Gaming W/Jemal: Mutant Rising OOC (Game has started!)

[Arkhandus]

Sorry for not posting in the past few days, just been alternatingly busy and super-tired/lethargic. I'll have Red Impulse tweaked and with a background posted sometime later today (Friday). Right now, it's time for sleep. -_-

Edit: Oh, and Jemal, should we have the Secret complication if our characters are trying to hide their real identities?

 

[Walking Dad]

Chemico's 'hero' form would be obvious inhuman. Or I could have the normal identity only as complication, if you don't think it would be a drawback.

BTW: Metamorpho (DC) looks like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/Nolan_metamorpho.jpg/250px-Nolan_metamorpho.jpg

 

[Andor]

To be perfect you'd probably need for it to be saved against Will.... Though if you can dodge out of the "line of effect" of the pointed gun it's bound to be a lot less impressive.

I would definitly change it to a will save if you mean it to be a fear effect.

As a side note: Roy is so going to have a problem with you "heroically" shooting people in the foot, etc.

 

[Binder Fred]

Better than heroically shooting them in the head.

 

[renau1g]

That's why I choose to heroically shoot people in the back...

 

[Jemal]

With the armor/goggles I was initially just thinking of having them be "powers" with the technological descriptor on them to make them psuedo devices. But since I'm not sure if that flies I could easily change them to a device.

As far as the defense goes, I've been debating on what I should cut/lower so I could add in defensive feats. I figure once I make his armor into a device then I could assign some points from that into defense feat/power (so Dusk would basically be at a major disadvantage when not in is suit).

Since shadow/darkness is his schtick, would effects with a "light" descriptor be common enough to count as something that counters his insustantial? If not then "energy" works.

I don't really like powers being described as objects unless they actually are. It causes a problem with countering powers, stealing objects, whether or not they're available all the time, etc.

As for the light descriptor - hmm, I'll have to think on that. Light-based attack powers aren't very common.

Walking Dad - If he's obviously not human when changed, then it's an acceptable drawback, and that pic makes me think such is the case.

Arkhandus -
Yes, thats a good point. if your characters are trying to keep their identities secret, then that's an acceptable complication.

Ah, but it's an instant *lasting* duration. Which, if I read it right, basically means that the effect (1) doesn't have to be maintained and (2) continues until successfully saved against with targets getting a save at cumulative +1 every round thereafter (2nd ED p70). That seemed to fit well with the FX of shouting a command and then people obeying it until they think better of it. You want to order them to do something else? You have to shout another command/use the power again.

N.B. I noted as an aside "targets remember being controlled" since that made more sense. Didn't think it was worth points either way though.

How did did you get an instant 'lasting' duration? Adding the instant flaw to a power makes it instant, not instant 'lasting'. If you want your power to last forever, you could add the duration modifier twice, then add the permanent modifier for a total of +1/rank modifier for a permanent power. (Concentration->Sustained +1; Sustained-> continuous +1; continuous-> permanent -1)

He's not a mentalist per se. All of his powers are grounded in the physical with the partial exeption of "Command voice" which is part pure presence and habit of command, and probably part mutantish ESP as well. All his other attack powers come from summoning weapons to his hands and using them.

With "Flesh wound" he shoots a bullet in a non-essential part of the target, said target being either bothered, or downright incapacitated by the shock and the pain (hence the will save). Leg shots would simulate the "rooted to the spot" bit of some Entangles.

"Infinite handcuffs" involve teleporting bounds to this hands (handcuffs, rope, etc) and physically snapping them on to a target. Note his low Attack bonus on melee attacks : this is best accomplished on a cowed/distracted/held down or unconscious target. It's the classic takedown and cuff them manoeuvre.

And what about people who are immune to bullets/physical damage? or people who could break handcuffs? Your descriptors for these powers does not fit the reality of the power. someone with steel skin would be immune to you flesh wound ability as its described, but not the power you're using to emulate it. Likewise someone who could change their size or was super strong would have no problem escaping handcuffs, but would be unable to free themselves from YOUR handcuffs.

"C4" summons explosives to his hand, either of the C4 plastique kind or pineaple-type grenades. Set and watch go boom.

C4 doesn't affect insubstantial, but other than that it seems ok.

Wouldn't he have to carry the folded-up costume around then? Ideally I'd want the costume to be stashed away in his cache back home with the rest of his weapons and then teleporting around him in one go. Aged security guard one moment but then *boom* a flick of the hand and Nightshift is looking down at you, fully armored and ready to go.

Quick change to teleport your costume to you would be an acceptable usage, imo.

The Reversible is on his attack teleport... or is tagging a villain, shifting away and then teleporting said villain next to one of the bricks only to Reverse him back to his original square just after the brick squashes him the problem? (I admit, it did cross my mind <evil grin>). Would taking a "Standard action" Reversible patch things up? I mostly put the Reversible there to match the FX of his summoned weapons popping in and out at will.

I'm gonna say no to this.

"C4" has no problems that I can see : triggers there are mostly time delay-type things with a few tripwires thrown in. "To me" Teleports though... pretty much *have* to be triggered by the character if I want to match the Summoned weapon FX... Standard action activate like the Reversible? A Standard to set, a standard to activate, a standard to send back : in short, a standard to use. Could say it's the trouble of pulling another person's lifeforce through with your own : it tends to resist!

Assuming the above is OK, and with that rationalisation in mind, would it be unbalancing to say the Standard action reverts back to Free for inanimate objects?

the c4 triggers I'll allow, b/c C4 takes time to set up.
The problem I have with your attack teleport is that the way you describe it and the mechanics don't seem the same. the name has me thinking you say 'to me' and someone gets teleported 'to you'. however, the mechanics are you touch someone (melee attack roll) and teleport them elsewhere..

At range? Now I admit this power was created before I'd thought to add the "comand voice" power which does the same thing differently, but you must have seen people using the commanding/fear inducing power of a pointed gun to control people's actions? You point the gun and yell "Freeze". Nothing comes out of the gun and yet the victim is caught in the, in this case very real, mesmerizing grip of that dark round *hole* in creation : it's a gun grab at range. Same principle for the "Up against the wall!" use : gesture with the gun and presto, before they know it they're pressed against it as if a force was holding them there. Doesn't work so well, or at all, without the gun.

What about people who are immune to bullets or otherwise not scared of a gun? The power still works on them via mechanics, but not via description.

The main problem I have with your character is that the mechanics on the page don't match the descriptions very well, there's a lot of little 'what ifs'.
You say your TK is supposed to represent a gun, but mechanically there's nothing about the power that doesn't allow you to do what TK does but guns don't.
You say your Mind control is fear from pointing a gun at someone, but people who are immune to fear/guns but not mind control wouldn't care about that
etc.
What happens if someone can stop TK? Are they immune to your gun? What if someone can stop teleportation? Are they immune to all of your powers? does your gun appear and dissapear after every attack, or do you just summon it the once? Can you be disarmed of your gun? Can it be destroyed? Do you have multiple guns? Does your 'summoning' work off of knowing the location of the object?

I'm going to allow the majority of the character b/c I like the concept, but we'll have to do a lot of work to figure out Exactly how each of your powers works, and what will/will not affect or be affected by them.

 

[Andor]

How did did you get an instant 'lasting' duration? Adding the instant flaw to a power makes it instant, not instant 'lasting'. If you want your power to last forever, you could add the duration modifier twice, then add the permanent modifier for a total of +1/rank modifier for a permanent power. (Concentration->Sustained +1; Sustained-> continuous +1; continuous-> permanent -1)

Errmm.. I see 5 instant lasting powers in the book. Confuse, Dimensional Pocket, Life Control, Paralyze, Stun.

According to the description of Lasting on page 70 taking Mind Control from Concentration (Lasting) to Instant (Lasting) means it goes from 1 save a minute to 1 save a round. Seems like a worthy penalty to me.

Permanent and Lasting aren't the same thing at all in M&M as I understand it.

 

[Binder Fred]

[Command Voice]

How did did you get an instant 'lasting' duration?

[Snip reply] What Andor said. Standard Mind Control was just too powerful for what I had in mind, you see : we're *very* far from a power that creates mind-controlled puppet soldiers here.

[Flesh wound]

And what about people who are immune to bullets/physical damage?

Would depend on how they bought their protection power. Descriptor on "Flesh wounds" will be Bullet, Physical. So a person with Immunity to bullets would be imune to this power as well. Very few people are truly invulnerable though, i.e. there's usually a way to justify the power working on a perticular individual : What about shooting Steelskin-man in the ear for example? the eye? the crotch? Does he have a thinner achelis "heel" somewhere? A squeaky plate that gapes just a bit when he goes like <this>, a sore bolt that tends to jam when stressed? A shot in one of the above should give him pause. If you want, say Nightshift obviously has high levels of "spot weakness" built into him somewhere.

Might explain (part of?) his high Teamwork and Inspire feat scores actually : "Shoot him in the CROTCH, people, it's his WEAK SPOT!"

LOL

You know what I mean.

[Infinite Handcuffs]

or people who could break handcuffs? Likewise someone who could change their size or was super strong would have no problem escaping handcuffs, but would be unable to free themselves from YOUR handcuffs.

Uh... "Infinite handcuffs" is a straight Snare power : it *can* be escaped using a strength test or any other physical power that can be used while bound (and can beat the handcuff's toughness, of course). DM's call, but logically supergrowth would work, as well as insubstantial, elongation and some of the teleport powers. Spiderman created webs, Nightshift summons shackles.

EDIT: See four posts below for further thoughts on this (think I finally got to where you were going).

[C4]

C4 doesn't affect insubstantial, but other than that it seems ok.

This was for the "water body" or "air body" type of insubstantial (rank 1 and 2), but now that I re-read the Insubstantial power, they're *already* affected by area effects, right? Consider it gone.

Quick change to teleport your costume to you would be an acceptable usage, imo.

Done, though the distinction between the two versions escapes me. First time playing the system and all, you know.

The problem I have with your attack teleport is that the way you describe it and the mechanics don't seem the same. the name has me thinking you say 'to me' and someone gets teleported 'to you'. however, the mechanics are you touch someone (melee attack roll) and teleport them elsewhere..

The mechanics are the same as with C4. With the trigger extra he can infuse a target (i.e. set the power with a melee attack roll) and, at a later point, trigger it, teleporting the target to him by saying "to me".... assuming said target is still in range, of course (500' if he used a Standard action to set it, up to 5 miles if he used a full action (with Nightshift being Dazed for a round in that case; Hmm, might have to buy the Easy feat on this one after all...)). The trigger can be noticed just as with any other trigger and "disarmed" with DM's choice of skill/powers (Anything that could conceivably counter a teleport power, I imagine).

EDIT= Ended up adding a Fixed Destination (My hands) flaw to it. i.e. not using the triggered power feat now means he can only teleport a touched target from one of his hands to the other, at most (I can see some cool applications for this, actually ).

What about people who are immune to bullets or otherwise not scared of a gun? The power still works on them via mechanics, but not via description.

The main problem I have with your character is that the mechanics on the page don't match the descriptions very well, there's a lot of little 'what ifs'.
You say your TK is supposed to represent a gun, but mechanically there's nothing about the power that doesn't allow you to do what TK does but guns don't.
You say your Mind control is fear from pointing a gun at someone, but people who are immune to fear/guns but not mind control wouldn't care about that
etc.
What happens if someone can stop TK? Are they immune to your gun? What if someone can stop teleportation? Are they immune to all of your powers? does your gun appear and dissapear after every attack, or do you just summon it the once? Can you be disarmed of your gun? Can it be destroyed? Do you have multiple guns? Does your 'summoning' work off of knowing the location of the object?

I think most of this can be solved with Bullet, Physical and Fear Descriptors and the addition of a new power drawback:

Physical Manifestation : This power has a physical manifestation which can be attacked. Treat it as if having been created with the "Device, easy to lose" power, except that you can regenerate your physical manifestation with a Move action, teleporting the gun back to your hand for example. The previous manifestation of your power dissapears, is destroyed or otherwise doesn't function anymore. At the DM's discretion, a perticular physical manifestation can be deemed "Destroyed", dropped in a pool of lava, crushed below the feet of Galactus, etc. Treat the power as unavailable until it can heal from a Staggered condition using your Constitution score.

The Teleport descriptor will be on the "Summoned Weapon" array itself, so nullifying Teleport means he's stuck with the last weapon he used until the nulifies goes away (i.e can't change the array's settings), while the Bullet and Physical descriptors (and Fear in one case) will be on the powers in the array. Someone immune to the TK descriptor will therefore *not* be immune to his summoned weapon powers and a character immune to Teleport powers will only be immune to his "To me" power (which will have the Teleport descriptor).

On second thought, let's just add a -1 flaw "No grabs" to the "Duty revolver" power and have done. Simplifies things no end, right?

Ah, lastly : no, the "To me" attack power as I conceive it doesn't depend on knowing the present location of the target. He sets a fixed destination "to my hands" teleport on the target with a sucessful attack roll. From there on the target carries the trigger with him so there's no need to know said target,s location. In IC terms he's infusing part of his lifeforce in the target so he always knows where "he" is, so to speak. Actually, when I have more points I'm thinking of buying him ESP, only to locations that contain a part of his essence. Will have to be a power stunt for now.

[SBLOCK="Good-aligned DMs do not read!"]Actually, a mental or occult-based villain could do some *nasty* things to him if they ever got ahold of an infused object of his... <ouch> Think I'm going to have to put it in my Complications : TOO GOOD TO WASTE![/Sblock]

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Binder Fred, modified sheet available here.

 

[Shayuri]

Okay! Revised to telekineticist!

Simpler structure to the powers. Basically there's one "telekinesis" array, with two defenses and a movement power. The Shield represents a Telekinetic Parry, in which Cass can grab objects in the environment and interpose them between herself and attacks. The Force Field is a reactive, instinctive 'burst' of TK energy that directly slows or diverts attacks just before they hit her. I decided that she can't fly by just picking herself up, but she can lift objects and ride them around...hence the Platform flaw on her Flight power.

As for the attacks, she has several in the array, which is largely offensive. I'll give a brief explanation/visualization for each.

The basic attack is the single-target TK power, which is also one of the array's 'utility' powers. It has Perception, Damaging (letting it function as a blast), with the Subtle and Precise feats. This is your basic "invisible hand" TK power.

She also has an "area effect" telekinesis that's limited in range, but powerful nevertheless. This ability lacks the precision of her more focused TK, and even though it doesn't require an attack roll, a Reflex save can allow someone to avoid the effects, at least in part. Although she most often uses this to attack or throw creatures and objects near her, it can be used for anything non-precise TK can be used for, and the Selective Attack extra lets her choose who gets what.

Next is the Autofire Blast which is not Perception. This represents Cass using TK to pick up loose items and debris in her immediate vicinity, and hurl them all at once at a target. Her control lets her do this very accurately, but it's not automatic hitting (which wouldn't work with Autofire anyway). It has the complication of needing loose objects of some kind to work. In most cases, there'd be enough gravel and metal litter and so on that I don't think it'd be an issue...but if she were trapped in the World of Pillows, that could be a problem.

Suffocate is easy. Darth Vader Choke Grip. Nuff said.

Paralyze actually represents a telekinetic "hold" that's more complete than a grapple. A grapple would be like...grabbing someone's arm, or holding them in a giant hand. She can do that too...but this would be more like holding someone tightly in a telekinetic prison that covered the whole body.

Finally, Cassandra's Deflect is a defense power that she uses mostly on others. It represents either using telekinetically manipulated objects to block attacks (similar to Shield, and might not stack with it at GM's option), or using TK to directly deflect attacks. The trick here is that if she uses a standard action, she can use this power on multiple attacks with no penalty at range...allowing her to project protection over anyone close enough to her. I figured this gives her some utility even in situations where her other powers aren't terribly useful, such as against insubstantial foes.

Finally, her Evasion and Uncanny Dodge are based on telekinesis as well. Evasion represents a defensive "backblast" where area attacks on her can be disrupted by releasing a wave of TK away from her, reducing or countering the incoming attack. Uncanny Dodge represents a subliminal awareness of her surroundings based on subtle interactions of her mind with surrounding matter. With GM permission, this might eventually flower into Blindsight or similar. For now, consider it a Mental sense, if that's all right?

Cassandra Arista
Concept/Archetype: Telekineticist
Power Level: 10
Power Points: 150
Experience Points: 0
Hero Points: 1

ABILITIES (26)
STR 10 +0 (0 PP)
DEX 14 +2 (4 PP)
CON 12 +1 (2 PP)
INT 18 +4 (8 PP)
WIS 16 +3 (6 PP)
CHA 16 +3 (6 PP)

SAVES (20)
TOUG +10 (+1 Con + 0 Feat + 9 Power + 0 Equipment)
FORT +7 (+6 Base + 1 Con) (6 PP)
REF +8 (+6 Base + 2 Dex) (6 PP)
WILL +10 (+8 Base + 2 Wis) (8 PP)

COMBAT (12)
INIT +1
BASE DEF +3 (6 PP)
DEF 20 (10 + 3 Base + 0 Feat + 7 Power)
FLAT-FOOTED 11
BASE ATT +3 (6 PP)

SKILLS 60 SP (15 PP)
Bluff +15 (12 ranks + 3 cha)
Computers +6 (2 ranks + 4 int)
Diplomacy +5 (2 ranks + 3 cha)
Drive +4 (2 ranks + 2 Dex)
Gather Information +12 (9 ranks + 3 cha)
Investigate +11 (7 ranks + 4 Int)
Knowledge (Current Events) +10 (6 ranks + 4 Int)
Notice +10 (7 ranks + 3 Wis)
Profession (Journalist) +5 (3 ranks + 3 Wis)
Search +6 (2 ranks + 4 Int)
Sense Motive +10 (7 ranks +3 Wis)

LANGUAGES (1 Ranks)
Spanish

MOVEMENT
Ground 30/60/120

FEATS (11 PP)
Attractive 1
Contacts 1
Distract 1
Equipment 4
Evasion 1
Taunt 1
Uncanny Dodge 1
Well Informed 1

POWERS 66
Telekinesis +10 (Damaging, Perception, PF Precise, PF Subtle) 47pp
- AP Telekinesis +10 (Blast Area, Damaging, Selective Attack, Touch Range, PF Subtle) 1pp
- AP Blast +10 (Autofire, PF Accurate x2) 1pp
- AP Suffocate +10 (Perception, PF Subtle) 1pp
- AP Paralyze +10 (Perception, Alternate Save: Reflex, PF Subtle, PF Reversible) 1pp
- AP Deflect +8 (Slow and fast projectiles, Free action, Ranged, PF Subtle, PF Precise), 1pp

Shield +7, 7pp
Force Field +9, 9pp
Flight (Platform) +3, 3pp

EQUIPMENT (20)
Compact Car, 9pts
Light Pistol, 6pts
Camera, 1pt
Cell Phone, 1pt
Laptop Computer, 1pt
Digital Audio Recorder, 1pt
Flashlight, 1pt

COST
Abilities [26]
Combat [12]
Saves [20]
Skills [15]
Feats [11]
Powers [66]
Drawbacks [0]
Total [150]
Unspent [0]

NOTES
Real Name: Cassandra Arista
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Size: Medium
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 135lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Green
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Tradeoffs: None

 

[Binder Fred]

A question about the Area extra while I think of it : does it automatically reduce the range of the power it's applied to down to Touch, like in Heroes, or can the blast area or whatever still be placed anywhere within range? C4 should be a touch-ranged blast, obviously, hence the question.

____________________________________________________________
Binder Fred, thanking you in advance, good samaritan.