Starchaser (PL10) - ImpliedSpider

[Noniad]

Player Name: ImpliedSpider

Character Name: Starchaser

Power Level: 10 (150/150 PP)

Trade-Offs: +5 Toughness/-5 Defence, +3 Damage/-3 Attack (Melee), -3 Damage/+3 Attack (Blast), -3 Damage/+3 Attack (Dazzle).

Unspent Power Points: 0.

Progress to Bronze Status: 0/30.

 

In Brief: Paragon created by Greek Titan as a weapon currently unaware of his origins.

 

Alternate Identity: Alexander Anderson

Identity: Secret, known to his family.

Birthplace: Freedom City.

Occupation: Architect.

Affiliations: None.

Family: Errol Anderson (Adopted father), Bethany Anderson (Adopted mother), Elizabeth Anderson (Adopted sister).

 

Description:

Age: Approximately 30 (Born 1986, but unaware of his exact age).

Gender: Male.

Ethnicity: Caucasian.

Height: 6’2â€.

Weight: 200 lbs.

Eyes: Brown.

Hair: Brown.

 

Appearance:

Starchaser’s costume comprises primarily of a white spandex suit, with golden five-pointed stars running down the sleeves and the legs of his pants. He wears a pair of knee high blue boots, ringed at the top with a gold double line that drops to run beneath a star. A blue v-belt encircles his waist. His cape is held near his right shoulder with a clasp. The cape itself is blue, with a line of gold stars running up either side of the external side. An eight-pointed star is emblazoned on the chest of his costume.

 

Power Description:

Most of Starchaser’s powers are relatively unremarkable in appearance, though he gives off a faint glow of light while using any of them. This glow is more prominent during sustained application of his abilities, in other words, becoming fully apparent when he draws most upon the star fuelling him. His aura is easily visible while he is in flight, moving at full speed, or using his strength to its fullest effect. Additionally, whenever he takes a blow, the aura flares brightly wherever he was struck. Finally, his eyes give off an intense white light whenever he is using either his blast or dazzle powers, both of which involve a direct projection of the solar energy stored inside him.

 

History:

After Zeus granted clemency to the Titans and freed them from Tartarus, they scattered, most of them vanishing into obscurity, never to be heard from in the mortal world again. Hyperion and Theia were two such titans. They retreated to somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere – that part of the world over which Hyperion had once ruled – and nursed their grudge against Zeus for millennia. Forbidden from meddling in the affairs of mortals by Zeus, and prevented from entering the mortal world by the Pact, they were forced to watch as humanity fumbled its way through the ages. But with the rise of superheroes, the two Titans saw a new chance to try their hand at creation, and, they hoped, at revenge against Zeus.

While the Pact forbade him entry to the mortal world without first being invited, Hyperion had left behind a number of artefacts through which he could receive such an invitation. One was unearthed by an archaeological dig in the 1980s, a bronze statue that the expedition leader, Errol Anderson, concluded must either be of Hyperion or Apollo. 
Anderson was, at the time, facing somewhat strained circumstances of his own. He and his wife had been unable to conceive, and their attempts to adopt had been stalled at every turn, as though fate was conspiring against them. One night, at the Hunter Museum, amongst the many items brought back from their dig, Anderson took a moment to pray for the resolution of his situation. The statue of Hyperion stood nearby, and through it, Hyperion himself heard the man's plea.

Hyperion accepted it as an invitation, and entered the mortal world once more with Theia at his side. The Titans selected a young boy from an orphanage in the Fens as their gift, and then went a step further. Anderson had prayed that he and his wife be blessed with a child. Hyperion applied a liberal interpretation to this plea, deciding that the child himself should be blessed.

He bestowed a measure of divinity upon the young boy and infused him with the power of the star. Then, less than a month after Anderson had prayed for a child, a man showed up on the doorstep of the Andersons' home in Hanover late at night. Errol was later unable to tell his son much about the mysterious visitor, only that he was tall, dressed in an impeccably white suit, and that his skin was almost metallically gold. The man said nothing to Errol, merely handed over the child before disappearing again into the night.

Starchaser was raised as Alexander Anderson. His powers developed gradually, slowly enough for him to learn to control them. To aid his development, Hyperion sent him flashes of what Alexander believed to be inspiration, allowing him to master his powers without revealing his identity to anyone outside his family. Starchaser is unaware of the true source of his powers, knowing only that they are somehow derived from solar energy.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the Titans left him with a weakness. Hyperion and Theia were forced by the terms of their summons to leave Starchaser with the Andersons, or else they would have to wait for another opportunity to enter the mortal world. But leaving Starchaser to be raised amongst mortals, the titans knew it was possible that he would refuse to obey them when the time came. With this in mind, Hyperion left within the boy a drastic impurity: if exposed to daka crystals, the energy of the star within him would be disrupted. He would immediately lose the ability to draw on its power, rendering him as mortal as his family. With this fate to hold over their creation, Hyperion and Theia were convinced that they would be able to force his hand, if it came to it.

 

Personality & Motivation:

Alexander has a strong sense of morality. He believes that he has a duty to help everyone he can, and to teach others to live up to their own potential. He also believes that heroism is conditional upon the will to do what is right, not on super powers, and his contact with humanity – particularly many of the heroes of Freedom City – has only reinforced this belief. He worries sometimes that people will become too reliant on heroes to solve their problems. However, seeing that this has not yet translated into abject carelessness within humanity, he continues to do everything he can to help others, and would hold himself responsible for any failure.

 

Powers & Tactics:

Starchaser is painfully aware of the extent of his strength, and is terrified of the idea of killing someone out of carelessness. As such, he tends to reign in his strength as much as possible against ordinary humans, focusing on using grapples or his light vision to subdue them. Against enemies who can take it, however, such as robotic opponents or sufficiently strong metahumans, he is more than willing to go all out, using his strength to disable them as quickly as possible. Against such opponents, he is also willing to use his laser vision.

He is neither a tactician nor a martial artist, and this is apparent in his literally ham-fisted fighting style. He punches hard and fast, and faces his enemies head on. He often tries to talk his enemies down, seeking a peaceful solution wherever possible.

 

Complications:

Family: Alexander is devoted to his family, and considers himself personally responsible for their protection.

Honour: Starchaser does not believe that the ends justify the means, and is unlikely to cooperate with any scheme that involves what he would regard as unjustifiable illegality. He will prevent, if possible, an illegal search of a suspect’s home, though he will investigate someone he knows to be a criminal. In Starchaser’s mind, a hero should be able to provide court-worthy evidence for their suspicions. Further, a hero should work to ensure that a court is able to convict a villain. This means not only capturing the villain, but also establishing clear evidence of their actions. While he places a premium on the need to keep people safe, Starchaser is not one to “cut corners†if it can be safely avoided.

Pawn of a god: Though he is unaware of his origins, there will come a day when Hyperion will demand that he fulfil the “purpose†of his existence: the defeat of Zeus.

Heart of a star: Starchaser is fuelled by the energy of a star. He might be able to contain the heat within him, but he presents a beacon to anyone relying on infravision. Additionally, he gives off a faint light, equal in brightness to that of a distant star. While this is all but invisible to the naked eye, particularly during the day, he can be easily seen at night by anyone using ultravision.

Pulls his punches: Against human opponents, Starchaser compulsively pulls back out of fear of severely injuring someone. Until he establishes that a human foe is actually incredibly tough, or robotic, undead, or similarly resilient, he may use no more than half his total possible damage bonus against them.

Nyctophobia: Between spending his early years in a dingy orphanage in the Fens, and a subconscious association of darkness with pure evil as a result of Hyperion's intervention, Alexander has developed a deep fear of the dark. This leads to a heightened level of tension and a preoccupation with the surrounding darkness at night. Without decent sources of light, this can translate into complete inaction if he fails to compose himself. Further, he is somewhat distrustful of cowls and other heroes with a preference for darkness.

 

Abilities: 6 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 4 + 2 = 16PP

Strength: 16/36 (+3/+13)

Dex: 10 (+0)

Con: 14/34 (+2/+12)

Int: 10 (+0)

Wis: 14 (+2)

Cha: 12 (+1)

 

Combat: 10 + 10 = 20PP

Initiative: +0

Attack: +5, +7 melee, +13 Starvision Array. [10PP]

Grapple: +8 without powers, +18 with powers, +28 with powers and full super strength.

Defence: +5, +2 Flat-Footed. [10PP]

Knockback: -7.

 

Saves: 4 + 4 = 8PP

Toughness: +2/+15 (+2/+12 Con, +3 Protection)

Fortitude +2/+12 (+2/+12 Con)

Reflex +4 (+0 Dex, +4)

Will +6 (+2 Wis, +4)

 

Skills: 24R = 6PP

Craft (Arts) 5 (+5)

Craft (Structure) 5 (+5)

Notice 4 (+6)

Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 6 (+6)

Diplomacy 4 (+5)

 

Feats: 6PP

Attack Focus Melee 2

Interpose

Leadership

Luck

Weapon Break

 

Powers: 19 + 19 + 24 + 9 + 2 + 21 = 94PP

Enhanced Constitution 20. (Drawbacks: Power loss [Daka Crystals])

Enhanced Strength 20. (Drawbacks: Power loss [Daka Crystals])

Hero Array (20PP Array. Feats: Alternate Power 2, Dynamic 3. Drawbacks: Power loss [Daka Crystals]) [24PP]

• Base Power: Flight 10 (10,000 MPH). [20/20PP]
• Alternate Power: Super-strength 10. [20/20PP]
• Alternate Power: Linked Speed, Quickness 10. [20/20PP]

Immunity 10. (Drawbacks: Power loss [Daka Crystals]) [9PP]

• Life Support (9)
• Ageing

Protection 3. (Drawbacks: Power loss [Daka Crystals]) [2PP]

Star Vision Array (20 PP Array. Feats: Alternate Power 2. Drawbacks: Power loss [Daka Crystals]) [21PP]

• Base power: Blast 7. (Feats: Accurate 4, Precise, Variable Descriptor 1 [Electromagnetic Spectrum]) "Energy Beam". [20/20 PP]
• Alternate Power: Super-senses 20. [20/20PP]

Analytical (All Visual) 2 [2]

Extended (All Visual) 2 (1000 ft. increments) [4]

Infravision [1]

Ultravision [1]

Visual Penetrates Concealment [4]

Visual Counters Obscure [5]

Detect (Visual, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Move Action) [3]

• Alternate Power: Dazzle 7 (Visual. Feats: Accurate 4, Precise, Ricochet.) "Light Beam". [20/20 PP]

 

DC Block

 

Attack      Range  Save               Effect

Unarmed     Touch  Toughness DC18/28  Damage (Physical)

Blast       Vision Toughness DC22     Damage (Energy)

Dazzle      Vision Reflex DC18        Blindness

 

 

Totals: Abilities (16) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (8) + Skills (6) + Feats (6) + Powers (94) = 150/150

 

EDIT: Removed Major Weakness. Reduced Protection 9 to Protection 3. Moved Impervious power feat to Enhanced Constitution. Raised Flight 12 to Flight 13 and removed Shockwave power feat from Super Strength so that the Array added up properly. Added complications: Pulls his Punches and Nyctophobia. Reduced Luck 2 to Luck, added Interpose. Raised Attack to +5 base. Reduced Enhanced Strength to 18. Reworked Senses Array. Reduced Sense Motive to 4. Reduced Base Defence to +2. Added section to history to explain Titan intervention in the context of the Pact.

Edited October 25, 2013 by ImpliedSpider

[Noniad]

I'm fairly certain that the math is right on this, although I am somewhat unsure on the Save DC for his Dazzle power. Neither the core rules nor Ultimate Power seem to clearly specify how the Reflex save is calculated for it. I hope all the rest is ok.

[Vahnyu]

as a non-damaging move that requires a save roll, the Save (whether its Reflex, Will, or Fortitude) is DC10+ranks(So, in your case, it would be DC16).

 

As a PL 10 character, Starchaser can have up to 10 ranks in most of his powers that require a Save by default(there ARE some exceptions, most noteably Move Object and Create Object, which are soft-capped*), and since your Dazzle targets only 1 sense, it is a 1PP/2 ranks(after factoring its flaw), which means that 6 ranks of Dazzle would cost 3PPs, before factoring the Drawback, while 10 ranks of Dazzle would cost 5PPs. Also, in order to Dazzle someone, you'd need to hit them with a Dazzle attack, so you should consider adding 3 ranks of the Accurate feat. You'd actually have enough PPs to remove the flaw completely, or alternatively, add a few power feats like Riccochet, Incurable, Subtle, Progression[Range], and Improved Range(In this case, the save DC would be DC20)

 

• Alternate Power: Dazzle 10 (light vision). 1'000-2'500ft; Flaws: Distracting. Feats: Accurate 3, Riccochet, Improved Range 3, Progression[Range], Drawbacks: Power loss: When exposed to daka crystals. [12PPs]

 

Another avenue you could potentially pursue, would be to make your Distracting Dazzle be Perception Ranged, which eliminates the need to attack(so, you wouldn't have to buy accurate for your power).

 

• Alternate Power: Dazzle 10 (light vision). Extras: Range[Perception], Flaws: Distracting. Drawbacks: Power loss: When exposed to daka crystals. [9PPs]

 

While you don't necessarily HAVE to meet your caps in powers, it is strongly recommended that you do so, at the very least for character creation, otherwise you would be selling him short. The power, as is in your sheet, is a PL 4.5 equivalent({6[rank]+3[ranged attack]}/2). That means, you'll have trouble dazzling anyone above PL8, much less PL10s(and considering that you'll usually face enemies of a few PL ranks above your own character...).

 

Conversely, the first power above is a PL10 equivalent({10[rank]+10[laser attack]}/2). As such, you'll have a moderate chance of dazzling anyone of a PL10

 

Anyways, I hope that helps clear things up!

Edited October 21, 2013 by Vahnyu

[Supercape]

HI Spider, 

 

For dazzle, you need to specify which sense it dazzles. I guess you are dazzling visual senses, but it does need specication! Visual dazzles cost 2PP/Rank, other senses cost 1PP/rank. 

 

Here is my suggestion about how to build a sparkly laser beam eye array. I am building this on the assumption that eye blasts are particularly accurate (you look at something, fire, it hits) and therefore to trade off a little less powerful. i.e. a +2 accuracy/-2 DC trade off.

 

On his base build, you have only +3 Base accuracy. That is fine, but I am going to say a bit limiting. For instance, it cuts him out of throwing cars at supervillians, or suchlike. I would personally suggest you bring it up to +4 base. This allows you to have a less accurate but powerful punch (say build his mellee up to +8 accuracy and +12 DC) and an accurate but less poweful laser vision (say +12 accuray and +8 DC). To my mind shooting laser beams out of your eyes should be accurate...as you are targetting with your eyes...which tends to be accurate to say the least!

 

So I am building the below array on the basis of +4 base accuracy (which will cost you of course)

 

Star Vision Array (21 PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 2, Drawback: Power Loss [Daka Crystals]) [22PP]

 

Base Power Blast 8 (Feats: Accurate 3, Precise, Variable Descriptor [Electromagnetic Spectrum]) [21/21PP] "Energy Beam"

 

Alternate Power Dazzle 8 (Visual; Feats: Accurate 3: Precise) [20/21PP] "Light Beam"

 

Alternate Power Super Senses 8 (Visual Penetrates Obscure [5], Visual Penetrates Concealment [4], Ultravision [1], Infravision [1], Visual Detect Electromagnetic Spectrum [3], Feats: Variable Descriptor [Electromagnetic Spectrum]) [15/21] "Energy Vision"

 

This is just a suggestion, of course!

[Noniad]

I've reworked things a little to accommodate everyone's suggestions. Hopefully this brings it a little closer to completion!

[Supercape]

Scanning this, rather than fine toothing it:

 

1. We dont use the Professions skill here. We feel that professions skills can be mimicked by Perform, Knowledge, and Craft skills - or others. If its wealth you are after, the Benefit (Wealth) Feat (1, 2, or 3 ranks) is what you are after (see house rules). As an architect, I suggest he should have at least some ranks in Craft Art (for sketching and photography, perhaps no more than 2), and Craft (Structural) (he could probably build some stuff even if he mainly designs it). 

 

2. Hero Array looks a bit wonky. Rather than giving the alternate powers Dynamic Feats, the Hero Array should buy them as Dynamic Feats (as 2 PP rather than 1PP per Dynamic Feat). Superspeed in a Dynamic Array is going to get seriously complicated. Its possible, but its seriously complicated and potentially not even legal as we don't allow nested array. 

 

My Suggestion here is two buy a simple 20 Point array with three dynamic alternate powers, a total cost of 25 PP (minus your power loss crystals). Each dynamic Power is easily broken down into 2PP segments. (Feats can get messy in Dynamic Array)

 

Flight 10

Super Strength 10

Linked Speed 10, Quickness 10

 

This makes it nice and easy to break up and manage in game.

 

Star Vision Array:

 

Blast 7 is good, although technically he will have a Damage 7 attack at +11 accuracy so its PL9 caps. Thats ok, as he punches at PL 10 caps. But you may want to boost that up one more rank of accurate to bring it to PL 10 caps. 

 

Super Senses: Extended Hearing is a bit odd - legal - but odd in terms of how it works fluff wise. More importantly, The extended Sight 2 will only apply to his Regulart Vision, not his Visual detect, Infravision, or Ultavision. Extended (All Visual Senses) its 2 PP/Rank of Extention. I would suggest dropping the Extended hearing saving you 2 PP, and Buying Extended Visual (All) for 4 PP

 

Dazzle: If you have the distracting flaw on this it comes out at 12 PP, well under budget. If you drop distracting, you get 20 PP, just over budget. For ease, I would suggest making it the same as your Blast power. 

 

 

Now, the Serious Issue:

 

His Defence is only +2

 

With Toughness +12, you will want to bring his defence up to +8 to reach PL 10 caps. Bear in mind at least 1/3 of his total defence bonus needs to come from base defence (in this case +3 which is a bit inefficient, you best go with +4). 

 

Of course you could shift more, giving Toughness +14 and Defence +6 (or anything up to Toughness +15 and defence +5) but this is your biggest thing to address!

[Thevshi]

Implied, one thing to note on your array, there is no such feat as Rapid Attack.  Rapid Attack is in fact an alter power off Superspeed (or more specifically the array built into Superspeed).

 

For one thing, you have not spent any points on the array part of Superspeed (or the Improved Initiative piece either) (and could not have an array within an array anyway as they are forbidden under house rules here).

 

If you want to have Rapid Attack (where you get an area attack representing superspeed punching lots of opponents in the area), you would need to buy it as a separate alt power in your array (the special effect would be quickly running (or even flying) between all the various targets to hit them).  For an example on how to build that power, you can look at my character Velocity, who has it in her superspeed array.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Thevshi

[Noniad]

Ok, I've shuffled things around a little bit more. I've added a few ranks of Protection back in on top of a boost to Defence to get that up to the cap. I lowered base Attack by a point though, is that going to present a problem?

[Supercape]

Unfortunately, yes. We would like our characters to meet PL caps (PL 10 in this case). As it stands he is PL 9 Attack and Defend. 

 

Ultimately I think you may just be cramming too much super into to little PP. Having said that there are a few shaves you could do, like cutting down 4 points of notice, or a few points of CHA. Enhanced Strength is costed at 20 when its actually 19 with the power loss flaw. 

 

Fortitude is also over caps! The maximum allowed is PL +5, in this case +15 (which is darn high!). So you could shave a few points there. 

[Noniad]

Ok, I wound things back a little in a few places (skills, abilities and a rank of Protection to bring him down to the PL10 caps), and I brought his base Attack back up. I also recalculated a whole bunch of math that had gone out as I've edited this (namely Grapple, Knockback, and the save DC for powered melee), so it should read properly now in those places, and I've listed the trade-offs. From what I understand, it's possible to trade-off Attack and Damage differently in separate attacks, so hopefully that's ok. I also brought his Craft skills down to 2 ranks each. The total ranks spent in skills is still a multiple of 4, so I hope that it's legal to do things that way.

[Supercape]

Ok Spider I havent fine toothed this but I suspect this is looking sufficiently ship shape to put the character bank!

 

You are right about trade offs for different attacks (which can be quite useful. You can punch the slow and tough guys, and laser vision the fast and fragile speedsters). 

 

A few final things I spotted without fine toothing this:

 

You should annotatet his attack and Defence as +10 base, and you should annotate this 10 + 10 = 20 at the top (some "0" have crept in at the top?)

 

You want to put the PP cost of his Enhanced Con and Str, and it looks like you have costed his Con at 20 (when it should be 19 due to Power Loss, Daka Crystals)

 

Star Vision Array you should say Variable Descriptor 1 (as there is a Variable Descriptor 2) feat. As a tip, in play make sure you indicate what descriptor you are using, or otherwise indicate on the sheet his default descriptor (such as "usually, he will use laser beam vision") and then say if he is using microwave vision or infrared or cosmic rays or something else. 

 

Dazzle 8 with Accurate 3 is below caps and is yet another trade off. I would suggest for simplicities sake keeping it in line with the Laser Vision, making it Dazzle 7 and Accurate 4. It copmes out at 19 PP which is slightly under budget. If you really want to squeeze out maximum utility you could put in an extra feat like Ricochet (bouncing the light ray of a surface which is handy as he can see through walls), or extended range, or improved critical. 

 

Nice character, enjoy!