[Supers] What's the point of making Mêlée-oriented characters?

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

Superheroic fiction has a fair share of characters going for their enemies in a close and personal manner. There's the well-known brick archetype, but there are also others, such as the agile amazon, some speedster subtypes etc.

But from a purely rules-oriented PoV, what's the point? A close combatant will get maybe a 30% discount compared to a 'blaster' in terms of point cost of the main attack power, but will get endless opportunities due to being unable to engage opponents at range.

Notably, close combatant all but have to invest in some sort of high-cost defensive or mobility power just to survive getting into range; their attacks are easier to defend against; they are not as good at dealing with waves of dispersed mooks; they effectively can't engage hard-to-access enemies unless they have a mobility power comparable to flight etc.

So what's the incentive, aside from 'but I wanna be an agile amazon/big bruiser/cool cutlass wielder'?

Thanks in advance!

[LoneWolf23k]

So what's the incentive, aside from 'but I wanna be an agile amazon/big bruiser/cool cutlass wielder'?

...What, that's not incentive enough?

[lexington]

Hit locations would be one reason. Only blasters that sink a lot of points into skill or accuracy can compete with melee character's ability to exploit weak points on the target. And if the bad guy is holding onto a weapon or defense that the blaster can't deal with someone has to go in and get rid of it.

That extra DR or dodging skill they use to get into close combat also means that they can work well as support. With more DR they can grapple the enemy speedster and take the hit when the blasters blasts both of them. With the extra Dodge (or Parry or maybe Block) they can safely go ahead of blasters and shut down defenses in cramped areas like a cave system or supervillain base.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!

Superheroic fiction has a fair share of characters going for their enemies in a close and personal manner. There's the well-known brick archetype, but there are also others, such as the agile amazon, some speedster subtypes etc.

But from a purely rules-oriented PoV, what's the point? A close combatant will get maybe a 30% discount compared to a 'blaster' in terms of point cost of the main attack power, but will get endless opportunities due to being unable to engage opponents at range.

Notably, close combatant all but have to invest in some sort of high-cost defensive or mobility power just to survive getting into range; their attacks are easier to defend against; they are not as good at dealing with waves of dispersed mooks; they effectively can't engage hard-to-access enemies unless they have a mobility power comparable to flight etc.

So what's the incentive, aside from 'but I wanna be an agile amazon/big bruiser/cool cutlass wielder'?

Thanks in advance!

If you don't invest in a high cost defense power you'll go down pretty quick anyway so not getting one is false economy.

[Kalzazz]

Also, ST is generally a good thing, more ability to wear armor, damage, and HP

And weapons are good, and most supers are TL 8, so very fine, balanced katanas etc are cheap

High ST + Good Weapon + Weapon Master = Fun

And weapon attack skills also are your close in defense skills

[Bruno]

High ST is, much to the confusion of some players, a flexible, general utility power, not "just" a combat power. There's a surprising number of problems that can be solved by applying enough Basic Lift to the situation in a creative way. Especially with Comic Book Physics, where picking up something big by one small part of it doesn't make the whole thing collapse. ;)

And of course high ST characters are perfectly capable of throwing cars and such, which gets you +4 to hit for being able to target the area, makes it hard to Dodge because you need enough Step to get out from under the car, and makes a big satisfying smashing sound.

By the way, I have to agree that ranged blasters that haven't spent points on defenses are glass canons, and high value targets that will promptly be shot. As a supervillain, if I see, say, a crunchy Cyclopsoid at 300 yards raining eye-laser powered destruction down on me, and a Wolverine Clone or even Ersatz Hulk at 300 yards running towards me, and I have ranged attacks? I'm going to take a few turns to try and shoot Cyclops because he's the IMMEDIATE problem. Wolverine or the Hulk or whatever will be a problem momentarily, but shooting HIM doesn't stop Cyclops from punching me through six comic panels with a blaster hit. I'd rather live long enough to worry about Wolverine rather than be taken out early.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

So what's the incentive, aside from 'but I wanna be an agile amazon/big bruiser/cool cutlass wielder'?

1) On a Supers budget, 30% of hundreds of points is a lot of points.
2) By default, Deceptive Attack is melee only (although in my opinion, a Supers game should go ahead and allow Deceptive ranged attacks).
3) Grappling provides a lot of options that a simple ranged blaster doesn't have, like immobilizing opponents without harming them, grabbing weapons/macguffins, and preventing villains from chasing down your squishy allies. (High levels of TK can do this too, but not cheaply.)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Dustin

1) On a Supers budget, 30% of hundreds of points is a lot of points.
2) By default, Deceptive Attack is melee only (although in my opinion, a Supers game should go ahead and allow Deceptive ranged attacks).
3) Grappling provides a lot of options that a simple ranged blaster doesn't have, like immobilizing opponents without harming them, grabbing weapons/macguffins, and preventing villains from chasing down your squishy allies. (High levels of TK can do this too, but not cheaply.)

really its a genre convetnion. Besides the tactical advantages of a close in fighter (terrain, temamates/opponents as cover, extra versatility) you also have the fact that you appear more herioc if your at risk. A close in fighter appears more heroic then a far off blaster. I think the latter is the main reason you see more in most comics.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Dustin

(although in my opinion, a Supers game should go ahead and allow Deceptive ranged attacks).

Not unless that blaster is pays a premium for guided shots. Which increases the price difference on the IA form Melee limitation and the Guided Enhancement.

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

Not unless that blaster is pays a premium for guided shots. Which increases the price difference on the IA form Melee limitation and the Guided Enhancement.

And this may be cheaper using Imbuements and homing or guided attacks, though the FP cost may be a factor.