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Haerandir

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Posts posted by Haerandir

  3. Who's Who on the Champions Online forums?

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Re: Who's Who on the Champions Online forums?

     

    I'm using Haerandir over there, too. One of the handy things about having an Elvish online handle is that there's not much competition for it. Except, of course, in Lord of the Rings Online. Where I can't use my 'real' name because Haerandir's the corpse that you have to loot for your starter gear in the Elf tutorial... ;)

  5. Expendable?

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Expendable?

     

    I don't think Expendable is what you want. Expendable means quite the opposite of 'one of a kind'. It means that there's tons of them floating around, and every time you use them, you have to go out and get more. Like matches. Matches are expendable. Unique power-granting items generally are not. Unless you mean you have to go back to your lab (or forge or whatever) and make new ones every time you use them? That'd be tricky in the middle of a fight.

     

    Independent might be what you're thinking of. That's what people usually use to make 'unique, irreplaceable items.' Most GM's will advise you not to use it in a superheroic game, though. If you spend points on your cosmic bands, and something happens to them, then they're gone for good, and you don't get the points back. This doesn't hurt nearly as much in a heroic-level game, since you usually don't pay points for your equipment. As a general rule, I'd build 'the cosmic widget that grants me my powers' as an Unbreakable Personal focus.

  8. Armored Suit

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Armored Suit

     

    Yep, clsage is right. It's set up so that he has 60 points worth of multipower pool, but none of the slots cost more than 40 Active Points, and they're all fully flexible. Basically, he can use any combination of the powers in the MP, as long as he doesn't use more than 60 total Active Points at a time, and doesn't exceed the limit on the individual slots.

     

    So, you can mix and match. I figure he'll probably want to use the Energy Blast at full power whenever he's fighting, but that still lets him have up to 10" of Flight, for instance. Alternatively, he can run the +STR at maximum, have 15" of Flight and have enough left over for a 2 PD/2 ED Force Field. That'd be a decent setup for duking it out with other flyers. And so on.

  9. Armored Suit

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Armored Suit

     

    Hmm... Interesting. One way I can see to represent the psionic basis of his powers would be to give him a Power Skill. Call it 'Psionic Gadgeteering' or something similar, and base it off of Ego instead of Intelligence. This would represent him grabbing random bits of electronic gear and wiring them together in a way that probably shouldn't work, but does, just because he wants it to. Sort of like the guy in the Wild Cards novels, the one who 'invented' Modular Man but could never quite explain how he did it.

  10. Armored Suit

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Armored Suit

     

    OK, here's something I threw together as a sample of what you can do on 225 points. I even came up with placeholder disadvantages and stuff, just for laughs.

     

    Steel Sentinel

     

    Val Char Cost

    15/40 STR 5

    18 DEX 24

    13 CON 6

    10 BODY 0

    18 INT 8

    13 EGO 6

    15 PRE 5

    12 COM 1

     

    3/25 PD 0

    3/25 ED 0

    4 SPD 12

    6 REC 0

    26 END 0

    25 STUN 0

     

    6" RUN 0

    2" SWIM 0

    3/8" LEAP 0

    Characteristics Cost: 67

     

    Cost Power

    Steel Sentinel Armor

    24 Armor (12 PD/12 ED) (36 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    8 Commo Suite: High Range Radio Perception (Radio Group) (12 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    3 Sensor Suite: Nightvision (5 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    17 Power Plant: Endurance Reserve (60 END, 20 REC) (26 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    11 Tactical Computer: +2 with All Combat (16 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    8 Sealed Suit: Life Support (Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing) (12 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    5 Vectored Thrust: No Turn Mode (+1/4) for up to 30 Active Points of Flight (7 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

     

    40 Pressor Technology: Multipower, 60-point reserve, (60 Active Points); all slots OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    5m 1) Pressor Blast: Energy Blast 8d6 (40 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    4m 2) Pressor Flight: Flight 15" (30 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    2m 3) Servo-Assisted Limbs: +25 STR (25 Active Points); No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    3m 4) Pressor Field: Force Field (10 PD/10 ED) (20 Active Points); OIF (Power Armor Suit; -1/2)

    Powers Cost: 130

     

     

    Cost Skill

    3 Breakfall 13-

    3 Electronics 13-

    1 Gambling 8-

    3 High Society 12-

    3 Inventor 13-

    2 Systems Operation (Radio) 13-

    Skills Cost: 15

     

    Cost Perk

    4 Reputation: High-Tech Hero (A large group) 11-, +2/+2d6

    9 Contact: Clark Enterprises (Contact has useful Skills or resources, Contact limited by identity, Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (9 Active Points) 11-

    Perks Cost: 13

     

     

    Total Character Cost: 225

     

    Pts. Disadvantage

    15 Psychological Limitation: Compulsive Gambler (Common, Strong)

    20 Psychological Limitation: Code vs. Killing (Common, Total)

    15 Social Limitation: Secret ID (Frequently, Major)

    10 Reputation: Cut-throat Businessman, 11-

    10 Hunted: The Bronze Barbarian 8- (As Pow, Harshly Punish)

    5 Rivalry: Professional (Abraham Rockford), Rival is As Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry

     

    Disadvantage Points: 75

    Base Points: 150

     

    So, that's one way to do it. I tried to keep it fairly simple, but a few complications crept in... :eg: Still, it's pretty similar to the second character I ever designed, way back misty days of yore.

     

    The complications, as I see them, are the Multipower, the END Reserve and the naked 'No Turn Mode' advantage. The END Reserve represents the suit's generator. All of the suit's 'active' systems run off of this generator, and the pilot can control how much of that energy he assigns to different systems. Essentially, if you don't run your suit at full power, the generator will supply your energy needs indefinitely. If you're flying, using vectored thrust, and blasting every Phase, then you'll run out of energy after a couple of turns. However, it really shouldn't happen that often. (In fact, if I were looking to squeeze another power or skill into the character, I'd probably do it by stripping points out of the END Reserve.) I went with the END Reserve, rather than buying the powers with Reduced Endurance cost because the 40-point Active Cost limit is pretty tight. And having advantages on powers in a flexible Multipower can be a headache. Speaking of which...

     

    The Multipower represents those active systems. So, you'd max out the flight when you're just cruising around, and when you got into a fight, you'd redirect power into the blasters, that sort of thing.

     

    The Vectored Thrust ability essentially represents directing emergency power into greater maneuverability. You won't want to do it all the time, because it has the potential to chew up your power reserves if you're flying and fighting at the same time, but it's handy for barrelling full-speed through back alleys and underground cave complexes. I bought it outside of the Multipower just so you wouldn't have to calculate the advantage value in your head when you were assigning Multipower points. Basically, when you're in tight quarters and you need extra maneuverability, you can spend an extra point of Endurance from the END Reserve to get it.

     

    So, that's one way to build an Iron Man-style character on 225 points. I think it strikes a nice balance between being relatively simple, and giving you a chance to learn about some of the tricks you can make the system do. Certainly not the only way, probably not the 'best' way. The 'best' way is the way you would build it...

     

    Hmm, now that I look at it... The defenses are a little high for a 40 AP cap... I threw in that force field on the assumption that you'd only want to use it situationally, but the more I think about it, the more it looks like a really good deal. Oh, well. I've got to go to work in a few minutes. I'm sure your GM will weigh in on the subject. Maybe drop the FF slot for another power, or boost the base Armor a bit, or something.

  11. Armored Suit

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Armored Suit

     

    Well, the short answer to the original question is, "Sure!"

     

    The longer answer is, it really depends on what you mean by 'Iron-Man-type'. Obviously, if your GM is shooting for a lower-powered game, you're not looking at being able to model everything Tony Stark can do in current continuity. But you can still do a credible homage, and work in some ideas of your own if you like.

     

    As you can tell, we're happy to help you work on the character. My first piece of advice is: Help us help you. One of the biggest strengths of the Hero System (or GURPS, or any other free-form point-based character design system) is that you can really tailor your character's abilities to fit your concept. The big downside is that you often have too many choices available to you, especially when you're just getting started. The more we know about what you want, the more we can help you narrow down those choices. You don't need to give us a 3-page essay on your character's background, of course. But even something as simple as his name can give us something to work with. It might help if you tell us what you like most about Iron Man and similar characters, too. That way we can prioritize the parts you're most interested in, and not waste your time working out the best way to model (for example) a variable beam weapon or a tactical computer, when you might not really want them.

  15. An odd power

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: An odd power

     

    About the only thing I can think of for how to stick it together easily, but I'm sure others will do better. :)

     

    I doubt it. Transform is pretty much the answer to this one. What else could you use? Entangle? 0 END Continuous Uncontrolled TK, Only to Hold Two Objects Together Indefinitely?

     

    Transform it is!

  18. Batman vs Midnighter

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Batman vs Midnighter

     

    I concede that Streaky could probably take the Midnighter, if he could be convinced to bother. He is a cat, after all. Cats are notoriously lazy. Also contrary. The mere knowledge that some people want him to beat up the Midnighter will probably be enough to convince him to sit in a corner washing his face, instead.

  20. Phantom Stranger

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Phantom Stranger

     

    I read a Phantom Stranger story in a collection of Alan Moore stories. It was a retelling of the Stranger's origin, side-by-side with the story of a street kid caught between two gangs. No idea what title the issue originally ran in.

  23. Teamwork!

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Teamwork!

     

    I remember one campaign I was in once, in which I played a character who was designed primarily for a 'team support' role. The character's name was Phosphor, and he was a battlesuit hero with a tech-based Mindlink and a list of Senses as long as my... Well, it was long. IIRC, in a 250-pt. 4th edition campaign, he had nearly 100 points invested in sensory powers.

     

    The upshot of all of this was that, while the character was somewhat lacking in offensive punch (his only attack powers were a 10d6 EB with Reduced Penetration & No Knockback and his whopping 10 STR), he managed to give our GM fits because he knew everything that was happening on the battlefield, and the rest of the team knew everything he knew. Worse, team consisted of Phosphor (an inventor and biochemist), Zauberer (a wizard) and Sun (the big dumb brick, who happened to be a world-class nuclear physicist). The team's average INT score was over 20, which meant we were all very perceptive. On the (rare) occasions that Phosphor failed a PER check, usually one of the others would see what he had missed.

     

    Since our GM had a fetish for sending us up against villains against whom we were frequently out-muscled, out-numbered or both, we got to be pretty good at the teamwork. We never actually formally worked out any group tactics, but were became adept at using the environment to split up our opponents, and then converging on individual foes to take them out with coordinated strikes.

  24. Victim runs?

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Victim runs?

     

    I've never specifically done a victim run, but I've had several characters who went undercover to investigate specific crimes. If, say, Renaissance Man or Wind Dragon were in a city where there was some sort of paranormal serial killer rampage going on, they'd almost certainly disguise themselves and go looking for him. But as a general tactic? No. Usually my characters use the "monitor police bands" and "run to where the smoke is" tactics for finding trouble. Generally, they have plenty of stuff to fill their time with instead of going out patrolling.

  25. WWYCD: The Nebula Affair

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: WWYCD: The Nebula Affair

     

    I forget, does she have Personal Immunity on her "Send People Into Duress" power? If not, then my strategy for all of my characters is to argue with her till she gets to the bit where she enforces her local jurisdiction's laws wherever she is, and ignores all other governments, then I beat her up and chuck her into her own dimension of pain.

     

    Duh, just after I posted that, I glanced to my left and realized that CKC was less than 6 feet away from me. She doesn't have PI, and it is a gadget... Nebula problem solved!

     

    Note: This is my response to Nebula in pretty much all circumstances.

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