you only 6 points since you already have your speed cranked up. I suggest pulling some points from your mental scores and COM. Some one with a COM and PRE of 20 and INT of 15 would have no problem at all getting a job no matter how "unfocused" he was. He's a sexy beast and natral leader with those scores, not to mention a budding scientist. If you're gonna keep the high INT, at least give him tactics and analize (combat) skills so he can use it. i'm a bit confused on the rope reach and "crack the whip" powers. Nice house rule for active point caps. i'll have to consider using it in some of my campains.

[garou]

Re: Critique this character please

 

Hmmm. Well I'd never play this character cause I don't care for looking like a moron. Other than that it looks good but you might consider upping your dex a bit. Your defenses' date=' while good, have their limits and with a 5 DCV you'll get hit alot, and your OCV is almost as bad. [/quote']

 

True, but it's something to develop in the future. For now, he's supposed to get hit - it ties into the concept of a new hero, who doesn't know (or care) how and when to duck. He'll learn - the hard way.

 

Add 3 points to your dex and it'll up your CVs one point and cost you only 6 points since you already have your speed cranked up. I suggest pulling some points from your mental scores and COM. Some one with a COM and PRE of 20 and INT of 15 would have no problem at all getting a job no matter how "unfocused" he was.

 

Not necessarily true. While he could probably land a job in sales, a lot of jobs actually require some college or natural aptitude. Since he barely bothered with anything in HS, and never went to college, a lot of white collar careers are, at the moment, closed to him. He wound up doing low-wage jobs because he never went looking for much else - and if you bounce from job to job because you keep making bad choices (like skipping work to attend a concert), you probably won't advance much either.

 

He's a sexy beast and natral leader with those scores, not to mention a budding scientist. If you're gonna keep the high INT, at least give him tactics and analize (combat) skills so he can use it.

 

Sure, up until the point where he says "We can take him!" and charges Dr. Destroyer, because he either (1) doesn't know any better; or (2) doesn't care. Right now, no one in their right mind should actually follow him into combat, unless it's to use him as a shield - he's just too unpredictable. Once he's worn the tights for a few years, he might mature into the role. Again, he's only had his powers for a month - there's no IC reason to have tactics or Analyze (combat) just yet.

 

i'm a bit confused on the rope reach and "crack the whip" powers. Nice house rule for active point caps. i'll have to consider using it in some of my campains.

 

Both powers come from the Ultimate Brick. Rope reach is the brick tactic of ripping up a telephone pole and whacking someone with it, and Crack the Whip is the (cartoony) practice of grabbing the street/sidewalk/etc and whipping it, causing the villain standing down the street to get knocked down (and tearing up the street in the process).

 

(And yes, I understand and expect him to very quickly get a reputation for causing property damage. I'll be disappointed if he doesn't, actually.)

[Diamond Spear]

Re: Critique this character please

 

You do realize a 250 point mentalist could, using your existing psych lims, have you pound your own party into the dirt without half trying right? Enraged in combat, Overconfidence, Feels he must prove himself and Attention seeker are tailor made for a mentalist to exploit. The 3 ECV and 10 EGO with no mental defense are just icing on the cake. Something to think about.

[garou]

Re: Critique this character please

 

You do realize a 250 point mentalist could' date=' using your existing psych lims, have you pound your own party into the dirt without half trying right? Enraged in combat, Overconfidence, Feels he must prove himself and Attention seeker are tailor made for a mentalist to exploit. The 3 ECV and 10 EGO with no mental defense are just icing on the cake. Something to think about.[/quote']

 

How about a 50 point mentalist? Yep - it's something I am fully aware of, but, to be honest, the same problem should occur with most Bricks. The best way to take down Grond or Ogre is simply to mind control them and have them pummel any bad guys that are close to them. A previous PC of mine was a mentalist, who tried to grab the most powerful Brick and pummeling the bad guys nearby. Generally worked pretty well - and there's no reason that a villain oughtn't be able to do the same. Fortunately, we have a mentalist on the team, which should keep enemy mentalists a little more occupied.

[TaxiMan]

Re: Critique this character please

 

This character smells bad, looks ugly, feels as soft as a cactus, and sounds like shrieking cats at 2 a.m.! He's a drooling idiot with the social graces of a diseased camel! His DNA is only working with two bases, it couldn't figure out the other two! He's lazy, eats like a pig and associates with perverts! Worst of all, at night he sneaks into ....

 

Oh.

 

"Critique".

 

I thought it said "Criticize".

 

 

 

Sorry.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Critique this character please

 

Hurricane Tana - Air Elementalist

 

Meteorite - Energy Projector from Thunder-bolts

 

current favorite NPCs from my LCotMU campaign

 

also Warbird (not by me)

[David Johnston]

Re: Critique this character please

 

 

An individual police officer is less powerful. A full SWAT team is probably less powerful. The full resources of MCPC are certainly more powerful. If they can deal with Grond, they can deal with Whammo. (I want to add NCI, and didn't because I ran up against point limits. I should just add the -5 custom adder and include it so that I do not forget.

 

If the police can deal with Grond, what does the city need superheroes for?

[Bloodstone]

Re: Critique this character please

 

Mechanically, he's pretty solid and powerful brick. He's got decent Defenses honestly, but he dishes it out way better then he takes it. Since he has a DCV of 5 and the campaign seems to have pretty high AP limits, I'm seeing him getting hit a lot. Assuming the villians are also tossing around 20DC attacks, Whammo here has enough defense powers to last through about 4 hits. He's out of STUN by the 5th one if he doesn't get a Recovery before then or do something to avoid getting hit.

 

I can't speak for everyone, but the whole "novice hero" angle with a decent sized multipower of brick tricks would not get my GM's stamp of approval.

 

Outside of brawling, he has multiple glaring and exploitable weaknesses, which some GM's would like as a counter balance to his offensive power. Myself, I'd rather have a less powerful brick that wasn't such a liability to the team, but you take what comes your way. Character looks like way more trouble then he's worth having around, but your fellow players may well get a kick out of it. Hard to tell not knowing your play style.

 

Is your GM cool with you having a 6d6 killing attack and a short fuse? Are your fellow players?

 

The utility ranged powers are too weak to be all that usefull. You only have a CV of 5 with them and range mods cut that down quickly. Besides, even if you hit, 6d6 is not going to matter vs anything that can stand up to the 20d6 Normal/6d6 Killing you do in melee. I'm not seeing those getting used much.

 

I'd tone down the lims on the Flight, which I assume is supposed to be some kind of Super Leap. Trouble is, you only have enough END to go 120" (240" if NCM) and when you land, you're exhausted! This creates a really messed up mental image for me and strikes me as a really bad way of trying to get around. You may just want to tinker with more inches of normal Leaping, possibly with a high NCM or a Megascale option. Baring that, use a variation of the super leap built as flight from the Ultimate Brick.

 

Personally, I would probably not have fun with him in a serious game, but then you gave him the name Whamoo so I'm not sure if it is a serious game. No offense intended there, the name just strikes me as humorous, as does the background.