Looking for playability criticisms

[Doc Samson]

Hi all. I am trying to get some of my friends to start up a game again and wanted to have character ready in the hopes I am successful. Please my character below and let me know what you think from a playability standpoint. While I have a lot of experience making characters (especially Bricks), it has been a long time since I have played and this will be our first 6E game. On a side note, I roughly based his power levels on the Brick's section of Champions (it was posted as a sneak peak a few months back) as I seem to make Brick's that are either too durable or not durable enough. The character is a Man-Thing/ Swamp Thing(/ Heap) homage.

 

We will likely be playing a 6E standard superhero game. Thank you in advance for replies.

 

Character Name: Protean

Alternate Identities: Eric Emmelman

 

CHARACTERISTICS

Val Char Base Points Total Roll Notes

30 STR 10 20 30 15- HTH Damage 6d6 END [3]

13 DEX 10 6 13 12-

20 CON 10 10 20 13-

18 INT 10 8 18 13- PER Roll 13-

20 EGO 10 10 20 13-

20 PRE 10 10 20 13- PRE Attack: 4d6

8 OCV 3 25 8

8 DCV 3 25 8

3 OMCV 3 0 3

8 DMCV 3 15 8

9 PD 2 7 9/24 9/24 PD (0/15 rPD)

9 ED 2 7 9/24 9/24 ED (0/15 rED)

5 SPD 2.0 30 5 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

10 REC 4 6 10

60 END 20 8 60

14 BODY 10 4 14

48 STUN 20 14 48

12" Running 12 0 12m

4" Swimming 4 0 4m

4" Leaping 4 0 4m

205 Total Characteristics Points

 

SKILLS

Cost Name

6 +2 with a small group of attacks (Grab, Move Through, and Strike)

3 Deduction 13-

3 Science Skill: Behavioral Psychology 13-

3 +1 with any three pre-defined Skills (Deduction, SS: Psychology, Tactics)

3 Tactics 13-

7 Teamwork 14-

25 Total Skills Cost

 

POWERS

Cost Power END

40 Plant and Wood Powers: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); all slots Unified Power (-1/4)

 

3f 1) Desolidification (affected by Fire Attacks), Invisible Power Effects (Inobvious to [sight Group]; +1/4) (50 Active Points); Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 5

 

3f 2) Growth (+30 STR, +10 CON, +10 PRE, +6 PD, +6 ED, +6 BODY, +12 STUN, +3m Reach, +24m Running, -12m KB, 801-6,400 kg, +4 to OCV to hit, +4 to PER Rolls to perceive character, 5-8m tall, 3-4m wide) (50 Active Points); Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) 5

 

4f 3) Selective Growth: (Total: 50 Active Cost, 36 Real Cost) Stretching 16m (16 Active Points); Unified Power (-1/4) (Real Cost: 13) plus +30 STR (30 Active Points); Linked (Stretching; -1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) (Real Cost: 20) plus Indirect (Source Point is the same for every use, path is from Source Point to target (the ground); +1/4); Unified Power (-1/4) for up to 16 Active Points of Stretching (4 Active Points) (Real Cost: 4) 6

 

3f 4) Tunneling 24m through 8 PD material, Fill In (50 Active Points); Limited Medium Limited (soil and rock only) (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 5

 

7 Rooting: Clinging (normal STR) (10 Active Points); Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) 0

 

20 Damage Negation (-4 DCs Physical, -4 DCs Energy) (40 Active Points); Linked (Growth; -1/2), Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) 0

 

3 Extra Limbs (10) (5 Active Points); Linked (Selective Growth; -1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 0

 

18 Self-Contained Ecosystem: Life Support (Eating: Character does not eat; Longevity: Immortal; Self-Contained Breathing) 0

 

33 Regeneration (1 BODY per Turn), Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection (character can’t be Resurrected if killed by fire) (41 Active Points); Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4) 0

 

36 Resistant Protection (15 PD/15 ED) (45 Active Points); Unified Power (-1/4) 0

170 Total Powers Cost

400 Total Character Cost

 

COMPLICATIONS

Cost Complication

5 Dependence: Water Takes 3d6 Damage (Very Common; 1 Day)

15 Distinctive Features: Shambling Swamp Creature (Easily Concealed; Extreme Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

20 Hunted: Sulfuria (fire powers, industrial espionage skills) Infrequently (As Pow; NCI; PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find; Harshly Punish)

15 Social Complication: Public Identity Frequently, Major

10 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x STUN Fire (Common)

10 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x BODY Fire (Common)

75 Total Complications Cost

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Vegetation

Eye Color: Muck

Height: 2.00 m

Weight: 100.00 kg

Description: When using his power, Protean appears as a humanoid mass of muck and vegetation.

 

BACKGROUND

Eric Emmelman was a compliance consultant for a biotechnical research facility that was developing a process to regenerate damaged tissue to treat wounds and heal injuries. He fell into a bioreactor after an explosive hidden by a saboteur detonated.

 

PERSONALITY

Eric Emmelman has a background in industrial and organizational psychology that he utilizes to aid himself in making sound decisions. He uses his analytical nature and strong common sense to support his teammates both in and out of battle.

 

QUOTE

Protean's voice sounds like gurgling water.

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Protean's primary power is the ability to turn his body into a mass of vegetation and muck. In this form he is able to flow through small openings and allow solid objects will pass through him without harm. He is also capable of absorbing flora from the environment to become super-strong and highly resistant to injury. Protean heals quickly and can recover from seemingly fatal wounds. An additional side effect of his power is that he seems to have stopped aging.

 

CAMPAIGN_USE

Metamorph Brick

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

I think you're going to burn through END pretty quick. If running around with full Growth and using all 60 STR, you're using 5 (Growth) + 6 (STR) + 1-4 (Running) = 12-15 END per phase. That's assuming you aren't using the Muck Body power at the same time. So, with your REC, maybe a Turn and a half. I'd save up experience points to buy Half END on up to 60 STR.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Good point. I'll make some adjustments. Thank you.

 

(edit) Wow, your right. My END expenditure is almost as bad even when not using Growth. I will definitely need to look into some END advantages when I get experience points.

[OddHat]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Nice Swamp Thing tribute. As a GM, I'd want him to be a bit physically tougher. He's a big target at full size, and will be getting hit a lot. As his defences stand now, he is pretty safe against normals with guns, which I'm sure was part of your design consideration. But even with the damage negation, he's at serious risk against another Super built on similar points. If you want him to engage in battle against other Supers at full size, I'd consider either upping his defenses or giving him extra DCV when grown.

 

Also, I don't personally think you need "Shape Shift: Muck"; it's not going to have a practical effect beyond anyone else's costume or skin texture, so no need to pay points for it.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Heya Oddhat. Thank you for the input

 

I agree, his defenses should be beefed up a bit when grown. I will make some adjustments.

 

I was actually hoping to use the Shape Shift to ooze through spaces the character could normally not fit into per Touch Group Shape Shift without having to resort to Desolidification ("alter his actual physical shape or mass distribution (though his total mass would not change), thus allowing him to, for example, slip out of bonds, radically alter his form, or within reason to fit through openings a human-shaped being cannot fit through (the classic meaning of “shifting shape”)").

 

On a side note, boy do I regret not being able to grab a spot in your group (my daughter had just been born). I haven't been able to get anything going since.

[OddHat]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

I agree' date=' his defenses should be beefed up a bit. I will make some adjustments.[/quote']

 

I've been playing around more lately with Bricks who have much higher PD than ED. It doesn't quite fit the classic Champions build style, but it often makes sense in context, and it can be handy when points are hard to come by.

 

I was actually hoping to use the Shape Shift to ooze through spaces the character could normally not fit into per Touch Group Shape Shift without having to resort to Desolidification ("alter his actual physical shape or mass distribution (though his total mass would not change), thus allowing him to, for example, slip out of bonds, radically alter his form, or within reason to fit through openings a human-shaped being cannot fit through (the classic meaning of “shifting shape”)").

 

Ah, hadn't thought about that. Still might be worth folding into his MP, though.

 

On a side note, boy do I regret not being able to grab a spot in your group (my daughter had just been born). I haven't been able to get anything going since.

I regret that as well, and you're always welcome.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

I beefed up his defenses a little while grown. I had to resort to Unified Power on some powers to free up some points though from a play point of view it may be appropriate as I kind of look at his various abilities as extensions of one power.

I've been playing around more lately with Bricks who have much higher PD than ED. It doesn't quite fit the classic Champions build style' date=' but it often makes sense in context, and it can be handy when points are hard to come by.[/quote']

More good advice, thanks.

Ah' date=' hadn't thought about that. Still might be worth folding into his MP, though.[/quote']

I think I may do that and convert it to Desolidification after all to add another defensive option.

I regret that as well' date=' and you're always welcome.[/quote']

I am very flattered to hear that. I also just recently moved to Cherry Hill. I would love to play again but I am still at the mercy (or lack thereof) of a chaotic schedule. What day/ times do you get together (heck I would be thrilled just to be around other adults for a change)? (Let me know if you prefer a private message.)

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

I like it

 

I see two themes of Limitation (only when touching ground & unified power).

 

I might build some core powers that don't have either and then have a secondary group that is essentially a 'bonus' when touching the ground.

I also tend to restrict the use of unified power to big stuff only (the opposite of Steve Long's examples) as the smaller active point abilities are arguably easier to affect with multiple-target adjustment powers anyway.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

I like it

 

I see two themes of Limitation (only when touching ground & unified power).

 

I might build some core powers that don't have either and then have a secondary group that is essentially a 'bonus' when touching the ground.

I also tend to restrict the use of unified power to big stuff only (the opposite of Steve Long's examples) as the smaller active point abilities are arguably easier to affect with multiple-target adjustment powers anyway.

Thank you for the feedback.

I had a similar thought and wanted to leave his core stats and life support without limitations so he would not be a complete normal in situations where the team has been "de-powered".

[Matt Holck]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

when grown

does 12d6

has -4d6 damage negation

so a 12d6 attack does 8d6 average 28 stun versus 24 defense so takes 4 stun

runs 36 m

 

when stretched

does 12d6

so a 12d6 attack does 42 stun versus 24 defense so takes 18 stun

runs 12 m

stretches 16 m

[Ranxerox]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

This character lacks a way to get around in a hurry. Maybe the team has its own jet and that is not a problem. Otherwise you might want to address it.

 

IMO, a cool way for this character to get around would a megascale teleport only to swamps/bogs/wet lands requiring 5 minutes extra time. It would be defined as allowing is body to return to nature where he is and then reforming it somewhere else. Not sure where you would get the points to pay for power, but if you could find them it seems like it would be a good fit for this character.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

This character lacks a way to get around in a hurry. Maybe the team has its own jet and that is not a problem. Otherwise you might want to address it.

 

IMO, a cool way for this character to get around would a megascale teleport only to swamps/bogs/wet lands requiring 5 minutes extra time. It would be defined as allowing is body to return to nature where he is and then reforming it somewhere else. Not sure where you would get the points to pay for power, but if you could find them it seems like it would be a good fit for this character.

 

It should be easy enough to add to the multipower.

[Balabanto]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Hi all. I am trying to get some of my friends to start up a game again and wanted to have character ready in the hopes I am successful. Please my character below and let me know what you think from a playability standpoint. While I have a lot of experience making characters (especially Bricks), it has been a long time since I have played and this will be our first 6E game. On a side note, I roughly based his power levels on the Brick's section of Champions (it was posted as a sneak peak a few months back) as I seem to make Brick's that are either too durable or not durable enough. The character is a Man-Thing/ Swamp Thing(/ Heap) homage.

 

We will likely be playing a 6E standard superhero game. Thank you in advance for replies.

 

Character Name: Protean

Alternate Identities: Eric Emmelman

 

CHARACTERISTICS

Val Char Base Points Total Roll Notes

30 STR 10 20 30 15- HTH Damage 6d6 END [3]

13 DEX 10 6 13 12-

20 CON 10 10 20 13-

18 INT 10 8 18 13- PER Roll 13-

20 EGO 10 10 20 13-

20 PRE 10 10 20 13- PRE Attack: 4d6

8 OCV 3 25 8

8 DCV 3 25 8

3 OMCV 3 0 3

8 DMCV 3 15 8

9 PD 2 7 9/24 9/24 PD (0/15 rPD)

9 ED 2 7 9/24 9/24 ED (0/15 rED)

5 SPD 2.0 30 5 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

10 REC 4 6 10

60 END 20 8 60

14 BODY 10 4 14

48 STUN 20 14 48

12" Running 12 0 12m

4" Swimming 4 0 4m

4" Leaping 4 0 4m

205 Total Characteristics Points

 

SKILLS

Cost Name

6 +2 with a small group of attacks (Grab, Move Through, and Strike)

3 Deduction 13-

3 Science Skill: Psychology 13-

3 +1 with any three pre-defined Skills (Deduction, SS: Psychology, Tactics)

3 Tactics 13-

7 Teamwork 14-

25 Total Skills Cost

 

POWERS

Cost Power END

40 Plant and Wood Powers: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); all slots Unified Power (-1/4)

 

3f 1) Desolidification (affected by Fire Attacks), Invisible Power Effects (Inobvious to [sight Group]; +1/4) (50 Active Points); Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 5

 

3f 2) Growth (+30 STR, +10 CON, +10 PRE, +6 PD, +6 ED, +6 BODY, +12 STUN, +3m Reach, +24m Running, -12m KB, 801-6,400 kg, +4 to OCV to hit, +4 to PER Rolls to perceive character, 5-8m tall, 3-4m wide) (50 Active Points); Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) 5

 

4f 3) Selective Growth: (Total: 50 Active Cost, 36 Real Cost) Stretching 16m (16 Active Points); Unified Power (-1/4) (Real Cost: 13) plus +30 STR (30 Active Points); Linked (Stretching; -1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) (Real Cost: 20) plus Indirect (Source Point is the same for every use, path is from Source Point to target (the ground); +1/4); Unified Power (-1/4) for up to 16 Active Points of Stretching (4 Active Points) (Real Cost: 4) 6

 

3f 4) Tunneling 24m through 8 PD material, Fill In (50 Active Points); Limited Medium Limited (soil and rock only) (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 5

 

7 Rooting: Clinging (normal STR) (10 Active Points); Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) 0

 

20 Damage Negation (-4 DCs Physical, -4 DCs Energy) (40 Active Points); Linked (Growth; -1/2), Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) 0

 

3 Extra Limbs (10) (5 Active Points); Linked (Selective Growth; -1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 0

 

18 Self-Contained Ecosystem: Life Support (Eating: Character does not eat; Longevity: Immortal; Self-Contained Breathing) 0

 

33 Regeneration (1 BODY per Turn), Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection (41 Active Points); Power Only Works While Character Is Touching The Ground (-1/4) 0

 

36 Resistant Protection (15 PD/15 ED) (45 Active Points); Unified Power (-1/4) 0

170 Total Powers Cost

400 Total Character Cost

 

COMPLICATIONS

Cost Complication

5 Dependence: Water Takes 3d6 Damage (Very Common; 1 Day)

15 Distinctive Features: Shambling Swamp Creature (Easily Concealed; Extreme Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

20 Hunted: Sulfuria (fire powers, industrial espionage skills) Infrequently (As Pow; NCI; PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find; Harshly Punish)

15 Social Complication: Public Identity Frequently, Major

10 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x STUN Fire (Common)

10 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x BODY Fire (Common)

75 Total Complications Cost

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Vegetation

Eye Color: Muck

Height: 2.00 m

Weight: 100.00 kg

Description: When using his power, Protean appears as a humanoid mass of muck and vegetation.

 

BACKGROUND

Eric Emmelman was a quality control consultant for a biotechnical research facility that was developing a process to regenerate damaged tissue to treat wounds and heal injuries. He fell into a bioreactor after an explosive hidden by a saboteur detonated.

 

PERSONALITY

Eric Emmelman has a background in behavioral psychology that he utilizes to aid himself in making sound decisions. He uses his analytical nature and strong common sense to support his teammates both in and out of battle.

 

QUOTE

Protean's voice sounds like gurgling water.

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Protean's primary power is the ability to turn his body into a mass of vegetation and muck. In this form he is able to flow through small openings and allow solid objects will pass through him without harm. He is also capable of absorbing flora from the environment to become super-strong and highly resistant to injury. Protean heals quickly and can recover from seemingly fatal wounds. An additional side effect of his power is that he seems to have stopped aging.

 

CAMPAIGN_USE

Metamorph Brick

 

Characteristics: His DEX is too low and his EGO is too high. He doesn't have the traditional mental weakness, but most agents act between 13-17. Unless he can stop every attack that comes at him from minions cold, this is a bad idea. Raise his CON to 30, so that he can actually withstand punishment from his equals. Having a DMCV of 8 is wasted on this character. Those points are better spent on his PD and ED, or a special defense, which should probably be Power Defense because it fits. OCV and DCV are too high, drop them by 1 each and put those points into his PRE or his REC. His STUN total is way too low for a brick, you also might want to consider raising that. 30 isn't unheard of for a brick as far as PD is concerned, maybe even 32 to stop cold most basic agent attacks.

 

Powers: What exactly is the special effect of his desolidification? Now, I'm a pretty strict guy and everyone knows that, but if your powers are more or less wood and vine oriented, desolidification doesn't really fit. If this were my game, I probably wouldn't allow your "Wood Character" to have that ability. Those points may, in fact, be better spent on some of the skills the character has picked up. Stretching should be bought outside the MP, this is a much better construction for both battlefield control and survivability. Some GM's hate this, because stretching is now more effective with high STR than Blast ever was, so clear it with them first. Why exactly three extra limbs? By special effect, this guy should be able to grow or remove as many vegetative appendages as he wants. The Damage Negation is meaningless at this power level, and may be too effective pound for pound. I would recommend re-spending those points on skills to justify your character's profession, life, and tactical sense.

 

Resurrection: Disallowed. It makes the Hunted disadvantage meaningless. "I'm going to kill you."

 

"Too bad, Sulfuria, I live forever."

 

The regeneration is fine, but there's no reason EVER to make a PC unkillable. Seemingly unkillable is fine, but I have big problems when I run when people create characters for whom there is no risk of death unless EVERYONE can't be killed. This has the additional possibility of ticking off your fellow players. You should watch your step with this one.

 

Skills

 

A non-military character with tactics? This needs to be justified. Does he have a KS of military history? Does he love the Civil War? Was he raised by a clone of Irwin Rommel?

 

More importantly, because your character grows to massive size, who cares about your DCV? Just buy +2 with Punch, Grab, and Haymaker instead of spending a ton of points on OCV. Your massive strength allows you to crush people with the scenery at will.

 

This guy's a quality control consultant for a biotechnology company? How about SC: Biotechnology, 11-(Minimum), Systems Operation, PS: Engineer, and a host of other skills he'd need to actually do his job. You can get those points out of Resurrection.

 

Complications:

 

Your susceptibility is meaningless if you have resurrection, as you can't actually die from it. See above. This is not a disadvantage if you have ressurrection, and is worth no points.

 

Your Distinctive Feature is also illegal, as you cannot have an easily concealed distinctive feature that is simultaneously detectable by common senses. Unless he smells like a rotting pile of muck all the time, then he's not getting any points for it.

 

Kudos to you, however, for being vulnerable to fire and taking a fire using hunted. That takes spine, that is, if you don't have resurrection.

 

Again, the public ID is kind of a wash. Everyone can find you, but in the end, so what, as you have no dependents and can't be killed. Without people you care about to maim, torture, and kidnap, the GM has no purchase to tell good stories about your character.

 

These opinions are solely the opinion of Balabanto and do not reflect your personal GM. However, as written, I would not allow this character in a game I ran.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Your susceptibility is meaningless if you have resurrection' date=' as you can't actually die from it.[/quote']

 

Susceptibility? Am I missing something? Or are you talking about the Dependence? Just curious and confused.

 

As to the regeneration -- I'd change "only while character is touching the ground" to "only while character is touching soil/vegetation/wetlands/etc." It would be more of a Limitation (like -1/2) but it makes sense that he's not getting much regenerative bonus from, say, standing on concrete. Perhaps add a minor environmental side effect, as he pulls the "life" out of the surrounding vegetation and into himself. Just ideas, take or discard as you wish.

 

[Edit: The environmental SE would mean that he could feasibly suck the life out of an area and have to move elsewhere to keep regenerating.]

 

And regarding the resurrection, I'd have to disagree with disallowing it as long as there's a reasonable way an enemy could keep him from regenerating. Putting his ashes in a jar on a shelf, perhaps as a trophy, would do it just fine.

 

And all Hunteds aren't out to kill the target, so resurrection doesn't necessarily make the Hunted meaningless. After all, it says "Harshly Punish," not "Kill." I read a short story about someone making a deal with the devil for eternal life. And then got put in prison for life. Sure, he couldn't die, but an eternity in prison (or in Protean's case, getting constantly burned alive for Sulfuria's amusement) would truly suck.

[Balabanto]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

All dependence/susceptibility things follow the same rules. Sorry about the typo.

 

The problem is that the enemy has to A) Know the PC can't die, Have enough intelligence to figure out a way of stopping it, and C) It can't look like metagaming when it happens. Trust me, any power like this is bound to make the player cry foul as soon as you set this up seriously.

 

As for the ashes in a jar on a shelf, that takes fifteen seconds to stop. I mind scan for Sulfuria until I find her. I read her mind to find out where she is and where she put the jar. I go there. He's alive. I really think these complications aren't really too complicated to deal with. There has to be a way that the character can be permanently killed, or there's no risk, Bolo. I'm sorry to disagree with you, but the primary heroic value isn't justice. It's sacrifice. It takes the poignancy out of every roleplaying situation when one of the PC's can just walk into any deadly situation, fix the problem in a way that would kill any other character in the game, with absolutely no risk to himself, and be back in a few weeks. Eventually, the other PC's will start to ask questions like "Fire? Again? Really?" and "Why am I here?"

[brokefang]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Not actually a criticism, but a query toward the whole regen/resurrection thing. Would a Suppress (a chemical agent for plot purposes, being as he is plant life, source of powers and so forth) against his regen not work to counter that? Sulfuria, tired of igniting him and then having him slither out of a swamp, uses her espionage skills to steal a super strong plant suppressant and spray him with it, noting as she does that now he is vulnerable to death? Or is that a little too cliche?

 

I play (or did play, at this point) in a supers game with a regenerating character with fire issues. How much would it compromise the character here to have reduced regen vs. Fire? Don't know how you could model it in 6th (don't have the books right now) but that makes Sulfuria a lot more threatening. And if I read your objections right Balabanto, would solve most of your problems with a non-threatening nemesis and an invincible character.

 

Merely my own thoughts on the matter. I know my character got a lot more careful after spending a few weeks slowly healing his burns, despite being able to romp through a wall of tiny demons who struggled to make a lasting mark.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Wow, great feedback all. Thank you.

 

when grown

does 12d6

has -4d6 damage negation

so a 12d6 attack does 8d6 average 28 stun versus 24 defense so takes 4 stun

runs 36 m

 

when stretched

does 12d6

so a 12d6 attack does 42 stun versus 24 defense so takes 18 stun

runs 12 m

stretches 16 m

His primary combat power is meant to be Growth but I know from past experience that many situations (narrow hallways for example) don't allow it. The Stretching + STR power allows him to contribute (with less overall effectiveness) when Growth is not possible. Please note that the Damage Negation is meant to counteract the fact that his DCV is 4 when grown which makes multiple attacks, move throughs, and called shots (if allowed in the game) to be very dangerous.

 

This character lacks a way to get around in a hurry. Maybe the team has its own jet and that is not a problem. Otherwise you might want to address it.

 

IMO, a cool way for this character to get around would a megascale teleport only to swamps/bogs/wet lands requiring 5 minutes extra time. It would be defined as allowing is body to return to nature where he is and then reforming it somewhere else. Not sure where you would get the points to pay for power, but if you could find them it seems like it would be a good fit for this character.

This is a cool idea. Thank you.

 

It should be easy enough to add to the multipower.

Seconded.

 

Characteristics: His DEX is too low and his EGO is too high. He doesn't have the traditional mental weakness, but most agents act between 13-17. Unless he can stop every attack that comes at him from minions cold, this is a bad idea. Raise his CON to 30, so that he can actually withstand punishment from his equals. Having a DMCV of 8 is wasted on this character. Those points are better spent on his PD and ED, or a special defense, which should probably be Power Defense because it fits. OCV and DCV are too high, drop them by 1 each and put those points into his PRE or his REC. His STUN total is way too low for a brick, you also might want to consider raising that. 30 isn't unheard of for a brick as far as PD is concerned, maybe even 32 to stop cold most basic agent attacks.

 

Powers: What exactly is the special effect of his desolidification? Now, I'm a pretty strict guy and everyone knows that, but if your powers are more or less wood and vine oriented, desolidification doesn't really fit. If this were my game, I probably wouldn't allow your "Wood Character" to have that ability. Those points may, in fact, be better spent on some of the skills the character has picked up. Stretching should be bought outside the MP, this is a much better construction for both battlefield control and survivability. Some GM's hate this, because stretching is now more effective with high STR than Blast ever was, so clear it with them first. Why exactly three extra limbs? By special effect, this guy should be able to grow or remove as many vegetative appendages as he wants. The Damage Negation is meaningless at this power level, and may be too effective pound for pound. I would recommend re-spending those points on skills to justify your character's profession, life, and tactical sense.

 

Resurrection: Disallowed. It makes the Hunted disadvantage meaningless. "I'm going to kill you."

 

"Too bad, Sulfuria, I live forever."

 

The regeneration is fine, but there's no reason EVER to make a PC unkillable. Seemingly unkillable is fine, but I have big problems when I run when people create characters for whom there is no risk of death unless EVERYONE can't be killed. This has the additional possibility of ticking off your fellow players. You should watch your step with this one.

 

Skills

 

A non-military character with tactics? This needs to be justified. Does he have a KS of military history? Does he love the Civil War? Was he raised by a clone of Irwin Rommel?

 

More importantly, because your character grows to massive size, who cares about your DCV? Just buy +2 with Punch, Grab, and Haymaker instead of spending a ton of points on OCV. Your massive strength allows you to crush people with the scenery at will.

 

This guy's a quality control consultant for a biotechnology company? How about SC: Biotechnology, 11-(Minimum), Systems Operation, PS: Engineer, and a host of other skills he'd need to actually do his job. You can get those points out of Resurrection.

 

Complications:

 

Your susceptibility is meaningless if you have resurrection, as you can't actually die from it. See above. This is not a disadvantage if you have ressurrection, and is worth no points.

 

Your Distinctive Feature is also illegal, as you cannot have an easily concealed distinctive feature that is simultaneously detectable by common senses. Unless he smells like a rotting pile of muck all the time, then he's not getting any points for it.

 

Kudos to you, however, for being vulnerable to fire and taking a fire using hunted. That takes spine, that is, if you don't have resurrection.

 

Again, the public ID is kind of a wash. Everyone can find you, but in the end, so what, as you have no dependents and can't be killed. Without people you care about to maim, torture, and kidnap, the GM has no purchase to tell good stories about your character.

 

These opinions are solely the opinion of Balabanto and do not reflect your personal GM. However, as written, I would not allow this character in a game I ran.

Thank you for your time, it is much appreciated. I will take it all into consideration. I will try to answer a few concerns below.

1. When Grown his CON is 30, PD and ED are 30, PRE is 30, and STUN is 60. I am not sure my GM would allow me go higher than those values for a new character in a standard superhero game but I will ask.

2. Desolidification - He's a Man-Thing/ Swamp Thing homage. Man-Thing is made of muck and can squeeze through small spaces. That is the effect I was looking for.

3. Extra Limbs are set at 10 just because I'm not sure what I would do with more than that.

4. Resurrection - Good point. If allowed I would make it that he cannot Resurrect from fire damage.

5. Skills - I'll spare you the boring details about my job but I do compliance consulting for scientists in many different fields that I do not have a background in. IMHO a good coach doesn't need to be a player himself, he just needs to be able to identify and cultivate someone else's talent. I intended Tactics and Deduction to represent the character's problem solving abilities and not reflect military training.

6. The Distinctive Features - I was not aware the combination was illegal. I will look into it.

[edit] Distinctive Features - I am not sure what to do here. Due to past experiences playing monster characters, I wanted to make sure the character could take part in all that stuff in between combats (in our games combats tend to make up less of the game than roleplaying). I originally wanted the character to be able to return to a human, or human-like form but be scary monster when "powered-up". What would be the best way to do this? I thought an easily concealable Distinctive Features would represent that he is not as scary when not using his power. Should I be looking into an Alternate ID or Multiform instead?

 

Susceptibility? Am I missing something? Or are you talking about the Dependence? Just curious and confused.

 

As to the regeneration -- I'd change "only while character is touching the ground" to "only while character is touching soil/vegetation/wetlands/etc." It would be more of a Limitation (like -1/2) but it makes sense that he's not getting much regenerative bonus from, say, standing on concrete. Perhaps add a minor environmental side effect, as he pulls the "life" out of the surrounding vegetation and into himself. Just ideas, take or discard as you wish.

 

[Edit: The environmental SE would mean that he could feasibly suck the life out of an area and have to move elsewhere to keep regenerating.]

 

And regarding the resurrection, I'd have to disagree with disallowing it as long as there's a reasonable way an enemy could keep him from regenerating. Putting his ashes in a jar on a shelf, perhaps as a trophy, would do it just fine.

 

And all Hunteds aren't out to kill the target, so resurrection doesn't necessarily make the Hunted meaningless. After all, it says "Harshly Punish," not "Kill." I read a short story about someone making a deal with the devil for eternal life. And then got put in prison for life. Sure, he couldn't die, but an eternity in prison (or in Protean's case, getting constantly burned alive for Sulfuria's amusement) would truly suck.

I have a Dependence on the sheet. I think that is what he meant. As above, I will have fire disable the Resurrect. It will also make the Hunted a lot more scary. I picture a Hunted confrontation being extremely difficult when his team is not around. I need to flesh out the motivations of the Hunted. All I have so far is that she was the saboteur that created the explosion that gave him his powers and was also given powers by the same blast (what the heck was in that reactor?).

 

Not actually a criticism, but a query toward the whole regen/resurrection thing. Would a Suppress (a chemical agent for plot purposes, being as he is plant life, source of powers and so forth) against his regen not work to counter that? Sulfuria, tired of igniting him and then having him slither out of a swamp, uses her espionage skills to steal a super strong plant suppressant and spray him with it, noting as she does that now he is vulnerable to death? Or is that a little too cliche?

 

I play (or did play, at this point) in a supers game with a regenerating character with fire issues. How much would it compromise the character here to have reduced regen vs. Fire? Don't know how you could model it in 6th (don't have the books right now) but that makes Sulfuria a lot more threatening. And if I read your objections right Balabanto, would solve most of your problems with a non-threatening nemesis and an invincible character.

 

Merely my own thoughts on the matter. I know my character got a lot more careful after spending a few weeks slowly healing his burns, despite being able to romp through a wall of tiny demons who struggled to make a lasting mark.

Sounds good to me. It wasn't my intention to make some encounters trivial but only to represent the many times characters like the Heap, Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, and Solomon Grundy seem to survive death.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

To the resurrection power:

 

In most Supers games I've played in, death isn't really a likely occurrence in any event. The only characters who tend to routinely take BOD are those who can Regenerate it, and the only ones that tend to die are those who can Resurrect. The primary risk in most Supers games tends to be failure allowing the villain to get away, and possibly allowing others to suffer horrible fates. Maimed and dead Supers ("dead" as in "not coming back") tend to be uncommon at best, other than in high lethality iron age games. With that in mind, I think the impact of Resurrection is very much campaign dependent.

 

On the topic of DEX, he's considerably more agile than a typical human. Just how agile should a muck-monster be? One of the big strengths of 6e, IMO, was the decoupling of DEX from competency in combat, and I'm quite disappointed that this was not used to lower DEX across the board, especially in Supers games. Balabanto refers to justifying abilities - why is DEX (top level human up into legendary) a prerequisite for being a Super, rather than something which must be justified on a character by character basis? The only reason I can see is that it is a holdover from prior editions, leading to a desire to avoid the need to re-stat DEX for an ongoing campaign.

 

The Distinctive Features could be replaced by a Multiform or an OIAID (that could also replace "only touching ground" for many of his abilities). Another option would be the application of limitations to disadvantages which I believe is addressed in APG - that is, take the full DF - unconcealable - and apply a limitation for the fact it only applies in Alternate ID.

 

This would also allow the character to have a secret, rather than public, ID if desired, as his alternate form need not be known to be the muck-monster, although that could frustrate your ability to participate outside combat unless his teammates know his secret. It could also be helpful outside combat to not be recognized as a member of the super-group ("Hey, it's that guy who can become a muck-monster").

 

I question whether the Hunted is not, perhaps, more powerful, given you are vulnerable to her attacks and they negate your resurrection. In my view, the Fire vulnerability remains relevant - the character can be incapacitated by BOD damage until he resurrects just as he can be incapacitated by STUN damage until he recovers. An alternative to STUN and BOD vulnerability from Fire might be a form of Draining susceptibility on some of his abilities as the heat/fire dries out his vegetative body.

 

Perhaps adding hair, eye color, etc. for human form would be wise (so you're not left stuttering when asked to describe his normal form).

 

To the Tactics skill, I see the point of "how did he learn this". At the same time, however, how many players do not apply the best possible tactics to their characters' actions without shelling out any points for a skill?

 

To other skills, this is also very campaign-dependent. In many games, your free Everyman PS is good enough to allow you to perform your occupation. If he's required to pay for "SC: Biotechnology, 11-(Minimum), Systems Operation, PS: Engineer, and a host of other skills he'd need to actually do his job", I would expect these to carry value commensurate with their cost in the game. Otherwise, requiring a bunch of skills to have an occupation simply imposes a character tax, and encourages players to design characters with jobs like "Fast Food Fry Cook" and "Itinerant Hobo".

[Doc Samson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

Thank you Hugh. I will definitely take one of your recommendations for how to handle the Distinctive Features. They all seem solid so I have to decide which will play the best for me. I made a few very small changes to his background description to represent that he is not a research scientist himself but an industrial consultant.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

As for the ashes in a jar on a shelf' date=' that takes fifteen seconds to stop. I mind scan for Sulfuria until I find her. I read her mind to find out where she is and where she put the jar. I go there. He's alive. I really think these complications aren't really too complicated to deal with. There has to be a way that the character can be permanently killed, or there's no risk, Bolo. I'm sorry to disagree with you, but the primary heroic value isn't justice. It's sacrifice. It takes the poignancy out of every roleplaying situation when one of the PC's can just walk into any deadly situation, fix the problem in a way that would kill any other character in the game, with absolutely no risk to himself, and be back in a few weeks. Eventually, the other PC's will start to ask questions like "Fire? Again? Really?" and "Why am I here?"[/quote']

 

First off, no need to say sorry for disagreeing with me. We all have opinions, and they frequently differ. My feelings aren't hurt when someone disagrees with me, and I trust you would be similarly okay if we ended up agreeing to disagree. So no hard feelings. And since Doc S has altered the resurrection to not heal fire damage, a lot of this is moot for this particular point but still potentially interesting on an intellectual level.

 

I can agree that the danger of the Hunted may be diluted if the Hunted can't kill the target, but not completely cancelled out. I could see a GM saying, "Okay, his attempts to kill you are, in effect, just a temporary inconvenience, so I'm going to call that 'Mildly Punish' instead."

 

On a related note, are your villains Hunted by any hero groups or government agencies? Are their goals to always kill the villains? If not, are your villains getting the points for Harshly Punish for enduring the threat of capture and incarceration?

 

As to your example of solving the ashes in a jar on a shelf problem, that reminds me of a Red Dwarf episode where Cat suggested they laser their way through a door. Kryten replied, "An excellent suggestion, sir, with but two minor problems. One, we have no batteries for the lasers. And two, we have no lasers." IOW, if your teammates don't have Mind Scan and Telepathy, it's still a problem.

 

Heck, even if they do, any villain worth his salt could take care of the ashes any number of ways to defeat Mind Scan/Telepathy. Give the jar to a random minion to put somewhere, and don't tell me where. Launch the ashes into orbit. Give the jar of ashes to another supervillain as a present. Put the ashes into a stainless steel container instead of a jar and drop it in the nearest lake. Or just buy some freakin' Mental Defense. C'mon, Mike, I know you better than that. I seriously doubt you'd make anything *that* easy for the players to solve.

 

BTW, Doc S, I like the idea of fire damage not being regenerated. It fits the concept, and takes care of a big potential problem all in one fell swoop (or swell foop, as my dad likes to day).

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

There has to be a way that the character can be permanently killed' date=' or there's no risk, Bolo. I'm sorry to disagree with you, but the primary heroic value isn't justice. It's sacrifice. It takes the poignancy out of every roleplaying situation when one of the PC's can just walk into any deadly situation, fix the problem in a way that would kill any other character in the game, with absolutely no risk to himself, and be back in a few weeks.[/quote']

 

So, what is the average life span of characters in your game? How common is PC death? To me, the ability of the PC to walk into a deadly situation, fix the problem in a way that would kill any other character in the game and be back is a Cool Thing this character is able to do, and such a setup allows the character to be shown off. Just like the only guy immune to radiation can manually put the nuclear control rods back into place, and the bulletproof Brick can walk through a hail of gunfire.

 

I'm sure your games aren't binary results of "complete success" or "everybody dies". There are lots of ways to fail that don't involve the character dying, and lots of challenges that the ability to return from the grave can't solve. Supers games feature tons of these.

[incrdbil]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

The Character is plenty Tough. when Grown, hes packing 30 PD/ED and 4 DC's of negation. Given an average dice roll, a 15d6 blast wlll do about 9 stun. if the game centers around 12d6 attacks, you'll take no damage against those.

 

The low Dex isn't a problem. Even if henchmen and minions out DEX you, they can't really hurt you, unless they pack flamethrowers.

 

Heck, sell back some DCV. 6 is plenty for a high defense Brick. Buy up OCV levels--perhaps only usabel withthe extra limbs.

As a GM, I'd say the DMCV seems a little high.

 

Maybe reinvest points saved from DMCV (and limitign the damage negation) into increasing recovery, buying reduced end on powers. (A quick way to mitigate Growth END is the only costs end when activated advantage)

 

I think the Damage Negation should not work versus fire attacks.

[Balabanto]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

First off, no need to say sorry for disagreeing with me. We all have opinions, and they frequently differ. My feelings aren't hurt when someone disagrees with me, and I trust you would be similarly okay if we ended up agreeing to disagree. So no hard feelings. And since Doc S has altered the resurrection to not heal fire damage, a lot of this is moot for this particular point but still potentially interesting on an intellectual level.

 

I can agree that the danger of the Hunted may be diluted if the Hunted can't kill the target, but not completely cancelled out. I could see a GM saying, "Okay, his attempts to kill you are, in effect, just a temporary inconvenience, so I'm going to call that 'Mildly Punish' instead."

 

On a related note, are your villains Hunted by any hero groups or government agencies? Are their goals to always kill the villains? If not, are your villains getting the points for Harshly Punish for enduring the threat of capture and incarceration?

 

As to your example of solving the ashes in a jar on a shelf problem, that reminds me of a Red Dwarf episode where Cat suggested they laser their way through a door. Kryten replied, "An excellent suggestion, sir, with but two minor problems. One, we have no batteries for the lasers. And two, we have no lasers." IOW, if your teammates don't have Mind Scan and Telepathy, it's still a problem.

 

Heck, even if they do, any villain worth his salt could take care of the ashes any number of ways to defeat Mind Scan/Telepathy. Give the jar to a random minion to put somewhere, and don't tell me where. Launch the ashes into orbit. Give the jar of ashes to another supervillain as a present. Put the ashes into a stainless steel container instead of a jar and drop it in the nearest lake. Or just buy some freakin' Mental Defense. C'mon, Mike, I know you better than that. I seriously doubt you'd make anything *that* easy for the players to solve.

 

BTW, Doc S, I like the idea of fire damage not being regenerated. It fits the concept, and takes care of a big potential problem all in one fell swoop (or swell foop, as my dad likes to day).

 

Bolo, that being said, thank you for the compliment. However, I would remind you that not everyone is us. In some games, it will be that easy.

[Balabanto]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

So, what is the average life span of characters in your game? How common is PC death? To me, the ability of the PC to walk into a deadly situation, fix the problem in a way that would kill any other character in the game and be back is a Cool Thing this character is able to do, and such a setup allows the character to be shown off. Just like the only guy immune to radiation can manually put the nuclear control rods back into place, and the bulletproof Brick can walk through a hail of gunfire.

 

I'm sure your games aren't binary results of "complete success" or "everybody dies". There are lots of ways to fail that don't involve the character dying, and lots of challenges that the ability to return from the grave can't solve. Supers games feature tons of these.

 

Of course they aren't. But the problem comes in where the only way to stop the character is to constantly generate fire, because of the massive amount of punishment he can withstand when fire is not on the table. Now, granted, fire is fairly common, and a PC dies in my game about once every two or three years of play. But, no one really comes back from the dead in my game either. Death is meant to be a major story point, and it detracts from the game as a whole when death is a free reboot eighteen months or so down the line.

 

To you it may be a cool thing that this one character can do. But I'm looking at it from the metaperspective of what the rest of the players see, and what they see is "Bob can't be killed, and the rest of us can be." You have to look at the mindset of the average gamer. The average gamer wants his character to be cool. But he doesn't want to constantly feel inferior to the same PC, over and over again.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Looking for playability criticisms

 

To you it may be a cool thing that this one character can do. But I'm looking at it from the metaperspective of what the rest of the players see' date=' and what they see is "Bob can't be killed, and the rest of us can be." You have to look at the mindset of the average gamer. The average gamer wants his character to be cool. But he doesn't want to constantly feel inferior to the same PC, over and over again.[/quote']

 

I must have above-average gamers, then, because I have this same basic situation -- Styx has regeneration; in fact his origin is that he came back from the grave -- and the other PCs aren't jealous. Regeneration is Styx's shtick, not theirs. (Granted, Sentinel can heal BODY, but not an infinite amount and certainly not from death; however, the availability of her Healing likely mitigates any PC fear of death. So it's not a perfect match.)

 

The point being, IMO, that most PCs have their own shticks, and as long as another PC isn't stomping on my shtick, I don't mind so much when he shines at his specialty.

 

I'd think the bigger worry would be that the character can absorb (non-fire) hits all day long. I could see other gamers being more jealous of *that* than of the character being able to laugh at Death on those incredibly rare occasions he would normally show up, scythe in hand.