Cubist Posted November 14, 2010 Posted November 14, 2010 Greetings, folks! My name is Quentin Long, but you can call me 'Cubist'. I'm a total noob with respect to Mutants & Masterminds, but I've got mass quantities of experience with many other superhero RPGs, so with any luck I'll get up to speed in a reasonable amount of time. The character I've got in mind is one I created a few years back for a fannish shared-world project built around the premise of an extraterrestrial pathogen with properties unknown to modern science; an ET disease which can severely remodel the bodies of its victims, some of whom gain super-powers out of the deal. Yes, this sounds like the WILD CARDS series,but the shared-world actually predates WILD CARDS, so that's alright. I'm not sure if the Freedom City setting has any analogous ET diseases, but there are certainly ET badguys who inflict heinous biological experiments on helpless victims, so I'm not gonna sweat the details... Anyway, my character's hero-name is Jubatus. He's sorta-kinda like Ecalsneerg's Animal Scientist archetype, the major point of deviance being that he's closer to being an engineer than a scientist. In brute physical terms, he's a cheetah with an oversized braincase (enough to maintain his human intellect) and forepaws whose digits are somewhat more dexterous/useful than those of a 'natural born' cheetah. He's got a high-speed metabolism that renders him permanently stuck on 'fast forward'; fortunately, he also has Time Control (with some quirky side-effects...), which allows him to slow down to interact more-or-less normally with normal-speed people. Of more interest in this context, his Time Control works both ways, so he can be a bargain-basement speedster... I've previously [goto=http://anthrozine.com/clmn/clm.wanderer.09.html]statted him out[/goto] in Hero System terms, so it'll be interesting to compare and contrast the MnM writeup that will be made here. Ideally, Jube should be built on a foundation of whatever's normal for cheetahs, with a side order of Time Control and so on. Looking at the MnM 2nd edition rulebook, I don't see a cheetah writeup in the Creatures section of Chapter 11, so I'll improvise off of the Cat and Lion writeups. And rather than try to cover everything in one TL;DR post, I'll break things up into a series of smaller, more manageable, posts...
Cubist Posted November 14, 2010 Author Posted November 14, 2010 Ability scores STR: Jube stands about 6 feet tall and 100 lbs. This means he's lost a lot of muscle mass, as compared to his former (human) self, so he should have below-average STR. At the same time, cheetah muscles are good enough to propel them at 70 MPH, so he's not far below average. I'm thinking STR 9, maybe 8. DEX: Cheetahs should have high DEX just because. On top of that, Jube's high-speed metabolism means his nerve impulses travel thru his body at a much higher speed than normal. All in all, Jube's DEX should be sickeningly high -- say, DEX 29. CON: That 'high-speed metabolism' schtick means Jube heals significantly faster than normal. At the same time, he is 6' and 100 lbs, so he's got a somewhat high degree of innate fragility. Put it together, and I'm thinking CON 13 or so. INT: Accelerated nerve impulses = super-high INT. At the same time, Jube's brain has been partially rewired to animal (cheetah) specs, which should logically result in a penalty to INT. After the smoke clears, I think INT 19 sounds reasonable. WIS: The page-30 description of Wisdom says this ability covers strength of will and intuition. This is a problem, as I see Jube as having insane quantities of willpower, but not so much intuition. [shrug] What the heck; I'll split the difference, and give him Wis 17. CHA: I see Jube as having a forceful personality, but not so much on the physical attractiveness scale (he looks like a cheetah, what can I say?). CHA 14, maybe?
Cubist Posted November 14, 2010 Author Posted November 14, 2010 The physical instrument Dude's a cheetah. Strictly speaking, Jube isn't even built to stand upright, but he does anyway because he's too damned stubborn to 'give in' to the animal side of him... Anyway. The cheetah's celebrated 70-MPH top end looks like 7 ranks in Speed, to me. Jube has claws and fangs, hence Strike, but these built-in weapons aren't very good. The lion writeup on pg 231 has +5 damage from claws; I'm thinking maybe 3 ranks in Strike, for Jube. Super-senses, for sure: Low-light vision, scent, tracking, ultra-hearing (for high frequencies, not low -- cats' ears tend to bottom out around 100 Hz). Super-movement: Wall-crawling, thanks to the claws giving Jube that much extra grip. Slow Fall. Sure-footed.
Cubist Posted November 14, 2010 Author Posted November 14, 2010 Jube's Time Control Because of the high-speed metabolism, Jube 'lives' 6* faster than normal. I'm thinking this should be 3-4 ranks in Time Control with the flaws 'Permanent' and 'Limited: Self-only' (that last one because factory-standard Time Control explicitly allows you to use the power on other characters, and Jube's TIme Control is strictly a one-man thing). He should also have 3 'extra' Ranks of Time Control that he can switch on and off normally; these would have the "Limited: Self-only' flaw, but not 'Permanent'. As I mentioned above, Jube's Time Control has some quirks. Like, when he's TC'ing faster than normal, gravity gets weaker for him; when he's slowing down (as he does to interact with normal-speed people), gravity gets stronger. As well, anything with a wavelength -- this being sounds and light -- gets "Doppler shifted" when Jube does his TC thing. These quirks are part of Jube's TC, and therefore only affect him personally, and then only when he's using the TC power. I'm not sure how this should be written up in MnM; hopefully someone out there will have an idea. Because of the gravity thing, Jube should have the feat Environmental Adaptation (low gravity, including freefall).
Dr Archeville Posted November 14, 2010 Posted November 14, 2010 Welcome to FC PbP! First bit of advice: Avoid odd-numbered attributes. The only time they'd ever be of us is certain Boosts or Drains, which really aren't that common to begin with. 70 mph running would be Speed 2, actually. Speed 2 is 25 mph, but running all out (i.e., doing nothing in a round but running as fast as you can) quadruples that, to 100 mph. Super-Senses look fine. "'lives' x6 faster" would be Time Control 2 (x5) or 3 (x10). Permanent wouldn't be a Flaw, since Time Control (and Super-Seed) are Sustained, and going from Sustained to Permanent is a +0 change. Personal only would be a valid flaw for Time Control, turning it into Super-Speed (i.e., removing the Affects Others and Ranged extra from Time Control). I'm assuming he'd have some Extra on his other Time Control that'd buy off the Permanent flaw on his other Time Control so he'd be able to interact at normal speed. Instead of Environmental Control, why not a low level Gravity Control?
Geez3r Posted November 14, 2010 Posted November 14, 2010 Welcome to the boards, we're just going to go down the line here and I'll give you my opinion on each item in succession. Abilities: Ok, just a general note, buying odd numbered Ability scores doesn't grant any mechanical benefit at all with the one exception that it provides a minor buffer against Drains. Generally speaking, you want to purchase your Ability Scores in even increments. Strength: I'd recommend a significantly higher expenditure in Strength, as most human/ animal hybrids in comics are at least strong humans (16+) if not higher. This ties into the inability to hit caps at the current time, see below. Dexterity: You might want to lower it slightly, but I don't have any problem with a high Dex per se. Constitution: It's a super hero game, so your character is most likely in pretty good shape. I always suggest a Constitution of 14 or higher, but I'm not going to split hairs on this. Intelligence/ Wisdom /Charisma: Seem to be pretty much spot on for what you want. ------------------------- Speed, Rank 7 speed would equate to running 1,000 mph. All powers in M&M use the time and value progression table. When it says that your speed starts at 10, go to the Time and Value Progression table located on page 70 of the Core book, and find the Value that says "10". For each additional rank, move one more step down the table. So rank 2 Speed is 25mph. Then 50, then 100, etc. Strike: You'll note that the Lion write up is terrible. Why is it terrible? Because there is no Strike and/or Damage power representing claws and teeth. The +5 Damage from the Lion is resulting from its Strength of 21. But for our purposes, Strike 3 would be fine. However, with your lacking Strength, and our House Rules on Trade-offs, it would be physically impossible for your character to "hit caps". This is a super-hero game. Not only are you expected to fight, you are expected to win (even if just barely). Super Senses/Movement: These look fine. ---------------------------- Time Control Ok, I'll be blunt. Erase Time Control from your mind, it is not what you want. M&M is an effects based game. You buy the effect and then slap a descriptor on it that describes what you it does over that. We have 2 very fast Speedsters right now: Dynamo and Zephyr. Both have high levels in the Speed and Quickness powers. Dynamo runs fast. Zephyr slows down time for everyone but herself. Same effect(s), different descriptors. This leads me to my second point. Generally speaking, the "Powers" section of UP is useless. All the Powers section does is take several Effects from the previous chapter and mash them together, without telling you how it is done. Time Control happens to be the worst offender of this. Time Control is the "Super-Speed" Power with the Extras: Affects Others and Ranged. The Super-Speed Power contains each of the following Effects: Speed Quickness Enhanced Feat: Improved Initiative Array. The two speedsters I mentioned above do not use Super-Speed as written. They use the Effects given above seperately, and in the quantities they desire with the Super-Speed descriptor (or Time Manipulation for Zephyr). In addition, by making Speed Permanent, it will require you to take a move action every single round to move some distance. You could literally not stay in one spot. Having a perpetually sped up perception would best be covered as a complication.
Supercape Posted November 14, 2010 Posted November 14, 2010 Nice character, and welcome to FCPBM. I'm not a ref, but for whats it worth, I will echo what has already been said. Putting it all together you may want to "Build" it something like this: Feats: Environmental Adaptation (Low Gravity, High Gravity) Not actually powers, but I am presuming that given all his experience of these effects, he would suffer no penalty in these environments. If you see them as powers, just build them as Enhanced Trait Power with these feats. Powers: Speed 3: 50 mph (Representing his cheetah form running) Powerfeat: Innate (as its part of his natural form, it cant be drained etc) 4 PP Linked Powers: ("Time Control") Speed 2: (Increases Speed to 250mph) 2 PP Quickness x5: 2 PP Enhanced Trait: Improved Initiative -2 (+8) 2 PP Supermovement 1: Slow Fall 2 PP The doppler effect and the like would not really have any regular mechanical effect, I would just leave it as part of the descriptors. You may wish to but some sustained (or even permanent) duration immunities such as: Gravity or Time Powers. The latter could be bought with the power loss drawback: only whilst moving (for instance).
Geez3r Posted November 14, 2010 Posted November 14, 2010 No, x5 speed. Which is rank 2. Not "Quickness 5".
Cubist Posted November 17, 2010 Author Posted November 17, 2010 More bite-sized post-ettes... Jube's ability scores After reading the comments and letting it percolate in my brain, here's my current notion for this bit of the character's writeup: STR 6 -- One: Jube is about Speed and Precision, not Brute Force. Two: I deliberately created Jube as an explicit subversion of certain tropes which were fairly common in the setting he was built for, so it's kind of appropriate that he breaks FC's "half-animal person iz STRONG!!!" trope. Three: Given the gravity-tweaking side-effect of Jube's Timeshift power, and given the fact that his 'native' speed is 6* faster than normal, it makes sense that Jube's normal-speed STR is pitifully deficient. Four: Again given the gravity-tweaking thing, Jube's effective STR should increase significantly when he speeds up (and I'll deal with this when I'm nailing down the powers)... and since he'll be revved-up in combat, hopefully this won't handicap Jube too much. DEX 36 -- I've just learned that FC uses the term "Defense-shifted" for characters whose major defense is Not Getting Hit. Jube is very extremely Defense-shifted! CON 14 -- THis should help Jube survive just in case he ever does get tagged. INT 22 -- Benchmarks table on pg 30 of the MnM2E book says this is on the high end of human, and below the low end of superhuman, which sounds about right to me. WIS 18 CHA 14
Dr Archeville Posted November 17, 2010 Posted November 17, 2010 Something very important to keep in mind: unlike in both Champions/the HERO System and D20 System games, Dexterity has absolutely no impact on your defense. (Nor does it affect your ranged attack, nor does Strength affect your melee attack.) Dex does impact your Reflex save, though, which is used in avoiding Snares and Area effects.
Cubist Posted November 17, 2010 Author Posted November 17, 2010 Jube's (Hero System) skills As mentioned in a previous post-ette, I've already written up Jube for HeroSystem; I’m going to cut-and-paste the whole list here, with each HeroSys skill being accompanied by my best guess at a suitable MnM equivalent. One aspect of Jube’s skills is stuff which reflects the partial neural rewiring he got as part of his transformation into a semi-feline creature -- instinctual feline-type behavior, basically. As well, Jube is a technocrat; he makes his living as a freelancer in the fields of technical writing and troubleshooting, with sufficient expertise to make it worth people’s while to re-hire him. And finally, Jube’s days are about 150 hours long, thanks to his innate 6* speed boost; this means he always has time on his hands, and he does a lot of reading and/or research on random topics... First up, the feline-type ‘skills’: Breakfall -- Redundant; covered by Super-Movement: Slow fall, hence no need for an explicit Breakfall-type skill in MnM Stealth -- Skill: Stealth, 1pp Shadowing -- Not sure what MnM construct, if any, is the equivalent to this HeroSys skill. Maybe it's subsumed under Skill: Stealth? Mimicry -- Skill: Perform (Imitate sounds), 2 pp. Cheetahs have versatile vocal tracts which can produce a very wide range of sounds; they can do bird calls that are sufficiently convincing to serve as the basis for a hunting technique! So Jube's throat is a serious sound-effects generator... which is controlled by human-level intelligence. Climbing -- Skill: Climb (1pp). Am inclined to leave this out of Jube’s MnM writeup, since it looks to be covered by Super-movement: Wall-crawling, as best i can tell. Yes? No? Next, Jube’s making-a-living skills: Professional Skill: Troubleshooter -- Skill: Profession (Troubleshooter), 1pp Professional Skill: Technical Writer -- Skill: Profession (Technical Writer), 1pp Knowledge Skill: Graphic Design -- Skill: Knowledge (Graphic Design), 1pp Knowledge Skill: Writing -- Skill: Knowledge (Writing), 1pp Cramming -- Inapplicable? If there’s an MnM construct which is a suitable equivalent here, I’m not seeing it. Familiarity w/Inventor -- Feat: Inventor, 1pp Deduction -- Inapplicable? This is basically an “ask the GM for a hint†game-mechanic in HeroSys. As with Cramming, it’s not clear to me that there’s an MnM construct which is a suitable equivalent. Electronics -- Skill: Craft (Electronics), 1pp Computer Programming -- Skill: Computers, 1pp Cryptography -- Redundant, as it’s covered by Skill: Computers. I think. Bureaucratics -- Skill: Knowledge (Bureaucratic procedures), 1pp Systems Operation -- Hmm. The MnM construct Skill: Disable Device covers some of the stuff you’d use Systems Op for, but what about making use of an otherwise-unfamiliar piece of machinery? Maybe give Jube a suitable Knowledge skill to go with Skill: Disable Device? Security System -- As with Systems Op just above, Skill: Disable Device covers part of the territory here. Again, give Jube Skill: Disable Device with a suitable Knowledge skill on the side? Trading -- Not sure; perhaps Skill: Knowledge (making deals) might be appropriate here? Other stuff not in either of the first two categories: +4 Overall Skill Levels -- This reflect’s Jube’s general level of overall competence. Not sure of the MnM equivalent, if any; perhaps I should just make sure Jube always has some spare Hero points to spend on making skill rolls? Maybe give him Feat: Jack-of-All-Trades? Knowledge Skill: All the World’s Religions -- Skill: Knowledge (All the World’s Religions), 2pp. Knowledge Skill: General Trivia -- Feat: Well-Informed, 2pp. Language: Spanish (basic fluency) -- Skill: Language (Spanish), 1pp Language: French (basic fluency) -- Skill: Language (French), 1pp Familiarity w/Criminology -- Skill: Investigate, 1pp. In Jube’s ‘home’ setting, he has this because he’s often had to file complaint reports with the police, and therefore has a certain amount of expertise with this sort of thing; in FC, he has it because it just makes sense for a superhero to have it. Combat Driving -- Skill: Drive, 1pp. Superfast reflexes = decent expertise as a driver.
Cubist Posted November 17, 2010 Author Posted November 17, 2010 Something very important to keep in mind: unlike in both Champions/the HERO System and D20 System games, Dexterity has absolutely no impact on your defense. Hmm. That seems... odd, to me. Well, if it turns out that I need to shave a few points off of something, DEX is a prime candidate; otherwise, I'm okay with a preposterously high DEX of 36.
Cubist Posted November 17, 2010 Author Posted November 17, 2010 Jube's Bad Stuff In Jube's "home setting", there is an organized KKK-alike hate group whose reason for existing is to make life miserable for people like Jube. Does any analogous hate group exist in FC? If so, Jube is definitely on their 'hit list' -- which I think would qualify as a Complication. As well, the ur-Jube is kind of a basket case, psychologically speaking; it's part of his charm. It also comes with the territory, when you've suffered an unwanted, involuntary transformation, and you've got a statistically decent chance of your mind regressing to a feral animal state, and you're so bleeding fast that there's no one around who's physically capable of stopping your rampage if you do go feral... But I digress. The FC version of Jube is going to be significantly less broken, but still not at all happy about his permanent fur coat. Possible Complications: Failure to accept his current body (which could lead to Search For A Cure storylines), Self-Loathing (not uncommon amongst people who have suffered deformity in Real Life; something that can/will be ameliorated during play, i'd expect), and Code Vs. Causing Injury (i.e., Jube is reeeaallllyyy worried about killing people). Jube has a smattering of physical quirks which really ought to be reflected in Drawbacks, except that it's not clear if any of them are serious enough to be worth giving the boy Hero points for: Lousy color discrimination, no ability to hear sounds below 100 Hz (feline ears have a lousy low end), reduced manual dexterity on the hands, and a 'speaking' voice which sounds like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop tried to create spoken words by splicing together judiciously-selected sound effects (which is pretty much accurate, since Jube's vocal tract is physically incapable of producing real speech). Maybe a catch-all "Cheetah handicaps" Drawback to cover all that stuff? Jube's high-speed metabolism forces him to consume mass quantities of food -- 6* speed means 6* the calorie intake -- and he can crash pretty hard if he hasn't eaten anything in the past couple hours. This prolly counts as a Complication, or perhaps it's part of that catch-all "Cheetah handicaps" Drawback? Jube has somewhat overactive Danger Sense hardwired into his brain; sometimes it activates his Timeshift power involuntarily. This may or may not be worth incorporating into the final character sheet in some form, not really sure.
Supercape Posted November 17, 2010 Posted November 17, 2010 For What its worth, I'll throw in how I would break down these: Jube's (Hero System) skills First up, the feline-type ‘skills’: Breakfall -- Redundant; covered by Super-Movement: Slow fall, hence no need for an explicit Breakfall-type skill in MnM Stealth -- Skill: Stealth, 1pp Shadowing -- Not sure what MnM construct, if any, is the equivalent to this HeroSys skill. Maybe it's subsumed under Skill: Stealth? Mimicry -- Skill: Perform (Imitate sounds), 2 pp. Cheetahs have versatile vocal tracts which can produce a very wide range of sounds; they can do bird calls that are sufficiently convincing to serve as the basis for a hunting technique! So Jube's throat is a serious sound-effects generator... which is controlled by human-level intelligence. Climbing -- Skill: Climb (1pp). Am inclined to leave this out of Jube’s MnM writeup, since it looks to be covered by Super-movement: Wall-crawling, as best i can tell. Yes? No? Stealth: You may want to buy 2 pp (or more) of stealth skill to be competent. However, it does depend on your final DEX score (Which provides a bonus to stealth). I would aim for a total bonus of +10 at least, +20 or more if you really want to be a stealth character who is not going to be seen. This probably means at least 2pp worth of Stealth (8 ranks in stealth plus your DEX bonus which as it stands is +13). Shadowing is subsumed under stealth. Climbing is not really required if you have Wall crawling. 5 Ranks of Climb allows you to keep your dodge bonus when you have Wall Crawling 1. Alternatively, Wall Crawling 2 allows you to keep your dodge bonus. Also, Wall Crawling can be nullified as a power (unless you buy the power feat: Innate). The choice here is up to you. I would probably go for Wall Crawling 2 with innate. Mimicry is best handled as the feature power (which costs 1pp). It is actually specifically mentioned as a possible feature power in Ultimate Power, Giving a +10 bonus to bluff or perform checks to convince others your sounds are real (which means you may want some skills in bluff or some kind of perform like singing, acting, etc). Next, Jube’s making-a-living skills: Professional Skill: Troubleshooter -- Skill: Profession (Troubleshooter), 1pp Professional Skill: Technical Writer -- Skill: Profession (Technical Writer), 1pp Knowledge Skill: Graphic Design -- Skill: Knowledge (Graphic Design), 1pp Knowledge Skill: Writing -- Skill: Knowledge (Writing), 1pp Cramming -- Inapplicable? If there’s an MnM construct which is a suitable equivalent here, I’m not seeing it. Familiarity w/Inventor -- Feat: Inventor, 1pp Deduction -- Inapplicable? This is basically an “ask the GM for a hint†game-mechanic in HeroSys. As with Cramming, it’s not clear to me that there’s an MnM construct which is a suitable equivalent. Electronics -- Skill: Craft (Electronics), 1pp Computer Programming -- Skill: Computers, 1pp Cryptography -- Redundant, as it’s covered by Skill: Computers. I think. Bureaucratics -- Skill: Knowledge (Bureaucratic procedures), 1pp Systems Operation -- Hmm. The MnM construct Skill: Disable Device covers some of the stuff you’d use Systems Op for, but what about making use of an otherwise-unfamiliar piece of machinery? Maybe give Jube a suitable Knowledge skill to go with Skill: Disable Device? Security System -- As with Systems Op just above, Skill: Disable Device covers part of the territory here. Again, give Jube Skill: Disable Device with a suitable Knowledge skill on the side? Trading -- Not sure; perhaps Skill: Knowledge (making deals) might be appropriate here? Other stuff not in either of the first two categories: +4 Overall Skill Levels -- This reflect’s Jube’s general level of overall competence. Not sure of the MnM equivalent, if any; perhaps I should just make sure Jube always has some spare Hero points to spend on making skill rolls? Maybe give him Feat: Jack-of-All-Trades? Knowledge Skill: All the World’s Religions -- Skill: Knowledge (All the World’s Religions), 2pp. Knowledge Skill: General Trivia -- Feat: Well-Informed, 2pp. Language: Spanish (basic fluency) -- Skill: Language (Spanish), 1pp Language: French (basic fluency) -- Skill: Language (French), 1pp Familiarity w/Criminology -- Skill: Investigate, 1pp. In Jube’s ‘home’ setting, he has this because he’s often had to file complaint reports with the police, and therefore has a certain amount of expertise with this sort of thing; in FC, he has it because it just makes sense for a superhero to have it. Combat Driving -- Skill: Drive, 1pp. Superfast reflexes = decent expertise as a driver. Profession skills aren't often used in FCPBM. You may want the wealth 1 feat if you see him as comfortably rich (short of a millionaire) but otherwise he is Joe average wealth. The Inventor feat is only really useful if you are cramming a lot of Knowledge (Technology) and Craft (usually electronic or mechanical) skills. "Deduction" is available to every hero once a game by expending an HP. Knowledge: Technology is probably the closest skill for making sense of, and using, unfamiliar technology. Knowledge: Business will probably subsume Trading and Bureaucratics You can't buy +4 to all skill levels (outside some complicated and expensive and borderline cheesy powers), Jack of All Trades allows you to use all skills untrained which is the nearest thing. The other option is getting Beginners Luck and a few ranks of the Luck feat - allowing you to burn an HP and get 5 skill ranks in any skill with less than 5 ranks. This will eat up valuable HP but allows you higher levels of expertise. Putting together your skills, I would suggest they run at: Computers Craft: Electronics Disable Device Driving Investigate Knowledge: Current Events Knowledge: Business Knowledge: Technology Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy Language (2 Ranks: Spanish and French) Profession: Writer If you have Jack of All Trades you may wish to drop driving - a high Dex would give you a large bonus to this skill anyway, and Jack of All Trades allows you to make "training required" checks even if you have no skill ranks in the skill. You may wish to consider skills in: Gather Information: Asking around for word on the street, etc. This differs from Investigate which is analysing clues (you may wish to replace Investigate with Gather Information). Acrobatics: Probably worth getting, if you are a DEX based character. Diplomacy and/or Bluff (or even Intimidate) one social skill is probably handy, and appropriate for the character. Notice: All round useful "perception" skill. Sense Motive: Aside from being handy and possibly conceptually appropriate to spot liars, this is a very useful skill for defence shifted characters as it protects you against feints - if someone successfully feints against you, you will loose your dodge bonus which will be nasty. Remember 1 PP buys you 4 ranks in a skill. Very broadly speaking 1-4 Ranks is "some expertise", 5-8 is "Enough to make a living in it", 9-12 is "Renowned Expert", 13+ is "World Expert". For many skills there is some advantage in getting a total bonus in increments of 5: Particularly Knowledge skills - so if your INT is 22, and you have a +6 bonus, then 4 ranks (1 PP) in the knowledge skills would give and impressive and tidy +10 bonus. Finally you may wish to add these feats: which cost 1PP each: Acrobatic Bluff: Particularly it you get Acrobatics Skill - allows you to trick and fool opponents and leave them flat footed. Connected: Make a diplomacy check to call in some favour. Contacts: Make Gather Information checks extremely quickly (just pick up your mobile phone..) Elusive Target: Strictly optional, but adds another -4 penalty for ranged attacks on you when you are in mellee. May fit with your dodge-focussed character. Evasion 1 (or 2): You are probably going to end up with a very high reflex save, and this feat is a handy one if you do. Hide in Plain Sight: If you are going heavily down the stealth route, this may be worth taking. Skill Mastery: You can choose four skills and "Take 10" on the roll even if under stress, which is handy when you really want to make sure you avoid some bum luck. E.g. Acrobatics, Disable Device, Craft (Electronic), Drive [for instance] Well Informed: When you meet a new organisation or person, you can make a Gather Information roll to get some insight into them. Uncanny Dodge: I would strongly recommend getting this feat for very defence orientated characters. It stops you loosing your dodge bonus when you are flat footed (hopefully you wont be) from surprise or lack of Initiative. When you buy it, you specify a sense type (maybe hearing or smell in your case). You can even by another, or several ranks in it to add additional sense types (if your attacker is invisible to that sense type, or you are dazzled for instance, the uncanny dodge won't work). There are other feats you may wish to get of course, depending on the rest of your build. Apologies this was very long winded etc! Final Note: Attack/Defence bonuses are decoupled from statistics in M&M - I know this sounds very odd but it actually allows for a much more flexible design of characters - Think about a highly agile character who may be cursed to attract all attacks as pennance - or a clumsy oaf who, nevertheless, can see 5 seconds into the future and may thus be extremely effective at shifting his bulk "just so" to avoid an attack. I appreciate that was all very long winded, sorry!
Cubist Posted November 18, 2010 Author Posted November 18, 2010 This is as good a time as any: Thank you, Dr. Archeville, Geez3r, and Supercape, for your comments and observations. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up using at least some of said comments/observations as they stand, without even filing off the serial numbers... Why is this guy a hero? The ur-Jube's backstory includes a rather ugly five-against-one encounter with violent bigots; during this battle, Jube's Timeshift power switched itself on and he kinda went berserk, and he thrashed all five of his attackers... one of them so badly hurt that he eventually died in hospital. For the FC version of Jube, how about if that happened, after which Jube turned himself in, plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, and the judge sentenced him to psychological counseling plus N hours of community service (i.e., hooking up with a local superteam for training and yada yada yada)? Obliterating the speed limit As per Geez3r's advice, I'm giving Time Control a miss. Jube's max. running speed of 70 MPH, together with a Timeshifted acceleration factor of 40*, yields a top speed of 2,800 MPH -- a bit more than Mach 4. Since 7 ranks in Super-Speed gives you 1,000 MPH, I think Jube should have 8 ranks in Super-Speed. For the gravity-tweaking side effect, what about 8 ranks in Super-Strength, with the modifier Linked (to Super-Speed)? For the "Doppler shift" side-effect that affects light and sound, I'm thinking of maybe throwing in some appropriate Super-Senses with the modifier "Limited: Only when [number] ranks of Super-speed are active". Yes? No? Tools and equipment The ur-Jube wears a vest with far too many pockets, which are filled with useful stuff -- first aid kit, Swiss army knife, etc etc etc. Basically, Batman's utility belt with a fresh coat of paint. The Variable structure strikes me as an obvious game-mechanic to use here; I'm thinking one rank, maybe two, and it's the 4-pt Variable level, with the descriptor "commercially available tools and products". Yes? No?
Dr Archeville Posted November 19, 2010 Posted November 19, 2010 Jube's Bad Stuff In Jube's "home setting", there is an organized KKK-alike hate group whose reason for existing is to make life miserable for people like Jube. Does any analogous hate group exist in FC? If so, Jube is definitely on their 'hit list' -- which I think would qualify as a Complication. There really isn't. Unlike DC or Marvel, the vast majority of folks genuinely like the superheroes and are thankful for them for all the work they do, and do not assume that all superhumans are Just One Bad Day away from snapping and becoming psychopathic murder machines. However, there is a supervillain whose outfit incorporates a lot of KKK imagery: White Knight, a bigoted, misogynistic, racist thug with super-strength and flame powers. As well, the ur-Jube is kind of a basket case, psychologically speaking; it's part of his charm. It also comes with the territory, when you've suffered an unwanted, involuntary transformation, and you've got a statistically decent chance of your mind regressing to a feral animal state, and you're so bleeding fast that there's no one around who's physically capable of stopping your rampage if you do go feral... But I digress. Oh, there are quite a few folks here who could stop a rampaging speedster... but we don't do PvP, so I, too, digress The FC version of Jube is going to be significantly less broken, but still not at all happy about his permanent fur coat. Possible Complications: Failure to accept his current body (which could lead to Search For A Cure storylines), Self-Loathing (not uncommon amongst people who have suffered deformity in Real Life; something that can/will be ameliorated during play, i'd expect), and Code Vs. Causing Injury (i.e., Jube is reeeaallllyyy worried about killing people). Jube has a smattering of physical quirks which really ought to be reflected in Drawbacks, except that it's not clear if any of them are serious enough to be worth giving the boy Hero points for: Lousy color discrimination, no ability to hear sounds below 100 Hz (feline ears have a lousy low end), reduced manual dexterity on the hands, and a 'speaking' voice which sounds like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop tried to create spoken words by splicing together judiciously-selected sound effects (which is pretty much accurate, since Jube's vocal tract is physically incapable of producing real speech). Maybe a catch-all "Cheetah handicaps" Drawback to cover all that stuff? Jube's high-speed metabolism forces him to consume mass quantities of food -- 6* speed means 6* the calorie intake -- and he can crash pretty hard if he hasn't eaten anything in the past couple hours. This prolly counts as a Complication, or perhaps it's part of that catch-all "Cheetah handicaps" Drawback? Jube has somewhat overactive Danger Sense hardwired into his brain; sometimes it activates his Timeshift power involuntarily. This may or may not be worth incorporating into the final character sheet in some form, not really sure. Those all sound like Complications, at best. Though the "poor manual dexterity" (does he not have humanoid hands?) could be reflected by not taking many ranks in Craft skills. Also, the default assumption is that all damage done is non-lethal; to do lethal damage (and have even a chance of killing someone), you, the player, must state that. Why is this guy a hero? The ur-Jube's backstory includes a rather ugly five-against-one encounter with violent bigots; during this battle, Jube's Timeshift power switched itself on and he kinda went berserk, and he thrashed all five of his attackers... one of them so badly hurt that he eventually died in hospital. For the FC version of Jube, how about if that happened, after which Jube turned himself in, plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, and the judge sentenced him to psychological counseling plus N hours of community service (i.e., hooking up with a local superteam for training and yada yada yada)? Guilt: a classic motivation! It's served Spider-Man well! Obliterating the speed limit As per Geez3r's advice, I'm giving Time Control a miss. Jube's max. running speed of 70 MPH, together with a Timeshifted acceleration factor of 40*, yields a top speed of 2,800 MPH -- a bit more than Mach 4. Since 7 ranks in Super-Speed gives you 1,000 MPH, I think Jube should have 8 ranks in Super-Speed. For the gravity-tweaking side effect, what about 8 ranks in Super-Strength, with the modifier Linked (to Super-Speed)? For the "Doppler shift" side-effect that affects light and sound, I'm thinking of maybe throwing in some appropriate Super-Senses with the modifier "Limited: Only when [number] ranks of Super-speed are active". Yes? No? Remember that the speed given for the Movement powers is for normal 'walking' pace. Exerting as much effort as running doubles that, and exerting as much effort as running all out (to the point where you're not paying much attention to your surroundings) quadruples it. Speed 8 is 2,500 mph, yes, but that's "normal" speed -- running would put him at 5,000 mph, and running all-out, his top speed would actually be 10,000 mph! Speed 7 sounds like what you want: 'walking' speed of 1,000 mph (10,000 feet per Move action), 2,000 mph at a run, 4,000 mph at a full, all-out, panicked-camper-running-from-Jason-Vorhees run. Super-Senses are cheap enough that Flawing them quickly gets problematic; I'd suggest going with a Complication. Tools and equipment The ur-Jube wears a vest with far too many pockets, which are filled with useful stuff -- first aid kit, Swiss army knife, etc etc etc. Basically, Batman's utility belt with a fresh coat of paint. The Variable structure strikes me as an obvious game-mechanic to use here; I'm thinking one rank, maybe two, and it's the 4-pt Variable level, with the descriptor "commercially available tools and products". Yes? No? Utility Belts are detailed under the Equipment section of the core book (page 137, in fact). Several heroes here (including my namesake char) have some version of a Utility Belt, so feel free to skim other char sheets for ideas. The Variable Power you're referring to (very similar to the Variable Power Pool in HERO) is something I'd advise against someone taking if they're new to M&M.
Cubist Posted November 21, 2010 Author Posted November 21, 2010 This is the... well, zeroeth, really... draft of my Jubatus character. I bloody well know this writeup is not acceptable as it stands, not least because the point totals sum to [gag-wheeze-choke] 231. At the very least, 81 points must needs be trimmed away, and I throw myself upon the mercy of FC's Powers That Be to advise me on which bits to reduce and/or eliminate... Players Name: Cubist Characters Name: Jubatus, aka Jay Nelson Xavier Power Level: (10) (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, +2 Defense / -2 Toughness Unspent PP: 0 Gold Status: 0/30 In Brief: Alternate Identities: None. The character willingly answers to either his 'real' name or to 'Jubatus'. Identity: Public (it's kind of hard to maintain a Secret Identity when you're blatantly Not Human...) Birthplace: San Francisco Bay Area Occupation: Freelancer specializing in technological troubleshooting and tech writing Affiliations: Hero group he's attached to by court order (see History for details) Family: Parents: Albert Xavier (father -- dead), Rebecca Xavier (mother -- Alzheimer's-stricken 105 yrs. old in nursing home). Siblings (in birth order): Corrie Xavier (sister, 86), Maxwell Xavier (brother, dead), Dan Xavier (brother, dead), Elaine Xavier (sister, 79), Nancy Xavier (sister, dead), Randolph Xavier (brother, 74). Jube is aware that he has several more-distant relatives (cousins, etc) in various parts of the US and Europe, but has never attempted to build relationships with any of these persons. Age: 72 (DoB: September, 1938) Apparent Age: Young adult (how old does a cheetah look..?) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Cheetah (formerly Caucasian) Height: 6'1" Weight: 102 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Sandy-yellow fur all over, with typical cheetah markings (block spots, white dorsal surface) Description: First impression: The guy's a cheetah, end of discussion. A closer look reveals that his braincase is rather larger than that of a 'real' cheetah, and the digits on his forepaws are a fair amount longer, slimmer, and more dexterous than those of a 'real' cheetah. He typically doesn't wear anything more than a khaki vest that's got ridiculously many (gadget-filled) pockets. Power Descriptions: Power: Timeshift -- Jubatus can control how quickly Time flows for himself; he calls it 'upshifting' when he's running faster than normal, and 'downshifting' when he's running slower than normal. This ability has some innate side-effects. One, gravity becomes weaker (when he upshifts) or stronger (when he downshifts). Two, it 'Doppler shifts' all wavelengths (of light or sound or whatever else); when he's running X* faster than normal, he percieves all wavelengths as 1/X of their 'normal' value. History: Jay Nelson Xavier has been a technical writer and troubleshooter for the past 40 years plus change. Most of his life has been fairly uninteresting; that stopped a few weeks ago when he woke up with a permanent, built-in fur coat, and the persistent feeling that the whole world was stuck in slow motion. [Jay has no idea why he transformed; was it insidious experimentation by the Grue? accidental exposure to a potent mutagen? something else?] Medical science being what it is in a superhero universe, it wasn't long before Jay, with the vitally necessary help of his doctors, acquired all the proper body-reflexes for his new corpus and mastered his new Timeshift ability sufficiently well that he could slow down to interact normally with other human beings. Jay tried to get on with his life... a goal which was forcibly removed from the realm of possibility a week or so after he was discharged from hospital. On that sad evening, Jay found himself surrounded by five muggers who looked like they'd be just as happy to take his money from his dead body as otherwise. They might have gotten their wish, too -- except that for the first time, Jay's Danger Sense triggered an involuntary Timeshift. Suddenly, Jay found himself 20* faster than normal -- with gravity being reduced to 1/20 G. He tried to just run away from the muggers, but (thanks to the reduced gravity) he ended up smacking painfully into a car's side panel. This was the muggers' opening to start their assault in earnest. Jay, still disoriented from the involuntary Timeshift and not recovered from his 'crash landing', could do nothing to defend himself. However, as soon as the first knife broke Jay's skin, he basically went berserk, ripping and tearing into his assailants with dangerously high-speed claws and fangs. This was no battle; it was more of a disassembly... By the time Jay regained his senses, all five of the muggers were lying inertly on the asphalt. Jay called for an ambulance, after which he puked his guts out. Four of the muggers would live; the fifth would die of his injuries before reaching hospital. Horrified at what he'd done to the five (even... or perhaps 'especially'... if he had not been in full conscious control of his actions), Jay turned himself in to the police. He ended up being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service as a Timeshifting superhero. The judge ordered that Jay join $Hero_group as a novice member, and that he accept $Hero_group's training to master his powers and ensure that he never again cause the unintended death of anybody, criminal or not. Personality & Motivation: Jay is a cynical man with few friends, and he likes it that way -- especially now that his brain has been rewired to add cheetah traits/instincts, such as their generally solitary nature. Jay, a detail-oriented fussbudget, is aware that he's more competent than most people, but where some might think "damn, I'm great!", Jay wonders "why can't they do it, too?" He is terrified of his current body's potential for mayhem and gore, and he goes out of his way to be abrasive, pushing other people away so that they'll be less likely to get hurt when (not 'if', because he's irrationally certain that it will happen some day) he loses control. Powers & Tactics: Jube is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing. He does not want to get used to, let alone start to enjoy, violence! Complications: Too Darn Fast (Jube's bodily processes (metabolism, nerve impulses, etc) are permanently stuck at 6* normal speed; in order to interact with normal-speed characters, he must use his Timeshift power to slow down to their speed. As well, he needs to eat 6* more than anyone else; Jube going 1 day without food affects him much the same way a normal person would be affected by not eating for 6 days straight) Time Will Let Me (Jube's Timeshift affects gravity (Timeshifting slower = stronger gravity; faster = weaker gravity). He can Timeshift to slower than normal, with the accompanying effect on personal gravity. As well, the Timeshift affects anything with a wavelength; when Jube is running N* faster than normal, he percieves the frequency of an X-Hertz sound as (X/N), and the analogous perceptual change affects light. His Infravision, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision, and X-Ray Vision are all affected by this quirk.) The Nature of the Beast (Jube's eyes and ears are cheetah-normal; thus, he has lousy color discrimination, and he cannot hear any sounds below 100 Hz or so. The digits on his forepaws are longer and slimmer than those of normal cheetahs, but nowhere near as good as human fingers; hence Jube's manual dexterity suffers at times. Obligate carnivore; chewing on one leaf won't hurt him, but a whole salad would give him horrible diarrhea. Human-style clothing is very uncomfortable; it chafes against his fur and makes him overheat. Jube's voice sounds terrible; he can't actually speak, so he strings together carefully-selected sound effects to produce 'speech' which is easy to comprehend. Jube is naturally quadrupedal, but he insists on standing up on his hind legs anyway, no matter how much it hurts.) I'm a Man... (Jube lives in denial -- on a fundamental (subconscious) level, he simply refuses to accept that he's not 'human' (whatever that means) any more) ...Not a Monster! (Jube is (understandably) terrified of the possibility that his mind could regress to a feral state, making him an animal in mind as well as in body) Do it Right, or Not at All (Jube was always a pain-in-the-ass perfectionist, but now that he break the sound barrier under his own power, he's terrified of making mistakes -- at Mach speed, even the tiniest error could have horrible consequences) I Gots Me the Blues (Jube used to be an excellent singer, and is pissed off that he can't do that any more) Thou Shalt Not... (Jube is very very very opposed to killing anything; he's scared spitless that the scent of blood might allow his 'beast side' to take over) Can't Touch Me (Jube's Danger Sense is permanently active -- he cannot shut it down -- and whenever the DS thinks there's trouble inbound, it actives his Timeshift for Jube...) Abilities: -4 +26 +4 +12 +8 +4 = 50pp Str 6 (-2) Dex 36 (+13) Con 14 (+2) Int 22 (+6) Wis 18 (+8) Cha 14 (+2) Combat: 20 + 20 = 40pp Initiative: +13 Attack: +10 [20pp] Grapple: +0 Defense: +10 [20pp] (+10 Base), +0 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1 Saving Throws: 0 + 6 + 6 = 12pp Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +6) [6pp] Reflex: +13 (+13 Dex) Will: +10 (+4 Wis, +6) [6pp] Skills: 21pp Stealth 2 (+15) [0.5pp] Notice 8 (+16) [2pp] Language 2 (French, Spanish) [2pp] Computers 4 (+12) [1pp] Craft: Electronics 4 (+12) [1pp] Disable Device 4 (+10) [1pp] Investigate 4 (+12) [1pp] Perform (Imitate sounds) 8 (+10) [2pp] Knowledge: Current Events 6 (+14) [1.5pp] Knowledge: Business 4 (+12) [1pp] Knowledge: Technology 4 (+12) [1pp] Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 8 (+16) [2pp] Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) [2pp] Profession: Writer 6 (+14) [1.5pp] Profession: Troubleshooter 6 (+14) [1.5pp] Feats: 11PP Environmental Adaptation (High gravity, low gravity, freefall) [3pp] Well-Informed [1pp] Jack of All Trades [1pp] Master Plan [1pp] -- seemed natural for an obsessive perfectionist Evasion 2 [2pp] Benefit: Wealth 2 [2pp] Uncanny Dodge [1pp] Contents of Jube's "utility vest" High-end binoculars w/ built-in stabilization Handcuffs Rebreather unit Goggles (flash defense) Commlink (slaved to $Hero_group) xPad (like the iPad, but 33% less copyright infringement!) Flashlight Spare batteries (all kinds needed for his gadgets) Rolls of half-dollars (for his Power Feat: Rapid Attack ) Duct Tape (Power: Snare?) Police scanner Nutzoglue First aid kit Nostril filters (i.e., low-profile gas mask) Top-end Swiss army knife (i.e., multi-tool) Protein bars Vials of concentrated energy fluid (i.e., Rockstar/Monster/Red Bull) Forensics kit High-end digital vidcam (good for stills, video-with-sound, pure audio) Pepper spray Bolos Smoke bomb Flash bomb (magnesium burst-flare) Miniaturized tracers Hypospray loaded with sedative SUV: Converted to serve as Jube's mobile home. No 'exotic' features as yet Powers: 6 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 13 + 6 + 3 + 35 + 14 + 8 = 97pp Super-Senses: Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking, Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure) [Power Feat: Innate] [6pp] Super-Senses: X-ray Vision, Infravision (Power Modifier: Linked to Timeshift -- X-ray Vision only active when all 7 ranks of SS are in use, IR only when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal) [5pp] Hunting Sprint (Speed 2 [Power Feat: Innate]) [3pp] Fangs and Claws (Strike 3 [Power Feat: Innate]) [4pp] Moves Like a Cat (Super-Movement 6; Wall-Crawling 1, Slow Fall 1, Sure-footed 4) [Power Feat: Innate] [13pp] Quicker Healing (Regeneration 5; recovers from all five conditions faster than normal [Power Feat: Innate]) [6pp] Immunity 2 (aging, diseases specific to either humans or cheetahs) [Power Feat: Innate] [3pp] Timeshift -- (Super-Speed 7 [Power Feat: Rapid Attack]) [35pp] does this 'stack' with the Speed 2 of Hunting Sprint? if so, make this one 5 ranks -- i want a total of 7 ranks in Speed -- (Super-Strength 7 [Power Modifier: Linked (to Super-Speed)]) [14pp] (Deflect 4 (all ranged attacks); Extra: Reflection [+1]; Flaw: Limited (only works on physical attacks, and then only if Jube is strong enough to manhandle whatever-it-is) [-1]) [8pp] DC Block: ATTACK   RANGE   SAVE            EFFECT Unarmed   Touch   DC15 Toughness (Staged)   Damage Abilities (50) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (12) + Skills (21) + Feats (11) + Powers (97) = 231pp
Supercape Posted November 21, 2010 Posted November 21, 2010 Wow thats a LOT of points to shave off! Firstly, I would take a step back and recalibrate your levels so to speak. DEX 30 for intance is superhuman. A solid superhuman. Dont think you need to push it higher just to make him "really really superhuman". DEX 30 means you are way way more agile than the most agile person that ever existed in human history. For stats, I would think about shaving DEX down to 30 (at least), and INT down from 22 - is he really equal to the most intelligent man in the world today? 20 would be the most intelligent man in the country, and 18 is still well in the "genius" bracket. Again, its recalibrating slightly. With all the superheroes flying around you can get a tendency to think of a statistic of 18 as mediocre. Its not - it makes you one of the strongest / smartest / charismatic people around, truly exceptional. Now, bad news: With toughness +2 and defence +10 you are way below defence caps. Thats not an aboslute problem but will make Jube likely to get swatted. Think about buyiong up more defence or dodge, but it cant go higher than +15 (there is a maximum of +5 defence / -5 toughness trade off). So you may want to think about some more toughness - the feat: defensive roll may fit (1 PP gives 1 rank in the feat which gives +2 on toughness if you are able to take a free action / not flat footed). So buying defensive roll 2 would give you toughness +6 (+2 if unable to use flat footed) and buying dodge focus 4 would give you defence +14 (+10 base, +4 dodge focus, meaning +5 defence if flat footed). This costs 6 PP and brings you up to defensive caps. Saving Throws: You could shave some off these, probably taking Reflex down to +10, maybe a point or two of fort or will if needed. Skills: Again, be realistic you need to shave off points. I would take all the knowledge skills down to +10. Profession skills arent really needed - maybe keep writer as it represents a craft. Perform (Imitate sounds) is best kept as a feature power (+10 to rolls to mimic) for 1 PP, perhaps shoving 1 PP into 4 ranks of bluff. Think about generally shaving off some points in skills if you can. Feats: As you have to shave off points, I would loose ENvironmental adaptation for now. Well Informed is useless without Gather Information skill - so drop it or change Investigate to Gather Information. You may get away with Evasion 1 if you have a reasonably high Reflex save. Is he a millionaire or just wealthy? reduce Wealth to 1? You need to specify which modality Uncanny Dodge is in (Smell or hearing I guess?) Equipment: You will need to cost up these for EPs. Many of these are effectively free. Flash Goggles, Binoculars, Multi Tool are 1 EP. The weapons will cost a lot more. I would think about loosing the weapons for now, to save PP. Powers: You need to specify which sense tracking is in (scent I guess?). The X Ray vision and Infra red vision is something I would think about dropping to save PP. Sure Footed 4 is expensive and not that handy, maybe drop a few ranks in that for now. Regeneration is something I would think about dropping, its not that handy until at high ranks. Timeshift Power: Superspeed does indeed Stack with Speed, so can be reduced to 4 ranks [saving 10 much needed PP]. You may want either a) but more powerfeats to make superspeed useful or just call it linked quickness 5, speed 5, improved initiative 5, dropping its cost to 15pp (I would choose the latter). Although you may not need even all of these ranks (Initiative bonus is +13 from DEX alone!) You may wish to link enhanced traits (defence, dodge focus, attack) to this timeshift power, representing increased accuracy and evasion when he is time shifted. Deflect I would just drop for now. Super Strength I would drop. Note as it is his toughest attack at present is Fangs and Claws, which is pretty weak (+3 DC). You could do a few things, like make this mighty and linked enhanced strength to time shift, plump up the strike rank of fangs and claws, and pump up attack bonus to +15 and strike to rank 5, and add power attack feat - I would do the latter. Sorry for another long post, and I know its rather brutal. In essence, you are going to have to make some hard chops on the character in order to get him down to 150pp I think! 81pp is a LOT to shave off!
Geez3r Posted November 21, 2010 Posted November 21, 2010 Pretty much what Cape said, then drop all of the Innate feats. Innate is something you put on an Elephant's Growth power. None of your powers qualify for innate. Mutants were "born that way" and even their mutant powers aren't Innate. I suggest dropping a few ranks of Attack & Defense, buying some ranks of the feats Attack Focus Melee and Dodge Focus. Super-Strength 7 with regular Strength 6 is a terrible, terrible idea. "I can lift a truck, but I hit like an 80 year old guy." Drop all 7 ranks of Super-Strength and put some of those points into Strength. And by some, I mean all. That way you get close to hitting offensive caps. You could probably stand to lose some/all of the Sure-footed power as well. Also: Don't use Super-Speed as written. Break it down into it's component parts. It makes everything much easier on you.
Supercape Posted November 21, 2010 Posted November 21, 2010 Here's my stab at something that comes in at budget: Abilities: 40pp Str 24 / 6 (+7 /-2) Dex 30 (+10) Con 14 (+2) Int 22 (+6) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 12 (+1) Combat: 8 + 20 = 28pp Initiative: +22 (+10 Dex, +12 Improved Initiative 3) Attack: +4 (+10 Melee) Grapple: +0 Defense: +14 (+10 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +5 Flat-Footed Knockback: -2 Saving Throws: 4 + 0 + 9 = 15pp Toughness: +6 (+2 Con, +4 Defensive Roll) +2 Flat Footed Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4) Reflex: +10 (+10 Dex) Will: +8 (+3 Wis, +5) Skills: 49 Ranks = 13 PP Stealth 5 (+15) Notice 7 (+10) Craft: Electronics 4 (+10) Disable Device 4 (+10) Investigate 4 (+10) Knowledge: Current Events 4 (+10) Knowledge: Business 4 (+10) Knowledge: Technology 4 (+10) Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 4 (+10) Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) Profession: Writer 7 (+10) Feats: 19PP Dodge Focus 4 Defensive Roll 2 Attack Focus (Melee) 6 Jack of All Trades Master Plan -- seemed natural for an obsessive perfectionist Evasion 1 Benefit: Wealth 2 Uncanny Dodge (Hearing) Equipment 1 Equipment wrote: Binoculars Gas Mask Mini Tracers Multi-Tool Flash Goggles SUV: Converted to serve as Jube's mobile home. No 'exotic' features as yet Powers: 5 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 1 +27 = 41pp Super-Senses: Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking (Olfactory), Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure) [5pp] Speed 2 (Hunting Sprint) [2pp] Fangs and Claws (Strike 3 [Power Feat: Mighty]) [4pp] Immunity 2 (aging, diseases) [2pp] Feature 1: Mimicry (+10 on rolls to mimic sounds) [1pp] Timeshift Linked Powers Enhanced Trait 18 (Strength +18) Enhanced Trait 3 (Improved Initiative 3) Quickness 3 (x10 speed) Speed 3 (stacks with above for Speed 5: 250mph) This is only a stab, I emphasise, there is other stuff to jig around. I couldnt fit in all the "Moves like a cat" powers - you would have to think about shaving off more DEX, CHA, or WIS, or saving throws for that, I think. You may be able to squeeze one or two points from things like Enhanced Trait Strength only if taking a move action that round (as a power loss drawback) but these are ref calls. Formatting isnt perfect either, but this is just a stab-draft!
Cubist Posted November 21, 2010 Author Posted November 21, 2010 I downloaded the demo version of the Hero lab software, and typed the initial draft of Jube's sheet into it. Hero Lab thought Jube was 60-odd PP over budget -- which was a pleasant surprise, because I'd thought Jube was 80 PP over budget. And after a frenzy of ruthless point-shaving, I ended up with a version of Jube that weighs in at 148 PP! This, without implementing Geez3r's suggestion about dissecting Super-Speed into its component parts! By the time I come up with an approved-for-FC version of Jube, he may be able to afford some non-free gadgets for his 'utility vest'... Anywho, here's the One True First Draft of Jubatus. As before, comments and suggestions are encouraged, and even welcomed: Players Name: Cubist Characters Name: Jubatus, aka Jay Nelson Xavier Power Level: (10) (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, +2 Defense / -2 Toughness Unspent PP: 0 Gold Status: 0/30 In Brief: Alternate Identities: None. The character willingly answers to either his 'real' name or to 'Jubatus'. Identity: Public (it's kind of hard to maintain a Secret Identity when you're blatantly Not Human...) Birthplace: San Francisco Bay Area Occupation: Freelancer specializing in technological troubleshooting and tech writing Affiliations: Hero group he's attached to by court order (see History for details) Family: Parents: Albert Xavier (father -- dead), Rebecca Xavier (mother -- Alzheimer's-stricken 105 yrs. old in nursing home). Siblings (in birth order): Corrie Xavier (sister, 86), Maxwell 'Max' Xavier (brother, dead), Danny Xavier (brother, dead), Elaine Xavier (sister, 79), Nancy Xavier (sister, dead), Randolph 'Randy'; Xavier (brother, 74). Jube is aware that he has several more-distant relatives (cousins, etc) in various parts of the US and Europe, but has never attempted to build relationships with any of these persons. Age: 64 (DoB: September, 1946) Apparent Age: Young adult (how old does a cheetah look..?) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Cheetah (formerly Caucasian) Height: 6'1" Weight: 102 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Sandy-yellow fur all over, with typical cheetah markings (block spots, white dorsal surface) Description: First impression: The guy's a cheetah, end of discussion. A closer look reveals that his braincase is rather larger than that of a 'real' cheetah, and the digits on his forepaws are a fair amount longer, slimmer, and more dexterous than those of a 'real' cheetah. He typically doesn't wear anything more than a khaki vest that's got ridiculously many (gadget-filled) pockets. Power Descriptions: Power: Timeshift -- Jubatus can control how quickly Time flows for himself; he calls it 'upshifting' when he's running faster than normal, and 'downshifting' when he's running slower than normal. This ability has some innate side-effects. One, gravity becomes weaker (when he upshifts) or stronger (when he downshifts). Two, it 'Doppler shifts' all wavelengths (of light or sound or whatever else); when he's running X* faster than normal, he percieves all wavelengths as 1/X of their 'normal' value. History: Jay Nelson Xavier has been a technical writer and troubleshooter for the past 40 years plus change. Personality & Motivation: Jay has few friends, and he likes it that way -- especially now that his brain has been rewired to add cheetah traits/instincts, such as their generally solitatry nature. Jay, a detail-oriented fussbudget, is aware that he's more competent than most people, but where some might think "damn, I'm great!", Jay wonders "why can't they do it, too?" Powers & Tactics: Jube is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing. Complications: Too Darn Fast (Jube's bodily processes (metabolism, nerve impulses, etc) are permanently stuck at 6* normal speed; in order to interact with normal-speed characters, he must use his Timeshift power to slow down to their speed. As well, he needs to eat 6* more than anyone else; Jube going 1 day without food affects him much the same way a normal person would be affected by not eating for 6 days straight) Time Will Let Me (Jube's Timeshift affects gravity (Timeshifting slower = stronger gravity; faster = weaker gravity). He can Timeshift to slower than normal, with the accompanying effect on personal gravity. As well, the Timeshift affects anything with a wavelength; when Jube is running N* faster than normal, he percieves the frequency of an X-Hertz sound as (X/N), and the analogous perceptual change affects light. His Infravision, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision, and X-Ray Vision are all affected by this quirk.) The Nature of the Beast (Jube's eyes and ears are cheetah-normal; thus, he has lousy color discrimination, and he cannot hear any sounds below 100 Hz or so. The digits on his forepaws are longer and slimmer than those of normal cheetahs, but nowhere near as good as human fingers; hence Jube's manual dexterity suffers at times. Obligate carnivore; chewing on one leaf won't hurt him, but a whole salad would give him horrible diarrhea. Human-style clothing is very uncomfortable; it chafes against his fur and makes him overheat. Jube's voice sounds terrible; he can't actually speak, so he strings together carefully-selected sound effects to produce 'speech' which is easy to comprehend. Jube is naturally quadrupedal, but he insists on standing up on his hind legs anyway, no matter how much it hurts.) I'm a Man... (Jube lives in denial -- on a fundamental (subconscious) level, he simply refuses to accept that he's not 'human' (whatever that means) any more) ...Not a Monster! (Jube is (understandably) terrified of the possibility that his mind could regress to a feral state, making him an animal in mind as well as in body) Do it Right, or Not at All (Jube was always a pain-in-the-ass perfectionist, but now that he break the sound barrier under his own power, he's terrified of making mistakes -- at Mach speed, even the tiniest error could have horrible consequences) I Gots Me the Blues (Jube used to be an excellent singer, and is pissed off that he can't do that any more) Thou Shalt Not... (Jube is very very very opposed to killing anything, or even inflicting serious injury; he's scared spitless that the scent of blood might allow his 'beast side' to take over) Can't Touch Me (Jube's Danger Sense is permanently active -- he cannot shut it down -- and whenever the DS thinks there's trouble inbound, it actives his Timeshift for Jube...) Abilities: -4 +14 +4 +8 +6 +2 = 30pp Str 6 (-2) Dex 24 (+7) Con 14 (+2) Int 18 (+4) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 12 (+1) Combat: 20 + 20 = 40pp Initiative: +7/+23 Attack: +10 [20pp] Grapple: +12 Defense: +10 [20pp] (+10 Base), +0 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 3 = 7 Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4) [4pp] Reflex: +7 (+7 Dex) Will: +10 (+3 Wis, +3) [3pp] Skills: 9pp Stealth (+7) [0pp] Notice 5 (+8) [1.25pp] Language 2 (French, Spanish) [2pp] Computers (+4) [0pp] Craft: Electronics (+4) [0pp] Disable Device (+4) [0pp] Investigate (+4) [0pp] Perform (Imitate sounds) 6 (+7) [1.5pp] Knowledge: Current Events 2 (+6) [.5pp] Knowledge: Business 2 (+6) [.5pp] Knowledge: Technology 2 (+6) [.5pp] Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 2 (+6) [.5pp] Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) [2pp] Profession: Writer 6 (+9) [1.5pp] Profession: Troubleshooter 6 (+9) [1.5pp] Feats: 5PP Environmental Adaptation (Low gravity) [1pp] Jack of All Trades [1pp] Master Plan [1pp] -- seemed natural for an obsessive perfectionist Evasion 1 [1pp] Uncanny Dodge [1pp] Contents of Jube's "utility vest" High-end binoculars w/ built-in stabilization Handcuffs Rebreather unit Goggles (flash defense) Commlink (slaved to $Hero_group) xPad (like the iPad, but 33% less copyright infringement!) Flashlight Spare batteries (all kinds needed for his gadgets) Rolls of half-dollars (for his Power Feat: Rapid Attack ) Duct Tape (Power: Snare?) Police scanner Nutzoglue First aid kit Nostril filters (i.e., low-profile gas mask) Top-end Swiss army knife (i.e., multi-tool) Protein bars Vials of concentrated energy fluid (i.e., Rockstar/Monster/Red Bull) Forensics kit High-end digital vidcam (good for stills, video-with-sound, pure audio) Pepper spray Bolos Smoke bomb Flash bomb (magnesium burst-flare) Miniaturized tracers Hypospray loaded with sedative SUV: Converted to serve as Jube's mobile home. No 'exotic' features as yet Powers: 7 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 20 + 8 + 1 = 57pp Super-Senses: Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking, Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure) [Power Feat: Innate] [7pp] Super-Senses: X-ray Vision, Infravision (Power Modifier: Linked to Timeshift -- X-ray Vision only active when all 7 ranks of SS are in use, IR only when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal) [3pp] Hunting Sprint (Speed 2 [Power Feat: Innate]) [3pp] Fangs and Claws (Strike 3 [Power Feat: Innate]) [4pp] Moves Like a Cat (Super-Movement 3; Wall-Crawling 1, Slow Fall 1, Sure-footed 1) [Power Feat: Innate] [6pp] Quicker Healing (Regeneration 2; recovers faster from Bruised and Unconscious [Power Feat: Innate]) [3pp] Immunity 1 (aging) [Power Feat: Innate] [2pp] Timeshift -- (Super-Speed 4 [Power Feat: Rapid Attack]) [20pp] -- (Enhanced Strength 8 [Power Modifier: Linked (to Super-Speed)]) [8pp] (Deflect 1 (all ranged attacks); Flaw: Limited (only works on physical attacks, and then only if Jube is strong enough to manhandle whatever-it-is) [-1]) [1pp] DC Block: ATTACK   RANGE   SAVE            EFFECT Unarmed   Touch   DC17 Toughness (Staged)   Damage +2 Fangs & Claws (Strike 3) -- Touch -- DC 18 Toughness Abilities (30) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (7) + Skills (9) + Feats (5) + Powers (57) = 148pp
Dr Archeville Posted November 21, 2010 Posted November 21, 2010 You definitely need more Defense and/or Toughness. Right now he's at +10 Defense, +2 Toughness, which pegs him at PL 6. More Attack and/or Damage would be good, too. With +10 on Attack and +3 Damage (from his Claws), he's pegged at PL 7 (well, 6.5). His Regen and Immunity to Aging should not be Innate, they're not natural to a cheetah. Deflect is a bad power, and useless at low ranks. You'll really do well to drop it. Also, using the formatting for char sheets we use here -- especially for the Powers section -- will make it easier on us to critique it. And since your finall submitted form would need to be in that format, why not start using it now so you'll get a feel for it?
Cubist Posted November 25, 2010 Author Posted November 25, 2010 Here comes the third draft of the character! It's an interim draft; Jube is not ready for prime time yet, nohow contrariwise. I still haven't bothered to stat out the component parts of Jube's 'utility vest'; I also am not entirely sure I've got the cost right on the Timeshift Array. I think you pay 1 PP for each Alternate Power in the array, because if you have to pay full price for each AP in the Array, why not just buy the AP as a normal power unto itself? If I've worked out all the game-mechanical stuff properly, and if I haven't made any errors in simple arithmetic, this version of Jube is 124PP... which gives me 26PP to raise his attack/defense caps up to PL10 norms in the 4th draft. Players Name: Cubist Characters Name: Jubatus, aka Jay Nelson Xavier Power Level: (10) (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, +2 Defense / -2 Toughness Unspent PP: 0 Gold Status: 0/30 In Brief: Speedster who is his own worst enemy -- his toughest challenge will be overcoming 'the demons within' Alternate Identities: None. The character willingly answers to either his 'real' name or to 'Jubatus'. Identity: Public (it's kind of hard to maintain a Secret Identity when you're blatantly Not Human...) Birthplace: San Francisco Bay Area Occupation: Freelancer specializing in technological troubleshooting and tech writing Affiliations: Hero group he's attached to by court order (see History for details) Family: Parents: Albert Xavier (father -- dead), Rebecca Xavier (mother -- Alzheimer's-stricken 105 yrs. old in nursing home). Siblings (in birth order): Corrie Xavier (sister, 86), Maxwell Xavier (brother, dead), Dan Xavier (brother, dead), Elaine Xavier (sister, 79), Nancy Xavier (sister, dead), Randolph Xavier (brother, 64). Jube is aware that he has several more-distant relatives (cousins, etc) in various parts of the US and Europe, but has never attempted to build relationships with any of these persons. Age: 64 (DoB: September, 1946) Apparent Age: Young adult (how old does a cheetah look..?) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Cheetah (formerly Caucasian) Height: 6'1" Weight: 102 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Fur w/ typical cheetah markings -- sandy-yellow all over, with black spots, and white on the torso's front side Description: First impression: The guy's a cheetah, end of discussion. A closer look reveals that his braincase is rather larger than that of a 'real' cheetah, and the digits on his forepaws are a fair amount longer, slimmer, and more dexterous than those of a 'real' cheetah (which isn't saying much). He typically doesn't wear anything more than a khaki vest that's got ridiculously many (gadget-filled) pockets. Power Descriptions: Jubatus' only exotic ability is what he calls "Timeshifting", the power to control how quickly Time flows for himself. He calls it 'upshifting' when he's running faster than normal, and 'downshifting' when he's running slower than normal. This ability has some innate side-effects. One, gravity becomes weaker (when he upshifts) or stronger (when he downshifts). Two, it 'Doppler shifts' all wavelengths (of light or sound or whatever else); when he's running X* faster than normal, he percieves all wavelengths as 1/X of their 'normal' value. History: With an IQ around 140, Jay Nelson Xavier has been 'the smartest kid in the room' for most of his childhood (and a good fraction of his adult life). Thanks to an intermittent, continuing series of abusive incidents at the hands of his so-called 'peer group', incidents which were either ignored or dismissed as "kids playing around" by adults who were nominally in positions of responsibility, Jay learned early on that most people are stupid or crazy or both... a conclusion which was only reinforced during his adolescence and later years. s been a technical writer and troubleshooter for the past 40 years plus change. Personality & Motivation: Jay Nelson Xavier has never been anyone's idea of a superhero. He's a cynical, hardshell pragmatist, and while he does have altruistic impulses, his life experiences have forcibly taught him to ignore said impulses, as the outcome is usually bad. Jay has few friends, and he likes it that way -- especially now that his brain has been rewired to add cheetah traits/instincts, such as their generally solitatry nature. Jay, a detail-oriented fussbudget, is aware that he's more competent than most people, but where some might think "damn, I'm great!", Jay wonders "why can't they do it, too?" Powers & Tactics: Jube is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing, pre-planned activity to improvisation. Complications: Too Darn Fast: Jube's bodily processes (metabolism, nerve impulses, etc) are permanently stuck at 6* normal speed; in order to interact with normal-speed characters, he must use his Timeshift power to slow down to their speed. As well, he needs to eat 6* more than anyone else; Jube going 1 day without food affects him much the same way a normal person would be affected by not eating for 6 days straight. Similarly, Jube needs to sleep 6* more often than any normal person. Time Will Let Me: Jube's Timeshift affects gravity (Timeshifting slower = stronger gravity; faster = weaker gravity). He can Timeshift to slower than normal, with the accompanying effect on personal gravity. As well, the Timeshift affects anything with a wavelength; when Jube is running N* faster than normal, he percieves the frequency of an X-Hertz sound as (X/N) Hz, and analogous color-shifts affect light. His Infravision, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision, and X-Ray Vision are all affected by this quirk. The Nature of the Beast: Jube's eyes and ears are cheetah-normal; thus, he has lousy color discrimination, and he cannot hear any sounds below 100 Hz or so. The digits on his forepaws are longer and slimmer than those of normal cheetahs, but nowhere near as good as human fingers; hence Jube's manual dexterity suffers at times. Obligate carnivore; chewing on one leaf won't hurt him, but a whole salad would give him horrible diarrhea. Human-style clothing is very uncomfortable; it chafes against his fur and makes him overheat. Jube's voice sounds terrible; he can't actually speak, so he strings together carefully-selected sound effects to produce 'speech' which is easy to comprehend. Jube is naturally quadrupedal, but he insists on standing up on his hind legs anyway, no matter how much it hurts. I'm a Man...: Jube lives in denial -- on a fundamental (subconscious) level, he simply refuses to accept that he's not 'human' (whatever that means) any more. ...Not a Monster!: Jube is (understandably) terrified of the possibility that his mind could regress to a feral state, making him an animal in mind as well as in body. When possible/practical, he goes far out of his way to avoid doing anything which would mark him as an inhuman creature. Do it Right, or Not at All: Jube was always a pain-in-the-ass perfectionist, but now that he can break the sound barrier under his own power, he's terrified of making mistakes -- at Mach speed, even the tiniest error could have horrible consequences. I Gots the Blues and I Can't Sing: Jube used to be an excellent singer, and is pissed off that he can't do that any more. As well, his speech impediment continually butts up against his I'm not a goddamn animal!! mental quirk. Thou Shalt Not...: (ube is very very very opposed to killing anything, and takes a rather dim view of even inflicting injury; he's scared spitless that the scent of blood might allow his 'beast side' to take over. Can't Touch Me: Jube's Danger Sense is permanently active -- he cannot shut it down -- and whenever the DS thinks there's trouble inbound, it actives his Timeshift for Jube... Abilities: -4 +14 +4 +8 +6 +2 = 30pp Str 6 (-2) Dex 24 (+7) Con 14 (+2) Int 18 (+4) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 12 (+1) Combat: 20 + 20 = 40pp Initiative: +7/+23 Attack: +10 [20pp] Grapple: +12 Defense: +10 [20pp] (+10 Base), +0 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 3 = 7 Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4) [4pp] Reflex: +7 (+7 Dex) Will: +10 (+3 Wis, +3) [3pp] Skills: 32R = 8pp Stealth 1 (+8) Notice 5 (+8) Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) Computers 0 (+4) Craft: Electronics 0 (+4) Disable Device 0 (+4) Investigate 0 (+4) Perform (Imitate sounds) 0 (+1) Knowledge: Current Events 2 (+6) Knowledge: Business 3 (+7) Knowledge: Technology 3 (+7) Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 2 (+6) Profession: Writer 7 (+10) Profession: Troubleshooter 7 (+10) Feats: 5PP Environmental Adaptation (Low gravity) Jack of All Trades Master Plan Evasion 1 Uncanny Dodge Name (power breakdown, if applicable) [XEP] Jube's "utility vest" is stuffed full of commercially-available tools/gadgetry, at least to begin with. If all else fails, Jube can start off with a collection of 'free' gadgets and upgrade his tool-set during play,with HPs earned thru experience High-end binoculars w/ built-in stabilization Handcuffs Rebreather unit Goggles (flash defense) Commlink (slaved to $Hero_group) xPad (like the iPad, but 33% less copyright infringement!) Flashlight Spare batteries (all kinds needed for his gadgets) Rolls of half-dollars (for his Power Feat: Rapid Attack ) Duct Tape (Power: Snare?) Krazyglue (again, Power: Snare?) Police scanner First aid kit Nostril filters (i.e., low-profile gas mask) Top-end Swiss army knife (i.e., multi-tool) Protein bars Vials of concentrated energy fluid (i.e., Rockstar/Monster/Red Bull) Forensics kit High-end digital vidcam (good for stills, video-with-sound, pure audio) Pepper spray Bolos Smoke bomb Flash bomb (magnesium burst-flare) Miniaturized tracers Hypospray loaded with sedative SUV: Converted to serve as Jube's mobile home. No 'exotic' features as yet Powers: 6 + 3 + 6 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 10 = 34PP Cheetah-related stuff: Super-Senses 6: (Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking, Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure)) [6pp] Super-Senses: (X-ray Vision, Infravision (Power Modifier: Linked to Timeshift -- X-ray Vision only active when all 7 ranks of Speed are in use, IR only when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal) [3pp] Super-Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 1, Slow Fall 1, Sure-footed 1) [6PP] Strike 3 (Feat: Mighty) (Jube's claws and fangs) [4pp] Regeneration 2 (recovers faster from Bruised and Unconscious) [2pp] Feature 1: Mimicry (+10 on rolls to mimic sounds) [1pp] Immunity 2 (aging, diseases specific to either humans or cheetahs) [2pp] Jube's Timeshift power: Timeshift 7 (14PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 3) [10] Base Power: Speed 7 (Feats: Alternate Power 2) [7PP]Alternate Power: Quickness 7 ( Flaws: Linked to Speed) [7PP]Alternate Power: Improved Initiative 7 ( Flaws: Linked to Speed) [7PP]Alternate Power: Enhanced STR 7 ( Flaws: Linked to Speed) (gravity-altering side effect of the Timeshift) [7PP] DC Block: ATTACK   RANGE  SAVE            EFFECT Unarmed   Touch  DC 17 Toughness (Staged)   Damage +2 Fangs & Claws (Strike) Touch DC 18 Toughness Abilities (30) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (7) + Skills (8) + Feats (5) + Powers (34) = 124pp
Geez3r Posted November 25, 2010 Posted November 25, 2010 Ok, as you have no Ranged Attacks, drop a few ranks of Attack and get the Feat: Attack Focus Melee. It will give you the same mechanical benefit, only cheaper. Saves, your Will save is only +6, I believe you forgot to change something at some point. And with your Exotic saves (Fort, Ref, Will) being 6/7/6 for a PL 10, you're going to find yourself hurting anytime an exotic effect is used on you. Skills, if you don't have ranks in the skill, don't list them. Also, you will likely never get any mileage out of Profession, ever. You can just say in your Backstory "I'm a writer". If you are a well known and/or successful writer, grab some Benefit feats like Status or Wealth. Powers, Danger Sense tied to tacticile is a bad idea without also boosting your tacticle sense somehow. It means you won't know the bullets are being shot at you until they have already hit your skin. If you want to be able to "see" the area around you like that, check out the Spacial Awareness power. Strike, as I've said quite a few times before you need to bump your Strength score. 3 ranks of Strike plus your -2 Str mod makes this attack power rank 1. Regeneration, explicitly spell out what ranks you are getting in regeneration. Also, Regen from Unconscious is banned. The Time Shift power: First, AP's cannot be linked to one another. Effects in an Array means that only one can be used at a given time. Linked means that they must be used at the same time. They're incompatible. In addition, I have no idea why you have a 14pt array that costs 10 points. I think that was just a hold over from an older edit. Now, combat wise, Jube here is currently PL 5.5 Offensively and PL 6 Defensively. That would make them weaker in a fight than every single PC on the boards. Period. Now how did I arrive at those numbers? Offensive caps (or PL) is calculated by taking the average of your character's Attack Bonus and their DC modifier (or Damage, or Rank of the Effect). In order to "hit caps" this average should equal your PL. You "break" caps (which is bad) if this average is higher than your PL. In this case, your character has a +10 attack and a +1 DC with their claws (I'm ignoring the Enhanced Strength for now because that whole Array needs lots of work). 10 + 1 = 11 / 2 = 5.5 Defensive caps is calculated by taking the average of your character's Defense Bonus and their Toughness Bonus. In this case +10 and +2, for an average of 6. You should also note, that because of Trade-offs, the maximum anyone of those 4 traits can be is 15 (or 5 + your PL). However, that also this must correspond to a decrease in the paired trait to avoid breaking caps. For example, my Speedster Dynamo is PL 13. He has a Defense Bonus of +18 and a Toughness bonus of +8 (under ideal circumstances). 18 +8 = 26 / 2 = 13. So he hits Defensive caps. It is strongly advised that all new comers ensure that they hit their caps for PL's 7 through 10, after that it doesn't matter too much. Veteran players can get away with under capping themselves because they have done so for an explicit reason and other aspects of the build make up for this deficiency.
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