Fixing Jubatus

[Cubist]

Jube's Complications specify that the cheetah is permanently stuck at a tempo of 6, and needs to use his Timeshift to slow down in order to interact with normal-speed people. However, Jube's powers, as listed on the character sheet, don't seem to reflect that. This is a problem, and here's my first try at a solution:

Default Tempo (6PP Container [Active]) [6pp]

Quickness 3 (x6) [3pp]

Speed 3 (60MPH/600 ft per Move Action) [3pp]

Timeshift (24PP Container [Active]) [24pp]

• Enhanced Feats 6 (Improved Initiative 6) [6pp]
  Enhanced STR 12 [12pp]
  Quickness 3 (on top of Default Tempo, adds up to x100) [3pp]
  Speed 3 (on top of Default Tempo, adds up to 500MPH/5,000 ft per Move Action) [3pp]

Does this pass muster?

[Cubist]

Still not sure that splitting the one Container into two Containers will be a valid solution. But if it is, it occurs to me that this would be a summat better representation of what I'm after:

Default Tempo (15PP Container [Active]) [6pp]

• Enhanced Feats 3 (Improved Initiative 3) [6pp]
  Enhanced STR 6 [6pp]
  Quickness 3 (x6) [3pp]
  Speed 3 (60MPH/600 ft per Move Action) [3pp]

Timeshift (15PP Container [Active]) [15pp]

• Enhanced Feats 3 (Improved Initiative 3) [3pp]
  Enhanced STR 6 [6pp]
  Quickness 3 (on top of Default Tempo, adds up to x100) [3pp]
  Speed 3 (on top of Default Tempo, adds up to 500MPH/5,000 ft per Move Action) [3pp]

So: Yes? No?

Does this pass muster?

[Ecalsneerg]

That's perfectly legal, but won't represent him being stuck at any speed, which would be a Permanent power. However, I can't think of any power where Permanency would make you unable to communicate with people, i.e. it's probably a Complication.

[Cubist]

That's perfectly legal, but won't represent him being stuck at any speed, which would be a Permanent power. However, I can't think of any power where Permanency would make you unable to communicate with people, i.e. it's probably a Complication.

It is indeed (a part of) one of the Complications on Jube's character sheet. At this point, I've decided to leave the sheet as it stands; I was worried that Jube's crunch didn't match up with his fluff, but I'm now thinking that I was led astray by my poor grasp of MnM game mechanics. So it goes...

[Cubist]

Okay: Jube has a non-trivial number of unspent points. One thing I've decided to use said points for is Gadgets, to better represent his Vest Of Many Pockets and all the fun techno-toys he carries therein. I'm thinking 1 rank in Gadgets (i.e., 5 pts to play with), maybe 2 (i.e., 10 pts) at most; 3 ranks would be excessive, it seems to me. It'll be the 6-pts-per-rank version of Gadgets, since these are supposed to be normal handheld tools and such.

Since Gadgets is a (summat restricted) version of Variable Power, it would probably be polite, if not prudent and downright wise, for me to come up with a number of candidate five-points-or-less devices Jube might pull out of his vest. I invite examination and critique from anybody who has greater expertise with the MnM rules than I do -- and that group includes a large majority of the players hereabouts!

Binoculars -- 2 PP

What it says on the tin -- a good pair of high-end binoculars.

Descriptors: Light, Technology

Power: Super-Senses 2 (Extended Vision 2, -1 per 1K feet)

I could see giving these Flaw: Distracting, on the grounds that when you're actually using a pair of binocs, you tend to be somewhat less aware of your immediate surroundings...

Foam spray -- 5 pp

Non-toxic foam that happens to be opaque enough to mess with your eyesight.

Descriptors: Chemical, Technology

Power: Dazzle 5 (Affects visual senses)

Flaw: Range (Touch)

It's an ordinary spray can -- its effective range is, like, 8 inches -- so Flaw: Range seemed reasonable to me.

Reinforced duct tape -- 5 pp

The toughest duct tape on the market.

Descriptors: Technology

Power: Snare 10

Flaw: Action (full), Range (Touch)

Wrapping someone up in duct tape kind of requires that you be right there to do it, hence Flaw: Range. And it does take a bit of time to do the wrapping-up thing, hence Flaw: Action (full).

Grappling line -- 2 pp

The classic 'swing line', beloved of Daredevil.

Descriptors: Technology

Power: Super-Movement 1 (Swinging)

Given that Jube already has Wall-Crawling, it's not clear that Swinging will actually be of any use to him. That's okay; there are lots of other things you can do with a long, tough rope...

Pure capsiacin spray -- 5 pp

In other words, a small canister of pepper spray.

Descriptors: Biological, Chemical

Power: Nauseate 5

Flaw: Unreliable (5 uses)

The 'stock' Nauseate power comes 'factory equipped' with some of the innate Flaws of a pepper spray canister. Since the thing has a fairly small reservoir, Flaw: Unreliable (5 uses) seemed reasonable to me; if 5 uses is excessive, i got no problem with reducing that number.

Powerlenses -- 1 pp

Basically, a high-tech magnifying glass.

Descriptors: Light, Technology

Power: Super-Senses 2 (Microscopic Vision 2, cell-sized objects)

Flaw: Distracting (1 rank)

If Flaw: Distracting is appropriate for a pair of binocs, it's pertty close to mandatory for a microscope, it seems to me.

Metabolic booster -- 5 pp

A powerful stimulant to get you up and running ASAP after an attack.

Descriptors: Biological, Chemical, Technology

Power: Regeneration 15 (Recovery Bonus (general) +9; Recovery Rate (bruised) +2; Recovery Rate (staggered) +2; Recovery Rate (injured) +2)

Flaw: Distracting (1 rank), Unreliable (1 dose)

This thing has Flaw: Distracting because like many other powerful stimulants, this stuff can mess with your mind. Flaw: Unreliable (1 dose) because (campiagn-level justification) Regeneration ought to be strictly controlled, or because (character-level justification) it's an experimental formula that Jube is field-testing and he's not sure how much of the stuff it's worth his while to carry.

So: THe first round of candidates. Please feel free to pick them apart, suggest new devices, etc etc etc!

[Avenger Assembled]

Uses-style Unreliable is not a good flaw for a Variable Power.

Distracting is not a good flaw for a microscope, since you are basically never going to be attacked while using it.

It's not that great for the binoculars, really: there's no need to spam flaws on what's already a good power.

Reinforced Duct Tape: The game is not that cartoony.

Similarly, comic book characters typically don't find medipaks and regenerate. (The sort of character who runs around injecting himself with metabolic boosters is typically named 'Juicer' and gets beaten up by Spiderman in a free anti-drug comic they give away in schools). Regeneration should not be coming from a Variable Power anyway. If you want a healing effect (and your descriptors can justify it), use the Healing power.

[Cubist]

It just occurred to me that if Jube has 1 rank in Gadgets, he doesn't need that Equipment list of 1-pt gizmoes, because the Gadgets power covers all that sort of thing. So I might as well dump the 4-pp Equipment and no harm done, yes? Apart from that, there's a few little things I want to add to Jube's sheet.

Since Jube's Timeshift has the side-effect of causing light-waves to redshift when he's running faster than normal, he really ought to have Ultravision when he's upshifted, and he ought to have X-ray Vision when he's seriously upshifted.

It just makes sense for Jube to be able to run on water. That's "run" with a capital Upshift, of course...

According to the Core Book, the Super-Speed power has a number of available power Feats, including Rapidfire; I think Jube should slap an AP on his existing Strike, so that he can either do a Mighty Strike or a Rapidfire Blast. It would also make sense for Jube to boost his Strike a little; while his claws aren't necessarily any sharper, he's got more experience with 'em and presumably knows how to use them to greater effect.

With all that in mind, here are my proposed edits for Jube's character sheet:

• [*:2u7i2bv7]Add Gadgets 1. It's the 'easy to lose' flavor, so the cost is 6 pts. (running total: 6 pts)
  [*:2u7i2bv7]Drop the 4=pp Equipment list. (running total: 6-4 = 2)
  [*:2u7i2bv7]Add Super-Senses 1 (Ultravision), with the Complication Power Loss: Only active when Jube is Timeshifted faster than his default tempo of 6. Cost, 1 pt. (running total: 2+1 = 3)
  [*:2u7i2bv7]Add Super-Senses 4 (X-ray Vision), with the Flaw Power Loss: Only active when Jube is 'pushing' his Quickness up to more than its normal maximum number of ranks. This looks like a -1 Flaw, so the four ranks end up costing 2 pts. (running total: 3 + 1 = 4)
  [*:2u7i2bv7]Add Super-Movement 1 (Water Walking), with the Complication Power Loss: Only active when Jube is Timeshifted faster than his default tempo of 6. Cost, 1 pt. (running total: 4+1 = 5)
  [*:2u7i2bv7]Add one rank to Jube's Strike, making it Strike 4. Cost, 1 pt. (running total: 5+1 = 6)
  [*:2u7i2bv7]Add an AP to Jube's Strike: Namely, Blast 2 with the Feat Rapidfire. Cost, 1 pt. (running total: 6+1 = 7)

I'm going to wait a few days for comments, after which I'll post something to the Character Edits thread. And yes, that "going to wait a few days" is an invitation for people to offer commentary.

[Cubist]

Okay: Here's my first attempt at upgrading Jube with XP. The things I meant to do are as follows:

• [*:3o0x95ms]+6PP, add 1 rank in Gadgets (Easy To Lose)
  [*:3o0x95ms]-4PP, lose the Equipment feat -- the Gadgets power covers everything that was included here, and then some
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, gain Sense Motive -- Jube can smell people's emotions, which should be helpful here, right?
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, add a Feat: Benefit (Wealth 1). -- Jube is a freelancer who can literally do 150 hours' work in one day. 'Nuff Said?
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, add a Feat: Stunning Attack -- Jube has learned how to avoid doing serious damage with his claws & etc
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, add +1 rank in Strike
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, add Super-Senses 1: Ultravision, with Power Loss (only active when upshifted to faster than normal) -- Jube's Timeshift messes with the wavelengths of visible light
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, add Super-Senses 1: Infravision, with Power Loss (only active when DOWNshifted to SLOWER than normal) -- Again, the Timeshift messes with the wavelengths of visible light
  [*:3o0x95ms]+1PP, add Super-Movement 1: Water Walking, with Power Loss (only active when Jube is upshifted to faster than normal)

I believe these changes work out out to +9PP, which should bring Jube up to 159PP in all. Not sure how come it seems to be adding up to 158PP? [shrug] I probably screwed up somewhere along the way, which is why I'm posting this version of the character sheet in the Character Building forum rather than going directly to the Character Bank.

I also added the DC Block that was missing from Jube's original character sheet. Hopefully it's okay as it stands, but I am not fool enough to believe that without having it checked over by someone who actually knows what they're doing...

---

Player Name: Cubist

Character Name: Jubatus

Power Level: 11 (158/160PP)

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

Unspent PP: 1

Progress To Bronze Status: 10/30

In Brief: Speedster who is his own worst enemy -- his toughest challenge will be overcoming 'the demons within'

Alternate Identity: Jay Nelson Xavier

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: Sometimes works with Martin Brandtford of ASTRO Labs for scientific purposes.

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" (standing bipedally)

Weight: 102 lbs

Eyes: Green

Hair: Fur w/ typical cheetah markings -- sandy-yellow w/ black spots all over, with 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 perceives 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.

For the past 30-40 years, Jay has been a technocrat, specializing in troubleshooting and technical writing; his life was a comfortable routine of accepting, and fulfulling, freelance contracts. That comfortable routine ended in May of 2010.

Unknown to Jay, he'd been chosen by a Grue sleeper agent as a suitable test-subject for biological experimentation... so one day, Jay went to sleep normal, and woke up with a five-o'clock shadow that just wouldn't quit. Overnight, his body had changed from 'normal human' to 'almost-normal cheetah'. As if the associated changes to his vision, hearing, and other senses weren't bad enough, he also found himself 'floating', as if gravity had somehow been reduced to ¹/₆ of its customary strength. Confused and disoriented by this radical transformation, Jay managed to dial 9-1-1... and that freaked him out even more: There was no person on the other end of the line, just a slow basso droning. Even worse, Jay discovered that he was no longer capable of speech -- all that came out of his mouth were animal noises! In desperation, Jay barked out the classic SOS code. Then he lost consciousness...

Jay woke up in a hospital room, tied to a bed by loose restraints. During the week or so he spent in hospital, Jay learned about his new, highly cheetah-esque body; what he could and couldn't eat safely, that he was permanently stuck at 6* faster than the rest of the world, etc etc. As well, he figured out how to talk with a vocal tract that can't produce speech (the secret is, make a series of carefully-selected sound effects that sound like human words), and how to 'downshift' (slow himself down) to the same speed as everybody else. At which point, he returned to his normal life, as best he could.

A week after his release from hospital, Jay happened to be passing by the site of a five-on-one mugging. Ordinarily, Jay would have just dialed 9-1-1 on his cellphone and let the police handle it... but this time, he couldn't just let the victim suffer, because he was a by-God human being, not a friggin' animal!

Jay thought his monstrous appearance would be enough to drive the thugs away. Wrong: Inhuman he might seem, but he was also obviously scared & underconfident, and he appeared to be a scrawny little bugger (6' tall and 100 lbs). So the thugs figured a weak, frightened animal (albeit one that was a little bit larger than the last animal they'd tortured) would be easy meat. The thugs were very wrong: In the ensuing scuffle, Jay 'upshifted' for the first time, and his 'beast side' took over for the first time... or at least he friggin' well hopes it was his 'beast side' taking over. Because when it was over, Jay was horrified to see all five thugs sprawled out on the asphalt, unmoving, in puddles of their own blood. Jay called for ambulances, and spent the next several minutes puking his guts out.

All five of the thugs were alive when the ambulances arrived. Jay reported the incident to the police, who assured him that there would be no legal repercussions -- it was a clear case of self-defense on behalf of an innocent victim -- which made Jay feel a little better about his having ripped and torn and shredded and... anyway, Jay resolved that the next time he came across a crime-in-progress, he would let the police handle it.

Then the parents of one of the thugs insisted on charging Jay with assault and battery! However the judge might have originally planned to handle this case, Jay derailed that plan by pleading guilty. So the judge was forced to come up with a 'plan B'. Well, it was pretty clear that Jay wanted to be a good citizen... but it was also clear that he was having problems dealing with his newly-transformed body, and that he could be a danger to the public, if those problems weren't dealt with.

In the end, the judge ordered Jay to get the psychological help he so clearly needed. Now, some few months of treatment later, Jay still has bad days from time to time... but his mental condition is sufficiently improved that when his therapist suggested Jay put his special abilities to public-spirited use, Jay agreed. And now Jay battles injustice with the blazing speed of... Jubatus!

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 that acting on said impulses usually has a bad outcome. However, he has recently come to understand that the results of ignoring altruistic impulses can be worse. 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: Jubatus is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing, pre-planned activity to improvisation. As a general rule, Jubatus would rather not strike the first blow in any battle, preferring to at least try for a non-violent solution if possible.

---

Complications:

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...

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, not to mention his skeletal structure is all wrong for it -- so he wears as little of it as he can get away with. 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.

Thou Shalt Not...: Jube 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.

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.

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's sleep cycle is ¹/₆ as long as that of any normal person.

Abilities: -4 +14 +4 +8 +6 +2 = 30pp

Str 18/06 (+4/-2)

Dex 24 (+7)

Con 14 (+2)

Int 18 (+4)

Wis 16 (+3)

Cha 12 (+1)

Combat: 12 + 20 = 32pp

Initiative: +7/+31

Attack: +6 ranged, +12 melee

Grapple: +16/+10

Defense: +10 (+10 Base), +5 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -5, -1 Flat-Footed

Saving Throws: 4 + 0 + 6 = 10

Toughness: +10 (+2 Con, +8 Defensive Roll) / +2 Flat-Footed

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

Reflex: +7 (+7 Dex, +0)

Will: +9 (+3 Wis, +6)

Skills: 32R =8pp

Knowledge: Business 4 (+8)

Knowledge: Current Events 4 (+8)

Knowledge: Technology 5 (+9)

Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 5 (+9)

Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French)

Notice 6 (+9)

Sense Motive 4 (+7)

Stealth 2 (+9)

Feats: 17PP

Attack Focus (Melee) 6

Benefit: Wealth 1

Defensive Roll 4 (+8 Toughness)

Environmental Adaptation (Low gravity)

Evasion

Jack of All Trades

Master Plan

Stunning Attack

Uncanny Dodge (Motion Sense)

None (see Gadgets in the Powers section for the gizmoes Jube carries on him)

Powers: 6+2+2+5+6+1+7+1+1+30 = 61PP

Gadgets 1 (easy to lose) [6PP]

Incomplete list of stuff available to Jube, as part of Gadgets, is 'hidden' under the Spoiler tag

Stuff from the Core book

Binoculars [1PP]

Commlink [1PP]

Cutting torch (Blast 1, Drain Toughness 1) [3PP]

Digital A/V recorder [1PP]

Ear protectors (+5 vs Dazzle (auditory)) [1PP]

Fire extinguisher [1PP]

Flash-defense goggles (+5 vs Dazzle (visual)) [1PP]

Forensics kit [1PP]

Gas mask [1PP]

GPS unit [1PP]

Handcuffs [1PP]

Lock release gun [1PP]

Mini-tracer [1PP]

Palmtop (PDA) [1PP]

Police scanner [1PP]

Rebreather [1PP]

Swiss army knife (i.e., multi-tool) [1PP]

UV 'blacklight' [1PP]

Stuff that isn't in the Core Book, but seemed reasonable

Duct tape / Snare 5 (Flaw: Touch) [5PP]

Small, throwable objects / Strike 2 (Feat: Rapidfire) [5PP]

Fluff -- probably won't ever affect combat, but he's carrying it anyway

Protein bars

Spare batteries (all kinds needed for his gadgets)

Vials of concentrated energy fluid (i.e., Rockstar/Monster/Red Bull)

Immunity 2 (aging, cheetah-specific& human-specific diseases) [2pp]

Regeneration 2 (Recovery Rate: Bruised 1 [1 round], Staggered 1 [20 minutes]) [2pp]

Strike 4 (Feats: Mighty) (Claws, fangs) [5pp]

Super-Movement 3 (Safe Fall, Sure-footed, Wall-Crawling) [6PP]

Super-Movement 1 (Water Walking, Complications: Power Loss [Only active when Jube is Timeshifted faster than his default tempo of 6]) [1PP]

Super-Senses 7: (Danger Sense (Motion Sense), Low-light Vision, Motion Sense [Tactile, Extras: Ranged], Normal Olfactory Sense [Extras: Acute, Tracking], Ultrasonic Hearing) [7PP]

Super-Senses 1: (Infravision, Complications: Power Loss [Only active when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal]) [1PP]

Super-Senses 1: (Ultravision, Complications: Power Loss: Only active when Jube is Timeshifted faster than his default tempo of 6) [1PP]

Timeshift (30PP Container [Active]) [30pp]

• Enhanced Feats 6 (Improved Initiative 6) [6pp]
  Enhanced STR 12 [12pp]
  Quickness 6 (x100) [6pp]
  Speed 6 (500MPH/5,000 ft per Move Action) [6pp]

DC Block:

ATTACK      RANGE     SAVE vs.                    EFFECT

Unarmed     Touch     Toughness, DC19 (15+4)      Damage (Physical)

Strike      Touch     Toughness, DC23 (15+8)      Damage (Physical)

Blast       Range     Toughness, DC17 (15+2)      Damage (Physical) / from Gadgets

Snare       Touch     Reflex, DC20 (15+5)         Entanglement / from Gadgets

Abilities (30) + Combat (32) + Saving Throws (10) + Skills (8) + Feats (17) + Powers (61) = 158/160pp

[Cubist]

At present, Jubatus has 172 points saved up—but he's only used 158 of said points. Fourteen unspent points! This cannot stand! So...

Currently, Jube has 12 pts in +6 Base Attack Bonus, and 6 pts in Attack Focus (Melee). Since it never really seemed right for his melee skill and ranged skill to be different, I'd like to nuke the Attack Focus and just buy his Base Attack Bonus up to +12. This should suck up 6 of his unspent 14 points.

Off the battlefield, Jube is accumulating money, because his Quickness lets him take on, and complete, lots more contracts in a given time than most other freelancers can manage… so the bucks are rolling in faster than his standard spending habits can drain 'em off. Thus, spend one point buying Benefit: Wealth 1 up to Benefit: Wealth 2. Running total of (6 + 1 =) 7 pts spent.

At present, Jube doesn't have the Well-Informed Feat, but I've sorta-kinda been playing him as if he did. So I may as well make it official by spending 1 point on Feat: Well-Informed. Running total of (7 + 1 =) 8 pts spent.

I think Jube's Timeshift could do with a boost. So I'm looking to buy up all four of the powers in said container: 1 pt on Enhanced Feats (Improved Initiative) 6, 1 pt on Quickness 6, 1 pt on Speed 6, and 2 pts on Enhanced STR. After spending the points, Jube ends up with Enhanced Feats (Improved Initiative) 7; Enhanced STR 14; Quickness 7; and Speed 7. Running total of (8 + 5 =) 13 pts spent.

Comments are invited and appreciated…

[Raveled]

Why shouldn't his Melee attack be higher than his Ranged attack? It doesn't seem like he has any inherent ranged attacks (what he stunts or builds with Gadgets notwithstanding) so there's no real reason he'd be trained in ranged combat as well as melee combat.

Feats look fine. Not sure why being timeshifted makes him stronger, but whatever. *Does math* You're intentionally keeping him undercapped at PL 10, then? But with Str 20 (+5 bonus) and Strike 4 (with Mighty) he has a Rank 9 Damage ability, and +12 attack with it. That averages out to PL 10.5 offensively. I'd recommend dropping attack by one point.

[Cubist]

Why shouldn't his Melee attack be higher than his Ranged attack? It doesn't seem like he has any inherent ranged attacks (what he stunts or builds with Gadgets notwithstanding) so there's no real reason he'd be trained in ranged combat as well as melee combat.

Jube doesn't have any training in either melee or ranged combat. Why, then, does Jube have superhero-ish Attack bonus at all? Because as far as (upshifted) Jube is concerned, the rest of the battlefield is crawling along 1/40 its normal speed. Why should it be easier to hit 1/40-speed targets with a punch than it is to hit 1/40-speed targets with a thrown rock? This discrepancy was in Jube's original sheet to save points, not to reflect the character's actual level(s) of expertise, so I'd like to correct it now that I got the points to do so.

Feats look fine. Not sure why being timeshifted makes him stronger, but whatever.

Muscle strength is measured by how many foot-pounds of effort the muscle can deliver in a given amount of time. If you can deliver the same quantity of effort in half the time, you're effectively twice as strong.

*Does math* You're intentionally keeping him undercapped at PL 10, then? But with Str 20 (+5 bonus) and Strike 4 (with Mighty) he has a Rank 9 Damage ability, and +12 attack with it. That averages out to PL 10.5 offensively. I'd recommend dropping attack by one point.

In truth, this isn't me deliberately keeping Jube undercapped; rather, this is me making some changes to the sheet without considering how those changes would affect Jube's caps. Player incompetence, not player design. Undercapped vs properly-capped… I'll ponder this. At present, I'm inclined to think that maybe I should raise the Strike one rank; I may change my mind later. Again, I'll think about it.

Thank you for responding, Raveled!

[Dr Archeville]

Muscle strength is measured by how many foot-pounds of effort the muscle can deliver in a given amount of time. If you can deliver the same quantity of effort in half the time, you're effectively twice as strong.

... not really. There's lots of applications where time isn't a factor. Like lifting/rolling a fallen telephone pole off a trapped bystander -- no matter how fast Jube's going, he's not going to find it any easier to lift/push away.

[Cubist]

... not really. There's lots of applications where time isn't a factor. Like lifting/rolling a fallen telephone pole off a trapped bystander -- no matter how fast Jube's going, he's not going to find it any easier to lift/push away.

Fair point, Dok. Giving Jube heightened STR isn't an exact match for what's actually happening here, but I think it's a reasonable approximation within the framework of MnM game-mechanics. Especially after you add in the Timeshift's gravity-tweaking side-effect…

It occurs to me that if any GM should ever put Jube in a situation where his Timeshift-derived approximation of strength just won't pass muster, because genuine strength is required, that might be worth a Hero Point. If so… I can live with that.

[Ecalsneerg]

Alternately, maybe he becomes stronger by being a bloody great cat.

[KnightDisciple]

Alternately, maybe he becomes stronger by being a bloody great cat.

To be somewhat fair, cheetahs are probably one of the least strong of the great cats. Which is probably why this guy's about speed, not power.