"Necessary Evil" OOC

Walking Dad · Mar 30, 2011

jkason: Please add the background to your character.

---

Real Name:Ben O'hare

Background:Even as a child, folks told Ben he was "built like a brick s***house," a phrase which eventually became his nickname, Brick. What they didn't know was exactly how tough Ben was, a fact he kept hidden most of his life at the behest of his mother. When their low-income neighborhood (Tempest) began to get even worse in the wake of the alien invasion, however, the young man decided it was time to stop playing nice, and began acting as a neighborhood watchdog / enforcer against the creeping corruption and danger on his streets.

---

For Tempest's location, see the Star City map in the RG.

jkason · Mar 30, 2011

Done. Thanks for updating it to fit.

Walking Dad said:
jkason: Please add the background to your character.

---

Real Name:Ben O'hare

Background:Even as a child, folks told Ben he was "built like a brick s***house," a phrase which eventually became his nickname, Brick. What they didn't know was exactly how tough Ben was, a fact he kept hidden most of his life at the behest of his mother. When their low-income neighborhood (Tempest) began to get even worse in the wake of the alien invasion, however, the young man decided it was time to stop playing nice, and began acting as a neighborhood watchdog / enforcer against the creeping corruption and danger on his streets.

---

For Tempest's location, see the Star City map in the RG.

perrinmiller · Mar 30, 2011

[MENTION=13337]Ark[/MENTION]; Whoops, sorry about that. :blush:

With my busy schedule, I have not been able to even really look at the new builds of others. I choose the easier route of updating Octavia, rather than pick an established Archtype and personalizing it.

But having two scouts can help, so Octavia doesn't have to go it alone. But while playing some D&D, I have fun encounter going on at the moment with a Barghest doing its blinking thing. (50% chance to be missed whenever hit, just based on it passing in and out of the material plane, and it can pass through walls) That sounds really useful and applicable to a melee fighter. Perhaps that is something you can tweak into M&M.

But with all the work you have done (way more than me for her revamp), if it means play that concept or go home, I don't mind doing something completely different if you all don't mind waiting. Octavia's D&D version got revamped into PF and stayed evil (and playing on a site without language censoring :devil:

) so I am not too attached to Octavia that I cannot find a different persona to play.

Thanee · Mar 30, 2011

Walking Dad said:
As I understood, they are regained like standard HP between adventures. I usually do this between longer chapters (but not necessarily every scene).

Yep, the starting amount is (normally) per game session. And the Luck Feat adds to the starting amount. So they should reset the same way.

Heroes start each game session with 1 hero point.

Those you get on top of that (for complications, roleplaying, extra cool stuff, compensation for extra bad stuff, and so on) are gone once they are used.

Bye
Thanee

Thanee · Mar 30, 2011

Arkhandus said:
Autofire already requires a full-round action when attacking a group, ...

I see.

Also, full action powers wouldn't be useable with Move-By Action, and a ninja never stands still to let folks find and kill them.

Tiring is too restrictive, ...

Yeah, that's probably right, especially for an attack power. For something, that isn't used all too often, or not (always) in a rush, it would be better suited.

Bye
Thanee

Thanee · Mar 30, 2011

@WD: Can you tell us a bit about those aliens? What are they like?

Alien is a pretty... uhh... broad term. :lol:

EDIT: Ah, and of course you did post something to the RG about it already. Just saw it.

Bye
Thanee

Arkhandus · Mar 31, 2011

perrinmiller said:
[MENTION=13337]Ark[/MENTION]; Whoops, sorry about that. With my busy schedule, I have not been able to even really look at the new builds of others. I choose the easier route of updating Octavia, rather than pick an established Archtype and personalizing it.

But having two scouts can help, so Octavia doesn't have to go it alone. But while playing some D&D, I have fun encounter going on at the moment with a Barghest doing its blinking thing. (50% chance to be missed whenever hit, just based on it passing in and out of the material plane, and it can pass through walls) That sounds really useful and applicable to a melee fighter. Perhaps that is something you can tweak into M&M.

But with all the work you have done (way more than me for her revamp), if it means play that concept or go home, I don't mind doing something completely different if you all don't mind waiting. Octavia's D&D version got revamped into PF and stayed evil (and playing on a site without language censoring ) so I am not too attached to Octavia that I cannot find a different persona to play.

Don't go changing your own character on account o' me! At the start, I didn't know there was already a scout-type character already in the roster. (EDIT: Actually I just forgot that WD mentioned one of ya had invisibility. D'oh!)

I don't really wanna rejigger Kunai-Hime's concept to make her mutant/psionic power more advanced and powerful. Her main concept is as a ninja, and her powers are supposed to be secondary, supporting what she can already do with her ninja training. Instead of carrying normal weapons, she transmutes them on the spot when needed. Instead of wearing body armor, she transmutes it on the spot when necessary. And the chameleonic ability of her minor transmutation, almost literally identical to the way a chameleon's color-changing works but a little more advanced, is never supposed to be equivalent to invisibility. She's quiet but not unnaturally silent. Hard to spot but still visible in plain sight if you squint and look for the signs, the imperfections in her optical camouflage.

I'm having difficulty accepting Kunai-Hime in her current form as a PL10 character in M&M, anyway. She really needs another 5 or 10 power points worth of skill ranks, and another 10 or 20 power points worth of feats (a lot of Improved Critical ranks in Unarmed Strike or Taijutsu or Kunaijutsu would be needed to even come close to simulating her reliance on sneak-attacks and sudden, precise strikes from hiding, rather than raw power). I should probably lower the ranks of her attack powers and change her Sneak Attack feat to have a few more ranks in it, but given the PL cap on damage, and the fact that Kunai-Hime is supposed to be little better than any normal teenage girl when it comes to fighting supers/robots/aliens/monsters hand-to-hand (or surviving the blasts/beatings of such foes in a direct fight), it's hard to make her super-effective at sudden strikes and then significantly less-effective after enemies are aware of her presence and flailing/shooting/blasting away to try and hit the camouflaged ninja.

Even transmuting her skin or clothes into steel or carbon fiber for a second or two doesn't change the fact that a superhero or supervillain punching her with the force of a freight train should still send her flying, and leave a massive dent in her briefly-metallicized torso. Likely resulting in death. Thus the need to be constantly mobile, slipping back into shadows and cover where her chameleonic transmutations will be more likely to conceal her effectively (new Stealth checks to hide). So it's difficult to fit Kunai-Hime into Mutants & Masterminds given those factors and how her mutant power is supposed to strain her with each use (just not severely so unless she maintains the transmutations for more than a few moments at a time).

So I dunno. I'm still thinking.

perrinmiller · Mar 31, 2011

Well okay then.

Maybe WD can help with some suggestions.

Arkhandus · Mar 31, 2011

Walking Dad said:
As I understood, they are regained like standard HP between adventures. I usually do this between longer chapters (but not necessarily every scene).

Your limited invisibility is actually more useful during combat. Octavia isn't really a melee build.

Octavia can still be heard. And I would allow rank 1 or 2 speed as 'ninja movement'.

Eh, the rules are kinda murky about whether the Luck feat's bonus hero points are 'renewed' each adventure, so that's up to the GM. Anyway, spending 5 points on Luck - Second Wind feat ranks (the maximum allowed at PL10 for Luck feat ranks) would be more expensive, and I've already shaved off all the feats, skill ranks, save bonuses, etc. that I could afford to.

Kunai-Hime's partial concealment is some small help in combat, but only as long as she keeps taking a move action each round to resume hiding (with a Stealth check that the opponents may manage to overcome with a Perception check), and Kunai-Hime's no more difficult to hear than Octavia. Also Kunai-Hime can't hide from infravision, blindsight, tremorsense, or the like (and ultravision might also work against her, for that matter).

Kunai-Hime isn't supposed to be a frontliner either, she's supposed to be the hit-and-run sneak-attacking type, who disables one foe or a few then escapes as opponents start shooting/flailing away at random to stop her. And it doesn't fit her concept to have any ranks in Speed or Super-Speed either. She's a normal human teenager with only one mutant power setting her apart from everyone else; that power is just kind of versatile. And difficult to adequately stat up in Mutants & Masterminds (as my earlier attempts at a Strike Aura power for Kunai-Hime's "bladeskin/spikeskin" transmutation proved.......just way too expensive and problematic. Let alone trying to properly stat up her ability to create some metal weapons/tools/armor for a few moments, beyond just materializing them for a single attack as her current stats handle it).

Arkhandus · Mar 31, 2011

Well, thinking about it a bit, I've considered playing a different character instead. Gemini of The Zodiac, a supervillain team known for committing various crimes and with an overall supernatural focus, although Gemini and a few other members are actually psionic, mutants, or techies instead. Gemini himself can mimic others and duplicate himself (with that duplicate likewise mimicking others when desired).

I'll include some of his background and such if needed, but right now I'm just putting him forward as a possible alternative to Kunai-Hime. Gemini really isn't much good in a fight, but he might do okay when mimicking the powers of an ally or enemy.......
[sblock=Gemini]Gemini
Real name unknown, Duplicator/Mimic
Male Human, Medium Size, Age 23, Height 5'-11", Weight 141 lbs.
Speaks, reads, and writes Arabic, Cantonese, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish

Allegiances: The Zodiac (his old supervillain team), Earth, and Evil
Power Level 10, Power Points 150, Spent 150, Hero Points 1
Max Attack/Save Difficulty -0/+0, Max Defense/Toughness -0/+0

PP Summary: Abilities 24 + BAB 10 + Defense 8 + Saves 14 + Feats 12 + Skills 16 (64 ranks) + Powers 66 = 150 points

Strength 14 (+2), Dexterity 14 (+2), Constitution 14 (+2)
Intelligence 14 (+2), Wisdom 14 (+2), Charisma 14 (+2)

Base Attack +5
Combat Maneuver Bonus +7 (+5 Base, +2 Str)
Melee +5 (+5 Base, +0 feat)
Ranged +5 (+5 Base, +0 feat)
Initiative +2 (+2 Dex, +0 feat)
Concentration +12 (+10 PL, +2 Wis)
Speed 30 ft.

Defense 14 (+4 Base), Flat-Footed 12
Combat Maneuver Defense 18 (14 Defense, +2 Str, +2 Dex)
Toughness +5/+9 (+2 Con, +3 armor, +0/+4 feat)
Fortitude +5 (+3 Base, +2 Con)
Reflex +5/+9 (+3 Base, +2 Dex, +0/+4 feat)
Will +10 (+8 Base, +2 Wis)

Nonlethal Damage: Bruised 0, Staggered No, Unconscious No
Lethal Damage: Injured 0, Disabled No, Dying No
Fatigue: Fatigued No, Exhausted No, Unconscious No

Attacks:
Unarmed Strike +5 melee for +2 damage
Tonfa +5 melee for +3 damage
Heavy Pistol +5 ranged for +4 damage (40 ft. increment)

Feats: Defensive Roll 4, Eidetic Memory, Elusive Target, Equipment 5, Jack-Of-All-Trades

Skills (64 ranks): Acrobatics +5 (3 ranks, +2 Dex), Bluff +10 (8 ranks, +2 Cha), Climb +5 (3 ranks, +2 Str), Computers +10 (8 ranks, +2 Int), Control (Drive) +5 (3 ranks, +2 Dex), Diplomacy +10 (8 ranks, +2 Cha), Disguise +5 (3 ranks, +2 Cha), Linguistics +11 (9 ranks, +2 Int), Sense Motive +10 (8 ranks, +2 Wis), Stealth +10 (8 ranks, +2 Dex), Swim +5 (3 ranks, +2 Str)

Equipment (EP 25): Supervillain Outfit (EP 0, various disguises), Midsize Car (EP 7, Str 30, Speed 5, Defense 8, Toughness 9, Huge Vehicle), Backpack (EP 0), Laptop Computer (EP 1, Medium), Commlink (EP 1, Miniscule), Flashlight (EP 1, Tiny), Handcuffs (EP 1, Tiny), Tonfa (EP 2, Damage +1, Critical 20, Bludgeoning, Medium Simple Melee Weapon), Heavy Pistol (EP 8, Damage +4, Critical 20, Ballistic, Range Increment 40 ft., Medium Firearm), Undercover Vest (EP 4, Toughness +3, Subtle)

Current Load 28 lbs.
Light Load 58, Medium Load 116, Heavy Load 175
Maximum Load 350, Push/Drag 875

Complications: Reputation (he has a bad reputation from his criminal activities), Responsibility (his ultimate loyalties lie with the leadership of The Zodiac and he must report in as well as follow the orders of his master)
Drawbacks: None

Powers:
1. Deja Vu (Duplication 10, Psionic, Effect: Alteration, Action: Full, Range: Personal, Duration: Sustained, Cost: 32, Power Feat: Absorption Healing, Power Feat: Mental Link, Extra: Heroic, Extra: Survival, Flaw: Action, can create a single heroic duplicate of himself with all his abilities except this power and no hero points, can absorb an undamaged duplicate to make an immediate recovery check, communicates mentally with his duplicate and knows what they know, duplicate becomes him with this power if he dies)

2. Copycat (Mimic Powers 8, Psionic, Effect: Alteration, Action: Full, Range: Perception, Duration: Sustained, Cost: 32, Extra: Perception, Flaw: Action, Flaw: Tainted, can copy all of one subject's powers at a time but only up to 40 power points, maximum copied rank equals Mimic rank or subject's rank if lower, maximum copied bonus equals Mimic rank or subject's rank if lower, copies subject's drawbacks as well as powers)

3. Incognito (Morph 2, Psionic, Effect: Alteration, Action: Full, Range: Personal, Duration: Continuous, Cost: 2, Extra: Duration, Flaw: Action 2, can change appearance to look like any other humanoid with +10 on Disguise checks for that purpose)[/sblock]