The Ultimate Skill-based Superhero

[Michael Hopcroft]

Is it pracxtical to base a superhero entirely around Skills? His characteristics would be normal, and he would have no usperpowers other than minor eqipment 9like weapons eh absolutely has to pay for) but the bulk of his CP are spent on skills -- combat skils, scientific skills, social skills, medical skills, etc.

 

what would this character need to be able to fucntion alongside other superheroes?

[assault]

Re: The Ultimate Skill-based Superhero

 

Originally posted by Michael Hopcroft

Is it pracxtical to base a superhero entirely around Skills? His characteristics would be normal, and he would have no usperpowers other than minor eqipment 9like weapons eh absolutely has to pay for) but the bulk of his CP are spent on skills -- combat skils, scientific skills, social skills, medical skills, etc.

 

what would this character need to be able to fucntion alongside other superheroes?

 

He would need at least 5, or preferably 6 Speed.

 

A 23 or 26 Dex would be nice.

 

Numbers like this are possible within liberal interpretations of normal characteristics.

 

Having some body armour in his "minor" equipment is a really good idea. Even a character that relies on "not getting hit" will get hit sometimes, and in those circumstances, not dying is good.

 

A lot of the answer really depends on the power levels of the other superheroes. Using Dex and Spd as an example, I've seen 250 point characters that were perfectly fine with 20 Dex and 5 Speed. Unfortunately, I don't think that this would be adequate for 350 point characters.

 

Combat skill levels are recommended, too.

 

Hmm. Frankly, I can't really say much else without knowing what the other characters are like. I have been known to use characters that only had "a single" power (actually usually a multipower), and were otherwise "normal". You would probably want your character to be able to beat them in combat if they weren't using their powers.

 

Essentially, your character will be more or less a martial artist, even if she/he uses weapons and has some armour. He/she will need to be in that ballpark for the campaign's level of power.

 

The main thing is: DO NOT WORRY TOO MUCH about keeping your characteristics "normal". This is especially true of Dex and Speed. Most others can be kept at or near "normal" levels.

 

Alan

[Snarf]

I've never tried it in an actual game, but 50 or 60 years of Batman comics/movies/shows can't be wrong. Certain episodes of Justice League have great examples of how to give a character like this his time in the spotlight.

[levi]

I think that the answer to your question lies more in the style of play that you group uses. Does your group spend most of the game session RPing the events that lead up to a fight or do they spend most of the time fighting?

 

If the answer is the former, this character will shine. If the latter answer is more accurate, be ready to spend most of the night cheering your friends on.

 

One of my characters is a Batman-esque character who is loaded with skills and often gets the rest of the team to where the action is with his detective skills. He then spends the rest of the fight invisible and making find weakness rolls against the toughest bad guy and usually puts the villan down with a flying kick to the now painfully vulnerable area (his only attack of the fight).

[Speedball]

Is it practical having an entirely skill-based superhero?

 

ummm....there's this character named Batman....

 

 

My belief if that if it can happen in comics, then there's a way to do it in Champions.

[OddHat]

Purely skill based Martial Artists can work out fine. One trick mentioned on the old forums: If your GM is willing to permit the Extraordinary Use of Skills Rule (FREd p.29), then 30 points for ten penalty skill levels vs. extraordinary use will let your character manage some fairly fantastic skill based stunts (breakfall to land unharmed after jumping out of a plane, persuasion on the "These Are Not The Droids You're Looking For" level, disguise and mimicry good enough to convince thugs that you are in fact their boss, Sherlock Holmesian detective work, impossibly good stealth, etc.). Skill levels in general can be very useful. You won't be able to take many hits without armor, and the punishment you can inflict without gadgets will be limited (especially if your GM doesn't allow hit locations), but it can be a very effective character type.

[GenreFiend]

It Depends

 

There are several factors to consider. Most of them have already been touched on, the most important being power level and playing style of ther group. But, yes, a skill based character can be usable and lots of fun, if you do it right.

[StationX]

The Ultimate Skill-based Superhero

 

In a 250 point game, i did well with this type of charcter...

 

he did have access to heroic gadgets, but nothing too bad (used a staf with a bilt in taser effect.. etc.) which i paid points for.

 

would say tho that without martial arts, wouldent have worked.

 

[edit.. more info]

 

I did specialise in infiltration skills, for getting iinto bases etc

Judicious (sp?) use of MA levels to do extra damage is very useful, as are stealthy surprise attacks.. (may not get 2x stun but while the brick is swinging and missing at the supervillan, a surprise attack at half or 0 dcv with all levels on damage can ruin a DMs day very fast )

Remember to use the push rules as well, my kindly GM allowed its use on Str for attacks ( but as a house rule a max of once per session)

 

 

[Captain Obvious]

Dark Champions is chock full of powers masquerading as skills. Any character with super-human league skills would likely have bought them as powers.

 

In case you don't have it, a few examples would include super-stealth, bought as Invisibility with RSR (Stealth roll); super-fast trigger pull, bought as a naked Autofire advantage; and super-deduction, bought as Clairsentience, Postcognition option, with RSR (Deduction roll).

 

I wouldn't get too hung up on avoiding powers in favor of skills just because the character's special effects say he's a skill-master...

[Blue Jogger]

I did one based on Die Hard. For offensive, he picked up weapons, "Where did you get that?" "Found it."

For defense, he had minor Armor based on never getting hit

anyplace vital and Regeneration, "I heal quickly".

The hard part he kept have to "borrow" transportation to

keep up with the flying superheroes.

"Where did you get that motorcycle?"

"I found it."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, but ya know... I don't think this is my motorcycle."

"Oh?"

"It looks just like mine. But it's not."

 

He had a VPP for instant gadgets and borrowed vehicles.