Stochastic

March 3, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Oh, yea. And revised character.

[ATTACH]30918[/ATTACH]

Reduced Inversion's maximum END intake from any given source to 6 Character Points per damage type per segment. (12 End Per Damage Type Per Segment, 24 End per Segment).

Added a level of HTH combat familiarity. Bought REC back up and sold off some PD and STR to make it match the 30/30. 12 DC.

Increased the Regenerative Healing aspect to 2 body / turn.

March 3, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Raider A.K.A. Sentry (maybe?) version 3

Raider

Player: Checkmate

Val Char Cost

20 STR 10

26 DEX 48

23 CON 26

10 BODY 0

23 INT 13

14 EGO 8

15 PRE 5

12 COM 1

8/14 PD 4

8/14 ED 3

6 SPD 24

10 REC 2

46 END 0

35 STUN 3

9" RUN 0

5" SWIM 0

8" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 147

Cost Power

5 Catalyst: Luck 1d6

2 Strong Will: Mental Defense (5 points total)

6 Strong Legs: Running +3" (9" total)

3 Athletic: Swimming +3" (5" total)

4 Acrobatic: Leaping +4" (8" forward, 4" upward)

12 Microweave Costume: Armor (6 PD/6 ED) (18 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

20 Utility Belt: Multipower, 30-point reserve, (30 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

1u 1) Boomarang: Energy Blast 6d6 (30 Active Points); OAF (-1), 3 Recoverable Charges (-3/4)

1u 2) Grapple Gun: Swinging 20", No Gravity Penalty (+1/2) (30 Active Points); OAF (-1)

1u 3) Cutting Torch: Killing Attack - Ranged 1/2d6, Armor Piercing (+1/2), Penetrating (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (25 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Range (-1/2)

1u 4) Re-breather: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing) (10 Active Points); OAF (-1), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge lasting 5 Minutes (-1/2)

Powers Cost: 56

Cost Martial Arts Maneuver

Martial Arts: Kung Fu

4 1) Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort

4 2) Choke Hold: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +0 DCV, Grab One Limb; 3d6 NND

4 3) Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

4 4) Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 45 STR vs. Grabs

3 5) Grab: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, 40 STR for holding on

5 6) Kick/Low Kick: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, 10d6 Strike

4 7) Punch: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 8d6 Strike

2 Weapon Element: Blades, Clubs, Empty Hand

8 +2 HTH Damage Class(es)

Boomarang-Fu

4 1) Basic Shot: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +2, Strike, +2 DC

4 2) Offensive Shot: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +0, Strike, +4 DC

5 3) Offensive Trip: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +0, Strike +v/5, Target Falls

5 4) Offensive Ranged Disarm: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +2, Disarm, +2 DC to Disarm

Martial Arts Cost: 56

Cost Skill

10 +1 Overall

3 Acrobatics 14-

3 Breakfall 14-

3 Bugging 14-

3 Concealment 14-

3 Conversation 12-

3 Criminology 14-

3 CK: Thebes 14-

3 Electronics 14-

3 Inventor 14-

3 Scholar

2 1) KS: City Utility Grids (Sewers, Power Grids, Water) (3 Active Points) 14-

2 2) KS: Espianage World (3 Active Points) 14-

1 3) KS: International Law (2 Active Points) 11-

2 4) KS: Sentry Initutive (3 Active Points) 14-

3 Lockpicking 14-

3 Paramedics 14-

3 Persuasion 12-

3 Security Systems 14-

3 Shadowing 14-

3 Sleight Of Hand 14-

3 Stealth 14-

3 Streetwise 12-

Skills Cost: 71

Cost Perk

5 Ghost in the Machine

1 Fringe Benefit: Ex-CIA Agent

2 Fringe Benefit: Security Clearance

Perks Cost: 8

Cost Talent

12 Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED)

Talents Cost: 12

Total Character Cost: 350

Pts. Disadvantage

15 Psychological Limitation: Disillusioned Super-Patriot (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Code vs Killing (Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Hatred of Sentry Program (Uncommon, Strong)

15 Hunted: Sentry Initiative 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)

15 Hunted: Mystery 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)

20 Hunted: Mystery 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

15 Social Limitation: Secret ID (Frequently, Major)

15 Dependent NPC: Son 8- (Normal; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID)

5 Rivalry: Professional (MI-5 Agent; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry)

15 Enraged: Innocents Harmed (Common), go 11-, recover 14- [Notes: Dropped to 0 STUN or takes BODY]

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 5

Experience Unspent: 5

Hehe. Caveat: I'm not a GM at all. Just another potential player.

But I like the character concept, very batman-y. Except part speedster. I guess Batman actually might be a speedster, now that I think of it? He's always acting just before the villains.

But would Raider's maximum attack be a 10d6? And his armor is 14 when it says Martial Artists should be 22.

Approximately 1:3 10DC attacks that land will stun Raider - granted he has more opportunity's to recover, but two such attacks would knock him out. The Batman can do better than that! hehe.

I know Raider has a high DCV, at least relative to the other characters. But it seems like maybe he could use a touch more defense? An OCV 7 bad guy still has a 37.5% chance of hitting Raider. So assuming Raider faces a single CV 7, Def 22/22, 18 Con, Speed 4, 10DC bad guy with 45 stun - (Raider has roughly a 1:10 chance of missing said foe without external modifiers) Mr Bad Guy has a slightly higher chance (4.0457% higher according to my little calculator program I made for this) of achieving an average necessary to knock Raider out in a single turn, than Raider has of knocking said bad guy out. Now, while I'm calculating the difference in overall speed, the more qualitative value of acting first is not in the algorithms being used here.

But now, imagine if Raider get hits by a 14DC normal attack - the probability of Stunning him goes up to almost 3:5. The probability of outright KO'ing him enters the picture at roughly 1:20.

I wonder if I'm analyzing this too much. I blame Zac, he got me started.

March 3, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Kind of.

In superheroic, it doesn't require an Ego roll, but if we examine the general rules for pushing.

(Fifth Edition Revised, p427, second paragraph of the right hand column)

Seventh, characters can only use Pushing for crucial, heroic, or life-saving actions. Characters, even heroes and PCs, cannot Push whenever they want to just to look impressive. Pushing is a last-ditch effort to save the day when all else fails, an enemy has to be Knocked Out now, regular-strength attacks are not getting the job done, or something terrible will occur if a character doesn't stop it. Generally, characters should not be allowed to Push every Phase as a matter of course, even if they have the END to do it. The GM determines whether a character can Push in a given situation.

It's somewhat fuzzy. "Should nots" and concrete examples that can apply to most combat situations (heroes generally aren't fighting when it's not an emergency).

But in general, you are correct - it is a GMs prerogative to deny someone the ability to Push, carte blanche, based on the situation.

Consequently, it's prominence in the algorithms that we use to study a character's effectiveness depend on how strictly the GM chooses to treat Pushing. If Pushing can be done "all day long" then one would still want to balance for it. If Pushing is just that rare, extra umph that helps you defeat a particularly vile arch villain, than accounting for it is unnecessary - even counter productive.

March 3, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Interesting. Mathematics and arithmetics are kind of a "thing" for me, and upon analysis, you are indeed correct. Absorption linked to END appears that it can quickly become unbalanced. And 30 may actually still be too high for defenses. I've never actually looked at defense from a statistical standpoint. Kind of interesting.

So, his hypothetical maximum of Endurance recovery is 194/turn.

(22 Character Points * 2 End Per Character Points * 4 Phases To Deplete Endurance + 18)

Pushing Strength, Force Field and Density Increase in every phase he would have a total Endurance expenditure of 152/turn, so given that he takes his full absorption in the segments between his acting phases, he could well do it indefinitely. Which defeats the nature of pushing.

Per defense.

At Def 30, a 10DC attack that hits (and which actually rolls, doesn't use the standard effect - because the standard effect is actually below the statistical mean), has a ~79% chance of doing any damage. That's ANY damage. 1-30 (one damage exactly being slightly greater than a 1/20 chance and 30 being highly improbable (1:6^10)). Chance of an opponent doing 10 or more Stun is only ~15%. Is that okay? Scale that up to a 14DC straight energy blast, chance to do more than 10 stun improve dramatically (~74% better). The chance to do more than Inversion can recover with a single Recovery, however, is only slightly greater than 1:2.

At Def 35, the picture skew becomes even more pronounced - a 10DC attack against that defense, is reduced to having a ~45% chance of doing any damage. They would have roughly a 1/40 chance of doing 10 damage or more. Scale to a 14DC attack and it's ~70% to deal any damage at all.

The model becomes even more fun when you add in stun multipliers from killing attacks. I made a little C# program that gives a suite of statistical data for given inputs, hehe.

I'm just that lame.

I think I might retire Absorption from the build. I have to get back to real work soon, though. Does the 30 def model still jive with how you want things to work? When I think Tank I don't actually want to play superman (superman was never very interesting to me. Guy was invincible, yea, we get it already...).

Check back later.

March 2, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

K. Will do. Sorry I thought we were supposed to do the text

Okay

Oh and I realized, I think it's kind of cheating the way I have the absorb set up.

They cost END to use - but you get END from using them. A lot more end too.

So I dropped Delayed Return Rate (not really necessary, unless he's going to start banging his head against walls before a fight to charge up. And that doesn't seem particularly heroic. In fact, seems downright awkward "Oh - Oh god, Erik are you okay? I heard the slamming noises and, look at all this blood!" "Oh don't worry, just gettin' pumped for the big game... Do this all the time."), I also dropped the Costs End. Even though it's only a point difference.

Since he's an interpreter during his day job, I gave him a higher presence? I really don't know what court interpreters do, beyond interpret the proceedings for people who don't speak English. I tried looking it up, found out that many interpreters also translate for the deaf, so they know american sign language. So I gave him that.

Also I added a little extra leaping umph. He can now jump 14 inches up and 20 inches horizontally.

I have to go for a few hours. Be back later.

[ATTACH]30910[/ATTACH]

(I hope that worked like I wanted).

March 2, 2009

Re: Three Villains, one picture, no ideas.. One Contest...

Am I the only one that thought the topmost fellow looked like he was wearing a chef's coat? (Double breasted jacket with widely spaced buttons, that high up on the chest. Somewhat unique).

March 2, 2009

Re: Heroes from All Fifty States

Or he could have been bitten by a radioactive beaver.

He has Beaversenses that tingle whenever near wood.

And 1000d6 Entangle that only effects flowing water.

March 2, 2009

Re: Heroes from All Fifty States

Just my two cents - Beaverman should have big, super strong buck teeth, that he can use like sawblades.

That, or he should be some captain of industry (because Beavers really are industrious little creatures).

March 2, 2009

Re: superuseless superpowers

Okay, I'll play.

How about

Summon Cranky Self

Summon (1 n-Point Self), Specific Being (Yourself) (+1) (AP: 2n/5) Antagonistic: Hostile (-1/2), Arrives Under Own Power (-1/2) (Real Cost: n/5)

Compel yourself to do something, but be cranky about it?

March 2, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

My Revision 9 was wrong -.- I forgot to export the final revision before posting it.

http://www.herocentral.net/herocentral/get/files/premium/Eric+Krieg.hdc

there's the most recent one, with the fixed disads

March 1, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Okay.

The first thing made me giggle.

I think I was thinking of the disadvantage wrong. My bad. I edited it out I think I might just roleplay that aspect.

So here's what I was thinking:

When he perceives an injustice, he'll stand up to it. No matter the situation or how it might seem stacked against it and doesn't back down.

So, like for the example:

1) No. Demand to know why the person is charging so much.

2) No. Tell them they owe me my two dollars.

3) (How young we talking, like illegal young? If so, then yea. If it seems consensual, then no.)

4) Confront the teenager about why he stole the money, demand that he pay the man back.

5) Only slightly, on account of the other man reaching the teenager first.

6) If he feels it's unfair, then yes. Would probably take it upon himself to personally reconcile the situation.

7) No, depending on how aggressive their harassing is being. If they're being dumb kids, no. If they are making other people uncomfortable, then yes, would confront them.

8) Yes. Would confront them.

9) Yes, would attempt to stop everyone.

This is a campaign city game, you will not be leaving the area very often. You can drop the limited geographic area. As the first adventure starts there has been ZERO prime activity in the area for the past decade. Its like the prime karma well just dried up. Well, the dry spell has past and it is about to start raining Primes (to butcher a song title). If the cops approach you and say "You are under arrest" will you flee or go quietly? As soon as you flee the Mildly Punish is going to change. If you turn yourself in, and the Judge says he will put you on Probation and he expects some community service. You say ok. The Hunted becomes a watched and you get a social limitation Hero ID on Parole. You ok with that? This is all just what if talk... but I want you to really thinking about a law enforcement hunted as a Prime.

So... Hm. So Inversion wouldn't have a record in Thebes - but he could have a record from elsewhere?

Now, lets get to the meat of the matter. 4 Speed Brick with no Ranged Attacks. 13 DC attacks and 30 Defenses. I will allow the lot to be resistant. I could see 5 Points of Power Defense tied to a force field. Drop the Mental Defense. I dont have a problem with having you life support but it seems kinda weird. Having an instinctive sheild at your level seems to keep out all harmful agents. Would it keep out some of the good stuff to? To much solar radiation causes cancer you know. I will allow the immunity to harmful agents but not needing to breath does not seem to fit. As a "brick" I could see No need to breath with conditions. Like Costs Endurance... I just don't see Not Breathing ever with a shield (even if the shield was protecting you... protection does not equal feeding you = feeding you oxygen). I am not including Knockback Resistance as a defense for a brick with no ranged attack power. Pile it on.

Oh that's okay. Life support was pretty much just me trying to spend points on something when I couldn't think of anything else that seemed to fit. My rationale was "well, he's reparing his body constantly with the field, so he'd probably be able to repair the necrosis that oxygen starvation would cause". I've taken out all but the poisons and chemical warfare agents, and that is just that the field will repel or purge foreign contaminants. But I'm not married to that either.

A 14- is going to be National level bad press. Everyone is going to know who you are and you are a menace. This is going to color the reaction of every Tom, Dick and Harry in the game. In a bank holdup people are going to side with the robbers over you. Does not seem very heroic.

Hm, yea... no. I don't want it to be that bad. I just wanted it to be a little harder for him to get like police and media and such to work with him.

OK so I have a new character revised from that.

BEHOLD! REVISION 9!

Eric Krieg

Player: Revision 9

Val Char Cost

35/65 STR 25

18 DEX 24

18 CON 16

18 BODY 16

13 INT 3

14 EGO 8

18 PRE 8

16 COM 3

7/33 PD 0

4/35 ED 0

4 SPD 12

18 REC 14

64 END 14

45 STUN 0

6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

7"/13" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 143

Cost Power

30 Psychokinetic Barrier: Armor (10 PD/10 ED)

10 Instinctive Psychokinetic Field: Life Support (Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents) [Notes: Krieg's psychokinetic field will repel foreign contaminants from his body - however, it is just as susceptible to disease as any other biological organism.]

6 Psychokinetic Inversion Field: Absorption 1d6 (physical, END), Can Absorb Maximum Of 11 Points' Worth Of Physical Damage, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4) (9 Active Points); Visible (-1/4), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) [Notes: Red sparks around body, emanating from the source of the impact, as Inversion absorbs.]

6 Psychogenic Inversion Field: Absorption 1d6 (energy, END), Can Absorb Maximum Of 11 Points' Worth Of Energy Damage, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4) (9 Active Points); Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4), Visible (-1/4) [Notes: Red sparks around body, emanating from the source of the impact, as Inversion absorbs.]

7 Psychokinetic Propulsion: Gliding 6", Usable Running (+1/4) (7 Active Points) [Notes: Allows him to effectively nullify his mass by disconnecting it's intersection with some gravity mediating force, creating the effect that he can "float" or coast, as though gravity was not acting upon his world line.]

15 Kinetic Field Control: Elemental Control, 30-point powers

22 1) Psychogenic Shield: Force Field (10 PD/15 ED/5 Power Defense), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (37 Active Points) [Notes: With Full Psychogenic Shield {PD 25(20r), ED 24 (20r) 3 END / Phase, 12 end / Turn}]

22 2) Critical Mass: Density Increase (4,200 kg mass, +30 STR, +6 PD/ED, -6" KB), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (37 Active Points) [Notes: At Base Critical Mass {Strength 55/ PD 31(10r)/ ED 30(10r), 3 END/ Phase, 12 END / Turn}]

7 3) Instinctive Psychogenic Field: Healing 1 BODY, Can Heal Limbs, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (30 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Turn (Post-Segment 12) (-1 1/4)

Powers Cost: 125

Cost Skill

3 Bureaucratics 13-

3 Climbing 13-

5 +1 with HTH Combat

3 Conversation 13-

3 Electronics 12-

3 Gambling 12-

3 Hoist 12-

3 Linguist

3 1) Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 2) Language: French (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

0 3) Language: German (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 4) Language: Italian (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 5) Language: Portugese (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 6) Language: Spanish (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 Oratory 13-

3 Paramedics 12-

3 Persuasion 13-

7 PS: Interpreter 16-

3 SS: Linguistics 12-

Skills Cost: 60

Cost Perk

2 Deep Cover

1 Fringe Benefit: License to practice a profession [Notes: Licensed Interpreter]

2 Money: Well Off [Notes: Upper-Middle Class Income]

Perks Cost: 5

Total Character Cost: 333

Pts. Disadvantage

10 Enraged: Injustice (Common), go 8-, recover 14- [Notes: One of the more obvious psychological manifestations of Erik Kriegs complex is his profound anger at injustice - as though it were a personal affront to his power or identity. This complicates matters with trying to keep the identities of Erik and Inversion separate - more than once has Erik called in sick to work to go marauding as inversion for the day. Too many such instances and someone might put two and two together.]

15 Social Limitation: Secret Identity (Frequently, Major) [Notes: Erik Krieg has so far been successful in keeping Inversion's identity safe from even his family. A reporter thinks she may have a lead, and has been sniffing around Erik for the past several weeks.]

10 Psychological Limitation: Fear of Failure (Common, Moderate) [Notes: Beneath all the calm bravado and the delusions of grandeur, lurks an intense fear of failing. Emotionally invested in the success of his every endeavor, Erik/Inversion has a difficult time knowing when to stop - and how to cope with a situation after he's failed.]

20 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Very Common, Strong) [Notes: With such incredible resilience, Erik has developed something of a God Complex. Eventually, he will run up against the limitations of his powers - hopefully, he won't be running too fast at the time.]

20 Psychological Limitation: Code Versus Killing (Common, Total) [Notes: While Erik doesn't mind breaking things, breaking people is another story altogether. Erik is not willing to accept that he cannot subdue any threat.]

15 Hunted: Thebes Police Department 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Mildly Punish) [Notes: Looking to ticket/fine/try Inversion for his reckless damage to property in the apprehension of criminals.If they did so, his identity might become compromised.]

25 Dependent NPC: Siblings 11- (Normal; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID; Group DNPC: x2 DNPCs) [Notes: Brother Lukas is a hedge fund manager, sister Sofie is a pianist, both call upon Erik for help from time to time, thinking him to be 'connected' from his job as a court interpreter.]

10 Hunted: Jessica Knox of the Daily News 14- (Less Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) [Notes: Jessica Knox is an up and coming reporter with a local rag, who believes she may have a great debut article to put her on the front page - the identity of the notoriously reckless Inversion. She's been snooping around Erik Krieg, looking for proof.]

10 Hunted: Black Tortoise Triad 8- (As Pow, Harshly Punish) [Notes: After busting up a major drug deal and putting half their boys behind bars, the Black Tortoise Triad has been gunning for Inversion for inversion.]

5 Reputation: Reckless, 8- [Notes: Blitzkrieg is seen as irresponsible and reckless in the popular media, he has very little sympathy from the everyman, as they see laying waste to entire city blocks of property to be more the purview of villains and bad guys.]

10 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN To Be Decided (Uncommon) [Notes: [ooc] I want him to have a cryptoninte like weakness that he doesn't yet know about. I know that's kind of cliche, any other ideas for a weakness that he could run up against are welcome as well.]

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

March 1, 2009

Re: My players have become villians

I have had similar things happen - on a multitude of occasions even - but I've never termed it 'hijacking'... Because in my case, the world is always mine, but the story belongs to the characters.

I've literally had players try to destroy the world - not just end life as we know it, but reduce a planet or planet-like system to so much disparate ash and cinder.

But imagine how a world would respond. All our faith, hope and goodwill is wrapped up in hero figures, even in this modern era without an Ubermensch. From religious figures of yore to ubiquitously adored philanthropists of today,

Rather than rail against it, embrace it and see where it takes you. Roleplaying is, by it's nature, an exercise in imagination. What if, as if never realizing there was another choice, many other superfolk adopt their self-serving, anarchistic philosophy?

Society eventually collapses under the weight of a new alpha predator added to the ecosystem, chaos rules and the newly self-actualized characters are left kings in a vast wasteland of nothingness.

It would be like playing a post-apocalyptic game, except it would be a pre-post-apocalyptic game.

March 1, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

woo!

Not a serial killer any more.

March 1, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

tada!

Why is it that I had a difficult time making someone that didn't look like a total psychopath with that? O.o

March 1, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Ah, k. Thanks. You have to buy it to get a real save option or something?

March 1, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

There are a few websites that you can use to make pictures' date=' they are linked earlier in this thread. Also, you can just google HeroMachine or Fabrica de Herois which are two of the most popular used on these boards.[/quote']

Couldn't find them in the thread, got all the way to page 11. Just googled heromachine though, thank you.

I'm having the same problem that one guy is having though, when I try to save it just gives me a bunch of numbers.

How do I set it's output to a .jpeg or something?

February 28, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Ah, I getcha, thanks. Yeah. The revision 7 has something like that, staged defenses, just didn't know what the term referred to.

Hey, also. I'm no good at drawing. I know everyone else seems to have a cartoon character, but can I just try and find a picture somewhere for my character?

Or maybe one of you fine artists could make me one

Otherwise, my character is going to have to be a stick figure.

"For a tank, you have awfully spindly little arms there."

\o/

.| Erik Krieg modeled for the HERO logo design.

/ \

February 28, 2009

Hey. I know this is going to seem really silly, but it actually worked out very well.

'Superhumans' are a legitimate minority in our setting (half of a generation was transformed), and it is very x-man-esque in that they are an oppressed minority.

So, our Villain, Dr Larry Ebson, is many of the predictable archetypes: He's a misguided genius, an inventor, a man with at least a marginally sympathetic story. The 'twist' I gave him was that, rather than being a 'mad scientist', he was a sad scientist - driven by grief rather than your more standard motivations of anger, fear or even delusions of grandeur.

Here's the guts portion of the character.

Larry Ebson

Player:

Val Char Cost

12 STR 2

14 DEX 12

13 CON 6

12 BODY 4

26 INT 16

29 EGO 38

20 PRE 10

18 COM 4

2/17 PD 0

3/18 ED 0

6 SPD 36

5 REC 0

28 END 1

25 STUN 0

6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 129

Cost Power

10 Mental Defense (31 points total)

30 Mental Mastery: Elemental Control, 60-point powers

56 1) Hypnosis: Ego Attack 17d6 (Human class of minds), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (255 Active Points); IAF Fragile (-3/4), Gestures (Complex; -1/2), Eye Contact Required (-1/2), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4), Subject To Range Modifier (-1/4), Visible (-1/4), Normal Range (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4)

15 2) Force Field (15 PD/15 ED/15 Mental Defense/15 Power Defense) (60 Active Points); Ablative BODY Only (-1/2), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, Only to Activate, -1/4), Activation Roll 15- (-1/4)

16 3) Hypnotic Suggestion: Mind Control 8d6 (Human class of minds), Cumulative (96 points; +3/4) (70 Active Points); IAF (-1/2), Gestures (Complex; -1/2), Eye Contact Required (-1/2)

30 4) Supplant Will: Mind Control 6d6 (Human class of minds), Area Of Effect (3" Radius; +1) (60 Active Points)

51 Depression-Powered Gadget Pool: Variable Power Pool, 45 base + 6 control cost, (67 Active Points); VPP Can Only Be Changed Between Adventures (-1/2); all slots OAF Bulky Fragile Expendable (Difficult to obtain new Focus; -2)

0 1) Suicide Inducer: Major Transform 1d6 (Normal Person into Suicidally Depressed Person, Leaving the Effected Area), Explosion (+1/2), MegaScale (1" = 10 km; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (45 Active Points); OAF Bulky Fragile Expendable (Difficult to obtain new Focus; -2), Limited Target (Normal Person; -1/2) Real Cost: 13

Powers Cost: 208

Cost Skill

15 +3 with Mental Combat

3 Computer Programming 14-

3 Criminology 14-

3 Deduction 14-

3 Demolitions 14-

3 Electronics 14-

3 Forgery 14-

3 Inventor 14-

2 KS 11-

0 Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

4 Language: French (idiomatic)

3 Mechanics 14-

3 Navigation 14-

2 PS: Psychologist 11-

2 SS: Psychology 11-

10 +1 Overall

3 Systems Operation 14-

3 Weaponsmith 14-

Skills Cost: 68

Cost Perk

40 Follower [Notes: Several "low powered" superhero henchmen that Dr Ebson meets through the support groups that he hosts.]

3 Reputation: Respected Doctor (A medium-sized group) 11-, +3/+3d6

2 Deep Cover

Perks Cost: 45

Total Character Cost: 450

Pts. Disadvantage

25 Dependent NPC: Henchmen 14- (Slightly Less Powerful than the PC; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills; Group DNPC: x8 DNPCs)

40 Enraged: Berserk Suffering of Mutants (Common), go 14-, recover 8-

20 Hunted: Vector Control Center 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture)

10 Hunted: Misguided Heros 11- (Less Pow, Capture)

20 Psychological Limitation: Depression (Very Common, Strong)

20 Social Limitation: Administrative Duties (Very Frequently, Major)

15 Social Limitation: Minority (Frequently, Major)

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 300

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

He recruits followers from group therapy sessions he runs, he gets the money to power his operations from your standard villainy of bank heists and the like.

The 'crux' of the story involved his invention : a device that caused 'normals' to grow depressed and eventually kill themselves. The PCs in my game ended up discovering and tracking down the device by triangulating the increased occurrence of suicides (one of them had a computer link to governmental databases).

But there are several different stories one might run with him.

Anyways. I just thought I'd share, in case anyones looking for weird villains.

February 28, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

I don't have issues with Life Support (or the lack of it) in a campaign. Trust me. I left before this conversation even came up. I rarely have characters make it to a game on draft one, editing isn't the issue either. Heck, some of the best games I've been in have been severely restricting in what's allowed and not allowed.

There's just a irrevocable difference in style between me and them - nothing more and nothing less.

ah okay. Well, sorry to hear that. If you like sci-fi, join my game!

hehehe.

February 28, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Oh yea, almost forgot. What is meant by layered defenses?

February 28, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Hi again.

First off, let me say happy birthday to the five year old.

Second of all - I didn't mean to start any "trouble" what with the life support. If it makes you feel any better ghost I have no problem withdrawing the life support. You shouldn't withdraw just because of that.

I didn't actually read anything but the first 3 pages of this thread. :nonp: So I can't say for certain, but the feeling I get is more that what they are doing is just being aggressive in trying to resolve problems before they occur? The other GM for the other game I play in on herocentral, we went through 11 revisions of my character before he was ready (He's Alex Raywell / Stingray in the Champions First Wave game).

I think maybe, on line, people treat it differently than in person RPing - if a person turns out to be a total munchkin gamer in real life, you can oft times reason with them - they're your friends. Online, I imagine it would be easier for one jerk to ruin everybody else's time, by bogging people down in a discussion of what the character would or would not do (even in real life, I've had to discuss a characters motivation at length with a few more war-gamery friends of mine).

But yea, I hope you aren't leaving just because of that, because I don't mind revamping characters to fit with a standard. Heck. I don't even mind making new ones!

Plus immortal was just something I sunk points into because my new build brought him below 350. Hehe. I'm not particularly attached in that manner anyway.

Okay!

Revision 7 drastically lowers the absorption and adds in a density increase instead of an attack power (the one with penetrating). I'm not really sure about the density increase. Even though his powers are psychokinetic, so you can pretty much 'magic' anything away (he excites all the molecules in his body, increasing some energy potential and thereby their mass). Maybe try and think of a better fitting power. The Absorptions are small by comparison now (11/11) I was thinking of maybe just linking them directly with a stat (Like one to STR and one to CON or something... Ooh, or even END).

Eric Krieg

Player: Revision 7

Val Char Cost

25/55 STR 15

18 DEX 24

18 CON 16

18 BODY 16

13 INT 3

14 EGO 8

18 PRE 8

16 COM 3

5/31 PD 0

4/30 ED 0

4 SPD 12

16 REC 14

64 END 14

40 STUN 0

11" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

5"/11" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 133

Cost Power

30 Psychokinetic Barrier: Armor (10 PD/10 ED)

30 Instinctive Psychokinetic Field: Life Support (Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Self-Contained Breathing)

13 Instinctive Psychogenic Field: Healing 1 BODY, Can Heal Limbs, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (30 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Turn (Post-Segment 12) (-1 1/4)

6 Psychokinetic Inversion Field: Absorption 1d6 (physical, Critical Mass), Can Absorb Maximum Of 11 Points' Worth Of Physical Damage, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4) (9 Active Points); Visible (-1/4), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) [Notes: Red sparks around body, emenating from the source of the impact, as Inversion absorbs.]

6 Psychogenic Inversion Field: Absorption 1d6 (energy, Critical Mass), Can Absorb Maximum Of 11 Points' Worth Of Energy Damage, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4) (9 Active Points); Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4), Visible (-1/4) [Notes: Red sparks around body, emenating from the source of the impact, as Inversion absorbs.]

15 Kinetic Field Control: Elemental Control, 30-point powers

15 1) Psychogenic Shield: Force Field (10 PD/10 ED/5 Mental Defense/5 Power Defense) (30 Active Points) [Notes: With Full Psychogenic Shield {PD 25(20r), ED 24 (20r) 3 END / Phase, 12 end / Turn}]

15 2) Critical Mass: Density Increase (4,200 kg mass, +30 STR, +6 PD/ED, -6" KB) (30 Active Points) [Notes: At Base Critical Mass {Strength 55/ PD 31(10r)/ ED 30(10r), 3 END/ Phase, 12 END / Turn}]

15 3) Psychokinetic Amplification: Running +5" (11" total), x32 Noncombat (30 Active Points)

0 Mock Full Power Critical Mass: Density Increase (67,600 kg mass, +50 STR, +10 PD/ED, -10" KB), Custom Adder [Notes: At Full Critical Mass. [strength 75/ PD 25 (10r) / ED 24 (10r), 5 end / Phase 20 end / Turn]]

0 Total Defense Power: Custom Power [Notes: With Full Power Critical Mass and Psychogenic Field [strength 75/ PD 35 (20r) / ED 34 (20r), 8 end / Phase 32 end / Turn]]

Powers Cost: 145

Cost Skill

3 Bureaucratics 13-

3 Climbing 13-

5 +1 with HTH Combat

3 Conversation 13-

3 Electronics 12-

3 Gambling 12-

3 Hoist 12-

3 Linguist

3 1) Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 2) Language: French (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

0 3) Language: German (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 4) Language: Italian (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 5) Language: Portugese (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 6) Language: Spanish (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

3 Oratory 13-

3 Paramedics 12-

3 Persuasion 13-

7 PS: Interpreter 16-

3 SS: Linguistics 12-

Skills Cost: 60

Cost Perk

2 Deep Cover

1 Fringe Benefit: License to practice a profession [Notes: Licensed Interpreter]

2 Money: Well Off [Notes: Upper-Middle Class Income]

Perks Cost: 5

Total Character Cost: 343

Pts. Disadvantage

10 Enraged: Injustice (Common), go 8-, recover 14- [Notes: One of the more obvious psychological manifestations of Erik Kriegs complex is his profound anger at injustice - as though it were a personal affront to his power or identity. This complicates matters with trying to keep the identities of Erik and Blitzkrieg separate - more than once has Erik called in sick to work to go marauding as Blitzkrieg for the day. Too many such instances and someone might put two and two together.]

20 Social Limitation: Secret Identity (Very Frequently, Major) [Notes: Erik Krieg has so far been successful in keeping Blitzkrieg's identity safe from even his family. A reporter thinks she may have a lead, and has been sniffing around Erik for the past several weeks.]

20 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Very Common, Strong) [Notes: With such incredible resilience, Erik has developed something of a God Complex. Eventually, he will run up against the limitations of his powers - hopefully, he won't be running too fast at the time.]

20 Psychological Limitation: Code Versus Killing (Common, Total) [Notes: While Erik doesn't mind breaking things, breaking people is another story altogether. Erik is not willing to accept that he cannot subdue any threat.]

15 Hunted: Thebes Police Department 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Mildly Punish) [Notes: Looking to ticket/fine/try Blitzkrieg for his reckless damage to property in the apprehension of criminals.If they did so, his identity might become compromised.]

30 Dependent NPC: Parents, Siblings 11- (Normal; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID; Group DNPC: x4 DNPCs) [Notes: Brother Lukas is a hedge fund manager, sister Sofie is a pianist, Father Jonas and Mother Anna are retired. All call upon Erik for help from time to time, thinking him to be 'connected' from his job as a court interpreter.]

10 Hunted: Jessica Knox of the Daily News 14- (Less Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) [Notes: Jessica Knox is an up and coming reporter with a local rag, who believes she may have a great debut article to put her on the front page - the identity of the notoriously reckless Blitzkrieg. She's been snooping around Erik Krieg, looking for proof.]

15 Reputation: Reckless, 14- [Notes: Blitzkrieg is seen as irresponsible and reckless in the popular media, he has very little sympathy from the everyman, as they see laying waste to entire city blocks of property to be more the purview of villains and bad guys.]

10 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN To Be Decided (Uncommon) [Notes: [ooc] I want him to have a cryptoninte like weakness that he doesn't yet know about. I know that's kind of cliche, any other ideas for a weakness that he could run up against are welcome as well.]

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

If flat footed his PD/ED is just 15/14 with 10 resistant. Is that too low do you guys think? Will he be getting creamed all the time? He does have regeneration healing, so if he can survive the initial affront and get his defenses up, he can probably heal it back over a long fight.

And at full defense value he is 35/34 with 20 resistant. That's kind of out of bounds I know, but I was thinking it might be a trade-off with the end usage.

Talk to you all later

February 28, 2009

Re: Power Game. Give it a try.

I know we've done uncontrolled before. But here's one for a 75 Active Point limit campaign.

Speed 6

Stink Reserve: Endurance Reserve 745 end, 1 rec. (75 Active Points) 75 Real Cost.

The Stinky Curse; 1d6 Ranged Killing Attack, Uncontrolled (+1/2), Does BODY (+1), Continuous (+1), AVLD (Smell/Taste Flash Defense; +1) (75 Active Points) 75 Real Cost.

You could give it a pool for 705 phases, or 23 and 1/2 minutes for a speed 6, dealing a Standard Effect of 2115 - 705(Smell/Taste Flash Defense).

Obviously, this attack would not work against Doctor Noseplug.

February 28, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Oh. Well, entitled to your opinion and all. I'm not a comic book aficionado. In fact, I just took up playing the Heroes again after a long, long break - and just started my first online role-play like, three weeks ago.

I always thought Golden Age comics were the ones where the Bad Guys all laughed maniacally and the good guys had halos around their head. Black and white morality type of thing (like superman and all, he's always doing the right thing. Little goody two-shoes)...

February 28, 2009

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Eric Krieg

Player: Revision 4

Val Char Cost

25/55 STR 15

18 DEX 24

18 CON 16

18 BODY 16

13 INT 3

14 EGO 8

18 PRE 8

16 COM 3

5/31 PD 0

4/30 ED 0

4 SPD 12

16 REC 14

64 END 14

40 STUN 0

11" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

5"/11" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 133

Cost Power

30 Psychokinetic Barrier: Armor (10 PD/10 ED)

35 Instinctive Psychokinetic Field: Life Support (Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Longevity: Immortal; Self-Contained Breathing)