HS6: Disperser Question: How would you build a monster?

[arakish]

Long hiatius, I am trying to get back.  All below is a simple cut and paste from a prepared TXT file.

 

Here is a monster I am working on for my world of Onaviu.  I am attempting to convert from the Rolemaster (RM) system into the Hero system, or Champions Complete if you prefer.  Herein follows the working description I wrote for the RM system.  No, I never worked out the RM stats yet.

 

===============================================

 

DISPERSER

 

Dispersers are formidable demonic creatures summoned from the Nether Realms by a Gabuz using her Death's Breath.  Dispersers are easily the most feared of all things.  Dispersers seem to have a somewhat homonid form in that it is known they at least possess two arms and two legs, but nothing more has ever been discerned about them.  Even if a head exists.  Dispersers are nigh-invulnerable, only able to be harmed by the most powerful Powers or Power imbedded weapons.  Most astonishing is if any form of critical injury can be achieved.  If so, then it seems to do nothing to slow down or stop a Disperser.  However, critical injuries must be a possibility since a Disperser can be destroyed.  "Kiling" seems to be an inaccurate term since a Disperser simply "disperses" in a dark fog that slowly fades away.  Thus, their name: Disperser.

 

Their strength is legendary since some have been witnessed to lift boulders, or chunks of mountain, weighing a few metric tons (3-6) and hurling them up to three kilometers.

 

It is completely unknown what a Disperser actually looks like since they literally absorb all electromagnetic radiation (EMR) ranging from the far infrared (FIR) up to the far ultraviolet (FUV), creating an area of absolute darkness perhaps 1 meter about their form.  Due to their absorption of EMR from FIR to FUV, a Disperser is at its most deadly when it is dark.

 

Of all the peoples, only the most powerful Shanikeen Dreads or Tomofu DeathGuards have an even chance of standing alone against a Disperser.  And most often, the Disperser wins.

 

Perhaps the only weakness a Disperser has is their slow movement rate and attack quickness.  Targets receive a +30DB (+6 on d20; +5 on d16 (essential 3d6 roll)) when dodging a Dispersers grab attack.  However, should a Disperser succeed in grasping their prey, they will be crushed into a gelatinous goo of protoplasm.

 

Dispersers have no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth since they do not need such.  A Disperser ALWAYS knows the location of their target(s) are no matter the distance.  They only possess a vistigial head in order to store their limited brain.  They have no mind, except their command to destroy their target(s).

 

Dispersers only move at one rate: 15 meters per round (5.4kph).  Dispersers are relentless and tireless.  They suffer no effects of Fatigue.  They NEVER stop seeking their target(s).  If necessary, a Disperser will tunnel through an entire mountain range, perhaps the planet itself.  If necessary, a Disperser will cross an ocean by simply walking along its bottom.  Additionally, Dispersers seem to be completely environmentally independent.  No environment seems to harm them.  Not even Gravity seems to effect a Disperser except to give them a means of orientation.

 

Once the target(s) of the Disperser are destroyed, the Disperser simply disperses in a dark fog that slowly fades.

 

A Disperser is called forth by the Death's Breath of a dying Gabuz of a Nighusa-Gabuz team while also naming the target(s): "Sket tek shaka sinnet" (With my last breath, I call forth your end).  For example, in the story I am writing, the Gabuz says, "For those you protect, Sket tek shaka sinnet."  The "for those you protect" are the children Saramanusa rescued and attempting to get them to her homeland.

 

===============================================

 

Herein lists the working stats and abilities I have currently thought of for the Disperser in HE6.  Please realize this is an OWIP (ongoing work in progress) and nothing is definite as of yet.  Any suggestions are welcome.  Specific details I am quarrelling with are listed after the stat/ability block below.

 

Author's Note: For all intents and purposes, a Disperser can be thought of as an Automaton.  Just not a robot, or undead, or golem.  A horrible and terrifying creature from the Nether Realms.

 

STR: 100
This is sticky one.  To lift 6.4 metric tons and hurl it 3000 meters means a STR of about 800!  (Never calculated, just guessed by looking at the STR table.)  But I can live with a 100.

 

DEX: 10
Remember, a Disperser is slow, but relentless.  But perhaps a little higher?

 

CON: 10
Since a Disperser cannot be stunned, it does not need to be higher.  Or does it?  Disperser suffers no fatigue.

 

INT: 10
Don't need much more since they obey only one command: Destroy target(s).

 

EGO: 0
Disperser do not have a mind.  Many PowerUsers have proven this.

 

PRE: 60
They are the most feared feared things of all.  Even Saramanusa, who is a most powerful Shanikeen Protectorate, is TERRIFIED if a Disperser.  What is a Great Drake's PRE?  Then a Disperser's is even higher...

 

OCV: 3
Remember, a Disperser's attack quickness ain't much.  But could this be higher?

 

DCV: 3
Don't need much here since they are supposed to be nigh-invulnerable.

 

OMV: 0

DMV: 0
No mind to attack or defend.

 

SPD: 3
Again, a Disperser ain't very fast, just relentless and tireless.  Maybe a 4?

 

PD: 20
ED: 20
Although they are very tough, they can still be destroyed.  But does need to be higher?

 

REC: 4

END: 20
Since they are tireless, all stats/abilities are bought to 0 END cost.  Base value is more than enough.

 

BOD: 20
Maybe higher?

 

STN: 20
Since they cannot be stunned, Base value is plenty.

 

Run: 6m
In RM they move at 15m/rnd which equates to 5.4 kilometers per hour.  This equates to 6m/Phase in Hero.
5400/60 = 90 meters per minutes.
90/5 = 18 meters per turn.
18/3 = 6 meters per Phase with SPD = 3.

 

Leap: 0
Swim: 0
Don't need these since they will walk through water and they do not leap.

 

ABILITIES (can be read as Talents/Powers)
Ambidexterity (3CP)
This is one I question.  Do Automatons really need this?  They ain't got the left-right dominance thing as we do.  That only happens if you have a mind capable of self-ponderance.

 

Cannot Be Stunned (15CP)
Does Not Bleed (15CP)
No Hit Locations (10CP)
Takes No Stun (60CP)
These four replicate the inability to stun or harm a Disperser except for the most powerful Powers and Power imbedded weapons.

 

Resistant Protection (30CP) makes normal PD/ED resistant.

Life Support (30CP) all except immortal.

Tunneling (48CP) 8m, 20PD
Technically, there is nothing a Disperser cannot tunnel through except perhaps the neutronium of a neutron star.  Thus, what advantages are needed, and how many?  Such as Armor Piercing and/or Penetrating.

 

Knockback Resistance (50CP)
A Disperser almost cannot be Knockbacked.  If they are, it is at most a Position Shift.

 

HKA 2d6 (+6½d6 with STR) -¼: Can only apply STR after a successful Grasp maneuver.

 

Invisibiilty vs. Sight Group (ain't calculated but it will also have Area of Effect 1 meter, at least).

 

Was also thinking perhaps some Resistant Damage Reduction, Damage Negation.  Others?

Additionally, Dispersers cannot be Flashed by ANY means (very large Flash Defense).

 

INTERNAL QUARRELS
1) Dispersers ALWAYS know the location of their target(s), regardless of distance.  Even if on the other side of the planet.  What kind of "Enhanced Sense/Detect" would this be?

 

2) None of a Disperser's stats/abilities can be Dispelled or Transformed or Drained by ANY method.  In other words, the only thing you can change about a Disperser is to destroy it.  They cannot be polymorphed or shape shifted either.  How much Power Defense would be needed to ensure this?  100?  1000?  10,000?  1,000,000?  How many levels of Hardening?  10?  100?  1000?

 

rmfr

[Scott Baker]

Welcome back.

 

 

The biggest issue I see here is that Dispersers are basically built as a series of absolutes. The Hero System was not designed to model absolutes.

 

So all of your questions about invulnerability to <insert type of attack here> come down to your campaign limits. If you set the limit for flash attacks to 4D6, as an example, then 24 Flash Defense makes the Disperser "invulnerable." Apply the same sort of calculation to other types of attacks/defenses as you see fit.

 

To me the Dispersers seem like they would be more of plot device than a creature you might just run into to fight. Since, as GM, points don't matter, I wouldn't even bother building them out completely. Take your absolutes and just say, "they're immune to X, Y, and Z." Ignore buying STR since they appear to be far more powerful than anything else, so they always win any sort of STR contest (and can throw a mountain).

 

Figure out their defense (presumably PD and ED?) and make it low enough that they can be damaged within the campaign limits. Remember that they don't take STUN, so only the BODY damage done counts. If the defense is resistant it works against Killing Attacks (and I'll just assume that you hand-wave that they are hardened and impenetrable). Your example of 20 PD/ED means that an attack would have to be greater than 10D6 (or equivalent) to even have a chance to hurt one.

 

It sounds like their attack is another absolute, so unless you change your mind on that, just say that if it grabs you, you're dead.

 

SPD, OCV, and DCV should again be built around your campaign limits. If it's so slow, but the characters in your game are only SPD 3, then the dispersers are no longer slow. Drop them down to 2, or even 1.

[Ndreare]

The best way to ensure immutability would be to add to the character in Inherent on all of his traits and then add the power defense.

[arakish]

Ain't figured out the quote thing yet...  At least as splitting a quote...

 

...So they always win any sort of STR contest (and can throw a mountain)...

 

Love this cutout, but I do take it out of context...

 

 

 

...and I'll just assume that you hand-wave that they are hardened and impenetrable...

 

Nice.

 

...just say that if it grabs you, you're dead...

 

Kewl.

 

 

 

 

The best way to ensure immutability would be to add to the character in Inherent on all of his traits and then add the power defense.

 

But figured it here with the one-click thing...

 

Inherent everything.  Gotcha...

 

rmfr

[Lucius]

Long hiatius, I am trying to get back.  All below is a simple cut and paste from a prepared TXT file.

 

Here is a monster I am working on for my world of Onaviu.  I am attempting to convert from the Rolemaster (RM) system into the Hero system, or Champions Complete if you prefer.  Herein follows the working description I wrote for the RM system.  No, I never worked out the RM stats yet.

 

===============================================

 

DISPERSER

 

Dispersers are formidable demonic creatures summoned from the Nether Realms by a Gabuz using her Death's Breath.  Dispersers are easily the most feared of all things.

Give them the Perk, Reputation.

 

 

Dispersers seem to have a somewhat homonid form in that it is known they at least possess two arms and two legs, but nothing more has ever been discerned about them.  Even if a head exists.  Dispersers are nigh-invulnerable, only able to be harmed by the most powerful Powers or Power imbedded weapons.  Most astonishing is if any form of critical injury can be achieved.  If so, then it seems to do nothing to slow down or stop a Disperser.  However, critical injuries must be a possibility since a Disperser can be destroyed.  "Kiling" seems to be an inaccurate term since a Disperser simply "disperses" in a dark fog that slowly fades away.  Thus, their name: Disperser.

 

Do they accumulate damage, or just suddenly disperse?

 

Their strength is legendary since some have been witnessed to lift boulders, or chunks of mountain, weighing a few metric tons (3-6) and hurling them up to three kilometers.

 

It is completely unknown what a Disperser actually looks like since they literally absorb all electromagnetic radiation (EMR) ranging from the far infrared (FIR) up to the far ultraviolet (FUV), creating an area of absolute darkness perhaps 1 meter about their form.  Due to their absorption of EMR from FIR to FUV, a Disperser is at its most deadly when it is dark.

 

Use the Power Darkness, Always On, Inherent.

 

Of all the peoples, only the most powerful Shanikeen Dreads or Tomofu DeathGuards have an even chance of standing alone against a Disperser.  And most often, the Disperser wins.

 

Perhaps the only weakness a Disperser has is their slow movement rate and attack quickness.  Targets receive a +30DB (+6 on d20; +5 on d16 (essential 3d6 roll)) when dodging a Dispersers grab attack.  However, should a Disperser succeed in grasping their prey, they will be crushed into a gelatinous goo of protoplasm.

 

Dispersers have no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth since they do not need such.  A Disperser ALWAYS knows the location of their target(s) are no matter the distance.  They only possess a vistigial head in order to store their limited brain.  They have no mind, except their command to destroy their target(s).

 

Dispersers only move at one rate: 15 meters per round (5.4kph).  Dispersers are relentless and tireless.  They suffer no effects of Fatigue.  They NEVER stop seeking their target(s).  If necessary, a Disperser will tunnel through an entire mountain range, perhaps the planet itself.

Buy Tunneling

 

If necessary, a Disperser will cross an ocean by simply walking along its bottom.  Additionally, Dispersers seem to be completely environmentally independent.  No environment seems to harm them.  Not even Gravity seems to effect a Disperser except to give them a means of orientation.

 

Give them Running of 0, and Flight, with No Gravity Penalty. Also, all the Life Support you can buy.

 

Once the target(s) of the Disperser are destroyed, the Disperser simply disperses in a dark fog that slowly fades.

 

A Disperser is called forth by the Death's Breath of a dying Gabuz of a Nighusa-Gabuz team while also naming the target(s): "Sket tek shaka sinnet" (With my last breath, I call forth your end).  For example, in the story I am writing, the Gabuz says, "For those you protect, Sket tek shaka sinnet."  The "for those you protect" are the children Saramanusa rescued and attempting to get them to her homeland.

 

===============================================

 

Herein lists the working stats and abilities I have currently thought of for the Disperser in HE6.  Please realize this is an OWIP (ongoing work in progress) and nothing is definite as of yet.  Any suggestions are welcome.  Specific details I am quarrelling with are listed after the stat/ability block below.

 

Author's Note: For all intents and purposes, a Disperser can be thought of as an Automaton.  Just not a robot, or undead, or golem.  A horrible and terrifying creature from the Nether Realms.

 

STR: 100

This is sticky one.  To lift 6.4 metric tons and hurl it 3000 meters means a STR of about 800!  (Never calculated, just guessed by looking at the STR table.)  But I can live with a 100.

 

DEX: 10

Remember, a Disperser is slow, but relentless.  But perhaps a little higher?

Lower. Make it 1. What's this thing need DEX for?

 

CON: 10

Since a Disperser cannot be stunned, it does not need to be higher.  Or does it?  Disperser suffers no fatigue.

 

Why not buy it down to zero?

 

INT: 10

Don't need much more since they obey only one command: Destroy target(s).

One command only? Make it INT 5

 

To be continued

[Lucius]

 

 

EGO: 0

Disperser do not have a mind. Many PowerUsers have proven this.

Kind of goes with being an Automaton.

 

PRE: 60

They are the most feared feared things of all. Even Saramanusa, who is a most powerful Shanikeen Protectorate, is TERRIFIED if a Disperser. What is a Great Drake's PRE? Then a Disperser's is even higher...

 

OCV: 3

Remember, a Disperser's attack quickness ain't much. But could this be higher?

How often does it hit when it strikes? Does the target's agility matter at all?

 

 

 

DCV: 3

Don't need much here since they are supposed to be nigh-invulnerable.

I could see cutting it to zero.

 

OMV: 0

DMV: 0

No mind to attack or defend.

 

SPD: 3

Again, a Disperser ain't very fast, just relentless and tireless. Maybe a 4?

Why not 1?

 

You can even buy it to zero, then buy 1 SPD back with a Limitation of Extra Time, so it only gets 1 attack per Minute. It's in no hurry, it's got forever to kill you in.

 

PD: 20

ED: 20

Although they are very tough, they can still be destroyed. But does need to be higher?

They can be destroyed - but how? I'm a little fuzzy on that, if I don't understand that, I can't address defenses.

 

I'd not invest in PD and ED as Characteristics and just by Resistant Protection.

 

REC: 4

END: 20

Since they are tireless, all stats/abilities are bought to 0 END cost. Base value is more than enough.

Base value is too much. You can drop these to zero.

 

BOD: 20

Maybe higher?

Maybe lower?

You can buy BOD down to 1, and buy overwhelming defenses. Most attacks will then have no effect at all but a really powerful attack with a high damage roll makes it go poof.

 

 

STN: 20

Since they cannot be stunned, Base value is plenty.

If they have the Takes No Stun power, they automatically have 0 STUN.

 

To be continued

[Lucius]

 

 

Run: 6m

In RM they move at 15m/rnd which equates to 5.4 kilometers per hour. This equates to 6m/Phase in Hero.

5400/60 = 90 meters per minutes.

90/5 = 18 meters per turn.

18/3 = 6 meters per Phase with SPD = 3.

You can buy SPD down and Movement up. Give 'em 1 SPD and 15 Meters move (I suggest Flight, if gravity means nothing to them.)

 

Leap: 0

Swim: 0

Don't need these since they will walk through water and they do not leap.

 

ABILITIES (can be read as Talents/Powers)

Ambidexterity (3CP)

This is one I question. Do Automatons really need this?

I don't know about "need." But if you want them to never take an off hand penalty, then yes, they need it. But when the hell are they ever going to take an off hand penalty??

 

They ain't got the left-right dominance thing as we do. That only happens if you have a mind capable of self-ponderance.

 

Cannot Be Stunned (15CP)

Does Not Bleed (15CP)

No Hit Locations (10CP)

Takes No Stun (60CP)

These four replicate the inability to stun or harm a Disperser except for the most powerful Powers and Power imbedded weapons.

Takes No STUN includes Cannot Be Stunned automatically.

 

Resistant Protection (30CP) makes normal PD/ED resistant.

Life Support (30CP) all except immortal.

Tunneling (48CP) 8m, 20PD

Technically, there is nothing a Disperser cannot tunnel through except perhaps the neutronium of a neutron star. Thus, what advantages are needed, and how many? Such as Armor Piercing and/or Penetrating.

 

Knockback Resistance (50CP)

A Disperser almost cannot be Knockbacked. If they are, it is at most a Position Shift.

Have you considered using Density Increase?

 

HKA 2d6 (+6½d6 with STR) -¼: Can only apply STR after a successful Grasp maneuver.

 

Invisibiilty vs. Sight Group (ain't calculated but it will also have Area of Effect 1 meter, at least).

Sure you want this and not Darkness?

 

Was also thinking perhaps some Resistant Damage Reduction, Damage Negation. Others?

Additionally, Dispersers cannot be Flashed by ANY means (very large Flash Defense).

They don't need Flash Defense. They need to not have any senses except Detect Target. Can't flash a sense that isn't there.

 

INTERNAL QUARRELS

1) Dispersers ALWAYS know the location of their target(s), regardless of distance. Even if on the other side of the planet. What kind of "Enhanced Sense/Detect" would this be?

 

2) None of a Disperser's stats/abilities can be Dispelled or Transformed or Drained by ANY method. In other words, the only thing you can change about a Disperser is to destroy it. They cannot be polymorphed or shape shifted either. How much Power Defense would be needed to ensure this? 100? 1000? 10,000? 1,000,000? How many levels of Hardening? 10? 100? 1000?

 

rmfr

Buy all Characteristics as Powers, and apply Inherent. Buy a Multiform to "Identical Form" and take Accidental Change: any attempt to Transform or change.

 

What's your purpose in wanting to build this abomination anyway?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says that limit to number of blocks of quoted text is really annoying

[Scott Baker]

Characteristics can only be bought down to 1 (CC 11).