New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

[sinanju]

This is the character I created (with lots of input from Zornwil) for Zornwil's face-to-face Justice Squad Champions game. I'll be playing him for the first time tomorrow (11/13). The team needed a brick, and I've been wanting to play this character for a long time now.

 

The Black Knight

 

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

64 STR 5 22- Lift 178.3tons; 12 1/2d6 [6]

15 DEX 15 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5

18 CON 16 13-

23 BODY 26 14-

12 INT 2 11- PER Roll 11-

14 EGO 8 12- ECV: 5

15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6

12 COM 1 11-

 

1/6 PD 0 Total: 1/6 PD (0/5 rPD)

1/6 ED 0 Total: 1/6 ED (0/5 rED)

5 SPD 25 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

7 REC 0

36 END 0

 

Movement:

 

Running: 6"/12"

Leaping: 12"/24"

Swimming: 2"/4"

 

Total Characteristic Cost: 112

 

Cost Powers END

18 Supercharged Metabolism: Elemental Control, 44-point powers, (22 Active Points); all slots Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4)

18 1) Instant Regeneration: Armor (SFX: He takes the damage, it just doesn't slow him down!) (5 PD/5 ED) (45 Active Points); Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4)

18 2) Keeps Going: Automaton (Takes No STUN (loses abilities when takes BODY)) (45 Active Points); Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4)

18 3) Instant Regeneration II: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% (45 Active Points); Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4)

18 4) Instant Regeneration III: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% (45 Active Points); Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4)

17 5) Instant Regeneration IV: (Total: 40 Active Cost, 32 Real Cost) Regeneration 1d6 (10 Active Points); Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4) (Real Cost: 8) plus Life Support (It's uncomfortable--it just doesn't stop him) (All Life Support) (30 Active Points); Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used; -1/4) (Real Cost: 24)

15 6) Really, Really Strong+49 STR (49 Active Points); No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Side Effects (Dist. Feature becomes more noticeable when used); -1/4) 5

 

11 That's A Big-*** Sword!: Multipower, 15-point reserve, all slots Armor Piercing (+1/2) (22 Active Points); all slots OAF Unbreakable Expendable (Broadsword; Easy to obtain new Focus; -1)

1u 1) Smack 'Em Around: Hand-To-Hand Attack +5d6 (15 Active Points); OAF Unbreakable Expendable (Broadsword; Easy to obtain new Focus; -1) 1

1u 2) Use The Sharp End: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6 (2d6 w/STR) (15 Active Points); OAF Unbreakable Expendable (Broadsword; Easy to obtain new Focus; -1) 1

Perks

5 Contact(s) To Be Determined: Custom Perk

 

Skills

Everyman Skills (Cost: 0 Points)

0 1) Acting 8-

0 2) AK: New York City 11-

0 3) Climbing 8-

0 4) Concealment 8-

0 5) Conversation 8-

0 6) Deduction 8-

0 7) Native: Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

0 8) Paramedics 8-

0 9) PS: Salesman 11-

0 10) Shadowing 8-

0 11) Stealth 8-

2 Old Soldier: KS: WWII (European Theatre) 11-

1 Former Marine: KS: Soldier (Marine) 8-

2 Vicarious Adventure: KS: Extreme Sports 11-

3 Salesman: Persuasion 12-

3 Schmoozing Clients: High Society 12-

1 Transport Familiarity (Small Motorized Ground Vehicles)

6 Brawling: +2 with Brawling

1 Street Racing: Combat Driving 8-

1 Chasing Women: Seduction 8-

1 Hangin' Out On The Streets: Streetwise 8-

2 Weapon Familiarity - Melee Weapons (Melee Weapons)

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 163

Total Cost: 275

 

155+ Disadvantages

15 Distinctive Feature: Quickening: Sensation like heat/radiation emanating from Victor (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Large Group--Mentalists & Energy-Manipulators)

15 Psychological Limitation: Hard Charging (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Will Not Break His Word (Uncommon, Total)

15 Psychological Limitation: Will Try Anything Once (Common, Strong)

0 Quirk: Keeps A Change of Clothes Handy

0 Quirk: Monty Python Fan

0 Quirk: Enthusiastic Womanizer

0 Quirk: Hard Drinkin' Man

60 Experience Points

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 60

 

 

Background/History: Victor Kruger was born in 1920 in rural upstate New York. He grew up as part of a sprawling family of seven siblings. He was an adventurous lad, almost fearless, constantly getting scraped and banged up--sometime in fights, but more often just from learning by trial and error which risks were worthwhile and which weren't. His childhood was otherwise fairly unremarkable. He married Sarah Rose Thorne in 1941, when they were both 21 years old. Later that year, after Pearl Harbor dragged the US into World War II, Victor enlisted in the Marines, despite Rose's pleas for him to stay home, stay safe.

 

Victor's spent the next five years on the battlefields of Europe. He got his fill of excitement and then some. He saw more violence, destruction and death than he'd ever imagined he would. When he was demobilized in 1945 he returned to a wife nearly hysterical with relief. Rose badgered him into promising he'd never do anything so risky again--she'd spent the war terrified that he would be killed and leave her a widow. Now that he was home safe, she wanted him to swear that he'd never frighten her that way again. Sobered by his memories of the war, wanting to please his beautiful, sexy, teary-eyed wife, Victor promised.

 

It was a promise he would regret. The years passed. His memories of the war didn't fade, but he came to realize that he had not permanently lost his taste for adventure. But he'd made a promise to Rose and he meant to keep it. His occasional attempts to revisit their agreement invariably ended in tears and recriminations; Rose was adamant that he live the safe, risk-free, middle-class life they'd agreed upon when they married.

 

Victor spent the next few decades living a Walter Mitty-style existence. He truly loved Rose and wanted to give her the life she desired; it was just that their life was safe, middle-class--boring. Victor worked at being a successful salesman, raising their four children, fulfilling all the requirements of a conventional family man, but his inner life was his own. He became a voracious reader of genre fiction (pulps, science fiction, fantasy, espionage, anything involving action and excitement); he subscribed to magazines on climbing, diving, skydiving, any action sports he could find. He lived out his thirst for adventure vicariously, reading about men--real and fictional--who lived out the sorts of adventurous lives he was forever denied.

 

The decades passed. The children grew up and moved out to begin their own lives and families, eventually producing children of their own. VIctor and Rose grew older. Rose's aversion to anything the slightest bit risky only grew stronger as the years passed. Victor's life became, if anything, even more circumscribed by her perpetual fears. Rose seldom left their home any more, and worried incessantly whenever Victor was absent; their circle of friends dwindled as they ceased going out to dinner, to shows, or simply to visit friends except on rare occasions. Victor found his life limited to work, evenings alone with Rose--and his imagination.

 

Victor continued working long past age sixty-five. He didn't dare retire--that would doom him to spending all his time at home with Rose. He still told himself he loved her, though any passion for her had long ago guttered out. But whether he loved her or not, he was bound by both his marriage vows and his promise. He was seventy-two when Rose died. He grieved--but he was also appalled by a feeling of immense relief. He also discovered bitterness. He was finally free of his vows, free to act on his dreams--and he was too old and feeble to think of taking up the occupations or hobbies he'd daydreamed of for so many years.

 

Victor spent the last ten years of his life as a retired widower in declining health. He was a bitter, angry man dwelling constantly on a lifetime of missed opportunities and dreaming of his glory days as a young soldier. His children eventually moved him into a nursing home where he could get the help he needed, and where they needn't deal with the man they no longer recognized as a their loving albeit distant father. Victor was simply waiting to die in January of 2002, when the Incident (as it came to be called) occurred. Note: this refers to an in-campaign event in NYC wherein many, many people were subjected to something not entirely unlike Magneto's Mutant-Maker in X2. Energy burned thru him, searing him; Victor felt his heart pounding as if about to burst--and perhaps it did, for he lost consciousness.

 

Victor woke in a cold, dark space with a stiff, cold sheet covering him. He tried to sit up, bashing his head on a very low ceiling. When shouting for help accomplished nothing, Victor panicked and began kicking and punching at the walls of the tiny space he occupied, smashing open a door and scrambling out. He looked around and recognized the place as a morgue. He was naked, too--and he didn't recognize the body he saw when he looked down, or in the first mirror he could find. He was...he was young again! He was the broad-shouldered, muscular giant he remembered from his days in the Marines, not the withered old wreck he had become.

 

Victor didn't know how this had happened and he didn't care. He laughed, giddy with excitement and delight. He was young again! Young, strong, virile, and free. With no marriage vows and no obligations to anyone else, he was free at last to be the man he'd always wished he could be! He fled the morgue--and the hospital--as quickly as he could manage. He had a lifetime of missed experiences to make up for.

 

Once out on the streets and paying attention to the world again in a way he hadn't been in many years, he discovered just how much chaos had been unleashed on the New York area. He soon discovered just how strong he was, how much punishment he could endure--and how quickly he healed--when he began rescuing people who needed help or fighting off predators, including some of the other recently changed mutants. It felt wonderful--he felt useful again, he had purpose, and he enjoyed the challenges. It didn't take Victor long to decide on his new career. He's spent the last nine months in a crash course on living the superhero lifestyle--with plenty of drinking, brawling, and carousing thrown in.

 

Personality/Motivation: Victor is a man on a mission--to make up for a lifetime of regrets. He's been gifted with a chance to live a life more exciting than even his most over-the-top daydreams. To that end, he's spent the last nine months since his transformation in a frenzy of activity. Chasing women, drinking, brawling, racing cars, and so forth. There's a whole world of experiences he's never tasted, and he intends to work his way through the whole list eventually. However, his hedonism is strongly tempered by a strong sense of duty; most people don't have his advantages and need protection from threats. Besides, given his advantages, most risky sports and adventures aren't terribly risky any longer--but facing off against superhuman foes? Now THAT'S exciting!

 

Quote: "That? It's a scratch--I've had worse."

 

Powers/Tactics: Victor's fundamental power is the inexhaustible energy that suffuses his body. He is capable of instantly regenerating phenomenal amounts of damage; he recovers so fast from pain and shock that even the most serious wounds don't even slow him down noticeably, and the wounds take little longer to heal. He's functionally immune to stunning or knockout. Unless an attack inflicts enough structural damage to joints, bones or musculature to physically impair his ability to act, he'll simply shrug it off and keep coming. Victor can endure conditions that would ordinarily kill a man--extreme cold, heat, radiation, starvation, thirst or sleep deprivation--without injury. He'll find them uncomfortable, but his regenerative powers will continually renew him. His superhuman strength is at least in part the result of his ability--and willingness--to push himself beyond all reasonable limits, counting on his healing ability to repair torn muscles and ligaments, injured joints. Victor's usual weapon is a sword. A completely unconscious use of his power to reinforce the weapon makes the sword virtually unbreakable while he's using it, regardless of the weapon's normal quality.

 

His tactics tend to be simple and direct. Given that a fairly large percentage of opponents can sense his presence no matter how stealthy he tries to be, Victor often resorts to straightforward assaults, though he's not averse to using misdirection when he can. He doesn't hesitate to "take a bullet" for teammates or innocent bystanders, given his ability to survive such assaults.

 

Appearance: Victor is a large man, over six feet tall, broad shouldered and muscular. He has dark brown hair and eyes, and rugged features. His clothing tends to be utilitarian with definite punk overtones. T-shirts, leather vests, heavy pants, combat boots, and lots of metal (buckles, chains, etc). And a very large sword. His nom de guerre, The Black Knight, is taken from the character of the same name in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail--for what Victor considers obvious reason. Because his power consists of enduring and healing injuries rather than shrugging off the effects, Victor's clothing often takes a severe beating--bullet holes, rips, tears, burns, and plenty of bloodstains. As a result, Victor is always careful to keep a change of clothing handy. When he's in full regalia, he wears a full medieval helm, chain mail, gloves, boots and tabard.

 

Notes: Victor Kruger is obviously modeled in large part on the Kurgan from the original Highlander film. Unlike the immortals in the tv series, immortals in the film just don't die short of beheading. They can be knocked down, stunned briefly, by enough damage--but they never die, and don't even seem to lose consciousness no matter what injuries they sustain. Using the automaton rules to simulate his utter resistance to shock and stunning was Zornwil's suggestion, and it's a good one. Blow out his knees and Victor will fall down--briefly. Lop his arm off and he'll be disarmed (har har) for a while, but it's not permanent and he certainly won't let the pain stop him. In that regard, he's also strongly influenced Monty Python's Black Knight character, both in-game (Victor chose that name for his superhero ID intentionally) and out-of-game (I did it for the same reason).

[starblaze]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Neat character concept. One problem is that the new 5th edition rules do not allow you to put powers with no endurance cost in a framework.

[Ura-Maru]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Good character concept, but there are a few problems with the build.

 

For the record, I think it’s this exact EC that started the whole ‘no 0-End powers in EC’ thing going.

 

And most GM’s heads explode when characteristics are put in an Elemental Control. (And even if you put them in a Multipower, they automatically get ‘No Figured’ as a -0 disad)

 

Generally, Automoton can’t be taken by players, and it certainly can’t be put in an EC. Even if this is allowed, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll loose Str, Spd, or EC slots every time you get hit by an attack of more than 6d6. (Actually, twice for each hit. Once by the hit, once by the Knockback) The first group of agents you fight will cripple you in a phase or two, then kill you while you're helpless.

 

I’m fairly certain that you can’t take ‘side effect: My disad takes affect’ Even if you can, you’re getting a lot more points back than it would be worth if you’d just bought the disad ‘visible to everyone,’ so I’d say no. Especially since, in this case, the disad seems to be ‘my powers aren’t completely undetectable.’

 

Wait. Does he have a 64 Str TOTAL, with the EC STR, or 100 total? That’s what it looked like at first. Even so, with the sword, that’s 18d6.

 

A 64 Str is in the above average brick range. (200 tons!) It’s hard to justify that much with the special effect you’re using.

 

You’re OCV is pretty low too. (though if you’re swinging around an 18d6 attack . . .) A few skill levels? (5 or 8 pts . . . he’s supposed to be an experienced fighter)

 

A super athlete should probably have some movement. And skills are pretty light for an old guy, or an experienced solder.

 

End’s going to be an issue, too. If he has ‘inexaustable energy’ suffusing him, he should probably be able to fight for more than a turn without running into End problems . . .

 

And why’s the sword unbreakable?

 

Constructive criticism, I hope . . .

---

“When bonded to a host, that host gains control of his limitless demonic power!!â€

[sinanju]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Good character concept, but there are a few problems with the build.

 

For the record, I think it’s this exact EC that started the whole ‘no 0-End powers in EC’ thing going.

 

And most GM’s heads explode when characteristics are put in an Elemental Control. (And even if you put them in a Multipower, they automatically get ‘No Figured’ as a -0 disad)

 

Yeah, but but I've never liked the No Zero END powers in a framework rule. Besides--the GM approved it, so I'm golden.

 

Generally, Automoton can’t be taken by players, and it certainly can’t be put in an EC. Even if this is allowed, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll loose Str, Spd, or EC slots every time you get hit by an attack of more than 6d6. (Actually, twice for each hit. Once by the hit, once by the Knockback) The first group of agents you fight will cripple you in a phase or two, then kill you while you're helpless.

 

Again, the automaton power was the GM's suggestion, so that's not an issue. Otherwise, well, he's a fairly low-powered beginning character, but the GM gives lots of XP early on to bring the PC up to par with existing characters.

 

I’m fairly certain that you can’t take ‘side effect: My disad takes affect’ Even if you can, you’re getting a lot more points back than it would be worth if you’d just bought the disad ‘visible to everyone,’ so I’d say no. Especially since, in this case, the disad seems to be ‘my powers aren’t completely undetectable.’

 

No, the disad becomes even MORE noticeable when he's using the powers. It's always there (kind of like radio static audible to mentalists and energy manipulators--with bursts of much louder static when he's using his powers).

 

Wait. Does he have a 64 Str TOTAL, with the EC STR, or 100 total? That’s what it looked like at first. Even so, with the sword, that’s 18d6.

 

STR 64 total.

 

You’re OCV is pretty low too. (though if you’re swinging around an 18d6 attack . . .) A few skill levels? (5 or 8 pts . . . he’s supposed to be an experienced fighter)

 

He was a Marine in WWII...70 years ago. Until nine months ago, when he was rejuvenated and became a superhuman mutant, he's had no combat experience at all. At best, he's very rusty.

 

A super athlete should probably have some movement. And skills are pretty light for an old guy, or an experienced solder.

 

Well, a) I'm a believer in fewer but broader skills, and when you're working with limited points, you gotta skimp somewhere.

 

End’s going to be an issue, too. If he has ‘inexaustable energy’ suffusing him, he should probably be able to fight for more than a turn without running into End problems . . .

 

This is true. It's something to address with future XP.

 

And why’s the sword unbreakable?

 

Because the same energy that keeps him going like the Energizer Bunny reinforces the sword--he's doing it, though he's not aware of it. Since I am planning to acquire lots of XP and eventually go thru a "radiation accident" (this is pretty much SOP for the campaign), I'm laying the groundwork for his eventually being able to use that energy constructively--and on other people/things. (Such as grabbing someone by the arm and sharing the ability to survive being machinegunned--making him a very useful bodyguard, for instance.)

 

Constructive criticism, I hope . . .

 

Certainly.

---

“When bonded to a host, that host gains control of his limitless demonic power!!â€

[Ura-Maru]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Hey, who am I to argue with your GM. I won’t even bring up the ‘multiple powers in the same EC slot’ that I didn’t notice before.

 

You still have the ‘Eggshell with a hammer’ thing going, though. You’re going to have to be very, very careful. 5 12d6 attacks in the same turn will kill you, unless your GM is handwaving the ‘Automoton dies at 0 body’ thing, as well.

 

No, the disad becomes even MORE noticeable when he's using the powers. It's always there (kind of like radio static audible to mentalists and energy manipulators--with bursts of much louder static when he's using his powers).

 

I understand that, but you’re saving what, 37 points with it, for something you’ve already taken as a 15 point limitation on. So that’s more than 50 points for a single Distinctive Feature. And I’m not sure what the ‘major reaction’ the DF is supposed to cause . . .

 

---

“I’m the one to go back, because I can’t be killed!â€

[aylwin13]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Hey Zorn, how about a bit of GM commentary regarding some of the comments above. I, for one, would like to hear your thoughts on the character.

[zornwil]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Hey Zorn' date=' how about a bit of GM commentary regarding some of the comments above. I, for one, would like to hear your thoughts on the character.[/quote']

Funny you should mention, I was just about to chime in. Sinanju mentioned the thread to me just before we started play today.

 

There's a few intersecting things here...

 

First is that I really don't and never have agreed that ECs are such a problem and that they require powers that aren't 0 END and drain-one-drain-all and so on. The serious problem I have with "no 0 END" and other restrictions in ECs is that it's a fairly blunt and metagaming way of addressing a perceived balance problem. First, I don't perceive the balance problem, not to that degree anyway. Second, even if I did, I don't agree with this approach. From the boards, I borrowed a concept Hugh once alluded to of making ECs sort of similar to NNDs in terms of the standard they have to reach. So basically the standard EC comes with the limitation that it can be defeated in a manner similar to NNDs, if a regular person can prepare something against it through cleverness and access to tools, while a super person may find it easier. While ECs are advantageous, I really find them no more so than MPs or VPPs, and even less, so I tend to be fairly liberal so long as there's a way to shut them off. You can buy off the way to shut them off with a couple different levels of advantages, btw.

 

The other big factor at play here is that the character is coming into a well-established campaign with very advanced characters in a campaign which deliberately highlights rapid growth. I had a few choices, and chose to bring in the characters so far at the starting level. A while back that was halfway functional, now it would not be that. To compensate, I'm allowing more fudging but also gave him some extra debt points, too, once the basic character was written.

 

Most of the fudging I'm not troubled with. I can make his "distinctive features" well worth their points. (Which doesn't just mean the reaction immediately part, but the reaction longer term) The automoton thing has always interested me for a PC. The post above relating to the number of hits and all identifies a correct issue, but I feel if an automoton is a PC, then he gets the benefit of negative BOD before dying. For the points, as indicated above, automoton actually isn't such a great deal (the tripling of defense really does have a major impact), so I'm not yet seeing a major issue, it's something we'll just have to see. Basically, the choice of automoton was driven by Sinanju's mention to me of what he wants to do - be like the Monty Python Black Knight. As such, there's no indication of any kind of stun damage at all, and the automoton "takes no STUN" just seems perfect. So I figured I'd suggest it, along with some other alternatives. Mental stuff would still affect him, though, and supernatural (a feature in this game) I'm going on a case-by-case basis for now. Also, I'm doing the same I'd do with any significant NPC automoton, I'm not penalizing an ability for every single BOD hit, I'm doing it based on severity of BOD hit at once and using hit location table. I do have to work out a good, more objective way of doing this, but I neglected to do that in time for today's game, so still have to work on it a bit. But today basically he suffered hits such as losing his heart and having his END and CON halved, then he got his head half-broken off which caused him to lose vision and hearing on one side and any related CV as well as losing his ability to speak.

 

As to reactions, though, I fully admit I'm still learning to work on that one. Anyway, it probably doesn't help that several of the bad guys snuck away at the end of this issue when the two big bads were struck down...

[sinanju]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Most of the fudging I'm not troubled with. I can make his "distinctive features" well worth their points. (Which doesn't just mean the reaction immediately part' date=' but the reaction longer term)[/quote']

 

Yeah, given the level at which the Jusice Squad operates, it won't surprise me at all if someone (or several someones) figure out that they can track the Black Knight at a distance by zeroing in on that unusual radiation effect.

 

 

The automoton thing has always interested me for a PC. The post above relating to the number of hits and all identifies a correct issue, but I feel if an automoton is a PC, then he gets the benefit of negative BOD before dying. For the points, as indicated above, automoton actually isn't such a great deal (the tripling of defense really does have a major impact), so I'm not yet seeing a major issue, it's something we'll just have to see. Basically, the choice of automoton was driven by Sinanju's mention to me of what he wants to do - be like the Monty Python Black Knight. As such, there's no indication of any kind of stun damage at all, and the automoton "takes no STUN" just seems perfect. So I figured I'd suggest it, along with some other alternatives. Mental stuff would still affect him, though, and supernatural (a feature in this game) I'm going on a case-by-case basis for now. Also, I'm doing the same I'd do with any significant NPC automoton, I'm not penalizing an ability for every single BOD hit, I'm doing it based on severity of BOD hit at once and using hit location table. I do have to work out a good, more objective way of doing this, but I neglected to do that in time for today's game, so still have to work on it a bit. But today basically he suffered hits such as losing his heart and having his END and CON halved, then he got his head half-broken off which caused him to lose vision and hearing on one side and any related CV as well as losing his ability to speak.

 

Let's see, in this one game session, the Black Knight lost part of a hand, got a hole blown thru his torso, had his heart ripped out, had most of his head ripped away, got his entire hand blown off, and had one leg blasted off below the knee. It was great!

[zornwil]

Re: New Justice Squad Member: The Black Knight

 

Yeah, given the level at which the Jusice Squad operates, it won't surprise me at all if someone (or several someones) figure out that they can track the Black Knight at a distance by zeroing in on that unusual radiation effect.

 

 

 

 

Let's see, in this one game session, the Black Knight lost part of a hand, got a hole blown thru his torso, had his heart ripped out, had most of his head ripped away, got his entire hand blown off, and had one leg blasted off below the knee. It was great!

Heh, I was just keeping it abbreviated!

 

Glad you had fun!

 

Oh, I meant to add earlier, to Ura-Maru, Black Knight if you'l note has +3 brawling, so that helps him as it makes his effective OCV 8 in the melee he usually engages in. I would agree 5 OCV would be too difficult/frustrating, 8 OCV is reasonable it seems, plus remember he's a brick so he'll be doing lots of AoE and using big objects.