John Desmarais Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 Hey, anyone in Heroville done a write-up of Doctor Solar (Gold Key, Valiant, Dark Horse, and now Dynamite)? One of my players wants to play a character based on him and Im feeling lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 He's kind of like Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen. I can't think of a way to get him in on a 400 point starting budget and once you go higher I wouldn't know where to stop. I could easily see him costing 1000+ points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 I don't know anything about him other than that beautiful Barry Windsor Smith artwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Obviously a 400 point character would be a 400 point character, not a Dr Manhattan analogue. He'd be a flying fire/energy blaster guy, maybe with extra strength, definitely with a slot or two of non-blast-y powers multipowered with his blasts. Probably enhanced senses and life support. Science-y skills. Probably can't afford to be truly brick tough, but tough-ish. Strangely enough, I don't have one sitting on my hard drive. You might be able to find a similar character write-up somewhere, but it might be just as easy to do your own rather than convert. A back of the envelope build wouldn't take more than ten minutes. Of course you'll have to co-write the background with the player, to make sure that the character sheet and fluff text match. Obviously the basic background would be cut, paste and file off the serial numbers from the original character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's kind of like Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen. I can't think of a way to get him in on a 400 point starting budget and once you go higher I wouldn't know where to stop. I could easily see him costing 1000+ points. I'm not too concerned with total cost. When dealing characters adapted from other sources much of the high total cost is a matter of how the writer perceives power scales in the source setting (the old "how strong is Superman?" question). Any relatively well thought write up would give me a place to start or things to steal and scale to my game. P.s. Answer to Superman question: Either at least as strong as the strongest hero or regular villain in you campaign, or at your campaign max is you have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Obviously a 400 point character would be a 400 point character, not a Dr Manhattan analogue. He'd be a flying fire/energy blaster guy, maybe with extra strength, definitely with a slot or two of non-blast-y powers multipowered with his blasts. Probably enhanced senses and life support. Science-y skills. Probably can't afford to be truly brick tough, but tough-ish. Strangely enough, I don't have one sitting on my hard drive. You might be able to find a similar character write-up somewhere, but it might be just as easy to do your own rather than convert. A back of the envelope build wouldn't take more than ten minutes. Of course you'll have to co-write the background with the player, to make sure that the character sheet and fluff text match. Obviously the basic background would be cut, paste and file off the serial numbers from the original character. I went ahead and started a write up based on the character description on comicvine.com. It's looking a lot like what you've described above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's kind of like Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen. I can't think of a way to get him in on a 400 point starting budget and once you go higher I wouldn't know where to stop. I could easily see him costing 1000+ points. You know, the guy you want for a write up like this is Hyper-Man. He's awesome at shoe-horning the depth and sense and flavor of any character of any power level into a quite moderate number of points. If Hyper-Man can't do it, no one.. Oh. Uh. That's you. Heh. Um, to quote Tyrion Lannister, perhaps you could try to want something different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Dr. Manhattan - Surbrook's Stuff http://www.devermore.net/surbrook/adaptationscomic/watchmen/drm.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Doctor Solar - Comic Vine http://www.comicvine.com/doctor-solar/4005-39277/ Doctor Solar - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_(comics) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Dr. Manhattan http://www.devermore.net/surbrook/adaptationscomic/watchmen/drm.html Yeah, I looked at Mike's Dr. M, but he's mostly just a big VPP and my player is a Hero newbie. I need to give him a character sheet that's a bit more quantified than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 My sense of obviousness just said to me: "Look up Pulsar, Tachyon and Sapphire in the 6e Champions genre book". I went: "Oh, right, yeah". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's a flying teleporter with desolid, an RKA, and clairsentience who can boost his powers with radiation. His life support and resistant defenses are average. He has susceptibility to his goggles being removed, and vulnerability to drains. Oh, and he has the side effect: causes cancer after brief exposure. I don't really see the fuss, as this isn't a terribly hard build to achieve with balance and have points left over for Science: Nuclear Physics, his only apparent skill other than perhaps Power skill and CSLs. The problem will be when you try to integrate Dr. Leading Cause of Cancer with a team, or any of his opponents realize shooting his goggles and running away will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys with lightning flying out of their butts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Doctor Solar - Comic Vine http://www.comicvine.com/doctor-solar/4005-39277/ Doctor Solar - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_(comics) My primary data sources... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's a flying teleporter with desolid, an RKA, and clairsentience who can boost his powers with radiation. His life support and resistant defenses are average. He has susceptibility to his goggles being removed, and vulnerability to drains. Oh, and he has the side effect: causes cancer after brief exposure. I don't really see the fuss, as this isn't a terribly hard build to achieve with balance and have points left over for Science: Nuclear Physics, his only apparent skill other than perhaps Power skill and CSLs. The problem will be when you try to integrate Dr. Leading Cause of Cancer with a team, or any of his opponents realize shooting his goggles and running away will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys with lightning flying out of their butts. I may drop the "walking cancer source" aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's a flying teleporter with desolid, an RKA, and clairsentience who can boost his powers with radiation. His life support and resistant defenses are average. He has susceptibility to his goggles being removed, and vulnerability to drains. Oh, and he has the side effect: causes cancer after brief exposure. I don't really see the fuss, as this isn't a terribly hard build to achieve with balance and have points left over for Science: Nuclear Physics, his only apparent skill other than perhaps Power skill and CSLs. The problem will be when you try to integrate Dr. Leading Cause of Cancer with a team, or any of his opponents realize shooting his goggles and running away will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys with lightning flying out of their butts. Clairsentience? I'm not arguing this, just not sure I've ever seen it - but I've also not read a lot of Doctor Solar comics. What's the concept behind it for him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grailknight Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 The problem is Dr. Solar (early version) and Solar, Man of the Atom(later version) are very different characters. The early version is what one can reasonably make. He 'd be slightly better than the version of Firestorm used in The Flash. Just add some senses and power stunts and a moderate amount of STR. Flavor with his side effects and you're golden. Solar, Man of the Atom would be more a combination of New 52 Captain Atom and Firestorm. Powerful Brick, Master of Quantum, Subatomic and Atomic energies and Reality Warper. Detachment from humanity is an ongoing issue but as overpowered as Silver Age Superman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Dr. Solar, the original, had two aspects of clairsentience: 1. Sonic retrocognition: by selectively amplifying the fading reverberations of sounds in the molecules of a location, Dr. Solar could eavesdrop on what had been said there in the past. 2. Split existence: while leading a life (in isolation except for a few minutes of heavily shielded contact) on Earth, Dr. Solar had a second version of himself in mental contact with the first, wandering the Universe and exploring its wonders in the form of pure energy. He appeared uninterested in using the split existence to spy on local events, given the form was even more lethal than the solid one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Dr. Solar, the original, had two aspects of clairsentience: 1. Sonic retrocognition: by selectively amplifying the fading reverberations of sounds in the molecules of a location, Dr. Solar could eavesdrop on what had been said there in the past. 2. Split existence: while leading a life (in isolation except for a few minutes of heavily shielded contact) on Earth, Dr. Solar had a second version of himself in mental contact with the first, wandering the Universe and exploring its wonders in the form of pure energy. He appeared uninterested in using the split existence to spy on local events, given the form was even more lethal than the solid one. Funky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted June 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 The problem is Dr. Solar (early version) and Solar, Man of the Atom(later version) are very different characters. The early version is what one can reasonably make. He 'd be slightly better than the version of Firestorm used in The Flash. Just add some senses and power stunts and a moderate amount of STR. Flavor with his side effects and you're golden. Solar, Man of the Atom would be more a combination of New 52 Captain Atom and Firestorm. Powerful Brick, Master of Quantum, Subatomic and Atomic energies and Reality Warper. Detachment from humanity is an ongoing issue but as overpowered as Silver Age Superman. I think I'm heading for something in-between. Mostly the earlier version with some select bits from the later one(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 I believe Steve Long has proposed one ample solution: http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/91478-new-pdf-superhero-gallery-expanded/?do=findComment&comment=2438537 It shouldn't be too hard to adapt a Force or Light character template for a playable Dr. Solar-type at a starting level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balabanto Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Well, it's better than Dr. Dysentery or Professor Plague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcw43921 Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Professor Plague, at least, has villainous potential. The name sounds like a threat with which to be reckoned, a carrier of disease and infirmity. Doctor Dysentery--not so much. Weaponized diarrhea is even less fun than weaponized flatulence, no matter how thoroughly you are into gross-out humor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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