Is it possible to build an essentially realistic character for a 500 poinsupers game?

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Goober4473

How realistic do you want this to be? Purely realistic, or cinematic with no super powers?

I'm sure you could make a Batman style character on that budget, but he has cinematically high attributes and skills. No one really has time to learn all of the skills he has, and he certainly has cinematic ninja skills and gadgets. But technically, a human can have 20 in all attributes for 600 points without breaking reality. It's just generally unreasonable and pretty clearly cinematic.

Er yes, I meant as close to purely realistic as possible, at the very least. I'm aware of the Renaissance Man and Man Plus templates in Supers already.

[aesir23]

Keep in mind, 500 points isn't that much in Supers. In the Stat DC characters thread, Batman came out over twice that and even Nightwing was 750.

You can make James Bond on 500 points (maybe) but not Batman.

[B9anders]

I think you can easily make one at 500 points and beyond without cinematic advantages. Just a guy off the top of my head:

Multimillionaire 1 [75]
Security Clearance [15]
Zeroed [10]
(100 points)

This guy has amassed a great personal fortune through less than formal means, managed and has the means to ensure, to eradicate his identity and has access to all the secrets out there. How did this happen? Maybe he was part of a very powerful CIA cell, scrubbed his records when he left, still maintains contacts within the game to have free access and now uses the wealth he acquired on the side (maybe he simply stole the treasury of a third world dictator after assassinating him) for his own private war on injustice.

Add a high-end Contact Group and Legal Immunity with the informal modifier from having friends in high places. The contact group easily comes to 150 points on its own. (160 points).

Whether it is by sheer chance or not, in the real world some people simply do seem to catch more lucky breaks than others. So I think you can make a realistic character who is one of those and give him serendipity and luck as well, at least at the basic level. (30 points)

Then jack up some mental traits. He has Eidetic Memory of course, both Versatile and Single-minded, a few levels of Charisma, he is a Handsome bastard, Has a good Voice, maybe he even has a few levels of Social Regard: Feared (Obvious Badass). This guy has not just seen the black oozing underbelly of the world, he's tickled it and hammer punched it, so he is Indomitable by now. He also has Empathy (sensitive) from his years of having to sift deception, double crossers from good honest people. This, incidentally, also makes other Indomitable baddasses fair game for his own considerable influence skills. (77 points)

All this comes out to 367 points. I haven't even looked at buying attributes or skills yet, or physical advantages or talents he needs.

But Attributes could easily end up in the 300 points department (14 allround, higher ST and maybe one or two other attributes slightly higher than 14). And he'll want a good load of skills from his extensive top of the line CIA background. Social skills, knowledge skills and of course plenty of combat training (he did lots of field work before he made it to the top of the game).

I'd say we're looking at at least 750 points or so for mister ex-cia-turned-private black-ops before looking at Disadvantages (he'll want to take Status -2 at the least. A Zeroed black ops guy doesn't deal with that).

----

I'd probably want to give him as many levels of smooth operator as possible and certainly give him plenty of points in Intimidation, Fast-Talk and Acting (alongside perks like Fearsome Stare and Controllable Disadvantage:Callous).

In a world of supers, I imagine this guy's shtick is walking into a room of criminals, give them a stare that let's everyone know who is boss, maybe give a calm talking to to the one in charge on what the world is really like and how he doesn't want to find out more (having of course, already researched him and possibly holding all his assets to ransom, just in case).

And if someone makes trouble, the posted sniper he has hired takes out the troublemaker's knee-cap. Only then would he even consider taking his hands out of his badass long coat, adjust his tie and crack his knuckles for a good smackdown.

He is essentially the Cigarette Smoking Man from X-Files with several levels of Baddass on top.

[B9anders]

Originally Posted by Kromm

This won't grant true immunity, but can represent a tangle of red tape so dense that nobody can easily cut through it to get him in trouble; the GM is within his rights to charge as much as he thinks that's worth, anywhere from 5 to 15 points.

A case for applying the "Informal" limitation from Supers I would think.

[NineDaysDead]

Highest stats from Who's Who 1 & 2

ST: 16 (Harald Hardradi)
DX: 15 (Harry Houdini)
IQ: 18 (Leonardo Da Vinci*, Sir Isaac Newton**)
*Versatile
**Mathematical Ability, Single-Minded
HT: 14 (Alexander the Great*, Elizabeth I, Granuaile (Grace O’Malley)**, Harald Hardradi, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Nzinga (“Dona Ana de Sousa”)***)
*Hard to Kill +1
** Fit
*** Fit, Longevity, Rapid Healing.

So:

ST 16 [60]; DX 15 [100]; IQ 18 [160]; HT 14 [40].
Advantages: Fit [5]; Longevity [2]; Mathematical Ability +3 [30]; Rapid Healing [5]; Single-Minded [5]; Versatile [5]

412 points

[aesir23]

Okay, I had to take a stab at the challenge. Here's a 500 point, plausible character inspired by Michelle Waterson (AKA: "The Karate Hottie"), and to a lesser extent Gina Carano.

Anna Heung studied martial arts from childhood. She loved competition, and even more she loved the thrill of danger.

In her young adulthood she competed as a professional mixed-martial artist and soon proved herself to be world class, winning championships at several weight classes. Unfortunately Women's MMA doesn't pay as well as men's, so she supplemented her income by working as a model.

Because she was so beautiful, and so talented, she was soon discovered by a notable hollywood director, who cast her in a popular action franchise. Still seeking constant excitement, Anna insisted on doing all of her own stunts.

Soon even these death-defying stunts weren't enough to keep her excited, and so she began looking for a way to combine her love of excitement with her sincere desire to help people in need...

[PHP]Name: Anna Hueng
Race: Human

Attributes [210]
ST 12 [20]
DX 15 [100]
IQ 12 [40]
HT 14 [40]

HP 12
Will 14 [10]
Per 12
FP 14

Basic Lift 29
Damage 1d/2d-1

Basic Speed 7.25
Basic Move 7

Ground Move 7
Water Move 1

Social Background
TL: 8 [0]
Cultural Familiarities:
Languages: English (Native) [0]; Mandarin (Accented) [4]; Portuguese (Broken) [2]; Thai (Native) [6].

Advantages [227]
Ally (Byron, loyal Mastiff) (25% of starting points) (12 or less) [2]
Appearance (Very Beautiful) [16]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Damage Resistance (1) (Tough Skin) [3]
Flexibility [5]
Hard to Subdue (1) [2]
High Pain Threshold [10]
Luck [15]
Reputation (Famous Actress/Action Star) (3) (All the time; 10 or less; Almost everyone) [7]
Status (+4) [5]
includes: +3 from 'Wealth'
Striking ST (1) [5]
Very Fit [15]
Very Rapid Healing [15]
Wealth (Multimillionaire 2) [100]

Perks [8]
Neck Control (Karate) [1]
Power Grappling [1]
Special Exercises (DR 1 with Tough Skin) [1]
Special Exercises (Striking ST +1) [1]
Style Familiarity (Jujutsu - Brazilian Jiu-jitsu) [1]
Style Familiarity (Muay Thai) [1]
Style Familiarity (Wushu) [1]
Technique Adaptation (Ground Fighting) [1]

Disadvantages [-80]
Charitable (12 or less) [-15]
Compulsive Behavior (Thrill-Seeking) (12 or less) [-15]
Dependent (Byron) (No more than 25%) (6 or less; Loved one) [-10]
Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]
Secret Identity (Imprisonment or Exile) (Status 3+) [-30]
Stubbornness [-5]

Quirks [-5]
Afraid of Romantic Commitment [-1]
Code of Honor (Fight "fair" when faced with a single, unarmed, opponent.) [-1]
Expensive tastes in Liquor [-1]
Humble [-1]
Needs Glasses or Contacts to read. [-1]

Packages [0]
Jujutsu - Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (Martial Arts) [0]
Muay Thai (Martial Arts) [0]
Wushu (Martial Arts) [0]

Skills [140]
Acrobatic Stand (Acrobatics) Tech/A - 14 [4]
Acrobatics DX/H - DX+1 16 [8]
Acting IQ/A - IQ+0 12 [2]
Animal Handling (Dogs) IQ/A - IQ+0 12 [2]
Area Knowledge (LA) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Bicycling DX/E - DX+0 15 [1]
Carousing HT/E - HT+0 14 [1]
Climbing DX/A - DX+2 17 [1]
includes: +3 from 'Flexibility'
Combination (Judo Grapple/Head + Karate Knee Strike/Face) Combo/2 - 13+11 [7]
Combination (Judo Sacrifice Throw/-0 + Judo Lower Body Arm Lock/Arm) Combo/2 - 14+14 [5]
Computer Operation/TL8 IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Counterattack (Karate) Tech/H - 18 [6]
Current Affairs/TL8 (Popular Culture) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Dancing DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]
Disguise/TL8 (Human) IQ/A - IQ-1 11 [1]
Driving/TL8 (Automobile) DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]
Driving/TL8 (Motorcycle) DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]
Evade (Acrobatics) Tech/A - 18 [2]
Expert Skill (Strength and Fitness Training) IQ/H - IQ-2 10 [1]
First Aid/TL8 (Human) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Games (MMA) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Ground Fighting (Judo) Tech/H - 18 [5]
Ground Fighting (Karate) Tech/H - 16 [3]
Group Performance (Fight Choreography) IQ/A - IQ+4 16 [8]
Intimidation Will/A - Will-1 13 [1]
Judo DX/H - DX+3 18 [16]
Jumping DX/E - DX+1 16 [2]
Karate DX/H - DX+3 18 [16]
Karate Art DX/H - DX+0 15 [1]
Knee Strike (Karate) Tech/A - 18 [1]
Leadership IQ/A - IQ-1 11 [1]
Lifting HT/A - HT+1 15 [4]
Lower-Body Arm Lock (Judo) Tech/A - 18 [2]
Makeup/TL8 IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Performance IQ/A - IQ+1 13 [4]
Professional Skill (Model) DX/A - DX+0 15 [2]
Professional Skill (Stuntman) DX/A - DX+0 15 [2]
Public Speaking IQ/A - IQ+0 12 [1]
Running HT/A - HT+1 15 [4]
Savoir-Faire (Dojo) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Savoir-Faire (Gym) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Savoir-Faire (High Society) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Sex Appeal (Human) HT/A - HT+5 19 [1]
includes: +6 from 'Appearance'
Spinning Kick (Karate) Tech/H - 17 [3]
Stage Combat DX/A - DX+1 16 [4]
Swimming HT/E - HT+0 14 [1]
Targeted Attack (Judo Grapple/Head) Tech/H - 15 [0]
Targeted Attack (Judo Lower Body Arm Lock/Arm) Tech/H - 18 [0]
Targeted Attack (Judo Sacrifice Throw/-0) Tech/H - 18 [0]
Targeted Attack (Karate Knee Strike/Face) Tech/H - 13 [0]
Throwing DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]
Triangle Choke (Judo) Tech/H - 16 [3]
Wrestling DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]

Stats [210] Ads [227] Disads [-80] Quirks [-5] Skills [140] = Total [500]

Hand Weapons
1 Sap Glove LC:4 $30 Wgt:.5
Dam:1d+2 cr Reach:C Parry:13 ST: Skill:SK:Brawling, SK:Karate, ST:DX Notes:[4, 5]

Ranged Weapons

Armor & Possessions
1 Advanced Body Armor $4600 Wgt:17 Location:torso
1 Boots, Steel-Toed $100 Wgt:4 Location:feet
1 Shin Guards $50 Wgt:1.5 Location:legs
[/PHP]

She's obviously no Batman, and a gunslinger/punisher build would be more effective at taking on multiple foes, but her amazing combat skills and resources make her potentially quite effective at handling herself and she can afford to be remarkably well equipped.

She doubles as a fairly effective "face," and her fame and beauty could open up doors that she can't kick down.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by B9anders

A case for applying the "Informal" limitation from Supers I would think.

I avoided Informal because in practice, if you have relevant licenses and permits, can show the EUCs for the materiel, and have good lawyers, it takes more than a single unethical act that provokes a bad reaction with the authorities to get pulled before the courts as a lawbreaker. In real life, dodgy PMCs are troublesome more than in part because the enjoy all kinds of legitimate, documented privileges that their legal teams can defend. The permissions are formal . . . it's just that the consequences of having those permissions aren't what the granting bodies intended. It's more along the lines of how Alternate Identity is 5 points if legal but 15 points if not; here you have somebody with 5 points of License and Permit perks enhanced with a putative Hard to Revoke, +200%.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

The "Highest real world point total?" thread got me thinking... in a 500 point supers game, could you build an essentially realistic character?

Boost attributes to top of the realistic range (maybe 15-16 for all stats but ST) and start layering templates and you can get ridiculous fast.

Let's try a genius student, martial artist, war hero, movie star, politician. Sort of Audie Murphy, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Richard Marcinko, Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark rolled into one.

Start with the ex-Navy SEAL template with 295 points.

Now give him top of realistic human range attributes:

ST 16 [+40]; DX 16 [+60]; IQ 16 [+60]; HT 16 [+40]

You're now at 495 points.

He's an officer, so +39 points in Rank and skills (but reduced rank since he's reserve at best due to the whole movie star and politician gig), and he's been trained as a Language Expert [6], Jungle Warfare [2] and Ranger School [6]

That's a a bit less than 548 points.

Let's go further and add on the social advantages.

Very Handsome [16]; Charisma 4 [20]; Voice [10]; Reputation +4 (Famous Movie Star, Everyone) [20]; Reputation +4 (Medal of Honor, Large Group, 12- [5]; Status 5 (U.S. Senator) [15 due to +2 to status from Wealth]; Wealth (Multimillionaire 2) [100].

That's another 186 points.

Let's add some mental advantages to make his intellect even more frightening:

Eidetic Memory [5]; Lightning Calculator (Intuitive Mathematician) [5]; Talent (Business Acumen) 2 [10]; Talent (Smooth Operator) 2 [30]

There's another 50 points.

Now, let's add in some combat related advantages:

Combat Reflexes [15]; Enhanced Dodge [15]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Fearless +5 [10] and Very Fit [15] (assuming these aren't included in the SEAL template advantages.

65 more points.

And we haven't even gotten to all the skills which represent a Naval Academy graduate, martial artist, movie star, businessman and politician!

Strip away the rank, status, wealth and wealth (~160 points) and you've still got over 500 points of advantages and skills, with some serious combat skills at level 18-25.

Add in a suitable Ally Group (and how could a guy like this NOT have a horde of guys almost as tough as he is who are willing to follow him to hell?) and he gets even scarier.

[Dingle]

how many points could you build nick fury on?
top end human, + enough points in patron, allies, rank, and similar to be in command of SHIELD

there's a version at 710 points here without patron or allies

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

The "Highest real world point total?" thread got me thinking... in a 500 point supers game, could you build an essentially realistic character?

Some initial thoughts:

1) Of all the templates in 4e books, I think the highest point-total realistic template is the Navy SEAL template from SEALs in Vietnam, at 240 points. Recommended point totals for a SEALs in Vietnam game are 275 points. Deleting the Duty for an ex-SEAL raises that to 295.

There's an Otto Skorzeny character sheet, somewhere in the GURPS WWII line, probably in Hands of Steel, and it claims to be very conservative yet is built on a lot of points. It's for 3rd Edition, though.