A Real American Hero (STARS)

[JmOz]

I am working on my gaming world.  I have an idea for a group of America's daring highly trained special mission force.  It's purpose: To defend America against costumed terrorist organizations determined to rule the world! Yes, heavily based off of a toy line, cartoon, tv show of my youth....Called STARS: Special Target Assualt Response Squads

 

So my question is, in a super hero world how many points (before equipment) should an agent of a similar organization be?  Right now the package deal I put together is 300 points (including 100 points in gear)...

Note this is the Dial Tone, Breaker, Cover Girl, Bazooka, Leatherneck's.  Not the Duke, Snake Eyes, Flint, Scarlet's....

Should I tone it down, increase it, etc...

[assault]

First, what edition? How many points are the PCs built on, etc?

The "named" members of such an organization could quite reasonably be built on the same points as a starting PC, or at least a low-powered superhero. They could have characteristics, training and equipment comparable to many "non-powered" supers, and could actually be better in these respects than many characters with powers.

The side effect of that is that if one of them goes rogue - instant supervillain.

[JmOz]

It's 6th edition (Champions complete).  As for power-level we just finished up a low powered (300) and going to a standard (400)

[assault]

300 sounds OK then - for the "named" characters. Run of the mill agents should be much less, IMHO.

 

A bit of Conservation of Ninjitsu should apply.

 

One agent is a serious threat. A crowd of agents is a bunch of mooks.

[JmOz]

Here is an example one I am working on...

 

Agent Knock Out

VAL    CHA    Cost    Roll    Notes
15    STR    5    12-    HTH Damage 3d6  END [1]
24    DEX    28    14-
15    CON    5    12-
18    INT    8    13-    PER Roll 13-
13    EGO    3    12-
15    PRE    5    12-    PRE Attack: 3d6
8    OCV    25
8    DCV    25
3    OMCV    0
3    DMCV    0
5    SPD    30    Phases:  3, 5, 8, 10, 12
5    PD    3    5/10 PD (0/5 rPD)
5    ED    3    5/10 ED (0/5 rED)
5    REC    1
25    END    1
12    BODY    2    
26    STUN    3

Movement    Cost    Meters    Notes
RUNNING    -2    10m/20m    END [1]
SWIMMING    0    4m/8m    END [1]
LEAPING    0    4m    4m forward, 2m upward

 

 

Characteristics Total: 145

Cost    Powers
50    Mission Spesific Gear: Variable Power Pool, 30 base + 30 control cost, Cosmic (+2) (75 Active Points); Utility Belt Based, tech (-1); all slots IIF (-1/4) - END=
0    1) Synthtech Body Armor: (Total: 20 Active Cost, 13 Real Cost) Resistant Protection (5 PD/5 ED) (15 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) (Real Cost: 10) plus LS  (Safe in High Pressure; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat) (5 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3) Real Cost: 13 - END=0
0    2) Dedicated Radio Link: Mind Link , One Specific Mind, Radio not mental (+0) (5 Active Points); Only With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), IIF (-1/4) Real Cost: 2 - END=0
0    3) Combat Knife: HKA 1d6 (1 1/2d6 w/STR), Armor Piercing (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (26 Active Points); OAF (-1) Real Cost: 13 - END=0
0    4) Grenade: RKA 1d6, Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +1/4), Penetrating (+1/2) (26 Active Points); 4 Charges (-1), Range Based On STR (-1/4), IIF (-1/4) Real Cost: 10 - END=[4]
0    5) Poison Darts Launcher: Blast 2d6, Constant (+1/2), Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Immune to poison, Hardend PD; All Or Nothing; +1/2) (27 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Limited Range (-1/4), 4 clips of 12 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Minute each (+3/4) Real Cost: 15 - END=[12 cc]
0    6) Nunchaku: (Total: 29 Active Cost, 14 Real Cost) Hand-To-Hand Attack +3d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (22 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4) (Real Cost: 10) plus Stretching 1m, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Reach (-1), OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 1) plus +2 with Nunchaku (6 Active Points); OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 3) Real Cost: 14 - END=0

Powers Total: 50

Cost    Martial Arts
4    Martial Block:  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort
4    Martial Dodge:  1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort
4    Martial Strike:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 7d6 Strike
3    Martial Throw:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, 5d6 +v/10, Target Falls
5    Offensive Strike:  1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, 9d6 Strike
2    Weapon Element:  Blades, Clubs
8    +2 HTH Damage Class(es)

Martial Arts Total: 30

Cost    Skills
2    +1 with Offensive Strike
24    +2 Overall
3    Acrobatics 14-
3    Acting 12-
3    Breakfall 14-
3    Bribery 12-
3    Bugging 13-
3    Charm 12-
3    Climbing 14-
3    Combat Driving 14-
3    Combat Piloting 14-
3    Deduction 13-
1    Demolitions 8-
3    High Society 12-
2    KS: Karate 11-
3    Lipreading 13-
3    Lockpicking 14-
3    Navigation 13-
3    PS: Military 13-
3    Paramedics 13-
3    Persuasion 12-
3    Shadowing 13-
3    Stealth 14-
3    Streetwise 12-
3    Survival 13-
1    Systems Operation 8-
4    TF:  Combat Aircraft, Parachuting, Basic, Skiing (snow), Tracked Military Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Motorized Ground Vehicles, Wheeled Military Vehicles
3    Tactics 13-
3    Teamwork 14-
1    Tracking 8-
7    WF:  Small Arms, Blades, Grenade Launchers, Karate Weapons, Vehicle Weapons (group)

Skills Total: 111

Cost    Perks
8    Fringe Benefit:  Membership STARS, Security Clearance, Sergeant

Perks Total: 8

Cost    Talents
6    +2/+2d6 Striking Appearance (vs. all characters)

Talents Total: 6

Base Points: 300
Experience: 0
Experience Unspent: 0
Total Character Cost: 350

[Badger]

Will iceberg wear snow gear on jungle missions

 

Or quick kick go no shirt no shoes in arctic  country

[JmOz]

Believe it or not I have a in universe reason for that.  Basically Synthcloth is clear until died and sculpted.  It is an amazing cloth that not only provides protection from attacks but is amazingly able to balance temp extremes,...So while it looks like tundra gear it is just as cool in the desert as it is in the tundra

[Duke Bushido]

Points levels for agents...   Allowing that you've already established that this will be "agents" that deal with supers.  That being said, low-level supers seems reasonable.

 

However, if you're interested, I'll expand a small amount (well, interested or not, I'm going to do that, so let me re-try that:)

 

If you're _not_ interested in an expanded set of thoughts, stop here and skip to the next post.  

 

A lot of the points guidelines I use for agents reflect the campaign:  are the PCs the agents, or the supers?  PC agents are going to pretty much be the _same_ response team, over and over, "coincidentally" getting assigned together for various missions.  To keep things from feeling clunky, the PC group is going to represent somewhere near the "typical" response team for that agency in my campaign: wherever they start, that's going to be on the low side of typical, and they'll grow via EP from there.    In short order, the PCs are going to be exceptional agents, which more-easily explains why they keep getting assigned together: the threats they are capable of facing are larger than the threats other teams are capable of facing.

 

 

If the PCs are supers going up against (or even working with) agents, I tend to cap starting agents at somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 starting supers.  

 

Why?

 

The PCs are _super_.  They aren't going to _feel_ particularly super if they can be easily dropped by two or three well-prepared agents.  One super (_particularly_ a PC super!) should be evenly matched with an entire strike team of agents, perhaps even just a small bit better than a strike team.  So if the PCs are supers, I really drop back on the points for agents.

 

If the PCs are to be agents (revisited), the number of PCs involved has a significant impact on the number of points each agent may start with:  as I said above, the PC group will represent a "typical" strike team for this agency.  If there are only three PCs, they are going to be a bit more points-heavy than they would be if I had six PCs (which, of course, would then represent at six characters a "typical" strike team).

 

I wrestled for _years_ with figuring out answers to this very question: what is the "sweet spot" for agents in a world where they are interacting with supers?

 

Nothing really worked.  

 

Seriously: no written guideline or suggestion of a specific amount of points _ever_ worked out right.  Even doing that rarest of things-- using published characters / agencies--, it just didn't work out right.  Sometimes the cleverness of the players screwed it up; sometimes the threats I envisioned for them screwed it up; sometimes the personalities the players wanted to try on screwed it up.

 

Not until I decided to use the floating scale of "this many PCs = the number of supers I plan to send against them at one time" really yielded anything useful, and even then, the scale slides if I intend to send them against Dr. Destroyer or if I intend to send them against Darkon.

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

JMOZ is STARS your name? I may have to have Shadow come stea....er borrow it!

[JmOz]

Yes, they have a sister program called STRIPES:

 

Special Target Assualt Response Squads

&

Special Target Reconnaissance Investigation Policing Espionage service

 

Working on a fact sheet for them for Hall of Champions right now

[JmOz]

Got real curious, grabbed Until and pointed up a basic urban trooper.  After applying some basic cost savings to it (Scholar, using a MP for gear).  Came in at 248 (without the cost savings it would have been been 273 and vulnerable in target area 6-7 (Hands and arms?)