garou

Re: Power Armor 'themes'

Re: Let's hear it for villainous organizations Which leads me to post: United Network Command for Law and Enforcement and Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity (more found at http://www.tvacres.com/spies.htm)

Re: Critique this character please

Re: Critique this character please Not necessarily true. While he could probably land a job in sales, a lot of jobs actually require some college or natural aptitude. Since he barely bothered with anything in HS, and never went to college, a lot of white collar careers are, at the moment, closed to him. He wound up doing low-wage jobs because he never went looking for much else - and if you bounce from job to job because you keep making bad choices (like skipping work to attend a concert), you probably won't advance much either. Sure, up until the point where he says "We can take him!" and charges Dr. Destroyer, because he either (1) doesn't know any better; or (2) doesn't care. Right now, no one in their right mind should actually follow him into combat, unless it's to use him as a shield - he's just too unpredictable. Once he's worn the tights for a few years, he might mature into the role. Again, he's only had his powers for a month - there's no IC reason to have tactics or Analyze (combat) just yet. Both powers come from the Ultimate Brick. Rope reach is the brick tactic of ripping up a telephone pole and whacking someone with it, and Crack the Whip is the (cartoony) practice of grabbing the street/sidewalk/etc and whipping it, causing the villain standing down the street to get knocked down (and tearing up the street in the process). (And yes, I understand and expect him to very quickly get a reputation for causing property damage. I'll be disappointed if he doesn't, actually.)

Re: Critique this character please First, thanks. I'll try to answer any additional questions or concerns. Yeah, I know I need Gm's approval. I've gotten naked advantages on Str approved on a couple other characters (bricks all), so it probably won't be a problem. He's also not skilled enough to reliably hit on all three punches. Fortunately, it's just enraged. When triggered, he's going to pound on one bad guy after another, ignoring teammates. I could change it to "when he takes Body damage". An individual police officer is less powerful. A full SWAT team is probably less powerful. The full resources of MCPC are certainly more powerful. If they can deal with Grond, they can deal with Whammo. (I want to add NCI, and didn't because I ran up against point limits. I should just add the -5 custom adder and include it so that I do not forget. Or teammate. So yes, if he grabs someone to pull them out of the way, he's going to use full strength. If he punches a mugger, it's going to be full strength. If he flies at someone, it's full bore (once he actually manages to take off, having aimed at them first). He's aware enough of this, and even enraged, he should still be able to use other things (like the entangle, the indirect EB, etc - but if those fail, he's going to take a swing). Likewise, while he might shove people out of the way, he's probably going to try to shield them first with his body (or the insta-barrier) - but he won't hesitate to shove someone out of the way (and into a building across the street) if it gets them out of the way of a speeding semi. I might just petition the GM to allow me more than 60 points of psych disads - I had more I wanted to add, but ran up against the 60 pt limit. I'd rather than some of the disads above were RP'ed (and occasional) and added the more common naive, black & white morality stuff that I will be RP'ing anyway.

Campaign guidelines - 300 pt base, 150 is disads. AP cap is basically 500 per turn - so if you have SPD 4, you can have 125 AP per phase, but a Spd 8 speedster is going to be about 60-65 AP. (Rough guideline, but I'm trying to stick to it). Concept: Partially based on the Wild Cards character of Golden boy, but with some changes. Whammo Player: Val Char Cost 75 STR 65 15 DEX 15 25 CON 30 25 BODY 30 15 INT 5 10 EGO 0 20 PRE 10 20 COM 5 15/36 PD 0 10/30 ED 5 5 SPD 25 20 REC 0 50 END 0 76 STUN 0 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 15" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 190 Cost Power END 50 Strength attacks: Multipower, 50-point reserve 1u 1) Rope Reach: Stretching 6", Side Effects (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Only To Cause Damage (-1/2), Always Direct (-1/4), no Noncombat Stretching (-1/4), No Velocity Damage (-1/4), Range Modifier Applies (-1/4) 0 2u 2) Crack the whip: Energy Blast 6d6, Side Effects (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0), Indirect (Same origin, any direction; +1/2) (45 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (-1/4), Limited Range (-1/4) 4 3u 3) Breaking: Dispel 9d6, any Technological Object power one at a time (+1/4), Cumulative (+1/2) (47 Active Points); No Range (-1/2) 5 1u 4) Insta-barrier: Entangle 5d6, 5 DEF, Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0) (50 Active Points); Only To Form Barriers (-1), No Range (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (-1/2) 5 2u 5) Big Wrap Up: Entangle 5d6, 5 DEF, Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; +0) (50 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (-1/2) 5 2u 6) Improvised Weaponry: Energy Blast 6 1/2d6, Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; Damage to local environs; +0), Variable Special Effects (Any SFX; +1/2) (49 Active Points); OIF (Appropriate materials of opportunity; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Limited Range (15"; -1/4) 5 2u 7) Sluggo: Hand-To-Hand Attack +5d6 (25 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) 2 2u 8) Boxer's Flurry: Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) for up to 75 Active Points of Punch (19 Active Points) 2 3u 9) Lethal force: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 3d6 (6d6 w/STR) (45 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2) 8 62 Bioelectric force field: Armor (21 PD/20 ED) 0 30 Tough metabolism: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% 0 10 Tough metabolism II: Energy Damage Reduction, 25% 0 7 +15 PD (15 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about half of its effectiveness (Only to protect against damage sustained when performing move by/throughs; -1) 7 Flight 8", x4 Noncombat (25 Active Points); Extra Time: full phase, only to activate (-1/2)Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Only In Straight Lines (-1/2) 6 7 Fast healer: Healing 1 BODY, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (20 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Turn (Post-Segment 12) (-1 1/4), Self Only (-1/2) 0 5 Life Support (Longevity: Immortal) 0 (Note: Whammo is not aware of this, it is a side effect of the rapid healing) 10 Sight Group Flash Defense (10 points) 0 Powers Cost: 206 Cost Skill 3 Breakfall 12- 2 PS: Bricklayer 11- 2 KS: Guitars 11- 5 PS: Musician (Guitar) 14- 3 Trading 13- 1 Bribery 8- 1 Language: Musical notation (basic conversation) 3 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Agricultural & Construction Vehicles 3 Conversation 13- 15 +3 with HTH Combat 2 KS: Police procedure 11- 3 Hoist 12- 3 Streetwise 13- 4 Survival (Urban) 13- 2 CK: Millenium City 11- 2 CuK: Millenium City music scene 11- Skills Cost: 54 Total Character Cost: 450 Val Disadvantages 20 Enraged: Enraged in combat (Very Common), go 11-, recover 14- 10 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) 5 Physical Limitation: Medical-resistant skin (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) [Notes: Brick book lists it as 10, but he does heal reasonably quickly, so it's only an inconvenience when seriously hurt.] 10 Physical Limitation: Doesn't Know Own Strength (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 10 Physical Limitation: Must Use Powers At Full When Excited/Agitated (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 15 Psychological Limitation: Overconfidence (Very Common, Moderate) 15 Psychological Limitation: Feels he must prove himself (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Attention seeker (Very Common, Moderate) 15 Psychological Limitation: Reluctant to kill (Common, Strong) 10 Reputation: Novice superhero, 11- 15 Social Limitation: Public Identity (Very Frequently, Minor) 10 Social Limitation: Not taken seriously (Frequently, Minor) Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 300 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 Background:Bright, but unfocused was typically how a teacher would describe Andrew. Lazy, slacker, and bound for trouble were usually said only in the teacher's lounge, but certainly no one was pushing Andrew to focus on his studies. His mother ran off with the drummer from Wailing Dregs when Andrew was only five, and his father crawled into the bottle. When Andrew was eighteen and out of high school, he left home. After six months on the streets, Andrew came back, only to find the house foreclosed and his father gone. Without a home, and no prospects for college, Andrew drifted from low-end job to low-end job. During this period of marginal employment, he spent a lot of money on beer, and a fair amount in nightclubs, and a couple dollars on a beat-up six string. Playing the guitar came naturally to Andrew. For the first time in years, possibly ever, he found something that he liked doing. He began to supplement his wages from the local greaseburger with what he could earn by playing on a streetcorner. The money wasn't good at first, but as he got better, he began to think about making a career out of it. So, he quit his day job and started looking for a band. Days turned into weeks, and Andrew crashed at friends, in abandoned houses, and at shelters. What little he made went to pay back what he owed, or to buy a slightly better guitar. Eventually, he went back to work, this time getting the chance to learn the trade of bricklayer. During the nights and weekends, he kept plugging away at his music, bouncing from band to band, learning how to write his own lyrics and improving his technique. Recently, he'd been given a shot as lead guitarist in a band, and was looking at quitting his day job once he had a regular gig. Unfortunately, it was not to be. One afternoon, while Andrew was eatinng lunch at the local mall, his world changed. Foxbat, during one of his routine mad escapades, had managed to. . . .aquire a piece of advanced technology, presumably alien in origin. Foxbat had decided to stop by the nearest bookster (while in costume) to steal everything he could about UFOs. While playing around with it (and looking though an X-Files novel), Foxbat was attacked by a hero and heroine, who managed to disable the ping-pong gun in gthe initial blast. Feeling desperate, and more than a little whimsical, Foxbat aimed the device at the heroe. With an audible "whoosh", the hero was turned into a newt. As Foxbat turned toward the heroine, the device hummed and parts moved as it turned into a new configuration. As Foxbat fired, the heroine dived out of the way. The beam blasted out of the store and across the food court, ricocheting off several mirrored pillars and finally hitting Andrew square in the chest. Foxbat beat a hasty retreat, dropping the device which was now glowing red and burning a hole in the carpet. Andrew woke up three days later in the hospital, in perfect health. He felt better than ever. He was a bit puzzled, however, with the hospitals decision to use such a weak material for the bedframe, as he crushed it quite easily. And the sink in his room came apart under the slightest pressure. (Andrew doesn't even like to think about the tiolet fixtures.) It wasn't until he watched the news that night that he realize the truth: he must have superpowers! This surely would help his music career. But, until it does, he might as well fight crime. It's good press, and a lot less hazardous than being a supervillain. Unfortunately, his first foray as a superhero was almost a complete disaster. The villain got away, along with the loot, and Andrew causes a lot of inadvertant property damage. The fact that he took the name "Whammo" probably isn't helping any either. Personality/Motivation: Andrew doesn't want to be a hero for its own sake. He does, however, want to be loved and admired by millions, and figures that this is his ticket to it. He really wants to prove himself - not just as a hero, but also as a musician. Quote: Stop, evildoer, and face justice! Tactics: Whammo is really wet behind the ears. He doesn't know a whole lot about his powers, and while he has some natural aptitude, he hasn't learned to think tactically or how to maintain composure in combat. And the less said about his flight, the better. Edit - had a chance to thumb through Ultimate vehicle today. Got rid of takeoff/landing for flight, changed to extra time, will add -0 FX of requiring running to take off and landing by slamming into things.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game I may have to dust off my tankers and scrappers once that goes live, just to see how true that is. People said I5 was the death of 'trollers, and mine became even more lethal. My current MO on a timed mission is blow off half the time, then travel there, finish it up, and complain because I still had 20 minutes left. And while I am not at the toughest level, I am only one below it, and I need to bump it up to actualy get even a slight challenge. I may not have it quite so easy with the fighting ATs, but I bet I can still solo effectively with them, even under ED.

Re: Let's hear it for villainous organizations Technological Heirarchy for Enslaving Mankind

Re: Let's hear it for villainous organizations Standard pro-mutant group: Mutants Against Legislation Involving Control or Eugenics Possible magic group: Magical Alliance of Legendary, Infamous or Controlled Entities As a subsidiary of some larger organization: Malevolent Agents Licensed for Illegal Criminal Enterprise As technological terrors: Mechanicals and Automotons Looking for Integration into Criminal Enterprises

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game Maybe I should have put the caveat that, for some reason, my blasters and scrappers never seemed to benefit much from having more than 2 SOs of any given type slotted in a power. Now, 2 Dmg, 2 Acc, Recharge and END did fairly well, but 6 DMG always struck me as having too many eggs in one basket (and, sure enough, I missed a lot - which drew aggro and lots of pain). YMMV. Maybe the devs want more casual players?

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game Actually, it's not that bad. The only powers that really should get hit hard by this are some of the pool powers and some of the defensive ones (anything which is always on and has no END cost). In theory, all attack powers should have increases to range, accuracy, damage, hold, disorient, recharge, reduced end, etc - there's a good variety from which to choose, and if you slot only Damage, you're not actually doing yourself any favors. OTOH, something like Stamina doesn't have nearly that range - IIRC, you can only have the enhancement which increases the rate of END recovery. Powers like that get hit hard by this. I'm tentatively okay with it, provided there is a caveat about powers which only have 1-2 types of enhancements available. Edit - thinking it over a bit more, I really don't care all that much how it affects Stamina. So I won't get nearly as much out of slots 3-6 as I do now. Big deal. It's not as though I can't afford to keep them maxed out anyway. I have 4 million influence, and nothing to buy until I hit lvl 42, by which point I should have quite4 a bit more. Unless you slot everything into the powers which only have a couple enhancements available, this shouldn't be an issue until the mid-30s, at which point, influence really doesn't matter all that much.

Re: Known Space Hero -- Specs For Puppeteer Vision ? True, but one could make the case that most of the non-humans (Kzin, Puppeteers, Outsiders, Kdatlyno, Trinocs, Grogs, etc) would have "Distinctive Features" on any human world. (And humans would have DF, plus a very short lifespan, on any Kzinti planet during the Man-Kzin wars.) I suspect that it wasn't so much that the Puppeteers looked odd, it was just very unusual to see one willing to risk itself in something so potentially falliable as a General Products hull. (After all, Beowulf Shaeffer managed to destroy one)

Re: Question about the "spirit" of an EC Enhanced senses are a special power, and, as such, cannot be placed in a power framework withou the permission of the GM (IIRC).

Re: Help with a concept Yeah, Armor might be best, and just SFX the rest. Concerning the effects of the field weakening (and it's limitations): "When Mr. Holmes started his tests he proved exactly how strong I was, which was stronger than anyone had ever seen, or even imagined. Provided I was braced well enough, I could lift up to forty tons. Machine-gun slugs would flatten themselves on my chest. Armor-piercing 20mm cannon shells would knock me down with their transferred energy, but I'd jump back up undamaged. They were scared to try anything bigger than a 20mm on their tests. So was I. If I were hit with a real cannon, instead of just a big machine gun, I'd probably be oatmeal. I had my limits. After a few hours of it I'd begin to get tired. I would weaken. Bullets began to hurt. I'd have to go off and rest." Presumably, if you kept hitting him, sooner or later, the field would go away. GB mentions that he never got so tired that it did (but mentions that the field glow fades with fatigue), and worries about what would happen if it did fade entirely.

Re: Help with a concept It might be possible to build it with both - a small amount of armor (5-10 points) so that it never entirely goes away, but can run out to the point where it won't reliably protect him from serious attacks, and then maybe do the rest as a force field, 1/2 END, along with a hefty END reserve.

Re: Question about the "spirit" of an EC Actually, if I put the DI, movement powers and the attacks into the EC, they get more expensive. It's a very cheap multipower, and if I want an EC higher than 5 or 10 points, it just hasn't been working. Most of the powers do have some hefty disads (and I would have "Only when serving the god's purpose", -1/4, if I could find a good, definitive write-up on Ptah. I've found some things, but not enough that I feel comfortable taking the limitation.) And the other reason that the DI isn't in the EC - it's only a couple levels. I have a real problem with 1+ ton characters walking around normal offices and houses without causing structural issues - I know that my house could not take 800 kilos in the space of the average footprint.

Re: Help with a concept I believe it stays on, but would have to rummage through the books to be sure. (I suspect that my aversion to using Armor is because my last brick lasted two sessions, and died to a 3d6 NND, Does Body - with Force Field as the defence. Too many villains, it seems, have some damaging NND (Force Field) attack for my liking.)

Re: Question about the "spirit" of an EC MitchellS - yeah, I tried that (well, similar). Then I added the denisity increase, an attack MP (for some brick tricks), and a movement power, and had no skills. (NB - the attack MP and the movement both cost about 75 together, which is really pretty small). I'm thinking that I am going to scrap the concept entirely, pending a discussion with the GM.

Re: Question about the "spirit" of an EC Full LS is 50. And I'll admit to being stuck on a brick right now. I am trying to build a 450 pt (300 base +150 disads) brick. Concept is Avatar of Ptah - he's basically an animated statue. If I have full LS (which makes sense), Armor, some form of healing, and decent Str (and other stats), I have almost nothing else. Or, I can scrap the concept, make a character I hate, but is considerably more effective in combat. It leads to my one main problem with hero - certain concepts which express well in GURPS don't lend themselves well to a Hero game. At least, not without a GM who is willing to allow for exceptions regarding things like Naked Advantages in a Multipower. Edit: If I wrap at least the LS, low-grade healing and armor into an EC, then it works. Considering that he winds up being less tough than some of the other PCs, this really ought to be more of a GM call than anything else.

Re: Your Opinion Please - Four-Color Appropriate? I thought modern comics were still printed primarily with CMYK (with possibly a fifth color used when called for, like a neon or a metallic). I know that the pickle ticket industry (aka pull tabs) is 4 color, either CMYK or CYK+ PMS102 (? - I forget which, it's a day-glo magenta).

Re: Question about the "spirit" of an EC Of course, you also have master villains (like Firewing) with a whole slew of 0 End powers in an EC. Some character concepts are difficult to build without resorting to an EC - anyone with a body of stone (so full life support, armor, density increase, strength) is almost impossible in 450 points. (Same for undead with full life support.) IMO, it's a judgement call, based on concept, the actual abilities in the EC, the player, and the campaign.

I am toying with a couple concept characters, and one is modelled (partially) after the character of Golden Boy, from the Wild Cards series. For those unaware of the series, he's basically a brick (superstrong), with a force field. The force field is what is causing the problem. In the book, the field is generally inactive, as Jack goes about his normal life. But, when he's using his superstrength or under attack, it comes on automatically, and he can sustain it easily for several hours. The problem is that it also can apparently come on when he is under attack - even if he is unaware of the attack. For example - if a sniper shoots at him, the force field will be up well before the bullet has a chance to hit him, even before Jack understands that he is under attack. It's not Always On (because he can easily wander around with it off), nor is it linked to Strength. It doesn't seem to be a Trigger either. Suggestions?

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game I might still have to delete a couple toons - I'm really liking the villain ATs, now that I am in beta. (Oddly enough, I got my time-based invite just before I would have gotten my pre-order based beta invite). I might have a couple of my heroes "fall" - just to see what it's like. And at least one villain is going to be redeemed. Dangit. CoV is just going to be too kewl. Curse you, NCSoft!

Re: Your Opinion Please - Four-Color Appropriate? Okay, so the model doesn't exactly match the concept of a Spanish/Aztec era relic - but it could be a worse representation. Again, the model is just a location marker - if you felt like it, everyone could be represented on a map with dice, tokens and M&Ms. Is it possible that some NPCs will run? Sure - if the PC isn't known as a hero, or has a bad reputation or something (not evil, perhaps, but just horribly clumsy - if you knew that he accidentally crushed a kitten he was rescuing from a tree, you'd probably run too). But if he is known as a hero, then it is extremely doubtful that NPCs in need of rescuing will run. The main compenent of a four-color game is the moral tone. Four color tends to be very black & white when it comes to moral issues (not many shades of gray), heroes follow the "Code of the Hero", including no killing, etc. Costuming can reflect this, but no matter how you dress up the Punisher, he is not a four color hero. LIkewise, no matter how many spikes, leather, chains, etc you add, Superman is still going to be a four color hero.

Re: Your Opinion Please - Four-Color Appropriate? IIRC, the Storm Golem is a couple inches high, and about 2" across at the shoulders. If he is planning on having a battle-suit brick, with a couple levels of growth (to account for the difference in scale between the MK fig and most hero figs), then the figure should be fine - as McCoy said, it's not entirely dissimilar to the original Iron Man armor. But the figure really isn't the issue - a miniature is just a graphic representation of your characters location on the map (if you use them). It might be a source of inspiration (I've designed several heroes and villains based on miniatures I was painting at the time), but really, it wouldn't matter if he used a Superman HC figure and had nothing but RKAs for attacks. Four-color is more a matter of attitude, not appearance. (And, regarding appearance - I'd put it closer to the big, clunky stuff from the 50's - and Iron Age suit would be more likely to have spikes, guns, shoulder-mounted stuff, etc - and would probably not be nearly so bulky in appearance.)