Freedom City Campaign [M&M2] - OOC Discussion

[DM_Matt]

DM_Matt, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to come up with something different. I agree with hero4hire that your character has similar abilities to those already in the group, albeit the electrical powers are significantly different.

EDIT: I've had a chance to look at Power Surge again. I'd like for you to think about either creating a different character or streamlining Power Surge. The main reason he wasn't selected before was that his powers are too "all over the place" for my taste. The character seems to be designed to be able to do everything, and I'm not a big fan of those sorts of characters.

Here are the main problems that I've identified:

1. The Alternate Power feat has to be applied to each of the additional powers in your array. I don't see that added to anything in your character post.

2. I'm not going to allow Full Power on powers where it doesn't matter whether or not you use full power. In your case, Mind Control and Datalink. Since your array isn't dynamic, and applying extra ranks doesn't have a detrimental effect, I'm not going to allow the Full Power flaw. There's no penalty for you to use full power with those abilities. It's perfectly OK for attack powers such as Strike, Blast, Disintegrate, etc.

3. I don't know if I'm on board with some of the powers in your array. It's specifically an electrical control array, yet some of these powers don't seem to be electrical in nature: Mind Control and Telekinesis in particular. They don't seem to be in line with the rest of the powers in the array.

4. I'm not really comfortable with the side effect aura strike power in your array. If you're going to take a 2-pt flaw for Side Effect, it's going to affect you all the time, regardless of your force field. You might be better served to get rid of that side effect or change it to something that's less likely to kill you.

5. Why does Power Surge have Telepathy and Resurrection? Seems like you just tacked these on at the end. They don't make much sense for the character.

My recommendation, if you are really keen on playing Power Surge, is to remove some of the problem areas I've identified above. It might be easier to rebuild him from scratch, but that's up to you. Or just make a different character altogether.

I'm going to try to streamline. As for the rest..

1. At the beginnning of each array, where I put the cost, it says (xx+ xAps)...thats where I'm listing the AP cost.

2. I think thats what I did. I'll ditch the TK, altouhgh that can be a magnetic fields thing. The Mind Control comes from the the fact that the nervous system runs on electrical impulses. Magneto can do it for that same reason.

3. Ok, I'll ditch that.

4. I'll get rid of them, but the origional idea was that the res was a spontaneously-developed power when exposed to radiation that made the government realize his mutability and attempt to add powers . Telepathy would have been one of those.

 

[DM_Matt]

Sergio Paretti, aka Power Surge, Mutant Super-Soldier
PL: 10 (150 pp)
ABILITIES:

STR: 10 (0)
DEX: 16 (+3/+2)
CON: 20 (+5/+4)
INT: 10 (0)
WIS: 14 (+2)
CHA: 10 (0)
PP Spent: 16

SKILLS:

Bluff 10 (+10)
Concentration 10 (+12)
Diplomacy 10 (+10)
Drive (+3)
Escape Artist (+3)
Gather Info 10 (+10)
Notice 10 (+10)
Pilot 1 (+4)
Sense Motive 8 (+10)
Survival (+2)
Swim 1 (+1)
PP Spent: 15

FEATS: Attack Specialization: Electrical Control Array (1), Dodge Focus (5), Improved Initiative (1), Quick Change (1), Uncanny Dodge, Precise Shot (2), Elusive Target, Evasion (2), Move-By-Attack, Attractive (1), Interpose, Contacts, Well-Informed, Equiptment (1)
PP Spent: 20

Equiptment (5 points) : Phone-Sized PortaGadget (4) (Phone, Laptop, Video Camera, Audio Recorder, w/external monitor/keyboard), Multitool(1)

POWERS:

Electrical Control Array: 20pp+8pp (APs) = 28pp

Electrical Control (Blast) 10 Full Power Drawback, Homing
Manefests as a pistol
(10ranks*2base-1fullpower+1homing = 20pp)

Mind Control 10 (Extra: Conscious, Flaw: Range: Ranged) w/Homing and Full Power
Manefests as an arc of electricity between him and the target that must hit to be effective.
(10ranks*(2base+1conscious-1ranged)-1 full power+1 homing = 20pp)

Disintegrate 10 (Modifiers: Full Round, Unreliable (5-times method w/1hour mental excercises to recover. If he runs out of uses, the entire array goes down)) w/ Extras/Flaws Full Power and Homing
((base4-1full round-1unreliable)*10ranks+1homing-1fullpower = 20pp)
Manefests as a rocket launcher

Strike 10 (Extras: Penetrating and Incurable and Full Power)
Manefests as a melee weapon, usually a combat knife if he is doing lethal damage or a baton if he is doing non-lethal damage
(10ranks*(1base+1penetrating-1full power+1incurable = 20pp)

Animate Objects (Mechanical) 10 (10ranks*2base = 20pp)
Manefests as an advanced-looking PDA that connects by firing a cable into the device (attack roll required)

Blast 10 w/ Autofire 1 and Full Action, Full Power, Homing
Manefests as a machine gun
(5ranks*(2base+1autofire-1full round)-1full power+1homing = 20pp)

Datalink/Charm Computer/Whatever We Call It 10
Manefests as an advanced-looking PDA that connects by firing a cable into the device (attack roll required)
(10ranks*(2base+1conscious-1ranged)-1 full power+1 homing = 20pp)

Teleport 9 (Extras: Accurate, Medium(wiring)) w/Easy and Turnabout
Manefests by transforming briefly into a bolt of lightning shooting into the medium, than another bolt coming out of the medium at the destination to the spot he is to appear
(9*(2base-1medium+1accurate)+1Easy+1Turnabout=20pp)

Blast 10 (Modifiers: Area 1: Explosion, Full round) w/Full Power and Ricochet. (10*(2base+1area-1full round)-1full power+1ricochet)
Manefests as hand grenade

End Electrical Control Array

Force Field (Impervious) 8, Selective (8ranks*(1base+1impervious)+1selective = 17pp)

Enhanced Dexterity 2 (2pp)

Enhanced Constitution 2 (2pp)

Flight 1 (2pp)
Manefests as a jet-pack, with the bottom glowing with electrical energy like certain space-ship engines

Concealment 3: Normal Sight & Hearing (5pp) Full Power (Cannot become just invis or just silenced)
(3base*3ranks-1fullpower=5pp)
When invisible, the other abilities' visual manefestations are also invisible



Impervious Toughness 5 (5pp)

Super-Senses (Radio) 1 (1pp)

Communication(Radio) 1 (1pp)

Super-Senses (Darkvision) 1 (2pp)

Super-Senses (Danger Sense) 1 (1pp)

PP Spent: 66

SAVES:

Toughness 13 (13 flat-footed, Impervious 13)
Fortitude 10 (5pp)
Reflex 9 (6pp)
Will 10 (8pp)
PP Spent: 19

COMBAT:

Base Attk: +8 (16pp)
Base Defense: +2 (4pp)
Initiative: +8

Typical Attack: +10 (7+2Attack Spec)
Typical Damage: +10
Special Effects (Homing, Area, whatever) vary
PP Spent 20

Drawbacks:

Most powers do not function properly or at all under water, or where electricity cannot be easily controlled -3
Blast Powers do not work where fire cannot burn-1
Minor Weakness: Rubber/Especially-Nonconductive-Fantasy-Materials Weaponry -1
Minor Weakness: Water-based attacks -1

PP Spent: -6

PP Spent 16abilities+20feats+15skills+66powers+19saves+20combat-6drawbacks = 150pp

Complications:

Secret Identity -- Though it is classified, the DoD knows who he really is. So do a number of his former coworkers (and possibly old enemies?), some of whom moved on to less honorable professions after their program got cut.
Enemy -- Corporal Atom, who still works for the military, resents Surge's inadvertant role in ruining his career.
Enemy -- the mob boss who tormented his neighborhood turned on his associates and is in witness protection in Iowa. Surge knows where he lives, and is sometimes haunted with the desire for veangence.

Now everything can be explained by electricity/magnetism and light and sound waves. I ditched TK, simplified the hand grenade thing to a regular full round action area blast, ditched telepathy (though I got communication to make the radio waves power two way), ditched ressurrection, and ditched aura. What else should I do?

Oh, if you dont buy the "Easy Mutation" thing, perhaps some or all of the non-electrical powers can be technological implants instead, which take advantage of his "power source" and his ability to interface intuitively with machines. For instance, ocular implants, internal radio, etc.

He is more super-soldier than tech, relying primarily on his weapon powers, but his other abilities are mostly for bypassing security systems, interrogating prisoners, sneaking into places, etc.

 

[Graf]

Tech heavy is kinda cool to my mind.

Now we need to get a a guy with "dog powers".

Img from Todd Nauck's site.

 

[DM_Matt]

For your convenience, what I spent the points from what I dropped on, other thna what I mentioned above:

RP Feats: Contacts, Well-informed
Mundane Equiptment
One point of bab

Additional Change:
Swapped out power attack for move-by-attack.

 

[Insight]

OK, Power Surge looks fine to me. I'll add him in once the crew gets to a place where he can reasonably join up. Keep checking the IC thread. Should be soon.

 

[Shayuri]

*pokes head in*

Hey guys, how's it going? Just thought I'd see if y'all were accepting alts or had a line of replacement PC's I could join in case of player attrition. If not, that's cool too.

Thanks!

 

[DM_Matt]

OK, Power Surge looks fine to me. I'll add him in once the crew gets to a place where he can reasonably join up. Keep checking the IC thread. Should be soon.

Cool, thanks. BTW, a couple possible last minute changes. I noticed that I still had Mind Control at Full Power, which isnt legit, so it can be obvious instead (in fact, I describe it that way anyway, since it relies on a ranged lightning attack). Also, I'd like to trade one point of def for one of dodge and power attack, and quick change for ultimate save (toughness). Then I'm done.

 

[Insight]

*pokes head in*

Hey guys, how's it going? Just thought I'd see if y'all were accepting alts or had a line of replacement PC's I could join in case of player attrition. If not, that's cool too.

Thanks!

We might be looking for yet another replacement. Nanite (hafrogman) hasn't posted in two weeks, during which time I have posted at least 3 turns.

hafrogman, are you still with us? If so, please post something to the IC thread or here so that I can see you're still interested.

For the rest of you, it's been nearly a week since most of you have posted something. Please let me know what your characters are doing.

 

[Insight]

K it appears we've lost hafrogman (at least 3 weeks since last post), and I'm not sure about shalimar (11 days since last post). This is not looking good.

I think I'm going to wrap up this part of the adventure fairly quickly and see if we can get this thing moving again. I can also more easily add new players if you guys are out of the subterranean cult base.

 

[Graf]

Sounds reasonable to me.