Ginn's Gesalt Madness

[Ginnungagap]

Animus

PL 10: 150 PP

Stats [20]

Strength 10 (+0) [0PP]

Dexterity 14 (+2) [4PP]

Constitution 10 (+0) [0PP]

Intelligence 14 (+2) [4PP]

Wisdom 12 (+1) [2PP]

Charisma 8 (-1) [-2PP]

Attack Bonus +3 [6PP]

Defense Bonus +3 [6PP]

Powers [89]

Insubstantial 4 [20+2=22] (Incorporeal, Affected by Magic; Extras: Continuous; Feats: Innate; Flaws: Permanent, Can take physical form)

Super Movement 2 [4] (Air Walking 2)

Immunity 3 [3] (Aging, Suffocation)

Regeneration 1 [1] (Resurrection 1/week)

Gesalt 5 [5]

Protection 5 [5] (Force Field)

Protection 5 [5+5] (Impervious 5)

Mind Shield 5 [5]

Device 5: Spiritweaver Sword [15+1] {{25}} (Feats: Restricted: Requires Magical Ability to use any powers other than described as "Piercing, Metal", or training with swords to use anything with the "Trained" descriptor)

Spellweaver Array 11 {{22+3}} (Feats: Alternate Power 2, Accurate)

Base: Damage 4 {4+4+1=9}(Extras: Affects Substantial, Linked ("Spellsword"); Feats: Split Attack) ("Cold Metal Blade"/Piercing, Metal)

AND Damage 5 {5+5+5+2+1-5=13}(Extras: Affects Substantial, Linked ("Cold Metal Blade"); Feats: Variable Descriptor 2 (Magic Effects), Split Attack; Flaws:) ("Spellsword")

AP: Damage 6 {6+6+6+2+2=22}(Extras: Affects Substantial, Area (Cone, General), Penetrate 2; Feats: Variable Descriptor 2) ("Mage-Strike")

AP: Damage 6 {6+6+6+2=20} (Extras: Affects Substantial, Area (Trail); Feats: Accurate 2) ("Afterimage Strike"/Slashing, Trained, Metal) AND Speed 2 [2]

Magic Array 11 [22+1] {{22}} (Alternate Power 1)

Base: Damage 10 {10+10+10+10+2-10-10=22} (Extras: Affects Substantial, Area (Shapeable, General), Range; Feats: Variable Descriptor 2; Flaws: Action (Full Round), Distracting) ("1,000,000 Bolts of Lightning"/"Rain of Fire"/"Endless Chill")

AP: Damage 8 {8+8+8+6+3+3+2-8-8=22} (Extras: Affects Substantial, Range, Autofire, Penetrating 6; Feats: Accurate 3, Indirect 3, Variable Descriptor 2; Flaws: Distracting, Action (Full Round)))("10,000 Bolts of Lightning"/"Menacing Fire"/"Hailstorm")

Feats [9]

Power Attack [1]

All-Out Attack [1]

Accurate Attack [1]

Defensive Attack [1]

Dodge Focus 3 [3]

Evasion 2 [2]

Skills [14]

Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 15 [3.75]

Knowledge (Tactics) 12 [3]

Concentration 15 [3.75]

Sense Motive 14 [3.5]

Sicarii

PL 8: 75 PP

Trade-Offs +2 Attack/-2 Damage, -3 Defense/+3 Toughness

Stats [23]

Strength 12 (+1) [2PP]

Dexterity 18 (+4) [8PP]

Constitution 10 (+0) [0PP]

Intelligence 10 (+0) [0PP]

Wisdom 10 (+0) [0PP]

Charisma 8 (-1) [-2PP]

Attack Bonus +4 [8PP]

Defense Bonus +3 [6PP]

Powers [48]

Insubstantial 4 [20+2=22] (Incorporeal, Affected by Magic; Extras: Continuous; Feats: Innate; Flaws: Permanent, Can take physical form)

Super Movement 2 [4] (Air Walking 2)

Immunity 3 [3] (Aging, Suffocation)

Super Senses [1] (Communication Link (Magus))

Regeneration 1 [1] (Resurrection 1/week)

Device 3: Spiritweaver Sword [9] {{15}} (Easy to Lose)

Damage 6 {6+6+1+2=15} (Extras: Affects Corporeal, Penetrating 1; Feats: Accurate 2)

Device 2: Soulsurge Armor [8] {{10}} (Hard to Lose)

Protection 11 {11-1=10} (Drawbacks: Noticeable: Suit of Armor)

Feats [7]

Attack Specialization (Swords) [1]

Power Attack [1]

All-Out Attack [1]

Accurate Attack [1]

Defensive Attack [1]

Dodge Focus 1 [1]

Interpose [1]

Skills [0]

Drawbacks [5 PP]

Vulnerability to Magic (Minor, Very Common) [3]

Weakness (Moderate, Uncommon) [2] (Must remain within 100 ft of Magus) (Penalty to checks, attack rolls, & defense)

Magus

PL8: 75 PP

Trade-Offs: -1 Attack/+1 Damage

Stats [13]

Strength 4 (-3) [-6PP]

Dexterity 10 (+0) [0PP]

Constitution 10 (+0) [0PP]

Intelligence 17 (+3) [7PP]

Wisdom 12 (+1) [2PP]

Charisma 8 (-1) [-2PP]

Attack Bonus +3 [6PP]

Defense Bonus +3 [6PP]

Powers [55]

Insubstantial 4 [20+2=22] (Incorporeal, Affected by Magic; Extras: Continuous; Feats: Innate; Flaws: Permanent, Can take physical form)

Immunity 3 [3] (Aging, Suffocation)

Super Movement 2 [4] (Air Walking 2)

Super Senses [1] (Communication Link (Sicarii))

Protection 8 [8] (Force Field)

Regeneration 1 [1] (Resurrection 1/week)

Mind Shield 6 [6]

Magic Array 6 [12+2-1=13] (Feats: Alternate Power 2; Drawbacks: Action (Move Action)) {12}

Base: Damage 7 {7+7+7+3+2-7-7=12}(Extras: Range, Affects Corporeal; Feats: Accurate 3, Indirect 2; Flaws: Action (Full Round), Distracting; Drawbacks:) ("Great Ice Shard")

AP: Damage 4 {4+4+4+4+3+3-4-4-1=12}(Extras: Range, Autofire, Affects Corporeal; Feats: Accurate 2, Indirect 3; Flaws: Action (Full Round), Distracting; Drawbacks: Full Power) ("100 Bolts of Lightning")

AP: Damage 6 {6+6+6+6+2+2+2-6-6-6=12}(Extras: Area (Shapeable), Affects Corporeal, Range, Piercing 2; Feats: Accurate 2, Indirect 2; Flaws: Action (Full Round), Requires Check (Knowledge: Arcane Lore, DC 16), Distracting) ("1000 Bolts of Lightning")

Feats: [1]

Eidetic Memory [1]

Skills: [7]

Knowledge (Arcane Lore) (12) [3]

Knowledge (Tactics) (8) [2]

Concentration (12) [3]

Drawbacks:[5 PP for usage]

Vulnerability to Magic (Minor, Very Common) [3 PP]

Weakness (Moderate, Uncommon) [2 PP] (Must remain within 100 ft of Sicarii) (Penalty to checks, attack rolls, & defense)

Okay, so here's what I've been spending the last few days obsessed over. A somewhat successful attempt to build a character with a central point being the Gesalt power. I know for a fact the stats aren't perfect, nor have I spent quite every point in the main bio. It's a work in progress, but it's what I've finished so far, and I probably missed several important points, but hey, trying out something new, and making a first character, I've got to make a few mistakes (I probably shouldn't have named them all in Latin, although it makes me feel all happy inside. Who wouldn't be afraid of a trio of guys named "Soul", "Assassin", and "Magician").

If you'll notice, the whole trio has a small subset of powers common to each of them. This is mostly fluff, and is one thing to tie the trio together as a single being. They are all insubstantial, have no problem walking in air, and are immune to aging and suffocation. But from there, they start separating and defining themselves a bit.

In order of their stats:

Animus is a dichotomy by his very definition. He's neither strong or accurate, tough or defensive, and his very design as a "Magic Knight" leaves him somewhere between being a piece of artillery, and running up for some close combat action (he's about equally capable of each, I believe). His build combines a device and a small set of spells. He's not exactly a utility mage, but given his mix of single target and area affect attacks, he's still capable in most combat situations. Like everyone else in the build, he's very power heavy, with little in the way of skills, and no social skills whatsoever. Like I said, there are still a few points floating around in this build.

Sicarii is one side of the whole thing. He's the accurate and tough side of Animus's equation, and is the incarnation of the "Knight" side. He uses a weaker version of his full selve's device, and doesn't have to fun of the "Afterimage Strike" that Animus has, he's just a simple fighter. He takes the hits and dishes out some, but in combat, he's quite cut off from a lot of power without Magus giving him some fire support. Honestly, his purpose seems entirely to be "the person who gets hit while the mage is preparing and casting and raining down his high-level spells"

Magus is the other side of the equation. The pure artillery of the set, and the "Magic" part of being a "Magic Knight". With a small set of ice and lightning type spells, he's got the highest concentration of ranged AoEs in the trio. And although every spell takes some time to use, they are still more than strong enough to make up for it (not to mention that he can use them while standing in midair and immune to all damage except for more magic...well, all of them could do that, but Magus is just cooler at it, literally raining death down from above). He'd probably go under fast though, without a bit of help from Sicarii, as he can't exactly use his abilities while under heavy fire himself, and his defense royally fails.

I'm still working on it all, refining everything and such, but it's a first character, and in this manner, I'm getting some experience in having a lot of points, and having to be conservative in points. But at this point, I'm going to need some experienced help to make it work to any real degree.

[Airon]

Hi!

word of advice, if you want people to comment and help you, you'll have to re-write your sheet in the standard formatting template. You can copy it from my link or from one of the many sheets of approved heroes. As it is written now, it's hard to read.

a few things I picked up:

You can't have the Permanent flaw on your Insubstantial and at the same time being able to take physical form.

Most of your attacks are undercapped (although I can't be sure, since I may have misread). Linking two Damage effect as you did in your Device is both ineffective and clumsy.

Your only attack that is up to caps is the Damage 10 in your magic array, that is Distracting, so to get up to caps with the attacks you cripple your defense.

My advice is that you re-write entirely the sheet, formatting it as the standard template, then focus on the corrections on the character.

[Dr Archeville]

Which is why we strongly suggested you not use a Gestalt character as your first M&M character/your first character here. There is absolutely no shame in using a pre-made character (like the ones in the stickied threads in this very forum) -- they're there in large part to help newbies (to both the site and to M&M in general) out!

Some things do readily stand out to me that need tweaking, or just plain don't work:

[*:w25m0umr] Zeroth, formatting. While it's true the Char Building forum is for unofficial help, not official reviews (that's what the Character Bank is for), it does help us greatly if you use the standard format for the board, since that's the format everyone would be used to seeing here.
[*:w25m0umr]Caps. The Combined form appears to have Defense of +6 (3 Base, Dodge Focus 3) and Toughness +10 (5 from Protection, 5 from "Force Field"), which puts him at PL 8 defensively, 7 (well, 6.5) if flat-footed. Offensively, he's at Attack +3 (+5 w/ Sword), Damage 9 (4+5) w/ Sword, putting him at PL 7 with his Sword. (Quick trick, effective PL = [Defense + Toughness] / 2, or [Attack + Damage/Effect] / 2, whichever's higher.) The one thing he has that hits his PL 10 cap is the Area Variable Blast (since General Area effect go just by the effect's rank to determine PL)... but that's a Full Action Distracting thing, so probably isn't something he'd be using regularly. At the very least, he should be hitting his Defensive caps, otherwise he'll be KO'd very early on.
[*:w25m0umr]Attributes. Why do they all have CHA 8 (-1)?
[*:w25m0umr]Saves. I do not see them listed: they should be! Exotic (non-Toughness) saves are something easily skipped over, but we strongly recommend not doing so. Especially Will, which is something he'd likely be facing a lot (what with being immune to bullets), and since he has Mind Shield that'd improve it.
[*:w25m0umr]Insubstantial ("Insubstantial 4 [20+2=22] (Incorporeal, Affected by Magic; Extras: Continuous; Feats: Innate; Flaws: Permanent, Can take physical form)") Continuous/Permanent Insubstantial, even without Innate, means he is permanently incorporeal, so "can take physical form" shouldn't be there. If you want them to be Incorporeal by default, but can become corporeal with some effort -- the reverse of how it typically works -- you would just buy Insubstantial and put a note on there indicating the duration is reversed (incorporeal by default, free action to become corporeal, Sustained duration [must take free action to remain corporeal]). (Mutt, the spirit hound sidekick to my character Dead Head, has this very build.) Innate may or may not be applicable: Innate is only for things that are truly an intrinsic part of the character, like an Elephant's growth of hummingbird's Shrinking; something a Nullify Powers effect shouldn't turn off. To see if Innate would apply, here's a good question to ask yourself: is there any type of Nullify effect that should be able to turn off his incorporeal (or, if reverse, his ability to become corporeal)? Should, for example, a "ghost-busting" spell designed to render ghosts corporeal (so you can punch them) work on him?
[*:w25m0umr]Immunities: why are they immune to Aging and Suffocation, but nothing else? Why do they hunger, need sleep, sweat on a hot day, shiver on a cold night, et cetera?
[*:w25m0umr]"Protection (Force Field)" really should be written as simply "Force Field," assuming it is a true Force Field (i.e., Protection with the Duration changed from Permanent to Sustained).
[*:w25m0umr]Devices. One thing often overlooked -- by both players and Refs (though we are trying to rectify this) -- is that Devices must be occasionally lost or otherwise inaccessible to the character in order to be worth the discount, particularly easy-to-lose Devices. If your characters are permanent Incorporeal, how will they be able to lose their Devices? Also, the Damage (blade) part seems like it should have the Mighty power feat; while it is true that him having a Str modifier of +0 would sorta make that a wasted point, why wouldn't his damage with the blade go down if his Str is drained?
[*:w25m0umr]Damage. See me earlier point re: Caps. Also, many of the Refs find it easier to just write Damage (Ranged) as Blast. Also, as mentioned in Chat, the Chained flaw (from Mecha & Manga) is not allowed (and, as you said, doesn't really work for what you'd wanted; just use the Linked extra).

And now for the Components

Sicarii

[*:w25m0umr]Caps. Attack +4, +6 w/ any sword (due to Attack Spec feat), +10 w/ Spiritweaver (due to Attack Spec feat & Accurate 2 on Sword), Damage 6 (non-Mighty sword) = PL 8 offensively (+2 Attk/-2 Dmg), 2.5 if unarmed (attack 4, Dmg 1 from Str), so you're golden here! Defense +4 (3 base, +1 Dodge Focus) & Toughness 11 (from Armor) = PL 8 (well, 7.5), so you're good here, too.
[*:w25m0umr]Device. Noticeable is not a valid Drawback, since Equipment & Devices that provide a Toughness bonus are already Noticeable by default.

Magus

[*:w25m0umr]Caps: Defense 3 (Base) & Protection/Force Field 8 = PL 5.5. Attack +3 (base), +7 (Lightning), +9 (Ice Shard) & Damage 4 (100 Bolts), 6 (1,000 Bolts), 7 (Ice) = PL 5.5 (100 Bolts), 6.5 (1,000 Bolts), 8 (Ice Shard). His Ice Shard's the only thing putting him at PL 8; I'd strongly recommend upping his Defense or Toughness.
[*:w25m0umr]Attributes: it's almost never worth it to have an odd-numbered Attribute, so you can reduce that INT 17 to a 16 with little change.
[*:w25m0umr]Magic: Check Required (Knowledge/Arcane Lore) is not a Flaw we allow (I was sure I'd added it to our House Rules already). To illustrate why: Magus has +15 on his Know (Arcane) checks (12 ranks, +3 INT modifier), and the DC to make his 1,000 Bolts of Lightning work is 16 (10 + rank 6). He can roll a 1 and make the check (natural 1s don't auto-fail skill checks), so he can't not make the roll (barring some effect that drains his skill or his INT modifier), so the Flaw isn't a Flaw as it doesn't impede him in any real way. The "doesn't always work" Flaw is best represented by the Unreliable Flaw (50/50 chance of it not working, and if the roll's poor you can spend a Hero Point to improve the roll/make it work).

This is a lot of stuff, yes, but these are the questions you'll be facing when you do submit a character to the Character Bank for playing here. We try to make sure the crunch & the fluff work together, and work with the setting as a whole.