Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Help building a Strong Guy inspired character
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Dave_Of_Mutilation" data-source="post: 6883368" data-attributes="member: 6850991"><p>Hello everyone. This is my first post, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to decide whether to put it here or in the homebrew section. I guess because my brain doesn't work right? So sorry if this ends up in the wrong spot.</p><p></p><p>Anyways, Strong Guy is a character I have a lot of affection for, and I was knocking around in my head the idea of making a D&D character modeled after him. For those of you not familiar with semi-obscure X-Factor characters from the 90's, here's a snippet from the Marvel wiki:</p><p><em></em></p><p><em>"<span style="color: #3A3A3A"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'">Strong Guy has the ability to absorb kinetic energy and use it to enhance his physical strength to above normal limits. However, he cannot store the energy he absorbs for very long; as a rule he must expend it within 90 seconds to prevent the enormous amounts of energy from permanently distorting his body. He is in constant pain from the existing distortion, although he hides it well, traditionally playing the role of team comedian to distract himself. An unusual percentage of his body mass is stored in the upper half of his body, causing him to appear top-heavy, imposing, and somewhat comical"</span></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #3A3A3A"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"></span></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #3A3A3A"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"></span></span></em><em>"Weapons? With arms like these, my fists <strong>are</strong> the weapons"</em></p><p>I guess I should point out I'm not trying to recreate the character 1:1. Rather, I'm trying to create a guy who captures the spirit of the source character. Obviously a PC that can lift 50 tons would be a <em>smidge</em> overpowered in a campaign, so that's out. The challenge now becomes finding a way to express his enhanced strength, preferably through punchies, without being overpowered. My plan is to build him as a tanky human fighter using his fists to pummel enemies. I keep coming back to two ideas: </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Treating his fists as weapons (or even heavy weapons. He's a big fella, after all) for feats and the like.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Giving him hit dice for his unarmed attacks, similar to a Monk.</li> </ul><p>I don't know if one or both or neither of these ideas hold any water, but they're what I've thought up for now. I like the idea of treating his fists as weapons, and using feats like Charger or Great Weapon Fighting.</p><p></p><p>Is there a good way to approximate his ability to absorb kinetic energy and turn it into strength? Something like "when you take X damage from a single non-magic source (X being a considerable amount. Maybe 50% of Max HP or something?) you can make [some kind of roll]. If successful, add [some amount of damage] to your next melee attack. If failed [some kind of penalty]." I like the idea of there being a risk/reward aspect. It kind of meshes with the way Strong Guy can't store energy for very long without it posing serious health risks.</p><p>Or is this all complete nonsense?</p><p></p><p>I am totally into the idea of his condition being the result of a curse or a spell gone wrong or something like that, with whatever weakness or downsides that involves. My goal is to come up with a character with an interesting dynamic as opposed to a super powered crushing machine, so I definitely looking for ways to keep him honest.</p><p></p><p>I realize it's a tall order asking for help adapting a character most folks probably haven't heard of, even more so when he doesn't exactly gel with the setting. Maybe it'll at least be a fun thought experiment if nothing else. Either way thanks for any advice or ideas!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dave_Of_Mutilation, post: 6883368, member: 6850991"] Hello everyone. This is my first post, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to decide whether to put it here or in the homebrew section. I guess because my brain doesn't work right? So sorry if this ends up in the wrong spot. Anyways, Strong Guy is a character I have a lot of affection for, and I was knocking around in my head the idea of making a D&D character modeled after him. For those of you not familiar with semi-obscure X-Factor characters from the 90's, here's a snippet from the Marvel wiki: [I] "[COLOR=#3A3A3A][FONT=Helvetica]Strong Guy has the ability to absorb kinetic energy and use it to enhance his physical strength to above normal limits. However, he cannot store the energy he absorbs for very long; as a rule he must expend it within 90 seconds to prevent the enormous amounts of energy from permanently distorting his body. He is in constant pain from the existing distortion, although he hides it well, traditionally playing the role of team comedian to distract himself. An unusual percentage of his body mass is stored in the upper half of his body, causing him to appear top-heavy, imposing, and somewhat comical" [/FONT][/COLOR][/I][I]"Weapons? With arms like these, my fists [B]are[/B] the weapons"[/I] I guess I should point out I'm not trying to recreate the character 1:1. Rather, I'm trying to create a guy who captures the spirit of the source character. Obviously a PC that can lift 50 tons would be a [I]smidge[/I] overpowered in a campaign, so that's out. The challenge now becomes finding a way to express his enhanced strength, preferably through punchies, without being overpowered. My plan is to build him as a tanky human fighter using his fists to pummel enemies. I keep coming back to two ideas: [LIST] [*]Treating his fists as weapons (or even heavy weapons. He's a big fella, after all) for feats and the like. [*]Giving him hit dice for his unarmed attacks, similar to a Monk. [/LIST] I don't know if one or both or neither of these ideas hold any water, but they're what I've thought up for now. I like the idea of treating his fists as weapons, and using feats like Charger or Great Weapon Fighting. Is there a good way to approximate his ability to absorb kinetic energy and turn it into strength? Something like "when you take X damage from a single non-magic source (X being a considerable amount. Maybe 50% of Max HP or something?) you can make [some kind of roll]. If successful, add [some amount of damage] to your next melee attack. If failed [some kind of penalty]." I like the idea of there being a risk/reward aspect. It kind of meshes with the way Strong Guy can't store energy for very long without it posing serious health risks. Or is this all complete nonsense? I am totally into the idea of his condition being the result of a curse or a spell gone wrong or something like that, with whatever weakness or downsides that involves. My goal is to come up with a character with an interesting dynamic as opposed to a super powered crushing machine, so I definitely looking for ways to keep him honest. I realize it's a tall order asking for help adapting a character most folks probably haven't heard of, even more so when he doesn't exactly gel with the setting. Maybe it'll at least be a fun thought experiment if nothing else. Either way thanks for any advice or ideas! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Help building a Strong Guy inspired character
Top