Fallout (PL7) - Almilee (Newbie)

[Almilee]

Player Name: Almilee
Character Name: Fallout
Power Level: 7 (105/105PP)
Trade-Offs: None
Unspent Power Points: 0
Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30

In Brief: Claremont Student and Radiation Shifter

Residence: Claremont Academy
Base of Operations: Claremont Academy
Catchphrase: 

Alternate Identity: Jeremy "Jimmy" Stone 
Identity: Secret
Birthplace: New York City
Occupation: Student
Affiliations: Claremont Academy, Next-Gen
Family: Parents, Brother, Sister.

Description:
Age: 16 (December 12th, 1999)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: African-American
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 110lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Description:

Short, scruffy kid. Light brown hair that seems perpetually mussed up, and light brown eyes. Usually wears cheap, easy-to-replace clothing, usually with a sweater on top of a t-shirt. He's also quite thin, despite the fact that he greatly enjoys eating. Jimmy is often smiling or grinning, which gives him noticeable dimples. His Claremont uniform is about the same, but in Claremont colors - a hoodie over t-shirt, with jeans and sneakers. He wears a simple eye-covering mask, since if he's in combat uniform, he won't be Jimmy for long.

Fallout, by contrast, is a giant. Standing almost eight feet tall, he is a humanoid lacking in most distinguishing features, including a mouth, nose, or genitalia (which is good, as he seems to not be a fan of clothing, either). The only part of him that is not bluish-black "skin" is two black eyes sitting right where they should on his head.

 

Power Descriptions:
In his human form, Jeremy Stone is a mostly ordinary boy. He has no powers that he consciously controls, although he occasionally puts out small levels of radiation - just enough to trip a geiger counter. However, that isn't the core of his power. If it were, he would find it awfully boring.

Fallout is what he calls his alternate form, His powers are entirely radiation-based: he's able to control it, send it out as blasts, protect himself with it, and use it to weaken others physically. He, too, puts out radiation passively, though it's quite a bit more than Jimmy. To change forms takes a few seconds of concentration, during which Jimmy's radiation output spikes dramatically, rapidly sickening people who are too close.

Jimmy's powers are as much curse as blessing, however. The whispers of the Entity often wake him up at night, in strange places, and the low levels of radiation he puts out periodically can slightly sicken those who spend too much time around him. Even worse, once he assumes the shape of Fallout, it takes hours for enough radiation to bleed off for him to regain his human form.

History:
Jeremy Stone was not a lucky child. His life didn't start out so bad - born to a pair of pure-bred Americans in the great city of New York, New York, he had all the advantages of upper middle-class life: a good school, good food, good clothes, fun toys. He even had two older siblings who didn't mess around with him too much, though that might just have been his parents' influence. His was an enjoyable life, for the first few years of it. Unfortunately, that couldn't last.

When he was 10, a severe, very long-lasting case of coughing convinced his parents to take him to the doctor after a few days. After a series of tests were run, and all possibilities explored, the cause was discovered - an extreme case of lung cancer. It was already too big for them to operate, having been in just the right spot to avoid symptoms until then. They started treatment immediately, first with chemotherapy, then, after a year's treatment with few signs of improvement, they started irradiation treatments.

After that didn't work either, they spent the next three years cycling through various different treatments, from the common to the almost unheard-of. Nothing seemed to work, until the Stones were contacted by a mysterious stranger. The man, from whom they never received a name, offered them a possible solution, one that he was sure would work. However, nothing would come without a cost. It was an untested cure, using a new form of radiation that spilled from what he referred to as an 'extradimensional rift'. 

The treatment was applied, and improvement was seen within a few weeks. The cancer grew smaller and smaller, until eventually it dissolved back into its bloodstream. Jimmy was cured. Soon after, the doctor took a several-thousand dollar payout from the family, and disappeared.

Jimmy was feeling much better, and began to start enjoying life. He went out to try new things, eating new foods, convincing his parents to take him bungie-jumping, indoor sky-diving, and scuba diving. However, within a few months, his nights began being filled with terrible nightmares - dreams of an impossible Entity, a being so vast and alien that a mere human mind couldn't grasp it. It had no name, and its goals were too strange for Jimmy to understand, and when the dreams kept coming, his parents took him to see a parahuman therapist.

After hearing of his problem, the therapist - who used mental powers to examine his patients' dreams - immediately leapt into action. He put the boy into a hypnotic sleep, and entered his dreams. He came out within just a few minutes, his face white as bone. He described the same Entity as Jimmy, but added one more thing: these were not mere dreams, but messages. Whatever had been on the other side of rift, it had sent through the radiation, and it had used it to get its claws into Jimmy.

That night also marked the first emergence of his powers. Sensing an invasion of its host's mind, the Entity took control and handed over certain powers, so that it could defend him. That night, Jimmy transformed into Fallout in his sleep, under the control of the Entity, wreaking havoc in the building and then in the city block, before the local heroes managed to bring him down and under control, trapping him until the Entity released Jimmy and he returned to his normal form.

An awakened Jimmy was extremely surprised at what had happened - he'd been dreaming, the first time in a long time that he'd had normal dreams. They educated him about what had happened, and the powers he'd manifested, then took him into a controlled environment and asked him if he could do it again. It took much effort and stretching of new 'muscles', but he finally did achieve it. Fallout emerged again, though this time under the control of Jimmy Stone. However, he could feel the Entity at the back of his mind much more clearly, even if it was quiet. Its will was present, occasional pangs of alien emotions drifting through. Even after he managed to bleed off the radiation and reassume his human form, he could feel it now. He was returned to his home and put under a close watch, lest a criminal organization try to add him to its ranks.

A few weeks later, Jimmy received a letter in the mail, informing him that he had received a scholarship to go to Claremont Academy. After calling the number attached, his parents received an explanation - at the Academy, Jimmy would be trained to control his powers, resist the Entity, and maybe even eventually completely sever their link. It took a little while, but his parents agreed, and sent him off on his junior year of high school, to Claremont Academy.

Personality & Motivation:
Having spent a very large chunk of his remembered life being moved from hospital to hospital, or lying in bed, Jimmy intends to enjoy life. He throws himself happily into whatever it is he's doing, but tends to forget all about it and move on when something more interesting or entertaining comes up, or his current action becomes boring. He lives every day as if it's his last, because he remembers what it was like when that was a distinct possibility. Every now and then, however, he lapses into silence and stillness, staring off into the distance as if listening for something. It rarely lasts more than a few seconds, and then he shakes his head and returns to the real world.

Powers & Tactics:
As it takes time for Fallout's form to appear and recede, Jimmy prefers to do it in preparation for any fight, when he has plenty of concentration to spare for it. When he enters the form, he takes full advantage of its powers, though certain things limit him. Fallout is mostly only useful in a combat situation, given the fact he cannot touch anything without risking potentially severe harm, and tends to be relegated to guard or assault duty while other heroes do the kitten-rescuing. Not that he minds - it makes life more fun!

Complications:
Secret: Identity - Thanks to Fallout's different form, Jimmy has managed to keep his identity mostly secret. Several people here and there suspect, thanks to his radiation output, but no one outright knows.
Accident - Jimmy is still new to his powers, and is prone to accidentally overusing them and rendering others sick. 
Foolhardy - Jimmy intends to enjoy life to its fullest! Sometimes, that means he jumps headfirst into a situation without thinking it over, but so what?!
Extradimensional Whispers - In his human form, the Entity has less power over Jimmy. It exists as a lurking whisper in the back of his mind, sometimes distracting, and can only takes overt control while he is asleep or unconscious, which it does but rarely, taking him out sleepwalking or performing some strange action.
Extradimensional Will - When Fallout emerges, the Entity gains the ability to exert greater control. This rarely causes injury to Fallout - the Entity would not tolerate anything hurting its host - but sometimes forces him to run in the face of danger, or perform some action that is not necessarily in the best interest of the mission, in exchange for his own safety.

 

Abilities: 4 + 2 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 0 = 18PP
Strength: 14 (+2)
Dexterity: 12 (+1)
Constitution: 18 (+4)
Intelligence: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 10 (+0)
Charisma: 10 (+0)

Combat: 6 + 12 = 18PP
Initiative: +1
Attack: +3 Melee, +3 Ranged
Grapple: +5
Defense: +7 (+6 Base, +1 Dodge Focus), +3 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -2/3

Saving Throws: 3 + 3 + 3 = 9PP
Toughness: +7 (+4 Con, [+3 Force-Field])
Fortitude: +7 (+4 Con, +3)
Reflex: +4 (+1 Dex, +3)
Will: +4 (+1 Wis, +3)

Skills: 24R = 6PP
[Acrobatics] [4] (+5)
[Gather Information] [6] (+6)
[Medicine] [4] (+4)
[Sense Motive] [6] (+6)
[Survival] [6] (+6)

 

Feats: 6PP
Evasion
Move-By-Actiont
Precise Shot

Dodge Focus 1

Attack Specialization (RadBlast) 2

 

Powers:  58 + 2 = 60PP

Human Form:
Alternate Form 15 (Irradiated Form; Flaws: Unreliable; Drawbacks: Action 2) [58PP] (Radiation) -Linked- Environmental Control 2 (Radiation Bleed (Major Irradiation); Flaws: Action (Full)) [2PP]

Irradiated Form: (All Abilities have "Radiation" descriptor)
Radiation Control 9 (Radiation Control 15PP; Feats: Alternate Power 3; Drawbacks: Full Power) [16PP]

    Base Power: Blast 7 (Radiation Control; Feats: Improved Range) {15/15} 
    Alternate Power: Drain Toughness 7 (Destroy Life; Extras: Ranged; Feats: Improved Range) {15/1} 
    Alternate Power: Environmental Control 7 (Radiation Zone (Moderate Irradiation); Feats: Selective) {15/1} 

Flight 9 (Flight; 5000 MpH) [12PP]
Insubstantial 3 (Radiation Form; Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent; Feats: Innate) [16PP]
Immunity 13 (Radiation, Suffocation, Psionic) [13PP]
Damage 1 (Radiation Aura; Extras: Aura, Continuous; Flaws: Permanent) [2PP] -Linked- Force-Field 3 (Radiation Aura; Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent) [3PP]
Super-Senses 3 (Tracking Infravision, Ultravision) [3PP]

Growth 4 (Large; Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent, Dispersal;  Feats: Innate) [5PP]

Regeneration 10 (Rad Healing; +2, Rate 8; Flaws: Limited (Source of Radiation)) [5PP]

Drawbacks: (-5) + (-3) + (-4) = -12PP

Involuntary Transformation (Can Take on Irradiated Form when Extremely Angry; Frequency: Common; Intensity: Major (Cannot Resist)) [-5PP]
One-Way Transformation (Bleed off Energy; Frequency: Very Common; Intensity: Minor (Few Hours)) [-3PP]

Normal Identity (Unpowered Jimmy; Frequency: Common (Full-Round Action); Intensity: Major) [-4PP]

 

DC Block

ATTACK              RANGE            SAVE                                   EFFECT
Jimmy Punch         Touch         DC  17 Toughness             Damage 2(Physical)
Radiation Control   Ranged      DC 22 Toughness              Damage 7(Energy)
Radiation Aura       Touch         DC 16 Toughness              Damage 1(Energy, Aura)
 

Totals: Abilities (18) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (6) + Feats (6) + Powers (60) - Drawbacks (12) = 105/105 Power Points

Edited September 20, 2015 by Almilee

[Avenger Assembled]

I like this concept a lot - but the mechanics need some work. A big problem is that Distracting is not really a suitable flaw for an Alternate Form, since it would typically only apply while you're activating the power. 

For a giant with energy powers, I would recommend you take this sheet - http://www.freedomplaybypost.com/topic/4823-geez3rs-bag-of-tricks/?do=findComment&comment=128361 and jiggle the mechanics around to your satisfaction. For example, you'd want to drop the Innate on the Growth and the Density, and of course, switch the Cold Control to a Radiation Control array. 

[Almilee]

Alright, thank you!

I jiggled around a bit with everything, and traded out Distracting for Unreliable (representing the fact he's still new to his power), does that work? 

I also tossed in Growth 2 to get 7-foot tall, though I had to move points around a bit (taking away a rank of Flight, and adding Drawback to the Array).

[N/A]

I would ditch most of the feats.  The skill bonuses aren't really high enough to get any significant use out of them.  I'd maybe keep Evasion, Move-By Action, and Precise Shot.  With +2 Int, +1 Wis, and +0 Cha, you're not going to get much of anything out of Jack of All Trades.  With +4 Bluff, Taunt isn't going to work very often, if ever.

You can probably trim back the skills a bit to scrounge up another point or three.  The bonuses are all so low, no skill checks are going to succeed anyway.  For example, it's DC20 to pickpocket someone or plant something on them.  With a +5 Sleight of Hand, you have to roll a 15 or better.  That's what, 25% chance?  Even burning a Hero Point for a reroll only increases your changes to around 50% instead of 25%.  The DCs for Medicine (first aid) and Survival are pretty low, but most of the other skills aren't going to work often if at all.  Why bother with Concentration?  Your powers are all Instant or Permanent.

The grapple bonus is wrong.  If you have +6 melee Attack and +2 Str, then your grapple bonus is +8, not +0.

The knockback resistance is wrong.  It's 1/2 your Toughness, rounded down.  So with Toughness +4, +7 Force Field, your KB would be 2, 3 Force Field.

Insubstantial is 5PP/rank, and energy is 3 ranks.  It's Sustained duration by default, so Permanent is a +0 modifier.  With Innate, Insub 3 would cost 16PP, not 13.

Growth 2 doesn't get you Large size.  You're Large at ranks 4-7.  At 2, you're still Medium-sized.

You're spending 12PP for Defense +7, which would cost 14PP.  I'd recommend keeping the +6 Defense you're actually paying for with those 12PP, and then buying a rank of Dodge Focus to increase the Defense to +7.  Odd-numbered ranks of Defense are useless, since the flat-footed bonus is "half, rounded down."  So your flat-footed Defense would be +3, whether you spend 13PP for Defense +6 and Dodge Focus 1, or 14PP for Defense +7.

With base Attack +6, Accurate on your Blast for a total +8 attack bonus, and Blast rank 7, you're actually breaking offensive power level caps for Power Level 7.  You need to either drop a rank of base Attack or a rank of Blast, or drop Accurate and get another rank of base Attack bonus.

I'd recommend only getting base Attack 3-4, and then getting ranks of Attack Focus (Ranged) and/or Attack Specialization for the Blast instead of buying up full base Attack bonus.  You're not going to be punching people or grappling nearly as often as you'll be blasting them while being insubstantial.

Since you're insubstantial, you may as well give the -Dispersal flaw from Ultimate Power to the Growth ranks.  You're not getting anything out of increased Strength, grapple, or carry capacity.

I would replace the Con Drain and the Nauseate with Fortitude-based Damage instead.  Draining someone's Con to 0 is pretty much the only way in this system to straight-up kill them.  And all Damage effects benefit from the Bruises/Injuries the target already has, even if they're Fort or Will based damage.  And Nauseate isn't great.  I'd also consider Drain Toughness (affecting both objects and living creatures) as an alternate power.  That could be useful for softening up a hard target in combat or burning through walls(/floors/ceilings/etc.).

I would recommend dropping the Aura Damage rank to 1.  At rank 4, you won't be hurting many people anyway.  It's too expensive to raise to a rank that will actually hurt someone.  So you may as well drop it to rank 1 so it's more of a flavor power.

In the DC block, the damage type for the blast and the aura should be "Energy," not "Physical."

I think the House Rules state that Action on an alternate form's activation is a drawback, not a flaw.

 

 

[Almilee]

Oh man, thanks Shaen! I took up a lot of your suggestions (I believe most of them, actually), but then that changed so much that I had to start reallocating points EVERYWHERE in my Alternate Form. Looks a lot different, now! Since I changed so much, there are possibly a few spots where numbers and stated stuff doesn't add up that I missed, so poke me if you find one and I'll clear it up.

EDIT: And without further ado, Fallout has been submitted! Thank you for your suggestions and fixes.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Almilee