Howl (PL 8/10) -RedSpine

[RedSpine]

Fairly certain I managed to build this correctly. But if anyone would like to give it a once over I'd appreciate it before I throw Zach here to the Refs.
Edits eternal: Altered build slightly to account for advice given.

Character Name: Howl
Power Level: 8/10 (150/150)
Unspent Power Points: 0
Trade-Offs: None

 

In Brief: Teenage Genius with a self-built Armored Suit with Sonic based weaponry,  self-image issues, and a love for mysteries. Alternatively! Teen Tech Theorist with a Supremely Super Sonic based Suit Suspects Secrets are Secreted in the School! And the world at large.

Catchphrase: Doesn't have one yet, unless you count the distinctive noises his sonic blasts make.
Theme: Lost in Time by Celldweller
 

Alternate Identity: Zachary 'Zach' Anderson
Birthplace:  Californias Bay Area

Residence: Claremont Dorms
Base of Operations: As above.
Occupation:  Student
Affiliations: People and/or groups you work with.
Family: Mother and Father, who do in fact exist i just need to name them.

 

Description:
Age: 16 (DoB: 2004)
Apparent Age: 16
Gender:  Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height:  5'11
Weight:  155
Eyes:  Green
Hair:  Blonde and always messy.
Zach is a young man with a lanky build who usually dresses for comfort more than anything. Worn in jeans, a t-shirt with a 'witty' joke  three wolves howling at a moon or some 'official super hero merch', along with a well worn black zip up hoodie. Complexion wise he's pale on account of staying inside which isn't helped by the fact that his armor covers him completely from head to toe. His hair almost always looks like he just got out of bed, he's tried to get it under control but it's been a long losing battle that he's all but given up on. Hair length wise he's sitting somewhere between short but styleable and mid length as if he hasn't quite decided if he's going to continue growing it out or if he should  trim it back.
As Howl Zach wears a black Bodysuit augmented with Silver gauntlets, Greaves, a matching belt to make up for a lack of pockets, a chestplate to protect his vital organs, and of course a Hardened Full face mask to hide as much of his identity as he can while protecting his noggin.
 

History:
Zachary Anderson has done his best to lead a normal life and it's failed so far. Plagued by Daily, and on the worst days hourly, crippling migraines for as long as he could remember Zach struggled to make friends, succeed academically, or really do much that wasn't something he could easily put down and continue however long later when Hade's own Lemon Juice and Ghost Pepper soaked flaming pick axe decided to unlodge itself from his brain.

So focusing on what he could Zach threw what what he could of himself into learning how to code, Super Heroes, learning what he could about engineering and tinkering so he could have something to work on with his hands. As he got older he also started throwing his proverbial gaze wider and wider across the net finding digital mysteries he could tackle at his own pace. Many were simply ARGs made to entertain but others were old unsolved cases that the public had been trying to solve for years and despite his condition he felt like he'd found some sort of community he could participate in. Even if some of the mysteries people would investigate were more theory based than evidence based.

That'd changed about a year ago when he suffered the largest Migraine attack to date lasting a full 16 hours  before finally subsiding leaving zach stunned but able to recall near anything with perfect clarity that occured outside of his attacks. Over the days that followed he was ecstatic, no attacks, he could zip from idea to idea faster than ever, and he could recall so many bits of coding or scientific trivia he'd learned over the years and combine them in new and exciting ways. He had Super Smarts! So they went to the family doctor to get it confirmed, and what tests they could provide came back negative. Zach was smart but he wasn't crossing the line into the realms of the Super except in the areas of memory retention and access. His mutation had cured the migraines and enhanced his memory, nothing more. So he turned back to his old pass times to distract himself, so he wouldn't have to face that all the pain he'd endured until this point was rewarded with next to nothing. He started building equipment he thought would have been cool for a hero to use, integrated it into first a gauntlet then a full suit. Building up the hero he could have been even as Emerald City up north started using Rent-a-Heroes in Corp-tech suits to protect the city, taking just a little bit more wind out of his sails.

When portions of his project was discovered by his parents they immediately got back in contact with the family doctor who in turn used what connections he had in the hero community to make sure that the boy could learn in a place that could handle a budding gadgeteer. That place being of course, Claremont.

Now at the start of a new school year Zach has found his way to Claremont and is as ready as one can be to handle a new high school that also happens to be a boarding school for super teens. This is fine. He can handle this. He thinks.

 

Personality & Motivation:
Zach is very much someone who wants the world to be fair, for the rules to apply equally to everyone with no gotchas hidden deep to allow people to get off scott free when they shouldn't. Which at times leads him to seriously investigate things like conspiracy theories even if people think they're all just crazy nonsense, but the way he sees it "SHADOW is a thing, Those killer robots are a thing, Katanarchists and other secret Ninja clans are a thing. We have heroes who claim to time travel and meet aliens. What if this conspiracy theory is actually the truth being hid as fiction"?
 

Powers & Tactics:
When it combat Howl prefers to deafen his opponents by 'muting' the area around himself and pummeling his foe with sonic blasts or sonic strikes until they aren't an issue any more. When not in direct combat he prefers to try to stay sneaky, gather information as best he can and figure out exactly what's going on with any given scenario, even using voice mimicry and Auditory illusions to gain the upper hand or even just trick low level thugs. Currently he's rather fresh faced to combat and hasn't had as much of a chance to refine his technique.
 

Power Descriptions:
When Howl uses his sonic blasts/strikes the air his blasts go through twist, turn and vibrate with such force that even an unaugmented eye can follow their path on the way to their destination as well as creating an unmistakable Horrific Howl from which he draws his name. The same holds true for his Sonic Breakdown, though doing so requires both his hands and his utmost attention to break only the crystalline structures in front of him and not risk a resonance cascade that could harm people in the area.
On the other hand when he Mutes the World noise simply stops within his area of effect leaving the entire area completely silent, you could bang pots and pans together and not hear a single clang.

 

Complications:

Secret Identity: Zach is keeping his identity as Howl a secret so that his actions as a hero won't put his family and friends into harms way.
 

Scratched the Surface: During his time attempting to solve public cold cases Zach came dangerously close to unearthing ties that could have lead back to The Labyrinth. Close enough to have drawn the attention of some within the organization. Those someones, whoever they may be, will at times pull strings and try to hinder Howls actions throughout his adventures, divert him onto a wild goose chase, or even a simply case of slander and libel in order to further test if he is a threat or himself a potential asset. Of course many Labyrinth assets don't even know they are such so almost anyone could be used to slow Howl down at a critical moment, the bumbling electrician who just needs a few more minutes to fix the control panel, the detective who absolutely refuses to let a hero contaminate his crime scene, the random employee who would love to answer questions but you really need to talk to her manager whose out on lunch, and so on could all be people who Labyrinth have tapped to become a roadblock. Of course if Howl causes to much trouble it'd be pretty simple to just drop a conveniently powered goon on his head as well. At any point a GM could just have a NPC react negatively or be steadfastly unhelpful with no real way for Howl to fix it other than to go around them some manner.

Snack Attack: The human brain consumes roughly 20% of the energy a normal human body generates per day, Zachs brain however consumes a fair bit more even though his particular mutation is not as effective as other mental boosters out in the world. As such it's entirely possible for him to run out of steam if he hasn't made certain to keep his calorie intake high enough for the day, which in a super hero world is easy to lose track of. Anytime a GM needs to slap Fatigue or exhausted on someone here ya go.

My power sucks!...Imposter Syndrome: Zach in a way both loves and hates his power. He loves that he has one at all but at the same time feels betrayed by his own flesh that the most it could cough up power wise was "Good at remembering things". And so surrounded by so many of his peers with 'actual power' has left him feeling like he got in on a technicality, like he doesn't deserve to be here, a fake, a fraud, or worse the token example student that shows that Claremont will accept anyone that has a 'power'. Yes the fact that he wasn't going to be sent to Claremont until he started building a Super Suit is lost on him. You can just buy(rent really) a super suit out in emerald after all. Since this gets such a sharp reaction out of Zach bullies at Claremont or really anyone who just wants to get under his skin can use this put him on tilt.

Walking Noise Violation: The problem with sonic powers is that they are by definition LOUD. Loud enough to draw attention even when it wouldn't be a good idea to do so. But perhaps ones of the other big downsides to using sound as the base of his powers is how it behaves in different circumstances, Water for instance amplifies the distance Sound can travel, Tunnels can channel sound into places Howl would rather they didn't go,  and of course any vacuum may as well be an impenetrable wall to him since Sound needs a medium to travel through.

Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 12 + 2 + 0 = 22PP
Strength: 10 (+0)
Dexterity: 14 (+2)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Intelligence: 22 (+6)
Wisdom: 12 (+1)
Charisma: 10 (+0)

Combat: 8 (2PP / Base Attack) + 6 (2PP / Base Defense) = 14PP
Initiative: +6 (+2 base, +4 Improved Initiative)
Attack: +4 Base (+8 Sonic Blast, +8 Bass-Line Punch, +8 Sonic Breakdown)
Defense: +8 (+3 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed

Grapple: +8
Knockback: -1/-4 (when armored)

Saving Throws: 4 (1PP / Fortitude) + 6 (1PP / Reflex) + 7 (1PP / Will) = 17PP
Toughness: +8/+2 (+2 Con, +6 Protection while armored)
Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4)
Reflex: +8 (+2 Dex, +6)
Will: +8 (+1 Wis, +7)

Skills: 104R = 26PP (1PP = 4 Skill ranks)

Computer 9 (+15)
Craft (Mechanical) 9 (+15)
Craft (Electronic) 9 (+15)
Disable Device 9 (+15)
Investigation 9 (+15)
Knowledge (physical Sciences) 9 (+15)
Knowledge (technology) 9 (+15)
Knowledge (streetwise) 4 (+10)
Notice 10 (+11)
Search 9 (+15)
Stealth 8 (+10)
Sense Motive 10 (+11)

Feats: 12PP
Dodge focus 5
Inventor
Improvised Tools
Luck 2
Online research
Skill Mastery (Knowledge Technology, Computer, Craft Mechanical, Craft electronic)
take-down attack

Enhanced Feats
Eidectic Memory
Improved Initiative 1
Quick-change
Uncanny Dodge (auditory)
 

Powers: 2 + 57  = 59PP

Enhanced Mind Container [2PP] (Mutation) 
    Enhanced feat: Eidectic Memory
     Quickness 2 Flaw: Mental only

   
Sound Suit Mk I Device Rank 14, Hard to lose, Restricted: Authorized users only [57PP] [70DP] (Tech/Sonic)
    Assisted Movement system Container [2DP]
       Leaping 1 (x2 jump distance)
       Speed 1 (10 mph)

    Communication Radio 4 [4DP] 1-Mile Range.
    Datalink 1 [1DP] "Universal Data Cord" (tech)
    Enhanced Feats 3
       Uncanny dodge  (Auditory)
       Improved Initiative [1DP] "Hot Join Protocols"
       Quick Change "Power assisted Donning and Removal Systems"
    Feature 2 (Vocal Mimicry, Throw Voice) [2PP]
    Immunity Sonic [10DP]
    Immunity environmental Heat, Cold. [2DP] "Heat and coolant subsystems"
    Protection 6 [6DP] (tech)
    Super senses 4 (Direction, Distance, Radio,Time) [4DP] "GUI Add-ons"
    Super Senses 5 (Accurate [Auditory], Ultra Hearing) [5PP] (Auditory Enhancement and Sonar Suite)

    Sonic Offense Array 8 Feats:Accurate 2,  Alternate power x2 [20 DP]
        BP: Blast 8 (tech/sonic) 16/16 "Sonic Blast"
        AP: Strike 8/Nausea 8 (Flaw: Limited to Sickened) 16/16 "Bass-line Punch"
        AP:Drain Toughness 8 (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked [Damage], Range [Ranged]; Flaws: Distracting, Limited [Crystalline structures: Ice, Glass, Stone, etc.]) [8DP]
              Damage 8 (Extras: Linked [Drain], Range [Ranged]; Flaws: Distracting, Limited [Crystalline structures: Ice, Glass, Stone, etc.]) [6DP].    [8 + 6 = 14/18DP]          "Sonic Break Down"

    Sonic Manipulation Array 10 Feats: Alternate Power [11DP]
        BP:Illusion 8 Auditory only, feats Progression x 2 "Sampled Noises"
        AP: Obscure 5 (Sense Types: Auditory; Area: 100ft radius; Extras: Selective; Flaws: Range [Touch]) [5/10DP] "World on mute"
 

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

 

DC Block

ATTACK              RANGE      SAVE                           EFFECT
BLP             Touch      DC 23 Toughness                Damage/Nausea
Sonic Blast     Ranged     DC 23 Toughness     Damage
Sonic Breakdown         Ranged     DC 18/DC 23 Fortitude/Toughness               - Toughness/Damage
Sampled Noises   perception   DC 18 Will            Auditory screwery

 

Totals: Abilities (22) + Combat (14) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (26) + Feats (12) + Powers (59) - Drawbacks (0) = 150/150  Power Points

Edited August 24, 2020 by RedSpine
Altered build to account for advice given