Point Creep?

[Enforcer84]

I have a problem. I am a point gout. My 250 point characters end up at 500, my "high powered" characters edge towards infinity. Anyone else?

I just made two 600 point characters. they ended up being 675 and 705 and neither looked like I wanted... is all lost for me? Should I quit the point based system in favor of a "storyteller" system that doens't really care what your chracter does as long as he looks angsty?

 

 

*sorry, just pouting*

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Point Creep?

 

Originally posted by Enforcer84

I have a problem. I am a point gout. My 250 point characters end up at 500, my "high powered" characters edge towards infinity. Anyone else?

I just made two 600 point characters. they ended up being 675 and 705 and neither looked like I wanted... is all lost for me? Should I quit the point based system in favor of a "storyteller" system that doens't really care what your chracter does as long as he looks angsty?

 

 

*sorry, just pouting*

 

Take 1 of 2 tacks at conception:

 

1) Decide what the character concept should be and then make that character, points be damned.

 

2) Decide the points and then make a list of the abilities you want the character to have (note: not the Powers/Talents/Skills etc, but rather the end effect; ie -- fly, shoot fire, melt bullets). Then go down the list and allocate a point range to spend on that effect based upon how important it is to the character. Eyeball things that can/should be grouped together in a MPP, ECC or even a VPP depending on the character, and mark them. Add up the points youve assigned in this fashion. If you are over already, adjust either the points assigned or the point total you are aiming at, or drop non-essential abilities. Make the character, adhering to your point limits, adjusting as your discretion indicates.

 

After a character is "roughed", review it for overall viability and tweak points around. Make sure you didnt leave any glaring gaps (like a MA without Breakfall or an Energy Projector with a low OCV and no AoE, etc)

 

Making a character in the HERO System is a lot like making a small program. You have a design phase, a development phase, a desk checking phase, and finally a QA phase which might send you back to any previous phase.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Point Creep?

 

Originally posted by Enforcer84

I have a problem. I am a point gout. My 250 point characters end up at 500, my "high powered" characters edge towards infinity. Anyone else?

I just made two 600 point characters. they ended up being 675 and 705 and neither looked like I wanted... is all lost for me? Should I quit the point based system in favor of a "storyteller" system that doens't really care what your chracter does as long as he looks angsty?

 

 

*sorry, just pouting*

I'm not certain I understand your problem. Are you complaining because you gain too many XP, or because your designs use too many points?

 

If the latter, then limit yourself to X points.

 

I seldom worry about points for villains, I just build them so they work as envisioned. I consider this mutual storytelling, not a character design contest. So it's not important if my villain is for a good match pointswise with the PCs as long as he's an interesting opponent.

[OddHat]

It happens to everyone. Some things I've found useful:

 

1. Keep the character's background story short and clear. Anything over two or three paragraphs is going to be tough for your fellow gamers to keep straight anyway, and probably more than they want to hear. Write more fiction about your character later, after the sheet has been written up.

 

2. Keep powers and skills concistent with the background story, and resist the urge to make characters who can do everything. Specialists are usually more interesting anyway.

 

3. Know the campaign limits and stick to them.

 

4. Don't plan for every possible situation. Batman has lasted 60+ years without an Affects Desolidified Objects Area of Effect: Radius Sellective Effect Bat-Grenade. Your character doesn't need one either.

 

5. Batman could run back to his lab and make the above weapon. Make use of low power Gadget Pools and similar structures when building characters who really do need to be able to pull new tricks out of their hat in every game.

 

6. Similarly, remember that a few 1 or 2 point knowledge or profesional skills plus a few skill levels can represent a characters history just as well as giving him every skill he could possibly need. Example; PS: Private Eye by itself is more than enough to cover the real world work done by most PIs. That plus two or three investigative skills is a much more point effecient build for a PI than giving him every investigative skill in the book, unless being Mr.Everyskill was the character concept from the start.

[Dauntless]

Total points don't matter, relative points do

 

It doesn't matter what the final cost of a character is. What is important is how expensive it is in relation to other characters. If everyone else's conceptions of their characters also wind up in creating 600pt characters...does it matter that yours does too?

 

What becomes bad is if your idea takes 600points, but everyone else can make do with 300. Then you have a problem because your character is probably quite a bit more powerful. The absolute cost of something is irrelevant, it's only in comparison to everyone that you should judge whether you're spending too many points.