Character for review...comments appreciated

[Vigil]

Hey All,

 

I just completed a redrafting of my Worldwatch strongman, Job Hatchet and wanted to get you're feedback. I'll fill in some of his background for you but would appreciate any critque which you may have.

 

Job is an extradimensional alien (I seem to have alot of those running around, it's like the Mexican border or something) from the world of Kulthea. He is one of a tribe of savage desert nomads/barbarians. As a child and young man he served as ashepherd for his people before beingplaced in charge of training and taming the tribe's servant animals (which are almost all hybrid creatures like chimera, manticores and griffins, etc).

 

As an adult he graduated to full fledged warrior, something which he excelled at even by his people's standards. In his spare time he served as a caravan guard. Good natured, thoughtful and respectful, Job took the lessons of his early shepherding to heart. You look out for the flock both individually and as a group. You don't ignore a single member in distress for any reason, regardless of the others. You act with care and patience and you defend the animals with your own life as necessary. If a preadtor attacks your charges you see to their safety and then pursue it and destroy it so that it can't attack again. The lesson's about honor and duty that he learned as a boy would stick with him forever.

 

His tribe, being nomadic, wandered all across the face of Kulthea and Job experienced a vast array of cultures, some of them very close to his own, others as alien as could be, some friendly, many hostile.

 

Upon returning from an extended trip as a caravan guard, Job was greeted by the shattered remnants of his tribe, the Chieftan, his mage and vizier, a few of the elders and wise women and the tribe's great artisan and smith. They told him a tale of a mysterious plague which had befallen their people a malady that seemsed to steal the very soul and breath and life from them leaving his people as living statues. Only these few had the fortitude to resist, although their strength was rapidly fading. The chieftan informed Job that only, who was not present when the plague befell them and may not be contaminated, he was able enpough to seek a cure. The rest of them were fading rapidly. In prpearation for his quest, these last great powers of his tribe had bent all of their collective might and magical and essential energies to the creation of the tribes' ultimate artifact, a weapon greater than any ever created before, the war axe Stormbreaker. The chieftan explained that the incredible effort of creating an artifact level weapon had hastened the disease among the survivors and that his time was short. Job bade them farewell and left immediately on his quest to rescue his people.

 

Job's quest took him far and wide across the face of Kulthea. Finally the answer led him to an otherdimensional world known as Earth where he found themiraculous cure known as penicilin. In his time on Earth, Job came to love these people also. Their hopes and fears and dreams mirrored his and his people's own. In his time on earth, Job became a champion of the superhuman community, using his great strength and unstoppable axe to prey upon the predators who would prey upon his adopted people, just as he has as aboy watching over his flock. Knowing that his first family was calling to him, Job prepared to leave with his cure, but determined to return once he saw to his tribe's welfare.

 

Upon returning, Job was greeted by an even greater mystery. His slumbering tribe seemed to have vanished into the very sands of history, all trace of them gone, as if they had never been. How could it be? Job's investigations were inconclusive but the trail seemed, once again, to lead him to his adopted home Earth.

 

Now Job Ha'chet has returned to earth once again, with the fate of his vanished people hanging over him and the fate of his new family in his hands.

[Vorsch]

You seem to have built thor.

 

I wouldny let this character near a game, even a high powerd one. He seems to be tweaked to Ultaeffectiveness in damage.

 

1) A 6d6 hka +1 stun x2 ap, 21 bod and 95 stun average agaist half defences more or less guaranteed. This would kill practically any character ( even himself i note )

 

2) just noticed your axe is OIF. So no chance of losing this weapon when your Fighting, convinient. Arnt war axes OAF, hell think of the points youd save.

 

3) 22D6 strike with average 31 body for Kb, doing a further 24d average when the oponent hits somthing.nice

 

4) Your eb could of been built without double KB but i see you liked it so much that all special effects (for those vulnerabilities) do double Kb, fire, light, sound .You could of had 20d6 VSX and saved on the absorbtion power.

 

5) With the absorbtion you want to have a 18d Eb doing ave of 36 bod for KB, 29d6 ave damage from KB , sound perfectly reasonable to me.

 

6) how is +20 stun when down to 25 stun only, limiting?

 

7) considering the damage your chucking around his defences seem quite low 30/20 with 20/20 r. This guy would masacre himself, hope your gm doesnt do evil clone games.

 

Plus you dont miss often with 24 dex 6 spd and 5 overall combat levels

 

If the excessive damage was trimed, id alow this character.

His skills look good, as do the concept of the powers its just the Damage tweaking that upsets me so.

 

Sorry wasent meant to be a rant, just added it up and when, no way.

 

Vorsch

[Vigil]

Hey Vorsch,

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

First, a few points, in general. Worldwatch (the main heroic team on my world, yes, I'm the creator/GM of these guys) are coceived as an integrated, cohesive unit with charcters of differing levels of power and ability serving different roles and functions. Spectra, is the ingenue, the young heroine who is learning the ropes at the side of legends. Professor Cinnabar is the ultimate speedster, the world's fastest man who can outrun anything but his heartbreak. The Aviator is the grizzled vet who's heart may be, literally, failing but whose spirit is undaunted. Doc Monolith is the super scientist with the dark secret and the hero who feels outmoded and past it. Eikon is the comic relief. He's the crotchety old occultist in the body of a bronze juggernaut who'd rather steal stuff and run away then stay and fight...even though he's inhabitating the form of an 8' tall bronze, pre-Sumerian God of War. Nirvana is the soul of the team and their reason for coming together. She's the "x element", the unknown factor from another reality who should never, ever, ever have been here but who is and whose mere presence is wreaking havoc on "continuity'. She's, also, the resident energy projector and darkness elemental/avatar. Vigil is the core of the team. The mind. The Batman if you would. He's the man with the plan to save the world, even if it doesn't want to be saved. He's driven beyond all reason and so focussed and obsessive it's scary. He intimidates even these others. And then there's this guy...Job Hatchet, the Stormbreaker. A simple shepherd from another dimension with the soul of a poet, the heart of a lion and a weapon of the gods. He's the last line of defense for the forces of light, the big gun who shows up in the team's hour of darkness. He's a big guy with a big axe and it's good thing he's on the side of angels. Together they're Worldwatch.

 

Now to address your points in order.

 

1) That's the point. In normal combat, he uses the wedge/ blunt side of the war axe. When he snaps (enraged) he swings it around and all hell breaks loose. He's meant to be the big gun of this team and, like Thor, getting his full attention is not something that most sane villains want to do. On the other hand, if you're a tough enough villain to hang with Worldwatch you're pretty damn frigthening yourself (I haven't posted the sheets yet for Worldwatch nemesi like Rex Monday or Gargantuan (the Hulk to Job's Thor) but I will. And he's not really in Thor's league either (I think Thor's STR is more in the 110+ range and his other abilities are commensurate). The early work on Hatchet Job was more based on Thor's sometime foe, The Executioner.

 

2) That's the point. Stormbreaker is a personal arifact. If it's, somehow, seperated from Job in combat it lays there embedded in the ground much like the aforementioned Thunder Guy's hammer. It's easier to seperate Job from his axe than his axe from Job, if that makes any sense.

 

3,4 and5) are conceptual. The force that Job channels through his axe is like a pure "proto force" (in fact, that's a brilliant name for the EB) that can take the form of other phenomena, hence the Variable SFX. The Double KB is meant to be an indication of the power of the blast...the leaves in a hurricane metaphor thing.

 

6) Job is a berseker or, more properly battle rager since he never quite completly looses his mind like (say) Gargantuan does. When he's down that much STUN and hurting that's when his second wind kicks in...hence the enhanced STR and STUN when he's at 1/4 HP. It's something that I drew from the "Power Moves" article in AC.

 

7) Again, that's the point. Job isn't invulnerable by any stretch of the imagination and, yes, an evil doppleganger or a genetic replicant would be a frigthening thought. The point is that, like Thor, Job is as much about heart and determination as he is about power.

 

As an aside he's not the only big gun on this team, there's also Vigil (the tactical genius, Captain America type) and Nirvana (who doesn't really have a strict, archetypal parallel but who is the resident energy dynamo and x factor type). Plus his role is as "ultimate protector and really, really big brother". He's the guy that chracters like Spectra (who I'm going to post right away and who I'd also like your comments on) hide behind when all hell breaks loose.

 

That being said, I do, honestly appreciate your feedback. Your points are well stated and fair. Thanks for your comments.

 

Vigil

[Vorsch]

Thanks for the detailed reply, look forward to seeing the other characters.

 

Heres a 666pt version of job which i as a gm would find more acceptable to my tastes.

 

JOB HATCHET Player: Val Char Cost

60 STR 50

20 DEX 30

40 CON 60

20 BODY 20

18 INT 8

18 EGO 16

30 PRE 20

14 COM 2

30 PD 18

30 ED 22

4 SPD 10

20 REC 0

80 END 0

80 STUN 10

 

15" RUN 0

5" SWIM 0

20" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 260 Cost Power END

Attack Powers

 

75 Merganjarder (OAF, Hybrid Double Handed War Axe): Multipower, 150-point reserve, all slots: (150 Active Points); OIF Unbreakable (-1/2)

7u 1) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 4d6 ( 7d6 with STR) (vs. PD), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Armor Piercing (+1/2) affects desolid ( +1/2) (150 Active Points); 0

7u 2) Hand-To-Hand Attack +12d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Penetrating ( +1/2), affects desolid (+1/2) (; Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), (150Active points), 0

7u 3) Omni Force: Energy Blast 20d6 (vs. ED), Variable Special Effects (Any SFX; +1/2), (150 Active Points); 10

5u 4) Earth strike: Energy Blast 20d6 (vs. PD) Explosion ( +1/2 ), 1 rec charge (-1) (thrown axe), (150 Active Points);

0

4u 5) Warding: Damage Reduction 75% rPd, 50% rEd, ( 90 Active points )

3u 6) Warding: Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack; Missile Reflection), Ranged (Adjacent Hex; +1/2) (60 Active Points);

5u 7) Teleportation 10", x16 mass, x 64 000 distance, safe blind port (+1/4),1 turn, 0dcv concentrate (-1 ),(150 Active Points) 12

 

10 Teleportation: Floating Fixed Location (2 Locations)

4 Teleportation: Fixed Location (4 Locations)

Berserker Powers

5 Warrior's Will: +20 STR (20 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (5x END; -2), No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Custom Modifier: only usable when at 1/4 STN or less (-1/2) (not added to totals) [Notes: This is Hatchet Job's "Warrior's Will", an ability which manifests itself when Hatchet Job is pushed to his very limit. At that point his "adrenaline" kicks in and he pushes himself beyond all limits in his attempt to secure victory for himself and, more importantly, for those he protects. More often than not this surge turns the tide but it has failed, most notably against the much more physically powerful Gargantuan.] 10

13 Warrior's Will: +10Pd +10Ed (20 Active Points); Custom Modifier: only usable when at 1/4 STN or less (-1/2) (not added to totals) [Notes: This is the second half of Hatchet Job's" Warrior's Will" power. Essentially a form of mind over matter, Job wills himself to keep fighting even when his body is close to total collapse.]

 

Movement Powers

 

13 Nomad's Strength: Leaping +8" (20" forward, 10" upward) (Improved Noncombat Movement (x4)) (added to Primary Value) 1

25 Nomad's Speed: Running +9", (15" Total ) Reduced Endurance (Half END; +1/4) (22 Active Points) (added to Primary Value) 1

3 Swimming +3" (5" total) (added to Primary Value) 1

Defensive Powers

15 Hardened 20rPd 20rEd

20 Damage Resistance (20 PD / 20 ED)

6 Flash Defense (6 points) (Sight Group)

12 Knockback Resistance -6"

5 Lack Of Weakness (-5) for Normal Defense

11 Mental Defense (15 points total)

10 Power Defense (10 points)

 

Enhanced Senses

 

5 Dark Sight: Nightvision

5 Heightened Hearing: Ultrasonic Perception (Sense)

5 Tracking (Normal Smell)

5 Analyze Sense (Normal Smell)

5 Discriminatory Sense (Normal Smell)

Miscellaneous Powers

21 Life Support (Extended Breathing, Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents, Longevity: 200 Years, Safe in High Pressure, Safe in Intense Cold, Safe in Intense Heat, Sleeping: Character only has to sleep 8 hours per week)

15 Reduced END Cost - STR: Naked Modifier, Reduced Endurance (Half END; +1/4) (15 Active Points)

 

Powers Cost: 324 Cost Skill

Nomad Skills

5 Animal Handler (Canines, Equines, Other: Hybrid Fantastic Creatures (Griffins, Hippocampus, etc.), Ursines) 15-

3 Riding 14-

1 TF: Riding Animals

9 Survival (Arctic/Subarctic, Desert, Marine Surface, Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical) 13-

5 Tracking 14-

3 Climbing 14-

Skill Levels

40 +8 with Levels HTH

2 +1 with Missle Deflection

3 +1 with All PER Rolls

"Bartering" Skills

5 Gambling (Card Games, Dice Games, Other: Tronk) 13-

3 Trading 15-

Skills Cost: 79 Cost Talent

3 Bump Of Direction

Talents Cost: 3 Total Character Cost: 666

 

Char 260

Pow 324

Skill 79

Tal 3

Total 666

 

Val Disadvantages

15 Dependence: Contact with Axe, Very Common, Takes 3d6 Damage, 1 Hour

10 Distinctive Features: Superhuman height and weight (7'4", 1350 lbs), Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses

25 Enraged: When Teammates, Friends or Innocents hurt, Common, go 14-, recover 11-

25 Enraged : in Combat, Common, go 11-, recover 8-

30 Hunted: Lord Inquisitor T'arn (aka The Marquis Eventine), More Powerful, 11- (Frequently), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find [Notes: Lord Inquisitor T'arn, who travels under the name The Marquis Eventine on Earth is another native of Job Ha'chet's world of Kulthea. Unbeknownst to Job, it was T'arn that created the plague which decimated his people and lead to his voyage to Earth in search of a cure. In preparation for Job's quest the tirbal elders greatly enhaced Job's power with their magicss and life forces and created the unique war axe which he wields. In the weapon's creation, certain runes were etched onto the raw, meteoric iron and then smelted into the very metal, fusing them into the heart of the weapon. When Job returned with the cure to the plague which ravished his people, T'arn became awre of something very powerful at the very heart of Job's axe. He suspects it may well be a fragment of the Creation Cypher which he has sought for centuries. He has followed Job to Earth dtermined to pry the secrets of the axe from Job's hands, whether they be alive or dead.]

25 Hunted: Mr. Damocles, More Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find [Notes: Mr. Damocles views himself (probably rightly) as earth's pre-eminent brick. As such, when his duties with The Cartel allow, he seeks out Earth's other prominent strongmen and makes point of humbling them. he's tried that with Job twice and come up bruised and battered both times. Now, he's more serious and their next meeting won't be all fun and games.]

20 Psychological Limitation: Protective of Innocents and Friends, Very Common, Strong

20 Psychological Limitation: Honorable, believes in Kulthean Code of Warfare (fights fairly, always keeps his word), Common, Total

20 Psychological Limitation: Battle Lust, never backs down from a fight, Common, Total

10 Psychological Limitation: Vengeful, never forgets wrongs done to him or his friends, Uncommon, Strong

15 Social Limitation: Public ID, Frequently (11-), Major

10 Unluck: +2d6

Disadvantage Points: 225 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 350 Total Experience Available: 400 Experience Unspent: 50

 

Vorsch

[Vigil]

It must lose something in translation

 

Hey Vorsch,

 

I tried to open the attachment and it came out as mud.

 

Can you resend it in another format?

 

I'm going to try to attach Worldwatch's junior member, Spectra for comment. Wish me luck.

 

Vigil

[Vorsch]

Tried it and it worked

 

download and save as html, open in ie/netscape

 

ps dont have hero designer, could you attach as text as you did last time.

 

click on job.txt it opens in notepad

 

file save and change extension to html

 

open with IE

 

Vorsch

[Vigil]

Eureka

 

Hi again,

 

I transferred it and managed to open the file.

 

Truth to tell he doesn't look all that different from my version...a bit more straighforward, perhaps.

 

I found your revision of Job's STN boost interesting and I can see where you're coming from in the redesign.

 

To me, though, Job's ability to do that sort of massive comic booky knowckback was one of his fundamental features as was the unearthly sharpness of his axe.

 

Now, I know this can go back and forth forever...conceptual beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We all have different things that entice us and different things that we want to emphasize in our charcters. I use the multitudinous write ups of Batman and Superman, etc that I've seen as proof. I think one version of Superman clocked in at almost 4000 points! And he had a STR of about 385! I can see how Lex Luthor's going to be a threat to him.

 

But I digress. One of the inspirations for Job was those great John Byrne issues of FF where you had guys like Terrax and Gladiator punching poor Ben Grimm through several buildings at a time. I loved it and yes, I admit, I love knockback. So that's my reasoning for Job.

 

And all of my charcters seem to have one (or maybe two) megapowers. In Job's case it's his HKA and his EB. You may notice in Spectra's write up that in her case,it's her Sun Burst flash, which wipes her out but which should blind the bad guys for a least a couple of phases. I don't know I just like charcters with that sort of exagerated aspect.

 

It may be easier for me if you posted a write up and I could critique it so that we have some common ground. Sound good.

 

Thanks for your revision. I'm going to hold onto it and maybe have him appear some day as the Job Hatchet of Earth 2!

 

Cheers and Thanks,

 

Vigil

[Vorsch]

Could you post Spectra's sheet please

 

Vorsch

[Vigil]

Sure. I thought it was already posted but I'll try again.

 

Vigil

[Vorsch]

Your first post was of job hachet in html text format, not hdc, i could open it using the above method in IE, i cant open hdc format. Post it in hdc, or text, or attach in txt.

 

the suspence is killing me,

 

Oh and if you like Kb i have a 350 pt legal superthreat if youd like to see it.

 

Vorsch

[Vigil]

cool, bring her or him on

 

I'd love to see the character you describe, although I must say there's absolutely nothing illegal about Job Hatchet, he's just maximized.

 

As for Spectra, hopefully this will work.

 

Vigil

[Vorsch]

My appoligies i didn't mean to infer he was, i only meant that my character was legal at 350pts, sorry

 

 

I like your Job, and ive just read Spectra, as a gm, nice but i wouldn't allow a stat boosting EC on the day i Die and God forbids my ressurection to say no.

 

Either you have superhuman stats, Hero Id , or you dont

 

Vorsch

[Mr. R]

Spectra question

 

I just took a look at you Spectra. Interesting concept, all support (flashes, holograms) few real damaging powers. This would be a real challenge to play well.

 

Two points however:

1) You have alot of stats in an EC with a limitation OIHID. I have no problems with the OIHID but placing stats in and EC is just too tweekie for me. But if it works in you campaign then it works and that is important.

 

2)You need to check that massive AE flash she has. You have the disadvantage; Only cost End to Activate (-1/4). To my knowledge this is only used for Constant powers such as growth. Flash is an attack power, and you would need to add the advantage Continuous. Thus she is getting points for a limitation that she has no advantage for.

 

Jerome

[Vigil]

Hey All,

 

Thanks for the input. As to some of the points you raise:

 

1) Yeah, it's kinda goofy putting the stats in an EC but the premise was that she's not quite the same person in hero form that she is in her Secret ID. She adds mass and energy in her hero ID making her taller and different looking. It's something that she's only superficially aware of at this point and she doesn't understand the full scope of being able to subconciously convert energy to mass. Hence the "Photonic Augmentation" terminology, she's actually in essence reconfiguring the very matter of her body by the force of her subconcious mind. Oooooh!

 

2) I think the disad that Mr R is referring to is that I took Boostable Charges which Cost END and perhaps the way Hero Designer notarizes that is to say costs END to activate. The way the power's structured she can only do it a few times a day and it takes everything out of her (50 END!) It was meant to be a spectacular manifestation of her true potential.

 

Anyway, next up when i get home from work tonight is my mystical gadgeteer/Martian Manhunter (for lack of a better analogy) type...Eikon.

 

Vigil

[Vigil]

Eikon

 

Hi There,

 

As promised here is the first half of Eikon's charcter sheet. He's one of the most interesting of Worldwatch but one of the most difficult to fully define.

 

He is, in essence 2 (or possibly 3 beings). On the surface he is Abraham Goodwyn, retired occultism professor and seeker of arcane knowledge. Abraham is at least in his 80's. Through an ancient ritual he has found a way to insert his life essence into the bronze form of Tartek the Destroyer or, as he is publically known, Eikon. The thing that Abraham does not realize, however, is that a fragment ofTartek's spirit co-inhabits the form with him and is slowly working to corrupt Abraham by subtly enhancing his worst charcteristics, his greed and lust for knowledge and power. Tartek is subtly working through Abraham with the goal of seizing control of the form and once again walking this mortal plain which he was banished from so long ago. Until then, howver, destruction can take much more subtle forms.

 

So, that being said, Eikon is built as amulti form with Abraham's form clocking in at around 200 points and then the vastly more powerful Eikon form. In the concept I want to limit Abraham's ability to saty in Eikon's form to 3 hour or so intervals. So, I'm looking at building this as 1, 2 or 3 Continuing Charges with the duration being 3 hours plus costs END to activate to show the strain of the transfer of spirit and the unique limitation that the multiform itself is OAF (unbreakable, personaL), Bulky. His MYstical Gadget Pool is a bit of an unusual construction in that he can tinker with and recombine various artifacts in combat but, in keeping with his croctehy character, he does this with the aid of his mystical tool kit (the occult equivalent of a jeweller or artisans tools) and has to mutter incantations which are half occult phrasings and half him lecturing and soliloquizing and just talking to himself. The gesutres are a way of showing that he has to tinker with the gadgets with his tools.

 

Persoanlity wise Abraham is a crotchety, conceited, miserly, self involved, miserable intellectual who cares virtually not at all for anything but the acquisition of ever increasing amounts of mystical knowledge and power. Think of his as the Ebenezzer Scrooge of the occult set. This crotchetyness transfers to Eikon who constantly mutters to himself, often at involved length. He snorts and titters happily when things are to his liking and gloats ferociously. He loves to brow beat and taunt all of those around him and display his superior intellect by quizzing anyone who will listen on obscure sibjects that virtually anyone but Abraham would have no knowledge of. One of the interesting plot points in this is that Eikon is not as intelligent as Abraham who is, by any standard, a world class genius many times over (30+ INT). Abraham tries to downplay or deny these occasional lapses of knowledge as Eikon and becomes very cross and testy if pushed. As Eikon, he hoards mystical treasure even more than he does as Abraham and becomes completey unreasonable and irrational if so much as the least of his mystical gadgets should go missing. Like the dragon that he is, he keeps track of every piece of his hoard and will abandon the vast treasure he possesses to find any missing item. The way this works as a disad is that Eikon will be Enraged with no chance of a recovery roll until he tracks his missing treasure. And if he should find somone else in possession of the least bit of his treasure...

 

All in all, Eikon is one of my absolute faves and, I think, unlike any other character out there. So enjoy and let me know what you think.