Pamela's 6E Build Thread - Redux

[archer]

18 hours ago, PamelaIsley said:

 

I almost put something in my notes, but I figured people would get it without a nudge. 

 

One of my favorite superhero shows growing up. 

 

I can't say I'm familiar with the character but he looks just ducky.

 

To meddle a bit:

 

====

 

He's got 5 purchases for movement powers. You could put those into a multipower then just put a focus limit (or Only in Heroic ID) on the appropriate slots:

 

Multipower 10 active points (unbelievably athletic)

Running f1

Swimming f1

Leaping f1

Gliding Cape (Flight 10m (10 Active Points), Gliding -1, OIF -½); f1

Swingline (Swinging 15m (8 Active Points), OAF -1);  f1

 

You end up spending 15 points instead of 14 but you have the option of increasing the movement power (or buying to 0 END) all the slots except the Gliding Cape.

 

====

 

I find martial arts irritating for these kinds of characters as well since most dark knights seem to have 20 maneuvers at least.

 

I'm not extremely familiar with how 6e might have changed the rules for building new maneuvers so someone might need to check the costs but for your consideration but these were published in 4th edition. Note: I really like maneuvers where the opponent falls.

 

Toss +0 -2  Disarm, Full Move, Falls (4)

 

Moving Dodge +0 +4  Dodge, Abort, Full Move (4)

 

Charge +1 -2  strike for STR +2d6, Full Move, Falls (5)

 

Offensive Escape +0 +1  strike for STR +2d6, +10 STR to escape, uses up your full phase (5)

 

 

[PamelaIsley]

@archer  Your idea does save a point, but it doesn't fit very well conceptually.  The running, swimming, and leaping are all related to his natural ability and the other two are related to his costume and equipment.  They don't work that well as a multipower.

 

I hate martial arts.  I throw enough in some characters for flavor, but it's really annoying to track and play (the people I've used to test the 6E system with always even forget to use them).  

 

I will look into your suggestions and 6E builds them. 

[archer]

31 minutes ago, PamelaIsley said:

@archer  Your idea does save a point, but it doesn't fit very well conceptually.  The running, swimming, and leaping are all related to his natural ability and the other two are related to his costume and equipment.  They don't work that well as a multipower.

 

 

Try putting a normal person through combat then have them use a swingline or glider wings.

 

I can guarantee that having outstanding athletic ability has something to do with using either.

[PamelaIsley]

Kinetica

Total: 400

 

STR 13, 12-, 2 ½ d6
DEX 13, 12-
CON 18, 13-
INT 13, 13-
EGO 13, 13-
PRE 18, 13-, 2d6

OCV 7
DCV 7
OMCV 3
DMCV 3

SPD 5

PD 8 28 (20r)
ED 8 18 (10r)

REC 11
END 60

BODY 10
STUN 40

Total Cost: 138

Skills & Talents
Combat Skill (Kinetic Missiles +1); (3)

Power Skill (Friction Control); (5)

Breakfall, 12- (3)

Disguise, 12- (3)

KS: New York City Underworld, 11- (2)

CK: New York City, 11- (2)

KS: Superhuman Community, 11- (2)

Lockpicking, 12- (3)

Security Systems, 12- (3)

Stealth, 12- (3)

 

Striking Appearance +1 (+1d6) (3)

Total Cost: 32
 

Powers

Friction Control (Telekinesis (30 STR), AoE Accurate (1M Radius) +½ (67 Active Points), Only For Frictionless Effects -¾, Affects Whole Area -¼, Limited Range (40M) -¼, Unified Power -¼); (27)

Momentum Compensation (Telekinesis (40 STR) (60 Active Points), Limited (Only to Throw Westward) -1, Instant -½, Unified -¼); (22)

Frictionless Field (Change Environment (-5 to DEX checks and DEX skills), Personal Immunity +¼, AoE (16M Radius) +¾ (40 Active Points), Unified Power -¼); (32)

Kinetic Deflection (Deflection (20 Active Points), Only Against Physical Missiles -¼); (16)

Kinetic Absorption (Absorption 20 BODY (Kinetic to PD), Varying Effect +¾ (35 Active Points); (35)

Kinetic Cancellation (Knockback Resistance -20M); (20)

Kinetic Shield (Resistant Protection 20 PD / 10 ED (45 Active Points), Costs END to Activate -¼); (36)

Kinetic Missile Multipower (60 Point Reserve, All Slots OIF (Objects of Opportunity) -½, Beam -¼, Limited Range (60M) -¼ ); (30)

1. Blunt Missiles (Blast 9d6, ½ END +¼ (56 Active Points)); (3f)

2. Sharp Missiles (RKA 3d6, ½ END +¼ (56 Active Points)); (3f)

3. Kinetic Volley (Blast 6d6, ½ END +¼ , Autofire (5 shots) +½ (60Active Points)); (3f)

4. Sharp Kinetic Volley (RKA 2d6, ½ END +¼ , Autofire (5 shots) +½ (60Active Points)); (3f)

 

Total Cost: 230

Matching Complications
Distinctive Features (Mutant, Not Concealable, Noticed, Detectable by Uncommon Senses); (10)

Hunted (Sentinels, Infrequently, MoPow, Capture); (15)

Hunted (Pharos Corporation, Infrequently, As Powerful, NCI, Watching); (5)

Psychological Complication (Overconfidence, Common, Strong); (15)

Psychological Complication (Greedy, Common, Strong); (15)

Social Complication (Secret Identity: Alana North, Frequently, Major); (15)

Total: 75 points

 

Background: Alana North was a second-rate professional thief who barely stayed one step ahead of being captured by New York authorities.  She was frequently employed by ARGENT to steal industrial secrets from rival technology firms. During a job for the insidious corporation, Alana was confronted by Pharos security personnel who clearly didn’t intend to take her prisoner.  Cornered, Alana felt a surge of panic turn into some kind of strange energy. Suddenly the guards were thrown against the far wall, knocked unconscious. She gleefully escaped, still in shock.

   It didn’t take her long to figure out what happened.  The rush of adrenaline from facing her impending death had suddenly awakened mutant abilities related to kinetic energy.  Her powers were complicated, and it took Alana some experimentation and practice to discover them all (and a few she simply abandoned because they were too hard for her to understand or use).  She realized she wasn’t going to be just a run-of-the-mill criminal anymore. She was now a supervillain.

   Calling herself Kinetica, Alana began a new criminal career commanding much more lucrative fees, both from ARGENT and others.  Kinetica has enjoyed a run of success, even taking a few superheroes by surprise with her unusual suite of powers. She has faced off against the Sentinels and is now a known member of their rogues’ gallery.  

Personality: Alana North has never been afraid to abuse her skills, looks, and talent for her own benefit, and she has continued that as Kinetica.  Greedy, overconfident, and manipulative, Alana has no virtually no moral scruples. Although she doesn’t go out of her way to harm people, she has no problem killing during the course of her crimes -- if deadly force will help her succeed or escape, she will use it without hesitation.  She enjoys the fact that she doesn’t have to be as sneaky as Kinetica as she did as a regular thief. Alana’s love of a lavish lifestyle means that she hasn’t yet profited much from her crimes, and it also makes her prone to indolence. She hasn’t trained very hard to develop her powers, and she frequently falls into tactical patterns that are easy to guess.  She doesn’t always make the best use of all of her abilities, instead relying primarily on her friction control and missiles. If she ever became more sophisticated or determined, she would be a lot more dangerous, and maybe even more powerful than she already is.

Powers: Kinetica has a variety of powers related to controlling kinetic energy.  She can affect the friction of objects, making it harder to stand on or grip them.  She can stop a character’s momentum relative to the Earth’s rotation, the equivalent of a powerful telekinetic slam (although only in one direction).  She has powerful defensive abilities, including a shield, absorption of incoming attacks (both physical and energy), and knockback resistance. She can deflect incoming physical missiles by stopping their momentum.  Kinetica imparts kinetic energy to small objects, turning them into deadly projectiles. This is her favorite power, and the one she uses most often offensively. Alana does not work hard at developing her powers, leaving her without some abilities suggested by her framework (including many related to affecting movement).  

 

Appearance: Kinetica is an attractive white woman, with a top heavy figure that she uses to influence others and distract her foes during combat.  Her costume is a very tight, blue one piece bodysuit that exposes her midriff and part of her bust while her covering her arms and hands.  Her legs are bare, except for blue knee high boots. She wears a matching mask that covers her eyes, but leaves her long blonde hair exposed.  As Alana, she favors expensive, form-fitting dresses and outfits. Since becoming Kinetica, she enjoys spending as much time in the superhuman community as possible, limiting her time out of costume.

 

Notes: I wanted to build something other than an energy projector type villain so I tried taking a cue from Sebastian Shaw.  The kinetic powers are almost all from Champions Powers.  There are a ton of wild ideas in that section involving movement, so I slimmed them down to what I think is a more easily usable suite of abilities.

 

Edit: Changed her multipower slightly based on suggestion below and added two Autofire volleys to it.

 

 

Kinetica.hdc

[archer]

" (and a few she simply abandoned because they were too hard for her to understand or use) "

 

I love that line.

[PamelaIsley]

Gravitar

Total: 865

 

STR 18, 13-, 3 ½ d6
DEX 18, 13-
CON 18, 13-
INT 23, 14-
EGO 23, 14-
PRE 23, 14-, 4 ½ d6

OCV 8
DCV 8
OMCV 3
DMCV 6

SPD 6

PD 8    33 (25r)
ED 8    33 (25r)

REC 13
END 85

BODY 15
STUN 50 Total Cost: 224

Skills & Talents
CS: Gravity Powers +3 (15)

Computer Programming, 14- (3)

Electronics, 14- (3)

High Society, 14- (3)

Inventor, 14- (3)

CK: (Paris, Millennium City, New York, Tokyo), 11- (8)

KS: Art History, 11- (2)

KS: Literature, 14- (5)

Language (English, Completely Fluent, French Native); (3)

Language (Japanese, Fluent Conversation); (2)

Language (Russian, Basic Conversation); (1)

Mechanics, 14- (3)

PS: Gravity Tricks, 14- (9)

SS: Physics, 14- (5)

SS: Gravitics, 16- (7)

Stealth, 13- (3)

 

Filthy Rich (11)

Zero G Training (Environmental Movement); (6)

Striking Appearance +2 (+2d6); (6)

 

Total Cost: 103

 

Powers

Gravitic Manipulation (Telekinesis 50 STR (10d6), 0 END +½ (112 Active Points); (112)

Gravitic Pulse (Blast 8d6, AOE (16M Radius) +¾,  Double Knockback +½, Personal Immunity +¼, ½ End +¼ (110 Active Points), No Range -½, Unified -¼); (63)

Gravity Reversal Field (Telekinesis 40 STR (8d6), AOE (32 M Radius) +1 (120 Active Points), Limited (Only to Pull Straight Down or Hold Off Ground) -1, Unified -¼); (53)

Gravity Shield (Resistant Protection 25 PD / 25 ED (75 Active Points), Costs End to Activate -¼, Unified -¼); (50)

Gravity Shield II (Damage Negation -4 DCs Physical, -4 DCs Energy (40 Active Points), Costs End -½, Unified -¼); (23)

Gravitic Point Defense (Deflection (20 Active Points), Only Works Against Physical Projectiles -¼, Unified -¼); (13)

Gravitic Flight (Flight 50M, x4 Noncombat, ½ End +¼ (69 Active Points), Unified -¼); (55)

Gravitic Field Awareness (Spatial Awareness (Unusual Group), 360 Degrees); (37)

Detect Gravity (14-, No Sense Group, Discriminatory, Analyze, Range, Sense); (20)

Gravitic Powers (Multipower, 90 Point Reserve (90 Active Points), All Slots Unified -¼); (72)

1. Gravitic Blast (Blast 12d6, 0 End +½ (90 Active Points)); 7f

2. Full Gravitic Blast (Blast 18d6 (90 Active Points)); 7f

3. Indirect Gravitic Blast (Blast 8d6, Indirect (Source and Path Can Vary Each Use) +1 (80 Active Points)); 6f

4. Crushing and Rending (RKA 4d6, 0 End +½ (90 Active Points)); 7f

5. Gravitic Drag (Drain DCV 6d6, 0 End +½ (90 Active Points)); 7f

6. Big Squeeze (Blast 8d6, AVAD (PD Force Fields) +1 (80 Active Points)); 6f

Total Cost: 538

Matching Complications
Distinctive Features (Mutant, Not Concealable, Noticed, Uncommon Senses); (10)

Enraged (Insults and Not Being Taken Seriously, go 11-, recover 11-); (20)

Psychological Complication (Bent on World Domination, Common, Strong); (15)

Psychological Complication (Overconfidence, Common, Strong); (15)

Social Complication (Secret Identity: Erica d’Montressart, Frequent, Major); (15)

Total: 75 points

 

Background: What happens when a teenager discovers they are one of the most powerful superhumans in the world?  Erica d’Montressart is the pessimistic answer to that question. Rich, beautiful, and talented, Erica was part of an aristocratic French family that basically allowed her to indulge her every desire from a young age.  Not only did this make the girl quite spoiled, it also convinced her that she was, in fact, better than everyone. And the manifestation of her remarkable ability to control gravity only reinforced that fact.

    It didn’t take Erica long to realize the depths of her power. Simple practice wasn’t enough, so d’Montressart donned a mask and makeshift costume and challenged Parisian authorities.  She could defeat the police and gendarmes with ease. She didn’t actually commit traditional crimes; she just showed up at a monument or crowded venue, seemed to threaten tourists, and then easily defeated the responding forces.  When Erica found that her powers were well beyond those of superheroes, she realized just how special she was.

    Erica decided that her raw power meant that she was destined to rule the world.  The problem was how to go from wielding personal power to taking over countries. Gravitar was the result of Erica’s deliberations.  She would become a supervillain, possibly the world’s most personally powerful supervillain after the destruction of Dr. Destroyer in the battle of Detroit.  Once she demonstrated her abilities, and how helpless the remaining superheroes were against her, France, Europe, and then the entire world would have no choice but to surrender her.

    Anyone with more maturity than Gravitar could have pointed out flaws in her plan (although that hasn’t stopped villains like Geoffrey Haganstone from pursuing a similar strategy).  Gravitar’s short supervillainess career has produced a number of impressive (though limited) victories over superteams like the Sentinels and even the French military and NATO, but it hasn’t brought her any closer to true political power.  She has taken a small hiatus to rethink her approach, and the world is waiting for her next move.

 

Personality: Gravitar affects a cool, poised, and regal demeanor, both as a supervillain and in her alternate identity.  But this is at least partly an act. At her core, she is petulant and spoiled, and when she doesn’t get her way, or people insult her or don’t take her seriously, she can become enraged.  She is very aware of how powerful she is and she expects others to acknowledge it. If they don’t, there are often dire consequences.

As intelligent as she is, Erica has not really matured and her ambitions show a lack of serious planning.  She doesn’t have an organization or followers. And she doesn’t really have a political agenda that she would like to accomplish.  She simply would like to be acknowledged as ruler of the world. In some ways, it is a young girl’s conception of what rulership is, although she backs up her claims with a great deal of personal power, making her extremely dangerous.  Since her last appearance, Gravitar has spent time reflecting on how to make her dreams a reality, and it is possible that she may spend some of her enormous wealth on building an organization or recruiting a team of supervillains.

Gravitar is well-balanced for a supervillain, despite the flaws in her personality.  She is usually not cruel or overly violent. She can be playful, even honorable, and usually keeps her word when it’s given.  As Erica, very few of her negative traits are on display, except for perhaps her overconfidence and haughtiness.

Powers: Gravitar can control and manipulate gravity.  This often manifests itself as a form of telekinesis, which she can use in a wide area or against a selected target.  She can shoot a number of different blasts or use gravity to try to crush and rend a victim’s body (a particularly lethal attack).  Her gravity powers allow her to create shields around her, one of which can negate damage. She can fly, sense gravity, and has 360 degree spatial awareness.  She can also affect the personal gravity of an opponent, reducing their ability to dodge attacks. Gravitar relies heavily on her gravitic fields, but can become simplistic in combat, simply blasting lesser opponents into dust.    

Appearance: Gravitar is a lovely young French woman in her mid to late 20s.  She has long blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She speaks perfect English, although with a clear French accent. When out of costume, she wears expensive, tailored clothing, including a variety of cutting edge gowns and dresses.  As Gravitar, her costume is a black dress with the skirt generously split up the sides. Her belt, gloves, and boots are dark blue. She wears a dark blue domino mask to conceal her identity. Many of her powers manifest with a light blue energy.

 

Notes: OCV from 14 to 11; ED/PD from 54 to 33, Active Points from 150+ to 120, Points from 1,456 to 880 865;

 

This is my conversion of Gravitar into a more "usable" format.  To me, the master villains are out of whack with reality (they are built more like Gods than actual supercriminals).  Others may disagree of course.  In another thread, I argued that it is probably easy to scale them down.  So I decided to start with the only master villain in 6E Volume 1 that I actually like: Gravitar.  The changes are extensive.  Some of them are summarized in the quick line above.  I also adjusted her characteristics WAY down (she was built like Superman, for some odd reason).  She lost her flight usable as attack powers because I think they abuse the rules (and the Telekinesis, to me, simulates any practical use of this power anyway).  Anything left out was probably intentional. I altered her background to be more in line with someone who hasn't been a villain for decades and to remove some of the Silver Age components.

 

Edit: Dropped her damage negation down to 4DCs each and added in her city knowledge skills.

 

 

 

Gravitar.hdc

[Amorkca]

Just a side note I noticed in Kinetica's Powers write-up.

 

Powers: Kinetica has a variety of powers related to controlling kinetic injury. 

 

Injury should be energy...

 

Can you define some of the uses of her powers?  Other than what's already in the description that is?

[PamelaIsley]

8 hours ago, Amorkca said:

Can you define some of the uses of her powers?  Other than what's already in the description that is?

 

Most of her friction powers relate to making people fall down.  The telekinesis one can also be used to cause items to fall out of people's hands, or them to lose their grip.  One example in the Champions Powers book is you can make someone slide out of a chair.  I honestly don't quite get it, but this power is described as the core of a kinetic power set.

 

The momentum telekinesis power is just a slam that only throws someone in one direction.  You stop them from moving, the Earth keeps moving, and they fly across the room in a westward direction.

 

She is missing a lot of powers in the Kinetics chapter (and that the master villain Kinematik has access to) because I simply didn't get what use they were.  These were mostly related to draining movement powers or stopping someone in mid-movement.  I allude to those in her writeup.

 

When I say that Kinetica's preference is to just shoot projectiles at people, that echoes my own preference with the character.  I just wasn't that adept at making the other powers effective in a sample combat. 

 

Thanks for catching the typo!

[Mr. R]

23 hours ago, PamelaIsley said:

Gravitar

Total: 880

 

STR 18, 13-, 3 ½ d6
DEX 18, 13-
CON 18, 13-
INT 23, 14-
EGO 23, 14-
PRE 23, 14-, 4 ½ d6

OCV 8
DCV 8
OMCV 3
DMCV 6

SPD 6

PD 8    33 (25r)
ED 8    33 (25r)

REC 13
END 85

BODY 15
STUN 50 Total Cost: 224

Skills & Talents
CS: Gravity Powers +3 (15)

Computer Programming, 14- (3)

Electronics, 14- (3)

High Society, 14- (3)

Inventor, 14- (3)

KS: Art History, 11- (2)

KS: Literature, 14- (5)

Language (English, Completely Fluent, French Native); (3)

Language (Japanese, Fluent Conversation); (2)

Language (Russian, Basic Conversation); (1)

Mechanics, 14- (3)

PS: Gravity Tricks, 14- (9)

SS: Physics, 14- (5)

SS: Gravitics, 16- (7)

Stealth, 13- (3)

 

Filthy Rich (11)

Zero G Training (Environmental Movement); (6)

Striking Appearance +2 (+2d6); (6)

 

Total Cost: 95

 

Powers

Gravitic Manipulation (Telekinesis 50 STR (10d6), 0 END +½ (112 Active Points); (112)

Gravitic Pulse (Blast 8d6, AOE (16M Radius) +¾,  Double Knockback +½, Personal Immunity +¼, ½ End +¼ (110 Active Points), No Range -½, Unified -¼); (63)

Gravity Reversal Field (Telekinesis 40 STR (8d6), AOE (32 M Radius) +1 (120 Active Points), Limited (Only to Pull Straight Down or Hold Off Ground) -1, Unified -¼); (53)

Gravity Shield (Resistant Protection 25 PD / 25 ED (75 Active Points), Costs End to Activate -¼, Unified -¼); (50)

Gravity Shield II (Damage Negation -8 DCs Physical, -8 DCs Energy (80 Active Points), Costs End -½, Unified -¼); (46)

Gravitic Point Defense (Deflection (20 Active Points), Only Works Against Physical Projectiles -¼, Unified -¼); (13)

Gravitic Flight (Flight 50M, x4 Noncombat, ½ End +¼ (69 Active Points), Unified -¼); (55)

Gravitic Field Awareness (Spatial Awareness (Unusual Group), 360 Degrees); (37)

Detect Gravity (14-, No Sense Group, Discriminatory, Analyze, Range, Sense); (20)

Gravitic Powers (Multipower, 90 Point Reserve (90 Active Points), All Slots Unified -¼); (72)

1. Gravitic Blast (Blast 12d6, 0 End +½ (90 Active Points)); 7f

2. Full Gravitic Blast (Blast 18d6 (90 Active Points)); 7f

3. Indirect Gravitic Blast (Blast 8d6, Indirect (Source and Path Can Vary Each Use) +1 (80 Active Points)); 6f

4. Crushing and Rending (RKA 4d6, 0 End +½ (90 Active Points)); 7f

5. Gravitic Drag (Drain DCV 6d6, 0 End +½ (90 Active Points)); 7f

6. Big Squeeze (Blast 8d6, AVAD (PD Force Fields) +1 (80 Active Points)); 6f

Total Cost: 561

Matching Complications
Distinctive Features (Mutant, Not Concealable, Always Noticed, Uncommon); (15)

Enraged (Insults and Not Being Taken Seriously, go 11-, recover 11-); (20)

Psychological Complication (Bent on World Domination, Common, Strong); (15)

Psychological Complication (Overconfidence, Common, Moderate); (10)

Social Complication (Secret Identity: Erica d’Montressart, Frequent, Major); (15)

Total: 75 points

 

Background: What happens when a teenager discovers they are one of the most powerful superhumans in the world?  Erica d’Montressart is the pessimistic answer to that question. Rich, beautiful, and talented, Erica was part of an aristocratic French family that basically allowed her to indulge her every desire from a young age.  Not only did this make the girl quite spoiled, it also convinced her that she was, in fact, better than everyone. And the manifestation of her remarkable ability to control gravity only reinforced that fact.

    It didn’t take Erica long to realize the depths of her power. Simple practice wasn’t enough, so d’Montressart donned a mask and makeshift costume and challenged Parisian authorities.  She could defeat the police and gendarmes with ease. She didn’t actually commit traditional crimes; she just showed up at a monument or crowded venue, seemed to threaten tourists, and then easily defeated the responding forces.  When Erica found that her powers were well beyond those of superheroes, she realized just how special she was.

    Erica decided that her raw power meant that she was destined to rule the world.  The problem was how to go from wielding personal power to taking over countries. Gravitar was the result of Erica’s deliberations.  She would become a supervillain, possibly the world’s most personally powerful supervillain after the destruction of Dr. Destroyer in the battle of Detroit.  Once she demonstrated her abilities, and how helpless the remaining superheroes were against her, France, Europe, and then the entire world would have no choice but to surrender her.

    Anyone with more maturity than Gravitar could have pointed out flaws in her plan (although that hasn’t stopped villains like Geoffrey Haganstone from pursuing a similar strategy).  Gravitar’s short supervillainess career has produced a number of impressive (though limited) victories over superteams like the Sentinels and even the French military and NATO, but it hasn’t brought her any closer to true political power.  She has taken a small hiatus to rethink her approach, and the world is waiting for her next move.

 

Personality: Gravitar affects a cool, poised, and regal demeanor, both as a supervillain and in her alternate identity.  But this is at least partly an act. At her core, she is petulant and spoiled, and when she doesn’t get her way, or people insult her or don’t take her seriously, she can become enraged.  She is very aware of how powerful she is and she expects others to acknowledge it. If they don’t, there are often dire consequences.

As intelligent as she is, Erica has not really matured and her ambitions show a lack of serious planning.  She doesn’t have an organization or followers. And she doesn’t really have a political agenda that she would like to accomplish.  She simply would like to be acknowledged as ruler of the world. In some ways, it is a young girl’s conception of what rulership is, although she backs up her claims with a great deal of personal power, making her extremely dangerous.  Since her last appearance, Gravitar has spent time reflecting on how to make her dreams a reality, and it is possible that she may spend some of her enormous wealth on building an organization or recruiting a team of supervillains.

Gravitar is well-balanced for a supervillain, despite the flaws in her personality.  She is usually not cruel or overly violent. She can be playful, even honorable, and usually keeps her word when it’s given.  As Erica, very few of her negative traits are on display, except for perhaps her overconfidence and haughtiness.

Powers: Gravitar can control and manipulate gravity.  This often manifests itself as a form of telekinesis, which she can use in a wide area or against a selected target.  She can shoot a number of different blasts or use gravity to try to crush and rend a victim’s body (a particularly lethal attack).  Her gravity powers allow her to create shields around her, one of which can negate damage. She can fly, sense gravity, and has 360 degree spatial awareness.  She can also affect the personal gravity of an opponent, reducing their ability to dodge attacks. Gravitar relies heavily on her gravitic fields, but can become simplistic in combat, simply blasting lesser opponents into dust.    

Appearance: Gravitar is a lovely young French woman in her mid to late 20s.  She has long blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She speaks perfect English, although with a clear French accent. When out of costume, she wears expensive, tailored clothing, including a variety of cutting edge gowns and dresses.  As Gravitar, her costume is a black dress with the skirt generously split up the sides. Her belt, gloves, and boots are dark blue. She wears a dark blue domino mask to conceal her identity. Many of her powers manifest with a light blue energy.

 

Notes: OCV from 14 to 11; ED/PD from 54 to 33, Active Points from 150+ to 120, Points from 1,456 to 880;

 

This is my conversion of Gravitar into a more "usable" format.  To me, the master villains are out of whack with reality (they are built more like Gods than actual supercriminals).  Others may disagree of course.  In another thread, I argued that it is probably easy to scale them down.  So I decided to start with the only master villain in 6E Volume 1 that I actually like: Gravitar.  The changes are extensive.  Some of them are summarized in the quick line above.  I also adjusted her characteristics WAY down (she was built like Superman, for some odd reason).  She lost her flight usable as attack powers because I think they abuse the rules (and the Telekinesis, to me, simulates any practical use of this power anyway).  Anything left out was probably intentional. I altered her background to be more in line with someone who hasn't been a villain for decades and to remove some of the Silver Age components.

 

Gravitar.hdc 164.33 kB · 1 download

 

 

I like.  She's still incredibly powerful, but can be taken down.  The one little flaw is that you gave her Dam Neg 8 dice PD and 8 dice ED.  So all those points you reduced her force field by, just got added to again even more.  If your goal in making it so she's not so over the top, I don't think that is the way to go.  

[PamelaIsley]

3 minutes ago, Mr. R said:

 

 

I like.  She's still incredibly powerful, but can be taken down.  The one little flaw is that you gave her Dam Neg 8 dice PD and 8 dice ED.  So all those points you reduced her force field by, just got added to again even more.  If your goal in making it so she's not so over the top, I don't think that is the way to go.  

 

I don't disagree, but I'm confused.  The real Gravitar has both a super powerful force field AND the damage negation field, so I didn't do anything to strengthen her.  Here is her entry:

 

90 pts Gravitic Shield I: Resistant Protection Field (30 PD/30 ED) 0 END
53 pts Gravitic Shield II: Damage Negation (-8 DCs Physical and Energy), Costs Endurance (-½); 8 END

 

I significantly cut down the force field, but left the damage negation field unchanged.  I assumed the idea was that Gravitar could easily keep Shield I in place, but would burn END to use Shield II (although it provides great protection, there is a cost).

[Gnome BODY (important!)]

1 hour ago, PamelaIsley said:

I significantly cut down the force field, but left the damage negation field unchanged.  I assumed the idea was that Gravitar could easily keep Shield I in place, but would burn END to use Shield II (although it provides great protection, there is a cost).

The villain is still left with 33 def and -8 DC negation.  A 12 DC hero who haymakers will do jack diddly squat a full eighty-seven percent of the time.  A 12 DC hero who doesn't haymaker cannot inflict damage.  That is absolutely absurd.  Even more absurd is that it would take a hundred and thirty-six such haymakers to down her, with an additional 35 per recovery she gets.  Gravitar as presented by you is functionally invincible against standard 12 DC attacks until her END runs low. 

[PamelaIsley]

35 minutes ago, Gnome BODY (important!) said:

The villain is still left with 33 def and -8 DC negation.  A 12 DC hero who haymakers will do jack diddly squat a full eighty-seven percent of the time.  A 12 DC hero who doesn't haymaker cannot inflict damage.  That is absolutely absurd.  Even more absurd is that it would take a hundred and thirty-six such haymakers to down her, with an additional 35 per recovery she gets.  Gravitar as presented by you is functionally invincible against standard 12 DC attacks until her END runs low. 

 

These are great points. I'm happy to cut her further.  In my defense, her original build has 54 PD (30r) and 54 ED (30r) AND the full damage negation.  Also, the force field doesn't even cost END to activate.  I thought I was scaling her down enough (particularly given the criticism I've endured elsewhere for even suggesting that these villains are out of whack with functional play reality), but it seems she's even more ridiculous than I initially thought (and maybe I'm too sensitive to criticism).

[Mr. R]

I don't have the 6ed write ups, but if what you say is true, then she's broken on so many levels originally.  So you can either ditch the damage negation totally (she still has 33/33 defenses) or you can keep them but really reduce her force field.  One thing to look at is how many points is she paying total for that defense.  In your write up she has 25/25 (effectively 50 points)  and -8 / -8 Damage Negation (80 pts)  All total to 130 pts.  That is a 65/65 FF .  If you find that over the top then bring it down to what you find acceptable.

 

Suggestion 18 / 18 Force Field at 0 End (36 points of effect) and maybe -3 / -3 Damage Negation. ( 30 pts)  total 66 pts Equal to a 33/33 force field.  This is a lot more palitable.  

 

Note same applies to Damage Reduction;  50% dam red resistant is 30 points.  Its like buying 30 points of defense.  It can quickly go over the top!

[PamelaIsley]

3 minutes ago, Mr. R said:

I don't have the 6ed write ups, but if what you say is true, then she's broken on so many levels originally. 

 

I'm quoting directly from the 6E writeup in my reply to you above.   

 

She originally had 54/54 with 30r/30r, plus the 8 DCs of energy AND physical damage negation.

 

I was going to half the damage negation to 4 DCs of each, but now I'm thinking of dropping it totally.

[Mr. R]

Depends on what you want for her.  If she's to stand up to an entire team then maybe 3 or 4 dice Dam Neg is viable.  In Aaron Allston's Strike Force (the original book) his main baddie Overlord had 20 pd and 20 ed with  30 / 30 armour  Yes you read right, 50 points of defense.  And his players managed to fight him off more than once.  Is he over the top?  Well for his campaign .... no!.  But YMMV!

[PamelaIsley]

10 hours ago, Mr. R said:

Depends on what you want for her.  If she's to stand up to an entire team then maybe 3 or 4 dice Dam Neg is viable.  In Aaron Allston's Strike Force (the original book) his main baddie Overlord had 20 pd and 30 ed with  30 / 30 armour  Yes you read right, 50 points of defense.  And his players managed to fight him off more than once.  Is he over the top?  Well for his campaign .... no!.  But YMMV!

 

Gravitar needs to be able to credibly fight a team and not lose fast.  So I will half the damage negation and go from there.  Fixing the entry now.

[PamelaIsley]

Daystar

Total: 400

 

STR 13, 12-, 2 ½ d6
DEX 18, 13-
CON 18, 13-
INT 18, 13-
EGO 13, 12-
PRE 18, 13-, 3 ½ d6

OCV 6
DCV 8
OMCV 3
DMCV 3

SPD 5

PD 7    25 (18r)
ED 7    25 (18r)

REC 8
END 70

BODY 10
STUN 40 Total Cost: 150

Skills & Talents
CS: Celestial Multipower +2 (10)

Computer Programming, 13- (3)

Electronics, 13- (3)

Inventor, 13- (3)

KS: Space Program, 12- (3)

KS: Superhuman World, 11- (2)

Language: (English, Completely Fluent, Japanese Native)

PS: Astrophysicist, 12- (3)

PS: Astronaut, 12- (3)

SS: Astrophysics, 12- (3)

SS: Gravitics, 13- (4)

SS: Electrical Engineering, 12- (3)

SS: Rocketry, 12- (3)

Total Cost: 46

 

Powers

Nebula Field Generator (Darkness to Sight and Radio Groups 8m radius (45 Active Points), OIF -½); (30)

Mask (Sight Group Flash Defense (10 Active Points), OIF -½); (7)

Personal Force Field Generator (Resistant Protection 18 PD / 18 ED (54 Active Points), OIF -½, Unified -¼); (31)

Force Field Generator (Life Support: Safe in High Pressure, High Radiation, Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure, Vacuum, Self Contained Breathing (19 Active Points), OIF -½, Unified -¼); (11)

Force Bubble Flight (Flight 25m, Megascale (1m = 100 km) +1 ½ (62 Active Points), OIF -½); (41)

Celestial Powered Gloves (Multipower, 90 Point Reserve (90 Active Points), all slots OIF -½); (60)

1. Planetary Gravity Control (Telekinesis 40 STR (8d6),½ End +¼ (75 Active Points)); 5f

2. Comet Blast (Blast 12d6, AOE (4m Radius) +¼ (75 Active Points), Can Be Deflected -¼); 4f

3. Plasma Blast (Blast 10d6 AOE (18m Radius, Explosion) +½ (75 Active Points)); 5f

4. Sunfire Flare Blast (Blast 12d6 (60 Active Points) PLUS Sight Group Flash 6d6 (30 Active Points), Linked -½; Total 90 Active Cost, 55 Real Cost); 5f

5. White Hot Blast (RKA 4d6, ½ End +¼ (75 Active Points)); 5f

Total Cost: 204

Matching Complications
Hunted (NASA, Infrequent, Less Powerful, NCI, Harshly Punish); (10)

Hunted (Sentinels, Infrequent, Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish); (20)

Psychological Complication (Overconfident, Common, Strong); (15)

Psychological Complication (Insufferable Know It All, Common, Strong); (15)

Social Complication (Public Identity: Celeste Tabe, Frequent, Major); (15)

Total: 75 points

 

Background: Celeste Tabe was one of the youngest women ever selected to be a part of NASA’s space program.  A gifted astrophysicist, Tabe underwent extensive training to be able to serve as an astronaut on the International Space Station, where NASA and other space programs conducted research on materials from other worlds.  Tabe leapt at the chance, seeing this as a sure way to both celebrity scientist status and unique knowledge.

    While serving on the space station, Tabe was made privy to a remarkable discovery.  NASA had recovered an extremely small, artificial object that it was sure was a piece of alien technology.  So the space agency wanted a small team of researchers to study it and confirm its origins and discover what it did.  One night, while alone in the station’s lab, Celeste was able to open the artifact, and found that it was actually a case for an extremely small, but powerful energy generator.  Thrilled with the discovery, Celeste decided to keep it to herself. Over the next few weeks, she secretly began to experiment with the generator, putting it back in the case after each test.  She finally convinced her superiors that any real work would have to be done on Earth, so she and the artifact were brought back to Earth. Then she promptly stole it.

    Using the generator and her own scientific knowledge, Celeste was able to build  several small gadgets that gave her immense powers. The alien device was a conduit for celestial and solar power.  Celeste saw the generator as her path to superhuman status, and because she was now a thief, she decided to turn to villainy.  Calling herself Daystar, Tabe used her powers to conduct a series of daring attacks on the Sentinels. Her goal was to show off her powers to potential clients.  And she was successful. Since her introduction, Daystar has become a popular mercentary supervillain and scientist for hire, working with the likes of ARGENT, VIPER, and a few master villains.

Personality: Celeste Tabe is an intelligent, talented, but almost completely amoral woman.  Always essentially selfish, Daystar could not pass up an opportunity for the type of personal power that the alien microgenerator offered.  Since NASA was unlikely to just give it to her, she stole it. She has zero regrets about her decision because she finds it immensely satisfying to wield power as Daystar, and many nefarious groups are still willing to pay her to conduct research and build devices for them (in fact, they pay a good deal more than any legitimate government, university, or company).  Daystar loves showing off both her powers and her scientific skills. Although she usually works very well with any group (being sane, professional, and relatively well-balanced), Celeste is an insufferable know-it-all. She has an opinion on everything, frequently offers advice on how to run an operation or use technology, and refuses to admit that anyone might know something that she doesn’t.  This can make her unpleasant to be around. Despite making considerable money as a criminal and an unethical researcher, Daystar’s gadgeteering hobby is expensive, and she is always looking for new projects or sources of income.

Powers: The alien microgenerator that Daystar stole gives her an impressive, if odd, suite of powers related to celestial energy.  Daystar was able to copy the generator (although she’s not exactly sure how) and put versions of if in a belt and in gloves.  The generator in her belt allows her to manipulate celestial energy present in the atmosphere to create force fields around herself.  These offer protection, life support, and the ability to fly incredibly fast inside of a bubble. She can also use the belt to project a field of nebula-type energy, blinding opponents.  Her gloves have the remarkable ability to create a series of blasts with wide areas of effect (including one that hurls a small comet at her target). She can manipulate planetary gravity to simulate the powers of telekinesis.

Appearance: Celeste Tabe is a slim, shapely Japanese-American woman in her late 20s.  She has long dark hair. She is always in her either her costume or working clothes suitable for a lab (she sometimes even just wears a lab coat in place of her cape over her costume).  As Daystar, she wears a purple minidress and mask, with a white, high collared cape. Her gloves, belt, and knee-high boots are white. When she uses her powers, her gloves and belt have a deep purple glow.

 

Notes: I liked the chapter in Champions Powers on Celestial and Solar powers and here is a character that uses them.  Her powers are odd blasts and other weird things that may or may not fit together that well tactically.  Her personality is a little undeveloped compared to my other writeups.  The breakthrough to make this character more interesting was when I decided to make her dependent on a focus (something I don't normally do).  That helped spur the story of her as an inventor rather than a scientist who was imbued with powers by an alien artifact (which, of course, is a serious Champions trope).  Champions has a lot of these scientist characters who once they get powers, their personality changes and they become evil.  I don't really like that so you won't see me use it.  The reality is that in the "real world", most people who were suddenly superpowered would probably misuse them (which Champions Universe tacitly acknowledges by saying there are 3 superpowered villains for every 2 superpowered heroes).  Daystar and Aetheria are my reaction to characters like Howler, Geothermal, and Photon.

Daystar.hdc

[Mr. R]

42 minutes ago, PamelaIsley said:

Daystar

Notes: I liked the chapter in Champions Powers on Celestial and Solar powers and here is a character that uses them.  Her powers are odd blasts and other weird things that may or may not fit together that well tactically.  Her personality is a little undeveloped compared to my other writeups.  The breakthrough to make this character more interesting was when I decided to make her dependent on a focus (something I don't normally do).  That helped spur the story of her as an inventor rather than a scientist who was imbued with powers by an alien artifact (which, of course, is a serious Champions trope).  Champions has a lot of these scientist characters who once they get powers, their personality changes and they become evil.  I don't really like that so you won't see me use it.  The reality is that in the "real world", most people who were suddenly superpowered would probably misuse them (which Champions Universe tacitly acknowledges by saying there are 3 superpowered villains for every 2 superpowered heroes).  Daystar and Aetheria are my reaction to characters like Howler, Geothermal, and Photon.

Daystar.hdc 158.5 kB · 0 downloads

 

 

This is a personal pet peeve of mine as well.  Why is it that nice normal people become jerk when they get super powers, but amoral jerks seldom go the reverse?

[Lord Liaden]

Human nature?

[PamelaIsley]

37 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

Human nature?

 

Exactly!

 

But Champions doesn't really explain it as human nature.  Somehow the thing that gives a lot of scientist/academic types their powers warps their mind in a deux ex machina way and they become evil. There's one guy who tries to give himself superpowers so as to be a superhero, succeeds, but the test "changed him somehow" and he decides to be a villain.  It would be more believable if when he finally got the powers, he naturally just realized, "hey it's easier to be a criminal with these kinetic powers, so that's what I'm going to do."

 

My thought is that just getting powers will turn many people (perhaps even the average person) into some degree of supervillain, so there's no need to say "the alien artifact that Susan Sonderheim found warped her personality."

[Lord Liaden]

I've noticed that Steve Long does that with a lot of the villains he creates, and sometimes even the heroes (like Nighthawk). The character experiences a complete personality shift as a result of becoming "super." Maybe it's my drama training, but I find it more interesting and compelling when there's a clear through-line in a character's background, showing the path that led them to become who they are.

[PamelaIsley]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

I've noticed that Steve Long does that with a lot of the villains he creates, and sometimes even the heroes (like Nighthawk). The character experiences a complete personality shift as a result of becoming "super." Maybe it's my drama training, but I find it more interesting and compelling when there's a clear through-line in a character's background, showing the path that led them to become who they are.

Yes!

 

We are in complete agreement.

[archer]

13 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I've noticed that Steve Long does that with a lot of the villains he creates, and sometimes even the heroes (like Nighthawk). The character experiences a complete personality shift as a result of becoming "super." Maybe it's my drama training, but I find it more interesting and compelling when there's a clear through-line in a character's background, showing the path that led them to become who they are.

 

You can take a nice, normal person, make him the boss, and 70%+ of the time he'll turn into a jerk.

[evilaustintom]

On ‎3‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 12:33 PM, PamelaIsley said:

Kinetica

...

 

Powers

...

Kinetic Missile Multipower (56 Point Reserve, All Slots OIF (Objects of Opportunity) -½); (37)

1. Blunt Missiles (Blast 9d6, ½ END +¼ (56 Active Points), Beam -¼, Limited Range (60M) -¼); (3f)

2. Sharp Missiles (RKA 3d6, ½ END +¼ (56 Active Points), Beam -¼, Limited Range (60M) -¼); (3f)

...

 

 

 

 

Kinetica.hdc 122.37 kB · 3 downloads

I would recommend with your Kinetic Missile Multipower, putting the Beam and Limited range limitations on the multipower base cost.  Since it's already on every slot in the multipower, you might as well put it on the base cost as well - it'll save you about 9 points, which you can use for other stuff...perhaps on a frictionless slide?  Skate on the ground, giving you more movement?  Just a thought - I'm sure you saw that as a 'kinetic movement option' in Champions Complete.

 

I'm not particularly keen on the TK to the west only - the idea is cool, but I'm not sure of the implementation.  The way TK works for throwing people - the way I understand it - is you have to grab them first (just like normal strength).  I could be wrong about that, though...I probably should look it up.  Just sending people in a certain direction might be better served by an attack that does a lot of knockback, but no damage - and only in the earth's rotation specific direction (indirect).  Or perhaps fly usable on others that you control (again, though - with the appropriate limitations)?  Just throwing out ideas.

 

Fun fact - the earth spins at about 1,000 miles an hour (1,600km/hr).  At your speed rate, you would need a fly usable on others of about...1,066 meters of movement.  Even with noncombat multipliers and the movement advantages that increase acceleration, that would put it over the general active cost limits of most standard superhero campaigns.  You know...if you were going for 'realism'.  <grin>  Then again, we probably don't want to discuss the damage you would take hitting a wall at that speed.

 

evilaustintom

 

[PamelaIsley]

22 minutes ago, evilaustintom said:

I would recommend with your Kinetic Missile Multipower, putting the Beam and Limited range limitations on the multipower base cost.  Since it's already on every slot in the multipower, you might as well put it on the base cost as well - it'll save you about 9 points, which you can use for other stuff...perhaps on a frictionless slide?  Skate on the ground, giving you more movement?  Just a thought - I'm sure you saw that as a 'kinetic movement option' in Champions Complete.

 

I'm not particularly keen on the TK to the west only - the idea is cool, but I'm not sure of the implementation.

 

 

Thank you so much for the multipower suggestion. I think I will build her out a bit more.

 

On the telekinesis slam to the west only . . . that's Champions Powers idea, not really mine.  It is a nice idea, but I do think if you totally stopped relative to the Earth, you'd go splat pretty fast against any solid object.  I would assume, from a realism standpoint, that Kinetic Controllers are only able to sort of stop you, not totally stop you.  

 

Kinetic powers are a cool idea, but kind of hard to implement.