Requiem (PL10)

[Badgerking777]

So I'm building my first character on this site and I'm coming in 7 points over 150 and I can't figure out what I need to cut and/or if my math on something was wrong. I could really use some advice on what I should cut back in order to free up those points, and also if I have done anything incorrectly or are too weak or too powerful in a certain field. Constructive criticism is also welcome.

Thanks!

Player Name: Badgerking777
Character Name: Requiem
Power Level: 10 (150PP)
Trade-Offs: None
Unspent Power Points: 0
Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30

In Brief: Carter Corvin is the third man to bear the title and belt of Requiem, a mantle he has worn for a short time in the grand scheme of things. The purpose of Requiem is and has always been to avenge those spirits who have been wronged... and Carter takes that job very seriously, communicating and investigating with the help of ghostly victims in order to find the villains responsible.

Residence: Freedom City, NJ.
Base of Operations: Freedom City, NJ
Catchphrase:

Alternate Identity: Carter Corvin
Identity: Secret
Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan
Occupation: Auto shop/bar owner
Affiliations:

           

Family: Mother & Father (Both deceased)

Description:
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 215 Lbs.
Eyes: Pale blue/gray
Hair: Brown

Carter tends to be the dark brooding figure in the back of a room, making his way around the edges of a crowd. He tends to wear dark clothing, boots, leather jackets, jeans, etc. He spends most of his day and evening in his bar and motorcycle shop he set up with a hefty inheritance. He keeps to himself mostly, focusing on his job. When he’s not working on a bike or attending his bar, he works on his belt and suit, also using the special scanner device that allows him to see and speak with ghosts who have been murdered or otherwise require avenging. He hopes to bring justice for those restless souls, as did his predecessors.

When Carter activates the power of Requiem via mental or verbal trigger, his belt buckle flashes a bright green, and a thick black liquid quickly rushes over his skin and clothing, which finally seals over his face, and his solid armor rises and solidifies. This dramatic effect is finalized with the shape on his helmet of a jagged, jack-o-lantern-esque smile lighting up in green to match his belt. His gauntlets bear three large bladed spikes. The top half of his helmet is a solid black visor with antennae coming from a slight ridge down the middle. The bottom half is a lighter metal with a jagged mouth indention.

Power Descriptions:
Carter's powers are not always visible outside of his armor. The belt's activation is one of the only demonstrations of his superhuman abilities outside of the suit. Even without it however, he shows great athleticism, heightened senses and strength. These only increase upon activation of the belt.
 

History:
Carter was born to rock star Eddie Corvin and groupie Shelly O'Landron. At a young age, they moved out east, where his father and mother were both tragically murdered by a group of thugs when Carter was only 10 years old. Carter was found by Hal Owens, a middle aged man who, by day worked as a journalist, but by night, roamed the streets, avenging restless ghosts who had been wronged, using a special device to contact the spirits and dish out justice to those who cause the spirit restlessness. Carter learned of Hal's secret before long, as Hal had chosen him to one day become his replacement. for 10 years, Hal trained young Carter in how to fight and how to upgrade and repair the suit summoned by the belt, which had been given to Hal by his predecessor, Jack O'Landron, Carter's grandfather and the first Requiem. Hal, a great teacher and excellent fighter, unfortunately for Carter, was not the most stable man to roam the earth. He used many harsh tactics to teach Carter the skills of Requiem, and focused largely on prepping Carter for his ultimate brutal revenge on the group of thugs who killed his parents. When Carter was 20 years old, he was allowed to use the belt on his own, which led to him to tracking down those who had wronged him 10 years ago and dealing with them in such a brutal way, a time he does not talk about.

Carter's combat prowess and aptitude for dishing out justice led Hal to one day retire from his role as the Requiem. Carter returned to their secret lair to find the belt and a simple note from Hal saying that he was leaving, and that it was now Carter's responsibility to avenge those who have been wronged. This scenario was almost identical to that which had occurred in Hal's assumption of the Requiem belt, in which Jack, the first Requiem, mysteriously vanished. Jack, unlike Hal, had left a positive memory behind him.

Carter, now slapped in the face with great power and great responsibility... and no more brutal mentor, decided to head to Freedom City in order to make a new name for himself and for the persona of the Requiem. He sought the city of super powered heroes as the place to find who he truly was, and to escape the teachings of Hal Owens.

Even though Hal had not left a positive imprint, Carter was still curious as to why he vanished. Upon rigorous research of the Second Requiem's lair, Carter finally realized that his grandfather Jack was the first Requiem, and that his own assumption to the title was not a coincidence. Neither was the disappearance of his grandfather, much like the disappearance of Hal, or how the origin of the original Requiem was tied to an evil organization named SHADOW. Carter began a rigorous search for the truth in the two years after his move to Freedom. This search yielded only enough information to whet his appetite for mystery. The original Requiem was a detective who took cases for ghosts in order to rest their spirit, who eventually gained a high tech power suit after fighting in WWII and being captured and experimented on by the Axis organization SHADOW.

Personality & Motivation:
Carter spent his early years watching his parents struggle to support him. His father gave everything but his guitar to feed and support Carter. Even though he was in a popular band, he didn't make much and often hit hard times. After both is parents were killed, Carter came to the assumption that the purely good are always betrayed in the end. As with the previous men to wear the belt of Requiem, Carter's mission in life is to avenge those who have been wronged and punish those who prey on the weak.

Carter isn't the most trusting person of all time, as the man who raised him after his parents' deaths had abandoned him, and many record companies had screwed over his father, and many jobs didn't treat his mother fairly. But past his low faith in humanity and mistrust of large corporations, Carter tries to have fun. Sometimes that comes out violently when in costume, as he is known for using laughter and a seemingly crazy persona to intimidate his enemies. Outside of costume, he tends to find an escape in music and playing guitar like his father.

As a young man overcoming the depression of his childhood, Carter seeks many other escapes during his normal life besides just playing guitar. Carter is a big fan of motorcycles and going very fast. As a young boy he always wanted to become either a stunt man or some sort of athlete. He took gymnastics and martial arts as a boy. Now having the superhuman abilities implanted in him by his first use of the Requiem suit, Carter likes to go on sprints across rooftops in costume, or driving his bike incredibly fast. The rush of speed has always appealed to him, so much that it could almost be like an addiction.

Powers & Tactics:
The cybernetic bond the Requiem belt made to his body has allowed Carter superhuman strength, speed, agility, and reflexes. The armor is 'summoned' at will typically. When struck with something of high impact (such as a bullet), green sparks are known to flash out of the suit. The suit allows Carter superior vision as well as hearing. He can see almost 360 degrees around him and hear a whisper a block away. His fondness of listening to music can negate the advantage of hearing, however.

Requiem's martial arts training was only expanded on by his mentor, Hal. Beyond that, though, his experience with combat is largely improvised. He tends to deal with lower level criminals with a few quick moves to utterly disable them, but when in combat with many people or a tougher opponent, he is more inclined to whip out something more dramatic that he may or may not have just stolen from a movie or video game.

Concept:  The third incarnation of Requiem as a concept is the love child of Batman, The Crow, and a Kamen Rider. Personality wise, he flops back and forth from Eric Draven and Matt Murdock. His angst is a personality flaw that comes up from time to time and keeps him from being the clean cut golden age hero that the original Requiem was. At the same time, he's trying to be better than Hal, the second Requiem, who was more like Frank Miller's All Star Batman, mixed with Frank Castle.

 
Complications:
90's angst: Carter suffers from what most characters from the 90's did. He is quite gritty and dark at times, especially when in costume, he assumes the role of an angst-ridden dark avenger. This can easily get in the way of trying to talk to people in costume, and it tends to bleed out into his real life as well, not making him the most charismatic guy around. This can interfere with his social interaction as he also can get a bit of a temper, akin to that of Wolverine.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time...": Carter has many God-given gifts such as his aptitude for fighting, his observance, and talent in music. Brilliant planning, however, was not among the gifts given to him. To make up for this, he tends to try things that are a tad ridiculous when observed in retrospect. He focuses too much on intimidation at times, and takes unorthodox measures with very exaggerated finishing moves and complicated execution of rather simple tasks, just for the sake of looking cool.

In nothing we trust: Carter has low faith in humanity, and desires to see it change. Good people are constantly being cheated by those with money and power, as he observed in his youth, and as was indoctrinated in him by his mentor. He distrusts large organizations, as they are what seems to be tied to his own harm and the harm of his predecessors. His cynicism could easily cause penalty toward any kind of empathy. Even when he tries to be kind, he could easily say the wrong thing.

Shadow of Requiem: The mantle that was left for Carter has a long history, one that he hopes to live up to. Carter goes through a reoccurring existential crisis based on the example set by Hal, and the example of his grandfather Jack, the original. Finding the middle ground between clean cut hero and angsty anti-hero plagues Carter in every choice he makes in costume, sometimes causing him to hesitate or act too harshly.

“Music is my LIFE, mom!”: Music is something very important to many people. Most people listen to music fairly regularly, but that would be an understatement for Carter, however. As the owner of a small bar, it is very important to him. He often sacrifices being able to hear what is around him in order to listen to music through his helmet when he fights. This can easily serve as a distraction or hindrance to detecting sounds on occasion.

Abilities: 8 + 4 + 8 + 4 + 4 + 0 = 28PP
Strength: 32/18 (+11/+4)
Dexterity: 20/14 (+5/+2)
Constitution: 22/18 (+6/+4)
Intelligence: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Charisma: 10 (+0)


Combat: 10 + 20 = 30PP
Initiative: +16
Attack: +5 Base, +9 Melee (5 Base + 4 Melee Focus), +5 Ranged
Grapple: +17
Defense: +10 (+10 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +5 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -5/-3


Saving Throws: 0 + 2 + 7 = 9PP
Toughness: +9/+7 (+6/+4 Con, +3 from Device/Battle Armor)
Fortitude: +8/+6 (+6/+4 Con, +2)
Reflex: +7/+2 (+7/+2 Dex)
Will: +9 (+2 Wis, +7)


Skills: 124R = 31PP
Acrobatics 8 (+13)

Bluff 4 (+4)

Climb 4 (+15)

Craft (Mechanical) 12 (+14)

Diplomacy 2 (+2)

Disable Device 4 (+6)

Disguise 2 (+2)

Drive 15 (+21)

Escape Artist 4 (+9)

Gather Information 8 (+8)

Intimidate 12 (+12)

Knowledge (Paranormal) 12 (+14)

Knowledge (Bikers) 4 (+6)

Medicine 2 (+4)

Notice 10 (+12)

Search 4 (+6)

Sense Motive 8 (+10)

Stealth 9(+13)

 

Feats: 17PP
Attack Focus: Melee 4

Equipment 4 *

Fearless

Fearsome Presence

Improved Disarm

Improved Initiative

Quickchange

Rage

Skill Mastery (Intimidate, Drive, Gather Information, Climb)

Takedown Attack 2

 

Equipment: 4PP = 20EP

Motorcycle (15 Str, 5 Spd, 10 Def, 8 Tough) [9EP]

Base: Medium, Toughness 10, Garage, Gym, Living Space, Workshop, Concealed [8 EP]

Comm-Link (Free)

Dimension Hopper (Portal to Ghost Zone) [3EP]

           

Powers: 12 + 14+ 6 + 4 +2 +1 +1 +1 = 41PP

Device 1: [12PP] (15PP Container, Hard to Lose) (Battle Armor)

             Immunity 4 (Suffocation, Necromantic )  [4PP] 

             Protection 2 (Impervious)  [3PP] 

             Comprehend [Spirits]  [2PP] 

             Super Senses 7 [6PP] (Darkvision, Extended Hearing 2,Awareness 2 [Spiritual – Audio and Visual] )

Nanotech Blood 6.6: (28PP Container, Feat: Innate, [Passive, Permanent], ) [29PP] (Technological)

             Enhanced Strength 14  [14PP] 

             Enhanced Dexterity 6  [6PP] 

             Enhanced Constitution 4  [4PP] 

             Super Movement 1 [2PP] (Sure Footed)

             Leaping [1PP]

             Speed  [1PP] 
 

Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP


DC Block

ATTACK                                  RANGE      SAVE                                      EFFECT

Unarmed                                   Touch        DC20 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Physical)

Stinger Strike (Power Attack)     Touch        DC21-25 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Physical)

 

Totals: Abilities (28) + Combat (30) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (32) + Feats (17) + Powers (41) - Drawbacks (0) = 157/150 Power Points

Edited June 17, 2016 by badgerking777

[Raveled]

I think you have two points in your saves that aren't listed there. Otherwise I don't know how his Reflex save is +7 when his Dex is only +5.

 

The Battle Armor has 18 PP in it, not 12; which incidentally means it needs to go up to Device 4, not Device 3.

 

I come up with 28 + 30 + 11 + 31 + 17 + 46 = 158/150 PP. Where to cut? Well first I'd drop Innate on the Nanoblood Array; superheroes get their powers taken away all the time, unless the power is "I have four arms" or something. There's needs to be a really good reason why a power is Innate. I'd also drop Impervious from the Protection, since 2 ranks of Impervious isn't going to do you much. You need to define just want kind of Immunity to have to Necromantic stuff; from all Necromantic effects? That's going to cost more than a few PP. Same for Suffocation: is he immune to drowning, to poisonous atmospheres, what? If he's immune to any kind of suffocation, that's 5 PP right there.

 

Rage is kind of a useless feat, as is a single rank of Fearsome Presence. Drop both of those.

 

A lot of those skills could be removed or rolled into other things. Like, Diplomacy +2 and Medicine +2 aren't going to do anything for you, and Knowledge (Bikers) is too specific, that should be Knowledge (Streetwise). Take a look at any skill that comes to lower than +10 and ask yourself if the character really, really needs it.

 

You bought all of this character's Defense as Base Defense. You could cut that down to +8 or +6 and buy up the rest with Dodge Focus.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Raveled

[N/A]

According to the book, Suffocation Immunity is 1PP for one type and 2PP for all.  I don't see Suffocation on the house rules descriptor list, so I'm not aware of any change from the book.

 

Immunity to all Necromancy effects would only be 5PP.  It's an Uncommon descriptor, a specific type of Magic.

 

Agreed that Fearsome Presence and Inpervious are both useless if you're not taking at least 5-6 ranks.

 

It's also worth mentioning that most skills that don't involve contested rolls have DCs in increments of 5.  So if you make use of the Take 10 and Take 20 mechanics (which you should), then a +2 won't get you anything, and a +6 or a +7 won't get you anything that a +5 wouldn't get.

 

I would lower the bar for skills being worth to take at all to +5, rather than +10.

 

I wouldn't say that Rage is useless.  It's very points-efficient.  But it's weird, and you should fully understand what it does before you take it.  It doesn't break caps, so once you activate it, you're down 1 Power Level on defense (-2 Def), but up one Power Level on offense (+4 Str / +2 Dmg).  So it's like simultaneously All-Out Attacking and Power Attacking for 2 points each.  It pushes you a little bit toward "glass cannon," but it makes sense for Wolverine types, especially if they have alternative sources of damage mitigation like Regeneration and/or Impervious Toughness.

Edited June 17, 2016 by ShaenTheBrain

[Badgerking777]

Thanks to both of you for your advice! I'm working on fixing some of that now. I know some of the math is a little jacked, but that is my brother Jedidalek's fault because he's the one who helped me on this.

 

Quote

It's also worth mentioning that most skills that don't involve contested rolls have DCs in increments of 5.  So if you make use of the Take 10 and Take 20 mechanics (which you should), then a +2 won't get you anything, and a +6 or a +7 won't get you anything that a +5 wouldn't get.

Which skills DO involve contested rolls?

[N/A]

Including but not limited to: Acrobatics (with Acrobatic Bluff or Trip maneuvers), Bluff, Diplomacy (if you're using it for Fascinate), Disguise, Escape (if you're slipping out of bonds someone else tied, their Dex bonus increases your DC, and if you're trying to slip a Snare effect, the enemy's power rank increases the DC), Gather Information (if you're trying to find someone who's trying not to be found, their Knowledge [Streetwise] or Stealth gets added to your DC), Intimidation, Search (if you're trying to find something that someone else hid, they can use their Sleight of Hand or Stealth skill to determine your DC, and they can take 20 if they have time), Sleight of Hand (static DC to steal or plant something, but opposed vs Notice to get caught), and Stealth.

[Badgerking777]

So pretty much all my skills should be in multiples of 5, save for maybe craft and drive and those types of skills?

Edited June 20, 2016 by Badgerking777

[N/A]

Craft and Drive are two skills I'd recommend keeping in multiples of 5, since, like Knowledge, Medicine, Survival, Disable Device, etc., they have DCs in increments of 5.  It's the stuff that involves contested rolls that I'd just try to get as high as possible.  But that's just my style.  I like to take 10/20 whenever I can, because the dice hate me.