[Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

[awesomenessofme1]

As I mentioned I was working on before, here's Shard. She's a 500-point character.

Shard

Real Name: Kelly Ross
Secret Identity: Yes
Costume: Black bodysuit and mask covered by a blue hardlight armor shell
Age: 20
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 140 lb
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Shoulder-length brown
Eyes: Grey
Powers: Strength, speed, flight, force field, short-range teleportation, force sword generation

A year ago, as the meteor Prometheus was passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, a tiny handful of fragments fell from it. One of them ended up in the hands of Kelly Ross, after it cut a tiny hole through seven floors of her apartment building and embedded itself into her pillow, inches from her head. When she touched it, it filled her with power. As Shard (sometimes called “the Shard”), she is probably the world’s oldest super. She wears the shard that gives her power as a necklace.

Attributes: ST 10 (25, L50) [0], DX 15 [100], IQ 12 [40], HT 13 [30]

Secondary Attributes: Dam 1d-2/1d (2d+2/5d-1), BL 20 lb (500 lb), HP 10 [0], Will 14 [10], Per 12 [0], FP 13 [0], Basic Speed 7.00 [0], Basic Move 7 [0]

Advantages: Beautiful [12], Combat Reflexes [15], Fit [5], Shard [300]

Disadvantages: Bad Temper (15) [-5], Code of Honor (Comics Code) [-15], Curious (12) [-5], Guilt Complex [-5], Increased Consumption x2 [-10], Overconfidence (12) [-5], Secret Identity [-5]

Quirks: Bit of a glory-hound [-1], Distractible [-1], Legalistic [-1], Overestimates melee fighters [-1], Picky eater [-1]

Skills: Acrobatics-14 [2], Acting-12 [2], Area Knowledge ()-12 [1], Body Language-12 [2], Brawling-18 [8], Computer Operation/TL8-12 [1], Current Affairs (Supers)-12 [1], Detect Lies-11 [2], Diagnosis/TL8-10 [1], Diplomacy-12 [4], Driving/TL8 (Automobile)-15 [2], Fast-Talk-12 [2], First Aid/TL8-13 [2], Flight-13 [2], Hiking-12 [1], Intimidation-13 [1], Judo-14 [2], Observation-12 [2], Public Speaking-11 [1], Running-13 [2], Swimming-13 [1], Tactics-10 [1]

A few notes here: The “Shard” meta-trait is found here. Several components within it are character-dependent, so I’ll clarify them.

Ally (Construct): See below.
Enhanced Air Move: Move 80
Enhanced Ground Move: Move 112
Swordstaff: Skill 18, damage 9d(10) cut (incl. Brawling bonus), Parry 15

Shard’s Construct

Every wielder of a shard would have a unique (or at least not all the same) light color and a unique construct ally. For Shard, her color is blue and her ally is a hulking, spiky, gorilla-like construct with one arm replaced by a sword.

Attributes: ST 20 [80], DX 12 [40], IQ 7 [-60], HT 11 [10]

Secondary Attributes: Dam 4d+1/7d-1, BL 80 lb, HP 20 [0], Will 10 [15], Per 10 [15], FP 11 [0], Basic Speed 6.00 [5], Basic Move 6 [0]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15], Doesn’t Breathe [20], Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10], Doesn’t Sleep [20], High Pain Threshold [10], Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30], Infravision [10], Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) [100], Long Spines [3], Natural Weapon (Impaling, Armor Divisor (10), +200%, Extra Damage Type (Cutting), +20%, Extra Reach 1 (Max reach only), +20%, Increased Damage +2/die, +120%, Resilient (Unbreakable), +40%, Swing-Capable (Cutting), +20%, Single, -20%) [40], Striking ST 20 (Size 2, -20%) [80]

Perks: Illumination [1]

Disadvantages: Cannot Learn [-30], Fragile (Unnatural) [-50], Hidebound [-5], Incurious (6) [-10], Low Empathy [-20], Mute [-25], No Sense of Humor [-10], No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5], One Hand [-15], Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10], Unhealing (Total) [-30]

Skills: Brawling-15 [8], Intimidation-10 [2], Running-12 [4], Wrestling-12 [2]

The construct’s natural weapon can deal 12d+2(10) cut or 7d+3(10) imp, including Brawling bonus.

[AlexanderHowl]

Yes, this is one of the reasons that I dislike the concept of Natural Weapon, it is imbalanced when compared with Innate Attacks (which is probably why it only showed up in Pyramid rather than any of the official products). For example, a comparable Innate Attack, Cutting Attack 12d+2 (Armor Divisor, /10, +200%; Melee, Reach 1-4, -10%), would cost 256 CP, plus another 37 CP for the AA.. Since you are only paying 200 CP for the ST, Natural Weapon, and Striking ST, and ST and Striking ST can be used in other ways, Natural Wepon is obviously a point crock (and one that rather ruthlessly violates RAW).

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Yes, this is one of the reasons that I dislike the concept of Natural Weapon, it is imbalanced when compared with Innate Attacks (which is probably why it only showed up in Pyramid rather than any of the official products). For example, a comparable Innate Attack, Cutting Attack 12d+2 (Armor Divisor, /10, +200%; Melee, Reach 1-4, -10%), would cost 256 CP, plus another 37 CP for the AA.. Since you are only paying 200 CP for the ST, Natural Weapon, and Striking ST, and ST and Striking ST can be used in other ways, Natural Wepon is obviously a point crock (and one that rather ruthlessly violates RAW).

It's a matter of perspective. In terms of pure combat power, you'd be far better off purchasing a combination of Legal Enforcement Powers, Rank, and Signature Gear, but that's boring. If anything, I think the issue is Innate Attack being overpriced in many cases. To emulate a gun or sword that would be at most worth a point or two of Signature Gear can cost dozens, sometimes hundreds of points as an IA. And Natural Weapons don't encroach on IA's niche much anyway. IAs will still be a far better option if high ST doesn't fit your character concept.

EDIT: Also, very minor point, but I have no idea where you got Reach 1-4 from. It's Reach 1 (modified by the minion's SM). So it would actually be [245] by my check.

[AlexanderHowl]

I do not see the cost of Innate Weapons as being an issue. First off, there is nothing that prevents characters from buying normal weapons as Signature Gear, they can still be seized by authorities, stolen by enemies, be broken in combat, run out of ammunition, are obvious when not used, etc. Innate Attacks cannot usually be seized, stolen, run out of ammo, and are usually hidden when not used. Of course, the line blurs with modified Signature Gear and Gadgets, but Innate Attacks are expensive because of their greater utility.

[awesomenessofme1]

I know it's been a while. As a minor update, I've just had an epiphany where I actually understand how Improving Skills from Default works, so I'll be going through my completed sheets and seeing if there are any changes I want to make using that knowledge. In the meantime, here's another character sheet, this time for a major NPC in my campaign in this world.

Scott Wilkinson

Secret Identity: No
Costume: N/A
Age: 34
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 210 lb
Sex: Male
Race: White
Hair: Shaved head
Eyes: Brown
Powers: Acid secretion and enhanced senses

Scott Wilkinson has had his acid powers for about six weeks. He narrowly avoided a public indecency charge when all of his clothes melted off of him while he was walking home. He still doesn’t have the kind of fine control he needs, so he’s looking for acid-proof materials. Currently, Scott is in the process of moving (temporarily, at least) to Las Vegas to participate in a study by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas’s Department of Superhuman Research. They offer quite a bit of money, and his superheroics currently leave a lot to be desired. Scott has spent the past few years bouncing around between low-paying jobs and making YouTube videos as a hobby. He has around 150 subscribers.

Attributes: ST 11 [10], DX 13 [60], IQ 12 [40], HT 11 [10]

Secondary Attributes: Dam 1d-1/1d+1, BL 24 lb, HP 10 [-2], Will 12 [0], Per 16 [0], FP 10 [-3], Basic Speed 6.00 [0], Basic Move 6 [0]

Advantages: Corrosion Attack 2d (Aura, +80%, Melee Attack (C), -30%, Super, -10%) [28], Corrosion Attack 3d (Increased 1/2D x10, +15%, Inaccurate 3, -15%, Reduced Range x1/10, -30%, Super, -10%) [18], Corrosion Attack 1 (Cyclic (5 10-second cycles), +250%, Follow-Up, -15, Super, -10%) [9], Damage Resistance 10 (Corrosion Only, -40%, Super, -10%) [25], Discriminatory Smell (Super, -10%) [14], Hard to Kill 5 (Super, -10%) [9], Less Sleep 3 [6], Nictitating Membrane 5 (Super, -10%) [5], Per+4 (Super, -10%) [18], Regeneration (Slow) (Super, -10%) [9], Tunneling (Slow, 4 yd/min) (Super, -10%) [7]

Perks: Dabbler (Architecture+1, Carpentry+1, Electrician+2, Masonry+1, Mechanic (Automobile)+2, Mechanic (Bicycle)+1) [1], Dabbler (Electronics Operation (Media)+2, Electronics Repair (Computer)+2, Public Speaking+2, Propaganda+2) [1], Rinse [1]

Disadvantages: Cowardice (15) [-5], Easy to Read [-10], Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5], Post-Combat Shakes (12) [-5], Struggling Wealth [-10], Unfit [-5]

Quirks: Desirous [-1], Distractible [-1], Hungry [-1], Optimistic [-1], Prefers being fully clothed [-1]

Skills: Acting-11 [1], Area Knowledge (????)-12 [1], Bicycling-13 [1], Brawling-13 [1], Carousing-11 [1], Computer Operation/TL8-13 [2], Current Affairs/TL8 (Popular Culture)-12 [1], Detect Lies-15 [2], Driving/TL8 (Automobile)-13 [2], Fast-Talk-12 [2], Finance-10 [1], Hobby Skill (Video Games)-13 [2], Housekeeping-12 [1], Innate Attack (Breath)-15 [4], Lip Reading-15 [1], Observation-15 [1], Search-15 [1], Swimming-11 [1], Tracking-16 [2], Wrestling-12 [1]

[AlexanderHowl]

A few things. First, the corrosion attacks should probably have Uncontrollable, which would give you a few more CP to work with. Second, I am not sure what the Follow Up on the third corrosive attack is (maybe the second corrosive attack?), so please clarify. Third, video games would be part of the Games skill, with each individual video game being a different specialty, not the Hobby Skill.

Most contemporary video games are easy enough that normal people can succeed at default (+4 for the difficulty of the game and +4 for routine activity). Nintendo Hard games would have no bonus for difficulty and professional tournaments would not be routine activity, so people who depend on defaults would get butchered in either case. Scaling the difficulty would also modify the difficulty bonus (+8 for Very Easy, +6 for Easy, +4 for Average, +2 for Hard and +0 for Very Hard).

Since it is self-training, gamers only have points in Games (X Video Game) depending on the amount of time invested playing, with Dabbler being sufficient for all but the most hard core contemporary gamers (50 hours of play for Default+1, 100 hours of play for Default+2, and 200 hours of play for Default+3). Professional gamers, dedicated amateurs, and gamers of Nintendo Hard games, might have 4+ CP in a specific video game, representing 1600+ hours of play. Most adults probably have Dabbler is a few board or video games, I probably have it in dozens of board and video games.

[Aldric]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

A few things...

Uncontrollable on the Aura would really give that feeling of "I almost melted all my clothes" maybe Unreliable on the attacks ? Easily bought off after a game or two.

I'm also happy to realize that, despite the many disadvantages I may have, I'm definitely above 200 CP just from points in Games (MMOs) :p

[AlexanderHowl]

You would have to have played 80,000 hours of games (400 hours per CP due to self-training × 200 CP). Even 8 hours a day, that would represent 10,000 days of gaming, or 28 years. Of course, that is not impossible (I am not a hard core gamer and could probably claim 50 CP over 30 years).

Honestly, that probably reflects reality. The average person will have lots of CP in Area Knowledges, Current Affairs, Games, and Hobby Skills, probably a half dozen of each with 1-4 CP each. By age 40, they may have 50-200 CP in those skills, as they have to do something fun.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Third, video games would be part of the Games skill, with each individual video game being a different specialty, not the Hobby Skill.

Eh, while some games are sufficiently different that skill in one isn't going to translate at all to skill in another (say, Doom vs Super Mario Bros), similar games play similarly enough to be more like Familiarities. Someone who is good at Final Fantasy Tactics probably does fairly well in Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lotus, and someone who's good at the Halo series of games is going to be better than someone with no FPS experience when playing the Battlefield series (and some games are similar enough Familiarity penalties may not even come into play - such as Halo vs Destiny). I certainly do agree that Games is the correct skill, however. In a campaign where the particular games don't matter, I'd be perfectly fine with just having Games (Video Games) as its own skill, without regard to the genre of game. This is particularly appropriate in a superhero setting, where skill at video games is likely to matter to the plot roughly 0 times*.

As for Scott, he looks like an interesting character, particularly with his lack of a superhero identity. One thing that may be useful in write-ups is to note what the abilities represent - I'm assuming he can spit a glob of acid for 3d corr and has a 1 point cyclic follow-up to it, but actually making note of that may be useful. Also, it's very strange that he has innate all-around DR on his eyes but nowhere else; you may want to either apply the Corrosion Only Limitation to Nictitating Membrane as well (dropping its cost to [2.5], rounded up to [3]) or remove that Limitation from some of his DR. A little from column A and a little from column B could be interesting - say, DR 2 (Super -10%) [9] + DR 8 (Corr Only -40%, Super -10%) [20] + Nictitating Membrane 1 (Super -10%) [1] + Nictitating Membrane 4 (Corr Only -40%, Super -10%) [2], for a total of [32] instead of [30].

*Scenarios in which a video game does come into play are usually more of the Virtual Reality bent, and while Games could be used for a complementary roll, it's usually more just the characters functioning normally but in an odd setting. You could have a situation like in One Punch Man, where Saitama &c get challenged to a high-stakes contest by the Blizzard group (one of those "The loser does whatever the winner says" deals; Hellish Blizzard wanted to force Saitama to join her group, Saitama just wanted Hellish Blizzard to pay for an expensive meal) and accept, not knowing that said group was going to have their video game expert wreck all of them in a fighting game. Of course, Blizzard's plan backfired due to King having no** superpowers, but instead being an otaku shut-in who is amazingly good at all genres of video games. In either case, usually the "gamer" character gets a boost from his skill, regardless of genre of game, so just treating it as one skill is appropriate.

**Superpowers in One Punch Man are weird, so it's possible King has one - he is accidentally extremely intimidating, and reality seems to almost warp around him so everyone misinterprets any situation as evidence of King being amazingly powerful (he happened to be present and got the credit for several of Saitama's early victories; there's also a sequence where he mistakes a group of assassins for fans, and tries to dissuade them from making a scene - they misinterpret his statements as him knowing they're assassins and not wanting to make a mess with their corpses).

[Aldric]

Yeah, give or take...

Another thing that comes to mind regarding Scott's DR, it's vs "Corrosion". Shouldn't it be vs Acid ? There are after all several things that can deal Corrosion damage that are not related to acid at all.

And I think all powers could use a line or two explaining what they do, or how they manifest when appropriate.