My son's first character

[quozaxx]

When my son was only 8, I showed him the cool villains pictures from Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks. He loved them. So I told him all about Champions and the games in general. He loved it; unfortunately at the time he wanted his character to not only do EVERY thing, but be unbeatable.

 

So, his character was never made.

 

Jump ahead two years to today (July 27, 2010). I brought up the subject after purchasing a new book. He rekindled his interest. I told him that an all powerful character wasn't as much fun as an imperfect one.

 

He told me that he wasn't a little kid anymore and didn't think that way still. I asked him what kind of character he wanted. He has a poster on his wall of a skeleton riding a motorcycle. He said "How about him?"

 

I told him that was perfect. "What kind of powers would he have?" I said.

 

He said "He can blind people with his eyes". "He can knock people out with his rancid breath." And "His gloves could shoot lasers."

 

I told him that he should have "complications" to overcome. He said "Well, he can only do this stuff in the dark since he's in the dark in the poster". I said "Great. Anything else?" " Yeah, he can't be around acid." I replied "How about acid attacks hurt him more?"

 

He agreed.

 

I said. "OK, does he have a secret ID? You know a "daytime" job?" He said yes. "What does he do for a living." He popped right out. "His name is Rob. He's a lawyer." Slightly surprised by the quick response. I said "Perfect" and gave him a high five.

 

"Well, to make a great character you need a background story. How did he get his powers?"

 

"He was helping out a client when the client's brother came in and shot Rob. He's rushed to the hospital. When he gets there the doctor tried out a new experimental drug to save his live to keep him alive. That changed him into who he is today."

 

So the build began....

 

I started with characteristics. "How strong is he?"

"How high can it go up to?"

"60 can lift a decent sized car."

"75"

"I thought you wanted the skeleton character. I tell you what, we'll build you a strong character later."

"OK, Then 25".

"Good, 23 is good for DEX - I'll explain that later.

"OK"

"How about 20 for CON? So he's not as easy to knock out.

"OK"

"How smart is he? 13, 14, 15?

"14"

"EGO, A high EGO great for mentalists, but he's doesn't use mental powers. How about 13?

"OK"

"Presence, how scary do you want him

"40"

"Wow. A little high, how about 30?

"35"

"OK, 35 it is.

I get out the 6th Edition Vol 2. and show him the characters. We agree on OCV and DCV of 7, OMCV, and DMCV of 3, and SPD of 5. PD and ED of 20.

 

Then round out the rest with REC 15, END 30 (even though I doubt I'll start having him use it until he gets more used to the game), BODY of 13, and STUN of 50.

 

More later...

[starblaze]

Re: My son's first character

 

I want to see this character. This is what I love about Hero, just making characters are fun!

[phookz]

Re: My son's first character

 

I'd like to see it as well - sounds cool.

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

I'll try to get the character up soon. Work has kept me from getting the final touches on his character.

 

...

 

After we got his base characteristics, I showed him the headings: Skills, Perks, Talents, Martial Arts, Powers, and Complications.

 

He immediately said he wanted Martial Arts. I showed him some to choose from and he chose Kung Fu. (It probably didn't hurt that we say Karate Kid earlier in the week). He chose them all the kung fu possibilities. I told him that he wouldn't have any room for skills or Powers. So he chose the ones that sounded the best.

Block, Dodge, Escape, Joint lock/Grab, Kick, Punch, Throw, Tiger/Dragon Claw, and Weapon Element Axes, Maces and Picks.

 

 

Then we looked at skills: We chose: PS: Lawyer (PRE based), Criminology, Deduction, Bureacratics, Streetwise, Acrobatics, Breakfall, Climbing, Combat Driving, Concealment, conversation, Persuasion, and Forensic Medicine at the Familiarity Level.

 

From Perks, We chose a motocyle and Money: Well off.

 

I told him that since his character is only a superhero in the dark, it would be "cheaper" to break down some of his characteristics to have the limitation Only in darkness, or at night (-1/4). So, 10 STR, 20 PRE, 5 CON, 10 PD (Resistant), and 10 ED (Resistant) were moved to the Powers category with that limitation.

 

We added Nightvision.

 

Then his 3 Powers (in an MP fixed) as he described them.

Gaze: Sight Group Flash 12d6, Dark only (see above) (-1/4)

Dark Blast: Blast 12d6, Dark only (-1/4)

Rancid Breath: Blast 8d6 NND (or AVAD All or nothing) (-1/2), Limited Range (-1/4), Drak only (-1/4)

 

Complications:

Vulnerability 2X STUN, 1 1/2X BODY Acid attacks.

Psy: Loves to have fun

Distinctive: Scary skull face (easily concealed)

Social: Secret ID

Hunted: Determine later (probably VIPER)

 

I haven't had a chance to iron out the final details yet. I may move things around. Add 2-wheeled motorized vehicles, oratory, or some other things. Haven't got around to asking him yet.

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

[ATTACH]36640[/ATTACH]

[starblaze]

Re: My son's first character

 

Looks cool, can I join your game?

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

Here's a pic of his poster:

[ATTACH]36645[/ATTACH]

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

Looks cool' date=' can I join your game?[/quote']

 

Unless you live in our state I'm not sure if that would be possible. It's going to be a face-to-face game.

[DusterBoy]

Re: My son's first character

 

Here's a pic of his poster:

[ATTACH]36645[/ATTACH]

 

Yeah, baby! Tell your son that's an awesome character he's got.

 

Oh yeah, and give him a ton of rep from me. You can do that, right?

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

Well, now we are already starting to make a second character for my son, and we haven't even played a game with the first one yet.

 

But, who can blame him. Making characters is fun.

 

The next character is based on a T-shirt he owns. The T-shirt has an large eyeball, with two-legs that end in claws, (no arms), and wings that look like they are made out of water.

 

Too bad I don't have a picture of that one.

 

"OK, son, what powers does he have"

"He can fly, has sharp claws, and has water powers.

"Great. What is his story?

"He's from another planet. He works with computers and came across a secret that the other aliens didn't want him to see. He flew away on a space ship and crashed on our planet. His space ship got damaged and he lost his computer chip that the secret was on. He's now on our planet looking for that chip. The other aliens are trying to also get that chip back.

"That's creative, Is he from another planet or another dimension?

"What's a dimension?"

"Um, that's hard to explain."

A long pause. "He's from another planet.

"What other skills does he have besides computers?

"Electronics and Mechanics.

"That's good.

"The picture doesn't show a mouth, how does he communicate?

"With his mind.

"That's called Telepathy. Great.

"For now we'll call him 'eyeball'.

"How does he protect himself? How about a force field?

"OK.

"What does his water powers do. Try to think of 3 things.

"OK, he can make a large wave.

"To attack a large area?

"Sure. and he can put out fires.

"I'll call that Dispel, anything else?

"He can move water.

"I'll write that up as Telekinesis, liquid only.

[phookz]

Re: My son's first character

 

"Great. What is his story?

"He's from another planet. He works with computers and came across a secret that the other aliens didn't want him to see. He flew away on a space ship and crashed on our planet. His space ship got damaged and he lost his computer chip that the secret was on. He's now on our planet looking for that chip. The other aliens are trying to also get that chip back.

 

That's cool - love the intrigue. How old is this kid? It's easy to forget just how creative children can be.

 

Very cool stuff.

[DusterBoy]

Re: My son's first character

 

Yeah. . . your son's a terrific kid, quozaxx. I see that alien as a member of country's/species' spy organization who is dodging some very nasty assassins who need that chip back to protect themselves from being "outed" as serious crooks.

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

Well, my son and I finally got a chance to play his first adventure.

 

First, I go together his favorite wrestling action figures. 2 toy cars, and one toy motorcycle big enough to put one of the figures on. Of course, he chose Undertaker to be his hero Diablo.

 

Note: his character was originally called Skeleflex, but on thinking on a batter name he said “How about Diablo - that’s Spanish for devil” Surprised that my son knows any Spanish not on a fast food restaurant menu. I said “That’s a great name”.

 

His powers only activate in the dark. They can keep activated in the daytime, but he has to change in the dark. (It’s only a -¼ Limitation).

 

Me: “It’s just after work, it’s not quite dark yet to change”.

Him “I go home.”

“Is that so he can get his motorcycle?

“I was hoping that his car could change into his motorcycle”

To inspire his first game I said “Sure, why not. On your way home you come to a stoplight, a convertible pulls up next to you. Make a Perception roll. It’s there on your sheet.

“It’s 12 minus.

“That means you have to roll under 12 one 3 6-sided dice.”

He makes his roll

“In the convertible, you see the well-known criminal Armadillo in his full Armor.” I show him a picture. “They turn right and drive down the road.

“I follow them.

“You don’t have Stealth, or Shadowing but you do have Combat Driving - it‘s not usually used to follow people, but I‘ll allow it.. So roll that roll. It’s under your Skills section”.

He makes his roll by quiet a bit.

“Great, they don’t seem to notice you following them. They start going down to the “bad” side of town. Abandoned buildings, dark alleys, out-of-business signs. Not a great side of town.

“You said dark alleys. Is it dark enough to change into Diablo?

“Yes, You follow them to an old broken down apartment. They start to go inside. Roll your Perception roll.

He makes it.

“Inside of the convertible is 2 street thugs and Armadillo, inside is 3 more street thugs.

“I’ll go around and sneak in the back.

“You don’t have Stealth, but you can still roll it for 8 or less.

He makes his roll.

“I tumble over to the corner sliding on my side. Getting as close as I can.

“Roll your Acrobatics roll.

He makes his roll

“You see a map laid out on a table. It is a map of the street and the bank. One says ‘OK, when the other 3 get here, we’ll be ready, and then in one hour we’ll hit the bank.’ The other 3 enter.

“Diablo has an idea.

“OK, what’s his idea?

“He’ll get to the armor car first, knock the guards out with his rancid breath. Change clothes with them, and drive up to the bank, pretending to be one of the guards. I’ll then place the guards carefully on the side of the road, and pick them up later.

“That’s a lot to do. Let’s play some of it out.

 

At this point, I make it incredibly easy for him to do what he wanted. The window rolled down for him. He opened the back will a bad STR damage roll, and didn’t injure any of the 3 guards. At 10 years old, I thought he had a good idea. So it went easily.

 

“You’re in the armored car and you approach the bank. You already see Armadillo and 2 thugs in the bank while the other 3 thugs, disguised as regular people are outside of the bank waiting for the armor car.

“I park the car and get out.

“One of the thugs walk by your car limping like he’s injured. You know this is just part of the plan to distract the guards.

“I walk past him so and ask if he’s OK.

“You see the other two thugs. They show you their guns.

“Can I blast him into one of the other two thugs?

“Yes, with something we call Knockback. You roll to see if you hit, then damage, then Knockback. Remember you don’t have to use your blast at full strength if you don’t want to. Full Strength is 12d6. That’s 12 6-sided dice. That could kill a normal person.

“OK, I’ll use only 8 dice.

He hit’s the guy, and does decent damage, but rolls a rotten Knockback roll”

“Well, he’s knocked out, but he basically he’s only knocked down. Go ahead and roll anyways to see if you hit the other guy.

He misses.

“You missed.

“That didn’t go how I planned.

“It never does.

“Now I….”

“Wait it’s their turn. They shoot their guns at you.” ---- “they both miss, now it’s your turn.

“Can I jump up and kick them both at the same time? They are standing close together..

“Yes, roll your Acrobatics roll, and then you’ll have a minus on your roll to hit them.

He makes his rolls, and rolls good damage.

“OK, now what do you do?

“I lock the back of the armored car back up, and drive it around the corner so no one can get into it.

“That’s smart, I’ll give you an experience point for that one.

“I come around to the front of the bank.

“Armadillo is close to the door. One thug is at the cashiers making sure they don’t push the silent alarm, and one thug is back at the vault, which is unlocked because of the arrival of the armored car.

“I sneak in the door and leap to the side like I did before.

He rolls without being asked and makes an incredible roll.

“Armadillo is a tough super villain. I’ll give you one more dice of damage for such a great roll - for surprise.

“Does he have a helmet on?

“Yes,

“So my rancid breath might not work on him?

“Yup, plus his visor is tinted.

“So my gaze may not work either?

“It may work but not as effective.

“Is there anyway I can make my blast stronger?

“Well, there is something called a Haymaker. It takes a long time to perform, but they don’t know you are there. You can add 4 more dice to it.

“I’ll do that.

Some incredible rolls later - the dice like him.

“You knock him out with one shot. He never knew what hit him. Now, if you want, you just knocked out a major villain with one shot. You can do a Presence roll and scare them into doing what you want.

“I’ll have Diablo tell them….

“Be Diablo, Use his voice and his words.

“Put the money back, drop your weapons, and run away.

“You don’t want them to go to jail

“Oh, yeah. ‘Put the money back, drop your weapons, and sit in the corner.

Good roll later

“They do what you say. The teller is shaking, He says “Are you after the money? Can I call the police now?”

“No, I’m one of the good guys. Call the police.

He leaves. End of first game. He gave it an 8 out of 10. I gave him 3 xp total. He used it on Stealth.

[wcw43921]

Re: My son's first character

 

Viva Diablo! My compliments to your son on his first great adventure--to both of you I say, Well Done.

[Pollypanda2000]

Re: My son's first character

 

When my son was only 8, I showed him the cool villains pictures from Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks. He loved them. So I told him all about Champions and the games in general. He loved it; unfortunately at the time he wanted his character to not only do EVERY thing, but be unbeatable.

 

So, his character was never made.

 

Jump ahead two years to today (July 27, 2010). I brought up the subject after purchasing a new book. He rekindled his interest. I told him that an all powerful character wasn't as much fun as an imperfect one.

 

He told me that he wasn't a little kid anymore and didn't think that way still. I asked him what kind of character he wanted. He has a poster on his wall of a skeleton riding a motorcycle. He said "How about him?"

 

I told him that was perfect. "What kind of powers would he have?" I said.

 

He said "He can blind people with his eyes". "He can knock people out with his rancid breath." And "His gloves could shoot lasers."

 

I told him that he should have "complications" to overcome. He said "Well, he can only do this stuff in the dark since he's in the dark in the poster". I said "Great. Anything else?" " Yeah, he can't be around acid." I replied "How about acid attacks hurt him more?"

 

He agreed.

 

I said. "OK, does he have a secret ID? You know a "daytime" job?" He said yes. "What does he do for a living." He popped right out. "His name is Rob. He's a lawyer." Slightly surprised by the quick response. I said "Perfect" and gave him a high five.

 

"Well, to make a great character you need a background story. How did he get his powers?"

 

"He was helping out a client when the client's brother came in and shot Rob. He's rushed to the hospital. When he gets there the doctor tried out a new experimental drug to save his live to keep him alive. That changed him into who he is today."

 

So the build began....

 

I started with characteristics. "How strong is he?"

"How high can it go up to?"

"60 can lift a decent sized car."

"75"

"I thought you wanted the skeleton character. I tell you what, we'll build you a strong character later."

"OK, Then 25".

"Good, 23 is good for DEX - I'll explain that later.

"OK"

"How about 20 for CON? So he's not as easy to knock out.

"OK"

"How smart is he? 13, 14, 15?

"14"

"EGO, A high EGO great for mentalists, but he's doesn't use mental powers. How about 13?

"OK"

"Presence, how scary do you want him

"40"

"Wow. A little high, how about 30?

"35"

"OK, 35 it is.

I get out the 6th Edition Vol 2. and show him the characters. We agree on OCV and DCV of 7, OMCV, and DMCV of 3, and SPD of 5. PD and ED of 20.

 

Then round out the rest with REC 15, END 30 (even though I doubt I'll start having him use it until he gets more used to the game), BODY of 13, and STUN of 50.

 

More later...

 

It sounds like your son is a very creative young man, and this is a great bonding father/son experience for the two of you. Very cool guys.

[starblaze]

Re: My son's first character

 

He actually had a really good plan. I mean it didn't work as exactly intended, but plan never do, but still good plan.

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

On the next game we played my son's other character Eyeball, later to be joined again by Diablo

 

Eyeball is a human sized eyeball with legs, claws, and wings. He also has Computer Programming, Electronics, and Mechanics.

 

I started off where his origin story left off. He was being in his personal space craft followed by a military vehicle. I told him that his ship had been damaged, and that he had to exit Warp Drive at an unknown location. This solar system only has one sun, and it looks like the 3rd planet has a lot more water than his planet.

 

His character doesn't have self-contained breathing, so he started to head for Earth (the 3rd planet). He was being followed.

 

I told him there was a large forest area, and just beyond that was a city.

 

He was going to just jump out of his ship and fly away, but his pursuer telepathecally contacted him and told him to land and give up. I reminded him that his ship was damaged and that the military ship could blow his ship away easily.

 

He paused, not looking happy. I told him that if he was stuck for an idea, he could roll his INT roll.

 

He did and made it. I reminded him that the military ship was about twice as large as his, and probably couldn't fly through the forest as easily as his space craft could.

 

He flew in. Just before getting out of sight the other alien said "You can't hide in there forever. I can wait and when you come out, I'll get you."

 

He rolled his INT roll.

 

I pointed out that his skills mentioned above. He asked if his ship has auto pilot. I said yes, and he may be able to rewire it so it could fly like he's still in it. He made his rolls.

 

The space ship flew onward and he flew out of his ship undetected (Stealth roll), The other alien followed his ship. He then realized that his computer chip was missing. It could be anywhere and he started to look for it. In fact, he had his chip in the back of his ship that had a large hole in it. It could literally be in Warp space, in our solar system, or anywhere on Earth.

 

Meanwhile.... Diablo was on patrol, when overhead flew two space ships from the forest area. The ship in front was flying erratically and was in front. It looked like it could hit a building. He raced after it.

 

He shot his blast and knocked the ship to an empty parking lot. (It was late at night). The other alien came out of his ship and approached the wreckage. He asked what was going on and the alien told him that the alien he was tracking is under arrest and not to stop him.

 

There was no one in the crashed ship and the alien asked Diablo to help him look for this criminal.

 

He paused. The player knew that Eyeball was not a criminal.

 

I told him that Persuasion also tells if someone is lying. He rolled it. He told the alien "no" and drove off to the forest by himself.

 

The alien went to where he last saw Eyeball and Diablo drove his motorcycle to the forest. They found each other. I played Eyeball for a few minutes so he wouldn't have to talk to himself.

 

..."I am looking for a very small item. It may be in the forest."

"How big is it?'

"About the size of a Flexnar."

He laughed. "I have no idea of how to respond to that."

.... "What's a Flexnar?"

"It's about the size of this leaf."

 

The other alien approached. "Don't resist me. I'm taking this criminal in. "

 

Diablo fired his blast at him. The alien left "I will be back with reinforcement!" He said when he left.

 

To be continued when we play again...

[DusterBoy]

Re: My son's first character

 

Dan-dan-dahhhh! Tres cool, quozaxx. Hug and rep your son for me, will ya? It looks like you got the makings of a great adventure here.

[quozaxx]

Re: My son's first character

 

They have to be kinda short adventures. An hour at the most, or he gets distracted. Typical 10-year old.

[DusterBoy]

Re: My son's first character

 

Well, at least he's got an attention span.

[Burrito Boy]

Re: My son's first character

 

Well, now we are already starting to make a second character for my son, and we haven't even played a game with the first one yet.

 

But, who can blame him. Making characters is fun.

 

The next character is based on a T-shirt he owns. The T-shirt has an large eyeball, with two-legs that end in claws, (no arms), and wings that look like they are made out of water.

 

Too bad I don't have a picture of that one.

 

"OK, son, what powers does he have"

"He can fly, has sharp claws, and has water powers.

"Great. What is his story?

"He's from another planet. He works with computers and came across a secret that the other aliens didn't want him to see. He flew away on a space ship and crashed on our planet. His space ship got damaged and he lost his computer chip that the secret was on. He's now on our planet looking for that chip. The other aliens are trying to also get that chip back.

"That's creative, Is he from another planet or another dimension?

"What's a dimension?"

"Um, that's hard to explain."

A long pause. "He's from another planet.

"What other skills does he have besides computers?

"Electronics and Mechanics.

"That's good.

"The picture doesn't show a mouth, how does he communicate?

"With his mind.

"That's called Telepathy. Great.

"For now we'll call him 'eyeball'.

"How does he protect himself? How about a force field?

"OK.

"What does his water powers do. Try to think of 3 things.

"OK, he can make a large wave.

"To attack a large area?

"Sure. and he can put out fires.

"I'll call that Dispel, anything else?

"He can move water.

"I'll write that up as Telekinesis, liquid only.

 

Sounds like he's gonna be a Lovecraft fan when he gets older.