Powerhouse

Re: Archmage Stats

Lady Silver

Player:

Total Character Cost: 1214

Disadvantage Points: 140

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 874

Total Experience Available: 874

Experience Unspent: 0

Re: Archmage Stats

Hi everyone!

I've come up with a revised archmage who weighs in at about 1200 pts (OUCH!). It's intended that this represents Lady Silver starting out as the archmage (though she's and experienced hero and mage who for a long time lead the most prominent superhero team in her campaign's world.

Among other things, this crowning of an archmage occurs after a huge cross-over that involved Tyrannon's first attempt to conquer Earth's dimension. It included most of earth's mystic defenders (and some of its villains) banding together in a desperate battle to both stave off Tyrannon's forces and elevate one of their own to the vacant office. During the course of the cross-over, the Krypticon and Star of Urizen were discovered. Also, Lady Silver was able to decipher the former's writings to rediscover the Quaterion Banishment. She is presently the only mage on earth who knows the spell and can cast it.

Re: Re-tooling an Old Concept: Herakles

My personal takes:

1. The myth either never happened.

2. The myth was exaggerated. Atlas wasn't needed to hold the sky so much as he was there to be punished. He had to exert his entire strength if he did not want to experience terrible pain or oblivion. Herk needed to take Atlas' place briefly.

3. The properties of the world were different then. The gods and their offspring were considerably more powerful. That allowed them to define a place a place ala:

" "Good Handholds. +200 STR Usable By Others, only for holding up the world." Or a combination of something similar and some limited str by the participants."

Gotta love it.

As for the ability to have vastly increased strength, either strength or aid to strength with no conscious control or increased strength with heavy endurance costs, and possibly other side effects (stun or body drain) to reflect an incredibly heroic effort that only someone like Hercules could perform. Normally he clocks in around 70 str say but can go to above Grond level with a incredible surge of will, iron discipline, and disregard for his own safety. You might want to include some form of charge limits to show that the effort is so intense that he can use it only rarely.

Hi everyone.

I originally thought of this idea when reading Maximum Carnage, a storyline that ran through Spider Man where Carnage and a bunch of other villains just went crazy and starts slaughtering people for fun.

I wondered what it would be like to have a villain team like that: no desire for power or wealth but a bunch of rage-filled villains, some just psychotic, who want nothing better to do than kill as many people as they can. Basically they are meant to scare people, especially normals but a low powered superteam who heard that Thrill Kill showed up would be worried since they have no problem slaying anyone who gets in their way. Indeed, it's possible that they may have torn a superhero team apart already.

One problem is how to hold the team together. Most teams like the Ultimates or Eurostar have an internal structure sound enough to keep them together. The scientists in the Ultimates get along pretty well while Slick likes the money and Radium has nowhere to go.

My take is that they all escaped from a government lab designed to create super soldiers (sheesh, you'd think they'd give that up by now!) so they have a common origin and common enemy. Then again, since they were pretty much abused growing up (they were born and bred there), everyone else is an enemy out to hurt them. Also, their leader is stable enough to keep things on an even keel... for now.

I'm going to start statting them after I do some more work on my arch mage. Here are some ideas for now... with some HORRENDOUS names:

Slasher: a living weapon. The trauma of birth triggered his mutant powers and transformed his skin into a type of carapace that is razor sharp. Shredded his mother during birth. Has a damage shield that is always on with claws (AP, Penetrating, or both) and strong defenses. E also can't touch anything without cutting it to ribbons ( a bit of GM fiat to let him walk around... maybe his feet and other parts are smooth enough for him to walk with care and sit/sleep though he scuffs up even concrete and might have to sleep on a titanium bed. Casual Killer and may be psychotic. Angry at the world and lashes out constantly. Also in love with the mentalist Brain Death (please it's just a place holder, honest!)

Brain Death: goth girl who doesn't relate well to the world at all and has some strange reactions to things. Mental powers include a high level RKA based on ECV that does body. She's in love with Slasher and shares an intense mental link with him. She sometimes will go out into the world to experience it for both of them. Right now I don't have any special defenses for her though I think I might avoid TK and make her pure mentalist.

Requiem: a spectral being wrapped in a cloak or purest night. Does not seem to react to anything but will defend him/her/itself and follow direction from the others. If left alone, would just stand around and do nothing. Appears to be have complete life support and is highly resistant. Wields a powerful sonic killing attack that seems to bypass defenses. Several variations allow for a variety of advantages, including area attacks. Seems to not be able to use it often (might be increased endurance, charges, or limit that allows only so many uses a turn).

Lady Killer: gorgeous albino with white hair and skin and dresses in leather/spikes. She has a death touch that is probably a NND or AVLD RKA with no range. Sociopath who likes to torture or kill someone slowly. The most difficult to control and seems to be always enraged or berserk in battle. A less powerful version of her death touch can surround her as a Damage Shield. She can also absorb strength and stamina from someone almost like a vampire except it's by touch, rather than blood.

(Rapture, or whatever the name is for the feeling someone undergoes when drowning): hydro-kinetic (i.e. controls water). Besides being able to manipulate water as a blast, wall, or to move things around, he can also cause water in the body to flood someone's lungs or leech the water from their body. Psychotic who has a break with reality and wants everyone to feel the rapture of drowning. He doesn't think he kills someone, but that they are in another state of bliss unable to respond to the terrible world

(No name right now): a teleporter. He can teleport the whole group vast distances with effort or just himself more easily. Main attack power is yet again a NND RKA that does body where he can teleport small objects into someone for tremendous damage. He's a casual killer but has a solid grip on reality and manipulates everyone else for his own ends (mostly money but also to vent his own rage).

That's it for right now. I couldn't come up with a decent brick though capping them at six is probably a good idea. The group is unstable enough as it is and having too many people here would be too tough.

One problem is that they all have killing attacks that can really rip into a team. It depends how common the defense is. Also, some of them appear to have lousy defenses right now (Brain Death, the teleporter, and probably Rapture) so they can throw a punch but not take one.

Edit: one possible motivation for the deaths could be from Reqieum. Most everyone else has pretty tight focuses on their powers except Lady Killer and even she's not too bad. Requiem actually had no innate powers except for a powerful potential for magic. The stress of the testing caused him to breach a dimensional barrier to fuse with a powerful demon/spirit. It's possible that this spirit is influencing Thrill Kill to perform their actions to gather energy that is released from all that death. Of course, Thrill Kill is still a bunch of killers but this helps give them focus and even more motivation beyond their individual psychosis, fear of capture, and anger at the world.

Comments and suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

Re: Dealing with high powered characters

Use your equivalent of Amazo. "Your powers only make me stronger fool!"

Yeah, yeah... too bad they'll never make you smarter, ya idiot. Still toss all of their powers into one bad guy (and all them together... so a 50 str and 60 str brick becomes a 65 strength for the copier... VPP's of similar SFX like Starguard's and the Princess clock in about 125 or so) and maybe some high stun, body, or moderate dmg reduction to make it interesting.

Re: How to kill a PC?

Personal idea:

an old hunted shows up, one who's been left behind in power and considered a joke. All he thinks he has left is defeating the hero to show everyone that he's someone.

Well the hero hands the villain his butt ... however in the battle a building starts to collapse. The hero holds the building up while telling the villain to remove an innocent.

Hero: "Hurry! I can't hold this *grunt* for long."

Villain: "Why should I? Give me a reason to help someone out who doesn't give a damn for me."

Hero: "You've been telling me how you're nothing, how your life is meaningless and you want to matter. If you really want to be someone, if you REALLY want to matter, then matter now and save her!"

Yeah... hackneyed. Anyway, Villain saves the innocent but the hero can't hold the building up. Shocked, the villain pulls rubbles away frantically trying the hero who he'd been trying to kill. It's too late though. But, in that moment, he has an epihany and vows to take up the never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way! A continuation of the legacy and new character to play to boot.

Re: Archmage Stats

Hi everyone!

I purchased Mystic World recently and it had some cool stuff in it. What I really liked what was it said about the archmage and I was surprised how powerful that character would be (as well as the reliance on different powers/dieities).

I've decided to re-write what I submitted before. Any additional suggestions that I should take into account? Thank you.

Re: Tactical Question: How would your characters deal with these villians?

Some additions:

Personally, I'd design them with some weaknesses to take advantage of. That's me personally at least. I'm reminded of the JLA where they would be pitted against some high levels who could even toss Superman. With some planning though, the JLA could come back by taking advantage of weaknesses (among other things) as Batman did taking out several White Martians.

Let's see..

Ocean: I misinterpreted his power. Mental jammers wouldn't help it seems. Still, Nova and Nightshade are still outside his memories and the latter has moves never seen on earth. Also, it's possible that Lady Silver, if she's arch mage at this point, could sever his connection to the memories of those of the world through plot device of her office as defender of Earth. Slight stretch but I kinda like it since I'm reminded of Mystic Masters where one possibility was that the Arch Mage could derive power from the spiritual energy of humans.

Also, it's possible to challenge Ocean to search his memories for a conqueror, no matter how enlightened, who actually achieved a true golden age that did not throw humanity in chains. Or turn opinion against this team and have him absorb the anger of humanity (or the pain he has caused in his quest) against him.

Fortress: it seems that he can't fly. In that case, get him somewhere with weak floors and some mighty deep holes. Or over an ocean where his weight will drive him straight to the bottom.

Shift has superhuman toughness? Hmm... might have Star Knight use a massive Flash... good luck targeting those powers then! Even is she alters physical laws, I can't see that healing the damage.

Re: Tactical Question: How would your characters deal with these villians?

Hmm.. probably complain to the GM

Let's see... I'm going to assume that the Silver Knights have been together for a while now (around post- Target Earth in the timeline)

In general, divide and conquer with a ton of emphasis on finding out what their weaknesses are, if any. With their power, it's pretty unlikely that they need to assemble all of their forces in one place so if you're careful you could probably take them out in small pockets.

"Ocean- Ocean is a telepath to the Nth power, a 'hyperpath'. Drawing on the thoughts and memories of the entire human race he has the skills of the world's greatest experts, is a martial artist par excellence and knows what the PCs are going to do before they do (by accessing their subconscious minds)."

Hmm... I'm assuming that knowing what the PC's will do, as hinted before, is only at close range and you have to concentrate. Have Titan, the team's Iron Man and gadgeeter create some psi-jammers. If you apply the certain groups of minds, I don't, then sic Nova (alien) and Nightshade (elven assassin with incredible fighting ability) after him. Also, try to back engineer his power. If he has access to all those memories, he must have a way to control them. Take out that control and he'd be overwhelmed (or "flooded" as it were).

"The Soldier - Genetically modified by a secret government project to be the perfect killing machine. Soldier has a battery of biological enhancements inspired by the animal kingdom. She has the vision of an eagle, the sense of smell of a bloodhound, a whole range of extra senses, enhanced strength and speed, electrical discharges, box jellyfish venom, a limited shapeshift ability similar to an octopus and so forth."

Hmm... with those abilities, I wonder if he's prey to their weaknesses like fear of fire? Or going into heat during mating season.

"Adam Farpoint - A quantum computer AI, Adam's consciousness controls a variety of robotic bodies of his own design. None are humanoid, but resemble the animal-like constructions in the Matrix."

I can't think of anything that he probably couldn't counter. EMP pulse, virus, or eliminating his ability to contact the outside world, etc. Perhaps leave a small backdoor in the Knight's computers that is a trojan horse to go back to his mainframe.

"Gaea - A powerful psychic/mystic with control over natural phenomena such as earthquakes and the weather, Gaea is a devout pagan who believes herself to be the avatar of the earth mother. An extreme environmentalist she seeks to put an end to pollution, preserve biodiversity and prevent global warming."

Fighting dirty here, but I wonder if she's pretty vulnerable to toxins and pollutions. Lady Silver at this point is one of the most powerful mages on Earth so she could probably throw down.

"Lure - Lure is a bizarre looking humanoid resembling a deep sea fish. He has a large mouth filled with enormous teeth, whip-like filaments and bioluminescent patches. He is a representative of an ancient species that dwells on the ocean floor and predates human civilisation by tens of thousands of years. Wearing a protective suit to survive the low pressure environment on the surface, the equivalent of power armour, Lure wields a variety of advanced gadgets."

If he's in armor, he's prey for Lodestar, a Polaris level master of magnetism. Use that or other means to shred his suit and lure him into battle in water... only it's water laced with a powerful anesthetic. This would depend heavily on selecting the place of battle unless you could carry around enough of the drug and get him into a small enough body of water.

"Fortress - Composed of neutron star material, Fortress is practically indestructible and very strong. (Superman, post crisis)"

If he's vulnerable to something use it. Don't face him head on in battle but instead use Lady Silver to attack him spiritually. Given that he's made out of neutron star material, he's going to be incredibly heavy though if he can fly that helps negate it a bit. I need to figure this out a little more.

"Shift- Capable of accessing the other membranes (dimensions) predicted by M-Theory, Shift can transpose locations in our universe with those in another. By selecting specific worlds she can alter the laws of physics in a limited area. For example she could control gravity, making it weaker or far stronger or change the strength of the forces holding atoms together, with catastrophic consequences."

Nothing comes to mind right now though there is nothing to indicate superhuman characteristics or durability. Get in close really fast (Speed Demon would be great for that) and try to one-hit her with a massive move-through.

That's all for now.

Re: Dealing with high powered characters

"You don't throw the Ultimates at JLA/Avengers level characters and expect them to be more than a speed bump. "

Maybe. Of course your team has fought the Ultimates in its first adventure. I just remembered a recent issue of the Avengers when they were fighting the Wrecking Crew. Admittedly, they didn't bring their big guns (Vision, Thor, or Iron Man) but the consensus was that the fight would be easy. In the end, Captain America was nearly beaten to a pulp and an innocent by-stander died.

Roll of the dice, use of the villain, preparations, and current roster can make a huge difference. Hey, as long as the Sentinels don't lose to Foxbat. I don't think Horus-Re would EVER live it down.

Re: Tactical Challenge: Eurostar

One thing I considered was that this situation doesn't quite seem right for Fiacho and Eurostar. Sure the tactics are theirs but not the target or goal.

They don't need money since they have tons of it already. Also, with their power level and abilities, it shouldn't be that tough for them to break the villain out of jail. Even if Eurostar wasn't enough by itself, Fiacho has more than enough contacts to get some extra firepower.

I think the PC's would wonder what Fiacho REALLY wants. Maybe this scenario would be even better if they took over the G-7 conference with all those world leaders and they made some really serious demands.

Now of course you REALLY can't screw up with the leaders of the free world hanging in the balance.

Re: Archmage Stats

So, what else should an archmage have? I figured some type of scrying device would be useful but that could be considered built into the base.

Some artifacts would be useful. Perhaps an amulet that is her symbol of office that boosts her VPP might be useful. From a gameplay POV, reduce her VPP to 100 pts (still powerful) and define a boost that is linked to the amulet. It's more a special effect though (ie it can't be taken away, comes back to her) and doesn't reall qualify for foci limitations in a manner similar to Dr. Destroyer's armor. As long as she's the arch mage, she has that power. Should she no longer hold that office, she looses the boost in power though it's the GM's understanding to allow her to have those points back.

Another possibility might be to have a higher power pool in Earth's dimension to represent her status as its defender and mystic master. In other dimensions she loses that bonus.

Finally, I'm considering something similar to the Eye of Agamatto of Dr. Strange's which would be a MP with high level mental powers and other useful stuff.

Comments? Suggestions?

OMG... I REALLY miss my mystic master now.

Re: Tactical Challenge: Eurostar

It would depend on which team of Silver Knights, at what point in their career, that would be handling this situation.

Lady Silver (team leader): priority would be to the hostages. She herself has often worked with the police in hostage situations (where superhumans were involved) as a negotiator and might be asked to assist. Unfortunately, Fiacho is far more cunning and motivated than just about anyone she's ever had to deal with in this type of situation.

She's order the team's support staff to start researching last known whereabouts of the rest of Eurostar as well as its links to this villain they want released. She'd also invite speculation and counter-measures for how Fiacho could kill the hostages so quickly and likely come up with three possibilities: remotely linked bombs, bio-agent, or some type of wide-spread mental attack from Mentalla. The first one she'd have Titan, the team's Iron Man type, cosntruct a jamming device for. No real defense for the second one unfortunately though she'd have Speed Demon (think Flash) on stand-by to zip through the building and attack Mentally is required.

Seeking more information, it would fall to Titan with his array of sensors to gleam as much info as possible. IR is only one of his senses so it's probable that he could overcome Fiacho's precautions sufficiently to determine numbers and locations of both enemy forces and hostages. He'd also use his gadget pool to construct a psi-baffler (either lots of mental defense or invisibility to mental senses) to outfit Sentinel (think Solid Snake of Metal Gear Solid fame forced to babysit a team) and Nightshade (elven assassin) who could infiltrate the museum to recon on site. The psi-baffler is to fool Mentalla which seems a reasonable precaution even if it's not known she's there. I'm assuming this is 5th edition Eurostar so Pathera with her enhanced senses aren't a worry.

Outside of that, not sure. Lady Silver, if she was using a VPP at this point, might have a huge sleep spell ready but that would be a last ditch effort since it's quite possible to not affect all of Eurostar. Celestial Knight and Speed Demon would also be ready to swoop in on known hostage locations and pull them out ASAP if the possibility presented itself. Other actions might be to impersonate the villain to be released though I wouldn't be surprised that Fiacho might have someone in place to confirm it's the real person.

Tough scenario overall given how ruthless and smart Fiacho is. Trying to prolong negotiations to buy time might not work since he'd have no hesitation to kill a hostage to prove a point.

Re: Jackalope's Champions

I've only had the chance to go through the first set of stats and history but I wanted to say WOW!

For one thing, he's pretty original despite the ingredients of Green Goblin and Batman (ie, Batman really is Batman and maintains the Bruce Wayne indentidy only for a front and money). What really struck me is the depth of tragedy that the character exudes and how I felt so terribly for him despite the terrible deeds that he performs in the name of justice. I get the feeling that he makes the Punisher look like lil' Mary Sunshine.

What I really liked was the always berserk while on brimstone. I wonder what that would be like in the hands of a saner vigilante who had to make the choice to win the battle, knowing that he might kill someone innocent while under the influence. I get the feeling that Iron Demon doesn't sweat that though.

Re: Archmage Stats

Edit: I noted that I left the defensive MP at 100 active but it should be 75.

Some comments about the VPP: I opted for the half-phase action to change because I felt that it would simulate the need for a mage to think of a spell and execute (also requiring a skill roll since the spell must be "woven" as it were. I wasn't sure if Cosmic would be a good idea since that indicates a great ease at shifting powers around which might be better for an internal soruce (like the Silver Surface) rather than bending an outside source (ie magic) to your desire. I also wanted to distinguish this from another power pool.

As for the variable limits, I popped that in since it seems that the wizards (think Dr. Strange) uses incantations and gestures often to cast spells. These acts allow the weaving of the magical forces about them. That said, often a mage will wield magic without such things. My take was to state that normally Lady Silver uses gestures and incantations to create spells but when pressed she can use extra time, extra endurance, or focus limits to use magic in less optimal circumstances.

Possible additions to the sheets, besides the contacts and astral form mentioned above, might be a movement MP though that could be simulated with the VPP. Also I was wondering about Danger Sense (I sense a disturbance in the etheral fabric... it could be an invasion!) but that seems more a plot device than actual powers. It wouldn't help her dodge a surprise attack.

Also, some additional powers gained through artifacts might be appropriate. I'm looking for about an even 1000 for my little arch mage.

Re: Archmage Stats

Lady Silver

Player:

Total Character Cost: 809

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 459

Total Experience Available: 650

Experience Unspent: 191

Re: Archmage Stats

Thanks everyone for the responses! You've all been great.

For myself, I decided to take a stab at an archmage, using my very own Lady Silver. She weighs in right now at about 900 pts (including about 30 pts of contacts and the 75 pt astral form from mystic masters, neither of which are on the sheet right now.)

Small problem, I've forgotten how to export from Heromaker so... please help? Thanks.

Re: Help with Armor-wearing character

How about mimicking it with a large gadget pool?

Re: Question about Defense for a character

"Sounds about right. You might want to consider whether the damage reduction is based on actual durability, or sheer willpower, though."

Thank you very much for answering. To answer your question, it's probably both though favoring actual durability.

Yet again, I'm posting for advice!

I'm working on codifying characters from some fanfics (you've already seen Lady Silver and Celestial Knight). The next is Nova, a blaster who can fly. Power-wise, she's pretty similar to Starfire from the Teen Titans which includes heightened strength and resilance.

It's the latter part that I'm wondering if I am capturing correctly, and appropriately for a 350 pt character in a standard campaign. Right now she has 10 PD/10 ED with 5 rPD/5 rED (limit that first body gets through). On top of that she also has 50% Resistant Damage Reduction both energy and physical.

Now that's ALOT of points on defense. My take is that she doesn't bounce bullets but she's just really tough and keeps fighting long after you think she'd go down. In writing, a thug gets a REALLY good shot on her at the back of her head with a bat and it stuns her for a few moments. Another story has a brick enemy snatch her in flight and slam her into a steel wall but she still manages to grit her teeth and blast him through a wall.

Does that sound about right? Like I said, I want her to be tough but not bullet proof. Actually, Wonder Woman might be a good example as well in that she can go toe to toe with Superman but still needs to block bullets with bracelets.

Thanks everyone for slogging through all this and your advice!

Unfortunately, my old mystic masters (4th edition) is at my mother's house so I don't have access to its stats on the archmage or his pupil.

I am looking to pick up the new mystic book though (too bad it's not at my local store... gotta special order it I guess). I was wondering if it had stats for any of the past arch mages (since there is none in the current 5th edition CU) or advice for how to create one?

On that subject, does anyone have advice for how to construct a proper arch mage for the CU? I remember that Mystic Masters used both VPP's and MP's... have anyone utilized this or found a better way to make a Dr. Fate or Dr. Strange?

Thanks!

Re: New Sentinels stats

So far, these are some great characters! Please continue to post if possible.

I'm particularly interested in seeing Horus-Re and his "white knight defense."

Re: What Would Your Character Do? #79

"Dr. Pain -- "You. Have. Got. To. Be. SHITTING. ME!!!

"GET BACK HERE, YOU PENCIL-NECKED GEE..."

*gets cut off by falling anvil*

"... I hate this." "

*LOL*

Literally... when I read this I couldn't help but laugh out loud... that's hysterical!

Re: Your Dream Ultimate

"Totally sweet. I thought the cancer thing was just stupid."

Disagree myself. It really humanized the character IMHO... this great and noble hero laid low by something that affects so many. The gods are afflicated as mortals yet are not brought low as a result as he faces his premature end with dignity and courage, knowing that he made a difference.

Re: Rogues Gallery

The New Sentinels do have some REALLY heavy hitters I've heard (750 pt starting) but yeah... they definitely throw around with the big guns.