Character Creation Help - Proteus

[kanly]

Hiya,

I am new to the board and am attempting to create my first character for the game. I would greatly appreciate it if you could go over her with a fine toothed comb and help me finish up crafting her. I know I could likely just do her powers up as Shapeshifting 9 Limited -1 (always made of Green Protoplasm) but that seems EXTREMELY generic and far too broad reaching. Any advice is welcome.

Characters Name: Rhea “Proteus†Chloris

Power Level: 10 (150/150)

Trade-Offs: 0 Attack for 0 Damage, 0 Defense for 0 Toughness

Unspent PP: 0

Alternate Identity:

Age: 18 (born: 11/24/1992; Apparent Age: Varies)

Gender: Other (Formerly Female)

Height: Varies (Normally 5’6â€

Weight: 160 Lbs

Eyes: Light Green

Hair: Green

Description: An emerald green sphere roughly the size of a beach ball hangs from the ceiling. Slowly a pair of tendrils emerge from the surface. The surface of the tendrils begin to ripple and change shape until they appear to be a pair of athletic female arms dangling from the ball. A third tendril, larger than the other two begins to emerge between them and takes on the appearance of a young woman's head. One of the hands moves down to cover the mouth as the lips part and there is a soft sound much like a yawn. At the same time a pair of oval vacuoles take shape just behind the eyes giving them a little more definition. Quickly now the rest of a body emerges from the rapidly diminishing sphere until in its place there is a perfectly formed (though still entirely emerald green) young woman hanging from the ceiling, her long ponytail flowing up her back instead of down toward the floor.

She begins to meander across the room toward a full length tri-fold mirror much like they have in dressing rooms. Reaching it, one of her legs stretches down to the floor and she nonchalantly does what essentially amounts to a cartwheel down to the floor. Looking carefully into the mirror, her body ripples and suddenly, she is wearing a leotard and leg warmers made of the same material as the rest of her body. There is another yawning sound as she again covers her mouth. Then in a surprisingly normal sounding voice with just a hint of an east coast accent she says "God, I hate mornings." as she turns, heading for the door and the rest of her day.

History: Ever since she was six, Rhea Chloris had one ambition: Olympic gold. She practiced gymnastics six hours a day every day with her father Adonis Chloris, a former Greek Olympic gymnast himself.

By age 16 it seemed that her dreams were about to be fulfilled. She won the all-around at four national gymnastics championships (two as a junior in 2003 & 2004, and two as a senior in 2005 & 2006). She finished second all-around at the Gymnastics World Championship in 2005 (losing to teammate Dawn Gressen by the slimmest margin possible [.001 points]), and has won a total of nine medals at Worlds. However, just as she was getting ready for the Olympic trials, her routine medical exams noticed an irregularity in her blood work. A week later she was diagnosed with Leukemia and her dreams were dashed against the cruel shores of fate.

Knowing that standard treatment would rule out participation in the Olympics, her family was desperate to find an alternate form of treatment. They found it in the form of Dr. Holland Koda. Dr. Koda was the proprietor of a small California Bio-tech firm specializing in stem cell research to cure childhood diseases. His results were quite impressive and his procedures didn't involve any debilitating radiation or chemotherapy. Instead, the Proteus cells simply consumed and replaced the faulty cells with healthy ones. Rhea was even able to continue her training, although at a greatly reduced intensity.

Two months later, her leukemia in complete remission, Rhea began training again in earnest. Everything was going fine until during a particularly intense training session, one of her wrists buckled causing her to take a bad tumble. When she recovered, her hand was at a strange angle, but there was no pain.

Fearing that she had broken her wrist and was in shock, her parents rushed her to the ER. There they had her arm X-rayed only to discover that not only did she have no broken bones, she seemed to have no bones in her wrist at all. When they did a biopsy of the area all that they came up with was a strange greenish tissue that Rhea and her family instantly recognized. It looked identical to the chemically marked Proteus cells Dr. Koda had used in her treatments. Further testing showed that her wrist was not the only site so changed. It appeared those cells were functioning like a cancer in her body, replacing not only the diseased bone marrow cells, but any cells that they came into contact with. With the cancer metastasizing throughout her body, there was nothing the doctors could do for her and at its rate of growth, they projected that it would be terminal in just a few weeks.

However, Rhea wasn't exhibiting any standard signs of cancer. If any thing her energy levels were up and she was feeling better than she ever had before. It was determined that although the Proteus cells were spreading throughout her body and consuming it at an ever increasing rate, they were not in fact impairing it. As the cells destroyed one portion of her body, they took over it's function as they had been suppose to do with her bone marrow.

In the course of just a few days, there was nothing left of her original body, at which point the cells began to consume each other. However, as each cell absorbed into another, there was still no loss of function or mass. It was just fewer and fewer cells doing the same things that many had done. In the end, she was reduced down to a single cell, but one with remarkable abilities. Her dreams of Olympic gold had died long ago, but now perhaps a new dream was beginning to unfold.

Personality & Motivation: Rhea is a very focused and driven young woman. She has turned the time and energy which formerly fueled her Olympic dreams to understanding and controlling her new abilities.

Powers & Tactics: An intelligent, highly dexterous amoeba. Though her new body is fairly weak she is able to make use of her considerable acrobatics training in combat. Rhea is a skilled melee combatant who has several potent attacks usable at moderate range.

Complications: Bright green! Who is Dr Koda? Famous as an Olympic hopeful turned monster. Make Daddy proud.

In Brief: Amoebas got spirit? Yes they do. Amoebas got spirit! How ‘bout you?

Stats: -2+14+4+0+4+0 = 20pp

Str: 8 (-1)

Dex: 24/30 (+10)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 10 (+0)

Wis: 14 (+2)

Cha: 10 (+0)

Combat: 14+12 = 26pp

Attack: +7 (+10 melee, +7 ranged)

Grapple: +20 (+25 w Elongation)

Defense: +10 (3 base +3 dodge +4 dodge Focus) +3 Flat-footed

Knockback: -7

Initiative: +14

Saves: 4+0+4 = 8pp

Toughness: +10 (+2 Con, +3 Defensive Roll, +5 Impervious Protection)

Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4)

Reflex: +10 (+10 Dex, +0)

Will: +6 (+2 Wis, +4)

Skills: 44r = 11pp

Acrobatics 15 [5 ranks +10 Dex]

Climb -1 [0 ranks -1 Str]

Concentration 10 [8 ranks +2 Wis]

Disguise 0(30) [0 ranks +0 Cha (+30 Morph)]

Drive 11 [1 rank +10 Dex]

Escape Artist 10(15) [0 ranks +10 Dex (+5 Elongation)]

Knowledge (Life Sciences) 2 [2 ranks +0 Int]

Language 1 [English, Greek]

Medicine 3 [1 rank +2 Wis]

Notice 7 [5 ranks +2 Wis]

Search 2 [2 ranks +0 Int]

Sense Motive 10 [8 ranks +2 Wis]

Stealth 15 [5 ranks +10 Dex]

Survival 2 [0 ranks +2 Wis]

Swim 5 [6 ranks -1Str]

Feats: 19pp

Acrobatic Bluff

All-out Attack

Attack Focus: Melee 3

Defensive Roll 3

Dodge Focus 4

Grappling Block

Grappling Finesse

Interpose

Monkey Climber

Redirect

Skill Mastery- Acrobatics, Concentration, Notice, Stealth

Stunning Attack

Power Feats: pp cost paid in Powers not Feats

Ambidexterity*

Choke Hold*

Elusive Target*

Evasion 2*

Improved Grab*

Improved Grapple*

Improved Initiative*

Improved Pin*

Improved Throw*

Improved Trip*

Powers: 18+11+2+5+18+10+5 = 69pp

Corrosion 8 (Consumption; Flaws: Requires Grapple) [18pp] {16 base +2 AP}

AP: Snare 8 (Vacuoles; Extras: Engulf) {16pp}

AP: Strike 10 (Hardened tendrils; Power Feats: Split Attack 1 (Two targets)) {11 pp}

Enhanced Dexterity 6 (Amorphous form; Power Feats: Ambidexterity, Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Improved Initiative) [11pp]

Immunity 2 (Non-differentiated biomass (Immunity to critical hits)) [2pp]

Insubstantial 1 (Amorphous form; Extras: Continuous Duration +1; Flaws: Permanent -1) [5pp]

Morph 6 (Anything with same mass (3pts/rank); Flaws: limited -1 (Green protoplasm),; Power Feats: Dynamic) [18pp] {12 base +3 Dynamic +3 AP}

DAP: Additional Limbs 3 and Elongation 5 (Tendrils (Up to 5 extra limbs, Max Elongation 100’ Range increment 50’, +5 Escape & Grapple); Flaws: Duration: Concentration (Additional limbs); Power Feats: Dynamic, Chokehold, Improved Grab, Improved Pin, Improved Throw, Improved Trip) {12 pp}

AP: Flight 4, Leaping 2 and Swimming 5 (Flying fish form; Flaws: Gliding only (flight); Power Feats: Dynamic, Environmental Adaptation (Underwater Environment)) {12 pp}

DAP: Super-movement 6 (Slithering, Slow Fall, Sure Footed 1, Swinging, Wall-crawling 2; Power Feats: Dynamic) {12 pp}

Protection 5 (Cell membrane; Extras: Impervious toughness) [10pp]

Super senses 5 (Non-differentiated biomass (Radius: All senses)) [5pp]

Drawbacks: -3pp

Vulnerable (Gas Attack; common, Moderate; -3 Breathes with her entire body surface)

DC Block:

Corrosion 8 --- 23/(Fort/Toughness) --- Crit.20

Snare 8 --- 18/(Ref --- Bound

Strike 10 --- 25/Toughness --- Crit. 20

Unarmed Attack 10 --- 14/ Toughness --- Bludgeon, Crit. 20

Costs: Abilities (20) + Combat (26) + Saves (8) + Skills (11) + Feats (19) + Powers (69) - Drawbacks (3) = 150pp

[N/A]

I went ahead and moved this out of my optimization thread and gave it its own thread, so other people will see it and feel free to jump in with their own advice.

I'm honestly kinda burnt out on the whole "character optimization" thing at the moment. But I'll take a look at this when I get a chance, and I'll give you whatever advice comes to mind.

[kanly]

Sorry to hear about your burnout at optimization, though given the number of people you have helped it is certainly understandable. Thank you very much, both for the reposting my character where it will get more attention and for your offer of sage advice on the creation process.

[Raveled]

Let's take this in order, shall we?

Abilities work out mathematically. Incredible Dexterity seems an odd thing for what's essentially a huge cell, but since you never specified which Olympic sport she competes in, I'll let it pass.

If your base Defense modifier is +7, then it's +3 flat-footed. Things are generally rounded down on this board. If your base Def is +8, that's 16 PP, not 14. Otherwise adds up.

Fort comes out to +6, not +60, and you have +5 to Wis, not the +4 you have listed in the math.

First off, you don't have to list every single skill. If you don't have any ranks or particular modifiers (like Attractive or Morph) that affect the skill, then it's probably better not to list it, just to keep things tidier. Mechanically, they work out fine, but wouldn't she have some medical knowledge? She doesn't even have ranks in Know/Pop Culture.

Feats total up fine. SM gives you five skills, not four, so you get one more. If Feats are being bought with powers, please list them in the powers section: Keeps everything nice and tidy. BTW, where is Monkey Climber from? Some of the books are in contention.

Don't have my books so I can't do that section. However, with Morph, please state which version you're using.

Little more definition with her Drawback, please. She's weak against ANY sort of cloud-based attack? So if a water vill covered her with a fog of water droplets (APed off his water Blast) she'd be weak against it?

Math looks right except c.f. what I said about Combat and Saves.

[Dr Archeville]

Feats total up fine. SM gives you five skills, not four, so you get one more..

WRONG!

[Raveled]

WRONG!

:? Again, no books. Rest of my stuff stands, though.

[kanly]

Thanks Raveled,

I changed the levels in my saves and double checked on the defense bonus thing. I think that the main rule book seems to agreed with the way I had set it ...

(M&M 2nd ed p.32) DODGE BONUS

Half your defense bonus (rounded down) is a dodge bonus,

But, if it is being done the other way here I am happy to change it.

I went through her history and added several references to gymnastics for her, not just her father.

Monkey climber is from Warriors and Warlocks, it lets you substitute Acrobatics for Climb (a la Jackie Chan). I thought Shaen had suggested it as a way to maximize high dexterity in his optimization thread and so included it. If it isn't acceptable, I am happy to change it.

The power feats were listed under powers as well as in the feats section mostly so that I didn't forget about their existence.

Her Morph power is the 3 pt/rank version (anything with the same mass) brought down to 2 pts/rank via the limitation that everything she makes is bright green and translucent.

Her drawback is based on the fact that her entire skin is used for breathing, giving her a much greater surface area to absorb any gasses.

[Raveled]

The Def is fine mechanically, but if you want optimization I'd drop it down to +6 base. You'd keep the same flat-footed Def and could buy up to caps with another rank of Dodge Focus, while gaining 1 PP in the process. Or use one of your unspent points and boost your base Def to +8, making your flat-footed +4, and lose a rank of Dodge Focus.

You hit most of the combat caps, which is good, except for your damage. Most of your attacks are way under the caps for PL 10. I'd work on bringing that up; maybe lose a couple of arrays.

Couple things in regards to formatting: Add the total PP that each power at the end of the line, even if it's within an Array. And, you don't need to note Feats, Extras, et cetera unless the power actually has them.

[angrydurf]

To clarify Kanly. You are right as far as the RAW goes. It was misinterpreted a long time ago and we decided to stick with our way of doing it rather than have to update every character on the board to fix it, so its been house ruled as Raveled said.

[kanly]

Hold on, I'm confused. Your answer seems contradictory. Is the current def correct (i.e. with dodge bonus being 3 not 4 from a defense of 7) like it seems to say in the main book? That would give me a flat-footed def of 4 which if I were to drop it down to 6 would drop to 3. I thought that I was optimizing it by having 7 rather than 8 and thereby saving 1 pp.

Otherwise, if the def isn't correct I need to change something anyway.

I suppose I could pop some of my unused points into the attack array to boost it up to rank 7 easily enough. That would even let her add thrown and homing to her strike making little missiles that she throws which keep hopping around trying to skewer something which could eventually lead to powers like anatomical separation or duplication. If I need more points, I was thinking more of getting rid of the impervious on her toughness or making it physical only than dropping an array.

Speaking of arrays, for the pp of items in the arrays do you simply list the 1 point the thing actually costs or the theoretical amount it would be were it not in the array. The reason that I didn't list them is that I didn't see a spot for pp in the character template. Did I miss something?

[kanly]

Thanks Angrydurf! you posted while I was working on my response to Raveled.

[angrydurf]

Ok to put it simply we use half your base defense rounded down as your Flat footed defense. So even numbers are optimized. So a base defense of 7 is a 3 Flat footed defense same as a 6, an 8 will raise your Flat footed to 4

[kanly]

OK! Got it, and will adjust Proteus accordingly. Thanks for the clarification. Did I simply overlook that in the house rules section? Color me embarrassed.

[angrydurf]

Probably. Its a pretty small line in there and easy to miss.

[kanly]

OK fixed, and the extra dodge focus actually works with the gymnast origin. I also saw where I accidentally listed supersenses as a AP of my protection and corrected that. So, I now have 4 extra PP and am wondering what else I can do to fine tune the build, since as Raveled pointed out, my damage levels leave a bit to be desired (Strike is currently my only attack that meets my cap. I suppose I could actually change the super senses back to being a AP explained by thinning out the cell membrane for extra sensitivity which would give me 4 additional PP.

[Raveled]

I don't know what the cost of Corrosion is, but you could boost that another couple ranks. Give you more PP for the Array, too.

[Sandman XI]

Corrosion is Drain Toughness (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked/Damage [Extra], Range/Ranged) [5pp]

[Raveled]

Ah. So not an attack at all. Well in that case I'd point out that you lack a ranged attack; maybe a Blast flavored to be a stream of acid?

[kanly]

UP lists Corrosion at a cost of 3 pp since it has a range of touch

Disintegrate is the ranged version at a cost of 5 pp

So, I will need to reconfigure it.

[kanly]

It is intentional that she lacks a ranged attack. While I might pick up something later with XP but for now the 100' that her elongation gives her should hopefully be enough (and with her radius senses it is without a range penalty which while a minor aspect is pretty nice anyway). Additionally, I have altered he Corrosion to require a grapple check to bring it back up to rank 6. Dumping my 4 remaining pp into Corrosion to boost it (and Snare) to rank 8 are probably a good idea. However, strike is already maxed out for ranks, any suggestions for what to do with the extra 5 points (I was already 1 underspent before).

As a side note, her lack of knowledge pop culture or the like was actually intentional as well. She spent almost every waking moment prior to her illness training for her gymnastics career to the exclusion of all else (a sad state really). I have changed her skills to have MINIMAL medical and life science skill appropriate to someone who was deathly ill and trying to understand why. I also gave her the Greek language skill that you would expect of a first generation immigrant's child.

[Dr Archeville]

Corrosion is Drain Toughness (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked/Damage [Extra], Range/Ranged) [5pp]

No, that's Disintegration.

Corrosion is Drain Toughness (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked Damage) [3pp/rank]

[quotemyname]

WRONG!

WRONG!

Corrosion is Drain Toughness (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked Damage) [3pp/rank]

FIXED

[kanly]

thanks for all the help. I have now moved Proteus to the character bank