Character concepts

[Kavos]

Hey all, so I was thinking about character concepts and I’ve sort of hit a brick wall. Theirs a number of concepts I really like I’m just not sure on either 1: Playability or 2: how to go about making them.

So I thought I’d post up a basic rundown of the main ones I had in mind and see what you guys thought.

[Order is not listed buy favorite –I like all of them equally-]

Oh and they all have TBA names so the names here are just descriptive of there abilities. (I hate names there hard….)

[1] Immortal, Blind Temporal kid. –Hero-

Basically the idea behind this one is you have this Immortal kid, (he’s a few thousand years old buy now.) and besides his Immortality (and the fact he’s over 3,000 years old stuck in a 10-15 year olds body) his main powers are Pre-Post cognition, however he has a major (turned minor from the pre cognition) in the fact that he is completely blind aka he only sees the Future or the Past but not the present. (The resin why it’s a minor drawback is because while the future is always moving, he can see which path it will take a few seconds before it happens, thus he can react faster than if he could see.

Problem: I’m not sure how well he’d play out. Since his only real abilities is his lack of being killed and seeing the past/future and good reflexes.

[2] Whisp, Incorporeal Illusionist –Hero-

Ok so I love the concept of whisp, but not sure if he’s really playable. Basically he’s a formation of mental energy or some such thing, (Alter form: Ghost/Perm]. His main powers are Illusion and dream travel/control and he has the ability to Hypnotizes people, as well as read peoples mind (all the more to conjure up there worst nightmares).

Problem: He’s only incorporeal thought. He can’t interact with the real world AT ALL. His illusions are just Phantasms, and so cant affect things, and so the only way he can interact physically with the world is through the use of Hypnotism buy placing suggestion in peoples mind to go do something.

[3] Singularity –Hero/Villain not sure-

Ok I got the Idea for this one in Ultimate power Dimensional pocket power.

Basically a character that can control and shape black holes.

Problem: His powers require a lot of Linking/alternate/array ext ext, and I’m not experienced enough to fully understand how to make it. Basically he can do a lot of things with black holes, from swallow buildings, to crushing objects, to playing pinball with a bouncing singularity, as well as you’re usual A-Typical trapping people in swirling vortexes.

My current thoughts on it is something along the line of Spatial Control Linked with effects like Dimensional pocket, move objects (uncontrolled), some form of crushing effects? Stuff like that.

[4] Battle-suited Robotic armed super villain [Villain]

I’d been toying around with this character for a while, basically he’s super smart has a robotic suite of armor, but because he has Quickness [Limited mental only] he’s gone a little crazy at how clumsy and slow his own body is. And so he does a ‘Doc oct’ thing and invents himself a group of robotic claws/arms.

Problem: I’m not sure how to do the arms. At first I was thinking along the lines of Additional limbs [device] power, but I run into the problem of limited power points and difficulty in upgrading them.

I than had an idea the other day, what if the robotic arms were actually minions? So each arm is an in-depended creature, linked to the character. That way as he increases in power, he can upgrade the arms more easer buy buying more points in minions.

(So if I went with him he would probably be PL 10, with 4/6 minion arms at pl5 each? Half his level if I remember correctly?)

Well that’s about all of them. I really don’t have a preference for them, and I think they’d all be fun to play. So yeah, any advice you can give would help out a lot.

[Dr Archeville]

If his precog lets him "react faster than if he could see," how is being blind even a minor Drawback? As for how viable he'd be: if he's been around for millennia, he's likely picked up a lot of skills and feats, which can make for a very effective character.

Having Doc Ock-like arms as a Device would be no more difficult to upgrade than any other Hard to Lose Device.

They could possibly be done as a Sidekick (a Fanatic one that has four limbs like any other person, and the Additional Limbs power to show how it can use it's "feet" as "hands", thus giving four [or more] tentacles, and the tentacles & the char both have Super-Senses 1 [communication link]), though that'd only be appropriate if the arms have their own advanced A.I. and can act on their own as well as when you command them, and if you want the arms to be affected by attacks separately from the main character (so a Blast or Drain Str used on the tentacles won't injure the character or drain his Str, and vice versa). Or as multiple Sidekicks, if you want each tentacle to be able to act completely independently.

[Kavos]

Hmm I didn't think of his blindness + Precog that way, point taken it wouldn't be a drawback at all.

As for the Villain, I guess I’d have to say I’d probably be a number of Robotic limbs that act independently but will take commands from him. So I guess that would mean there Constructs/Sidekicks. Would there abilities be devices or just powers derived from technology?

And can a construct have Regeneration? Since they have no constitution score. i was thinking that if a part of a limb was severed using nano tech or something, it could grow back in X-Time.

So if I under stand correctly, I would need the sidekick feat 4 times to get 6limbs. plus an additional 11 times (for a total of 15) to make them PL 5 or 75pp? (for a pl 10 character)

[Veiled Malice]

Yes, a construct can have regeneration. However, please note that you still have to make recovery rolls in order to get back lost injuries, staggered or disabled conditions. The only ones that are automatic when the time period has eclipsed are bruises and unconscious. What all that means is you'll have to put 5 points into the recovery roll bonus in order to break even on that roll. (A Con of - means you naturally have a -5 to any recovery rolls, just as if you had a Con of 0)

[Kavos]

Oh i had a great idea for a character, I think I’ll go with this one. (I’ll make up one of the others later on.)

Basically the character is a water dragon from Chinese myths, who has the Possession power (limited to willing hosts -As a rule he doesn’t jump around a lot, he'd spend most if not all of his time in a single host, only coming out if he thinks its absolute necessary, and than he would prefer to return to the same host again -assuming the host is still alive-)

Now the questions i have are;

[1] How do I do his actual form? I was thinking of having it [Alter form: liquid, Perm, Linked Growth] although since he's not a human shape would he need [shapechange (Perm)] linked in there as well?

[2] How would i go with some of the abilities? Since some abilities he can use while possessing the host, others only affect him and no the host.

For example the host could use all his water control powers, but he doesn’t get the dragons natural regeneration abilities.

And I apologise now, I can sometimes be a little bit of a handful and scatterbrained :D

[Heridfel]

Quick answers:

You never need permanent shapechanging. Shapechanging's only use is to be able to take other forms. If you have a permanent non-humanoid form, you would buy its effects as appropriate. For your water dragon, that might include things like Growth, Immovable (since some dragons have multiple pairs of legs, making them harder to move), and Protection. The particulars such as shape or coloration of that base form aren't as important. If you want to be able to go around in public without possessing someone, a couple ranks of Morph would allow you to assume a humanoid form.

The descriptors of your powers should provide information on whether the host can use them or not. All powers with mental descriptors or effects can be used while possessing someone. That means that your water dragon is mentally controlling the water to do what it does. If he was using something physical, it wouldn't make sense for it to work while possessing someone anyway.

[Dr Archeville]

As for the Villain, I guess I’d have to say I’d probably be a number of Robotic limbs that act independently but will take commands from him. So I guess that would mean there Constructs/Sidekicks. Would there abilities be devices or just powers derived from technology?

The abilities of the Sidekick-Limbs should be actual powers they have, not devices they have.

[Kavos]

Cool, thanks guys.

I think I have most of his powers worked out; I just need to work out point allotment and stuff. As well as refresh my memory on oriental culture. (Buy what I remember he would probably be a Ti-lung dragon meaning earth Dragon, the Dragons that control rivers/lakes and oceans.

[Kavos]

Hmm ok question,

His main power array is Water control. Is it possible to link it with the Cold Control power? Or even Thermal control (Although I’m guessing the thermal control covers cold control but I’m not sure what it does for heat since there’s none that suite hot water?)

[Heridfel]

It really depends on what you want to do with it. Usually, there's an easier way to do things in Mutants and Masterminds than to build a power by linking several other powers together. The game is effect-based, so if you're going to use that chilled (or heated) water to hurt someone, it's just done as a Blast. If you were freezing water to hold someone in place, it's a Snare. Ice sculpture? Create Object. And so on, and so forth.

You don't usually have to worry about the details, but that's what descriptors are for. If your water dragon were in the middle of the desert, you wouldn't be able to use your powers to the fullest, and you'd get a hero point for the complication.

[Kavos]

Is there a way for possession to be placed on a device? (So the dragon's essence is bound to say a pendent, and if someone puts the pendent on and reads the Inscription, the dragon can than possess the host?)

I was thinking along the lines that the Dragon aspect of the character lays dormant inside the pendent until someone activates it, thus granting the host a number of abilities of the Dragon that resides in the pendent.

Alternatively, The Dragon essence could be asleep in the pendent, and when activated buy the host, instead of a possession effect; it has the Shape change/morph effect.

So in that case the Host is an ordinary human, with no special power, but the pendent allows the user to transform into an ancient water dragon. (Although I’m not quite sure about that. since what would happen to the Host, I would assume buy shape shifting/morph the Host becomes the one asleep in the pendent and the dragon the one with the pendent?) In that case it would be a shape change/morph device, with suspended animation and dimensional pocket effects it?

[Heridfel]

I think you're going about this backwards. If you intend to play the dragon after he has possessed a host, build the dragon, and give him some Regeneration (Resurrection) so that he can come back to life if he gets killed by having someone else put on the pendant. You only would need the Possession if he would be regularly switching hosts.

Malador the Mystic (from Freedom City) has a power similar to this. In his case, the effect wasn't even costed; it's just something that happens with the use of GM Fiat.

[Kavos]

You’re probably right, i do have a tendency to do things backwards, and overly complicate them.

Ok so I think I have it sorted, I'll need to go through and make sure I can fit it all in PowerPoint wise.

If you have say water control dynamic does that mean all sub abilities are dynamic as well? Or do I have to buy the dynamic for each of them?

[Heridfel]

Dynamic has to be bought for each alternate power it applies to, as well as the main power (if it can be used dynamically). The net effect is that each AP costs 2 pp, and the base power costs an extra pp.

[Kavos]

Question, is there a Chinatown in Freedom city? if so were? I went looking today but i couldn't find anything.