Sample Character #2: Martial Artist

Martial Artist 

[GM Note: You sneak around, you punch things, you practically dodge bullets - you're one of the best fighters in the world even without your superpowers!]

Abilities: 8 + 16 + 8 + 2 + 8 + 2 = 52PP

Strength: 18 (+4)

Dexterity: 26 (+8)

Constitution: 18 (+4)

Intelligence: 12 (+1)

Wisdom: 26 (+8)

Charisma: 12 (+1)

[GM Notes: He’s a badass! Dexterity and Wisdom of 26 are as high as it is possible for a human being to be without superpowers - and even Strength and Constitution of 18 make him a world-class athlete. He’s of normal Intelligence and Charisma, however.

Potentially you could free up points by dropping his Intelligence and Charisma (since those won’t change any of his Saves) - but personally I don’t like to make an ability score just a straight 10 unless there’s a reason for it. Still, it’s up to you!]

Combat: 16 + 16 = 32PP

Initiative: +12

Attack: +8 Base, +14 Melee

Defense: +14 (+6 Dodge Focus, +8 Base), +4 Flat-Footed

Grapple: +22

Knockback: -3/-2

[GM Notes: His high Attack and Defense make him one of the best fighters in the world. He should probably Power Attack frequently when fighting opponents close to his Power Level - especially ones who look like they might have a high Toughness. Versus minions, though, he should just take 10 and sweep through them without breathing hard.

Here’s an excellent place to free up points - you could easily drop this guy’s base Attack score, buy up more Attack Focus: Melee, and have a goodly number of points to spend elsewhere. You could do the same with his Defense (drop it and buy Dodge Focus) - but be careful, a character this squishy does not want to be caught flat-footed. OTOH, with his skills where they are, catching him flat-footed is going to be very difficult indeed.]

Saves: 2 + 4 + 0 = 6PP

Toughness: +6/+4 (+4 Con, +2 Defensive Roll)

Fortitude: +6 (+4 Con, +2)

Reflex: +12 (+8 Dex, +4)

Will: +8 (+8 Wis)

[GM Notes: +6 is the second-lowest Toughness it’s possible to have as a PL 10 character. Since Toughness DCs are 15+Damage Rank, he’s probably in trouble if he has to make a Toughness save versus anything other than a minion’s pistol or fist - still, with his high Defense and excellent skills, he’s going to be almost impossible to hit in combat, so he doesn’t have to worry about that too much.

I didn’t spend many points here because he already has high base Abilities, leading to high base Saves. You could drop his Fort Save and raise his Reflex or his Will - but on the other hand, a guy in this good shape really should have an least an OK Fortitude Save.]

Skills: 72R = 18PP

Acrobatics 12 (+20) ^{Skill Mastery}

Climb 1 (+5)

Diplomacy 9 (+10)

Gather Info 4 (+5)

Investigate 4 (+5)

Languages 2 (Chinese, Japanese) (Native: English)

Medicine 2 (+10)

Notice 12 (+20) ^{Skill Mastery}

Sense Motive 12 (+20) ^{Skill Mastery}

Survival 2 (+10)

Stealth 12 (+20) ^{Skill Mastery}  

[GM Notes: He’s very, very, very skilled! I built this guy as a modern-day ninja - capable of sneaking up on almost anyone, laying them flat-footed with an Acrobatic Bluff, and then giving them a solid beating. He’s almost impossible to fool and he misses almost nothing, in or out of combat. Versus anyone other than another superhero, he's basically untouchable even without superpowers. He’s a good street-level investigator too, making him a good fit for the usual niche that martial artists have in superhero comics.

Note that speaking English as his base language does not necessarily make him a WASP like Danny Rand - there are plenty of Asian-Americans out there. 

You could customize this by making him not such a nice guy (Bluff or Intimidate for that Diplomacy), making him more of a monk-type (adding some Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy], or just drop the skills a bit to make him slightly less the veteran badass that he is here - and free up points to spend elsewhere!]

Feats: 29PP

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (Melee) 6

Challenge (Fast Acrobatic Bluff)

Defensive Roll

Dodge Focus 6

Evasion 2

Grappling Finesse

Hide in Plain Sight

Improved Initiative  

Move-By Action

Power Attack

Second Chance (Concentration)

Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth)

Takedown Attack 2

Trance

Ultimate Skill (Sense Motive)

Uncanny Dodge (Mental)

[GM Notes: All these feats are in the Core Rules - check it out! This should give you the flavor of a mystic martial artist somewhere between monk and ninja. With his Skills and Feats (two things you should make sure you know very well if you’re playing a character with very few powers like this) he’s a one-man army capable of sweeping his way through a whole base of minions! Remember - Power Attack vs. superhuman opponents! 

Even without his powers, he's a solid PL 9 offensively, making him one of the world's top martial artists even when he's not calling on his inner dragon, or whatever descriptor you want to give him. 

This is an excellent place to free up points, whether it’s by dropping flavor feats like Second Chance (Concentration) and Trance, moving more of his Attack and Defense into Attack Focus (Melee) and Dodge Focus, or by dropping ranks in Dodge Focus and shifting more Toughness into Defensive Roll. You could also look at some of the fighting styles in the book to see if you want to make him a boxer or some specialized form of fighting and pick out particular feats for that. - he's just some generic martial artist style here.]

Powers: 6 + 1 + 1 + 5 = 13PP

Descriptors: all Chi

Chi Array 2 (4PP Array, Feats: Alternate Powers 2) [6PP]

• Base: Damage 2 (Feats: Improved Critical, Mighty) {4/4}
• AP: Healing 2 (Extra: Total, Flaw: Personal) {4/4}
• AP: Super-Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling 2 [full speed, keep dodge bonus]) {4/4}

Leaping 1 (x2, Running Long Jump 28', Standing Long Jump 19', Vertical Leap 7') [1PP]

Speed 1 (10 MPH / 100' per Move Action) [1PP]

Super-Senses 5 (Mental; Accurate [+2], Acute, Radius, Ranged) [5PP]

[GM Notes: OK, the powers here are built to mimic the feel of your wuxia heroes/martial arts movie heroes. He can use some sort of ‘steel palm’ technique to punch through oak doors, meditate to recuperate more quickly from injuries, or run right up walls if he has to! With his Speed he runs as fast as a charging bear  - far faster than a human being can run. He can also make great leaps and fight without being able to see his opponents with his eyes.

This is the natural place to customize the build or even free up points - tweak these Powers with any descriptor you want, or even drop them altogether. 13PP could buy you a whole lot of things to spend elsewhere, maybe on higher Abilities, more Skills, more Feats... on the other hand, it’s pretty fun to have some kind of Power to stunt off. You could drop the Chi, buy even more Super-Senses, pick up a Device to give you Damage and Super-Movement and add the Blind Drawback for a Daredevil type - or change the descriptors a bit (without actually changing the math!) and make him Misty Knight with cyborg limbs.]

Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP

[GM Notes: Think hard about that Blind Drawback!]

DC Block

ATTACK                RANGE   SAVE              EFFECT

Unarmed w/no Powers   Touch   DC 19 Toughness   Damage [Physical]

Strike                Touch   DC 21 Toughness   Damage [Physical]

Totals: Abilities (52) + Combat (32) + Saving Throws (6) + Skills (18) + Feats (29) + Powers (13) - Drawbacks (0) = 150/150 Power Points