Jaci o' Cups (PL12 NPC, Tier 2)

[Gizmo]

Players Name: Gizmo

Power Level: 12 (200PP)

Trade-Offs: -5 Defence, +5 Toughness

Unspent PP: 0

NPC Tier: 2

Characters Name: Jaci o’ Cups

Alternate Identity: Rose Copas

Height: 5’5†- 16’3†(full Growth)

Weight: 105 - 4080 lbs. (full Growth)

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Light Blue

Description: A petite young woman, Rose Copas keeps her golden blonde hair in a spiky pixie cut, highlighting her baby blue eyes and dimpled smile. She typically wears skinny jeans and fitted tank tops, tending toward dark, rich reds and blacks.

As Jaci o’ Cups, her costume consists of a crimson, sleeveless leotard with a heart-shaped cutout in the chest, topped with black denium shorts and a matching iron chain belt and choker. She also wears a set of brass knuckles on each hand, though, given her enhanced strength, they are more for show than anything else. Rose enshews masks altogether.

Also, sometimes she’s a little over sixteen feet tall.

History:

As a child Rose Copas’ parents instilled in her a belief that winning meant everything. From learning to walk before the neighbours’ children to getting into the best pre-school, everything was a competition. As soon as she was old enough, Rose was entered into a never-ending series of pageants, where she learned that people fell into two categories: judges to be manipulated and opponents to be crushed.

By the time she was a teenager, Rose had graduated to national beauty pageants, but had grown to resent her parents’ overbearing ways and tired of the relatively mundane popularity contests. Dropping out of the Miss Freedom City competition, which she was heavily favoured to win, Rose adopted a rebellious new attitude and wardrobe, taking up a series of increasingly dangerous extreme sports.

Taking greater and greater risks, Rose grew careless. Rounding a treacherous corner in a motorcycle race, she wiped out, he bike crashing into the sides of the course and exploding in a massive fireball. Astonishingly, Rose emerged from the conflagration unscathed, her feelings of invincibility apparently justified.

After the accident, Rose was approached by a distant relative and member of the ancient aristocracy known as the House of Cups. Rose’s miraculous survival marked her as a particularly strong member of the bloodline and a prime candidate to be the next Jack of Cups in the Tournament of Houses. All the newly named Jaci o’ Cups knew was that she’d found her way into the highest stakes contest of her career, and her mystically enhanced powers opened up a whole new level of thrill seeking opportunities.

Personality & Motivation:

As far as Rose is concerned, victory is the most important thing in the world, whether it’s beating an opponent or just the odds. Even then, competition only keeps her attention so long as it keeps her adrenaline pumping, which is no meagre feat, given her resistance to injury. Flighty and easily bored, Rose acts on every impulse with little regard to prior commitments, laws or consequences.

Rose tends to project a demure innocence while interacting with men and a dry arrogance around women, a hold over from her pageant days. Her fascination with Jack of all Blades stems in large part from her failure to fool him in that manner, as well as the challenge he’s presented her in their encounters. Regardless of those feelings, however, she fully intends to win the Tournament of Suits, which means defeating all of the other Jacks.

Powers & Tactics:

In addition to minor super strength and impressive durability, Rose can absorb the energy from otherwise damaging attacks and use it to grow to a maximum height of just over sixteen feet. This increases her physical capabilites several times over.

In combat, Rose tends to provoke an attack by taunting or simply ignoring a threat, confident in her ability to withstand the resulting assualt. Once at her maximum height, she wades into the thickest available fighting, picking up and crushing or tossing opponents. She also makes a habit of clapping her hands together with enough force to create a deafening shockwave.

Complications:

Competitive (Winning is even more important to Rose than her own safety.)

Crush (Rose’s interest in Jack of all Blades isn’t entirely professional.)

Enemies (The Jacks of the rival suits.)

Fickle (Rose may change goals or alliegences on a whim.)

Thrillseeker (Rose is an adrenaline junkie to the point of purposefully putting herself in unnecessary danger.)

Abilities: 18pp

Str: 10/18/34 full Growth (+0/+4/+12)

Dex: 14 (+2)

Con: 12/20 full Growth (+1/+5)

Int: 10 (+0)

Wis: 12 (+1)

Cha: 20 (+5)

Combat: 38pp

Attack: +12 (+10 full Growth)

Grapple: +16 (+32 full Growth)

Defence: +6/+3 (+4/+2 full Growth)

Knockback: -5 (-15 full Growth)

Initiative: +2

Saves: 21pp

Toughness: +13 (+1 Con, +12 Absorption)/+17 full Growth

Fortitude: +10 (+1 Con, +9)/+14 full Growth

Reflex: +5 (+2 Dex, +3)

Will: +10 (+1 Wis, +9)

Skills: 56r = 14pp

Bluff 2 (+7, +15 with Attractive)

Climb 9 (+15)

Diplomacy 2 (+7, +15 with Attractive)

Drive 13 (+15)

Intimidate 11 (+16/+20 full Growth)

Notice 6 (+7)

Sense Motive 4 (+5)

Swim 9 (+15)

Feats:12pp

Attractive 2

Chokehold

Equipment 2

Fearless

Improved Grab

Improved Grapple

Improved Pin

Power Attack

Skill Mastery 1 (Bluff, Climb, Drive, Swim)

Startle

Motorcycle (Speed 6, 500 mph)

Stats: Size: Medium; Strength: 15; Defense: 10; Toughness: 8; Cost: 10ep

Powers: 97pp

Absorption 12 [boost Growth, Extras: Both Types, Energy Storage, Power Feats: Slow Fade 2 (Energy Storage, Boost effect), Drawback: Maximum Boost to Growth 8] - 73pp

Enhanced Strength 8 - 8pp

Regeneration 8 [bruised 3/no action, Injured 5/standard action] - 8pp

Super-Strength 3 [Power Feats: Shockwave, Thunderclap] - 8pp

DC Block:

Unarmed -- DC 19/Toughness -- Bruised

Unarmed (full Growth) -- DC 27/Toughness -- Bruised/Injured

Costs: Abilities 18 + Combat 38 + Saves 21 + Skills 14 + Feats 12 + Powers 97 = Total Cost 200

Note: Like all of the Jacks, Rose's powers are the result of a mystically enhanced genetic mutation. This enhancement specifically allows her to channel absorbed damage into her Growth effect. Magic nullification prevents this, preventing her from Boosting her Growth or storing energy points (her Absorption continues to reduce Toughness DCs normally). Effects that nullify mutant powers shut her powers off entirely.

[Geez3r]

Alright, well there's a few problems with powers, most of it involving Absorption.

Absorption is essentially Protection, Impervious and Boost in one package. So Protection 10, Absorption 6 and your (base) Constitution of 12 gives you an effective +17 Toughness save bonus (Absorption is weird in that it reduces the DC rather than giving you a bonus to the roll but the net effect is the same). This of course breaks caps, and will then break caps further once your Absorption goes to work and further jacks up your Toughness save.

In addition, it seems that you've calculated that at maximum you can have Growth 8, enough for Huge size. This is incorrect, when you absorb an attack, it gives you a number of power points in a boost effect equal to Aborption rank x 2, in your case 12. This is enough to get to Large size because Growth costs 3 points per rank.

Also, the Linked Shockwave and Thunderclap doesn't quite work like that. Super-Strength power feats are in effect "based" off the points you put in Strength. This is why all Super-Strength PF's cost 2pp/rank, the same as the effective rank for Strength based attacks (ie: unarmed damage). Linking the effects would have a net cost per rank of 4pp/rank.

I haven't gone real in depth with the rest of the sheet, but my initial glance didn't find any errors.

[Gizmo]

Ah, I misunderstood the Protection component of Absorption; I thought it was just the Impervious extra without the Toughness bonus. In retrospect that doesn't really make a lot of sense. Let's see, if I took the extra Protection power down to Protection 4, would that set things right?

I did know she could get up past Growth 8 normally, though; that's why I put that restriction on her power as a drawback. Basically, I wanted to make it easier for her to build up a store of points to sustain the effect, in keeping with the 'cup' motif, but I didn't conceptualize her as being able to get crazy huge.

I don't completely follow with regards to the Super-Strength power feats. I'm probably just being thick, but I'm not seeing anything about the PFs costing more than usual in UP. Any chance you could lay it out for me one more time?

[Geez3r]

Ah, I misunderstood the Protection component of Absorption; I thought it was just the Impervious extra without the Toughness bonus. In retrospect that doesn't really make a lot of sense. Let's see, if I took the extra Protection power down to Protection 4, would that set things right?

Protection 6 by my calculations, see below.

I did know she could get up past Growth 8 normally, though; that's why I put that restriction on her power as a drawback. Basically, I wanted to make it easier for her to build up a store of points to sustain the effect, in keeping with the 'cup' motif, but I didn't conceptualize her as being able to get crazy huge.

How so? How could they attain Huge size, let alone anything larger. From my understanding of Boost, only the highest rank applies. So you can get a total of Boost 12 from your Absorption power, which grants 12 power points, not ranks. 12 power points is enough for 4 ranks, or Large size. If you've seen something that contradicts this, let me know.

I don't completely follow with regards to the Super-Strength power feats. I'm probably just being thick, but I'm not seeing anything about the PFs costing more than usual in UP. Any chance you could lay it out for me one more time?

No problem. You notice how all the Super-Strength PF's use their DC and area size based upon your Strength score? Super-Strength PF's are much like AP's in that they use the base power (your Strength score) to determine how much points the rest have room to play around with. To buy an additonal rank in Strength requires 2 points. Example: Strength 10 is Rank 0, Strength 12 is Rank +1. Thererfore, if you were to break down the various PF's you'll find that they also cost 2pp/rank. Shockwave for instance is Damage Extras: Cone Area Burst, which costs 2pp/rank. But, if you were to Link the effects, then they would have a cost of 4pp/rank, which is too expensive. Got it or need me to go over it again?

[Gizmo]

Sorry, I explained the Growth thing really poorly there. The idea was that a single absorbed hit gets her up to Growth 4, yes. With Slow Fade and Energy Storage, however, multiple hits should, I thought, enable her to Boost further than that. Am I misreading the Absorption power again?

I think I've got my head wrapped around the power feat issue now, thanks. I'll just drop one of them, then, or spend some of the extra points coming from the reduced Protection to buy the linked version correctly. It depends on what changes I still need to make to her Absorption, I guess!

[Geez3r]

Nope you're right. The Energy Storage power changes how the power works entirely. So yeah, it looks like you could indeed get up to the really high levels of Growth hypothetically, if I'm reading this right. But if you want to cap yourself at Huge size, I don't have a problem with that at the slightest.

So their Toughness save should be +11 at most normally, including the Absoption.

[Gizmo]

Alright, I took her Protection down to 4 ranks, which should bring her maximum toughness within her caps. I used 2 of the points that freed up to properly pay for her Linked Shockwave and Thunderclap, and put the other 4 into a touch of Regeneration, to represent a little extra hardiness without getting into the headache of mixing Absorption and Impervious. Does that solve everything?

[Geez3r]

You were good up until you linked Shockwave and Thunderclap. You simply don't have the points available to you to link them. You can have them separately, but you can't link them.

[Gizmo]

I was under the impression that the Linked extra was free provided that the character can only use the component powers together.

This modifier applies to two or more effects, linking them together so they only work in conjunction as a single power. ... This modifier does not change the cost of the component effects; simply add their costs together to get the new power’s cost.

It's not like I have my heart set on this or anything; I'm fine with them being unlinked, I just don't understand why it works differently in this case.

[Geez3r]

By Linking Shockwave and Thundercap, you effectively Link 2 different effects in the same Array, which by definition can't be used at the same time.

If you really want them linked together, then they'll have to be at half effectiveness, or rank 5 instead of rank 10; otherwise they are simply too expensive.

Shockwave = Damage Extras: General Area Cone = 2pp/ rank

Thunderclap = Dazzle (auditory) Extras: General Area Burst = 2pp/ rank

This modifier applies to two or more effects, linking them together so they only work in conjunction as a single power. ... This modifier does not change the cost of the component effects; simply add their costs together to get the new power’s cost.

Linked Shockwave & Thunderclap = 4pp/rank

These are based off the points you have "available" from purchasing Strength. At your max, you have 30 strength, enough for a +10 rank. Assuming you had purchased Strength normally, you would have spent 20 points to get this rank 10 effect. You will notice that to get a rank 10 effect for Shockwave or Thunderclap also costs 20 points. Linking the effects gives you 4pp/rank, so at most you can afford a rank 5 effect because you still have the same budget of 20 points.

[Gizmo]

Man, who knew vanilla Super-Strength could get so complicated? Labeling those options as Power Feats rather than Alternate Powers is pretty misleading. Regardless, the offending linkage has been removed.

[Geez3r]

It's because they're more a genre convention than anything else. So they follow their own psuedo sub-set of rules. *shrug*

Anyways, 1 more thing, Super Strength 3 w/ 2 PF's costs 8pp not 10pp, you got 2 more points to spend.

[Gizmo]

Oy. Stuck them into Regeneration.

[Geez3r]

And now I can call it Approved.

[angrydurf]

What are the descriptors for the non-absorption powers? Mutant?

[Gizmo]

Yes, precisely.

As a point of interest, Rose is unusual among the 'Jacks' in that her inherent mutant powers manifested prior to mystical enhancement. The result is that her abilities are a little more overt than those of her peers, with or without the magical component. Generally speaking, representatives of the House of Cups tend to be showy and very straightforward, whereas the Coins have a self-absorbed, bourgeois attitude, the Swords are soldiers who favour martial prowess over reliance on superhuman powers and the Staves are the most secretive and adept at sorcery. Yay, world building!

[angrydurf]

Alright looks good to me Approved