A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

[Ragdoll]

Okay, I've got another one I've worked up, and I'm wondering if it's just too 'odd'. Any critiques are appreciated. In short, the character is a large amorphous blob, made of nanobots. It's roughly the size of a man. It's a highly advanced alien probe that made a bad crash landing on earth, and most of it's memory banks and some of it's physical structure was damaged. When it begins the game it only has a few abilities related mostly to it's physical body or it's raw computational speed. It can 'eat' anything by sort of using it's body to engulf and dissolve the object in question it can also analyze the object to learn about it, which it typically does in any given circumstance 'first'. It has few skills to illustrate that's it's slowly learning. It's original memory files and skills are 'slowly' being reconstructed from partially corrupted original files in the computer's background (think subconscious), the same goes for it's structural damage.

 

Currently it's self repair system was the worst damage and is being worked on. Currently it can only self repair very, very slowly (it's REC stat/month like a normal character). It's a bit clueless about earth and it's technology and create problems for itself and it's teamates. It's also a bit of a cold fish as it doesn't understand human emotions (Psych lim: Stoic).

 

It currently has a fatal flaw. Upon it's crash landing, it destroyed an electrical power substation. The massive electrical discharge caused a minor damage to it. If it's hit and stunned by another electrical attack it has a small chance to go berserk, a sort of 'safe mode' where it simply attacks anything moving or not until it's system reboots.

 

Once again, thoughts and suggestions appreciated. =)

 

Statistics

10/30STR[00]; 16DEX[18]; 20CON [20]; 11BOD[02]; 20INT[10]; 10EGO[00]; 12PRE[02]; 10COM[00]; 13PD[11]; 9ED[05]; 3SPD[04]; 6REC[00]; 0END[-20]; 45STN[19]

 

[71 points]

 

0 END on STR [5]

0 END on 6" Running [6]

0 END on 2" Swimming [1]

 

Fully Resistant Defenses [11]

Armour 4 rPD/4 rED [12]

 

Nanobot Life Support [43] points

-10 Self Contained Breathing

-03 No Need to Eat/Drink (Can Eat Anything)

-01 Sleep 8 Hours/Week

-09 Safe in Low Pressure/Vac, High Pressure, High Radiation, Intense Cold, Intense Heat

-20 Immune to Bacteria/Poisons

 

Endurance Reserve: REC 1, END 90; only recovers when dissolving (-1/4) [10]

 

43 MP: Nanomorphic Abilities

u1 Surface Adhesion: Clinging at STR; Cannot Resist KB (-1/4), Costs END -1/2, Requires Stretching Tricks roll (-1/2)

u2 Squeezing Through: Desolidification; Cannot move through solids (-1/2), Does not protect vs. attacks (-1)

u1 Assimilation: 1 pip RKA; No Range (-1/2), No KB (-1/4), NND +1; Continuous +1; Does Body +1; 0 END (+1/2)

u2 Whole Mass Extension: Stretching: 8" 3x's END (-1)

u1 Mass Engulfment: +20 STR; No Effect Figured Chars (-1/4); Only for Grapples/Squeezes (-1/2) [11]

u2 Sustained Computational Mode

-Increased Arc of Perception (360 Degree) [5]

-Eidetic Memory [5]

-Absolute Time Sense [3]

-Lightning Calculator [3]

-Speed Reading/1 [4]

u1 Matter Analyze (Detect: Physical Objects (INT+7 Roll): Discriminatory; Analyze, Rapidx10); Concentrate 0 DCV throughout (-1); Uses END -1/2 [30]

u2 Read Data (Detect: Data In A Computer (INT+8 Roll), (Radio Group): Discriminatory; Analyze; Rapidx10,000; Concentrate 0 DCV throughout (-1); Uses END -1/2 [40]

 

+1 CSL with HtH [5]

+1 OSL [10]

Language: English (North American - Fluent) [1]

3 Jack of All Trades

3 Linguist

3 Scholar

3 Scientist

3 Traveler

3 Stealth 12-

1 Mimicry 8-

1 Disguise 8-

 

Total: 250 points

 

 

DISADVANTAGES + 100

Berserk when Stunned by an Electrical Attack (Uncommon, Go 8-, Recover 14-) [10]

DF: Amorphous off-white colored blob! (NC, EXTREME, Detected by Common Senses) [25]

Physical: Machine Body/Intellect that doesn't understand earth culture or technology (Freq, Fully) [25]

Stickler for Details (Very Common, Strong) [20]

Stoic (Common, Total) [20]

Scientific Curiosity (Common, Strong) [0]

[DusterBoy]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

Yes, it's weird, but there's no reason it couldn't be a PC. The rest of the team would some time to get used to their strange new teammate though.

[bubba smith]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

Reminds me of gloop and gleep the formess fearles wonders from the herculoids

[SimComm]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

Ragdoll:

A very interesting character!

I have actually run something similar in the past, and I would to suggest that you might want to remove berzerk (perhaps use enrage instead?) Berzerk always makes PCs (and the GM) nervous.

I would also recommend the character to eventually buy shapeshifting.

Then at least he/she could blend in. It does make interacting much more fun! (And you can change forms like putting on clothes )

 

-SC

[Doug McCrae]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with the concept. After all, the first superhero, Superman, is an alien who fell to Earth. Your character is not that different from Warlock, formerly of the New Mutants.

 

The problem I see is with his personality. He doesn't seem much of a team player and not just because of the berserk. Why would the other PCs invite this guy to join a superhero team? Now probably they will, because players usually observe the 'PC halo' and are kind that way. But it seems pretty obvious you're relying on that.

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

The problem I see is with his personality. He doesn't seem much of a team player and not just because of the berserk. Why would the other PCs invite this guy to join a superhero team? Now probably they will' date=' because players usually observe the 'PC halo' and are kind that way. But it seems pretty obvious you're relying on that.[/quote']

 

Could be this being manages to do some good on its own, possibly even something fairly high-profile. So, we have this oddball alien that seems friendly enough, but that nobody really understands.

 

I surmise that the authorities contain the creature (politely!) and study it for a while. The results are inconclusive and the creature does not choose to be contained for long. Dilemma time - they COULD get nasty and put the creature in serious containment, but that would be seriously upping the ante. Nobody knows how the creature would react (it has been "nice" so far, but one never knows), or if it has some friends people don't know about.

 

So, trying to place it with a superteam (assuming both sides are OK with that) may be seen as a good idea. The creature will be under fairly steady observation from various quarters as it interacts with our world. Plus, if it does turn nasty, there will be some high-powered individuals in the immediate area who can help take it down.

 

Alternatively, the introductory scenario could have the rest of the team rescuing this being from some Evil Overlord's lab. In best comic book tradition, the creature ends up sort of adopting the team and refusing to leave.

[Ragdoll]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

Thanks much for the input fellows. It really helps me gel this character. =)

 

The problem I see is with his personality. He doesn't seem much of a team player and not just because of the berserk. Why would the other PCs invite this guy to join a superhero team?

 

Yes, this was my concern as well. The berserk is something that I felt was moderately appropriate to the character given the damage he sustained in the crash. Though it's one of those things I intend to buy off with experience eventually through play. The idea of an occasional pulse of electricity that kicks the alien's O.S. into a sort of safe mode where the safe mode is 'consume anything nearby you.' seemed like a good idea to me, and since it has such a low frequency of happening, I thought it might make an interesting complication for the character and might be something the team or the alien itself could lament over, or at least turn to analyze.

 

I'd eventually intended have the alien's self repair systems slowly eliminate that. If you think the berserk may be a bit too severe, could you recommend another disadvantage that might be tied in with his electrical encounter that might cause similar difficulties? I'm not looking for anything crippling, just something that will cause him some trouble until it is bought off. I'd originally given him 2x's stun from electricity but that seemed so common to me and I was really looking to make this guy unique even down to the disadvantages if I could. =)

 

As to why he'd associate with others. I'd had it in my mind that he was originally sent to earth to survey it. So even though he doesn't remember that, I thought the rather broad based limitation 'Scientific Curiosity' would cover a good reason why he might stick around on a team of paranormals, some of which who's powers are bound to clearly defy explanation and who, being PC's, are usually running into other paranormals and all sorts of evil plots, magic, etc, etc.

 

Perhaps though, I might need a narrower focused psych limitation? Any suggestions would be helpful. =)

 

Berzerk always makes PCs (and the GM) nervous.

 

Thanks for the input, Sim. You and Doug seem to be on the same page as to the berserk. If I can't find another type of disadvantage to replace it I will likely reduce it to enraged to simulate a more controlled 'safe mode' but still a dangerous one if he tries to 'dissolve' one of the bad guys while kicked into safe mode. =)

[Fireleaper]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

Just out of curiosity what prevents the assimilation power from doing damage?

[Ragdoll]

Re: A good character addition to a team, or just too 'wierd' for a team?

 

Just out of curiosity what prevents the assimilation power from doing damage?

 

Haven't 'quite' nailed that down yet. More then likely some kind of energy based force field that based around something like high tech force fields, and not just like a fire field or something of the like. Energy fields would be a likely way to stop/contain the thing. That's what it arrived in, the small ship containing it had it englobed by small energy field so if it was activated prematurely it wouldn't accidentally eat through the hull.

 

The assimilation power is really just a way for the probe to recharge its endurance reserve in a dramatic way. Like say the team defeats a bunch of gang members/drug smugglers at the docks, and the probe after a protracted battle sloshes it's form over one of the nearby transport vans and eats the thing, or it tears up a section of roadway of eats through a fence, etc, etc.

 

Mostly I've recently become interested in characters who's powers run off endurance reserves with novel ways to recharge them after a battle. Like a psionic that recharges by drawing power from his defeated foes, etc, etc. That sort of thing.