Why are bricks so popular?

[assault]

Originally posted by Klytus

The only time I've ever seen anyone in our group play and keep a "pure" brick was a friend who played Crusher - a former college football player who got mutated after taking steriods. He has all the standard brickish traits with two notable exceptions: SPD 5 and DEX 26.

 

Assault, my default standard character is, of course, a brick, and a very "pure" example of one.

 

I actually like bricks that have reasonable SPD and DEX. I also like bricks that have flight. I guess, at heart, I'm a Superman fan, more than a fan of the Hulk or the Thing. Or Power Man or She-Hulk, who were more direct inspirations for Assault.

 

The main reason why Assault doesn't have all this stuff is a rather overdeveloped sense of "fairness", where I've tried not to encroach on other characters shticks. This has become more important under FRED, where Assault has had to learn basic martial arts in order to remain viable.

 

In fact, though, I wouldn't at all object to brick, even a "heavy" one, having a decent SPD and DEX. They just wouldn't have a bunch of CSLs or Martial Arts.

 

I like bricks. They're easy to build and play, and are effective. More importantly, there are lots of interesting role models for them, at a whole lot of different power levels.

 

It's difficult to play a gadgeteer or martial artist well. You need to develop real tactical skill, or you will get stomped. Egoists are often difficult for GMs to handle, and thus a pain, while I've never had much luck with Energy Blasters. (A classic: you are in an underground base, where you don't have room to fly. Green Dragon runs up to you and starts smacking you around.)

 

I mentioned that I don't have problems with Bricks that are relatively fast. The flipside of that is that I don't object to other characters having decent defences. This particularly applies to Energy Blasters (and some Egoists), who tend to have Force Fields, Force Walls and so on.

 

These kind of characters can often stand up to as much punishment as "light" bricks. See Defender for further details.

 

Alan

[Brick]

For me, there is nothing as satisfying as knowing that I can bend steel bars with my bare HANDS. Energy blasts are just too "unpersonal", if you know what I mean, and a Roundhouse Kick may look cooler, but the loud KA-BOOOM a Brick's punches cause (way cooler on a splash page:D) just can't be beaten. Also, being secure in the relative indestructiveness of my body just gives me a real good feeling on the game table. I don't look at the effectiveness of high STR or anything, I just love the thoughts mentioned above. And just to make things clear, I don't come to the table to kick some butt... quite the opposite, as my fellow gamers can attest. Okay, one fight per evening is a must (damn, I have been discovered), but my characters (most of them bricks, who would have guessed) are actually very nice guys, often the spiritual centre of the group - and I swear that is never my true intention.

 

And by the way, MY players are almost never bricks. In my groups, martial artists are the most popular choice of archetype. Just a question of taste, I guess. But as long as everybody's happy, more power to all.

[Alien Knight]

All is brick...

 

Bricks are popular in hero for two reasons:

 

1 -- Point efficency: You just can't beat STR and CON for massive point kickbacks in hero. Leave you plenty of points to play with.

 

2 -- They're just fun. Bending steel in your bare hands, shrugging off horrible things that would kill any lesser man... Although you don't see too many female players who play bricks. They tend to get more cerebral. Most of the female bricks I've seen have been played by guys. Go figure.

 

Anyway, in a campaign, all bricks, all the time can work. Had a pretty good run with this team:

 

Bludgeon -- Viking God of Strength. Strongest brick, kind of weak on the defenses in my opinion, but so what. Brains of a goat.

 

The Iron Genreal -- Solider (I think) who had gobs of density increase. Highest defenses in the group. Normal intelligence, but more berserks than I've ever seen on one character.

 

Snarl the Dinosaur Man -- Janitor who could transform at will into a 10' bright orange dinosaur/human hybrid. Member of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. Not the strongest or the toughest, but had tons of recovery and a bunch of super senses. Also the team's aquatic specialist. Go go godzilla. Had brain the size of a walnut.

 

and out of order:

 

Bonsai -- Martial artist with shrinking powers. Brick light with about a 35 STR plus martial arts. Functioned as a cross between Arthur from the Tick and Jimminey Cricket.

 

Oddly enough the campaign was fun while it lasted, we usually got our man and the battlefield rarely survived any conflict the Birck Brigade was involved in. When the weak guy has a 75 STR, EVERYTHING looks like a hammer...

[Cyberknight]

Folks have pretty well covered all the basic reasons that bricks are fun, but let me add something else that I haven't seen mentioned. Being a fan of Growth-based bricks, I have to confess that yes, I love laying down the smack on the bad guys, and yes, I love shrugging off damage that would incapacitate the rest of the team...but my 'guilty pleasure' is the massive PRE attack. There's nothing like watching an entire Viper attack gape as a 22' man-mountain looms over their puny selves

 

Cyberknight

[hybris]

Originally posted by Cyberknight

There's nothing like watching an entire Viper attack gape as a 22' man-mountain looms over their puny selves

Hehe.

 

Doesn't Viper also have a very powerful Growth-based brick - Ripper? - among their ranks?

 

If so, he might be a perfect match in a fight for your character.

[Cyberknight]

We've met.

It was a *long* fight, and it was a messy fight, and we won't even discuss the collateral damage (Let's just say that the team's insurance agent isn't speaking to Leviathan these days ). That's another fun thing about bricks. The fights if two of them meet tend to be spectacular!

 

Cyberknight

[DocMan]

I like the fact that my "brick"s are strange, unusual, and more flexible than the typical strongman damagesponge version of the Brick.

 

Maybe I should make a sterotypical brick just to make Klytus happy... Hmmm... how much abuse can I create by putting all my points into STR and defenses?

 

Doc

[Klytus]

Originally posted by DocMan

I like the fact that my "brick"s are strange, unusual, and more flexible than the typical strongman damagesponge version of the Brick.

 

Maybe I should make a sterotypical brick just to make Klytus happy... Hmmm... how much abuse can I create by putting all my points into STR and defenses?

 

Doc

I never said anybody had to play a pure brick... I'm just surprised that in all of my years of Champions (13+ years), I've only run into one player who actually likes the pure-brick.

[Tech]

Originally posted by Klytus

I never said anybody had to play a pure brick... I'm just surprised that in all of my years of Champions (13+ years), I've only run into one player who actually likes the pure-brick.

 

In my campaign, I have a pure brick. My friend & my older brother also each have a pure brick. So, I can say I've run into a few myself.

[ChuckB]

In most superhero RPGs , bricks are always the easiest to create and play in combat. A high strength stat usually provides offense , some sort of defensive qualities (in Hero it provides PD , REC and STUN) and enhances movement (usually leaping).

 

Most of my characters in GURPS Supers were all brick-variations because it was the easiest type of character to create in that mess of a system (mind you this was 1st edition Gurps Supers---the game may have improved since).

[loki]

Originally posted by Klytus

I never said anybody had to play a pure brick... I'm just surprised that in all of my years of Champions (13+ years), I've only run into one player who actually likes the pure-brick.

 

Yeah i can understand that staement! I have run a pure brick, but i do tend to get a litlle bored with them. Although soaking up all that damage can be ALOT of fun.

 

I think the key to running an interesting brick is REALLY developing a back story and giving them alot of personality. That makes them fun to play and gives them some versitility that they lack in combat. IMHO

[Kristopher]

Would a character with the following physical stats be considered a brick?

 

40 STR

25 DEX

30 CON

12 BODY

 

60 END

50 STUN

15 REC

 

25 (15r) PD

25 (15r) ED

 

Armor Piercing x1 for STR

15" Flight

2 Levels of Regeneration

Full Life Support (50 points worth)

[Monolith]

Originally posted by Kristopher

Would a character with the following physical stats be considered a brick?

I remember someone using the name Demi-Brick on these message boards and it has stuck with me ever since. I generally consider anyone between 31 and 49 Strength to be part of that Demi-Brick class. Anyone 50+ is a full-fledged brick, IMO.

[Vondy]

Originally posted by Kristopher

Would a character with the following physical stats be considered a brick?

 

 

The answer is subjective, but my answer would be yes.

 

Their strength is such that they can toss cars and boulders.

 

Their defenses render them functionally bullet proof in terms of small arms fire.

 

Their con is high enough, in combination with their defenses, to render them "unlikely to be stunned" in a 12d6 game.

 

The regeneration is a trait exibited by one of the most quintessential bricks to ever walk -- the hulk.

[Kristopher]

Demi-Brick? That works.

 

(The GM from the campaign that character was in refered to the range of characters that fall in the grey area between Bricks and Martial Artists as "Hand to Hand" characters.)

 

PS: I forgot to mention the 5 SPD.