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Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central


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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Okay here's v4. I took out his choke hold and added an NND Chloroform spray to his utility belt. Added Clinging to utility belt too. I changed his name to Sentry, added 2pts PD/ED to his Armor, and added +1DC to his martial arts. Wrote his backstory on the HD file, I've left out the Ghost in the Machine part out of the story as I'm not sure how public we're making that.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Hey Zac' date=' all of that sounds great. I have a technical problem though; I just got a new computer and I can't get Hero Designer to work on it, and I really shouldn't spend any more time troubleshooting the darn thing 'til the weekend. Do you just want to enter the changes in your copy of the file? If that's cool, we can hold off on the few unspent points for now, or maybe put it into his Dex? I'll have a write-up on the DNPC for you tomorrow.[/quote']

 

Completed the changes. You have 6 points to spend but you character is done.

 

BTW, can you resubit the character pic? It is pretty small, and when I "blow it up" it gets grainy fast. Thanks.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Okay here's v4. I took out his choke hold and added an NND Chloroform spray to his utility belt. Added Clinging to utility belt too. I changed his name to Sentry' date=' added 2pts PD/ED to his Armor, and added +1DC to his martial arts. Wrote his backstory on the HD file, I've left out the Ghost in the Machine part out of the story as I'm not sure how public we're making that.[/quote']

 

Character is complete.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Current state of character selection: Cut off date March 13, 2009 (T-7 days)

 

1. Inertia (5 Spd Energy Projector) - Accepted

2. Engram (5 Spd Mentalist) - Accepted

3. Kuan-Ti (6 Spd Martial Artist) - Character complete

4. Sentry (6 Spd Martial Artist) - Character complete

5. Inversion (4 Spd Brick) - Character complete

6. Talwar (5 Spd Brick/Magnetic EP) - Character complete

7. Chalice (Water Based Energy Projector) - awaiting resubmission

 

1. The Ward - dropped

2. Tasha - dropped

 

I will be accepting another character today, with the final three chosen next Friday.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Hello again, Zac:

 

Yes, I'm still here and still interested in the game.

 

Chalice's build is finished, pending your approval, and I'm just cleaning up/paring down her background. (I tend to waaay over-write, and since I'm mindful that you don't want a novel, I'm trimming as brutally as I can.)

 

Since the "crunch" is done, you can have it now (before I'm done with the "fluff") if you'd like. Just let me know.

 

I have two questions for you re: the Catalyst (Thebes) online game.

 

First, does the Thebes School of Dance and Art in Waxhaw, Thebes, offer a music program? If not, what about the local universities/colleges? (I'm hoping to put my character's music background to work.)

 

[sorry, that's *two* questions posing as one; alright, then, I have *three* questions for you.]

 

And second, should I post Chalice on this thread, or can I email her to you? Can you read WP 10? (I like the way WP handles formatting, since I'm the one who doesn't have .hdc)

 

[And I've done it again with the extra question. {sigh}*Four*questions for you, Zac, but that's all. ;-) ]

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Completed the changes. You have 6 points to spend but you character is done.

 

BTW, can you resubit the character pic? It is pretty small, and when I "blow it up" it gets grainy fast. Thanks.

 

 

Sweet, thanks. The picture with the mask is not very big to begin with, but maybe I did something wrong when I uploaded it. Trying again...

 

talwarwithmask3.jpg

 

 

And here's a vignette introducing Kamal and his DNPC Carmen. She'll be his best bud and possible love interest.

 

 

 

Kamal felt a bit nervous stepping into the lecture hall. Going back to school after several years off, and in a new country to boot, made him self-conscious. The room was already mostly full. To his relief, all the students were absorbed in books or conversations, and no one looked in his direction.

 

There were only a few desi faces in the auditorium, and only one was that of a pretty girl. Without quite deciding it, he slid into the aisle seat next to her. She glanced up from doodling in her notebook and gave him a perfunctory smile.

 

"Hi," he said, and flashed her smile number seven: I'm Sexy But I Don't Know It. Sure enough, she gave him a second look before returning her attention to her notebook. In her jeans and t-shirt she was cute in a girl next door way, with a round face, pert nose, and long black hair tied back in a ponytail. With the right makeup and outfit she'd be a looker.

 

"Are you slumming it?" he asked. She looked up with a look of pixieish confusion. He gestured to the logo on her T-shirt. "Shouldn't you be at MIT?"

 

"Oh, I forgot..." she looked down at her clothes and seemed a bit embarrassed. "I was going to go to MIT but my dad's been having health problems so I wanted to stay close to home." She shook her head a bit and smiled. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this."

 

Because I have that effect on people, Kamal thought. "I just hope you won't be too bored by this class," he replied.

 

"Yeah, right," she sighed. "Did you look at the syllabus? It's like Computer Clocks for Jocks."

 

"Great," Kamal groaned. "I shouldn't even be taking this class. I should be a junior, but my credits don't transfer from U. Mumbai."

 

"I thought you looked older," she mused.

 

"Do I look old?" he asked, forcing his real alarm into an expression of mock panic. He ran a hand through his hair and thought about his father's bald spot.

 

"You look acceptable for polite company," she chuckled. She added a squiggle to her notebook. "Uh, I'm Carmen, by the way."

 

"I'm Kamal," he returned. "Nice to meet you, Carmen." He gave her a quick reassessment. "It's funny," he continued, "but I thought you were Indian."

 

"Nope. I'm rice and beans, not rice and curry." She cocked an eyebrow. "That a problem?"

 

Kamal chuckled. "No, it's a relief. If you were Indian," he explained, "on top of being funny, smart and pretty, you'd just be perfect. I'd be scared of you."

 

She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched and her cheeks bloomed. "Are you always this cheesy?" she asked.

 

"No, I'm just warming up," he grinned.

 

A bustle at the front of the room drew their eyes to the arrival of their professor, deep in conversation with a TA. He set down a leather satchel and began rooting through it.

 

"Naptime," Kamal said softly.

 

"Hmmm," Carmen said slowly. She looked at Kamal a moment, then tore a page from her notebook and handed it to him. What he had assumed was idle doodling turned out to be a precise rendering of a circuitboard.

 

"You do this for fun?" he asked, impressed. "I'm more of a software guy." He studied the diagram intently.

 

"Finish it."

 

Startled, Kamal looked up to see a challenging grin on Carmen's face. He returned the smile. This class wasn't going to be a wash after all.

 

 

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

I have two questions for you re: the Catalyst (Thebes) online game.

 

First, does the Thebes School of Dance and Art in Waxhaw, Thebes, offer a music program? If not, what about the local universities/colleges? (I'm hoping to put my character's music background to work.)

 

Yes. It is a Arts centered College, focusing on Music, Dance and more "classical" arts programs. So, if you wanted to work in a medium such as canvas or clay this school would apply. If you wanted to get into photography, video work, etc then this school would not be it. Think of "Fame" with a bigger budget ;)

 

And second, should I post Chalice on this thread, or can I email her to you? Can you read WP 10? (I like the way WP handles formatting, since I'm the one who doesn't have .hdc)

 

Just put her up on the board. I will get her into an .hdc format.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

I have been asking all new players a few questions before I can really start them up the game. With that in mind, I will just post them here :)

 

1. If you have any DNPCs, I need their name, relationship, age and where they live.

2. Where does you character live? If you took a disad such as poor, then you would probably live in the Rookery or some similar low income area. If you took poor and are a college student, professor, etc. then you probably live around the college in an apartment (garden loft, etc). You can actually have an home in some of the less "affluent" location if you would like (ie Switchback) and have a warehouse type loft (maybe you are a squatter, maybe not). If you character has a lot of family in the area, then put that down. For instance Engram's DNPC mother lives in Sugar Hills, his sister lives in Waxhaw, his girl friend lives in Center City, his has an apartment in Eastvale (close to TSU in Waxhaw).

3. Where do you work?

Again, pointing to Engram, he works in Waxhaw but TSU has a campus in Center City as well.

 

You character needs a reason to go to Center City occassionally, or at least go thru Center City to get somewhere else. Half of the cities population lives and works in Center City. You don't have to live and work there, but it would be nice to have a reason you pass through now and again. If your character lives at the far edge of the Market District and has little reason to exit the area, it is going to a lot more difficult to get you "into the city". I don't want anyone to suspend belief as to why where they live, work, etc... but having your book of the month getting routed into the city everytime Dr ABC attacks is going to get old really fast :P

 

Thanks.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Sweet, thanks. The picture with the mask is not very big to begin with, but maybe I did something wrong when I uploaded it. Trying again...

 

talwarwithmask3.jpg

 

 

And here's a vignette introducing Kamal and his DNPC Carmen. She'll be his best bud and possible love interest.

 

 

 

Kamal felt a bit nervous stepping into the lecture hall. Going back to school after several years off, and in a new country to boot, made him self-conscious. The room was already mostly full. To his relief, all the students were absorbed in books or conversations, and no one looked in his direction.

 

There were only a few desi faces in the auditorium, and only one was that of a pretty girl. Without quite deciding it, he slid into the aisle seat next to her. She glanced up from doodling in her notebook and gave him a perfunctory smile.

 

"Hi," he said, and flashed her smile number seven: I'm Sexy But I Don't Know It. Sure enough, she gave him a second look before returning her attention to her notebook. In her jeans and t-shirt she was cute in a girl next door way, with a round face, pert nose, and long black hair tied back in a ponytail. With the right makeup and outfit she'd be a looker.

 

"Are you slumming it?" he asked. She looked up with a look of pixieish confusion. He gestured to the logo on her T-shirt. "Shouldn't you be at MIT?"

 

"Oh, I forgot..." she looked down at her clothes and seemed a bit embarrassed. "I was going to go to MIT but my dad's been having health problems so I wanted to stay close to home." She shook her head a bit and smiled. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this."

 

Because I have that effect on people, Kamal thought. "I just hope you won't be too bored by this class," he replied.

 

"Yeah, right," she sighed. "Did you look at the syllabus? It's like Computer Clocks for Jocks."

 

"Great," Kamal groaned. "I shouldn't even be taking this class. I should be a junior, but my credits don't transfer from U. Mumbai."

 

"I thought you looked older," she mused.

 

"Do I look old?" he asked, forcing his real alarm into an expression of mock panic. He ran a hand through his hair and thought about his father's bald spot.

 

"You look acceptable for polite company," she chuckled. She added a squiggle to her notebook. "Uh, I'm Carmen, by the way."

 

"I'm Kamal," he returned. "Nice to meet you, Carmen." He gave her a quick reassessment. "It's funny," he continued, "but I thought you were Indian."

 

"Nope. I'm rice and beans, not rice and curry." She cocked an eyebrow. "That a problem?"

 

Kamal chuckled. "No, it's a relief. If you were Indian," he explained, "on top of being funny, smart and pretty, you'd just be perfect. I'd be scared of you."

 

She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched and her cheeks bloomed. "Are you always this cheesy?" she asked.

 

"No, I'm just warming up," he grinned.

 

A bustle at the front of the room drew their eyes to the arrival of their professor, deep in conversation with a TA. He set down a leather satchel and began rooting through it.

 

"Naptime," Kamal said softly.

 

"Hmmm," Carmen said slowly. She looked at Kamal a moment, then tore a page from her notebook and handed it to him. What he had assumed was idle doodling turned out to be a precise rendering of a circuitboard.

 

"You do this for fun?" he asked, impressed. "I'm more of a software guy." He studied the diagram intently.

 

"Finish it."

 

Startled, Kamal looked up to see a challenging grin on Carmen's face. He returned the smile. This class wasn't going to be a wash after all.

 

 

Very nice. Thx for resending the pic.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

1. If you have any DNPCs, I need their name, relationship, age and where they live.

2. Where does you character live? If you took a disad such as poor, then you would probably live in the Rookery or some similar low income area. If you took poor and are a college student, professor, etc. then you probably live around the college in an apartment (garden loft, etc). You can actually have an home in some of the less "affluent" location if you would like (ie Switchback) and have a warehouse type loft (maybe you are a squatter, maybe not). If you character has a lot of family in the area, then put that down. For instance Engram's DNPC mother lives in Sugar Hills, his sister lives in Waxhaw, his girl friend lives in Center City, his has an apartment in Eastvale (close to TSU in Waxhaw).

3. Where do you work?

 

Talwar lives with relatives at their home in one of the nice parts of Eastvale. His cousin Aftab Merchant (32) moved to Thebes from New Jersey about 6 years ago during the construction boom; he now owns his own company, Merchant Construction. The Merchant family includes Aftab's wife Aaliyah (31), who does the company's books and cares for their young son, Adam Ali (4.)

 

Carmen Sanchez (19) is a Thebes native. She lives with her parents (Lourdes, a nurse and Carl, a bus driver) in Center City.

 

Carmen and Talwar attend Thebes University in Waxhaw. Talwar works part time for his cousin at a construction site in Center City. (He's not very skilled but he's great at demolition.)

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

...Just put her up on the board. I will get her into an .hdc format.

 

Alrighty, then {sob}All my beautiful formatting...gone....{sob}

 

Alice Gaudete Mattheson; “Ali”

Chalice

 

CHARACTERISTICS

Val Char Base Points Roll

13 STR 10 03 12-

23 DEX 10 39 14-

30 CON 10 40 15-

16 BOD 10 12 12-

13 INT 10 03 12-

14 EGO 10 08 12-

18 PRE 10 08 13-

16 COM 10 03 12-

10 PD 3 07 -

10 ED 6 04 -

05 SPD 3.3 17 -

10 REC 9 02 - OCV: 8

58 END 60 -01 DCV: 8

50 STN 38 12 ECV: 5

 

6" Running 6 0 6"

10" Swimming 2 8 10"

- NCM 5 x4 NCM

2 1/2"/1" Leaping 3 0 2 1/2"

 

TALENTS

12 Slippery Character: Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED)

2 Water Baby: Environmental Movement (no penalties on wet/slippery footing or in water)

5 Child of the Waves: Life Support (Expanded Breathing: Breathe Water)

3 Life Support: No Need to Drink; Usable By Other [+1/4]

1 Safe Environment: High Pressure

2 Safe Environment: Intense Cold

 

 

POWERS

30 Flood; Water Attacks Multipower: 61-point reserve (61 ACT); all slots RSR: Water Mastery [-1/2]; Side Effects, Minor (Personal and Environmental) [-1/2]

 

3u 1) Wellspring: Energy Blast 12d6; (ACT 61)

Notes: A straightforward water blast, powerful & damaging

END 6

 

3u 2) Swept Away: Energy Blast 7d6, Double Knockback [+3/4]; (ACT 61)

Notes: A less damaging but higher volume water surge

END 6

 

3u 3) Just Like Suffocating: Energy Blast 4d6, Continuous [+1], No Normal Defense (Appropriate LS, Rigid Face Cover, [+1]); (ACT 60)

Notes: A continuous jet of water to the nose and mouth. Multiple applications can be maintained against the same or different targets, but this is very tiring.

END 6

 

3u 4) Wash It Away: Dispell 16d6; any one fire power at a time [+1/4]; (ACT 58)

Notes: Extinguishes fires, regardless of source. Generally more effective for environmental fire suppression than as a combat power

END 6

 

3u 5) Skipping Stones: Missile Deflection, Any Ranged Attack (20), Reflect At Any Target (+30); (ACT 50)

Notes: Chalice can “skip” ranged attacks off her body as if they had deflected off shallow water, leaving misty ripples and water droplets in the air around her

END 0

 

30 Playing In the Rain; Environmental Water Effects Multipower: 61-point reserve (61 ACT); all slots RSR: Water Mastery [-1/2]; Side Effects, Minor (Personal and Environmental) [-1/2]

 

3u 1) Water Rights: Telekinesis STR 34; Affects Porous [+10]; Only Affects Water [-1/2]; (ACT 61)

Notes: Allows Chalice to put anyone below the high tide mark, if there’s water nearby

END 6

 

2u 2) Written On the Waves: Telekinesis STR 10; Affects Porous [+10], Fine Manipulation [+10], Reduced Endurance (0 END [+1/2]), Only Affects Water [-1/2]; (ACT 52)

Notes: Chalice’s favourite power, this one is usually just for fun

END 0

 

2u 3) Forecast Calls for Rain: Change Environment 16" radius, -3 to Sight Group PER checks, Personal Immunity (+1/4); (ACT 39)

Notes: Heavy showers dramatically reduce visibility

END 4

 

2u 4) Slippery When Wet: Change Environment (4" radius); -1 DCV, -1 OCV, -2 to DEX checks; Personal Immunity [+1/4]; (ACT 41)

Notes: Causes water to condense from the air on all surfaces in the area

END 4

 

2u 5) Darkness Was Upon The Deep: Darkness to Sight Group (2" radius); Personal Immunity [+1/4], Reduced Endurance (0 END [+1/2]); (ACT 35)

Notes: Area fills with heavy wet fog; can be maintained and extended over time

END 0

 

3u 6) Hushing: Tunnelling 12" through DEF 12; (60 ACT)

Notes: Allows Chalice to rapidly blast her way through everything from sand and gravel to concrete and stone

END 6

 

3u 7) Erosion: Tunnelling 1" through DEF 19; (59 ACT)

Notes: Much slower version of #6 above, this power allows Chalice to ‘wear away’ even more durable materials like reinforced concrete and metal/stone composites

END 6

 

 

24 Waterform: +15PD / +15 ED; Visible [-1/4]; (30 ACT)

Notes: Chalice becomes a standing wave of constantly rippling water with a vaguely humanoid/feminine shape; in this form she shares some of the durability of water

END 3

 

3 Hard Water: Damage Resistance on 5 PD/ 5 ED; Linked to Waterform [-1/2]; (5 ACT)

Notes: Chalice’s Waterform gains some of water’s passive resistance, flowing aside from BODY-damaging attacks

END -

 

 

SKILLS

Name Cost

 

Acting 8- 0

AK: Thebes, Tennesee 0

Climbing 8- 0

Concealment 8- 0

Conversation 13- 3

Deduction 12- 3

KS: Appalachian folklore 12- 3

KS: Music 12- 3

Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points) 0

Paramedics 12- 3

Persuasion 13- 3

Power: Water Control (CON) 14- 1 [3pts for15- / 14- is 2CP back]

*PS: Singer (PRE) 15- 5

*PS: Songwriter (PRE) 14- 4

Shadowing 8- 0

Streetwise 13- 3

Stealth 8- 0

Survival 12-

TemperateWoodland, Temperate Riverine 3

TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles 0

WF: Clubs, Fist-Loads, Thrown Rocks,

Unarmed Combat 0

WF: Small Arms 2

 

 

 

DISADVANTAGES

05 Distinctive features: Third eyelid (nictitating membranes on eyes) [Easily Concealed, Noticed & Recognized, Detectable By Sight]

05 Distinctive features: Tattoos (dark vines wrapped around both arms) [Easily Concealed, Noticed & Recognized, Detectable by Sight]

15 Enraged: and the Office Boy Kicks the Cat; when someone more powerful metes out blatantly unfair punishment to someone less powerful, in front of her [uncommon; Go 14-, Recover 11-]

20 Hunted: Wicked uncle; the Reverend Laurence Mattheson (aka Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man) [More powerful, Harshly punish, NCI, Appears 8-]

10 Hunted: Elemental Force [More powerful, Watching, NCI, Appears 8-]

15 Psychological Limitation: A Second Chance; Code vs Killing [Common, Strong]

10 Psychological Limitation: Don't Let Them See You Cry; needs to prove by word or deed that she's "tougher than the situation" [Common, Moderate]

15 Psychological Limitation: Settling Scores; driven to use her abilities to physically punish those who abuse others weaker than them or in their power [Common, Strong]

10 Psychological Limitation: Don’t slip; tries to be scrupulously fair in all her dealings [Common, Moderate]

05 Reputation: That Satanist heavy metal singer [Recognised 8-]

15 Social Limitation: Secret Identity; Alice Gaudete Mattheson [Frequently, Major]

10 Social Limitation: Harmful Secret; Ali is responsible for her father’s death [Occasionally, Major]

10 Susceptibility: Very Hot Dry Environment (Only in Waterform) [uncommon, 1d6/Turn]

05 Vulnerability: Fire Attacks (Only in Waterform) [uncommon, 11/2x STUN]

150 CP

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

And here's the "fluff" for Chalice...and this is the edited and trimmed version. :-o

 

Alice Gaudete Mattheson; "Ali"

Chalice

 

Appearance:

Ali's 5'8, lean and fit-looking, even though she takes lousy care of herself. She's rarely seen without her sunglasses, or a cigarette in her hand. She has fair skin, hooded gray eyes and a long shaggy pelt of black hair, usually worn loose; she's a good-looking lady.

 

When she blinks, there's a quick iridescent glisten from the nictitating membranes on her eyes -- her "third eyelids". Her tattoos -- dark leafy vines winding around both her arms from wrist to shoulder -- are visible when she wears anything less than full sleeves. Like a cat, Ali goes from extremes of physical activity to apparent boneless relaxation and back again very quickly. She often appears half-asleep when relaxed, even when she's actually quite alert...it's those hooded eyes, what the poets used to call "slumbrous."

 

Background:

Alice "Gaudete" Mattheson was born February 2nd, in Cumberland Gap, Maryland, to Joseph and Sally Joy Mattheson. She was raised in Cumberland Gap, a town of 13,000, where her father was the town's pharmacist. As a college man, Joseph was treated as the town’s authority on all things scientific, and that kind of deference suited this controlling man very well.

 

Joseph was never pleased when someone argued with him; he felt it showed a lack of respect. That didn’t happen often, though, as someone “failing” to give Joseph the proper respect was guaranteed to bring on an ugly display of temper. So people in town generally did what Joseph said...and they took care never to contradict him and his “learning”.

 

Sally Joy, who had grown up an unwanted and uneducated daughter of a West Virginia mining family, was grateful to Joseph for taking her away from the pits of Millersburg. She regarded her husband as “just about as perfect a man as God ever made”; strong and able, respected, wealthy (from her perspective, anyway), God-fearing and smart. Sally Joy regarded Joseph and his learning with admiration just short of awe, and whatever he said was what she thought.

 

Joseph's temper was no secret to his wife, even though it was never directed at her. Sally Joy's obvious, unquestioning respect for him spared her even Joseph’s worst outbursts.

 

Alice wasn't so fortunate.

 

Alice was too much like her father to meekly accept his authority, the way her mother had. With her strong will and violent temper, Alice was clashing with her father even before she could talk. She was a strong-minded and stubborn child, and her determination to go her own way led to her constantly defying her father -- which Joseph found intolerable. He would frequently lash out at his daughter with harsh words or the back of his hand, and, as Alice got older, his heirloom walking stick.

 

To keep Alice out of her father’s way, Sally Joy made up a “special room” for her, and as a child, Alice spent many hours in there singing along with the radio or singing songs from her father’s mountain gospel records. Sometimes Sally Joy would sing to her daughter, though Joseph didn’t much like her “indulging” Alice. By the time she started school, Alice was displaying an obvious gift for music.

 

When Alice was twelve, Sally Joy was hit and killed by a runaway car. Soon after the funeral, Joseph’s widowed mother -- Renata Mattheson -- moved to Cumberland Gap to help care for Alice. Renata proudly called herself ‘Appalachian mountain folk,’ and she brought her traditions and superstitions into Joseph’s “science-minded” house, creating a new and explosive source of tension.

 

“Nanna Rena” was a grim and demanding woman, and unimpressed with Joseph’s unruly daughter. Now with two implacable disciplinarians on the scene – and often contradicting each other – Alice spent as much time as possible out of the house. On most school days, she had musical activities after class...but aside from that, Alice never really thought of school as a refuge. She was a generally impatient and distractable student, though she liked English and anything to do with music.

 

Outside school, Alice roamed around with a gang of friends and caused trouble, getting in fights, smoking cigarettes, playing loud music. Alice was usually the ringleader...but sometimes she just felt like ditching her cronies and hiking up into the hills by herself. She’d lose herself wandering about, singing to the trees and the startled wildlife, making up songs and returning home hours or days later, to face her father’s fury. Ali learned from bitter experience that things were worse for her if Joseph came out and caught her before she could get home...but either way, she was going to get a hiding.

 

And the worse things got, the more Alice wanted to be away....

 

It was by the streams in the deep woods that something responded to Alice’s voice. February 2nd, her 15th birthday, and out by Cauldron Spring, something stirred and came to her...something vast and elemental, something cold and bright and timeless as running water rose and flooded into – or out of – Alice, opening a wellspring deep inside her.

 

Bewildered, exhilarated and half-panicked by the strange sensations, Alice bolted, racing headlong through the dripping woods -- until she missed her footing on the crumbling ridge above the spring, and plunged into the rippling water....

 

Local legend had it that Cauldron Spring was bottomless, but Alice never could remember one way or the other – except in her dreams. In her dreams, Alice was certain the spring was bottomless...and she was pretty sure she’d drowned down there, under fathoms of cold clear water. But when she clambered up out of the spring and back onto the ridge a day and a half later, she was breathing just fine...but the water...somehow it came with her.

 

It was February 4th, two days after her birthday, when Alice crawled up out of the spring. Two days during the season of Imbolg. And it was on that day her father died.

 

Joseph had closed the pharmacy early that afternoon and come out looking for Alice. He’d told Renata that morning that he’d had enough of his daughter’s ingratitude and disrespect, that he meant to have things out with her once and for all this time. But in the misty afternoon, Joseph had missed his path and stumbled into a flooded sinkhole...where he drowned in three feet of water.

 

So the town constable said, so the county coroner said, and Ali wasn’t about to disagree. She wasn’t really sure herself....

 

Whether from suspicion and fear, resentment or grief, Nanna Rena didn’t have much to say to Alice after that. The two of them avoided each other, moving around the house warily, and Ali spent a lot of time brooding, ignoring her friends, skipping school. And eventually she wandered back out to Cauldron Spring, feeling as if she should have known all along she’d end up back there....

 

For a long time, Alice sat watching the bubbling water and thinking things over. Then finally, she leaned forward and ducked her head under the water, her black hair billowing like smoke in the Cauldron Spring...and yes, she could still breathe. She could still breathe water.

 

And she could do a lot more with the water now than just breathe it.

 

Alice spent a lot of time beside the spring that year, and the year flowed past in a haze of discovery and waking dreams until Alice herself wasn’t sure if she were awake or asleep, if she’d been awake or asleep the whole time. But the idea...that didn’t come as a sudden inspiration, bursting out of the mist. No, it came as a gradual realisation, building, cumulative, a ‘what if’ that turned slowly into a ‘when.’

 

I can call the Water now...so what if I use it?

 

What if I can make bastards like my dad stop now? What if I beat them up the way he beat me, what if I stood up to them all and made them stop? What then? What if I settled the score?

 

When do I settle the score?

 

“When” turned out to be the week after Christmas. And who...it was someone from school, not even a friend of hers, a red-haired guy called Chad Bridger whose dad would come home from the bar in the evenings and start pounding on him. Chad was always coming in to school with bruises on his face; one time he came in with his hand in a cast, said he’d got it caught under the car.

 

Alice decided to make her first try at settling scores.

 

She made a mask out of blue cardboard, stuck it on her face with Superglue and stuffed her hair up under a dark blue knit cap. There was an old blue overcoat of her father’s that Nanna Rena judged too ratty for Goodwill still hanging in the back bedroom closet; Alice took that too. Masked and bundled up, she went looking for Chad Bridger’s dad – and when she caught him coming back to his car outside the Dew Drop Inn, she told him to keep his hands off Chad.

 

“You don’t ever want to lay a hand on him again,” Alice said – and then she showed him why. She damn near drowned Chad Bridger’s dad there, miles from the river, with jets of sparkling water from her hands that filled his nose, his mouth, and kept him from getting a breath. “From now on you start treating him fair, or next time I won’t stop the water.”

 

Alice left Chad Bridger Senior lying on his side in the parking lot, soaking wet, choking and puking with tears and snot running down his face. It had been a lot easier than she’d expected, and it had felt...well, it’d felt right. Felt like a relief. Fair’s fair, Alice thought; fair’s fair, Mr. Bridger, you just remember that...’cause somebody bigger than you might just decide to hit you back.

 

Alice got away with it.

 

Not only that, but she got away with settling two more scores in her sophomore year of high school, and three more as a junior. A mother who liked using her lighter a little too well for her toddler’s health, a big brother who shouldn’t have been getting his thrills in his kid sister’s bed. A couple of low-lifes who liked breaking into old people’s houses and beating them bloody before taking off with anything they thought they could pawn.

 

A deputy constable taking money off the skinny albino guy at the grocery store every month.... When Alice showed up to settle his score, the deputy had tried to make a fight of it – and Alice ended up hurting him pretty bad, worse than she’d meant to. She’d swept him off his feet with a water-torrent that ended up slamming him right into the stone wall of the old brewery. Broke his collarbone, his arm and his jaw, all on the left side, and smacked his head a good one.

 

Deputy Sunderlinn was at Cumberland County Trauma Centre in a coma for about five weeks, and when he woke up, Alice was about glad enough to cry. She’d been thinking a lot about about fairness while the deputy was in that coma, thinking about justice and revenge and about where the lines were. And Alice had come to the conclusion that if she weren’t careful, she’d end up like her father, who went beating up people who in no wise had it coming.

 

Playing fair was all that was going to keep her from becoming like Joseph; settling scores but only paying back an eye for an eye, and no more ’n that. She couldn’t afford to slip and go too far; she couldn’t let things get unfair again, not even on accident...not anything, not ever. Better to make a habit of fairness.

 

Let the punishment fit the crime, and no more ’n that.

 

She graduated from high school at 18, without fanfare. A music scholarship took her to the Berklee College of Music in Baltimore, where she studied vocal arts and songwriting...and learned something about Baltimore and the kinds of abuses it sheltered. But Alice didn’t see any reason to stop settling scores; yes, she’d have to be more careful, do a lot more preparation than she used to do, but the bastards were still bastards and her feelings hadn’t changed.

 

Alice became a lot more sophisticated in the next four years. She toned down her hill-country accent. She started calling herself “Ali” ’stead of “Alice”. She got together a real costume, all in shades of blue, and she gave herself a fighting name: Chalice.

 

She had her first run-ins with gangs, real urban gangs ’stead of the small town wanna-bes of Cumberland County, and brushed up against organised crime and institutionalised corruption, the sort that everyone knows about but no-one mentions. And she settled some scores, but by her third year at Berklee, she was beginning to feel like she was only nibbling around the edges of something too big for her to get her teeth into directly.

 

Disillusioned, distracted, Ali got involved with The Hills Have Eyes, a college band that had been around for most of her time at Berklee. She was the group’s singer/songwriter. In Alice’s senior year, the band acquired a new lead guitarist – Robert “Bobbid” Davis -- and changed its name to Mercy Brown, evolving into more of a thinking man’s metal band.

 

Ali didn’t settle any scores her senior year at Berklee. Instead, she turned her attention graduating a semester early with her BFA, and going full time with Mercy Brown.

 

The band thrived.

 

Throughout Ali's twenties, Mercy Brown enjoyed success and modest renown, particularly on college campuses. Throughout Alice's twenties, the band enjoyed success and moderate renown, particularly on college campus. They were sometimes described as that “almost superstar East Coast metal group” – but by Ali’s 30th birthday, Mercy Brown was getting ready to drop the “almost”.

 

Things were finally happening. The band had signed with Volcano Entertainment, released their first major label album – Watching and Waiting for You – toured nationwide in support of it and contributed three songs to the new superhero movie Nightwing. The buzz was loud and strong. It was like a dream finally coming true for the five band members....

 

And then Jim Townsend, a drunk driver with three prior DWI arrests and a suspended license, hit and killed Bobbid on the street in Fell’s Point, Baltimore...and that dream ended. But Ali felt almost as if she'd woken up to what she ought to be doing....

 

Ali marked her 30th birthday by “putting on the blues” and settling the score with Townsend. He wouldn’t ever walk again, but at least he was still alive.

 

And then Ali applied for a job teaching music at the School of Dance and Art in Thebes, Tennesee, a city she picked because it was a long way from Baltimore (and Cumberland Gap)...close to the Father of Rivers...and studded with neighbourhoods where scores had been wanting settling for a great many years.

 

And Chalice moved to Thebes.

 

 

Character Considerations

 

What does your character do BEST?

Confounding attackers/defending the party. Chalice has powers that can make groups or individuals trying to attack the party less effective, either because they’re dropping their weapons and falling over, or because they just can’t see the party as Chalice leads them away under cover of fog and mist.

 

She can also help the other PCs on attack or defense (she’s very durable).

 

What is your character just 'really good' at doing?

Responding to situations. Chalice has a enough variety in her powers and effects that she’s probably got something that will have at least some effect in a given situation.

 

What niche/archetype could your character fill on the team?

Jack of all trades, master of none. Chalice can do something of most things, though the other PCs may be better at specific things. She has some ranged attacks, others may have better ranged attacks. She has some resistant defenses, others may have stronger resistant defenses. But Chalice has ranged attacks and resistant defenses and lots of other odd powers....

 

What is your character's most important relationship, and why?

Her father Joseph, despite his death. Ali is struggling to understand and control the part of her that is like her father; her drive, her strong will and her ugly temper are things she saw from him all her life. She wants to prove to herself that she’s different from Joseph, and she does that by adhering unwaveringly to her own code of fairness.

 

A second important relationship, though one that Ali is unaware of, is with her father’s brother Laurence, who heads a sizable cult of black magic as the self-described conjure man Obeah Fortunatis.

 

Some of Laurence’s followers are local Cumberland County people, small-town rural, but many are part of the network of urban professionals he built up during his years in New York City, working as a highly successful motivational speaker. As a result, Laurence is an influential man on several levels; he has followers among the common people of the Appalachians, and influential friends in the Big City.

 

Laurence is an intelligent, crafty and amoral man. He’s charming, very convincing and has an incredible force of personality. Whether he actually has any powers or not, he knows his material well and puts on an excellent show, and his followers are convinced of his ability to “shape the world in accordance with his desires,” and both admire and fear him.

 

Some years ago, Laurence -- as Obeah Fortunatis -- announced that the female singer with the popular metal band Mercy Brown had been born on Imbolc, and was destined to command “vast magikal power” upon her mystical majority. Therefore, at a date announced in prophecy and revelation, Fortunatis would make Alice Gaudete Mattheson his wife -- and then spill her blood in sacrifice to the Dark Courts, increasing his powers a hundred-fold.

 

The Mountain Occult, Laurence’s cult, have been watching Ali ever since, waiting for “The Day”.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

I have been asking all new players a few questions before I can really start them up the game. With that in mind, I will just post them here :)

 

1. If you have any DNPCs, I need their name, relationship, age and where they live.

2. Where does you character live? If you took a disad such as poor, then you would probably live in the Rookery or some similar low income area. If you took poor and are a college student, professor, etc. then you probably live around the college in an apartment (garden loft, etc). You can actually have an home in some of the less "affluent" location if you would like (ie Switchback) and have a warehouse type loft (maybe you are a squatter, maybe not). If you character has a lot of family in the area, then put that down. For instance Engram's DNPC mother lives in Sugar Hills, his sister lives in Waxhaw, his girl friend lives in Center City, his has an apartment in Eastvale (close to TSU in Waxhaw).

3. Where do you work?

Again, pointing to Engram, he works in Waxhaw but TSU has a campus in Center City as well.

 

You character needs a reason to go to Center City occassionally, or at least go thru Center City to get somewhere else. Half of the cities population lives and works in Center City. You don't have to live and work there, but it would be nice to have a reason you pass through now and again. If your character lives at the far edge of the Market District and has little reason to exit the area, it is going to a lot more difficult to get you "into the city". I don't want anyone to suspend belief as to why where they live, work, etc... but having your book of the month getting routed into the city everytime Dr ABC attacks is going to get old really fast :P

 

Thanks.

 

Kuan Ti's only DNPC is Wu Fei Chun, one of his childhood friends who followed him to Taiwan and served as his right hand man. He is slightly older than Kuan Ti, but only by a few years (early-forties). In the fighting that preceded Kuan Ti's arrest and annihilated his organization, Fei Chun was wounded in the neck and paralyzed below the waist. During the years that Kuan Ti was in prison, he lived with his son's widow in Beijing. Upon breaking out, Kuan Ti recovered his armor, accessed some of his assets from the old days (that had been in a Swiss bank), and decided to take Fei Chun and his daughter-in-law with him to America.

 

Having set Fei Chun up with a house in Center City, Kuan Ti now lives in hotels all over Thebes, never staying in the same hotel more than a week. He works as a dealer in antiquities using the name Gordon Lau. For the most part he works out of his hotel room, but he frequents all of the antiquity dealers in the city, both major and minor. His interest in the business, aside from providing money, is the recovery of mystical artifacts similar to his armor that he had once owned, but were confiscated and then sold internationally by the Chinese government.

 

He takes a taxi (Kuan Ti doesn't drive or even have a license) to Center City about twice a week to visit Fei Chun and his daughter-in-law. Kuan Ti is attracted to the woman (her husband died at the age of 20, having been married less than a year, so she's now 35 years old), but respects his only friend far too much to ever make it known.

 

~Gabriel

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

And here's the "fluff" for Chalice...and this is the edited and trimmed version. :-o

That's the trimmed version? :eek:

 

Speaking as a fellow player who also has his hand in tweaking the campaign guidelines. I have a few comments. Background is good, if a bit grim. As long as the campaign doesn't start focusing on brutal beatings of evildoers, we should be fine. The picture is very cool (and yes, I'm biased towards that style of artwork). The character sheet...has a few problems. See below.

 

  • The main attack (12d6 EB) is slightly over campaign limits. Either it would need to be toned down, or something else would have to drop to compensate.
  • Per Zac's guidelines, he's not a big fan of Requires a Skill Roll. Plus, if I'm reading things correctly, your chance of successfully activating a 60-point power is 8 or less... :ugly:
  • Likewise, the Side Effects at -1/2 seem a heavy price break for the net effect. If you leave it that way, Zac's going to have to make that limitation come up a LOT, which doesn't seem to fit the background.
  • Now, that said, I'm not sure why you need the limitations. You have two multipowers of the same size, and most of those powers are mutually exclusive. If you're Tunneling, you're probably not throwing an Energy Blast. Why not combine them into a single multipower, take the powers that you want to be able to use simultaneously out of the MP, and put them into an Elemental Control?
  • Slippery Character doesn't seem to fit thematically for Combat Luck. Why not just buy it as Armor? The net effect is that you're watery, and harder to get a good hit against. Which means it reduces damage.
  • You also have lots of powers right from the start. You may want to hold back on some of them, and buy them as you gain experience.
  • The third eyelid and tattoos don't stack...multiple distinctive features just make you more distinctive, and neither is big enough to push the combined effect past Easily Concealed.

Overall, I think it's a good character. However, I'm pretty sure the multipowers will need to be retooled to make the character fit Zac's campaign.

 

EDIT: Check the spoiler box for an alternative...

 

 

 

Chalice

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6kg; 2 1/2d6 [1]

23 DEX 39 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8

28 CON 36 15-

13 BODY 6 12-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12-

14 EGO 8 12- ECV: 5

18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3 1/2d6

18 COM 4 13-

 

13/25 PD 10 Total: 13/25 PD (0/12 rPD)

13/25 ED 7 Total: 13/25 ED (0/12 rED)

5 SPD 17 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

10 REC 2

56 END 0

38 STUN 4 Total Characteristic Cost: 147

 

Movement: Running: 6"/12"

Leaping: 2"/4"

Swimming: 2"/16" (128" NCM)

Tunneling: 7"/28"

 

Cost Powers END

61 Endless Water: Multipower, 61-point reserve

6u 1) Wellspring: (Total: 59 Active Cost, 59 Real Cost) Energy Blast 11d6+1 (vs. PD) (Real Cost: 57) plus +1 with EB (Real Cost: 2) 6

6u 2) Swept Away: Energy Blast 7d6 (vs. PD), Double Knockback (+3/4) (61 Active Points) 6

6u 3) Just Like Suffocating: Energy Blast 4d6 (vs. PD), Continuous (+1), No Normal Defense (LS: No need to breathe or self-contained breathing, or rigid face covering; +1) (60 Active Points) 6

4u 4) Water Rights: Telekinesis (30 STR), Affects Porous (55 Active Points); Only on water, or objects in water (-1/2) 5

6u 5) Erosion: Tunneling 7" through 14 DEF material, x4 Noncombat (61 Active Points) 6

6u 6) Wash It Away: Dispel 16d6, Any one fire power (+1/4) (60 Active Points) 6

6u 7) Forecast Calls for Rain/Slippery When Wet: Change Environment 8" radius, -3 to Sight Group PER Rolls, -1 DCV, -1 OCV, -1 to DEX Checks, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Personal Immunity (+1/4) (60 Active Points) 2

2u 8) Writing on the Waves: Telekinesis (10 STR), Fine Manipulation, Affects Porous (35 Active Points); Only on water, or objects in water (-1/2) 3

 

12 Waterform: Elemental Control, 30-point powers, (15 Active Points); all slots Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4)

12 1) One With the Water: Swimming +14" (2"/16" total) (x8 Noncombat), rapid Noncombat movement (+1/4) (30 Active Points) 3

17 2) Body of Water: Force Field (12 PD/12 ED), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (36 Active Points)

10 3) Darkness Was Upon the Deep: Darkness to Sight Group 2" radius, Personal Immunity (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (30 Active Points); Extra Time (Extra Segment, Only to Activate, -1/4) 1

(Note - draws moisture for the fog from her own body)

 

8 Child of the Waves: Life Support (Expanded Breathing; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in Intense Cold)

4 Fountain of Life: Life Support (Eating: Character does not need to drink), Usable By Other (+1/4) (4 Active Points)

 

Perks

2 Reputation: Rock Star (A large group) 11-, +1/+1d6

 

Talents

3 Environmental Movement (no penalties on wet/slippery surfaces, or in water)

 

Skills (Note: Everyman skills not listed)

3 Conversation 13-

3 Deduction 12-

3 KS: Appalachian Folklore (INT-based) 12-

3 KS: Music (INT-based) 12-

3 Paramedics 12-

3 Persuasion 13-

3 Power: Water Control (CON-based) 15-

4 PS: Singer (PRE-based) 14-

4 PS: Songwriter (INT-based) 13-

3 Streetwise 13-

3 Survival 12-

2 WF: Small Arms

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 208

Total Cost: 355

 

200+ Disadvantages

15 Social Limitation: Secret Identity Frequently (11-), Major

10 Social Limitation: Responsible for her father's death (Occasionally, Major)

5 Reputation: that Satanist heavy metal singer, 8-

5 Distinctive Features: Third Eyelid/Tattoos (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

15 Enraged: when someone more powerful metes out blatantly unfair punishment to someone less powerful (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 14-

20 Hunted: Reverend Laurence Mattheson (aka Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man) 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

15 Hunted: Elemental Force 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)

10 Susceptibility: Very Hot and Dry Environment (only in waterform) 1d6 damage per Turn (Uncommon)

5 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x STUN Fire Attacks (only in waterform) (Uncommon)

15 Psychological Limitation: A Second Chance - Code Versus Killing (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Settling Scores - driven to use her abilities to physically punish those who abuse others weaker than them or in their power (Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Don’t Slip - tries to be scrupulously fair in all her dealings (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Don't Let Them See You Cry - needs to prove by word or deed that she's "tougher than the situation" (Common, Moderate)

5 Experience Points (for picture)

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 355

 

 

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Hello, Fedifensor. Thanks for getting back to me so fast. (And yes, this is the trimmed version. I'm sorry...there just seemed to be an awful lot to explain.)

 

About the character build problems:

 

1] EB

I can certainly trim down the EB. I misunderstood what you and Zac meant by the listed stats being for the "average hero". I thought that meant PCs could go a bit over/under the "average" values.

 

2] Skill rolls.

Back on Page 6 of the thread, Zac said, "Maximum roll on most skills should be 15- (with levels), exceptions for a 16- will be given for honed character concepts. That said, I will deny “Requires a Skill Roll” -1/4 limitation with a high skill level (the max roll for this limitation is 14-)."

 

I didn't read that as "Don't take RSR as a Disad", I read it as "Don't put a really high skill roll on your RSR Disad and expect it to count at full value". As a player, I'm not wild about RSR as a Disad, either, but I needed to trim the point costs for Chalice's powers, and that was one of the least offensive Disads available.

 

Any recommendations as to different ways of doing that would be gratefully accepted!

 

3] Side effects.

Admittedly, I needed the points, but I also really liked the idea of Chalice not being entirely in control of her powers -- it is the elemental force of water, after all -- and running the risk of causing damage when the power surges through her.

 

Dr. Anomaly (the friend who helped me with the build -- I couldn't build a Champions PC by myself to save my life) thought that "Minor" would be a low enough number of points of effect to make the Disad. not too onerous. I don't mind it coming up a lot in game, unless it's going to be a problem for the GM or for the game to have it happening.

 

4] The two Multipowers.

Basically, the idea was Chalice could use things like Darkness Was Upon the Deep or Slippery When Wet and still have her energy blasts available for use...hence, two Multipowers.

 

Why not do the Multipower and EC route? Umm...it didn't occur to me. :-o I don't use ECs very often because they're more expensive than Multipowers, and I'm not as familiar with 'em. However, that arrangement does sound like a good idea -- if I can afford it. (Hmm, it's not like Chalice's powers aren't closely related enough thematically to fit in an EC.) ;-)

 

5] Combat Luck.

Why CL instead of Armour? Just habit. I can certainly change that.

 

6] Lots of starting powers.

Well, most of them are more role-playing powers -- ways to ward off opponents or make them less effective -- than earth-cracking combat powers. And Ali did have a couple of years of experience using her powers to "settle scores" when she was younger.

 

I can "suspend" some of her powers and buy 'em back later, but I'd like to talk to you or Zac more about which powers and why before actually doing it.

 

7] Distinctive Features.

I'm not sure I understand the criticism; I took two DFs, but I took them both at Easily Concealed. By "don't stack", do you mean I can't have two DF Disads at the same level? Does one of them not count if I do that?

 

The DFs were minor character background details, but I thought the tattoos and third eyelids were different enough to require two different Disads...even though they're both individually easy to conceal (long sleeves in one case, sunglasses in the other).

 

Once again, thanks for getting back to me so quickly -- and thank-you very much for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate them a lot.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

7] Distinctive Features.

I'm not sure I understand the criticism; I took two DFs, but I took them both at Easily Concealed. By "don't stack", do you mean I can't have two DF Disads at the same level? Does one of them not count if I do that?

 

The DFs were minor character background details, but I thought the tattoos and third eyelids were different enough to require two different Disads...even though they're both individually easy to conceal (long sleeves in one case, sunglasses in the other).

Need to head to bed soon, but I thought I'd respond on this real fast. Check out the edited version of my post for a sample character writeup that may address your other comments. As for the Distinctive Features:

 

Generally' date=' characters should only take Distinctive Features once - having several scars just makes someone more distinctive, for example.[/quote']

Both features make you stand out a little, without destroying your Secret ID. The net effect is the same for both. So I think they should be combined.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Wow, the new write-up looks good, Fedifensor -- and you work FAST!

 

I do have one or two questions about specific changes, but they'll have to wait until I've had some sleep. But for now, many thanks and thou art a studde.

And I'm delighted you liked the character pic. Fábrica de Heròis may be a bit limited, but it's always a pleasure to play with

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

I have been asking all new players a few questions before I can really start them up the game. With that in mind, I will just post them here :)

 

1. If you have any DNPCs, I need their name, relationship, age and where they live.

2. Where does you character live? If you took a disad such as poor, then you would probably live in the Rookery or some similar low income area. If you took poor and are a college student, professor, etc. then you probably live around the college in an apartment (garden loft, etc). You can actually have an home in some of the less "affluent" location if you would like (ie Switchback) and have a warehouse type loft (maybe you are a squatter, maybe not). If you character has a lot of family in the area, then put that down. For instance Engram's DNPC mother lives in Sugar Hills, his sister lives in Waxhaw, his girl friend lives in Center City, his has an apartment in Eastvale (close to TSU in Waxhaw).

3. Where do you work?

Again, pointing to Engram, he works in Waxhaw but TSU has a campus in Center City as well.

 

You character needs a reason to go to Center City occassionally, or at least go thru Center City to get somewhere else. Half of the cities population lives and works in Center City. You don't have to live and work there, but it would be nice to have a reason you pass through now and again. If your character lives at the far edge of the Market District and has little reason to exit the area, it is going to a lot more difficult to get you "into the city". I don't want anyone to suspend belief as to why where they live, work, etc... but having your book of the month getting routed into the city everytime Dr ABC attacks is going to get old really fast :P

 

Thanks.

 

Two DNPCs;

Lukas Krieg, Sibling, 28, Mound City.

Sofie Krieg, Sibling, 25, Waxhaw.

 

Erik lives in Center City, not far from the courthouse he works at.

 

Works for the Department of Justice as an interpreter in several languages.

 

His work takes him all around the city, as he is sometimes required for criminal depositions around the city.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Hello' date=' Fedifensor. Thanks for getting back to me so fast. (And yes, this [i']is[/i] the trimmed version. I'm sorry...there just seemed to be an awful lot to explain.)

 

About the character build problems:

 

1] EB

I can certainly trim down the EB. I misunderstood what you and Zac meant by the listed stats being for the "average hero". I thought that meant PCs could go a bit over/under the "average" values.

 

2] Skill rolls.

Back on Page 6 of the thread, Zac said, "Maximum roll on most skills should be 15- (with levels), exceptions for a 16- will be given for honed character concepts. That said, I will deny “Requires a Skill Roll” -1/4 limitation with a high skill level (the max roll for this limitation is 14-)."

 

I didn't read that as "Don't take RSR as a Disad", I read it as "Don't put a really high skill roll on your RSR Disad and expect it to count at full value". As a player, I'm not wild about RSR as a Disad, either, but I needed to trim the point costs for Chalice's powers, and that was one of the least offensive Disads available.

 

Any recommendations as to different ways of doing that would be gratefully accepted!

 

3] Side effects.

Admittedly, I needed the points, but I also really liked the idea of Chalice not being entirely in control of her powers -- it is the elemental force of water, after all -- and running the risk of causing damage when the power surges through her.

 

Dr. Anomaly (the friend who helped me with the build -- I couldn't build a Champions PC by myself to save my life) thought that "Minor" would be a low enough number of points of effect to make the Disad. not too onerous. I don't mind it coming up a lot in game, unless it's going to be a problem for the GM or for the game to have it happening.

 

4] The two Multipowers.

Basically, the idea was Chalice could use things like Darkness Was Upon the Deep or Slippery When Wet and still have her energy blasts available for use...hence, two Multipowers.

 

Why not do the Multipower and EC route? Umm...it didn't occur to me. :-o I don't use ECs very often because they're more expensive than Multipowers, and I'm not as familiar with 'em. However, that arrangement does sound like a good idea -- if I can afford it. (Hmm, it's not like Chalice's powers aren't closely related enough thematically to fit in an EC.) ;-)

 

5] Combat Luck.

Why CL instead of Armour? Just habit. I can certainly change that.

 

6] Lots of starting powers.

Well, most of them are more role-playing powers -- ways to ward off opponents or make them less effective -- than earth-cracking combat powers. And Ali did have a couple of years of experience using her powers to "settle scores" when she was younger.

 

I can "suspend" some of her powers and buy 'em back later, but I'd like to talk to you or Zac more about which powers and why before actually doing it.

 

7] Distinctive Features.

I'm not sure I understand the criticism; I took two DFs, but I took them both at Easily Concealed. By "don't stack", do you mean I can't have two DF Disads at the same level? Does one of them not count if I do that?

 

The DFs were minor character background details, but I thought the tattoos and third eyelids were different enough to require two different Disads...even though they're both individually easy to conceal (long sleeves in one case, sunglasses in the other).

 

Once again, thanks for getting back to me so quickly -- and thank-you very much for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate them a lot.

 

Ok, Fed sent me your character as an hdc yesterday evening. I am going to "assume" this is the up to date build. I will post the build I have and ask questions from there.

 

 

 

Chalice

Player: Haven Walkur

Val Char Cost

13 STR 3

23 DEX 39

28 CON 36

13 BODY 6

13 INT 3

14 EGO 8

18 PRE 8

18 COM 4

13/25 PD 10

13/25 ED 7

5 SPD 17

10 REC 2

56 END 0

38 STUN 4

6" RUN 0

2"/16" SWIM 0

2 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 147

Cost Power

61 Endless Water: Multipower, 61-point reserve

6u 1) Wellspring: (Total: 59 Active Cost, 59 Real Cost) Energy Blast 11d6+1 (Real Cost: 57) plus +1 with EB (Real Cost: 2)

6u 2) Swept Away: Energy Blast 7d6, Double Knockback (+3/4) (61 Active Points)

6u 3) Just Like Suffocating: Energy Blast 4d6, Continuous (+1), No Normal Defense (LS: No need to breathe or self-contained breathing, or rigid face covering; +1) (60 Active Points)

4u 4) Water Rights: Telekinesis (30 STR), Affects Porous (55 Active Points); Only on water, or objects in water (-1/2)

6u 5) Erosion: Tunneling 7" through 14 DEF material, x4 Noncombat (61 Active Points)

6u 6) Wash It Away: Dispel 16d6, Any one fire power (+1/4) (60 Active Points)

4u 7) Forecast Calls for Rain/Slippery When Wet: Change Environment 8" radius, -3 to Sight Group PER Rolls, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Personal Immunity (+1/4) (39 Active Points)

2u 8) Writing on the Waves: Telekinesis (10 STR), Affects Porous, Fine Manipulation (35 Active Points); Only on water, or objects in water (-1/2)

12 Waterform: Elemental Control, 30-point powers, (15 Active Points); all slots Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4)

12 1) One With the Water: Swimming +14" (2"/16" total) (x8 Noncombat), rapid Noncombat movement (+1/4) (30 Active Points); Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4)

17 2) Body of Water: Force Field (12 PD/12 ED), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (36 Active Points); Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4)

10 3) Darkness Was Upon the Deep: Darkness to Sight Group 2" radius, Personal Immunity (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (30 Active Points); Extra Time (Extra Segment, Only to Activate, -1/4), Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4)

8 Child of the Waves: Life Support (Expanded Breathing; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in Intense Cold)

4 Fountain of Life: Life Support (Eating: Character does not need to drink), Usable By Other (+1/4) (4 Active Points)

Powers Cost: 164

 

Cost Skill

3 Conversation 13-

3 Deduction 12-

3 KS: Appalachian Folklore 12-

3 KS: Music 12-

3 Paramedics 12-

3 Persuasion 13-

3 Power: Water Control 15-

4 PS: Singer 14-

4 PS: Songwriter 13-

3 Streetwise 13-

3 Survival 12-

2 WF: Small Arms

Skills Cost: 37

Cost Perk

2 Reputation: Rock Star (A large group) 11-, +1/+1d6

Perks Cost: 2

Cost Talent

3 Environmental Movement (no penalties on wet/slippery surfaces, or in water)

Talents Cost: 3

Total Character Cost: 353

Pts. Disadvantage

15 Social Limitation: Secret Identity Frequently (11-), Major

10 Social Limitation: Responsible for her father's death (Occasionally, Major)

5 Reputation: that Satanist heavy metal singer, 8-

5 Distinctive Features: Third Eyelid/Tattoos (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

15 Enraged: when someone more powerful metes out blatantly unfair punishment to someone less powerful (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 14-

20 Hunted: Reverend Laurence Mattheson (aka Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man) 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

15 Hunted: Elemental Force 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)

10 Susceptibility: Very Hot and Dry Environment (only in waterform) 1d6 damage per Turn (Uncommon)

5 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x STUN Fire Attacks (only in waterform) (Uncommon)

15 Psychological Limitation: A Second Chance - Code Versus Killing (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Settling Scores - driven to use her abilities to physically punish those who abuse others weaker than them or in their power (Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Don’t Slip - tries to be scrupulously fair in all her dealings (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Don't Let Them See You Cry - needs to prove by word or deed that she's "tougher than the situation" (Common, Moderate)

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 3

Total Experience Available: 5

Experience Unspent: 2

 

 

 

1. Social Limitation: Responsible for her father's death (Occasionally, Major)

I may have missed this, so bear with me. How do you think this will impact you? I read the "short" bio (lol, nice btw) and did not really see how this becomes a social limitation in the game. Please explain.

 

2. Hunted: Reverend Laurence Mattheson (aka Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man) 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

I notice he has a "coven" under him. Do you consider the MAN to be more powerful or him + his coven = more powerful? I play organization vs individuals as hunted a bit differently, so I want to be sure how you see this.

 

3. Hunted: Elemental Force 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)

Elemental Force would be appropriate, but Fed and I are only trying to share agent level organizations. We are trying to keep the power house groups seperate. Do you mind if I change this or are you set on an elemental based enemy group?

 

4. Susceptibility: Very Hot and Dry Environment (only in waterform) 1d6 damage per Turn (Uncommon)

I see your Elemental Control is only in hero id and your multipower is not, which is fine. What action do you need to change into your hero id? I do not see instant change or anything else related, so I just want to be sure I understand how you see your transformation. Disad looks fine, just need a bit of clarification.

 

Powers, skills and stats look peachy.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Hm, HW... that character looks familiar... ;)

 

Hopefully RPing her personality will work out better for you this time around! :)

 

Aaaaiiieee, caught! Yes, yes, I admit it...I recycle characters! Oh the shame....

 

Hello again, Zed. The names haven't been changed to protect the guilty, but some of the build and a lot of the background have. Ali's a lot more "together" in this version; her personality and motivations feel a lot more cohesive/coherent.

 

I'm looking forward to playing this version of her if she gets picked for the game.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

Ok' date=' Fed sent me your character as an hdc yesterday evening. I am going to "assume" this is the up to date build. I will post the build I have and ask questions from there.[/quote']

 

That's the new, updated build. I have a few questions for Fedifensor that I need to take up with him, but nothing major, mostly "why this" or "why not that." I do think the STUN is too low.

 

1. Social Limitation: Responsible for her father's death (Occasionally' date=' Major) I may have missed this, so bear with me. How do you think this will impact you? I read the "short" bio (lol, nice btw) and did not really see how this becomes a social limitation in the game. Please explain.[/quote']

 

You did read the bio? All of the bio? Ooooo...you're a dedicated GM (or a flaming masochist, but that works too).

 

No, you didn't miss anything. My thought was that even though Ali moved away from Cumberland Gap, the cloud of rumour and suspicion still surrounds her in the death of her father, and all it would take is one phone call to find out about it.

 

So Ali can't afford to get into a situation where someone might check her background, or they'll find out about the odd, water-related death of Joseph Mattheson. In her Secret ID, she has to keep her nose clean, avoid being questioned or investigated.

 

2. Hunted: Reverend Laurence Mattheson (aka Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man) 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

I notice he has a "coven" under him. Do you consider the MAN to be more powerful or him + his coven = more powerful? I play organization vs individuals as hunted a bit differently, so I want to be sure how you see this.

 

Surprisingly tough question.

 

The Conjure Man can always attract more followers if he loses the current coven. So it's the MAN who's essential to the Hunted...without his influence, the Mountain Occult would dry up and blow away.

 

That said, though, Obeah's coven and connections are what make up the NCI part of the Hunted. I suppose the coven is a convenience for Obeah the Man; they're not necessary to him, but his NCI would suffer if he lost them -- so even though MOST of the power is in "Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man," he is MORE powerful with his coven than without them.

 

Him + his coven = more powerful (but him - his coven = still bad news for Ali)

 

3. Hunted: Elemental Force 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)

Elemental Force would be appropriate, but Fed and I are only trying to share agent level organizations. We are trying to keep the power house groups seperate. Do you mind if I change this or are you set on an elemental based enemy group?

 

Change away! I picked them as a Hunted because they were one of the listed villain groups of your universe, and the elemental theme sounded like a good match for an element-powered PC. But you may re-invest those points into any Hunted you like.

 

4. Susceptibility: Very Hot and Dry Environment (only in waterform) 1d6 damage per Turn (Uncommon)

I see your Elemental Control is only in hero id and your multipower is not, which is fine. What action do you need to change into your hero id? I do not see instant change or anything else related, so I just want to be sure I understand how you see your transformation. Disad looks fine, just need a bit of clarification.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know. I originally had two Multipowers; turning one of them into an EC (Only In Hero ID) was Fedifensor's inspiration. I'm not very familiar with EC as a build because I usually don't use it (yeah, I'm a Multipower kinda girl).

 

Perhaps I could speak to Fed about dropping the OIHID? Originally, the Susceptibility/Vulnerability Limitations just applied to Chalice when she was in her Waterform, but I didn't take the OIHID because A] Chalice's waterform isn't her hero ID, just the special effect of one of her powers, and B] since she can turn it on and off as a zero phase action, it doesn't seem like much of a change.

 

Powers' date=' skills and stats look peachy.[/quote']

 

The concept was mine all mine -- but the build itself is a mosaic of work from three other HERO builders, all much better at the crunching than I am; Zed, Fed and Dr. Anomaly. Thanks, gentlemen.

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Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

 

That's the new, updated build. I have a few questions for Fedifensor that I need to take up with him, but nothing major, mostly "why this" or "why not that." I do think the STUN is too low.

 

 

 

You did read the bio? All of the bio? Ooooo...you're a dedicated GM (or a flaming masochist, but that works too).

 

No, you didn't miss anything. My thought was that even though Ali moved away from Cumberland Gap, the cloud of rumour and suspicion still surrounds her in the death of her father, and all it would take is one phone call to find out about it.

 

So Ali can't afford to get into a situation where someone might check her background, or they'll find out about the odd, water-related death of Joseph Mattheson. In her Secret ID, she has to keep her nose clean, avoid being questioned or investigated.

 

OK. I am going to drop your Elemental Force hunted and move some stuff around. I will let you know the end results tomorrow morning.

 

Surprisingly tough question.

 

The Conjure Man can always attract more followers if he loses the current coven. So it's the MAN who's essential to the Hunted...without his influence, the Mountain Occult would dry up and blow away.

 

That said, though, Obeah's coven and connections are what make up the NCI part of the Hunted. I suppose the coven is a convenience for Obeah the Man; they're not necessary to him, but his NCI would suffer if he lost them -- so even though MOST of the power is in "Obeah Fortunatis, the Conjure Man," he is MORE powerful with his coven than without them.

 

Him + his coven = more powerful (but him - his coven = still bad news for Ali)

 

 

Ok, I like the idea and the group. I am going to make HIM an as powerful + group = more powerful. So, he would have agent level followers. So if they all show up to the party = bad news, just agents = meh, just him = errr. :D

 

 

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know. I originally had two Multipowers; turning one of them into an EC (Only In Hero ID) was Fedifensor's inspiration. I'm not very familiar with EC as a build because I usually don't use it (yeah, I'm a Multipower kinda girl).

 

Ok. Keep the Hero ID for EC is fine, I just think the disad should apply to you as a whole... not just when manifesting water powers in the EC. So, you really DONT like standing under a lot of hots lights on the stage :sneaky:

 

Perhaps I could speak to Fed about dropping the OIHID? Originally, the Susceptibility/Vulnerability Limitations just applied to Chalice when she was in her Waterform, but I didn't take the OIHID because A] Chalice's waterform isn't her hero ID, just the special effect of one of her powers, and B] since she can turn it on and off as a zero phase action, it doesn't seem like much of a change.

 

I will take to Fed about his thoughts on the build.

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