Somnium Build

[MindMessiah]

Seeing as I'm new and have no idea whether or not my character idea is conceptually or mechanically sound, I figured I ought to post a first draft of a character sheet and see if it holds up to scrutiny. At least I can guarantee that I haven't minmaxed. I wouldn't know how to even if I tried.
 
Player Name: MindMessiah
Character Name: Somnium
Power Level: 10 (148/150PP)
Trade-Offs: None
Unspent Power Points: 2
Progress To Bronze Status: 2/30
 
In Brief: A crime lord's daughter attempting to reinvent herself as a hero rather than a villain.
 
Alternate Identity: Alexandria Watson (Secret)
Birthplace: Oxford, UK
Occupation: None
Affiliations: Formerly associated with her father's criminal empire, the House
Family: Alfred Watson, aka the Bookkeeper (father), Rachel Watson (mother; deceased), George Watson (half-brother)
 
Description:
Age: 17 (DoB: May 19th, 1996)
Gender: Female 
Ethnicity: White British
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 120lb
Eyes: Dull grey
Hair: Black
 
Tall for her age, thin, and almost vampirically pale, Alex looks almost ethereal at first glance. She has stringy black hair which extends down to her shoulders and protuberant grey eyes that seem just a little too large for her skull, both of which help to accentuate her rather ghostly appearance. Seeing her blink is rare, and seeing her smile is even rarer. Even in the height of summer, she prefers to wrap herself up in her preferred attire of sweaters and long trousers rather than change into something more seasonally appropriate.
 
As Somnium, her costume essentially consists of what she could cobble together out of military surplus. She wears an armoured bodysuit in urban camo colours, a gas mask with tinted black lenses covering her entire face, and a hooded cloak that she wraps around her shoulders. Whilst she'd prefer to have a costume more traditionally associated with psykers and telepaths, she lacks the means to acquire or create one.
 
Power Descriptions:
Somnium's powers are entirely mental in nature. That is to say, if you're able to see them in action, it's because she's making you see something. Her forcefields are completely invisible, and her illusions are created by the minds of her opponents rather than possessing any sort of physical presence. She doesn't need to move or gesture in order to use her powers - her mind does all the work.
 
History:
As the daughter of infamous supervillain and Oxford mob boss Alfred Watson, better known as the Bookkeeper, Alex found herself being groomed for a life of crime from a young age. Her mother, the Bookkeeper's third wife, died shortly after her first birthday in mysterious circumstances, and from there on out she was raised solely by her father and his staff. Up until the age of twelve, she lived a fairly ordinary life, enjoying all the perks of being born to a wealthy and influential crime family whilst remaining blissfully ignorant of the underworld dealings that assured her prosperity. This changed once she manifested telepathic abilities, and the Bookkeeper realised her potential as an heir and began enlisting her assistance in the day-to-day running of his criminal empire.
 
Alex initially took to the role with gutso, eager to assist her father in any way she could. Her duties were simple at first - monitoring the emotional state of the Bookkeeper's hired guns, scanning their minds for any potential signs of betrayal, and so forth. However, as she grew older and pressure from both the police and rival gangs increased, her father began foisting more and more responsibilities onto her. She began to see the full extent of her father's criminal activities, and it didn't sit well with her. Nevertheless, she continued to assist him, donning a mask and costume just as he did and taking up the alias of Nightmare. She psychically interrogated the Bookkeeper's enemies, sent rival drug dealers home with splitting migraines, and made anyone who considered double-crossing him pee themselves.
 
Things came to a head shortly after Alex turned sixteen. An attempted coup by one of the Bookkeeper's lieutenants was swiftly thwarted, and the unfortunate thug who instigated the attempt was hauled before Nightmare for punishment. The Bookkeeper ordered Nightmare to torture the man mentally and physically with the intent of making an example of him. Terrified of disappointing her father, Nightmare gave into the pressure and unleashed the full extent of her powers upon the victim, but the resulting empathic backlash of causing another living creature so much psychological pain was too much for her to deal with. She feigned fainting, and had to be escorted from the room by her father.
 
Though Alex continued to serve the Bookkeeper as Nightmare, she was never asked to go to the same extremes again, nor would she have been able to even if she had. She told herself that she was going to stand up to her father and tell him exactly what she thought of his callous cruelty and disregard for human life, but was never able to bring herself to do so. Eventually, when the Bookkeeper's criminal empire collapsed and he was forced go into hiding along with his family, Alex slipped away and caught a flight to Freedom City under her own name - after all, her criminal past was associated with Nightmare, not her civilian self. Once she arrived, she decided that she would put her powers to use helping people rather than hurting them, taking up the alias of Somnium and joining the ranks of Freedom City's costumed crimefighters. Whilst she has considered simply handing herself over to the FCPD and telling them everything she knows on a number of occasions, she genuinely believes - or hopes - that she can do more good by distancing herself from her past life as much as possible.
 
Personality and Motivation:
Whilst she's not adverse to company and often goes out of her way to seek it out herself, Somnium is rather quiet and can often be quite terse when answering questions. This frequently leads to the mistaken impression that she suffers from some form of social anxiety, when in reality she is merely a rather secretive and reserved individual who doesn't appreciate being "interrogated", as she would put it. She is rather easily flustered and embarrassed, however, especially when caught without her mask on.
 
Somnium is polite and formal when speaking to people she's unfamiliar with, sometimes to the point of being excessively so. When around the few she considers friends or confidants, this facade begins to fade, replaced with a much blunter personality and a curiously philosophical attitude towards life. She has a sarcastic streak and can occasionally be quite vicious with her remarks, though she does her best to keep her temper in check. Despite this, she can become aggressive if provoked or deeply agitated.
 
Above all else, Somnium's driving motivation is to try and atone for her past actions by doing her best to combat Freedom City's criminal element. Those who know her can confirm that when Somnium sets herself a goal, she sticks to it with unerring dedication. She's a highly focused individual, regardless of whether she's directing her attention to work, school or crimefighting.
 
Powers and Tactics:
Despite initial appearances, Somnium is not a frontline combatant. She shies away from direct combat wherever possible, preferring to end fights before they even begin by inducing fear and hallucinations in her opponents to encourage them to flee. If that fails, she uses mind control to either disarm and incapacitate her opponents one by one or try and fight via a proxy. Only when cornered does she break out the mind crushes.
 
Complications:
The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together: Whilst the Bookkeeper isn't nearly as much of a threat as he used to be, he still has wealth, connections, and most importantly, superpowers. If he finds out that Somnium and his daughter are one and the same, he's likely to try and bring her back into the fold - forcefully, if need be. On top of this, Alex is deeply concerned for the wellbeing of her younger half-brother George, since if he manifests powers there's a good chance that he could find himself being used just as she was.
Miserable Little Pile Of Secrets: Somnium is so desperate to keep her past misdeeds as Nightmare a secret that she keeps practically everything about herself hidden from the public eye. This makes her an ideal candidate for blackmail should anyone ever succeed in unearthing her criminal history.
Ain't No Rest For The Wicked: A desperate urge to do good combined with her tendency to obsess over things means that Somnium often ends up overworking herself. There are times when she has to be reminded to eat or sleep. In addition, she has a single-track mind, and it's not unusual for her to neglect one responsibility whilst focusing on another.
Living On The Lam: Alex is eking out a life in Freedom City without any legal guardians to look out for her. She won't be able to provide for herself forever, and sooner or later, people are going to start asking questions about the teenage girl who never seems to attend school or return to her place of residence.
 
Abilities: 0 + 2 + 0 + 6 + 12 + 6 = 26PP
Strength: 10 (+0)
Dexterity: 12 (+1)
Constitution: 10 (+0)
Intelligence: 16 (+3)
Wisdom: 22 (+6)
Charisma: 16 (+3)
 
Combat: 12 + 12 = 24PP
Initiative: +1
Attack: +6 Melee, +6 Ranged
Grapple: +6
Defence: +8 (+6 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +5 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -11
 
Saving Throws: 6 + 6 + 6 = 18PP
Toughness: +3/+10 (+0 Con, +3 Armored Jumpsuit (+7 Force Field, Impervious))
Fortitude: +6 (+0 Con, +6)
Reflex: +7 (+1 Dex, +6)
Will: +12 (+6 Wis, +6)
 
Skills: 64R = 16PP
Bluff 6 (+9)
Concentration 10 (+16)
Diplomacy 6 (+9)
Disguise 5 (+8)
Escape Artist 2 (+5)
Gather Information 6 (+9)
Intimidate 8 (+11)
Language 1 (English [Native], Latin)
Medicine 2 (+8)
Notice 6 (+12)
Sense Motive 6 (+12)
Stealth 6 (+7)
 
Feats: 6PP
Uncanny Dodge (visual)
Ultimate Effort (Will save)
Dodge Focus 2

Ambidexterity
Equipment 1 (5EP)
 
Equipment:
Armored Jumpsuit (Protection 3) [3EP]
Gas Mask [1EP]
Laptop [1EP]
 
Powers: 31 + 20 + 7 = 58PP
 
Mind Control 10 (wide spectrum of psychic/telepathic abilities) [31PP]

• Base Power: Mind Control 10 (people puppeteering; Extras: Conscious, Sensory Link, Flaw: Action [Full], Feat: Mental Link) {31/31}
• Alternate Power: Telepathy 10 (low-level mental intrusion) {20/31}
• Alternate Power: Emotion Control 10 (empathic manipulation) {20/31}
• Alternate Power: Illusion 10 (induce hallucinatory images, affects visual senses only; Extra: Selective; Flaw: Phantasms) {20/31}
• Alternate Power: Mental Blast 7 (overwhelming bursts of mental feedback) {28/31}

Force Field 7 (invisible barriers of psionic force, Extras: Impervious) [14PP]
 
Super-Senses 7 (senses flares of psychic activity nearby; Mental Awareness, Psionic, +Ranged (extended), +Accurate, +Acute) [7PP]
 
DC Block:

ATTACK                        RANGE              SAVE                                                    EFFECT
Mind Control            Perception    DC20 Will                                          Controlled
Emotion Control      Perception    DC20 Will                                         Influenced
Illusion                    Perception    DC20 Will (Interaction)       Fooled
Telepathy                  Perception    DC20 Will                                          Mind Read
Mental Blast            Perception    DC22 Will                                          Damage (Psionic)
Unarmed Attack        Touch              DC15 Toughness (Staged)              Damage (Bludgeoning)

 
Totals: Abilities (26) + Combat (24) + Saving Throws (18) + Skills (16) + Feats (6) + Powers (58) - Drawbacks (0) = 148/150 Power Points

Edited June 19, 2014 by MindMessiah