Minor League Supers [Powers/Supers]

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Anytime you want to build a character with incredible HP, unless you also want them to be a Slamming machine <Lotsa stuff snipped>

Excellent mathematics and logic there, V.

But the Masked Avenger is an homage to Will Eisner's The Spirit. And the Spirit's main trick was not invincibility in battle, giving out superhuman damage, or toughness. His schtick was getting injured to the point where he resembled hamburger(*) and he just(*) kept(*) coming(*).

The large HP total is an artistic choice.

Originally Posted by johndallman

How does he get food, and buy ammunition? Dead Broke seems to make those things hard.

Pimps and drug dealers always have ready cash. Beating them into a pulp goes well with his mission, and looting the Bad Guy's Stuff is a venerable RPG tradition.

[AlexanderHowl]

Quite honestly, you would be better off with Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction /4, Homogeneous, and Unbreakable Bones; Super, -10%) [135] and Unkillable 1 (Super, -10%) [45]. It would allow them to be turned into hamburger without suffering 10d damage from a 5 yard fall (conversely, the above character would take 1d of damage from a 5 yard fall, /4 after rolling).

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Quite honestly, you would be better off with Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction /4, Homogeneous, and Unbreakable Bones; Super, -10%) [135] and Unkillable 1 (Super, -10%) [45]. It would allow them to be turned into hamburger without suffering 10d damage from a 5 yard fall (conversely, the above character would take 1d of damage from a 5 yard fall, /4 after rolling).

Hmm ... I never look much at Unkillable. That works nicely.

I've been making these characters without power modifiers like Super or Psionics so they could be adapted by others to a variety of backgrounds, so I'd have come up with a different point total. Still, I'll take notes.

[Prince Charon]

Gregory James van Horne, 'Astral Knight,' 2019

Age: 15

Attributes

ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 9 [-10]

Secondary Characteristics

HP 10; Will 14 [10]; Per 12; FP 12 [9]

Social Background

Languages: 21st Century English (Native) [0].

TL: 8

Cultural Familiarity: 21st Century Western [0].

Subtotal: 49


Advantages

Absolute Timing [2]
Eidetic Memory [5]
Less Sleep 1 [2]

Astral Armor 10 [30]
Astral Celerity 6 [36]
Astral Projection Talent 1 [5]
Astral Sight 3 [13]
Astral Sword 3 [20]
Astral Travel (Uncontrollable, -10%) 6 [72]
Protected Power (Astral Projection) [5]

Perks

Near-Death Projection. [1]
Retractable Cord. [1]
Skill Conversion: Astral Movement based on IQ. [1]
Skill Conversion: Astral Sword based on IQ. [1]
Subjective Navigator. [1]

Subtotal: 191


Disadvantages

Compulsive Snooping (12) [-5]
Enemies (Hostile astral entities; small group, about as powerful, rarely all appear at once; Hunters; 9 or less) [-20]
Secret (Identity) [-10]
Social Stigma (Minor) [-5]

Quirks

Big X-Men fan. [-1]
Cat person. [-1]
Delusion ('I am a mutant'). [-1]
Likes redheads. [-1]
Hates anchovies. [-1]

Subtotal: -45


Features


Skills

Animal Handling (Felines) [IQ/A] [1] 11
Area Knowledge (Inner Astral Plane) [IQ/E] [1] 12
Astral Lore [IQ/A] [1] 11
Bicycling [DX/E] [1] 10
Computer Operation/TL8 [IQ/E] [1] 12
Currant Affairs (Paranormal) [IQ/E] [1] 12
Expert Skill (Psionics) [IQ/H] [2] 11
First Aid/TL8 [IQ/E] [1] 12
Hobby Skill (X-Men) [IQ/E] [2] 13
Housekeeping [IQ/E] [1] 12
Literature (Comic Books) [IQ/H] [1] 10
Research [IQ/A] [2] 12

Astral Armor [Will/H] [1] 13*
Astral Movement [IQ/H] [4] 13*
Astral Sight [Per/H] [2] 12*
Astral Sword [IQ/H] [2] 12*
Astral Travel [IQ/H] [8] 14*

* Includes +1 from Astral Projection Talent.

Techniques

Astral Crossing (H) Astral Travel-8 [9] 14
Cloaking (H) Astral Travel-8 [7] 12
Cross-World Communication (H) Astral Travel-1 [0] 13
Penetrating Blow (H) Astral Sword-5 [2] 8
Spectral Dodge (H) Astral Movement-4 [5] 13

Subtotal: 55

Total: 250


Equipment

Clothes
Shoes
Backpack
-Books, notebooks, school supplies
Wallet, keys, et cetra

Notes

The two Skill Conversion perks represent his more intellectual concept of the astral plane, where IQ substitutes for DX. Will should also substitute for HT and ST (and HP), but I'm not sure how to represent that in this context; possibly Extra ST and Extra HT, both with the Astral Only limitation, but if so, I'm not sure how much that limitation is worth, and it would require juggling points. In some settings, this is not necessary, as it would just be a setting switch.

Greg was never the healthiest child growing up, but since he hit puberty, he began having fainting spells when under stress. This is acturally a manifestation of his Astral Travel ability, which originally had the Unconscious Only limitation (since bought off), and is still Uncontrollable.

As the Astral Knight, Greg is taller, more muscular-looking, has a voice like Sir Patrick Stewart, and wears what appears to be 16th-century full plate, save that rather than looking metallic, it resembles a cross between blue opal and mother-of-pearl. His Astral Sword also appears to be made of this imaginary substance. I haven't listed his reputation, but it's safe to say that while he has basically no game-useful rep in the physical plane (if I do a revised version, he might have a minor negative rep in school as 'that nerd who faints a lot'), his reputations in the astral plane (good spirits react positively if they recognize him, and evil spirits react negatively if they recognize him) cancel each other out.

Templates used (all from GURPS Psis): Unexpected Psi (text box p19), Spirit Warrior (pp21-22), Visual Hunter, Long-Term Projector (Inner Plane lens), and elements of Fast Projector (all p22).

Greg was mostly created for a "Characters with 'Power-heavy' builds" thread (that is to say, characters that have a significant majority of their points in power-related advantages, perks, and skills - not limited to psi-abilities, could be magic, spiritual, chi, generic 'super' powers, and so on), which I might start later if no-one else does, but he also fits here. He's a bit unusual even among minor supers, as he's completely unknown if you have nothing to do with the astral plane - he only learned the Cross-World Communication technique fairly recently.


Thoughts?

[AlexanderHowl]

The default settings do not use the optional skills for abilities or temporary enhancements as techniques rules (those are more of Psionic Powers rules), so it depends on the setting. In most settings, the character would have 40 extra CP.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

There's one sort of villain that usually isn't covered at 250 points. It's tricky, but also I think an essential part of the genre.

The origin is left out. This can be a human transformed by some external influence, a construct, a time-traveler, or several other things. And it scales upward easily by adding Damage Reduction.

And now I present ...

Monstron, The Destroyer of Cities!!
(*insert music sting*)

Monstron is easy to identify. Fifteen feet tall, resembling a guy in a cheap dinosaur costume. His M.O. is rather simple, too - rampage, eat people, roar, burn things at random, destroy buildings. Not a lot of tactics.

Monstron prefers hanging out in national parks and game preserves, but he often ends up in cities, usually because someone brings him there.

Attributes:ST 35 (+2 Size Modifier -20%) [200]
DX 10 [0]
IQ 8 [-40]
HT 12 [20]

Secondary Characteristics: Damage 4d-1/6d+1; BL 245 lbs.;
HP 35 [0]; Will 10 [10]; Per 10 [10]; FP 12 [0];
Basic Speed 5.25 [0]; Basic Move 7 (+2 Size Modifier -20%) [32].
SM +2

Advantages: Blunt Claws [3]
Damage Resistance 25 (Cannot Wear Armor -40%; Tough Skin -40%) [25]
Innate Attack/Burning 4 (Flame Breath: Cone 5 yds +100%; Reduced Range x1/5 -20%) [36]
Striker (Tail: Crushing; SM +3 +225%; Clumsy -20%) [16]
Very Fit [15]

Perks: Penetrating Voice [1]
Sharp Teeth [1]

Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]
Bestial [-10]
Bloodlust (12 or less) [-10]
Cannot Speak [-25]
Gluttony (12 or less) [-5]
Odious Personal Habit (Devours Humans) [-15]
Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]

Skills: Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-12
Breath Weapon (E) DX+2 [8]-13
Intimidation (A) Will+5 [2]-15 (+5 bonus from Size and Appearance)
Survival (Forest) (A) Per+2 [8]-12
Swimming (E) HT [1]-12

Quirks: Cannot Jump [-1]
Cold Intolerance [-1]
Uncongenial [-1]

[AlexanderHowl]

In general, wide scale destruction can be accomplished on the cheap with the combination of Area Effect and Cosmic. For example:

Aura of Destruction: Corrosive Attack 1 point (Accessibility, Only impacts TL5+ artifacts, -20%; Always On, -20%; Area Effect, 1,024 yards, +500%; Cosmic, Ignores DR, +300%; Emanation, -20%) [21].

Every second, TL5+ artifacts within 1,024 yards of the super creature suffer 1 point of corrosive damage (losing one DR every five seconds). Within moments, any clothing not made of natural fibers disintegrates. Within minutes, every vehicle disintegrates. Within hours, even the strongest of buildings disintegrates. By the end of the day, every TL5+ artifact in range returns to nature.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

In general, wide scale destruction can be accomplished on the cheap with the combination of Area Effect and Cosmic.

Yes, I remember the 50-Point Advantages Thread well. But such an ability doesn't produce a cheap Godzilla-knockoff to rempage through the business district so super-heroes can beat on it.

While game balance is important, minor details like destructiveness must sometimes take a backseat to Artistic Vision.

[AlexanderHowl]

I agree, but only the superheroes (and their rival supervillains) need be 250 CP. Super threats could reasonably be 500+ CP for a group of 250 CP superheroes. For example, a rough draft of Hogzilla:

Hogzilla [500]

Attributes: ST 100 (NFM, -40%; SM+4, -40%) [180]; DX 14 (NFM, -40%) [48]; IQ 6 [-80]; HT 14 [40]

Secondary Characteristics: SM+4; Per 14 [40]; Will 14 [40]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; DR 50 (CWA, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50]; Hooves [3]; Immunity (Metabolic Hazards) [30]; Recovery [10]; Regeneration (Very Fast) [100]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Striker (Impaling) [10]

Disadvantages: Berserk (6-) [-20]; Gluttony (6-) [-10]; Quadrupled [-35]; Wild Animal [-30]

Plus whatever else you want...

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I agree, but only the superheroes (and their rival supervillains) need be 250 CP. Super threats could reasonably be 500+ CP for a group of 250 CP superheroes. For example, a rough draft of Hogzilla:

Hogzilla [500]

Attributes: ST 100 (NFM, -40%; SM+4, -40%) [180]; DX 14 (NFM, -40%) [48]; IQ 6 [-80]; HT 14 [40]

I feel like I'm forgetting something, so what is 'NFM?'