Novice question: Martial artist

[revanick]

Or...... where the heck do I put points?

 

To start with, I'm new to the Hero system and don't have that much experience with RPGs. I'm still in the stage where I have to struggle to actually roll play as opposed to being a rules lawyer/technician. (Hey, on the plus side, I DO point out where the rules are against me, so I'm not ALL bad). I'm trying to develop a character and I'm really uncertain how to distribute the points appropriately. My previous experience was about 3 game sessions of GUPRS fantasy, and an old Japanese RPG called Bushido.

 

100 pt characters with 100 pts of disads.

 

Jake Shannon's only unusual ability was the ability to find the history of an object by physical contact. He makes a living as an antique appraiser, being called in occasionally to authenticate items, or very quietly by police to find out what happened in some investigations where they get stumped. He keeps a low profile. He is in the habit of keeping much of his body covered, particularly his hands, to avoid getting readings from objects he comes in casual contact with. (Btw, can anyone think of a decent way to "clean" the psychic history from objects? I would like to give him a way to be able to be able to buy a sofa without having the impressions left of those who sat down in it to test it on the show room floor.)

 

Jake's world comes in for a radical change the day he is asked to date a Japanese sword. Rather than just getting the history, he gets actual previous owner's spirit enters his mind and takes up permanent residence. The warrior's name is Tadeka Sokaku.

 

A bit of background here. Tadeka Sokaku is an actual character from Japanese history. Most of you are familiar with the art of Aikido. The founder of Aikido was Morihei Ueshiba. One of Morihei's most influential teachers was Tadeka Sokaku, grandmaster of Daito-ryu Aiki Jutsu. One site I found states "His sword skills were unparalleled and he was feared as 'the Little Tengu of Aizu' (a tengu is a type of long-nosed demon;they are renowned for their martial arts skills)." He was also a master of staff (bo) half-bow (hankyu) short-staff (jo) and throwing darts (shuriken). He was also licensed in the spear. Last but not least, he was trained in oshikiiuchi, which translates as "honorable ceremony inside," and the term came to be equated with gotenjutsu, literally "self-defense techniques for use within the palace." More of his description reads: "Sokaku was not a large man--he stood no more than 150 centimeters tall--but his eyes were piercing and his techniques were of an almost supernatural level. He is said to have been able to sense a person's past, present, and future even before being introduced."

 

A few other tidbits of information: Tadeka didn't die until 1943. Second, at the time Morihei Ueshiba met Tadeka, Tadeka was doing a job that might be comparable to a Texas Ranger or US Marshall. If there was an unusual amount of trouble, either from the criminal elements or from political factions, he was occasionally sent in to restore peace. He could also turn almost anything into a weapon. At one point he was attacked in a bath house. He knocked one of his attackers down by snapping him with a towel.

 

The way I would like Jake to grow is fairly straight forward. Tadeka has taken up residence in Jake. Most of the time Jake is in full control with Tadeka more of a guiding presence. However, Tadeka was a warrior and a master martial artist. Jake is not exactly out of shape, but hardly in fighting trim. Tadeka sets out to change this. By shaping Jake's dreams, Jake is basically subject to nightmares where he or those around him die because he isn't all what he could be. To avoid the nightmares, all Jake has to do is work out, as is fitting of a warrior. Tadeka can also take over Jake's body to demonstrate proper technique. (I'm tempted to have him take over in high stress situations where Grand Master combat is needed, but that's just a possibility, maybe a disadvantage. Maybe when the smart thing to do would be to run, but the Code of the Bushido would say stay and fight?) Tadeka can also use Jake's dreams as a training too, giving him life or death combat situations, multiple opponents, etc.

 

The flexibility that I see is I can distribute the points as if Jake and Tadeka have been together for two weeks, two months, or two years or ten years. He doesn't HAVE to be a swordsman to begin with (or even at all) since the Aiki Jutsu would be much more appropriate to a modern day fighter. He might start out with little ability to resist a mind attack due to his sensitivity, but later he might develop a very strong defense since Tadeka was trained in oshikiiuchi and would teach Jake after seeing the weakness. Another possibility is that, being old school, Tadeka would frown on using firearms. On the other hand, Tadeka mastered the warrior weapons of his day, and might encourage Jake to do the same.

 

So, at this point, I'm looking for comments, suggestions, and answers as to where the heck to I put the points? What are the obvious pitfalls I should try to avoid?

[levi]

It sounds as though you have a thorough, almost encyclopedic command of this character. You also seem to understand that you cannot do everything right from the start. So you can go about this two ways...1 Look at what is least expensive and start there saving up for the more expensive aspects of the character or 2) Get the expensive stuff up fron and pick up one or two new smaller point abilities from each session's XPs

 

I like to start with the big stuff and I Would start with a MP for the Psychic Reading / Cleansing...Maybe Clairsentience / Transformation. Then buy your Martial Arts Maneuvers and reasonable skills. Then maybe some AID to DEX (or even just +xx DEX) bought as Spirit Possesion. Maybe even a Multiform with an Accidental Change: When Jake doesn't follow the code of Bushido.

 

If you want to make Jake a vessel for Tadeka, the Multiform is a good way to go. You can make Jake the psychic detective and the Tadeka multiform a martial combat monster.

 

Hope some of that helps...

 

Please post the final character once you have him completed.

[Talon]

Re: Novice question: Martial artist

 

Originally posted by revanick

(Btw, can anyone think of a decent way to "clean" the psychic history from objects? I would like to give him a way to be able to be able to buy a sofa without having the impressions left of those who sat down in it to test it on the show room floor.)

 

Hire a model to sit in the sofa repeatedly...then at least he gets pleasant impressions.

 

The best way to start (and to get comments) is to make a first pass at the character -- go through the book and write down everything that might be right for the character. You'll probably get 300+ points of stuff. Then, trim it down as best you can -- some stuff will clearly be extraneous, other stuff will be harder to cut. Once you're getting close, post a draft here and you are bound to get comments and suggestions.

 

For martial artists in general, you need to know what the average and maximum (if there is one) stats for OCV, DCV, damage, and SPD are. Most martial artists have high CVs and SPD, but low defenses. If you're buying a single martial art for most of your maneuvers, look at 3-point Combat Skill Levels, which are a great way to improve a character's ability.

[revanick]

Are there any MA skills/maneuver's that are things that scream "Don't leave the drawing board without me?"

 

I should mention that part of the reason I picked Tadeka instead of Ueshiba is that Ueshiba was someone who would always take the least violent way possible to win. Nothing I read about Tadeka implied he was adverse to doing damage to an oponent. I wanted a character who would be willing to put a bad guy down hard if it was necessary, or even just to intimidate others.

 

As to the knowledge of the character, specifically Tadeka, I have to admit much of it came after a 5 minute seach on Aikido on Google.com

[OddHat]

Originally posted by revanick

Are there any MA skills/maneuver's that are things that scream "Don't leave the drawing board without me?"

 

A martial arts weapons multipower is often a good choice. Add a slot with the focus "weapon of oportunity" and you can simulate an ability to fight with anything you can grab.

 

A weapons element for your MA might be appropriate.

 

Don't buy more than one or two Strikes; from a point efficiency point of view, it's much better to specialize.

 

Extra DC for your MA are useful, but if you find yourself sinking points into PD or REC you might want to consider just purchasing more STR instead. Combat Luck is useful if your character isn't going to be (a) wearing armor or ( equipped with some other resistant defenses.

 

As to the purifying-the-couch ritual, the cheap way to do it would be a cosmetic transformation attack, or maybe even just a change environment. That wouldn't stop Clairsentience from working on the object, but it would allow for an in-game explanation of why your character is no longer being bothered by it; a special effect to counter a special effect. Making objects invisible to clairsentience would be fairly expensive.