Looking for advice on this character, please help.

[Narthon]

Ok, I'm joining a champions campaign this weekend, all characters are built on 100 + 150 disads (yes, a ton of disads, I beleive it is being done to encourage more role play and give the GM lots of hooks). The game has lots of silver age flavor, with a little bit of cutholoid horror. Setting is a major upstate New York metropolitan area.

 

Anyway, the idea for the character is a fairly powerfull mutant with gravitational powers. I havn't thought of names at all yet, but that should come pretty easily. The character is a somewhat established hero, known localy but not nationally.

 

The game is mostly 4th (thats what most of the players use) but 5th clarifications are legal for the most part.

 

Stats 71 pts

 

Str 10/85

Dex 18 24 cv 6

Con 15 10

Bod 10

Int 10

Ego 10

Pre 10

Com 10

 

Pd 2/17/31 (14 Resistant)

Ed 3/17/32 (14 Resistant)

Spd 6 32

Rec 5

End 40 5

Stun22

 

Skills 14 pts

 

Streetwise 11 3

 

Professional Skill: Carpenter 11 2

his job in his private id, he goes to daily crew calls for work.

 

Combat levels: 3 3 point levels

Multipower attacks 9

 

Perks 5 pts

 

Contacts, local heroes 11

2x3 (organization) -1 ohid 5

 

 

 

 

Powers 161 pts

 

Multipower: Gross Gravitational

Effects 75

Mp: Density Increase

3,200,000 kg, str +75

KB-15, pd+15, ed+15 7

Mp: Desolidification, 0end 6

Mp: Entangle 5d6 body 5def

Invisible to attacks 7

Mp: RKA 5d6 7

Mp: Telekinesis 45 str, fine

Manipulation 7

 

 

Elemental Control Constant Gravitational effects 10

Ec: Armor 14 resistant pd 11

Ec: Armor 14 resistant ed 11

 

I know this is a little dubious, but the gm has aproved it. I could be bought

as flat pd for the same price anyway.

 

Ec: Flight 20" 10

Ec: End Reserve 250 end

25 rec personal recovery

for multipower 10

 

 

 

 

Total: 251 points

 

 

 

 

 

Disads 150 pts

 

Dependent NPC "Old Grandma"

Incompetent, unaware,

infrequent 20

He is stuck taking care of hiselderly mother/grandmother, havn't decided.

 

Hunted by "Genocide" More

Powerful, frequent 20

Mutant hunters, plain and simple.

 

 

Intolerant of normals 15

think Quicksilver

 

Overconfidence 15

Reputation: Dosn't work 10

well with authoritys

He MIGHT report his exploits, but he won't show up in court and such.

 

Secret Identity 15

Distinctive Features:

Mutant, only special

Detection 5

 

Vulnerable: Light Based

Attacks x2 stun, x2 body 40

Vulnerable: Light Based

Flash attacks, x1.5 10

 

 

Total 251-100(base)-100(disads) =1 xp needed

 

Thank you for your help with the best game system out there.

 

 

Narthon

[DocMan]

So, what kind of help were you wanting here?

 

Doc

[Narthon]

Well, I was looking for advice on how the points were spent, if anything I did was a little overboard (I'm having some second thoughts about the Density Increase) How well you think the disads will work, if the character can survive when surounded by a bunch of focus users or otherwist heavy lim characters, and just a general opinion on how elegant the build is.

 

It is my second time playing champs, and the first time in several years, so I'm a little nervous.

 

Thanks a lot,

 

Narthon

[Lord Liaden]

Okay, here are some initial thoughts (I hope you'll take them in the spirit of constructive criticism ):

 

Most of the character's enhanced Strength and much of his Defense is bought through Density Increase, meaning that to use them effectively the character will have to become very heavy. Many surfaces won't support his weight unless he also uses Flight. I'd consider buying up his base STR, PD and ED higher.

 

Using that Strength plus Density Increase is going to consume a lot of Endurance - in fact all of his Powers use full END. Even with a Reserve as big as you've given him, it won't last long at that rate. I'd suggest either lowering the Active Points in the Multipower (those attacks are pretty high-powered anyway) or investing in the Reduced Endurance Advantage on a least some of them. Points saved could be invested in other areas (see below).

 

Your character's personal Stun and Recovery are quite low. It won't take much to knock him out unless his defenses are on full, and even then a NND attack would likely wipe him out. Your Presence is also at the baseline, making your character easily intimidated by Presence Attacks, which just isn't very heroic.

 

What is the rationale for your character being vulnerable to light-based attacks? What does that have to do gravity powers? (I realize some people aren't as nit-picky as me about consistent special effects concepts, so this may not be an issue for you or your GM.)

 

I know that this advice is a little vague, but I could be more precise if I knew your campaign's average Damage Class for attacks, Speed, Active Point caps, etc. Doubtless if you posted a second draft it would be easier to fine-tune.

[Talon]

You asked for it.

 

First: as a GM of course I would want a lot more about the character's background and history.

 

You need to know (and hopefully tell us ) what campaign averages are for damage, defense, etc. Right off the bat, this character looks like he has very high damage, high SPD, high defenses, and decent CV. Combine that with the extremely low skill list and you've got a combat monster -- which is fine is the game's going to be all combat and everyone is built like that, but could be a problem if there will be a lot of out of combat stuff.

 

Im assuming that 75 Active Points for attacks is par for the campaign.

 

BODY and PRE of 10 seem like a cop-out, a gravity-based character should have a little more BODY for sure and potentially PRE.

 

God forbid this guy meets a mentalist!

 

Even in 4th, END Reserve is a Special Power and so isn't allowed in an EC.

 

His combination of psych lims would set off serious alarms if I were the GM: doesn't like authority (could make it hard for him to work with a group and/or team leader), overconfident (could create friction with a group and/or team leader), plus intolerant to normals -- I don't know Quicksilver, but that could easily create friction between him and the rest of society. In short, he could easily be a Lone Wolf character, a type that often doesn't work well in games. If I were GM I would delve a lot more deeply into the character to make sure he would work out (or require changes if he wasn't going to work out).

 

The light-based thing bothers me too -- why?

 

From a pure point perspective, if you can sneak a -1/4 to -1/2 Limitation on the MP, you'll have a few points to play around with.

 

I would have severe doubts about allowing a 5d6 RKA, which is supers games usually just ends up being a free ticket into the Stun Lotto (i.e., the BODY is irrelevant, but a good roll on the STUN multiplier and you can take anybody down).

 

Note that 5th Edition disallows non-END costing powers in ECs (like Armor), though apparently the GM has allowed it already so it doesn't matter.

 

If you know the campaign character construction rules we can probably make more specific comments.

[Narthon]

Any criticisim higher than you SUx0r is apreciated.

 

The idea for the light based weakness is basicly that he hasn't really learned to affect light at all with his gravitational controls. He also has some kind of tie to thebasic structure of the universe that the relitivistic effects of light disrupt.

 

There is no active point limit on powers, so I can't really comment on that.

Of the other characters I know a lot about, one is a magic user with about a 150 point vpp, maybe bigger. Another is a Power-armor with a 24 point EC and a 60 point multipower. He has about 60 str, a 12d6 EB and a 4d6 area effect entangle.

Other characters include a very old martial artist, a martian manhunter bounty hunter type guy, a character with powers to control petrochemicals, and a drain/adsorption based power armor.

 

Speeds range from 4 to 9 right now.

 

With so many characters, I hope to be able to stand back and take a rec farily often, and the density increase will probably not be used inless we need a truley huge str for something.

 

I know the stun is a bit low, but I probably want to stay away from the front lines as much a possible.

 

He relys on his gravitational powers to do most of his work for him, hence the low base str/pd/ed.

 

You may have a point with the presence, espically since I envision this guy as an established hero.

[Narthon]

I see the doesn't like authority thing more as a doesn't like normal authority. He probably works well with groups of other supers, espicaly ones with inherant powers, and sees technologists as having superior intelegence and hence not being normals. The guy isn't smart and tends to be rather brutal in combat, an probably reduced to comic releif for much of non combat. It will be up to other characters with better resources to solve mysterys. The game will eb very combat heavy ( I know the combined group has at least 4 hunteds, with even more watched, so much of the campaign will probably be "who's hunted shows up this week". A lot of the background will be fleshed out in the first few sessions as I find the character's personality.

[Talon]

No active point limit, SPDs 4 to 9, and another PC with a 150 point VPP (I hope that's Base + Control)...in that case I think you're on the right track. I would try to add a Limitation to the MP so you have a few points to play with. Desol and Flight will probably end up being your best non-combat friends, as you make a decent scout.

[Narthon]

Right, I'm the youngest player at 23, and most are in the 28-32 range, we are playing once a week as kind of a break from normal life. We have all been role playing for quite some time, and are using this to let off a little steam, blow things up, that kind of stuff. a lot of the rules a fast and loose, the only banned power is multiform, too much of a point break

[Narthon]

Oh, any suggestions for a heroic name might be usefull.

 

Thanks again.

[dbcowboy]

Okay, I think you should name this guy The Black Hole. He can have the catch phrase, "The Black Hole sucks!".

 

Okay, actually that was a Marvel villian, member of the U-Foes I believe. I don't know, I looked at him and I saw:

1) density increase - not exactly a black hole but not a very interesting game when the world is immediately consumed

2) desolid - attacks are actually absorbed into him

3) TK - could make it so it can only be used to drag opponents into him, adding explosion or reduced by range would be cool way to represent how pull gets stronger closer to singularity

4) 5d6 RKA - make it no range and say it's the damage they take as they are absorbed

5) Entangle can represent how the opponent is held once absorbed, yes, they could actually be released, remember, not a real black hole, just an incredible faxcimilie. Extra-dimensional movement might better represent that but, hey, this could work.

 

Vulnerability to light is perfect. He's not a real black hole so he's not strong enough to effect light but his body tries automatically and the strain affects him greatly.

 

I don't know, just screamed black hole to me. Obviously the attacks would need the advantage Affects Solid to work while character is desolid and there may not be the points for that.

 

Just some suggestions, hope they're useful.

[Narthon]

Thanks for the idea, I probably won't completly go with the black hole effects, but it gives me something to think about.