Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 16, 2013 8:34:28 GMT -5
I'll preface this by saying that I am not trying to be a min-maxer or power-gamer. I like using sample characters as a learning tool on how to create my own; they serve as both benchmarks (How strong is strong? How fast is fast?) and springboards. For that reason, I like going through and seeing how the characters were created using the rules. In doing so, I came across two archetypes that didn't add up right. Maybe I'm reading the rules wrong, or maybe they got past the editor. In any case, I'm listing them out here with some hopefully helpful thoughts. MASTERMIND
Edge 12 Health 12
Trait/Perk
| Cost
| Academics
| 6d
| + Languages
| 1d
| Charm 4d
| 2d
| Command 6d
| 4d
| Perception 4d
| 2d
| + Investigation +4d
| 2d
| Professional (tactics) 6d
| 4d | Science
| 6d | Willpower 6d
| 4d | Leadership (x4)
| 4d |
As you can see, this adds up to only 35hd. That's not necessarily a show-stopper, although it would be nice to use up all the allotted hero dice. I could either up the Languages pro another notch to make the character a true polyglot, or add another use to the Leadership perk. Next, PLANT Edge 6 Health 12
Trait/Perk | Cost | Might 5d
| 3d | Plasticity
| 12d
| Telekinesis 9d
| 14d
| - Requirement: plants
| -2d
| Toughness 5d
| 3d
| Life Support (total)
| 3d
| Unliving
| 9d
|
Okay, this adds up to a whopping 42hd, even with giving the Requirement con the -2d level. A way I could bring down the cost would be to lower Plasticity to 6d and Telekinesis to . Thoughts? Corrections? Anyone? Bueller?
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 14, 2013 12:38:51 GMT -5
Here's my other published character, offered after conversion. This one unfortunately has not seen as much play as Alicia. I did get a chance to strut him out for a short-lived game, where I enjoyed unleashing Groucho-like quips while in combat. If I ever get into a PnP game, I may very well select Golias as my main character choice. golias.pdf (67.65 KB)
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 13, 2013 12:22:14 GMT -5
Hiyas, Some quick comments/thoughts: 1. You can have multiple variants, each at 2d. Cool. That does make versatile attacks possible. For instance, you could create a phaser-like gun, with a Stun and Overload settings. That's what I thought. Again, that was my thought too. "I too was concocting this very same plan, already our minds are becoming one!" - Puss-in-Boots, Shrek 2 - Oh, my character would be all about doing that too, but he'd willingly take the -2d multiple-action penalty 'cause he's so much cooler. Oh, and the question still stands: would you consider it a -1d or -2d Con? I suppose, but I would think, as a player, I would be a bit miffed if another player kept dipping into the pool almost every page just to do somehting. YMMV.
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 12, 2013 17:10:24 GMT -5
Just a question, your basic arrows doesn't have the Item con. In my mind the Item was the bow, not each arrow taken individualy, as it seems hard to target a specific arrow in the quiver ? I can answer that. The basic arrow (I'm assuming you mean the first trait) has the Marksmanship con, which is essentially the Item con with a different name. Yes, but I want the archer to be able to make multiple attacks, i.e., shoot several arrows if necessary, so Inhibited wouldn't be a preferred choice. My assumption is that using a movement trait is not automatically an action. In other words, flying up to a villain and punching him counts as a single action. My thought was that my archer hero couldn't likewise swing over and shoot as a single action. Then again, maybe I'm wrong about that and using a movement trait is considered a separate action. What's the call on that, Len?
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 12, 2013 14:18:55 GMT -5
Hi, Adunaphel is right about Variant not really doing the trick for the reason noted above. We'll get back to this is a second. P&P lacks a multipower type framework intentionally. We wanted hero creation to be simple. From our perspective, these all the Multipower type frameworks do is force you to shoe-horn a bunch of powers together to save a few points. That does 2 things we wanted to avoid (1) makes the charactercreation math more complex and (2) gives an advantage to characters whose powers are easier to group together. We wanted to keep the math easy. And we didn't want the character whose powers are closely related (say, flame powers gained when exposed to cosmic radiation in a badly shielded spaceship) to have a mechanical advantage over characters who combine different, unrelated powers (say, a mutant with animal senses and regeneration, who is also a semi-cyborg thanks to his metal skeleton, and who is also a super skilled special ops guy). The multipower framework is more complex, and make the first character a better opion than the second for no good reason. That's a fair statement, although it does seem interesting as a design POV, seeing that most other systems seem to reward the player for coming up with a character with a cohesive common-themed set of powers, as opposed to a mish-mash of unrelated abilities. (For the record, I've always considered a certain Canuck claw-wielding hero as a perfect example of a munchkin build). Now this is news to me. My perception was that the Standard level would be exactly that, the default standard. I would consider "1st level" heroes to be the Low end of the scale. Again, not disagreeing with the statement, just a difference in perception (and perhaps something that might need a little more exposition in the book). After some thought, it occurred to me that, of the set I listed, the only trait that the Inhibited con could really apply to would be Swing Line, and maybe Darkness (seeing as all the others are attacks and therefore technically exclusive). If the hero is using the bow to swing up and over, it's logical to expect he won't be able to shoot with it at the same time. What would you consider the value of the con, -1d or -2d? Of the two, I would prefer the first option, if only because the Resolve cost with Omni Power still comes across as pricey to me. If possible, I'd add the Inhibited con you mentioned to Darkness and Swing Line, thus bringing down the cost by 2hd. Thanks for the input, gentlemen! P.S. Oh, and for the record, archer characters are near and dear to my heart, too, so I'm right there with ya, Len!
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 12, 2013 10:12:28 GMT -5
I'm working on a character conversion involving an archer with trick arrows. Looking through the book, I see a mention of trick arrows in the Omni Power trait. The requirement to spend a point of Resolve every time it gets used, though, seems to make it a bit pricey. My thought is to use the Variant pro several times to define the different arrows, like so:
Arrows: Blast (Marksmanship) | 5d | Armor-Piercing: Variant: Blast 4d (Penetrating) | 2d | Explosive: Variant: Blast 6d (Area) | 2d | Smoke: Variant: Darkness 4d (Ranged) | 2d | Flash: Variant: Dazzle 6d (Area) | 2d | Net: Variant: Ensnare | 2d | Gas: Variant: Stun 6d (Area) | 2d | Line: Variant: Swing Line 4d | 2d |
The concept is that he would only be able to use one of those effects each action, based on which arrow he chooses to unleash. I guess my question to the peanut gallery is: would you consider this build valid? And, if not, what would you recommend as an alternative?
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 8, 2013 11:37:05 GMT -5
As part of my attempt to grok PnP, I went ahead and started working on writing up some selections from my long-standing list of characters. My first two submissions have actually been published for another game. Since they're my creation, and neither the original submissions or these involved any financial remuneration, I figure it's safe to use them. The first out of the gate is Alley Cat, a character that came from a long-running online campaign. The hardest part was cramming her considerable back-story into a short blurb. Things like the fact that her batons were a gift from her mentor, that the mysterious incident in her life involved an old nemesis of his, or that she temporarily changed her name to Payback when her mother was brutally killed. ("Payback is a b**ch... and she's coming for you.") And it just occurred to me I forgot to add in her origin that she's still a teenager. Oh well... alley_cat.pdf (452.14 KB) P.S. Oh, and I forgot to add my thanks to Lakeside Len for giving me a hand in defining one of her powers. You da man!
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 6, 2013 14:55:35 GMT -5
Okay, yeah, that works, especially the Variant option. Thanks!
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Nestor
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Posts: 95
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Post by Nestor on Nov 6, 2013 10:28:02 GMT -5
And if the character has both martial arts and a signature melee weapon? (The example that comes to mind is Marvel's Mockingbird, with her staff.) Would that be two separate Strike traits, one with an Item con?
See, that's what I'm trying to grok. A character with Might as his offensive trait can pick up a melee weapon and have it add to his dice pool. That option is not available to the character using Strike defined as martial arts. This is especially an issue when the weapon in question has usable pros, like Penetrating or Reach.
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 6, 2013 9:50:30 GMT -5
This is one thing that I've been struggling to work out with the system, representing martial artists in combat.
PnP presents Might as the default hand-to-hand offensive trait, with Athletics as the default for ranged offense. Characters whose combat prowess comes from training as opposed to raw strength don't have a corresponding trait to use, other than maybe Strike (as demonstrated by the Martial Artist archetype in Chapter 7).
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 4, 2013 23:17:56 GMT -5
I figured the thread needed to exist as a sounding board for any typos, glitches, and oopsies that we come across and are too minor to warrant a whole thread, and since I found a couple I guess I get to start it.
On page 39, the Slow con for the Stun trait is incorrectly tagged as a pro. Or it is a pro and the cost on it ("-1d") is incorrect. One or the other.
And again on page 41, the Disturbance con for the Tunneling trait is also tagged as a pro.
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 4, 2013 12:29:44 GMT -5
Well, if you look here, you'll see adunaphel trying his hand out with some Mighty Marvel heroes.
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 3, 2013 8:57:42 GMT -5
From a friend who does a lot of character conversions on the web, I've learned that adding a line acknowledging the ownership of the character (e.g., "Spider-Man copyright Marvel Entertainment" or some such) goes a way in keeping the scary lawyers away.
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Nestor
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Post by Nestor on Nov 2, 2013 13:08:00 GMT -5
Just your permission will do. :-)
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Nestor
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Posts: 95
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Post by Nestor on Nov 2, 2013 7:21:05 GMT -5
Ah, got it. I missed that when skimming through the list of Perks. I see your point. It does become a point of style. Is the character simply a polyglot or a true Translator? Thanks for the assist!
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