Coiled Lightning?

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Player Name: ca_lazerdwarf

Character Name: Coiled Lightning 
Power Level: 7 (105/105PP)
Trade-Offs: +1 Attack / -1 Damage, +0 Defense / +0 Toughness 
Unspent Power Points: 0
Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30
 
In Brief: Retired soldier with an alien-tech energy whip. Coiled Lightning uses his whip to swing around town, shocking and entangling his opponents.
 
Alternate Identity: Charlie Stevens
Identity: Secret
Birthplace: Freedom City
Occupation: Mechanic / Self-defense teacher
Affiliations:
Family: Reed and Donna Stevens (Parents), Amanda Day (Older sister, Nurse at Freedom Medical Center), Jane Palmer (Girlfriend, coworker)
 
Description:
Age: 23 (DoB: 1991)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 190 pounds
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Short-clipped Brown
 
Charlie is a tall, fit young men with short clipped brown hair. As Coiled Lightning, he wears a close fitting suit of dark blue, with electric blue lightning bolts running up his legs. A blue mask covers his face and hair from the nose up, and he usually wears a leather fedora. He is almost always seen wielding his signature energy whip, an 18 inch metal handle that when activated lets out a sparking cord of blue electrical power that can strike out his enemies or extend to grasp on to buildings to swing around town.
 
Outside of his costume, Charlie tends to either his blue coveralls and white shirt while at work, or casual jeans and t-shirt. His right shoulder has a tatoo from his army days.
 
Power Descriptions:
The energy whip lets out a blue cord of energy. Usually Charlie just snaps it, flicking the energy cord out to strike his enemies. But he can charge up the electrical power so the tip delivers a series of tazer-like shocks to his enemy. Or he can wrap the ends around an enemy to wrap them up and subdue them.

 

  A flicker of energy courses over his body while he holds the whip as an electrical dampening field protects him from electrical powers, including the whip itself.
 
History:

  Charlie grew up in Southside in a blue-collar family barely making ends meet. He worked a variety of odd jobs through high school to help support his family, finally being taken in by a local auto mechanic who gave him a lot of hands on training.

 

  After High School he served a tour in the army, excelling at close quarters fighting and earning medals for bravery and selfless acts. When he returned, his parents had moved in to a small studio apartment, so he  briefly moved in with his sister Amanda and her husband until he got on his feat working at a local auto-garage.

 

  Things changed when he discovered a mysterious futuristic crate laying on the side of the road. Inside was a metal cylinder. Perhaps foolishly, he picked it up and immediately like the way it felt in his hand. When he got home he looked more closely at it, and tinkered a bit till he was surprised to find it emit a streak of electricity across the room. Further experimentation allowed him to use it as a whip, and then as a swingline.

 

  He spent some time experimenting with the device around the outskirts of Freedom, until he came upon mugging. He used the whip to handily capture the mugger and deliver him to the police. The profuse thanks of the victim somewhat went to

his head, he'd always tried to help his neighbors out, his new ability to help out on a whole new level filled him with pride and excitement.

 

 
Personality & Motivation:
Charlie was raised believing you should always help out your community when you can. As well as his work as Coiled Lightning he's taken time teaching a self-defense class to students at his local high school.

The technology in the whip fascinates him and he really wants to know all it can do. While he skilled with practical work with modern technology, comfortable with both the mechanical and electronic parts of automobiles and trucks, he's taking a few classes at an online college to get more theoretical backing to his knowledge.

While he feels responsibility to help people, his current stint as a new super-hero is largely motivated by adrenaline and a love of the gratitude and fame he's received from the people he's saved.
 
Powers & Tactics:
Coiled Lightning's main attack is striking with the energy whip, but he can also use it like a taser to try to stun his opponents. If he uses his whip to snare his opponents, the whip must remain in contact with the enemy, preventing him from using the whip to do more than maintain the snare.
 
When not in combat, Charlie can use the whip as a swingline to get around town, and can use it as a glorified flashlight, showering the area with glowing sparks.

 
The whip is considerably more powerful and versatile than Charlie knows. With practice and experimentation he will be able to unlock other abilities and powers, and the whip will continue to alter Charlie for its own goals, whatever those are.
 

---

Complications:
Exotic Tech: Charlie doesn't really know how the whip works, or what it can do. Sometimes it doesn't do what he wants to dangerous effect, or stops working altogether.

Where did he get that wonderful toy?: Charlie doesn't know where the whip came from or who it's real owner is. Someday, somebody is going to come looking for it.

Glory Hound: Charlie loves to hear how much he's helped people, to the point that he'll make sure people know it was he who saved the day, even if keeping quiet might be wiser.

Please don't tell my girlfriend: Charlie's current girlfriend, Jane Palmer, doesn't know about his hero life and she's criticizes Freedom City's Super Hero population for being just the sort of Glory Hound that Charlie is.
 
Abilities: 2 + 4 + 6 + 2 + 4 + 2 = 20PP
Strength: 12 (+1)
Dexterity: 14 (+2)
Constitution: 16 (+3)
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Charisma: 12 (+1)
 
 
Combat: 8 + 14 = 22PP
Initiative: +6
Attack: +8 Melee, +4 Ranged
Grapple: +9
Defense: +7 (+7 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +3 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -3
 
 
Saving Throws: 5 + 5 + 2 = 12PP
Toughness: +7 (+3 Con, +4 Defensive Roll)
Fortitude: +8 (+3 Con, +5)
Reflex: +7 (+2 Dex, +5)
Will: +4 (+2 Wis, +2)
 
 
Skills: 68R = 17PP
Acrobatics 4 (+6)
Climb 4 (+5)
Computers 4 (+5)
Craft(electronic) 8 (+9)
Craft(mechanical) 8 (+9)
Drive 8 (+10)

Escape Artist 4 (+6)
Intimidate 8 (+9)
Knowledge (tactics) 4 (+5)
Notice 4 (+6)
Sense Motive 4 (+6)
Survival 8 (+10)
 
Feats: 22PP
All-Out Attack
Attack Focus (Melee) 4
Defensive Attack
Defensive Roll 2
Distract (Intimidate)
Improved Defense 
Improved Disarm
Improved Initiative 1

Improved Sunder
Improved Throw
Improved Trip
Power Attack
Quick Draw

Startle
Takedown Attack 1
Teamwork 1
Weapon Bind

Weapon Break
 
Powers:12 = 12PP
 
Device 4 (Energy Whip; 20PP Container; Flaws: Easy-To-Lose) [12PP]

Whip Attack Array (9pp arrayl Feats: Alternate Power 3) [12pp]

Base Power Damage 6 (Electric Whip, Electricity; Feats: Extended Reach 3) {9/9}
Alternate Power Stun 6 (Tazer Whip, Electricity; Flaws: Action(full); Feats: Extended Reach 3) {9/9}
Alternate Power Snare 6 (Entangling Whip, Electricity; Feats: Extended Reach 3, Reversible, Tether; Flaws: Range(touch), Lockout: cannot be used while a target is snared) {8/9}
Alternate Power Super Movement 2 (Swinging, Wall Crawling; Extras: Linked) {4/9} + Speed 2 ( 25mph; Extras: Linked) {2/9}

Environment Control 3 ( Brilliant Sparks, Light (Bright), Radius 25'; Flaws: Range(touch) ) [3pp]

Immunity 10 (Electrical Dampening Field, Electricity (common); Flaws: Limited - Half Effect ) [5pp]

 
DC Block
 
 

ATTACK           RANGE      SAVE                                      EFFECT

 

Unarmed          Touch      DC16 Toughness (Staged)                   Damage (Physical)

Electric Whip    15 ft      DC22 Toughness (Staged)                   Damage (Electric)

Entangling Whip  15 ft      DC16 Reflex (Staged)                      Snare (Electric)

Tazer Whip       15 ft      DC16 Fortitude (Staged)                   Stun (Electric)

 
 

Totals: Abilities (20) + Combat (22) + Saving Throws (12) + Skills (17) + Feats (22) + Powers (12) - Drawbacks (0) = 105/105  Power Points

Edited September 2, 2014 by ca_lazerdwarf

[Brown Dynamite]

Hi, first off Welcome to the site.

 

For a second I thought your enhanced traits were both the stamina and fortitude instead of just the Fort on a misread.  You'll want to note which sense your Danger Sense is tied to.  Per house rules, Improved Disarm is not a ranked feat.  May I suggest adding improved Sunder?  Another house rule has Defensive Roll give +2 to Toughness saves as opposed to the default +1.  Improved Block counts against caps, I think you only get real mileage out of it if you are damage shifted as opposed to attack shifted.

 

As an aside, I feel like he would be better served with Startle than Acrobatic Bluff (Or both).  Seeing as his intimidate is higher than his Acrobatics.  But to each their own.

[Ari]

Exceedingly minor nitpick, lazerdwarf, but you missed the 'g' in 'Energy Whip'

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Thanks, guess I'll have to reread the block rules again. Maybe I'll put in improved sunder+weapon break, since I guess I have points coming back from defensive roll.

[Thevshi]

Hey Lazer!  So, a few things in addition to what others have mentioned.

 

Your fluff could use a bit of polishing and could be used to explain some things regarding your powers/skills. 

 

For Combat, your attack line should read:

 

Attack: +4 Base, +8 Melee

 

For the Energy Whip device:

 

In the array, Snare 6 + Extended 3 and Reversible is 10 PP (well 16 before a flaw).  I don't think you mean to have the lockout a drawback (which would only be -1 PP), but instead a flaw.  I would write it as: Flaw: Lockout, cannot use other array powers while a target is snared.

 

It might also make sense for the snare to have the Tether feat (although that would require either adding some more points to the array or some other change)

 

Also, I have a question on the rational for the other two powers in the Energy Whip (ie the ones not in the array).  How does the device boost your characters Fortitude save and provide him a danger sense?  That does not quite make sense for a handheld technological device.

 

Also, how did your character develop a half effect Immunity of Electricity?  Not saying that you cannot come up with a reason, would just like some explanation to explain how this superpower developed.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

The idea is the whip is more than just a simple weapon, but is designed to transform its user slowly in to a super-soldier. Currently this takes the form of reinforcing his neural pathways to ground them against electricity, partially to defend the user against the whip itself. Further changes to come with experience. I'll try to explain this better.

I guess the enhanced fortitude was an idea along the same line.

The danger sense idea was the device also included some sensors, but could only communicate with its users through minor shocks to get his attention when danger mounts.

I think I'll come up with a different power idea to take up the leftover points on the device rather than the fortitude and danger sense.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Forgot to put down the flaw: range on the snare. So switching the Drawback to a flaw, I have room to add tether.

 

Redid some of the feats that HG pointed out. Still thinking about the other powers, and the non-mechanical aspects.

[Thevshi]

Ah yes, forgot about the need to change it from ranged to touch range. 

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Tied the immunity directly to the device now. Leaves him as just a skilled normal without the whip, but I think he'll still be able to survive that way, at least.

[Supercape]

I gotta say I like this guy!