EdroGrimshell - Scream (PL 7)

[EdroGrimshell]

Player Name: EdroGrimshell

Character Name: Scream

Power Level: 7 (105/105PP)

Trade-Offs: +2 Attack/-2 Damage, +2 Defense/-2 Toughness

Unspent PP: 0

Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30

In Brief: Mute martial artist that can create mental screams to incapacitate his opponents.

Alternate Identities: Christopher Sevver

Identity: Secret

Birthplace: West Key, Florida

Occupation: Musician

Affiliations: None as of yet

Family: Elizabeth Sevver (Mother) & John Sevver (Father)

Age: 19 (DoB: August, Year)

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Height: 6' 2

Weight: 150lbs

Eyes: Ice Blue

Hair: Matte Grey

Description: Scream is a somewhat tall and thin teen with thin, angular features. He always wears a dark green heavy jacket and a pair of well made winter gloves, regardless of the heat outside, and a pair of headphones, usually on full blast even when he "speaks" with others. Icy blue eyes, matte grey hair, and pale skin give him an overall cold appearance. His face is usually in one of two expression, sheer calm or boredom.

His costume is very similar to his normal outfit, though they are of a very different design, having a steampunk look with many stylized emblems and additions, a heavy jacket, gloves, heavy boots, heavy denim jeans, and a specially designed mask that resembles a combination of steampunk goggles, gas mask, and a rebreather.

His clothing, both his costume and everyday clothing, are custom made and are able to keep him cool in the summer and warm in the winter, an aspect that most people are unaware of, making it seem like he's always cold regardless of the actual ambient temprature. Made by a former room-mate these clothes are distinct, meaning he has one person, at least, that realizes who he really is.

History: Scream was born in Key West Florida where his father, a minor metahuman with some telepathic abilities, was a musician and his mother was a nurse at a hospital. He was born mute a fact that affected him over his entire life, though mostly in middle and high school. His parents got divorced when he was three, his mother gaining custody of him. They moved to Justice after two years when his mother was relocated to the Justice City.

1) Parents got divorced when he was 3

2) Moved to Justice City when he was 5

3) Developed mental powers when he was 6

4) Attended school at Justice Elementary/Middle/High

5) Started learning martial arts, specifically Muay Thai and Aikido, when he was 10

6) Created a style combining the aspects of both Aikido and Muay Thai when he was 14

7) Started fighting crime after his mother was injured by a mob member when he was 15

(Need some help here, i've listed some of the major points of his development above)

Personality & Motivation: It's difficult to get a feel for Scream's personality, his calm expression combined with being mute making it nearly impossible to get to know him unless you know sign language, though he is rather sociable. Much like his facial expression, Scream's personality is very much monotone, very calm, collected, and focused, though he is easily annoyed, he rarely gets angry. People that poke at his being a mute is a surefire way of getting him angry.

Scream has never liked bullies, since he was always one being bullied, at least until he started learning martial arts. He doesn't let anyone bully anyone else if he can help it, even if the "bully" in question is a metahuman, although he reserves his mental screams for criminals, using his martial arts to make bullies think twice about what they're trying to do.

Powers & Tactics: Scream, as his name implies, creates mental screams that are capable of incapacitating most individuals of his power level, he is also a skilled mixed martial artist using a combination of Muay Thai and Aikido as the base for his combat style. Not much for subtlety, he often walks into the middle of a fight and releases his mental screams to disable opponents, usually starting with the Howl to incapacitate as many opponents as possible then switching to his Screech to incapacitate single opponents, if the need arises he'll use some of his other screams.

---

Complications:

Struggling: Living in a small apartment on only what he can get from street performances and calls he has little money to his name

Secret: If Scream's identity became public his mother would be in danger.

Abilities: 4 + 6 + 2 + 0 + 6 + 4 = 22PP

Strength: 14 (+2)

Dexterity: 16 (+3)

Constitution: 12 (+1)

Intelligence: 10 (+0)

Wisdom: 16 (+3)

Charisma: 14 (+2)

Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP

Initiative: +3

Attack: +4/+6 (+7/+9 Melee)

Grapple: +11

Defense: +9 (+4 Base, +3 Dodge Focus, +2 Powers), +4 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -2

Saving Throws: 6 + 4 + 5 = 15PP

Toughness: +5 (+1 Con, +4 Defensive Roll)

Fortitude: +7 (+1 Con, +6)

Reflex: +7 (+3 Dex, +4)

Will: +8 (+3 Wis, +5)

Skills: 40R = 10PP

Acrobatics 12 (+15)

Climb 4 (+6)

Concentration 8 (+11)

Languages 1 (English (Native), Sign Language)

Notice 7 (+14)

Perform (Guitar) 4 (+6)

Sense Motive 4 (+7)

Feats: 17PP

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (Melee) 3

Defensive Attack

Defensive Roll 2

Dodge Focus 3

Evasion 1

Improved Block

Improved Throw

Improved Trip

Stunning Attack

Takedown Attack

Uncanny Dodge 1 (Hearing)

Powers: 25 + 2 + 2 = 29PP

Scream Array (21PP Feats: Alternate Power 4) [25PP]

• Base Power: Nauseate 7 (Extras: Ranged, Alternate Save (Will).) (Scream, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Dazzle (Hearing) 7 (Extras: Alternate Save (Will), Area (Cone), Selective) (Shriek, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Fatigue 7 (Extras: Alternate Save (Will), Range) (Yelp, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Mental Blast 5 (Feats: Accurate) (Screech, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Paralysis 7 (Extras: Area (Burst), Selective. Flaw: Limited (Slow Only)) (Howl, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Stun 7 (Extras: Ranged, Alternate Save (Will)) (Wail, Mental) [21PP]

Enhanced Attack 2: (Flaw: Limited (Doesn't Apply against creatures immune to mental attacks)) (Static, Mental) [2PP]

Enhanced Defense 2: (Flaw: Limited (Doesn't Apply against creatures immune to mental attacks)) (Static, Mental) [2PP]

Drawbacks: (-4) = -4PP

Mute (Frequency: Very Common, Intensity: Moderate) [-4PP]

DC Block:

ATTACK      RANGE     SAVE                        EFFECT

Unarmed     Touch     DC15 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Physical)

Abilities (22) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (15) + Skills (10) + Feats (17) + Powers (29) - Drawbacks (4) = 105/105 Power Points

[Fox]

Abilities: 2 + 3 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 2 = 11PP

Strength: 14 (+2)

Dexterity: 16 (+3)

Constitution: 12 (+1)

Intelligence: 10 (+0)

Wisdom: 16 (+3)

Charisma: 14 (+2)

Quite a bit under cost, here. Taking Strength from 10 to 14 costs 4pp, not 2; you pay for the strength itself, not the bonus you get from it. So that's (4+6+2+0+6+4=) 22pp total for abilities.

Combat: 10 + 8 = 18PP

Initiative: +3

Attack: +5

Grapple: +0

Defense: +9 (+4 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -2

Your Attack bonus should account for your Attack Focuses and Specializations and whatnot. Here, it should read something like:

Attack: +5 (+9 Melee)

Your grapple bonus is your attack bonus plus your strength modifier. Here, that's (5 (base attack) + 4 (melee bonus) + 2 (str bonus) =) +11.

Saving Throws: 0 + 0 + 0 = 0PP

Toughness: +5 (+1 Con, +4 Defensive Roll)

Fortitude: +8 (+1 Con, +7)

Reflex: +8 (+3 Dex, +5)

Will: +8 (+3 Wis, +5)

Don't forget to tally the costs. 7+5+5= 17pp. It's listed correctly down at the end tally, but have to make sure it's here, too!

Skills: 60R = 15PP

Acrobatics 12 (+15)

Climb 4 (+6)

Concentration 8 (+11)

Languages 1 (English, Sign Language)

Notice 11 (+14)

Perform (Guitar) 4 (+6)

Sense Motive 12 (+15)

You're currently only listing 13pp worth of skills. You'll also want to note which of your Languages (I'm assuming English?) is native. You actually listed them in alphabetical order, though, which should make Shaen a happy, happy man.

Feats: 23PP

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (Melee) 4 Ranks

Defensive Attack

Defensive Roll 4 Ranks

Dodge Focus 5 Ranks

Evasion 2 Ranks

Improved Block

Improved Throw

Improved Trip

Stunning Attack

Takedown Attack

Uncanny Dodge 1 Rank (Hearing)

Not a big deal, but you don't have to say 'Ranks' each time - just the number'll do.

Per the house rules on feats, Defensive Roll gives you 2 toughness per rank. To get your +4 Toughness up above, you only need Defensive Roll 2.

Powers: 25 = 25PP

Scream Array

• Base Power: Nauseate 7 (Extras: Ranged, Alternate Save (Will). Feats: Alternate Powers (4).) (Scream, Mental) [25PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Dazzle (Hearing) 7 (Extras: Alternate Save (Will), Area (Cone), Selective) (Shriek, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Fatigue 7 (Extras: Alternate Save (Will), Range) (Yelp, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Mental Blast 5 (Feats: Accurate) (Screech, Mental) [21PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Nauseate 4 (Extras: Ranged, Action (2), Area (Burst), Alternate Save (Will), ) (Howl, Mental) [20PP]
  
  Alternate Power: Stun 7 (Extras: Ranged, Alternate Save (Will)) (Wail, Mental) [21PP]

I'll...let the refs weigh in on this one, but I'm not entirely sure they're going to allow a reaction (EDIT: Woop! See below: you were right, free action, not reaction. My bad, tired brain jumped over an action type when I was running it back in my head. Same problem, though....) area attack power, like you have for Nauseate 4.

Now's as good a time as any to note that the character's a decent distance under offensive caps for anything they do. Melee attacks would be done with a +9 attack bonus but only +2 Damage - that's PL5.5. All the actual powers are rank 7 or lower; that's a +7 'damage' bonus, but only a +5 attack when you use them. PL6. Offensive caps don't tend to be as important as defensive caps, but they're still important, especially at the low power levels.

I'd recommend either buying a Strike power (with Mighty) to bring up melee (as a straight power or as equipment), or putting Accurate on every power in the array to take you up to a PL7 +0 Attack/+0 Damage cap on (most of) your non-melee abilities. Maybe both. Or just find a way to bump them up to Perception range, which is reasonably common for mental attacks.

Drawbacks: (-4) = -4PP

Mute (Frequency: Very Common, Intensity: Moderate) [-4PP]

DC Block:

ATTACK      RANGE     SAVE                        EFFECT

Unarmed     Touch     DC15 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Physical)

Abilities (11) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (15) + Feats (23) + Powers (25) - Drawbacks (4) = 105/105 Power Points

DC Block's unfinished, of course, but presumably you're saving that for last, when the sheet's all finished up. I don't blame you. Editing those things is kind of a pain. They're worth the pain, mind, but I usually save them for last too.

Total expense tally: you're not paying enough for your abilities, you're paying for more feats and skills than you actually need. Assuming I haven't botched the math (which is possible! It's a thing I do.), you have:

Abilities (22) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (13) + Feats (21) + Powers (25) - Drawbacks (4) = 112/105 Power Points

A little overbudget, but not too bad. Certainly better than most first drafts for PL7s and 8s I've built.

[EdroGrimshell]

Well i can definitely modify the ability scores, though my group always played 2 ability points per PP spent so that got me confused here, will fix that ASAP.

I forgot that specific rule on Defensive Roll and will adjust accordingly once i get back.

I'll check my Sheet on Mythweavers to see if i missed anything for skills. I use it to organize then translate it into a notepad doc to get the formatting right.

Thanks on the grapple part, all i found in the Core Book was that size adjusted it so i'll fix that ASAP.

A actually didn't intend to have Howl be reactive, i had anticipated it as a free action to represent a constant mental "static" disruption that he activated very quickly each round. If i did that wrong could you help me make that idea more streamlined? I also intended mental blast to be one. However i think you're right on Strike since he is a martial artist he'd need it to be effective, i'll need to make some room for it, though.

Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated

EDIT: Fixed it so i had up to 105 now. Will still need to make room for the Strike power

[Dr Archeville]

A actually didn't intend to have Howl be reactive, i had anticipated it as a free action to represent a constant mental "static" disruption that he activated very quickly each round. If i did that wrong could you help me make that idea more streamlined? I also intended mental blast to be one.

Attack powers with their Actions bought down are generally not going to be allowed. Free Action attacks will definitely not be allowed.

But "mental static disruption" would be a decent descriptor for a high Will save, and/or Immunity 10 (mental effects) (perhaps limited to half effect).

[EdroGrimshell]

Attack powers with their Actions bought down are generally not going to be allowed. Free Action attacks will definitely not be allowed.

But "mental static disruption" would be a decent descriptor for a high Will save, and/or Immunity 10 (mental effects) (perhaps limited to half effect).

Okay that's understandable, how would you stat out an extended aura of loud mental static that can hamper an opponent's ability to fight? It was supposed to be a major aspect of his fighting style. If it's to "out there" i'll rework the idea.

If this character does not work out, though, i have another i can use instead.

[Dr Archeville]

A few ways come to mind -- such as an Area [burst] Paralysis (Limited: Slow Only) [2pp/rank], perhaps with the Duration bought up so they're less likely to shake off the effects (though that'd require a Standard action each round to set off). Alternatively, you could just describe his high Attack as "messing up other people's ability to defend against him" and his high Defense as "messing up other people's ability to attack him." (Maybe take some Enhanced Attack and Enhanced Defense -- buying them as powers, for the same cost -- so that they don't work if he's his by a Nullify Psionics effect.

[EdroGrimshell]

A few ways come to mind -- such as an Area [burst] Paralysis (Limited: Slow Only) [2pp/rank], perhaps with the Duration bought up so they're less likely to shake off the effects (though that'd require a Standard action each round to set off). Alternatively, you could just describe his high Attack as "messing up other people's ability to defend against him" and his high Defense as "messing up other people's ability to attack him." (Maybe take some Enhanced Attack and Enhanced Defense -- buying them as powers, for the same cost -- so that they don't work if he's his by a Nullify Psionics effect.

That works very well, thanks. I'll get to it later today, have a few things to do ATM

EDIT: Fixed most of the problems, changed the Nauseate Power to Paralysis and added the Ehanced Attack and Enhanced Defense powers with the Limited flaw so it only affects creatures succeptable to mental attacks.

[quotemyname]

I think anything with the Mental Descriptor by default only works on things with an INT of 1+ by default... Shaen brought it up in Chat yesterday, I think...

[Ecalsneerg]

I think he possibly was referring to Ultimate Power's +0 Extra called Mental. Possibly.

But in any case, that's possibly a Power Loss drawback, not a Flaw. Immunity to mental effects isnt that common, except in inanimate objects which you can hit anyway.