Paper Tiger Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 Players Name: Paper Tiger Power Level: 10 Character's Name: Nicolas Eugene Rousseau Alternate Identity: Aether Height: 168 cm [5'6â€Â] Weight: 56.7 kg [125 lb] Hair: Dark Brown Eyes: Sea Green Description: Standing at 168 cm (5’6â€Â) and weighing in at 56.7 kg (125 lb), Nicolas is of fairly average height and weight for a fourteen year old human boy. He has sea green eyes and short dark brown hair which, aptly enough considering his carefree outlook, usually identifies a messy-spiky hairdo as its bedfellow. Despite the time he’s spent outdoors he isn't particularly tanned, while the rigorous physical training of the Lacoste clan has left him lean and fit with an athletic build comparable to a gymnast or sprinter. However, by the same token, the clan’s rigorous physical training, as well as its penchant for resolving conflicts with brawls instead of words, has also left him with a fair number of scars, bruises, and broken bones, all of which have fortunately long since healed. Consequently, anyone unfamiliar with the clan's training and antics, but familiar with his past injuries, might mistakenly conclude that he's suffered physical abuse in the past. Regarding attire, Nic usually opts for plain and nondescript clothes generally in earth tones. Though, he does occasional show his classier side and don formal wear when necessary. Unlike his counterpart in the other dimension, he never inherited the fortune of a corrupt billionaire. Thus, designer labels are rarely found in his wardrobe. Rounding out his attire, Nic usually sports a simple emerald green sun ray dial watch with a black leather strap in addition to a necklace consisting of a length of black cord threaded through the centers of 7 black and 7 white tomoe-shaped trinkets and a marble-like bauble. Alternating between black and white along the necklace, the tomoe are fashioned from giant clam shells, while the bauble initially appears to be filled with swirling black mist dotted with tiny sparkles of silvery white light. However, a close inspection of the baubles reveals that its actual contents: a breathtakingly beautiful and detailed “recreation†of the Milky Way galaxy. History: Born in Strasbourg, France, Nicolas Eugene Rousseau is the son of Nicolette and Jean-René Rousseau, a pair of prosperous architects. However, unknown to most, Nic's mother wasn't entirely the perfectly normal human that she seemed. As it so happens, Nicolette was a member of an ancient clan of gypsies well-versed in the arcane arts. While she initially embraced her rich heritage, even going so far as to take up the superhero mantle as the superhero Aeon, Nicolette eventually rejected it after a clash with Baron Samedi which resulted from Samedi kidnapping and torturing her, normal human, best friend in ways that left the man physically, mentally, and emotionally devastated. Allowing her rage to overcome her, Nicolette lost control over her sorcery during the battle costing hundreds of innocent civilians their lives when her magic unleashed an awesome nova of raw mystical energy that demolished a skyscraper. In the end, she managed to regain control of her magic and finally defeat her nemesis. However, guilt over the blood on her hands left her an emotional wreck afterwards, driving her to retire her superhero persona, abandoned sorcery, and move to France, where she met Jean-René a few years later. For the most part, Nic's childhood was fairly typical. He had 2 loving parents, a carefree life, and a host of friends. Where his childhood deviated from the norm was in the early, uncontrolled manifestation of the sorcery he'd inherited from his mother. Producing random effects like moving or destroying objects, conjuring objects and animals from thin air, and altering objects and people from one state to another whenever Nic experienced strong emotions, he and his mother were forced to hide his inheritance from his father, who was a fervent supporter of anti-mutant/supernatural legislature. While covering up his sorcery wasn't too difficult at first, Nic's mother was ultimately forced to embrace her heritage once more and begin teaching him to suppress his magic once its effects grew beyond the capacity of simple explanations. Strangely enough, while Nicolette could've simply stripped him of his magic, the notion never entered her mind. So, with Nic's mastery over suppressing his magic came a return to normalcy and calm until tragedy struck on the night following his eighth birthday. Nic and his parents were driving home from the airport after a pair of fun-filled days at Disneyland Paris for his birthday. Unfortunately, two days of festivities with friends and family were capped with his parents' SUV rolling over from the impact of a vehicle manned by a drunk driver. Mercifully asleep at the time, Nicolas suffered severe injuries that left him comatose for weeks; whereas, his parents, who were awake during the collision, were killed. With relatives on his mother's side unknown due to her alienation and adoption of an alias and only a pair of ailing grandparents alive on his father's side, he was shunted off to an orphanage after recuperating in the hospital, becoming a ward of the French government. However, where his life could've taken the same turn it did in his original incarnation, it instead veered onto a different path due to his premature manifestation of his sorcery, as opposed to his original incarnation's premature manifestation of a mutant duplication ability. Thus, due to earlier detection of his mystic presence, Nic was found by his mother's gypsy relatives nearly a year before Mr. Klein and Baron Samedi could get a hold of him. Relocated to the United States after his relatives gained custody of him, Nic experienced a most interesting lifestyle as a member of a nomadic gypsy clan. While they are decidedly on the good side of the alignment spectrum, his relatives are more than a little willing to bend and break society's laws and interact with the denizens of its seedy underbelly. That said, their illegal activities typically revolved around some form of fraud. Additionally, while they are known to participate in more reprehensible acts they generally only target known criminals when doing so. In between lessons on how to effectively perform a bevy of skills related to the clan's trade, Nic also learned how to properly tap into and wield the sigil sorcery inherited from his mother and, by proxy, the Lacoste clan. Rather talented at sorcery, as evidenced by the exceptionally young age he'd learned to completely suppress his personal magic, he quickly grew into quite the promising sorcerer. Moreover, his mastery of the “Charm†spell made him rather coveted within the clan. Since, few clansmen could match his talent at wielding the exceedingly useful “Charm†spell. However, it wasn't all sunshine and daisies for Nic within the clan. For, being criminals, the American government constantly seeks to bring them to justice. Meanwhile, the fantastic nature of some of their cons and escapes has garnered them the attention of anti-mutant organizations. Then, there are sheer number of demons and evil mystics, psychics, and mutants that they've run afoul. Since, while criminals in the eyes of the American government, they weren't strangers to fighting supernatural crimes. Of particular note are Hades and Una, Queen of the Underworld, both of whom the clan has crossed paths with, and foiled, innumerable times over the centuries. Furthermore, Baron Samedi, though having missed his opportunity to lure Nic to his side, still seeks to corrupt or kill him as part of his deep-seated grudge against Aeon/Nicolette. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on one's perspective, his inherited enemies still plot within the shadows allowing him to focus his attention on other things: like whether he can continue to resist the lure of the cape and cowl or realizing his dream of becoming the next Master Mage. Stats [32 PP]: Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3) Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3) Combat [20 PP]: Attack: +4 Defense: +10 [+6 Base, +4 Dodge Focus] Initiative: +7 Grapple: +5 Saves [07 PP]: Toughness: +3 [+5 w/Defensive Roll, +7 w/Force Field, +10 w/both] Fortitude: +5 [+10 w/Moon Bauble] Reflex: +5 [+10 w/Moon Bauble] Will: +5 [+10 w/Moon Bauble] Skills [26 PP]: Acrobatics 05/08 Bluff 07/10 Bluff w/Attractive --/14 Computers 04/08 Concentration 08/10 Craft: Structural 10/14 Diplomacy 07/10 Diplomacy w/Attractive --/14 Disable Device 05/09 Gather Information 07/10 Knowledge: Arcane Lore 11/15 Knowledge: Current Events 04/08 Knowledge: Pop Culture 04/08 Knowledge: Streetwise 04/08 Language (English, Romani) 02/-- Nic's native language is French Notice 08/10 Sense Motive 08/10 Sleight of Hand 05/08 Stealth 05/08 Feats [16 PP]: All-Out Attack Artificer Attractive 1 Defensive Roll 2 Dodge Focus 4 Improved Initiative 1 Luck 1 [Pirika’s blessing] Power Attack Precise Shot Ritualist Skill Mastery [bluff, Craft: Structural, Diplomacy, Knowledge: Arcane Lore] Uncanny Dodge 1 [Mental; Pirika’s blessing] Powers [58 PP]: Moon Bauble Hard to Lose Device 3 [Feats] (12 PP) Device Powers: Enhanced Fortitude 5, Enhanced Reflex 5, Enhanced Will 5 ----- Rune Sorcery I Magic 12 [Feats] (32 PP) Magic Missile Magic Array Default Power: Blast 10 – Kinetic [Feats] Charm Magic Array Alternate Power: Emotion Control 10 [Feat] Mage Hand Magic Array Alternate Power: Telekinesis 10 [Feats] Mind Link Magic Array Alternate Power: Telepathy 10 [Feat] Time Stop, Lesser Magic Array Alternate Power: Paralyze 10 [Extra] ----- Rune Sorcery II Magic 7 [Drawbacks] (12 PP) Ghostwalk Magic Array Default Power: Flight 3 [Feat] Aegis Magic Array Alternate Power: Force Field 5 [Feat] ----- Sense Magic Super-Senses 2 [Awareness – Magic, Detect – Magic] (2 PP) Drawbacks [-6 PP]: Vulnerability – “Iron†Descriptor Attacks [-3 PP]: Due to minor alterations made to his physiology by a blessing from his Fey ex-girlfriend, Pirika, Nic suffers additional damage from attacks with the “iron†descriptor. Fortunately for him, the fact that he isn't Fey, rather someone under the blessing of a Fey, causes him to suffer a reduced effect compared to actual Fey. Thus, he suffers only 50% more damage, as opposed to the double damage Fey take. Additionally, “iron†descriptor attacks do not negate his ability to be resurrected. Finally, due to the availability of iron, this weakness is of moderate frequency. Weakness – When Damaged by “Iron†Descriptor Attacks [-3 PP]: Due to minor alterations made to his physiology by a blessing from his Fey ex-girlfriend, Pirika, Nic suffers additional ill-effect beyond simple increased damage whenever he suffers injury from any attack with the “iron†descriptor. This weakness is a moderate frequency sickness (due to the availability of iron) of moderate intensity that imposes a cumulative -1 penalty to all checks, attack rolls, and defense every time Nic is injured by an “iron†descriptor attack. Each occurrence of the penalty fades once the injury condition that caused it is healed, be it naturally or otherwise. Complications: Enemy – American Government: In the eyes of the American government, the Lacoste clan is nothing more than a band of criminals. Truth be told, the American government’s perception isn't entirely unfounded, as the clan has broken many of America's laws. Furthermore, they will continue to do so if left unchecked. However, what the American government doesn't realize is that the clan also fights the war against supernatural evil. Anyway, due to his participation in his clan's illegal activities, Nic is every bit as wanted by the government as his clansmen. Enemy – Baron Samedi: Courtesy of his long-standing feud with Nicolette, Baron Samedi has set his sights on destroying Nic to extend his torment and revenge into her afterlife. While his preference is to corrupt Nic as the ultimate revenge against Nicolette and her family, he's more than willing to simply kill Nic if corrupting him proves too troublesome. Enemy – Evil Eye: Surprise, surprise! The original Nicolas Rousseau returns as an alternate reality version of his Second Edition update! After departing from the Massachusetts Academy following his fateful attack on Vincent Voght, he was eventually captured and corrupted by Baron Samedi. However, in succeeding in his plans, Samedi inadvertently created the instrument of his own destruction, for Evil Eye wasted little time betraying Samedi and claiming his former master's magic and life. Craving dominion over the entire multiverse, he then began hunting mystics to siphon their power as his first step toward this goal. During his quest he learned of an ancient, faster method of attaining ultimate power that required absorbing the magic from each and every last one of his incarnations in the multiverse. Due to his now vast magical knowledge, Nic required little time to create a spell to open rifts to other dimensions. Now, having already killed and absorbed the magic from over a dozen alternate versions of himself, Evil Eye has arrived to kill and absorb this reality's version of him: Nicolas Rousseau of the clan Lacoste. Enemy – Hades: Similar to Baron Samedi, Hades' feud with the Lacoste clan of gypsies makes Nic one of the focal points of his ire. However, unlike Samedi, he lacks any particular desire to corrupt any of the clansmen, for he views the might of their combined goodness as far too great a threat to evil. Instead, his focus lies solely on eradicating the clan once and for all. That said, he's not above taking advantage of a clansman's weak will or moment of weakness to further his ambitions. However, regardless of any promises made to the compromised clansman, Hades will ultimately destroy him or her alongside the others. Phobia – Clowns: Due to an incident at his fourth birthday party involving a clown utilizing a hobo gimmick, followed by some local bullies forcing him to watch Stephen King's It, Nic finds even images of clowns terrifying, with such images alone being more than enough to send him into a panic. Phobia – Spiders: For as long as he can remember, Nic has been deathly terrified of spiders. Interestingly enough, he's never been bitten or attacked by spiders before. He just finds their eye count creepy and unsettling. DC Block: ATTACKS: -- SAVE DC: -- DAMAGE TYPE: Blast 10 -- 25-30/Toughness (Staged) -- Bruise Emotion Control 10 -- 20/Will (Staged) -- Attitude modification Nullify 10 -- 20/Will -- Nullify all effects Paralyze 10 -- 20/Will (Staged) -- Slowed or Paralyzed Telepathy 10 – 20/Will – Mind Reading Costs: Abilities (32) + Combat (20) + Saves (07) + Skills (26) + Feats (16) + Powers (58) - Drawbacks (06) = 153 PP edit1: added the flavor/unofficial names of each of Nic's powers. edit2: removed wide extra and reallocated pp. edit3: fixed skills and feats that i forgot to update. :oops: edit4: follow dr. archeville’s suggestions (to the best of my understanding anyway) and condensed nic’s powers some. formatting modified slightly to hopefully make things a little easier to follow.
Folkert Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 There's a small problem with your Magic array. According to the Judges, the use of the 'Wide' extra is not allowed. Barnum":3fm2mfw5]We do not allow the Wide array extra from the Mastermind's Manual. http://www.endlessflight.net/freedom/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=798&p=13302&hilit=wide+extra#p13302
Paper Tiger Posted June 2, 2008 Author Posted June 2, 2008 d'oh! i skimmed over things trying to see if it was allowed, but i guess my eyes failed me. hmm...that is a major downer. guess i'll have to see if i can shave points somewhere to separate his flight and force field from the array, as that's really the entire reason for wide (to allow the use of his offensive powers in conjunction with his defensive ones). thanks for the heads up. :)
Folkert Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 No problem! Just wanted to mention it right away so you could compensate for it as soon as possible. (And believe me, you are not the only missing it. )
Paper Tiger Posted June 2, 2008 Author Posted June 2, 2008 okay, i ditched wide and reallocated points. unfortunately, i did this while at work and without my books. so, don't flog me too badly if there are some bad mistakes. :D
Dr Archeville Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 My biggest concern is the "Check Required: Knowledge (Arcane)" flaws on the powers. As he is now Nico can make the check about 50% of the time (so it's not that different from Unreliable), but a mere 1pp/4 ranks sunk into his Knowledge skill and it jumps up to be about 75% effective. For his drawbacks, is it pure Iron he's affected by, or any mostly-iron alloy? If it's pure iron, which is fairly rare to come by, that'd be uncommon (which would be the frequency; moderate would be the intensity). If it's any mostly-iron alloy -- modern steels are 98-99.8% iron -- the frequency would be more common. A smaller concern is how spread out the powers all are. Would you be opposed to tightening things up some? For example, listing his two super senses as Super-Senses 2 (detect magic, magic awareness).
Paper Tiger Posted June 8, 2008 Author Posted June 8, 2008 My biggest concern is the "Check Required: Knowledge (Arcane)" flaws on the powers. As he is now Nico can make the check about 50% of the time (so it's not that different from Unreliable), but a mere 1pp/4 ranks sunk into his Knowledge skill and it jumps up to be about 75% effective. For his drawbacks, is it pure Iron he's affected by, or any mostly-iron alloy? If it's pure iron, which is fairly rare to come by, that'd be uncommon (which would be the frequency; moderate would be the intensity). If it's any mostly-iron alloy -- modern steels are 98-99.8% iron -- the frequency would be more common. A smaller concern is how spread out the powers all are. Would you be opposed to tightening things up some? For example, listing his two super senses as Super-Senses 2 (detect magic, magic awareness). 1) well, i'd intended to keep nic's knowledge: arcane lore skill within one rank of his magic power (now powers XD) until i mustered up the pp and storyline reason to buy it off. now, i realize that there's absolutely nothing official about that as it is. so, perhaps nic can officially be slapped with the aforementioned as a restriction? 2) i'm not a science guy (i'm a math guy ), so i honestly didn't give any thought to pure iron versus iron alloys. however, considering the whole weakness is derived from d&d fey, i'm inclined to say iron allows. i'd rather not increase the frequency though because i really don't want any more points to spend . additionally, i just don't see bullets, knives, swords, and other such weapons as all that common in a four color setting (which is the target atmosphere for nic). 3) i followed your suggestion on the super-senses bit, but nic's sorcery is split to enable him to use his offensive spells alongside his defensive ones. originally, i used the wide extra, but that's banned here. so, splitting nic's sorcery into two groups (largely offensive powers in one group and defensive/support powers in the other) was my solution to the problem. i did however attempt to reduce the footprint of the powers section, as well as tweak the formatting a little, in the hopes of making it easier to read and follow. lastly, thanks for taking the time to critique nic. :bow:
Dr Archeville Posted June 8, 2008 Posted June 8, 2008 Oh, having two Magic powers is perfectly fine, it's just having the spells so spread out made things a tad wonky to look at. I'll give him a more thorough look-over later, after I've had more sleep ;)
Paper Tiger Posted June 14, 2008 Author Posted June 14, 2008 just a bump in case dr. archeville, and the other moderators, have forgotten about little old me. ;)
Barnum Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 1. Saves [11 PP]: Toughness: +5 [+10 w/Force Field] Fortitude: +5 [+10 w/Moon Bauble] Reflex: +5 [+10 w/Moon Bauble] Will: +5 [+10 w/Moon Bauble] It looks like you bought your toughness up from +2 (Con) to +5 for 3 PPs. You cannot directly increase your Toughness like that. You can buy Protection, additional ranks of Force Field, Increase your Con, or buy Defensive Roll. 2. Bluff w/Attractive --/14 I'm not sure I understand this. You have 1 rank of attractive, Cha +3 and no ranks. Your modifier should be +7 here and for all the other skills like it. 3. Hard to Lose Device 3 [Feats] (12 PP) Just for consistency, please change "Flaw" to "Drawback." 4. Magic 16 [Feats] (26 PP) I can't get this to add up. Magic 16 with a -1 Flaw is 16 PPs. You have 5 Power Feats (21 PPs) and 5 Alt Powers (since the Blast power is free). That makes 26 PPs without subtracting your two drawbacks. This should cost 24 PPs. 5. With regard to drawbacks, we abide by the Core recommendation of capping Drawbacks at PL. You have 12 points in drawbacks right now by my count. That's two too many. 6. The main power in your first Magic array (Magic Missile) is over-priced at 32 PPs. You only have 21 PPs (19 if you keep the two drawbacks) in the array. 7. Charm Magic Array Alternate Power: Emotion Control 10 [Extra] I am unwilling to approve a Continuous Emotion control, especially in an array. 8. Dispel Magic Array Alternate Power: Nullify All 10 [Feat] I am also unwilling to approve Nullify (All). 9. The main power in your second Magic array (Astral Form) is over-priced at 26 PPs. You only have 12 PPs in the array to spend. Also, the 3rd Alt Power (Aegis Schism) is over priced at 21 PPs. 10. With regards to all of your "Check Required" flaws . . . we will not allow you to spend earned PPs to increase, in any way, this check above a 50% chance of success. As long as you are fine with the continual 50% failure chance (and all that extra dice rolling), have at it.
Paper Tiger Posted June 15, 2008 Author Posted June 15, 2008 thanks for taking time to supply feedback, barnum. it definitely leaves me with a lot of work to do. i only have a handful of replies before i set off to make changes: 1) you know, i never noticed that you couldn't (admittedly, i didn't read the relevant section too closely). however, after your notification, i read the saves section more closely. the defensive roll feat now makes much more sense to me. 2) "Bluff 07/10." i made a separate entry for the attractive feat's bonus due to it being a conditional bonus rather than a permanent one. 3) typo 4) 4 dynamic ap (8 pp), 1 normal ap (1 pp), note that my math may still be off. 6) ultimate power states "power rank x 2" pp to spend for the amount of points available to be spent on the base power (as well as alternate powers) under magic's description. as a result, i've always handled the power as such with feats, drawbacks, extras, and flaws applied to magic (or similar powers) itself having no bearing on the pp available to the array. is my interpretation incorrect, or did kenson errata it? i'm done. off to work on the uncontested things. :)
Barnum Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 2. Doh! I completely missed that. Makes perfect sense. 4. Yeah, I don't think I got all those DAPs in there. 26 PPs is correct. 6. I misunderstood what you were trying to do, and now that I know, I'm inclined to say no. Under the core system, the cost of the main power becomes the number of points available to the alt powers (sans any alt power feats). You are trying to get 32 PPs in the array but only paying 16 by adding the "check required" flaw. And then flawing the powers again inside the array. Honestly, that reeks of cheese. And having been at this for awhile now, I really think you are going to start hating having a 50% failure chance every time you try to do something. I also know that cheese can be very unpopular with the other players. But if another Ref approves, I won't object any further.
Paper Tiger Posted June 15, 2008 Author Posted June 15, 2008 it's cool, barnum. the check required flaw on the main magic powers is being changed to unreliable to make things more clearcut (i.e., no more worrying about nic's arcane lore ranks increasing). i really don't mind a 50% chance of failure on a config change, and unreliable can be rp'd the exact same way as i'd planned to with the check required flaw. i'm still working on reducing costs on the spells via means other than the check required flaw (since, thinking about it, it's only logical that nic's arcane lore check will increase over time, thus gradually nulling the flaw). as for your interpretation of the rules for exactly how many pp an array has, i can live with it. i actually like your interpretation better anyway, as it means i don't have to have a ridiculous number of ranks just to pull of something more than a standard 2 pp/rank power within the array. i can actually look at an extra or two now to get the array's pp up to where i need it. :D
Barnum Posted June 15, 2008 Posted June 15, 2008 it's cool, barnum. the check required flaw on the main magic powers is being changed to unreliable to make things more clearcut (i.e., no more worrying about nic's arcane lore ranks increasing). i really don't mind a 50% chance of failure on a config change, and unreliable can be rp'd the exact same way as i'd planned to with the check required flaw. i'm still working on reducing costs on the spells via means other than the check required flaw (since, thinking about it, it's only logical that nic's arcane lore check will increase over time, thus gradually nulling the flaw). It's a bit of an oversimplification to say so, but UP essentially turned Alternate Powers into a container (power structure, really). And I have a personal dislike for Flawing structures/containers. The savings is usually over the top, especially if the powers inside the structure/container are also flawed. I do realize, however, that my preference isn't everyone's, that's why I usually defer to a second Ref on matters like this. As I said, in your case however, I'd be more worried about the Flaw being too limiting, as opposed to being not limiting enough for the savings (which is usually the case).
Barnum Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 I'm not sure if you've seen this, but have no fear, I will be sticking with this through your first Ref approval, so you won't have to wait for yet another Ref to get on this.
Dr Archeville Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 I see you've got the following drawbacks on both Magic powers: Power Loss (When unable to speak), Power Loss (When unable to gesture) All the magic-users from published M&M/FC stuff who have a Drawback on their Magic have it as: "Power Loss (if unable to speak and gesture to cast spells)" or more simply "Power Loss (if unable to cast spells)", either one being a -1pp Drawback, on their Magic. Yours should be worded (and costed) similarly, so you'll need to remove 2pp worth of stuff, or come up with some other 1pp drawback for each Magic power, perhaps "Power Loss: cannot use Magic against anyone who [X]", where X could be "is carrying a silver coin", "is wearing iron/has iron touching their skin", "is wearing their clothes inside out", "has never spoken to him", or other anti-faerie wards. (For the "Runic Sorcery" flight/shield one, it could be "cannot use when bells are ringing".) Also, those Drawbacks should be listed with the other Drawbacks, not with the individual powers/array, to help avoid confusion over costs.
Recommended Posts