Friv makes twenty superheroes!

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
#1

So, this is a project that I put together over on another roleplaying forum, and it was pointed out that it might be appreciated here! It’s technically complete, but I’m going to update it gradually on this site so that there is time for commentary from anyone who’s interested.

Specifically, I built twenty heroes using the Guided Method, using all twenty Backgrounds, all twenty Power Sources, all twenty Archetypes, all twenty Personalities, and every Quality and Power in the book.

I used the Guided Method, with a few restrictions and modifications:

  • I have to actually plot each step before I know what the next step is; no peeking ahead!
  • If I roll an option that I’ve used on an earlier character in the project, I can’t use it again.
  • If every option that I roll can’t be used again, I’ll take the sum of the two dice, and then keeping adding 1 until I hit an option I can use (looping around to 1 if necessary.)
  • At each of the first three steps of the Process (Background, Power Source, and Archetype) I will include at least one trait that I haven’t picked before, if possible. This won’t give me every Quality or Power in the game, but it will hit the bulk of them. (There are 24 Qualities and 54 Powers, for a total of 78 traits, and this should ensure that at least 50-60 of them are represented.) If I hit a point in which every single possible choice has been taken, I can do what I want.
  • If possible, I need to use new Principles, as well. There are 64 Principles in the game and I’m only picking 40, so this should be generally doable.
  • I also can’t take any Red Abilities that I took for an earlier character. As there are 67 Red Abilities, and I’ll be picking 40-60 of them, this should not be a problem. (I actually broke this rule in a couple of places near the end.)

Once I create all twenty of my heroes, I’m going to organize them on to five pregen superhero teams, ranging from 3-5 members each.

I hope you’ll be interested in following along this challenge, starting with…

5 Likes
#2

Step 1: Background

Rolling for our first hero, my random results are 9 and 5. This gives me starting Background choices of Unremarkable, Performer, and Anachronistic.

Let’s start with the simplest. Our Unremarkable hero is just a normal person going about her daily business. Unremarkable get a lot of options, and it’s pretty funny to me that one of them is Close Combat, because that does not feel unremarkable. I’m going to go with the classics – Conviction d10, Banter d8. Our hero has a strong sense of self and a quick mouth, but not a lot of marketable skills.

For our first Principle, we get Identity. Since this is a newcomer learning about all our fellow heroes, I’m going to give her the Principle of Discovery to start.

I’m also going to call her Sarah, just because it feels right. She has an unremarkable job manning the phones at a not-for-profit and always does the right thing, but she’s feeling a bit stuck in her life.

Step 2: Power Source

We’ve got d10, d8, d6 for our Power Source, so let’s get rolling! This nets me 7, 1, and 5, for the following Power Source options: Accident, Mystical, Nature, Relic, Powered Suit, or Artificial Being. As funny as Artificial Being on our unremarkable friend is, I’m going to go with a Relic.

I get three Powers out of this, which will help me decide what Sarah’s relic is. Since she’s a Conviction-based person, I think she has the ability to share that with others, giving her Telepathy d10; it’s not that she controls minds, but she can share her true feelings with others. She can also turn Intangible (d8), becoming no more than a thought on the wind. Finally, she has strong Intuition (d6) about what the correct course of action is.

Based on this, I think that the relic that Sarah has received is the Mantle of Hope; a dying man pressed the gossamer-thin fabric into her hands as she tried to help him on the street, and it has bonded to her soul.

For Yellow Abilities, she takes Relic Drain, which lets her Hinder an enemy and Recover. This uses her Telepathy, as she shows enemies why they shouldn’t fight, and restores her own power by seeing their hesitation. She also takes Magical Shield, which lets her defend allies by momentarily turning them intangible. For her Green Ability, she takes Punishment; inflicting penalties on her just opens you up to counter-attacks.

Step 3: Archetype

Sarah’s Archetype dice are d10, d10, and d6. Rolling that, I get 9, 10, and 3. That opens up Physical Powerhouse, Elemental Manipulator, Robot/Cyborg, Psychic, Transporter and Divided. As much as it might make sense, I think it’s a bit early for me to dive into Divided, so I’m going to stick with Psychic.

Sarah needs at least one more psychic power, so she takes Illusions d10. She also takes a d10 in Magical Lore, as the Mantle has gifted her with vast knowledge of magical things, and a d6 in Part Detachment; since her parts are as much thoughts as physical, being separated isn’t a big problem.

For her Abilities, Sarah grabs Psychic Assault, weaving illusions so real that they can briefly harm people, and Psychic Coordination, letting her use her Telepathy to get everyone in perfect synch. For Yellow Abilities, she only has three choices, and she picks Psychic Analysis using her Conviction, and Telepathic Whammy.

Finally, Sarah gets a second Principle – the Principle of Destiny. The Mantle is meant for a purpose, and Sarah is now the one guiding it towards that end. Even if she falls, it will carry on. There are likely other Mantles out there as well, possibly pushing towards some destiny of their own. (There’s a good chance that this is related to the Host somehow, for Sentinels fans, but exactly how is yet to be determined.)

Step 4: Personality

Rolling 2d10 for Personality gives me 8 and 9, which opens up Fast-Talking, Inquisitive, and Naïve. Of those, Inquisitive feels most in line with the strong-willed person of conviction we’ve heard to date, so that’s what we take. We’re also giving a Quality based on Sarah’s back story, and I think it’s going to be “Activist d8.” She has connections and friends who fight the system, and knows how to start trouble for a good cause.

Step 5: Red Abilities

It just feels right to dip into Mental and Psychic for Sarah’s two Red Abilities. Her first power is Dire Control, reskinned as Conversion. Sarah can literally turn a minion to her side when her force of will and desperation gets strong enough. They’re ‘defeated’ at the end of the scene, as they struggle with their feelings; they might turn good long-term, or fall back into bad habits. Her second power, For The Cause, lets her use her Conviction to Overcome a problem, and hinder all nearby enemies as they hesitate to face her.

Step 6: Retcon

The one thing that’s missing from Sarah’s sheet right now is a Reaction that affects herself, so let’s go ahead and give her one. Empowerment allows her to use her Intangible as a Defend and Boost at the same time, which is pretty great.

Step 7: Health

Sarah’s Health is (8 + Red 10 + Conviction 10 + 4) giving her a total of 32 Health. Not too shabby.

Step 8: Alias

With her stats complete and her approach laid it, it’s time for Sarah’s alias. She is Covenant, a promise made to protect those with hope in their hearts, and a shining light for a better world.

Character Sheet

Covenant

Alias: Sarah Lawson

Background: Unremarkable, Power Source: Relic, Archetype: Psychic, Personality: Inquisitive

Principles: Principle of Discovery (Identity), Principle of Destiny (Esoteric)

  • Minor Twists: What new discovery causes you to rethink what you are doing? What omen of dire fortune did you just witness?
  • Major Twists: What new discovery must you keep hidden at all costs? What heinous prophecy just came true?

Status Dice: Green d6**, Yellow** d8**, Red** d10

Health: 32 (Green 32-25, Yellow 24-12, Red 11-1)

Qualities:

  • Conviction [Mental] d10
  • Magical Lore [Information] d10
  • Banter [Social] d8
  • Activist [RP] d8

Powers:

  • Telepathy (Psychic) d10
  • Illusions (Psychic) d10
  • Intangible (Self-Control) d8
  • Intuition (Intellectual) d6
  • Part Detachment (Self-Control) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of Discovery (A): When you’re on the forefront in making a discovery or invention and take an Overcome action to further your knowledge, use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of Destiny (A): Overcome a situation directly connected to your destiny and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Psychic Assault (A): Attack an enemy with Illusions. Hinder them with your Min die.
  • Psychic Coordination (A): Boost using Telepathy. Apply that bonus to all hero Attack and Overcome actions until the start of your next turn.
  • Mental Feedback (I): Whenever you Attack an enemy that has inflicted a penalty on you, treat that penalty as if it were a bonus for the purpose of that Attack.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Positive Thinking (A): Hinder an enemy with Telepathy. Also Recover Health equal to your Min die.
  • Telepathic Whammy (A): Attack an enemy with Telepathy and use your Max die. Hinder that enemy with a persistent penalty using your Min die.
  • Psychic Analysis (A): Boost yourself using Conviction. Either use your Max die, or use your Mid die and make it persistent.
  • Fragment of Hope ®: When another hero in the Yellow or Red Zone would take damage, you may Defend them with your Intangibility.

Red Abilities:

  • Conversion (A): Take control of a minion. They act at the start of your turn. If you are incapacitated, you lose control of them, and you can release them at any time. At the end of the scene, they are defeated.
  • For The Cause (A): Overcome using Conviction. Use your Max + Min die. Hinder all nearby enemies using your Mid die.
  • Pass Through ®: When you are attacked, roll your Intangible die as a Defend. Also Boost yourself with the same roll.

Out Ability: Choose an ally. Until your next turn, they may reroll one of their dice by using a Reaction.

Aftermath:
Our first hero meant that most of my restrictions weren’t in play yet, but I like how Covenant turned out. She’s got a strong focus in terms of expressing hope, even up to turning minor characters to her side through sheer willpower. The Host connection wasn’t one I had in mind to start, and it went to interesting places. I also like that she starts off aggressive with her weaker Status Die, and gains more defensive powers as she gets stronger. It’s an interesting approach that I think could work well.

There’s an interesting thing going on here where Covenant has a couple of low-ranking Powers that none of her Abilities use, and exist as much for flavour as actual rolling. Part Detachment as a thing that just happens is sort of neat, even if nothing particularly keys off it.

3 Likes
#3

Nifty idea. It’s always fun seeing folks use the system. And since you’re doing everything, some of the less-used options will see light.

#4

Agreed! I’ve wanted to try something like this, but just haven’t had the wherewithal yet. :slight_smile:

#5

Thanks, everyone! Looking forward to what you think of these folks. And speaking of folks…

Step 1: Background

For our second hero, I’ve rolled 9 and 8. That gives access to Tragic, Performer, and Interstellar for our origin. Our last hero was extremely grounded, so let’s go the other way and take an Interstellar hero.

Zam Tej is an alien from many light-years away, a member of the Ruuni, a species previously unseen in Sentinel Comics. He’s come to Earth in the aftermath of Oblivaeon for… reasons. Not sure why yet. Let’s look at his dice. He starts with a d12 and a d6 for Mental and Information skills; what about…

Creativity d12, Deep Space Knowledge d6. Zam is an interstellar artist enthralled by the idea of the world that kept existence alive.

This also gives Zam an Esoteric Principle, but none of these are great. I will give him the Principle of the Future. He has seen things about what is in store for Earth, and is following up on these visions.

Step 2: Power Source

Interstellar once again gives us d10, d8, d6 for our Power Source. I rolled 7, 7, and 1, which limits our choices to Accident, Nature, Relic and Cursed. I can’t take Relic, leaving three real choices, so… let’s be Cursed!

Zam’s world was stricken by a Scion of Oblivaeon, who shattered time around him and broke his world’s history. This is how Zam saw Oblivaeon’s defeat, and he hurried to Earth to be a part of it. He’s still kind of… messed up, temporally speaking.

Unfortunately, Cursed doesn’t do much for direct time powers, but Zam can control Cosmic energies (d10), and is incredibly durable with his Vitality (d8). Thanks to his weird relationship with time, he’s also got incredible Speed (d6).

For Abilities, Zam is taking the extremely powerful Costly Shape, which lets him boost everyone around him at the cost of hindering himself. He also Absorbs cosmic energy, replenishing his lifeforce and restoring his temporal nature.

Step 3: Archetype

Cursed lets us roll a d12 and a d6 for Archetype selection, so let’s get to work! My results were 4 and 6, which gives me access to Marksman, Close Quarters Combatant, and Robot/Cyborg. Given the shattered time stuff, I’m going to go for Marksman. Zam is perfectly precise in every way.

Zam possesses a d12 Signature Weapon – the Stitch. This is the potent weapon that our still-unnamed Scion used to break his world, which Zam claimed after defeating him. It fragments time as a weapon, creating point-paradoxes and hyper-age. The weapon needs a fine mind to wield, and Zam’s is the finest.

He also takes a d6 in Ranged Combat, because sometimes you just want to shoot someone in the face with cosmic energies.

For Abilities, Zam takes Spin and Shoot; he can wield time to attack while making it harder to affect him. He can also use his Creativity to put together fun plans with his Load. For Yellow, he can only use qualities, so his Hair-Trigger Reflexes creatively trash anyone who gets close, while his Exploding Ammo uses his ability to fight at range to wield the Stitch or his Cosmic energies against the environment.

Finally, Zam gets a Responsibility Principle. He takes the Principle of the Veteran; his entire world was ravaged, and he stood firm.

Step 4: Personality

Another straight two d10s, and this one gets us 5 and 9, giving us access to Sarcastic, Inquisitive, and Decisive. Once again, only two heroes in and an option is closed off. We’re going to go with Decisive. Zam is the sort of person who takes action, and sees it through.

For his roleplaying Quality, he just takes Temporally Wobbly. Time is just always a little bit weird around him. I thought of giving him something connected to his species, but I think they just mostly act human.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Hallmark and Mental are pretty obvious choice for Red Abilities, but instead I’ll be grabbing Eruption. A powerful Cosmic attack that also heals instead of hurting is too obvious a choice. And if things go really bad, he can reset time with Purification to rewind all the tactics that have changed the scene.

Step 6: Retcon

I went back and forth for a bit, but I added the Red Ability to let Zam boost himself when he gets hit by Cosmic energy. This means that his primary tactic on hitting Red is to try to get out of Red again by Erupting and healing a lot.

Step 7: Health

Zam is another beefy buddy. He has (8 + Red 8 + Creativity 12 + 4) 32 Health.

Step 8: Alias

I need a name for Zam’s superhero alter ego. Having arrived on Earth and gotten the idea that you need a name that reflects your powers and attitude, Zam has called himself Montage. It doesn’t actually fit perfectly. But he likes the idea of motion skipping bits and pieces, as part of an artistic endeavour.

Character Sheet

Montage

Alias: Zam Trej

Background: Interstellar, Power Source: Cursed, Archetype: Marksman, Personality: Decisive

Principles: Future (Esoteric), Veteran (Responsibility)

  • Minor Twists: What unintended ripple did your actions have? What affected you emotionally about the current conflict?
  • Major Twists: What ripple effect now threatens the future as you know it? How are you withdrawing from the current conflict?

Status Dice: Green d8, Yellow d8, Red d8

Health: 32 (Green 32-25, Yellow 24-12, Red 11-1)

Qualities:

  • Creativity (Mental) d12
  • Temporally Wobbly (RP) d8
  • Deep Space Knowledge (Info) d6
  • Ranged Combat (Physical) d6

Powers:

  • The Stitch (Hallmark) d12
  • Cosmic (Energy) d10
  • Vitality (Athletic) d8
  • Speed (Athletic) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of the Future (A): Overcome using your knowledge of possible futures and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of the Veteran (A): Overcome a tactical challenge using knowledge of a previous conflict and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • A Stitch In Time (A): Attack using The Stitch. Defend with your Min die.
  • Inspiration (A): Boost using Creativity to create one bonus using your Max die and one using your Mid die.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Depletion (A): Boost all nearby allies using Vitality. Use your Max+Mid die. Hinder yourself with your Min die.
  • Time Warp (A): Attack or Overcome using Ranged Combat on an environmental target, using your Max + Min die. If you roll doubles, take a minor twist.
  • Time To Shine ®: When a new target enters close range, attack them rolling only your Creativity die.
  • Cosmic Locus (I): When you would take Cosmic damage, instead Recover that amount.

Red Abilities:

  • Temporal Storm (A): Attack up to three targets with Cosmic, one of which must be you. Assign your Max, Med, and Min dice to those targets however you want.
  • Rewind (A): Remove all bonuses and penalties from the scene. You cannot use this Ability again.
  • Born To Die (I): When you would take Cosmic damage, instead Recover that amount and Boost yourself with the amount of damage that you would have taken.

Out Ability: Boost an Ally by rolling your Stitch die.

Aftermath:

So, Zam is a weird one. Marksman is not the Archetype I would have gone with if I’d had the call, but it gave me The Stitch, which is pretty great, so interesting. He’s extremely powerful when he can use his two d12 dice, but doesn’t have a lot of versatility if he’s not being Creative, so there’s a lot of mental energy a player is going to need.

The biggest thing I would probably have changed if I’d known the whole spread was Zam’s Cosmic immunity at Yellow. The Red version is a lot better, and works well with his Red power, enough so that I wanted to take it, but he’s not spraying a lot of cosmic energy around at Yellow like I imagined he would be.

Aside from that, this is definitely a character I wouldn’t have thought of building if I hadn’t gotten “Cursed” as an option, so I’m calling it a win.

3 Likes
#6

Step 1: Background

We begin, as usual, with our classic 2d10 roll. This time I rolled 5 and 4, which gives me access to Adventurer, Unremarkable (or not) and Performer. I just did a creative sort, so let’s make an Adventurer!

This adventurer is going to have Leadership d8 and Fitness d10 as his two traits. Archibald Harsbury is the son of a wealthy family and easy-going explorer, who spends his time going to remote places, funding archeological digs, and generally making a nuisance of himself around the people who actually live or work there. He’s very good-natured, but maybe not that bright.

Being an Adventurer also gives Archibald an Expertise Principle. He picks the Principle of Mastery; he’s proud of his abilities, and is always looking for new ways to apply them.

Step 2: Power Source

Sadly, Adventurer only gives us three d8s for Power Source. My roll nets me 4, 4, and 2, giving me access to Training, Experimentation, Nature, and Powered Suit. Nature would make a certain amount of sense, but I’ve just had a brainstorm so I’m going with…. Powered Suit.

Archibald doesn’t just explore. His team has built a suit that he uses to explore places that humans straight-up can’t go. In the process, he’s begun to encounter the stranger, more malicious aspects of the Sentinels universe, who want to use those places as remote lairs, as well as the innocent and reclusive folk who live there, and he can’t just leave them in danger.

For dice, Archie has Powered Suit d8, Strength d8, and Wall-Crawling d8. It’s a classic strong, maneuverable suit that’s built for versatility over power.

For Yellow Abilities, Archie doesn’t have an element (which it has been pointed out to me doesn’t actually prevent taking Abilities that do things for elements, but I hadn’t thought of that when I was designing Archie), so he’s got to take the other two, boosting himself with his Power Suit and attacking enemies with his impressive Strength.

Step 3: Archetype

Powered Suit gives a d10 and two d6s to determine Archetype, driving the numbers down. I rolled 6, 4, and 5, which opens up Marksman (nope!), Blaster, Close Quarters Combatant, Elemental Manipulator, Robot/Cyborg, and Sorcerer. This is a bit rough. Robot/Cyborg overlaps a lot mechanically, Blaster and Elemental Manipulator require re-shifting to elemental powers, and Sorcerer, I think not. So I guess he’s a Close Quarters Combatant.

He gets a d10 for Close Combat, a d6 for Leaping for some extra mobility, and he puts his last d6 into Gadgets; the team makes a lot of neat little gizmos for Archie.

This Archetype gives a lot of Green Abilities, but they’re mostly direct combat. Flexible Stance seems like a given, especially with the power suit, letting Archie do a couple of things at once. Precise Strike lets him hit hard even when there’s a lot of problems in the way, and Defensive Strike lets him use his Fitness for protection. For his Yellow, he adds Throw Minion using Strength, because who doesn’t want to throw a minion?

Close Quarters Combatant gives a Responsibility Principle, and I’m going to stretch a touch to give Archie the Principle of the Team. His conservation team/media crew is well-known, and gives him both official permissions and a lot of flexibility with authorities and locals.

Step 4: Personality

I rolled a 2 and a 10 for Personality, which gives us access to Natural Leader, Alluring, and Nurturing. This actually kind of sucks, because most of Archie’s stuff unlocks early, and he has strong defenses to avoid getting sucked into Red early. But I’ll go ahead and make him Alluring, because of course he’s a sexy mess.

For his backstory, Archie gets “Media Conservationist d8”, which represents his performances and also his familiarity with the natural world.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Archie doesn’t have any Reactions right now, so a good one seems like a solid bet. A Reactive Defense lets him get into the fray and use his Close Combat to redirect damage to himself, and his Push Your Limits lets him do this repeatedly to just generally sacrifice himself to keep everyone alive.

Step 6: Retcon

While I was looking at the Athletic powers I saw an extremely funny combination, so I’m just going to go ahead and do it. I’m taking Reactive Strike. When Archie is the target of an attack, he can Attack his attacker by rolling his Strength die, plus any damage that he takes. The result of this is that Archie can take 2 irreducible damage every time someone nearby is attacked to redirect the attack to him, then Defend himself with d10+3, then Attack his attacker with d8+(damage taken).

This is not sustainable unless someone is really helping Archie recover, but that’s half the fun!

Step 7: Health

Archie’s health is a moderate 30 (8 + Red Die 10 + Strength 8 + 4). It’s not as big as it could be, but it’s solid.

Step 8: Alias

We still need a name for Archie, and it’s got to be tied to his media persona. He’s pretty open about who he is, but he travels the world as Archie The Adventurer!

Character Sheet

Archie The Adventurer

Alias: Archibald Harsbury

Background: Adventurer, Power Source: Powered Suit, Archetype: Close-Quarters Combatant, Personality: Alluring

Principles: Mastery (Expertise), Team (Responsibility)

  • Minor Twists: How did your powers fail you in the moment? What embarrassment did you just cause as a member of your team?
  • Major Twists: What side effects are you suffering from your powers? What major sanctions will you suffer as a result of your actions?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10

Health: 30 (Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1)

Qualities:

  • Fitness (Physical) d10
  • Close Combat (Physical) d10
  • Leadership (Social) d8
  • Media Conservationist d8

Powers:

  • Powered Suit (Technology) d8
  • Strength (Athletic) d8
  • Wall-Crawling (Mobility) d8
  • Leaping (Mobility) d6
  • Gadgets (Technology) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of Mastery (A): Overcome in a situation that uses your powers in a new way and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of the Team (A): Overcome by using your status as an official representative and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Dual-Systems Mode (A): Take any two basic actions using Power Suit, each using your Min die.
  • Turtle Up (A): Defend using Fitness. Attack with your Min die.
  • One-Hit Punch (A): Attack using Close Combat. Ignore all penalties on this attack, ignore any Defend actions, and it cannot be affected by Reactions.
  • Damage Reduction (I): Reduce physical damage you take by 1 in Green, 2 in Yellow, and 3 in Red.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Adaptation (A): Boost yourself using Power Suit. That boost is persistent and exclusive.
  • All-Out Attack (A): Attack up to three different targets using Strength. Apply your Max to one, your Mid to a second, and your Min to the third. If you roll doubles, take a minor twist or irreducible damage equal to that die.
  • Toss-up (A): Attack a minion using Strength. Whatever that minion rolls as defense Attacks another target of your choice.

Red Abilities:

  • Take The Hit ®: When a nearby ally is attack, you may become the target of the Attack and roll your single Close Combat die to defend yourself.
  • Fight Back ®: When you are Attacked and dealt damage, you may Attack your attacker by rolling your single Strength die and adding the damage that you took.
  • Burning Bright (I): You may take 1 irreducible damage to take an extra Reaction, any number of times per turn.

Out Ability: Boost an Ally by rolling your Power Suit die.

Aftermath

I think it’s interesting that both our second and third heroes have already had options closed off by prior heroes. Those low numbers show up a lot! I’m going to have to lean in on the over-10s when I get them.

Archie is an interesting one, but not the most mechanically sound. In Green, he’s really going to need some boosts from his team to get things done; he’s got a d6 status and a d8 maximum for his Powers, no strong way to Boost himself, and two of his three core Abilities use his Min die.

Once he hits Yellow, things start looking up; his status die improves, he can give himself a long-term Boost that will be very useful with all those Min effects, and he gets a pretty good crowd-clearing attack. And of course, in Red he can just absolutely burn himself out to tank and counter-attack an absurd number of hits, especially physical ones. He can’t take his main action to recover during all of this, though, so it’s a short-term plan.

Personality-wise, he seems fun! Just a fun-loving rich boy who gradually realizes that things are a bigger deal than he was originally imagining. Depending on how our teams shake out, other heroes could be part of his media crew, or just friends that work alongside it.

2 Likes
#7

Continuing with one hero a day, here is #4…

Step 1: Background

Three down, seventeen to go! For Hero #4, our Background roll gives us an 8 and a 2. That gives us access to Blank Slate, Tragic, and Military.

Let’s build a Blank Slate. Our mystery woman doesn’t have a name yet. She awoke without one, based on whatever her Power Source is. So for the moment, let’s start her off with Alertness d8 and Stealth d10.

Blank Slate gives an Identity Principle, and the Principle of Amnesia seems entirely on-point, so Imma take that.

Step 2: Power Source

Blank Slate gives us a d10 and two d8s. Rolling them, I get 5, 3, and 7. This gives us access to Genetic, Mystical, Relic (nope!), Powered Suit (nope!!), Tech Upgrades, and Artificial Being.

As obvious as Artificial Being would be, I’m taking Tech Upgrades. Blank woke up in an aftercare room in a mysterious facility, with implanted technology in her and a lot of red alarms going off. She fled rather than wait to see, and the whole facility burned down mysteriously. She doesn’t know if she was a willing patient or a captive.

Blank is now a Lightning Calculator (d10), but has also gotten some substantial physical upgrades with superhuman Agility (d8). She’s also got a Nuclear (d8) power source inside her, which is properly shielded except when she doesn’t want it to be. This could be the root of what went wrong…

For Abilities, Blank takes an Energy Burst, letting her use her Nuclear power against a bunch of people, and Recharges herself with Lightning Calculator. For her Green, she grabs Indiscriminate Fabrication; when she starts calculating, she doesn’t always know who she’s helping.

Step 3: Archetype

Another d10, d8, d8 for Archetype. 3, 3, 4 doesn’t give us many choices. Physical Powerhouse, Marksman (nope!), Close Quarters Combatant (nuh-uh!) and Armored. So my choices are Strong, or Tough. That doesn’t line up with her earlier choices at all, but we can make a Powerhouse work, I think.

Strength (d10) is a given, and Close Combat (d8) covers the previous lack of physical Qualities. The last choice goes to Density Control (d8), for interesting shifts in mass created by her nuclear core.

For Abilities, Blank picks up the very strong Damage Resistant. She also takes Frontline Fighting with her Strength, to force enemies into close combat with her. At Yellow, she takes the Reaction that when she defeats an enemy with Strength, she can Recover. She is going to be a hard nut to crack.

Finally, Blank takes an Expertise Principle. Stealth would be interesting, but I think Blank is not fully used to her weird, indiscriminate strength, so I’m taking that.

Step 4: Personality

Blank’s personality roll gives us a 10 and an 8, which gives me access to Fast-Talking, Alluring, and Apathetic. I think she’s leaning Apathetic right now. For reasons that she’s not clear on, but suspects has to do with her implants not being tuned correctly, Blank feels everything in a muted way.

Her roleplaying quality is Mysterious Programming. Sometimes, she just gets prompts to do things, and if she goes along with those prompts she gets some results. This isn’t consistent, and it can’t be directed, and it kind of worries her, but here we are.

Step 5: Red Abilities

We don’t have anything tied to Blank’s Stealth, so let’s have her fade when things go bad. Book It lets her Hinder any number of enemies, using her Max die, and then end up somewhere else in the scene. And her overclocked systems can unleash an Unerring Strike to hit an enemy very precisely and very hard.

Step 6: Retcon

I’d like Blank to have a little bit of social skills, so she isn’t entirely falling back on running away whenever things get awkward (as funny as that is.) So for her Retcon, I’m going to give her Persuasion d6. This is definitely not as strong as boosting something Red, but it’s a nice layer of versatility.

Step 7: Health

We’re getting a lot of beefy friends. Blank’s Health is (8 + Strength 10 + Red 10 + 4) for a total of 32 Health, the third of our four to reach that high.

Step 8: Alias

So I guess Blank needs a name, in addition to a hero name. I’m going to go with Patience Smith, mainly because it is a pun on Patient. For her superhero name, she’s a beefy fighter with nuclear power, so let’s call her Atomizer!

Character Sheet

Atomizer

Alias: Patience Smith

Background: Blank Slate, Power Source: Tech Upgrades, Archetype: Physical Powerhouse, Personality: Apathetic

Principles: Amnesia (Identity), Strength (Expertise)

  • Minor Twists: You have a flash of your former life that distracts you. What was it? What just broke?
  • Major Twists: A shocking detail of your past changes the current situation – how does it affect the scene? Who just broke?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10

Health: 32 (Green 32-25, Yellow 24-12, Red 11-1)

Qualities:

  • Stealth (Physical) d10
  • Close Combat (Physical) d10
  • Alertness (Mental) d8
  • Mysterious Programming d8
  • Persuasion (Social) d6

Powers:

  • Lightning Calculator (Intellectual) d10
  • Strength (Athletic) d10
  • Agility (Athletic) d8
  • Nuclear (Energy) d8
  • Density Control (Self-Control) d8

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of Amnesia (A): Overcome a situation where a completely fresh perspective is useful and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of Strength (A): Overcome using brute force and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Indiscriminate Fabrication (A): Boost using Lightning Calculator. Use your Max, Mid, and Min dice to create three bonuses. One must go to an enemy.
  • Stuck In (A): Attack with Strength. The target of the attack must use their next action to Attack you, if possible.
  • Damage Resistant (I): Reduce all physical and energy damage by 1 in the Green Zone, 2 in Yellow, and 3 in Red.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Nuclear Blast (A): Attack multiple enemies with Nuclear. Use your Min die.
  • Reorient (A): Boost yourself using Lightning Calculator. Then either remove a penalty on yourself or Recover using your Min die.
  • Surge of Strength ®: When you defeat an enemy with Strength, Recover using your Min die.

Red Abilities:

  • Book It (A): Hinder multiple enemies with Stealth. Use your Max die. Then end your action anywhere in the scene.
  • Fracture Point (A): Attack an enemy with Lightning Calculator. Use your Max + Min die. Ignore all penalties to the attack, ignore any Defend actions, and it can’t be affected by Reactions.

Out Ability: Remove a bonus or penalty of your choice.

Aftermath

Even more choices blocked off, but I think we got something interesting. I like how I was opening with “upgrades to make Patience faster, stealthy, and quick-thinking” and then ran face-first into “but actually she is a brick.” It totally shifting the tone of the character, in a way that I think worked out. If I were Guiding her in a vacuum, I would probably have gone with Marksman as her Archetype to line up with the stealth, but this works!

Patience is a character who probably needs to be drawn into a story; I would integrate her with a team by asking another PC to have found her early on, and she’s living with them while she tries to figure out what the heck’s going on and doing superhero work more out of a desire to fit in than a drive right now. There’s a lot of story potential in her head being full of not-fully-functional technology from a mysterious and unknown source – was she meant to be a hero, and villains destroyed her lab before she was done? Was she an innocent test subject of a malevolent agency? Was she just a slightly amoral person whose experiments went terribly wrong? Or worst of all, was she a supervillain herself? There are a lot of ways her story could go.

2 Likes
#8

Step 1: Background

Twenty percent complete, and trucking on. Our fifth Background roll is 4 and 8, giving us Adventurer (nope!), Tragic, and Criminal. Let’s lean into to an ex-con, with our criminal buddy Cameron Reddican.

Cameron is going to take Imposing d10 and Criminal Underworld d8. They grew up on the wrong side of the law, distrusting the system, and learned to use their attitude to keep trouble low. I think they mostly handled small-time crimes; fencing goods and running numbers for a local mob.

Criminals get an Expertise Principle, and Cameron is going to take the Principle of the Tactician. They’re cool-headed and have a plan for everything. But they may not have had a plan for…

Step 2: Power Source

Our class three d8s for Power Source nets Cameron 8, 8, and 2, which gives us Training, Powered Suit (nope), Tech Upgrades (nope), and Cosmos. So I’m going to have to go with Cosmos. Now, how does a low-level criminal get awesome cosmic powers, especially one known for… oh, of course.

Cameron got hired as the tactician and numbers folk for a mysterious heist. In truth, the heist was being run by Wager Master, the Cosmic Trickster! Wager Master just really wanted to watch a heist movie, and there wasn’t anything good on Netflix, so he went ahead and made his own, with a bunch of ways for the crooks to betray each other for profit. Right near the end, Cameron used the McGuffin they were stealing and put themselves at risk to save the life of a teammate who had previously betrayed them, which coincidentally was the win condition that Wager Master had secretly built into the scenario. It was all such good entertainment that Wager Master let them have the powers, congratulated them, and said that he’d be back to check in next time he wanted a good show.

Cameron does not know how to feel about this, but they always said that the thing keeping them from doing good was that the system was rigged against them, so they’ve decided to hold to that and become a superhero.

Cameron definitely has superhuman Intuition (d8) and can use their Suggestion (d8) to influence people to follow their desired plans. Finally, their Invisibility (d8) relies on fading into the background and becoming unimportant.

Since they didn’t take Cosmic, Cameron doesn’t actually get to choose Abilities. They just have to take Encourage (using their Suggestion to push people in the right direction) and Mass Effect (using their Intuition to set up coincidental actions that mess up or benefit everyone nearby.)

They then downgrade one power and upgrade another, turning their dice into d10, d8, d6. I’m going to upgrade Intuition, and downgrade Invisibility. Cosmos may not grant a Green Ability, but at least it is also bad about giving you something else in exchange.

Step 3: Archetype

Cosmos, at least, gives a d10, d8, d8 as its Archetype spread. Results of 7, 2, and 4 gives us access to Shadow, Marksman (no), Close Quarters Combatant (noo), Armored, Elemental Manipulator, or Sorcerer. Shadow fits the secretive mastermind that Cameron is turning into, so we’ll go with that.

We have to give Cameron Stealth d10. We’ll also give them Agility d8 and Ranged Combat d8 to round things out. For Abilities, Sabotage using Stealth is just too cool, and we can add a Green damage/redirect to keep that ‘control of the environment’ thing going on. Then, in Yellow, we can add Overcome From Darkness, which is also using Stealth (a rare time when that’s allowed!)

Finally, Shadow unlocks a second Expertise principle. Now that we’re subtle, I’m going to add the Principle of Stealth and really drive home how sneaky they can be.

Step 4: Personality

Cameron’s two d10s for Personality come out to 10 and 7, which unlocks Stalwart, Alluring, and Naïve. Alluring is taken and Naïve does not fit at all, so Cameron is a Stalwart sort.

Step 5: Red Abilities

When things get bad, Cameron gets tricky. Impossible Knowledge lets them turn penalties into bonuses, and Give Time lets them either Boost someone, or hand their turn to another hero and boost them – but at a cost.

Step 6: Retcon

Cameron is going to take a third Red power, one that’s pretty strong for them. Whenever they use an Ability, they also get to take a basic action. That’s going to be great in conjunction with giving people extra turns.

Step 7: Health

Cameron has 28 Health (8 + Red 8 + Agility 8 + 4) . So far, everyone has come into the 28-32 range. I wonder if that’s standard, or if it’s because I’m leaning towards making sure that people have at least something Mental or Athletic. Would a lot of people not do that, or do it less?

Step 8: Alias

Cameron is going to be calling themselves the Synergist. They use their newfound cosmic awareness to push everything into the correct path, uniting a lot of disparate actions into a single flowing whole.

Character Sheet

Synergist

Alias: Cameron Reddican

Background: Criminal, Power Source: Cosmos, Archetype: Shadow, Personality: Stalwart

Principles: Tactician (Expertise), Stealth (Expertise)

  • Minor Twists: What one variable did you not account for? What evidence of your presence did you leave behind?
  • Major Twists: What major threat is revealed that invalidates all your plans? What just happened that identified you as an obvious threat?

Status Dice: Green d8, Yellow d8, Red d8

Health: 28 (Green 28-22, Yellow 21-11, Red 10-1)

Qualities:

  • Imposing (Social) d10
  • Stealth (Physical) d10
  • Criminal Underworld (Info) d8
  • Ranged Combat (Physical) d8

Powers:

  • Intuition (Intellectual) d10
  • Suggestion (Psychic) d8
  • Agility (Athletic) d8
  • Invisibility (Self-Control) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of the Tactician (A): Overcome when you can flash back to how you prepared for exactly this situation. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of Stealth (A): Overcome to infiltrate somewhere or avoid detection and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Sabotage (A): Attack using Stealth. Remove one physical bonus or penalty, Hinder using your Min die, or move to a new location in the environment.
  • Subtle Redirection ®: When you would be dealt damage, roll d4 in Green, d6 in Yellow, or d8 in red. Reduce the damage that you take by the result of the roll, then Attack another target with that roll.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Coaching (A): Attack using Suggestion. Boost all nearby heroes taking Attack or Overcome actions with your Min die.
  • Eye of Chaos (A): Boost or Hinder using Intuition, and apply that mod to multiple nearby targets.
  • Control the Battlefield (A): Attack or Overcome using Stealth. Boost yourself using your Min die.

Red Abilities:

  • The Hand-Off (A): Boost another hero using Intuition. If they have already acted this turn, use your Max die, and they lose Health equal to your Min die. They act next in the turn order.
  • All According To Plan (I): At the start of your turn, you may turn any penalty into a bonus.
  • The Dominoes Fall (I): When you use an Ability action, you may also perform a basic action with your Mid die on the same roll.

Out Ability: Defend an Ally by rolling your single Intuition die.

Aftermath

Boy, Cosmos is not a very good Power Source. It gives you some versatility at Yellow, but at a heck of an opportunity cost, and the boost one / reduce one is not that great most of the time.

Still, I think that Synergist turned into someone pretty neat, and that dangling Wager Master thread could lead to appropriately chaotic nonsense for the person who wants to control everything.

2 Likes
#9

Just want to poke in and say I’ve really been enjoying this thread, and that latest backstory is sheer brilliance. :smiley: Excellent Wager Master writing!

1 Like
#10

Thank you! It is one of my favorite little bits, although there are a few more coming up that I quite liked. And speaking of folks I quite liked:

Step 1: Background

Here we are coming up on our second quintet of heroes. We start with the classic two d10s, and roll a 5 and a 1. So… Upper Class, Unremarkable (nope!) and Law Enforcement. Let’s go ahead with Upper Class, it’s less likely to pop up a billion times in the next four draws.

We’re actually starting to run low on available Qualities already, but I will take Persuasion d10 and Investigation d8. Harrison Kent was never content to sit around and spend the family fortune; he wanted to know how and why things were happening, and spent his time learning how things actually worked with the goal of inheriting the family business.

Upper Class gives us a Responsibility Principle, and I just said that the family business was important, so Principle of Business it is!

Step 2: Power Source

Upper Class gives the beefy d10, d8, d8 for Power Source selection, so let’s roll! 9, 8, and 8 pushes us high, with access to… Powered Suit (nope), Radiation, Cosmos (noope), and Extradimensional. We thought our last friend was weird, let’s get bizarre.

Harrison’s company was working on some extremely cutting-edge stuff. In particular, they were developing a mechanism for instantaneous travel across the globe. Harrison was visiting due to some irregularities in the safety reports, and in the ensuing confrontation the device switched on, sending him cascading across several horrible sub-planes before reconstituting him in the lab.

Needless to say, the scientist responsible for lab safety was fired.

Harrison is definitely picking up Teleportation d10 to represent his experience, as well as Infernal d8 and Postcognition d8. He can feel the residue of experience around him, and channel terrible energies.

For Abilities, his Flicker Strike lets him teleport around striking a lot of people, but that comes with pain. He can also draw the pain from the people he defeats into himself, growing stronger. Finally, his Otherworldly Attunement lets him call on infernal energies to boost himself, at the cost of becoming more infernal.

Step 3: Archetype

Extradimensional gives us a d12 and a d6 to roll. Rolling gives me a 9 and a 1, for Speedster, Elemental Manipulator, and Robot/Cyborg. We’ve got the teleportation for speedster, but I’m going to lean into this Infernal situation and be a Manipulator. This allows me to boost Infernal to d12!

Now I’ve got a d8 and a d6 to play with. I’m going to go with Science d8 and Magical Lore d6, to give a strong informational backing.

Interestingly, all of my Abilities need to use Infernal. This is… well, I made this bed, I’m going to lie in it, but I feel like it may be a bit of a flaw in the system. Anyway, External Combustion lets Harrison hit a couple of people at the cost of hurting himself, and Focused Apparatus is a Hinder/Attack combo that affects multiple people if Harrison drops into the Red. Once he’s in Yellow, Energy Alignment lets Harrison recover whenever he takes Infernal damage, which means he’s probably not going to stay Yellow from health for long.

Elemental Manipulator gives an Esoteric Principle. Thanks to his wild trip, Harrison is getting the Principle of Exorcism; he can sense the manifestation of other realms, and fight back against them.

Step 4: Personality

Rolling two d10s for Personality nets 6 and 6, so my choices are… Distant and Nurturing. Let’s go with Distant. Harrison is a bit of a cold fish, probably thanks to all that trauma.

For a roleplaying quality, Harrison kind of needs something to use with his primary abilities, so I’m going to go with “Extradimensional Conduit”. It lets him fight with his extradimensional powers and sense and manipulate rips in the fabric of reality.

Step 5: Red Abilities

We’ve gone all-in on a couple of powers, here, so let’s double down and take one each for Infernal and Teleportation. When things are bad, Harrison can crack open the realms he travelled through and summon a horde of demonic spirits. Untouchable Movement is a massive boost that also gets him to safety.

Step 6: Retcon

Harrison is going to be bouncing around Zones a lot, so I’m just going to pump up his Red die by a step and call it a day.

Step 7: Health

We’ve got our lowest Health yet for Harrison, with (8 + Red 8 + Investigation 8 + 4) 28 Health. On the other hand, he can heal like nobody’s business, so probably not an issue.

Step 8: Alias

Harrison makes a big deal out of wanting to make sure that illicit science doesn’t hurt anyone the way that he was hurt, so he’s going to call himself The Regulator. He’s pretty open about his identity, and balances his time superheroing and working on his business.

Character Sheet

The Regulator

Alias: Harrison Kent

Background: Upper Class, Power Source: Extradimensional, Archetype: Elemental Manipulator, Personality: Distant

Principles: Business (Responsibility), Exorcism (Esoteric)

  • Minor Twists: You’re always looking at the bigger picture. How does this cause friction with the team? What is literally or figuratively coming back to haunt you?
  • Major Twists: Your business interests are in danger. Where are your true priorities? What has been allowed to enter this world?

Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d8

Health: 28 (Green 28-22, Yellow 21-11, Red 10-1)

Qualities:

  • Persuasion (Social) d10
  • Investigation (Mental) d8
  • Science (Info) d8
  • Extradimensional Conduit (RP) d8
  • Magical Lore (Info) d6

Powers:

  • Infernal (Element) d12
  • Teleportation (Mobility) d10
  • Postcognition (Psychic) d8

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of Business (A): Overcome in a situation related to the field of your business or knowing locals, and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of Exorcism (A): Overcome entities or elements from another dimension and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Otherworldly Attunement (A): Boost yourself with Infernal. That bonus is persistent and exclusive. All damage dealt using that bonus is Infernal.
  • Dark Blaze (A): Attack up to two targets with Infernal. Also take damage equal to your Mid die.
  • Shatter Reason (A): Hinder with Infernal. Also Attack with your Min die. If you are in the Red Zone, you may apply the penalty to any number of nearby targets.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Flicker Strike (A): Attack any number of enemies using Teleportation. Then, take irreducible damage equal to the number of targets hit.
  • Absorb Pain ®: When you defeat a minion, roll that Minion’s die and Boost yourself using that roll.
  • Infernal Alignment (A): If you would take Infernal damage, reduce that damage to 0 and Recover that amount instead.

Red Abilities:

  • The Abyss Beckons (A): Use Infernal to create a number of d6 minions equal to your Mid die. Choose the basic action they perform. They act at the start of your turn.
  • Untouchable Movement (A): Boost yourself using Teleport. Use your Max + Min die. Then you may end up anywhere else in the scene, ignoring any dangers between your starting and ending location.

Out Ability: Boost an Ally by rolling your Red Status die.

Aftermath

Harrison is definitely going to be the edgy boy on whatever team he ends up on, but with a strong feeling of responsibility and focus to help temper those impulses. He’s also one heck of a one-trick pony, since I got forced into using Infernal for almost all of his Green and Yellow Abilities, and then dialed it up into the stratosphere, while also giving him a persistent Boost that turns everything he does Infernal regardless.

When he comes up against enemies who are immune to his main shtick, Harrison isn’t totally useless; he’ll probably be good for Overcomes against most enemies like that, and in Yellow he can use his Teleportation to fight, but he’s not much of a team player and will probably need to fall back more on basic actions.

The Regulator also comes with a whole slate of possible supervillains. The scientist who was originally running dangerous experiments in his company, corporate rivals, and extradimensional threats give a wide range of foes that he’s likely to come up against, most of which can be easily integrated into other players’ stories. Overall, I like how this fellow turned out.

3 Likes
#11

Step 1: Background

For Hero #7, we roll a 7 and a 5, giving us Academic, Unremarkable, and Criminal. Two of those three are already taken, so we are creating an Academic. Anyone care to place bets on how far into this process I get before I have to do the “sum of the dice plus 1” trick?

We start with a d12 and a d8 for our dice. I’m going to go for the Ultimate Historian. History d12, and Self-Discipline d8 give us a solid start for our mysterious professor. This is someone who researches the past, in great detail.

Academic gives an Expertise Principle. If I’m going to be an ultra-historian, might as well double down and take the Principle of History. Eleanor (that’s her name now) lives in the past, and thinks it was pretty swell. But like, the really far past. She’s pretty sure that everything wrong in the world can be blamed on the Roman Empire.

Step 2: Power Source

Academic is one of the garbage Backgrounds for power source selection, giving only a d10 and a d8. Rolling them gives us 2 and 7, unlocking Training, Relic (no, unfortunately) and Radiation. I… kind of want Training. Of course, I need at least one new Power, and… hm.

Okay, here we go. In her historical studies, Eleanor learned how to construct an ancient form of mechanical servitor, long lost to the world. She now has Robotics (d10) and Deduction (d8) to represent her mind being finely-honed by these complex devices. The downside to these robots is that it takes genius intellect and years, maybe decades of study to build them; they can’t really be industrialized. But she is determined to prove their effectiveness.

Since we only have two powers, our Yellow Abilities need to use them both. A Robot-based Boost, and a Deduction-based attack that feeds on boosts, seems fun. And Training will give us even more dice in the next step as compensation for not getting as many Abilities right now.

Step 3: Archetype

Training is a strong Archetype! We get to roll d10, d8, d8 for selection, and then will have an extra d8 off the actual list. Results of 2, 7, and 1 give us Speedster, Shadow (no), Physical Powerhouse (no!), Armored, Flyer, and Elemental Manipulator (no!!) So three actual choices. Armored could work, but then I realized that Flyer allows for signature vehicles and I want this person in an ornithopter as often as possible.

So, Signature Vehicle d10. Ranged Combat d8 covers physical needs, and Technology d8 gives her a bit of real tech alongside her historical tech. For her training bonus, I’m going to hand her Magical Lore d8; you don’t learn that much history of the Sentinels universe without picking up a few things.

Abilities are a bit tricky, but let’s go for mass robot Hindering and a reaction to defend Eleanor using her Ornithopter. At Yellow, she adds an Attack that also gives her Defense to be harder to kill, also using her ornithopter.

Flyer gives you an Ideals Principle, and Eleanor is taking the Principle of Justice. There’s a reason that her first thought when gaining the ability to build ancient robots was “save lives!” There is also a reason that her students like her a lot more than the dean of the university does.

Step 4: Personality

For Personality, we roll 9 and 2, giving us Natural Leader, Inquisitive, and Stoic. I’m going to go with Stoic. I don’t think Eleanor is a leader by nature, and Inquisitive is taken.

For her roleplaying personality, Eleanor is going to take Mentor d8. She doesn’t just know things, she likes to teach and guide people. It is important to her, and she’s pretty good at it.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Sticking with our themes, we’re definitely going to go ahead and build on Ornithopter and Robotics. I sort of love the idea of just dropping an ornithopter on someone, so Sacrificial Ram will be our first pick. For Tech… no, they’re all attacks, let’s look at Info. We’re just going to use Specialized Info to make it so that Eleanor is extremely good at using her historical knowledge in the pinch.

Step 6: Retcon

This is an interesting one. I don’t think I want to boost Eleanor’s Red die, because she doesn’t want to be in Red as a rule and will be defending a lot in Yellow. I don’t think I want a third Red for the same reason. Instead, I’m going to give her Remote Viewing d6. It’s a nice power for Overcomes and opening options, and can reflect more robots under her control surveilling and exploring for her.

Step 7: Health

Eleanor is back at (8 + Red 10 + Self-Discipline 8 + 4) 30 Health, right in the middle of our common range.

Step 8: Alias

Eleanor wants an alias that feels a bit old-fashioned, but also reflects her ancient robots and ornithopter. I’m going to call her The Artificer.

Character Sheet

The Artificer

Alias: Eleanor Dulac

Background: Academic, Power Source: Training, Archetype: Flyer, Personality: Stoic

Principles: History (Expertise), Justice (Ideals)

  • Minor Twists: How did your old-timeyness cause an issue? How are you taking extra time to show yourself as a shining example of justice?
  • Major Twists: What ancient force is now making itself known in the present? How do you unnerve your allies in the single-minded pursuit of justice?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10

Health: 30 (Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1)

Qualities:

  • History (Info) d12
  • Self-Discipline (Mental) d8
  • Technology (Info) d8
  • Magical Lore (Info) d8
  • Ranged Combat (Physical) d8
  • Mentor (Roleplaying) d8

Powers:

  • Ornithopter (Hallmark) d10
  • Robotics (Technological) d10
  • Deduction (Intellectual) d8
  • Remote Viewing (Psychic) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of History (A): Overcome a situation involving archaeology, history, or puzzle-solving and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of Justice (A): Overcome to stop an act of injustice in progress and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Tiny Robots (A): Hinder multiple targets using Robotics. Use your Min die for each of them.
  • Moving Target ®: When you are attacked while flying, you may Defend yourself by rolling your single Ornithopter die.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Battle Robots (A): Boost yourself with Robotics. That boost is persistent and exclusive. Then, attack with your Min die. You may use the Boost you just created on the Attack.
  • Coordinated Assault (A): Attack using Deduction. Use your Mid die to Attack one extra target for each bonus you have. Apply a different bonus to each attack.
  • Swoop and Strike (A): Attack using Ornithopter. Defend against all attacks against you using your Min die until your next turn.

Red Abilities:

  • Sacrificial Drop (A): Attack up to three nearby targets using Ornithopter. Use your Max + Mid dice against each of them. You cannot use Ornithopter for the rest of the scene, and until it is recovered or repaired.
  • The Weight of History (A): Overcome using History. Use your Max + Min dice.

Out Ability: Defend an Ally by using your single Robotics die.

Aftermath

I was not very excited about Academic/Training until I ran face-first into the ability to create robots, and from there everything just developed beautifully. The Artificer is kind of amazing, and I love the idea of her. Just a serious, old-fashioned lady and her army of mechanical robots fashioned from the secrets of ancient civilizations, out to stand against injustice in all its forms.

1 Like
#12

These are great so far.

1 Like
#13

Thanks! Hope that this stays true with:

Step 1: Background

Here we go again! Two d10s nets results of 9 and 10, which gives us access to Performer, Military, and Otherworldly. Who knows when I’m going to get access to Otherworldly again, so I’m taking it now.

Alertness d10 and Otherworldly Mythos d8 indicates someone who has been fully raised in a supernatural realm. Looking over Esoteric Principles gives me access to all sorts of weirdness. I’m going to take the Principle of the Sea, and say that our lady is a selkie! She lives in an oceanic fae realm, but has often come to Earth to explore. I’m going to make a note that if I can get shape-shifting, take shape-shifting. Her name is Siobhan.

Step 2: Power Source

Otherworldly gives us the slightly rough d10 and two d6s, because why would actual supernatural people have strong super-powers I guess? Anyway, ignoring my sarcasm I got 2, 4, and 6, which unlocks Training (no), Experimentation, Nature, Powered Suit (no), and Tech Upgrades (no). The obvious choice is Nature, but… I suddenly like the idea of a selkie who was captured and experimented on, before managing to escape. Her seal-skin is slightly damaged, but she can still change. Her primary power is Cold d10, empowered by magic-technical experiments, and she retains Shapeshifting d6 and Swimming d6.

For Powers, she’s going to grab a high-power Frost boost at Yellow, and also the ability to use her shape-shifting to distract and redirect damage (which ironically is more powerful with a weak power, so works really well here.) Even in Green, she just shakes off trouble, removing a penalty at the start of each turn.

Step 3: Archetype

We’re at three d8s for Archetype, which is hard combined with Otherworldly but could be worse. Results of 2, 5, and 6 access Shadow (no), Blaster, Close Quarters Combatant (noo), Armored, Flyer (nooo) and Sorcerer. With three actual choices, I’m actually going to take Armored. Siobhan’s cold-enhanced powers and shape-shifting combine to make her nigh-immortal and indestructible, far more so than her kin.

For dice, Siobhan is going to take Vitality d8, Close Combat d8, and Insight d8, which just meets my “one thing needs to be new” rule. She’s tough, she fights up close with claws and ice, and she’s got a supernaturally good eye for people’s hearts.

Siobhan gets Armored for free, plus three Green Abilities and no Yellow ones. She’s going to use Cold to power an Attack that defends allies, and an attack that hits multiple people. She also uses Shapeshifting for an Attack that heals herself; it’s not her best pool, but it’s neat.

Armored also gives an Expertise principle. Siobhan will pick the Principle of the Mentor. She is quite a bit older than most other heroes, and has lived her life helping and guiding, so there’s no reason to stop just because some people messed with her.

Step 4: Personality

For our two d10s, we get 6 and 7, opening up Distant (no), Stalwart (no), and Nurturing. So we have to take Nurturing, which fits very well thematically but actually sucks for Siobhan because of my self-inflicted rules. Her entire build is based around damage resistance and healing, slowing down how often she changes Zones, and now she’s bad at things until she reaches Red. Once she’s there, though, she will be unstoppable, so that’s something.

For her roleplaying die, she’s going to take Selkie d8, which just covers her supernatural nature, is probably what she uses for shape-shifting, and handles her knowledge of the coast and the sea.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Speaking of being unstoppable, let’s see what Red Abilities Siobhan has access to. A nice, straightforward Powerful Strike lets her use her Cold to blast harder, but our big winner is going to be Resurrection. Once per session, Siobhan just gets back up again.

Step 6: Retcon

Since Siobhan is great in the Red, let’s let her turn into a monstrous chimera that can do too many things at once. This uses her Shapeshifting die, unfortunately, but it also uses her Red so I think she’ll be fine.

Step 7: Health

Siobhan is officially our toughest hero yet, clocking in at (8 + Red 12 + Alertness 10 + 4) 34 Health!

Step 8: Alias

Siobhan has lost a lot, but not her sense of humour. She goes by the alias “Deep Freeze.”

Character Sheet

Deep Freeze

Alias: Siobhan (no last name)

Background: Otherworldly, Power Source: Experimentation, Archetype: Armoured, Personality: Nurturing

Principles: The Sea [Esoteric], Mentor [Expertise]

  • Roleplaying: You can speak to aquatic creatures and breathe underwater. It is important to guide less-weathered heroes. Everyone grants you some measure of respect for your wisdom.
  • Minor Twists: What challenge does the surface world pose? Which whippersnapper just showed you up?
  • Major Twists: What disaster is incoming as the sea calls? What has just proven that you’re too behind the times?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d6, Red d12

Health: 34 (Green 34-26, Yellow 25-13, Red 12-1)

Qualities:

  • Alertness (Mental) d10
  • Otherworldly Mythos (Info) d8
  • Close Combat (Physical) d8
  • Insight (Social) d8
  • Selkie (RP) d8

Powers:

  • Cold (Energy) d10
  • Vitality (Athletic) d8
  • Shapeshifting (Self-Control) d6
  • Swimming (Mobility) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of the Sea (A): Overcome a situation while underwater and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of the Mentor (A): Overcome a challenge that someone else younger already tried and failed. Use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Frost Wall (A): Attack with Cold. Defend another target with your Min die.
  • Chill Blast (A): Attack with Cold. Attack another target with your Min die.
  • Shifting Strike (A): Attack with Shapeshifting. Recover using your Min die.
  • Swim Free (I): At the start of your turn, remove a penalty on yourself.
  • Armored (I): Reduce physical and energy damage by 1 in Green, 2 in Yellow, or 3 in Red.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Cold Snap (A): Boost yourself using Cold. Use your Max die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
  • Twisting Form ®: When a nearby hero in the Yellow or Red zone would take damage, Defend against that damage by rolling your single Shapeshifting die, then redirect any remaining damage to a nearby minion of your choice.

Red Abilities:

  • Icy Blast (A): Attack with Cold. Use your Max + Mid dice.
  • Chimeric Eruption (A): Choose three basic actions. Use Shapeshifting in your Pool and take one action with your Max die, one with your Mid die, and one with your Min die.
  • Shed Skin (I): Once per issue, if you would reach 0 Health, roll Alertness + Shapeshifting + Red Die. Your Health becomes that number.

Out Ability: Boost an Ally by rolling your Alertness die.

Aftermath

Boy, oh boy, Deep Freeze is pretty much unstoppable.

I mean, she’s got 34 Health for a start. She removes penalties on herself every turn so it’s hard to stop her with Hinders. She has damage reduction. One of her Green Abilities lets her recover health, and if she somehow hits 0 she’ll heal an average of 15. She’s relying a lot on a d6, more than I would have liked, but she’s got a very potent Boost in Yellow to help with that. Mechanically, she is a beast.

I also like the roleplaying idea of being a sort-of fae who was hurt by humanity, but refuses to become hateful from the experience. She’s looking for the good in the world, and she will shut you down if you stand against that.

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#14

So what I’m hearing is that Covenant and Deep Freeze are on the same team as BFFs, shrugging at each other as their teammates Archie and the Artificer have a Will They/Won’t They struggle for the Leader slot.
Edit: Forgot to mention their team books tag line would involve “History’s Mysteries!”

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#15

That is definitely a possibility! I hadn’t settled on any teams for certain at this point, but I will say two things - I was strongly leaning towards Archie and the Artificer teaming up, and I was pretty sure that the final teams would include one with both the Regulator and Deep Freeze on it - he investigates science being misused to experiment on other realms, and she’s the result of misused science experimenting on someone from other realms.

But in other news…

Step 1: Background

Let’s hop to it! We start off by rolling two d10s, as per usual, netting a 6 and a 2. Back to the low numbers… this gets us Blank Slate (no), Law Enforcement, and Tragic.

Let’s go ahead and take Law Enforcement. We’re really running out of low-numbered Backgrounds. Leslie always wanted to be a police officer, but has found themselves stymied by corruption in the ranks and the Thin Blue Line. They’re a patrol cop, who bucks the system but still believes that it can be repaired.

Leslie is our first person who can’t take an unused Quality. Instead, they start with Investigation d10 and Close Combat d8.

Leslie also gets a Responsibility Principle, and they’re going to take the Principle of the Mask. It’s kind of critical that their vigilante activities not get back to the corrupt cops at the precinct.

Step 2: Power Source

Law Enforcement grants d10, d8, d6 for Power Source, and rolling that results in… 1, 1, and 1.

Huh.

So our Power Source choices are Accident or Training, and we’ve already taken Training. Accident it is!

Leslie was on patrol when they stumbled across an arms deal involving alien biotech. They tried to surveil it, but their partner charged in and when they went after him, everything went bad and Leslie got infected by alien spores that, in a burst of luck, only almost killed them. When they recovered, they discovered that the spores have altered their DNA; they can control plants, stretch and twist their limbs like vines, and give off spores that control animals. It’s kind of creepy, but they’re doing their best.

For Yellow Abilities, Leslie can use their plants to provide huge bonuses or penalties to groups, or use their Elasticity to fight directly. Their Greens are… not great, but they can Boost whenever they change personal Zones, so that’s fun. Maybe I can get a healing Ability in there and ping-pong around.

Step 3: Archetype

Accident is another d12 / d6 combo (which means I’ve hit all three of them in my first nine characters, weird) and rolling that gets me… 2 and 6. Seriously? That nets me Shadow, Close Quarters Combatant, and Flyer, all of which are gone, which means that we’re cascading straight down to Robot/Cyborg. The spores that infected Leslie are biotech, and have altered them inherently.

As a cyborg, Leslie gets a d12 to Size-Shifting and a d6 Criminal Underworld Info, as well as an extra d10 Technological Power. None of them quite work, so I’m just going to say that she has access to all sorts of police Gadgets.

Size-Changing gives Leslie a Green Boost that is persistent, which will be a nice way to start things off, and will stack well with their ability to attack multiple people with Plant Control based on how many Boosts they have. Once they hit Yellow, they get the ability to make single, powerful Size-Changing attacks that get stronger if they have more bonuses available. So create bonuses, don’t always use them, and unload with the big guns.

This Archetype also gives an Expertise choice, and I’m taking Whispers. The spores talk to Leslie, trying to offer advice and alien knowledge. And as anyone who has ever seen a TV show or comic about alien battlegear grafted to humans knows, this is probably fine.

Step 4: Personality

Rolling two d10s for Personality, Leslie’s choices are 9 and 9, because apparently they are getting all the bad luck. This opens Inquisitive and Apathetic, which are both taken, so Leslie is Jaded. They used to be very hopeful and upbeat, but seeing police life up close has made them a lot more cynical.

We’re also going to take the Beat Cop roleplaying distinction, which covers the day-to-day knowledge that Leslie is badly lacking. This is actually pretty good for Leslie, because it means she has a ludicrous die pool for that first Boost, which will carry through a lot of other tricks.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Goal #1 for Red – a way to heal out of Red. Major Regeneration more than qualifies. Leslie Hinders themselves with Size-Changing, then heals a huge amount at once. Goal #2 – something to do with plants in case the situation is bad enough that we don’t want to waste time. A Field of Hazards shuts down the opposition, with the possibility of dealing damage to a large group too.

Step 6: Retcon

I dislike d6 Red dice, and this seems like a good time to boost one up to a d8, since we are very set for Red Abilities and I don’t think we need new powers.

Step 7: Health

Back in the middle, with (8 + Red 8 + Investigation 10 + 4) for 30 Health.

Step 8: Alias

We explicitly do not want an alias that evokes law enforcement concepts, so I’m going to go ahead and call them Fernwick. Leslie took the name to represent their plant powers, plus ‘wick’ for green and ready to grow, but everyone thinks it’s a fire thing and they keep having to explain. But they’re stubborn, so they’re not changing it.

Character Sheet

Fernwick

Alias: Leslie Flaherty

Background: Law Enforcement, Power Source: Accident, Archetype: Robot/Cyborg, Personality: Jaded

Principles: Mask (Responsibility), Whispers (Expertise)

  • Roleplaying: You have a career that allows you to slip between identities when necessary. You hear a voice in your head that no one else hears. That voice tells you things, which might be true or false, but the voice certainly seems to know a lot.
  • Minor Twists: What clue about your real life did you leave behind? How did the voice distract you?
  • Major Twists: Who from your civilian life is now in imminent danger? What is the voice demanding of you?

Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d8

Health: 30 (Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1)

Qualities:

  • Investigation (Mental) d10
  • Close Combat (Physical) d8
  • Beat Cop (RP) d8
  • Criminal Underworld Info d6

Powers:

  • Size-Changing (Self-Control) d12
  • Plants (Material) d10
  • Gadgets (Technological) d10
  • Elasticity (Self-Control) d8
  • Animal Control (Psychic) d6

Green Abilities:

  • Principle of the Mask (A): Overcome using knowledge from your civilian life and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
  • Principle of Whispers (A): Overcome against a challenge that involves information that you have no real way of knowing and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Personal Growth (A): Boost yourself with Size-Changing. Use your Max die. This bonus is persistent and exclusive.
  • Whiplash (A): Attack using Plants. Attack an extra target with your Mid die for each bonus you have. Use a different bonus on each attack.
  • Green Thumb ®: When you change personal zones, you may boost by rolling your Plants die.

Yellow Abilities:

  • Harsh Terrain (A): Boost or Hinder any number of nearby targets using Plants. Use your Max die.
  • Grapple (A): Attack using Elasticity. Hinder that target with your Min die.
  • Colossal Smash (A): Attack using Size-Changing. Add a bonus equal to the number of bonuses you currently have.

Red Abilities:

  • Back to Basics (A): Hinder yourself with Size-Changing. Use your Min die. Recover using your Max and Mid dice.
  • Spore Field (A): Hinder any number of targets with Plants. Use your Max + Min dice. If you roll doubles, also Attack each target using your Mid die.

Out Ability: Remove a bonus or penalty of your choice.

Aftermath: Well, we certainly ran full-tilt into my personal restrictions this time. Two cascades much earlier than I’d expected. I think I am going to add a small revision to the previous rules, so that I can keep having two options up to the end. This rule is as follows:

If I have only one option, I can take it, or I can take the next available option after whichever one is the sum of the two dice. If I have zero options, I can take the first available option either before or after the sum of the two dice. This lets me always have two choices, without opening things up too far.

But the prior system pretty much worked out here. Sort of a plant-themed Blue Beetle, with a few particularly weird abilities tied into it all. Mechanically, they are a beast. Build up bonuses in Green, then shift to Yellow and use those bonuses for massive hits or area hits, and then when you drop to Red get more bonuses before defending your way back to Yellow for more massive hits.

Leslie doesn’t have a lot of Quality versatility; most of their high dice are over in Powers. But they can get by, and they have what they need to be good at their core competencies.

1 Like
#16

Heh, let’s hope Fernwick and Cameron don’t end up on the same team.

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#17

I was seeing Archie, Regulator, and Artificer together.
Covenant and Deep freeze to make it 5 works.

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#18

Is it too obvious saying that Fernwick and Zam might be on the same team?

#19

human infected by alien and alien cursed by cosmic works I think
The decisive hero dragging the jaded hero into action works well.

Add in the stalwart Synergist for the personality dynamics of forward momentum, stability, and indifference combined with ex-criminal and cop interactions

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#20

One of the more interesting things about this thread and your build dynamics is how you start writing the character’s story immediately. I usually don’t get that far until at least power source if not archetype.

Or is this a result of writing them up after the fact?

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