"Necessary Evil" OOC

jkason · Mar 24, 2011

Walking Dad said:
[MENTION=2710]jkason[/MENTION] : please post Brick in the RG

EN World: D&D / RPG News & Reviews - View Single Post - Mutants & Masterminds "Necessary Evil" OOC

Ack! Sorry about that. Posted. I swapped out Improved Block for All-Out Attack. It means Brick could exceed the PL cap on his attack, but it's my understanding that the Defense penalty acts as a temporary trade-off to maintain balance? If that's wrong I can snag another feat, or I may use that PP to give Brick a couple skills.

Walking Dad · Mar 24, 2011

jkason said:
Ack! Sorry about that. Posted. I swapped out Improved Block for All-Out Attack. It means Brick could exceed the PL cap on his attack, but it's my understanding that the Defense penalty acts as a temporary trade-off to maintain balance? If that's wrong I can snag another feat, or I may use that PP to give Brick a couple skills.

No problem, the feat is fine.

Arkhandus · Mar 25, 2011

Walking Dad said:
Kunai-Hime
[sblock=sheet]3. Chameleonic Pattern (Concealment 2, Descriptors: Mutant Psionic Transmutation, Effect: Sensory, Action: Free, Range: Personal, Duration: Sustained, Cost: 1, Flaw: Blending, Flaw: Partial, gains partial concealment against normal vision except when moving more than 30 feet per round, DC 20 Notice check with an acute sense up to 30 feet away to notice her presence or DC 30 if she holds still, DC +20 to pinpoint her location)
Is this still part of the power, when you take the partial flaw???

-----4d. Kunaijutsu (Strike 4, Descriptors: Metal Mutant Physical Piercing Psionic Transmutation, Effect: Attack, Action: Standard, Range: Touch, Duration: Instant, Cost: 8, Saving Throw: Toughness, Extra: Autofire 3, Flaw: Fades, Flaw: Unreliable, melee attack for +4 damage, +1 damage per point of attack roll over target's Defense up to a maximum of +4 to damage, loses 1 power point after each use between rest periods, only 5 uses between rest periods) ???
-----4e. Kunai Barrage (Blast 8, Descriptors: Metal Mutant Physical Piercing Psionic Transmutation, Effect: Attack, Action: Standard, Range: Ranged, Duration: Instant, Cost: 8, Saving Throw: Toughness, Flaw: Unreliable, ranged attack for +8 damage, only 5 uses between rest periods)???
-----4f. Shurikenjutsu (Blast 4, Descriptors: Metal Mutant Physical Piercing Psionic Transmutation, Effect: Attack, Action: Standard, Range: Ranged, Duration: Instant, Cost: 8, Saving Throw: Toughness, Extra: Autofire 3, Flaw: Distracting, Flaw: Fades, Flaw: Unreliable, ranged attack for +4 damage, +1 damage per point of attack roll over target's Defense up to a maximum of +4 to damage, she loses dodge bonuses on any round it is used, loses 1 power point after each use between rest periods, only 5 uses between rest periods) ???[/sblock]
- Please answer my question regarding partial concealment
- I don't like the '5 uses - Unreliable' flaw as part of an array. I would allow it to apply as a flaw to an array itself.

1. It's not really clear in the book, so that's up to GM interpretation. I gave her Hide In Plain Sight just in case, anyway, since her ability to manipulate how her body/gear reflects light is supposed to provide something close to invisibility but slightly less than, for instance, the Predator from that movie of the same name. Great optical camouflage but not perfect. So up to you if I should remove that line from the Concealment power's description. She still has a decent Stealth check bonus.

2. I don't really want all of her attacks (especially the first few, which are entirely based on martial arts prowess, not mutant abilities) to be so limited, so I guess I'll have to seriously retool Kunai-Hime's attack array into 2 separate arrays or something......and I'm not too keen on having all of her special attacks limited to 5 uses per day/adventure/whatever in total.....so I'll have to think about how to handle that change. The strain of using her mutant abilities is hard to reflect in Mutants & Masterminds, but it's not supposed to overwhelm her after just manifesting a few kunai for a few seconds.......

Walking Dad · Mar 25, 2011

Arkhandus said:
1. ... if I should remove that line from the Concealment power's description. She still has a decent Stealth check bonus.

Yes, I would prefer this. The partial power to the feat sound like a really good mechanic for your description of the power.

2. I don't really want all of her attacks (especially the first few, which are entirely based on martial arts prowess, not mutant abilities) to be so limited, so I guess I'll have to seriously retool Kunai-Hime's attack array into 2 separate arrays or something......and I'm not too keen on having all of her special attacks limited to 5 uses per day/adventure/whatever in total.....so I'll have to think about how to handle that change. The strain of using her mutant abilities is hard to reflect in Mutants & Masterminds, but it's not supposed to overwhelm her after just manifesting a few kunai for a few seconds.......

I perfectly understand. But could you describe how the 4d-f powers look like work in-game? Did she manifest throwing weapons? Has she three sets of 5 throwing weapons that can be transmuted for some reason in only one way? Perhaps I will allow it once I know the 'story' behind the power.

perrinmiller · Mar 25, 2011

Walking Dad said:
Octavia, "Fallen Angel"
----

- The build is readable.
- The divine blast breaks the PL cap: 9 (damage) + 12 (attack) > 2x PL 10

- I dislike that all of the characters offensive combat prowess come from the ring.
- I dislike the combination of dodge 10 with 4 points worth of other feats to 'dodge' buying a regular defense bonus.

Even the sample Butler has a better base combat training than Octavia. Her full base combat training is in line with a PL 0 minion.

I would suggest to make the mental blast part of the rings feature and reduce your feats:

Powers (45PP)
Device Ring 5 (20PP) (Drawback: Hard to lose)
- Blast 8 (Divine Energy Ray) (16pp)
- Accurate 5 (5pp)
- Penetrating 3 (3pp)
- Precise 1 (1pp)
AP- Mental Blast 6 (accurate 1) (1pp)

LOL, you did not like that the first time either.

When I finished rebuilding yesterday I had 171 PP so I had to trim it down.

I am not sure how this Alternate Power works. Costs 1pp to use the other 24pp again (Mental Blast 6 = 4pp/rank * 6 for 24pp) right? Mental Blast goes against a Will Save so what does accurate 1 do? Increase DC?

Thanks, for the comments, I will take another crack at it again once you confirm my understanding.

Walking Dad · Mar 25, 2011

perrinmiller said:
LOL, you did not like that the first time either.

When I finished rebuilding yesterday I had 171 PP so I had to trim it down.

I am not sure how this Alternate Power works. Costs 1pp to use the other 24pp again (Mental Blast 6 = 4pp/rank * 6 for 24pp) right? Mental Blast goes against a Will Save so what does accurate 1 do? Increase DC?

Thanks, for the comments, I will take another crack at it again once you confirm my understanding.

Your understanding of Alternate Power is correct. And Accurate was my mistake. I will try to write it up again:

Device Ring 5 (20PP) (Drawback: Hard to lose):
Container 5 (Divine Energy Ray) (25pp)
- Blast 8 (16pp)
- Accurate 5 (5pp)
- Penetrating 3 (3pp)
- Precise 1 (1pp)
AP Mental Blast 6 (subtle) (1pp)

Mental blast is an AP to the Container (worth 25pp)
Mental Blast cost 4 x 6 + 1 Power Feat = 25pp

You loose both access to the Container (divine ray) and the Mental Blast if you loose the ring.

Thanee · Mar 25, 2011

Arkhandus said:
1. It's not really clear in the book, so that's up to GM interpretation.

Judging from D&D/d20 (where that part comes from), it definitely makes sense, that it only applies to Total Concealment (and that the main advantage of Partial Concealment, apart from the 20% Miss Chance is the ability to make Stealth checks to hide).

2. I don't really want all of her attacks (especially the first few, which are entirely based on martial arts prowess, not mutant abilities) to be so limited, so I guess I'll have to seriously retool Kunai-Hime's attack array into 2 separate arrays or something......and I'm not too keen on having all of her special attacks limited to 5 uses per day/adventure/whatever in total.....so I'll have to think about how to handle that change. The strain of using her mutant abilities is hard to reflect in Mutants & Masterminds, but it's not supposed to overwhelm her after just manifesting a few kunai for a few seconds.......

How about removing Unreliable and replacing it with the Action Flaw (making it a Full Round Action instead of a Standard Action to reflect the extra effort needed)?

Or, if you want something akin to the charges, you could make it Tiring (Fatigued after the use) and take some Ranks in the Luck Feat (Second Wind) that allows to negate the Fatigue?

Bye
Thanee

perrinmiller · Mar 28, 2011

Octavia, "Fallen Angel"

[sblock=sheet]PL 10 (150=30+23+8+16+49+24)
Abilities (30PP) Str 10; Dex 20; Con 18; Int 10; Wis 16; Cha 16

Saves (23PP)
Tough: 10 (0PP)
Reflex: 15 (10PP)
Fortitude: 5 (1PP)
Will 15 (12PP)

Combat (8PP)
Initiative: +13
Defense: +10 (2 FF)
Attacks: Ring +12
CMB: +2
CMD: 27

Skills (16PP)
Diplomacy +13 (10 ranks)
Escape Artist +18 (13 ranks)
Notice +18 (15 ranks)
Sense Motive +14 (11 ranks)
Stealth +20 (15 ranks)

Powers (49PP)
Flight 3 (Power loss Drawback:if wings are immobilized; Common, Minor; -2pp) (4PP)
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) (3PP)
Protection (Impervious-6) 6 (12PP)
Invisibility 2 (All visual Senses) (Drawback: Passive -2pp) (6PP)
Device Ring 6 (24PP) (Drawback: Hard to lose)
- Blast 8 (Divine Energy Ray) (16pp)
- Accurate 5 (5pp)
- Penetrating 7 (7pp)
- Precise 1 (1pp)
AP - Mental Blast 7 (subtle) (1pp)

Feats (24)
Dodge 8
Inspire 5
Improved Initiative 2
Evasion 2
Super-senses (Darkvision)
Grappling Finesse
Eye-in Back of Head
Uncanny Dodge 2 (Visual, Audio)
Move-by Action
Combat Awareness
[/sblock]

Took another crack at it.

Herobizkit · Mar 28, 2011

reposting for @Walking Dad ,

Thanks, @Walking Dad! Now that I have some spare points, does that mean I should sniff around for an extra power or tweak?

And I have no issue upping my saves. I'm curious as to why I have attack specialization: Plasma in motorcycle mode but not in armor mode...?

I'm also curious as to why you thought to add Super-Strength to her armor. Shes' not designed to be an Iron Man per se, just a very enhanced human. Maybe we just don't have enough goons?

Walking Dad · Mar 28, 2011

Herobizkit: You don't need to take it. I just figured out that you Str and Plasma attack use the same power source. Just scratch it, if you dislike it. Also note that your unarmed damage is weak for your PL. You could change the super strength to retractable plasma blades for a more PL melee attack for example.

perrinmiller: so, now you are PL1 Offensive and PL 3 Defensive just from Abilities and Combat cost...
Heck, if you like Dodge so much go for it...