Need a bit of help, getting back in "The Game"

[Irishman]

Im an old school Champions player, who remembers when the BBB came out. Now after years of working in Corporate America, my old college buddies and I have decided to do an Internet Champions campaign.

 

So armed with new technology, We have figured out a way to have voice over IP, a game mat everyone can see, and everything needed for a good nights fun.

 

However As long term GM, im pulling together a character that is mostly NPC. My concept is a normal human techno-genius that will stay home at the "base" while the PCs go out and fight. He has two powers that IM trying to figurt out the best way.

 

1) He as several robots agents that can go out and help the PCs at time. I thought about Duplication, but I think Im just going to buy these as Minions. Any other suggestions?

 

2) The big question, is that each of these minion robots is going to have a camera, so I thought about doing Clarisentience, large radius, with OAF robot cameras, and them some other limitiation that he must be at the "Base" in order to use it. Suggestions here would be helpful.

 

Thanks,

 

Irishman

[Blue]

Re: Need a bit of help, getting back in "The Game"

 

Originally posted by Irishman

However As long term GM, im pulling together a character that is mostly NPC. My concept is a normal human techno-genius that will stay home at the "base" while the PCs go out and fight. He has two powers that IM trying to figurt out the best way.

 

Almost eerie. That's what BLUE is. She's an agoraphobe unable to leave the base, but hacks systems by remote, projects her consciousness over the internet, and feeds the players data by radio if necessary.

1) He as several robots agents that can go out and help the PCs at time. I thought about Duplication, but I think Im just going to buy these as Minions. Any other suggestions?

I have a player trying to do the robot thing right now and asked a similar question, and got a bunch of responses here.

2) The big question, is that each of these minion robots is going to have a camera, so I thought about doing Clarisentience, large radius, with OAF robot cameras, and them some other limitiation that he must be at the "Base" in order to use it. Suggestions here would be helpful.

 

I think yer in the right ballpark there. It's still early so maybe my brain will warm up soon. But either way I'm sure someone will have a suggestion for you before then.

[Publius]

That post came up when I was still lurking and I found it useful for a Villain named Workgang who was an out-and-out coward. Here is how I did it with Duplication:

 

Work Gangin': Duplication (creates 8 200-point Duplicates), Easy Recombination (Zero-Phase Action at Full DCV), Ranged Recombination (+1/2), Altered Duplicates (100%; +1) (162 Active Points); Extra Time 5 Minutes, Only to Activate Constant or Persistent Power (-1), Character May Take No Other Actions (-1/4), Feedback Only When Base Character Is Struck (-1/4) Real Cost: 65 Points.

 

As a role-playing choice, he did not have these robots active all of the time, for a PC however, the GM may simply make this a contingent for the character or add some sort of extra limitation to achieve this.

 

I then created the Robotic minions as 200-pointers, including the following little tidbit for each to solve the dilemma of "What happens when they get smashed up? do I get my points back?"

 

Reform Module: Healing 3 BODY (Resurrection) (50 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Hour (-2 1/4), Character May Take No Other Actions (-1/4), Resurrection Only (-1/2), Self Only (-1/2) Real Cost: 11 points

 

Ressurection may be halted by the physical removal of the Reform Module, just as you can stop a Vampire Ressurection by cutting off the head & burning the body. One of Workgangs minions was assigned to "collection duty", not getting involved in the fighting but just collecting up the modules of his fallen fellow minions.

[Publius]

oops, didn't notice that second part of the question, sorry Irishman. I did Workgang's this way:

 

Command & Control: Mind Link (One Specific Mind), Number of Minds (x8), Psychic Bond, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1) (50 Active Points); Only With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), Limited Class Of Minds Only Automatons (-1), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4) Real Cost: 15 points

 

Audiovisual Broadcast: Clairsentience (Sight Group And Normal Hearing), Megascale (1" = 1 km; +1/4), Can Be Scaled Down: 1" = 1km (+1/4) (37 Active Points); Only to use Automaton Audio and Visual pickups (-1), Linked to Command & Control (-1/2) Real cost: 15 Points

 

Groupthink: +2 skill levels with Teamwork and related skills (6 Active Points); Conditional Power Only with Automatons (-1/2) Real Cost: 4 points.

 

You could make these powers all part of a Fragile or Bulky Focus to represent the fact that the character needs to be at home base when controlling the robots. The Workgang character had cybernetic enhancements that allowed him to roam about, it was his cowardice that made him avoid direct confrontations with the PCs.

[Fuzzy Gnome]

A Beowulf cluster of atomic supermen.

[Irishman]

Thanks for some of the concepts. I would have to purchase both powers at 0 end, since they are machines, and Im not sure that when you "link" 0 end powers that they are really worth a disad.

 

Im not sure which of these would be Bulky OAF, since I would at least be able to call the robots when Im out of the base and in trouble.

 

How does Clarisentince handle with Increase Range instead of Megascale. I really dont like the idea of Megascale in my campaign world. I think its a HORRIBLY underpriced and overpowered modifier.

 

Irishman

 

And as for Fuzzy Gnome, put the Crack Pipe down, dude.

[Fuzzy Gnome]

Have some! It's good.

Supervillains use Linux

[Publius]

Originally posted by Irishman

Thanks for some of the concepts. I would have to purchase both powers at 0 end, since they are machines, ...

The Command and Control powers were for the operator only, not the Automatons, but if you mean that you are going to buy these powers for the operator via a Focus, yeah you will have to do that or make it use charges or slap on a requirement that it needs to be powered constantly by the base. When I posted the concept, I guess I should have made it more clear that it was specific to my NPC, a mobile cyberpowered villain who could do this stuff from basically anywhere. Mea Culpa. Making this 0 END to use via a Focus would be entirely reasonable for what you are describing.

 

Originally posted by Irishman

Im not sure that when you "link" 0 end powers that they are really worth a disad.

I just re-read Link, and don't see that restriction, but there might be something about this in the FAQ of which I am unaware. Actually, two of the power examples for Linked on sidebar p. 195 have 0 END.

 

Originally posted by Irishman

Im not sure which of these would be Bulky OAF, since I would at least be able to call the robots when Im out of the base and in trouble.

As I mentioned, the character I used these with was cybernetically enhanced, so he did not have to worry about it. Bulky OIF was just a suggestion for the stuff if you have to use it in the base.

 

Originally posted by Irishman

How does Clarisentince handle with Increase Range instead of Megascale. I really dont like the idea of Megascale in my campaign world. I think its a HORRIBLY underpriced and overpowered modifier.

Fair enough I guess, to each their own. I use it where I think appropriate, and disallow its use where I think it is inappropriate (that is where GM approval becomes a necessary brake on munchkinism). The description for Megascale says that it "can be bought for Powers that work at Range, such as many Attack Powers and Sensory Powers." but nothing pro or con for clairsentience specifically. I used it here because otherwise the audi-visual pickups on the Automatons would have a range of only 250m, which I kind of thought was unreasonable. As is, it is kind of too long range, but since this guy is an NPC I was not too worried about it getting out of hand. I probably could have done something similar by basing this element on some form of Trasmit with Radio Perception/Transmission but I wanted to convey that Workgang and the Automatons he controlled were deeply connected via his cyberpowers (thus Mindlink for communication and the clairsentience to allow him to "flip" between the Audio-visual pickups of the robots). Nevertheless, think about transmit on robots + RP/T if you want to make it simple cameras on the bots.