OddHat

Master Thespian

Thanks, glad you liked him. Here's the file.

Challenge AnsweredThis character is a variation on an NPC from my competent Normal thread. He's playable, and odd...

Combat Information Page Character Name: MASTER THESPIAN - Jack Love Alternate Identities: John Lieberman Player Name: CHARACTERISTICS CHARACTER IMAGE Val Char Base Points Total Roll Notes 15 STR 10 5 15 12- HTH Damage 3d6 END [0] 20 DEX 10 30 20 13- OCV 7 DCV 7 12 CON 10 4 12 11- 12 BODY 10 4 12 11- 18 INT 10 8 18 13- PER Roll 13- 20 EGO 10 20 20 13- ECV: 7 75 PRE 10 65 75 24- PRE Attack: 15d6 20 COM 10 5 20 13-                             3 PD 3 0 3   3 PD (0 rPD) 2 ED 2 0 2   2 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 3.0 10 4   Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 5 REC 5 0 5   24 END 24 0 24   26 STUN 26 0 26     6" Running 6 0 6"     2" Swimming 2 0 2"     3"/1 1/2"" Leaping 3 0 3" 151 Total Characteristics Points EXPERIENCE POINTS Total earned: 0 Spent: 0 Unspent: 0 Base Points: 200 Disad Points: 150 Total Points: 350 MOVEMENT Type Total Run (6) 6" [12" NC] Swim (2) 2" [4" NC] H. Leap (3") 3" V. Leap (2") 1 1/2" APPEARANCE Hair Color:  Black Eye Color:  Green Height:  5' 10" Weight:  150 lbs Description: Extraordinarily handsome with a slim, ahtletic build and perfect physique.

Originally posted by JmOz

On the root of the issue however is the story of "Lenny"

 

Lenny is a cab driver in NY, a nice friendly guy who can do his job well, but no better or worse than a bunch of other guys.

 

Well one day he felt weird, he all of a sudden teleported (something he is not capable of doing on himself), it seems the lady he had helped one day (He had seen her in the rain and given her a free ride because she looked so miserable) was a street mage and because of his help she was able to summon him

 

Now as lenny is a specific person by the book it would require the +1, however common sense says that it should not require it, until he becomes something more extrodinry (If his taxi develops magical powers then yes)

Why does common sense say that it shouldn't cost a +1 advantage for the mage to always summon Lenny? First off, he's probably a darn cheep summon to begin with, at most a 50 point character. His new master will always know what she's getting with Lenny, and won't have to risk summoning a less competent Taxi Driver. As time goes on they'll develop a relationship, and maybe a kind DM might let Lenny become more useful.

If she spent enough points on summon that Lenny is too weak to waste her time on, then why is she calling him? Let her start calling on someone more powerful to be her chaufer.

Re: Re: Re: Jekyll & Hyde

Originally posted by McCoy

I had considered adding regeneration, but wondered if I was getting into adding powers not shown in the movie just because they were cool.

As I said, excellent write up, and I understand not wanting to add powers. What it comes down to for me is that Hyde is afraid of guns; if he can bounce bullets, he doesn't know it. On the other hand, the realities of gaming show that sooner or later he will get shot, and if you want him to come back in the next scene you need some way to keep him in play. Armor is a good option, maybe with the explanation that he doesn't know he's bullet proof. Personally I like 50% PD DamRed, Resistant, plus regen. All's fair...

Originally posted by McCoy

[

Challenge:

A plot involving a former Pro athlete, the First Lady (present or former), or a hot air baloon.

Hmm...

Martina Kounikovina was the world's leading women's Tennis player, and made a small fortune as a model. Now, age has slowed her reflexes, and time has stolen the shine off of her looks. Meanwhile, super bimbos are running around in spandex costumes at 80 looking as good as they did when they fought the Nazi's in '42. Well Martina has had enough of that! She's contacted Demon, and through Demon contacted an extra-dimensional being that calls himself A.M. Belial. Gathering together a cadre of aging actresses and female celebs (including the failed gubernatorial candidate ex-wife of an American president), AMB's Angels are kidnapping America's super-women and robbing them of their youth and powers, growing more powerful with every victory! Can they be stopped!!!

Scene One: American Dream-Girl, WWII heroine (or substitute your own), shows up at the heroes HQ / in the office of an appropriate hero, without her powers, and looking every day of her 80 years. She asks for help, and gives some info about her capture. Unfortunately she can only remember being asked to visit a charity function, tasting something odd in her drink, and passing out in the limo.

Scene Two:

The limo driver remembers being told to drop ADG off at a downtown hotel. He was surprised when she passed out, but she was picked up at the door by a pair of women who looked vaguely familiar, almost like the actresses Susan Sorandom and Glinda Far, but older. The hotel room (track down through super scent, computer scans, bribes, whatever) where ADG was taken is now vacant. It had been rented in the name of AMB Enterprises.

Scene Two A: Entertainment Every night does a TV interview with Adomina, aging pop star. Adomina looks 20 years old again and reveals that she has become a Super / Meta / Nova! Her powers do not match those lost by ADG, but do match those of the 1960s heroine Sunshine Water (a roll vs. KS: Superhumans or Superhuman World will reveal this). SW was active in California until last month, when she disappeared.

Scene Three:

Any investigation of AMB Enterprises causes an attack of demon goons upon our heroes. Demon is involved! The demon goons have as back-up a female brick with powers exactly like those of a famous heroine of the 70s, now missing (Sister Power). The brick looks just like former TV star Chesty Snow (from the TV series Three's a Crowd)! If captured, she will let out some of the plot, and then disappear (teleported away). If she escapes, she will flee to the warehouse. Either way...

Scene Four:

In a large warehouse, a group of Demon Agents performs a ritual, lead by a female morbane. The heroes (possibly chasing Chesty Snow) interrupt. While the heroes are occupied the morbane calls for help, and the heroes are attacked by a woman with all the powers of ADG! That woman looks exactly like ex-TV star Laura Cartier! If defeated, the removal of LC's magic belt, tiara and slave bracelets will cause her to lose her stolen powers and return those powers to ADG. ADG will youthen again in a few minutes, while LC will age. But how deep does this plot go?

Meanwhile, in her dirigible headquarters high above the city, the power mad Martina and the possibly madder first lady plot their next move...

Note: Any PC heroine with LS: Immune to Aging will be a target.

Next Challenge:

Something with severed heads, an ancient curse, or talking animals.

Originally posted by Fireg0lem

I've got a question to add on to this thread. Necro the Necromancer can summon any spirit of the dead less than a certain amount of spiritual strength (ie character points). He can choose whose spirit he summons (so long as he has some way of knowing). Is the way to build this with Summon, Any Spirit of the Dead (+1), Summon Specific Being (+1)? If not, what is?

That looks right to me.

Originally posted by Hugh Neilson

These should be GM-defined IMO. How great it is to summon a specific being rather than generic examples depends greatly on who that specific being is.

 

If I can summon "spirits of the dead", that seems to me more powerful than "summon the spirit of a specific dead person". At least I can keep trying until I get someone with the info I want.

 

But it would definitely be advantageous to Summon the spirit of someone I know had that info.

"Summon Spirits of the Dead" gives you no guarantee of getting a spirit who knows anything at all. "Summon Spirit of Akahntant, Chief Librarian of the Akashic Library," guarantees you a spirit with a clearly defined list of skills and abilities that your PC probably knows. If you want to both be able to summon multiple specific beings from a list and/or general beings, advantages and/or power frameworks will let you do it.

It's only a disadvantage if your specific summoned target is useless in a given situation (and situations change) or you get it killed. At that point, a kind GM will let you learn how to summon someone else.

Woo hoo! Ghandi: Death from the Stars!

Four stars out of five.

Re: Take-on-a-group-by-himself version of Syphyn

Interesting origin and a well done psychopath. Kinda squishy once anyone catches on though.

Originally posted by braincraft

I had meant 'interesting' in the sense of 'cool or unusual' moreso than 'cost-effective', in case I have not made myself clear.

One I hadn't seen elsewhere. I had a southern belle supervillainess with a PRE of 90, COM 40, and lots of PRE skills. She wanted to become the first female president and eventually rule the world by asking people politely. Could have been a heroine except for her lack of empathy and tendency to make remarks like "I wish someone would do something about that man" in front of love-stuck thugs. Had PD, ED, and KB resistance defined as "You just can't make yourself attack her."

Hoping to get a few more responses here. C'mon, some of you must have a few low powered supers in the back of the drawer.Here's another, prime material for a boyfriend or an annoying villain:

Combat Information Page Character Name: Bob "BOB" Smith Alternate Identities: Player Name: CHARACTERISTICS CHARACTER IMAGE Val Char Base Points Total Roll Notes 10 STR 10 0 10 11- HTH Damage 2d6 END [1] 10 DEX 10 0 10 11- OCV 3 DCV 3 10 CON 10 0 10 11- 10 BODY 10 0 10 11- 18 INT 10 8 18 13- PER Roll 13- 10 EGO 10 0 10 11- ECV: 3 40 PRE 10 30 40 17- PRE Attack: 8d6 18 COM 10 4 18 13-                             2 PD 2 0 2   2 PD (0 rPD) 2 ED 2 0 2   2 ED (0 rED) 2 SPD 2.0 0 2   Phases: 6, 12 4 REC 4 0 4   20 END 20 0 20   20 STUN 20 0 20     6" Running 6 0 6"     2" Swimming 2 0 2"     2"/1"" Leaping 2 0 2" 42 Total Characteristics Points EXPERIENCE POINTS Total earned: 0 Spent: 0 Unspent: 0 Base Points: 50 Disad Points: 50 Total Points: 100 MOVEMENT Type Total Run (6) 6" [12" NC] Swim (2) 2" [4" NC] H. Leap (2") 2" V. Leap (1") 1" APPEARANCE Hair Color:  Black Eye Color:  Green Height:  6' 6" Weight:  220 lbs Description:

Originally posted by MisterVimes

If you note the restrainable limitation, his Martial Arts are Software he accesses (hence the MATRIX reference 'I know Kung-Fu')

Gotchya. Sorry I missed it.

Originally posted by MisterVimes

I disagree... Not having legs and one arm is pretty much an "all the time" limitation... You'll note that "No Hands" n FREd p.218 concurs with this thinking.

[/b]

The FREd entry assumes that the character will be paying a real price in game for the disad. How often will this guy be caught without his arm and legs? Almost never in combat and rarely outside of combat, unless he tools around in a motorized wheelchair and armless in his secret ID. A limitation or a disadvantage that doesn't have as much of a game effect is not worth full value. Sometimes it's not worth anything.

Of course you are the GM. Vimes and Granny Weatherwax always knew that breaking the rules was fine as long as they were the ones doing it.

Originally posted by MisterVimes

Thanks for your input. [/b]

Peace and all that.

Cool character, good concept. Some thoughts:

1) Where do his martial arts come from? Nothing in his skills or psych limits points back to them. A 1 point KS: Wu-Shu Kung Fu might be apropriate, or you could explain it as something programmed into his limbs from old Jackie Chan flicks.

2) Software Engineer wouldn't be an everyman skill in my campaign, but if your house rules allow a free profesional skill then coolness.

3) It's a bit cheesy to sell back stats then buy them again through cybernetic limbs, especially when all he's losing is some End and Stun. Better to just sell back the End and Stun.

4) He's a bit light on defences in this version. Some flight and and/or an invisibility shield would do wonders for him in combat (unless I'm missing something).

5) The no legs and one arm physical limit is only going to show up very occasionally unless he wanders around as a triple amputee whenever he's not actively in combat. Even then, it's not an All the Time limit.

Again, cool concept, just some design disagreements.

I'd say it's a straight -1/4 limit. It halves the usefulness of the ability, but the figured characteristics are untouched. Going at it from a different direction, +1 of leaping costs 1 point, +1 PD costs 1 point, +1 Rec costs 2 points, +1 Stun costs 1 point, and (as pointed out above) +DC in MA costs 4 points, +5 STR in a MA maneuver costs 1 point. I'd say that "+5 STR, only for lifting" might reasonably be worth 1 point. Of course that means buying all of the benefits for +5 STR other than the damage separately would cost 6 points, or 8 if the character wants to use the STR for Grabs and Escapes. Life is hard.

A physical limit would also make sense; probably worth 10 points or so.

Re: Jekyll & Hyde

Originally posted by McCoy

Lots of decisions need to be made before you can even start on Dr. Henry Jekyll's character sheet. Most important, what triggers the transformation to Edward Hyde?

Excellent write-up of the movie version of the character. Nothing in the film about it, but I might drop the armor and add some regeneration. Hyde was afraid of being shot, and it's not unraeasonable to assume that a formula that makes him into a giant might also heal him up a bit. Maybe some Damage Reduction defined as "Evil Never Dies."

Let's see if this works

Combat Information Page Character Name: DIANA-BOL Diana Westerly Alternate Identities: Player Name: CHARACTERISTICS CHARACTER IMAGE Val Char Base Points Total Roll Notes 80 STR 10 70 80 25- HTH Damage 16d6 END [8] 29 DEX 10 57 29 15- OCV 10 DCV 10 33 CON 10 46 33 16- 20 BODY 10 20 20 13- 10 INT 10 0 10 11- PER Roll 11- 10 EGO 10 0 10 11- ECV: 3 30 PRE 10 20 30 15- PRE Attack: 6d6 10 COM 10 0 10 11-                             40 PD 16 24 40   40 PD (40 rPD) 25 ED 7 18 25   25 ED (25 rED) 6 SPD 3.9 21 6   Phases: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 23 REC 23 0 23   66 END 66 0 66   77 STUN 77 0 77     17" Running 6 0 17"     2" Swimming 2 0 2"     16"/8"" Leaping 16 0 16" 276 Total Characteristics Points EXPERIENCE POINTS Total earned: 0 Spent: 0 Unspent: 0 Base Points: 200 Disad Points: 150 Total Points: 350 MOVEMENT Type Total Run (6) 17" [34" NC] Swim (2) 2" [4" NC] H. Leap (16") 16" V. Leap (8") 8" APPEARANCE Hair Color:  Brown Eye Color:  Blue Height:  5' 0" Weight:  150 lbs Description: Diana is short, very lean and absurdly over-muscled. She often dyes her hair. She dresses provocatively when not in combat, and has very considerable charisma, though her face and body are not at all attractive by conventional standards.

Originally posted by Hermit

Well, the full write ups and sheets won't be ready for a long time, if ever (After all, as NPCs, I don't have to count their points )

 

But I'll try to write out some brief things (personality included) for them here if folks are actually interested.

Heck, of course we're interested.

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

True, prison doesn't sem to work much in terms of reforming criminals. However, it is the legal punishment (which should be important if you are upholding the heroic ideal). Many heroes would have problems with forcibly changing someone's mind permamently, even for ostensibly good reasons.

Just arguing the other side. Thus the smiley.

It all depends on how "realistic" your campaign is and the moral tone you chose to set. Real world morality tends to be a bit more complicated.

Re: Re: Breaking Personality Stereotypes for the Archetypes

Originally posted by altamaros

Basically, imagine some national/ethnic values having to be defended for one reason or the other by a foreigner/stranger. or someone having to defend ideals he/she doesn't belong to.

Heh.

Picture all of the anoying American kids who spend a week in Japan and then prance around in a yukata or kimono...

Nice character. Well done.

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

Sorry, gone a bit OT. I don't think Mind Controlling people into not committing crimes is particularly heroic (see the "Squadron Supreme" mini-series). It's better than prison (at least it might to the average member of the public), but it has unsavoury connotations.

I liked that Squadron Supreme story arc. Very well done (in a four-color with shades of grey kind of way).

That said, look at the other side; Is it "heroic" to beat, threaten and bully people into reforming? To warehouse them in prisons where they're subjected to daily brutality and atrocious living conditions? Prisons where they learn to be better criminals? Isn't it more "heroic" to simply free them of the psychological damage and misplaced drives that have turned them into criminals, and let them pay back society for the damage they've done?

Originally posted by Agent X

I didn't get the feeling that Fin was a bad guy. Of course, he could be written that way. Then again, most of those "heroic" Irish figures were fond of raping women so it's all relative.

Never said he was. I thought we were looking for a "good guy" who could be used as a bad guy?

Originally posted by umbra

You could give them all a code against killing, and have them watched by the church for disads.

Yes to both, plus Subject to Orders from the church heirarchy, Membership in the church as a perk, and maybe hunted by Demon or the Crowns of Krym. Psych limits like "True Faith" or "Secret Agnostic."

Works great as a rival super-team, as emergency back-up, or as victims that need rescuing. Could even work as a hunted for Supers with a Demonic origin, or as a plot hook for an adventure investigating coruption in the church.

Originally posted by umbra

Since you all are sticking mostly to male suggestions why not make 'em all female nuns or something? Sorta like the nun character in that movie with Bruce Willis. You could still have all the different types (bricks, speedsters etc).

I like this idea. The Order of Saint Joan the Defender, a Catholic Church sponsored women's super-team.

Even in a dead serious campaign that could work.

Re: Re: Re: Breaking Personality Stereotypes for the Archetypes

Originally posted by McCoy

Which reminds me of the badly dated pre-Reunification joke: "Is he juicing? He's got enough male hormones in his body to legally qualify as an East German woman!"

The updated version:

"Is he juicing? He's got enough male hormones in his body to legally qualify as a female Chinese swimmer!"