Military baseb character with an eyepatch

[TheNaga]

I have been told I make mainly monstrous looking heroes. This character I would like to make is a human male who was a member of the United States Army Rangers and lost an eye in combat. I do not have a name for him yet. If he has now superpowers right now I would want it to be immortality.

 

I was thinking he might have metal-laced bones which are fused on a molecular level. Would following about metal-laced skeleton for Heroes (http://www.herogames.com/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=4) be the way i should go about setting up his metal laced skeleton? I bet you think if he can get a metal-laced skeleton he could get a cybernetic eye to replace one he lost? Would it be better for him to have his missing eye replaced with a cybernetic eye?

 

I know that the clothing he wears offers 6 PD/6 ED and invisibility to Infrared Perception.

 

I not sure if the ponytail in his description below would fit since his a military-based character.

 

Unknown is a very attractive human male. He is muscular, sleek muscles rippling under tan skin. Near the top of the back of his head is a red ponytail that reaches down to his elbows is the only hair he has on his head. His face is rectangular. Over his left eye he wears an eyepatch while his right eye is blue in color. A scar runs straight down from beneath the right eye and straight up from the right eyebrow.

[Lucius]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

I do not have a name for him yet.

 

I have a suggestion. If you want to create Nick Fury, just call him "Nick Fury" and base his abilities off what is in the comics. If you haven't noticed, we do that kind of thing all the time. Susano has a whole website devoted to adaptations of characters from all kinds of media.

 

By the way, do you have Hero Designer yet?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary Commando

[phoenix240]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

I have been told I make mainly monstrous looking heroes. This character I would like to make is a human male who was a member of the United States Army Rangers and lost an eye in combat. I do not have a name for him yet. If he has now superpowers right now I would want it to be immortality.

 

I was thinking he might have metal-laced bones which are fused on a molecular level. Would following about metal-laced skeleton for Heroes (www.herogames.com/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=4) be the way i should go about setting up his metal laced skeleton? I bet you think if he can get a metal-laced skeleton he could get a cybernetic eye to replace one he lost? Would it be better for him to have his missing eye replaced with a cybernetic eye?

 

I know that the clothing he wears offers 6 PD/6 ED and invisibility to Infrared Perception.

 

I not sure if the ponytail in his description below would fit since his a military-based character.

 

Unknown is a very attractive human male. He is muscular, sleek muscles rippling under tan skin. Near the top of the back of his head is a red ponytail that reaches down to his elbows is the only hair he has on his head. His face is rectangular. Over his left eye he wears an eyepatch while his right eye is blue in color. A scar runs straight down from beneath the right eye and straight up from the right eyebrow.

 

The concept is fine but I'm not sure what you're asking. You certainly don't need board approval for any characters you create. If its suggestions for abilities you might want to check out the (many) Hero System write ups for Wolverine among others.

[Tasha]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

I have been told I make mainly monstrous looking heroes. This character I would like to make is a human male who was a member of the United States Army Rangers and lost an eye in combat. I do not have a name for him yet. If he has now superpowers right now I would want it to be immortality.

 

I was thinking he might have metal-laced bones which are fused on a molecular level. Would following about metal-laced skeleton for Heroes (www.herogames.com/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=4) be the way i should go about setting up his metal laced skeleton? I bet you think if he can get a metal-laced skeleton he could get a cybernetic eye to replace one he lost? Would it be better for him to have his missing eye replaced with a cybernetic eye?

 

I know that the clothing he wears offers 6 PD/6 ED and invisibility to Infrared Perception.

 

I not sure if the ponytail in his description below would fit since his a military-based character.

 

Unknown is a very attractive human male. He is muscular, sleek muscles rippling under tan skin. Near the top of the back of his head is a red ponytail that reaches down to his elbows is the only hair he has on his head. His face is rectangular. Over his left eye he wears an eyepatch while his right eye is blue in color. A scar runs straight down from beneath the right eye and straight up from the right eyebrow.

 

Ok when I build any Hero System Character and especially when I am creating Champions characters I work with the following framework.

 

1) Write down the basic Concept for the character. What you have above is a great starting place

2) I write down powers in plain english one power/ability per line

3) I make sure that the character has at least one Attack power/ability (ie Martial Arts with Martial Strike is good or for a heroic game a Gun or Sword works as well)

4) I ask myself what defenses the character has (this is very important for champions, it's virtually answered for you in most heroic genre games)

5) I make sure that the character has some mode of movement that is more than the base 12m of Running. (Also very important for Champions, not so much for heroic games)

6) I also like to make sure that the character has one signature ability. This could be anything from Regeneration, to Lockpicking/Security systems.

7) I start to work on Complications. Usually the background that came with the Basic Concept suggests some Complication, while powers and other abilities might suggest others.

8) I go through the list of Powers and Abilities and write down what Hero System Power(s) are needed to make that ability (I don't write it up, no math or numbers yet)

9) Then I start figuring out the write up for the character. I work on what ever part (Skills or Characteristics or Powers or Complications) that I have ideas for at the moment. I build all powers at Campaign Averages.

 

Read the post linked in my Signature below to see how I figure out powerlevels of Defenses, stats etc.

 

You see posts like mine because I would love to see you post your ideas for powers first, then see what the forum goers think.

 

I think that the hardest part of understanding Hero is learning that there is no "right" way to write things up. The only limit for what an ability does is your imagination, knowledge of the system and how many points are allowed for a single power by the GM, and your total character point budget.

 

A Metal Laced Skeleton is usually purchased as Resistant Defenses, because bullets would bounce off your metal coated bones most of the time.

 

A patch COULD be a complication (missing one Eye no peripheral vision -2 per roll on blind side) or it could just be flavor text. ie Nick Fury never seemed to be inconvenienced by having a missing eye. It all depends on how realistic the GM wants their campaign.

A cybernetic eye could be an excuse for Telescopic Vision and Sight Per Levels along with Low Light, IR and UV enhancements.

Whether he has a cyber eye and what it does is totally your choice.

[Lucius]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Why don't you try building Fury as he was leading the Howling Commandos. You know, a Human soldier in WWII, but hypercompetent.

 

Once you have that as a base, try building up to the quasi-superheroic more-James-Bond-than-James-Bond comic book spymaster.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And the Howling Palindromedaries

[TheNaga]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Where can I look at to help me in setting up his Hand-to-Hand Combat training get as a US Army Ranger?

 

If was he to be based off of anyone he will be based more off of Snake Plissken.

[phoenix240]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Where can I look at to help me in setting up his Hand-to-Hand Combat training get as a US Army Ranger?

 

If was he to be based off of anyone he will be based more off of Snake Plissken.

 

The Ultimate Martial Artist as a write up for Commando Training

[Lucius]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Dark Champions has military templates or package deals.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

the palindromedary wants to order Bright Champions

[TheNaga]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

How can I have now working for the government? I am think I want him to have a cybernetic eye and and arm.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

How can I have now working for the government?

 

How do you want it to work? This could be background fluff. It could be perks like Contacts and Followers. Or it could be a hassle, such as a Subject to Orders complication. Telling us "he works for the government" is not letting us provide you with any advice. Tell us what you envision the impact of his working for the government will be in-game.

 

I am think I want him to have a cybernetic eye and and arm.

 

Will his cybernetic eye be the one he covers with an eyepatch, or the other eye?

 

And, again, what do you envision them doing? "His left eye is cybernetic, replacing his lost eye" is just background fluff. "His left eye is a cybernetic circle 4" in diameter, which glows red and replaces the vision from that eye" would be a Distinctive Features complication. "His left eye is cybernetic, replacing his sight, providing telescopic and microscopic vision, and capable of perceiving through most substances, other than super-dense materials" is a suite of enhanced senses.

[Bolon]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Look at Richard Marcinko, his books, his background in the Navy Seals and "Under Siege" with Steven Seagal playing him basically. The ponytail would be relaxed dress or black Ops dress. If he is that valuable to get cybernetics, there must be a catch like watched or under orders still. The military has a nice little clause about bringing you back if you have irreplaceable skills or talents that they NEED so he can be drawn back into service if needed.

 

Anything you expect the GM to respect as useful should have points related to it. If you expect to use attractiveness to advantage, spend points on it or if I was GM, it would just be colour you are adding and not affect rolls or gameplay. There is nothing strange about your character or actually unique from a Dark Champions or military fiction viewpoint so I don't really understand what you are asking.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

What military fiction are you reading that features cyborgs? I want some...

[TheNaga]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Would the Novel Cyborg aka The Six Million Dollar Man. count?

[TheNaga]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

I want him to protect the USA for foreign threats.

 

How do I give him photographic reflexes? What book would help out with setting up his photographic reflexes for 6ht edition champions?

 

If does get a cybernetic eye and arm how would I explain how got them?

 

What can I look at to help me with setting up his Metal Laced Skeleton? How do I explain how he got a Metal Laced Skeleton? How would do his armored costume if he has a Metal Laced Skeleton. What characters should I look to help out with him?

 

 

 

Since I am making a supersolider would cybernetics be a good thig for him along with powers gained thru the supersolider program.

[brionl]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

What are photographic reflexes? I've never heard of that.

 

You start with what you want to be able to do, then figure out which powers let you do that.

[TheNaga]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

What are photographic reflexes? I've never heard of that.

 

You start with what you want to be able to do, then figure out which powers let you do that.

The Taskmaster has photographic reflexes (He was able to duplicate almost any physical act he sees after seeing it done by someone else only once).

 

How about this for his photographic reflexes?

80 Photographiv Reflexes: Variable Power Pool (Reflex Memory Pool),), 60 base + 60 control cost, (90 Active Points); all slots Only For Physical Skills The Character Observes In Use (-1/2)

[phoenix240]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Photographic Reflexes can be written up as a Variable Power Pool that only allows the character to mimic physical skills and super skills they have observed

[gojira]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Yes, I think Champions Complete has something very similar, a VPP for skills that have been "absorbed" by a character.

 

I would personally however just buy as much Combat Skill Levels as the campaign allowed, and then say "he mimics the move" as I shift levels around. Way easier.

 

If "Combat Skill Levels" don't work, then maybe Overall Skill Levels, to let him mimic anything.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

John Wrath, Solo Avenger; character sheets are at the bottom of the page.

 

I also did a 6e version when 6e was released as an exercise, long after the campaign ended, because the character was Find Weakness based and I wanted to see if I could work around the loss of Find Weakness in 6e.

John Wrath, 6e

 

An hour with John Wrath

 

By Jeff Brooks

HERO Magazine, October 2003

 

It's a warm afternoon in Millennium City, as I sit in a run down apartment downtown about a half block from the local PRIMUS HQ. The couch I'm sitting on has seen better decades, there are bars on the windows, and from where I sit I can pretty much see the entire place. Strangely the building itself would be as old and run down as the furnishings if this were any city other than the big MC, but as it is the battered coffee table my host's feet are propped up on is probably older than the apartment by at least twenty years.

 

My host looks like an aging "man of action", maybe in his early 40's. The only thing that would hint to a person that didnt know him that he isnt 30 anymore are a few wrinkles around the eyes (one of which is cybernetic), a certain indescribable grizzled hardness to his features (including a large facial scar thru said eye socket), and of course the un-trendy cuban cigar jutting out of his mouth.

 

Finding such a mythical observer who didn't instanly recognize my erstwhile host would be a difficult achievement in its own right. His likeness has been seen, largely unchanged, by several generations of TV watchers over the past two decades.

 

He is the well known and controversial John Wrath, formerly the Silver Avenger of Miami and then of Millennium City after Detroit was detroyed and rebuilt. Not just any Silver Avenger, but one of the first, the chronologically oldest, the longest still in service until very recently, and perhaps the most experienced ever to serve. Though he looks to be in his 40's he is in fact two times older than that and prior to serving in PRIMUS for 19+ years he was in the CIA for a decade and before that was a LRRP Ranger in the Army for two more decades, doing several tours in Nam as leader of the famous Growling Recondos.

 

In all he's served the United States government uninterrupted since the 1950's. The length of his service is so long in fact, it can be measured by the number of times the word decade is used in this article.

 

So how do you talk to somebody older than your grandfather who is still very capable of leaping out the 4th story window onto the back of some rampaging supervillain without a second thought? I've interviewed a lot of supers in my time with HERO Magazine, but this is JOHN WRATH. I mean, my dad used to tell me John Wrath stories from his time in the bush. This guy was on the TV when I was a kid growing up in the 80's, and here he sits like an unaging artifact of the cold war, armed and still very dangerous.

 

I remember when he took down Explosor before he could destroy the Rose Bowl in '82 and when he beat the snot out of the so-called "undefeatable martial artist" Perfecto back in '86 on national TV, which still tops the best wire work movies coming out of Hong Kong for sheer over-the-top martial arts action in my opinion. I'm not embarrassed to admit it, for a few minutes I lost my reporter's composure and was at a bit of a loss for words, fumbling around with my recorder and trying to get my thoughts in order.

...excerpt from: Wrath Article

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Welcome back, and here we go again!

 

I want him to protect the USA for foreign threats.

 

How do I give him photographic reflexes? What book would help out with setting up his photographic reflexes for 6ht edition champions?

 

Others have covered options for the mechanics pretty well. I would note that the VPP you describe would take time to change, and require a skill roll. Removal of these factors requires advantages, totaling +2 to be able to change the pool instantly with no skill rolls required.

 

On a practical note, a VPP requires you to stat out powers on the fly (or the GM to do so on your behalf) and track how all the points are used (your example has 60 real points available at any given time; any more require you to switch something out). It can be complex and cumbersome in play, and is not recommended for inexperienced players due to the need to quickly stat out abilities to keep the game rolling. Given your inexperience with the game system, I would not recommend such a construct, and I would likely not allow it as a GM for those reasons. As well, many GM's frown on the VPP in general due to its flexibility.

 

If does get a cybernetic eye and arm how would I explain how got them?

 

You would write a character history explaining how the character obtained a cybernetic arm and eye. There are no game mechanics that restrict your character's backstory, special effects, etc. There may be elements in a specific GM's campaign that would neatly link into cybernetics, so talk to your GM about any specifics that could better link your character into the established game setting.

 

What can I look at to help me with setting up his Metal Laced Skeleton? How do I explain how he got a Metal Laced Skeleton? How would do his armored costume if he has a Metal Laced Skeleton. What characters should I look to help out with him?

 

You should assess what YOU think a metal-laced skeleton and/or armor-based costume would do for the character and purchase those abilities (or complications) accordingly. You should also discuss campaign norms with your GM to ensure the character is consistent with these. You decide what you want your character to be, you define it by building from the rules, and you consider the norms of the GM's game to ensure a good fit.

 

As an example, some game systems would provide stats for an Armored Suit and Metal Laced Skeleton. Perhaps both would provide defensive powers. A player would then buy both, and a GM would go on line wailing and gnashing his teeth because this combination provides defenses that are way too high compared to other characters at a similar power level, so he's impossible to hurt/challenge/whatever, or the combination would be limited in some way to hold the aggregate benefit to a reasonable level. In Hero, you decide how much the character has for defenses without his suit, and how much the suit adds. Maybe you decide he's rough, tough and always ready for a scrap (10 PD and ED), and that his metal skeleton enhances his resilience and resistance to damage (+10 PD and ED), and that his UnObtainium/Handwavium Alloy Armor Suit adds +20 PD and +20 ED, both resistant.

 

Your GM may look at that and say "fine". Or he might say "maximum defenses in this game totals 50 combined PD and ED, no more than 2/3 being resistant - tone down his defenses". Or he may even say "40/40 defenses, half resistant is pretty low for this game - do you see him being relatively fragile in combat? 54/54, with 30 resistant, would be more consistent with an average defense level in this game".

 

Since I am making a supersolider would cybernetics be a good thig for him along with powers gained thru the supersolider program.

 

If you envision a character who is a supersoldier with cybernetic enhancements, it would be a good thing for him to have. If you envision a supersoldier enhanced to, or even beyond, peak human abilities, relying on nothing but his augmented physique and his wits, then cybernetic enhancements would be a bad thing for him to have. You decide the character's abilities.

 

You could build the exact same character, mechanically, with his powers explained by "he is a product of Project: Supersoldier, which enhanced him to, or beyond, the peak of human ability", or "he is a product of Project: Cyborg, which grafted cybernetic parts on to a normal soldier, enhancing him to, or beyond, the peak of human ability" or "he is a product of Project: Cyborg Supersoldier, which enhanced him to, or beyond, the peak of human ability, then further enhanced him by grafting on cybernetic parts"

 

To repeat SPECIAL EFFECTS AND MECHANICS ARE INDEPENDENT OF ONE ANOTHER IN THE HERO SYSTEM.

 

By the way, have you played yet, in the year and a half since you joined this forum?

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Military baseb character with an eyepatch

 

Hugh, you forgot: He's actually an alien who has no knowledge of his legacy, and his hyper competence is a racial trait.

 

IOW: What they said. It's less about permission (we can give it, but it's functionally meaningless) and more about "how you want to do it." We're much more effective with these questions:

 

* What are strong write-ups for cybernetics? (+15 STR, only left arm (-1/2), restrainable (-1/4, EMP pulses)

* What package do you recommend for "Super Soldier?" (Whatever you find in Dark Champions is pretty great)

* What Martial Arts should I pick (6th Ed Martial Artist is dope)

* Is Immortality worth it? (Answer: unlikely, 400 years is usually enough).

 

And so on. That's when we shine brightest. The rest is all entirely up to you.