Rate My Build (Heroes)

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
#1

Prior to the release of the Core Rulebook PDF, MindWanderer made a thread detailing their analysis of the different Backgrounds, Power Sources, Archetypes, and Personalities in the Sentinels Comics RPG. With the Core Rulebook PDF being released, and MindWanderer soon to be updating his thread to reflect the changes from it, now seems a good time to start this thread.
Simply put, this is thread for people to give their thoughts on a hero build that you include in your post. There's no official rating system for everyone to use ATM.

Here's a build that I'd like thoughts on:

Scabbard
- Background: Retired Hero
- Power Source: Supernatural
- Archetype: Shadow
- Personality: Nurturing
- Powers:
-- Absorption d12, Shapeshifting d6, Transmutation d6, Intuition d10, Agility d6
- Qualities:
-- History d10
-- Otherworldly Mythos d10
-- Stealth d10
-- Fitness d10
-- Survivor Of World's End d8
- Abilities
-- Green: 31-24 Health
--- Presence Concealment(Sabotage) (A): Attack using Stealth. Remove a physical bonus or penalty, Hinder a target using your Min die, or move to a new location elsewhere in the scene.
--- Grit Your Teeth(Untouchable) (R): When you would take damage, you may roll a d4 while in the Green zone, d6 while in the Yellow zone, or a d8 while in the Red zone. Reduce the amount of damage you take by the value you rolled. Attack another target using that rolls
--- Principle Of The Nomad
--- Principle Of The Tactician
-- Yellow: 23-12 Health
--- Survivor's Arsenal(Personal Uppgrade) (A): Boost using Absorption. Use your Max die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
--- Artificial Reinforcement(Area Healing) (A): Boost another hero using Transmutation. You and other nearby heroes Recover health equal to your Min die.
--- Eye Of The Mind(Overcome From The Shadows) (A): Attack or Overcome using Intuition. Boost yourself using your Min die.
-- Red: 11-1 Health
--- I'm Gonna Feel This Later...(Push Your Limits) (I): You have no limits on the number of reactions you can take. Whenever you use a Reaction beyond the first each turn, either take 1 irreducible damage or take a minor twist.
--- Get Down!(Reactive Defense) (R): When an enemy Attacks, you may become the target of that Attack and Defend by rolling your single Fitness die.
--- Protection Beyond World's End(Empowerment) (R): Whenever you are dealt damage, roll your single Absorption die as a Defend against the Attack and a Boost for yourself.
-- Out: Boost an ally by rolling your single History die.

 

Scabbard was a hero once before, though under a different name, and he's not in amazing shape. Overuse of his powers when he was younger has dulled his senses, particularly his vision. Now he sticks to covert action, sealing off weapons and depending on his intuition to keep up with rapidly changing situations. It was a long time ago that the world he came from ended; He'll show up to keep his new one from the same fate.

#2

Character I built and posted on the Realm of Discord server:  Verhexen

After the loss of his right hand in battle, mercenary poet Gottlieb (Gotz) von Berlichingen made a deal that forever changed his life.  The unknown being was surely a demon of some sort, but it offered not only a new hand, but also prowess in battle, virtual immortality, and a suit of battle armor forged in the heart of Hell itself.

What the demon neglected to tell Gottlieb was that he could never look upon the sun again.  He could venture out in daylight, but only while clad in the arcane armor borne from his right hand.  Beyond sunset, Gottlieb could return to his 'human' form, but never again could he walk the streets as merely a man. 

Over the centuries, Gottlieb has realized the folly of his ways and has shaped his curse into a hammer against all manner of occult evils.  Taking the name Verhexen, he has girded himself with the raiment of the infernal to bring justice to those very forces.

#3

Verhexen strikes me as a solid character for dealing with groups of foes. In a one v one fight, he can go toe to toe with most foes and build himself up enough to take them down. If he's going up against a group of foes, he can wade in and break down foes over time, with moments to build himself up and/or heal. With a team to take one a single foe, he'll be able to make the single foe focus on him (barring allies catching attention). Against multiple foes, he'll have to worry less about a barrage of attacks than his teammates; Damage reduction get's way better with more foes throwing around power.

#4

I like both characters. Scabbard seems like a survivor with his powers. I thinks its great when the character build really fits the description and you did a great job of that.

Verhexen looks fun. He seems like a real up front fighter. The power of all those green abilities means you will always have options and can "keep moving forward."

#5

I love that the Verhexen character holds so much more narrative than pure mechanics! We need more of that!

Seriously, I find it quite interesting to see what people make of the various mechanical modules of hero creation, in that other thread.

But this! I really enjoyed reading that short backstory, and it sparks so much imagination.

So I vote, let's make this a backstory-focused thread, with the underlying mechanics as a mere addendum just like you did.

#6

Go ahead in a new thread if you’d like. This thread can remain more mechanically focused, although I won’t say that backstory has no place here. It can help give meaning to the choice of abilities.

#7

I have a request: for abilities, either use or include the original names and not just the personalized names.  Same goes for renamed Powers such as Signature Weapon.  Renamed abilities are great for flavor but obfuscate mechanical discussion.

#8

Done.

#9

Scabbard: So, basically a tank/support hero?

In Green he tries to draw aggro and reduce the damage a little, remove mods, and hinder a little bit.  A one-trick pony but it's a decent trick.

In Yellow he gives himself a fat persistent boost and then does mass heals (bound to a d6, but for Min die with a bonus it doesn't matter much).  His other Yellow ability isn't great, especially when you have a really similar Green already, but it does boost himself and let him power up those heals even more.

Reactive Defense and Empowerment... interesting combo.  You can use Reactive Defense even when you're attacked, but technically you can use both, since one triggers on someone being attacked and the other triggers on taking damage.  Then presumably you use that boost to heal everyone out the nose (and pay for all those reactions you're taking).

He could be a highly valuable member of a team... as long as other members are focused on actually winning.  Remember that everyone going "out" is only one failure condition; the other is the scene tracker running out.  With this hero on the team, the chances of people getting knocked out go way down, but his offensive power is basically nil and even his Principles aren't the most reliably useful.  I'd be hesitant to use this character unless I knew that there was at least one other hero on the team to pick up my slack.

#10

That's fair. Reactive Defense and Empowerment can't stack their Defend actions, but they do stack with Untouchable, since it doesn't actually Defend. It gives him a bit more offense if things are going poorly, but even then he's definitely better at helping his allies survive a fight. Plus, his persistent self boost makes all of those reactions even more potent.
I'll admit to some bias in regards to Sabotage. It really shines when the enemy decides to slap big hinders on the entire party, or big boosts on themselves that he can interact with it.

#11

Oh, I never noticed that two Defends don't stack.  You do get the better of the two, which is something, but there might be better choices than Empowerment.

Remember that one mass Hinder creates multiple individual penalties, so Sabotage will only clear it from one target.

#12

Ok, I'll throw out a build for a hero I had a lot of fun coming up with, so I introduce to you:

 

Slayer

Background: Tragic

Power Source: Training

Archetype: Armored

Personality: Stoic

 

Powers: Strength D10, Bag of Holding (Signature Weapon) D10, Agility D6, Vitality D10

Qualities: Creativity D10, Conviction D8, Imposing D8, Close Combat D8, Ranged Combat D8, He Who Fights Monsters D8

 

Green: 35 - 27 Health, D6

Weathered Armor (Armored) - Inherent, Reduce any physical or energy damage you take by 1 while you are in the Green Zone, 2 while in the Yellow Zone, and 3 while in the Red Zone. 

Violent Vengeance (Dual Offense) - Action, Attack using Strength. Attack a second target using your Min die.

Now We Slay The Monsters (Unstoppable Charge) - Action, Attack using Imposing. Ignore all penalties on this Attack, ignore any Defend actions, and it cannot be affected by Reactions.

Potion of Healing (Repair) - Action, Attack using Bag of Holding. Recover Health equal to your Min die.

Principle of the Zealot - Action, Overcome a situation that tests your faith and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a Hero Point.

Principle of the Powerless - Action, Use your knowledge of the limitations of super powers in an Overcome Action and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a Hero Point.

Yellow: 26 - 13 Health, D8

Imagination Is A Weapon (Always Be Prepared) - Action, Boost yourself using Bag of Holding. That bonus is persistent and exclusive. Then, Attack using your Min die. You may use the bonus you just created on that Attack.

Reckless Assault (Reactive Field) - Reaction, When you are Attacked by a nearby enemy, the Attacker also takes an equal amount of damage.

Red: 12 - 1 Health, D10

Slayer's Retribution (Inspiring Totem) - Inherent, When you use an Ability Action, you may also perform any one Basic Action using your Mid die on the same roll.

Fighting Dirty (Endurance Fighting) - Inherent, Whenever you Attack a target with an Action, also Hinder that target with your Min die.

This Will Not Stand! (Considered Planning) - Boost using Conviction and Use your Max die. Defend against all Attacks against you using your Mid die until your next turn. Note your Min die - As a Reaction, until your next turn, you may Hinder an Attacker using that die.

Out: Defend an Ally by rolling your single Conviction die.

 

A hero from another reality where Earth never really advanced past the Medieval Age and monsters and magic were commonplace, Slayer lost his family when he was young due to horde of monsters annihalating his entire village. The sole survivor of the massacre, Slayer vowed vengeance against any monsters that crossed his path, and systematically became a folk hero due his exploits in slaying the creatures that threatened society across the world. When OblivAeon struck, he wandered through one of the mist gates and became stranded in our reality, but he has made peace with this, seeing that even in this world there are still those in need of his particular skills. Most heroes don't know exactly what to make of this knight in bloody armor, and Slayer even muses that the more he fights monsters the closer he is to becoming one, but one thing is certain to all who meet him: No matter what the world throws at him, he will continue to stand and fight to protect humanity from the evils that threaten their safety.

#13

First impression: Slayer is very solid. He will always have something to do in a scene, and he doesn't really peak to any notable degree.
In the Green Zone, Slayer can engage one or two opponents without worry about his own safety. Either they can't react to him, will be assaulted on two fronts, or he'll be recovering health to slow down their own attacks. Combined with Weathered Armor, he can easily be the frontline fighter of a team.
In the Yellow Zone, Slayer pumps himself up and hits someone along the way, and then can return to his Green Zone strategies. With the addition of Reckless Assault, he'll be able to make anyone who messes him up notably regret their decision. Solid for a frontline fighter.
In the Red Zone, Slayer adds in This Will Not Stand as a way to give himself a surge of power without dropping his guard, while Slayer's Retribution and Fighting Dirty ensure that he never has to stop his offensive, and his offensive will always have some effect.

Overall? Slayer seems like a great frontline fighter, and he'll definitely be hard for opponents to stop. Someone will go down on the way of taking him out, more likely multiple someones.

In terms of a team setting, Slayer would want a teammate who can deal with more than two targets at once in some way, or someone who can slow down the opposition. Otherwise, he seems pretty self-reliant, and would rarely be unwelcome.

#14

Salamander

Academic__________Mystical___________________Flyer____________________Decisive

Fire D10 _____________________________________________Self Discipline D12
Flight D10 ____________________________________________ History D10
Awareness D8 _________________________________________ Acrobatics D8
Swimming D8 _____________________________________ Big man on campus D8
_________________________________________________________Leadership D8

Principle of great power _________________________________ Principle of mastery

Green D8
Aerial bombardment [fire] _________________ rename fusillade
Strike and swoop [flight] _____________________ rename attack pattern delta

Yellow D8
Mystic Redirection [Fire] ____________________ rename fire shield
Sever link [Flight] ____________________rename obstacle courser used retcon to change power used
Aerial surveillance [Leadership] ________________________ rename tactical overview

Red D8
Powerful strike [Fire] __________________________rename flame blast
Untouchable moment [Flight] ____________________________rename afterburners

Out
Boost an ally by rolling your single Fire die

Arron Thomas Zimmerman high school swim team captain, A+ student, overachiever, friend to everyone in his school has bonded with the “Promethean Flame” a benevolent being of sentient plasma. At Freedom Academy he no longer feels pressured to be the best or set an example for everyone else and can happily be a face in the crowd of young superheroes, still giving 110% but not far ahead of his peers. A recurring background character in Daybreak comics. < if a GM would let me start with a collected trade it would be Daybreak present: Salamander, a comic reprinting all the scenes he was in form 20 issues of his parent comic>
Tv Tropes- Playing with fire - Flying fire power - Wreathed in flames - Fiery stoic - Big man on campus

Most ranged attacks would use Self Discipline quality, my 2 Principals should explain why for people who are a little skeptical
I had to retcon Sever Link because superior mobility is his primary trait
Big man on campus would cover any school centered athletic/academic/social interaction not covered by existing qualities
Out Ability shows the small cosmic entity inside of him can act independently in a emergency

#15

Slayer:

Armored and Training is a tough combination to work with.  Armored is one of my least favorite archetypes, with no really great abilities, but you probably want Dual Offense to deal with minions (and it synergizes well with Endurance Fighting).

I'm also not the biggest fan of Considered Planning in this build--you took a Red ability that enhances your attacks, and then another Red ability that isn't an attack.  You don't have any repeatable Yellow Action abilities, so you're stuck spamming your mediocre Green abilities for most of the scene.  You're durable but you can't protect the team or win fights.  Consider instead taking Paragon Feat (to pass Overcomes and help your more offensive allies) or Finishing Blow (which is a sweet combo with Inspiring Totem and Endurance Fighting).

Salamander: 

Modification Wave is probably Mystical's best ability--mass mods are extremely powerful and this one can Boost or Hinder without having to pick one in advance.  I'm guessing you skipped it because you took Aerial Surveillance, but they each have their uses.  With Principle of Great Power, Sever Link isn't really necessary.  Mystic Redirection is good but a bit risky since you're not all that tanky; Barrel Roll might be a good choice to help with this.  (Strike and Swoop is okay but I don't see you using it often.)  I personally think Aerial Surveillance is so good that I always take it in Green, but Flyer has lots of good abilities, so it's a tough choice.

As for Red abilities, Powerful Strike is simple but highly effective.  Untouchable Movement is niche and I'm not the biggest fan of niche Red abilities since you only get a couple of chances to use them per scene, but it looks like you chose it mostly for thematic reasons.

#16

At a first glance, I don't get a strong impression of what Salamander does.
In the Green Zone, Salamander can ping down multiple targets or harass a single target. Multi-targeting in the Green Zone is pretty good, so that's a major plus. Attack Pattern Delta is consistent, and it's better than a basic Attack.
In the Yellow Zone, Salamander's options open up into a support role. Obstacle Courser is a great ability if there's environment challenges, and although I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around it using Flight, I'm sure there's something there. Flame Shield feels risky without another way to reduce the damage, especially since Defends don't stack. Tactical Overview is a cool ability, and it gives Salamander an alternate way to help take down one big target.
In the Red Zone, Salamander turns what he can do to it's max. Flame Blast will bring down the pain without any external help, and Afterburners gives him a way to set up.

Overall, Salamander feels kind of just there. It feels like he'll fall into repeating the same action over and over, which just isn't that fun, or he'll hit something that he can't immediately deal with.

In a team setting? Salamander get's considerably better. His ability to enhance allies ensures that the scene will progress, and while his Green Zone might not be as interesting, he'll be able to manipulate the battlefield to a reasonable degree. He'll be welcome on most teams, I would think.

#17

I'll offer some insight into why I chose the Red Zone abilities I did for Slayer, and that is all Action Economy.

Inspiring Totem is a straight up bonus action on any of my Ability Actions, and since the only things in my kit that aren't Ability Actions are Armored, Reactive Field, Inspiring Totem and Endurance Fighting, it means any time I Attack, I'm triggering an extra action. This allows me to attempt Overcomes, Boost allies, Hinder enemies, add Defends or just hit the guy a second time with an Attack.

Endurance Fighting adds a small Hinder whenever I Attack an enemy. While this Hinder is usually going to be a -1 since it uses the Min die, since every Ability Action I have other than Considered Planning has an Attack tied to it already, now all my Ability Actions have a Hinder Action as well.

With just these two together, my "mediocre" Green abilities become a lot stronger, with Dual Offense gaining up to SIX actions available to it (Mid Attack, Min Hinder, Min Attack, Min Hinder, Bonus Mid Attack, Bonus Min Hinder), but even Repair and Unstoppable Charge get a bare minimum of 3 Actions on them and still have their small Heal and unblockable traits available to them.

But then we get Considered Planning, the black sheep of this whole build from a basic glance. But remember, this is an Ability Action as well, so the sheer usage of this ability gives me an extra action. So I get a Max Boost, I Defend against ALL Attacks aimed at me, and I have a new Reaction for a small Hinder. By itself, this is two actions with a third one on standby for me to throw out to help an ally if needed (Since it only specifies Attacker, not who is being Attacked). But with Totem, now I can get an additional action, and if that action is an Attack, then Endurance Fighting gives me another, giving me Four Actions on my turn while leaving me a Fifth to throw on an enemy turn. But then the strategy comes full circle when you use the ability a second time, since you choose which effect die a Boost is applied to, you can dump the Persistent Boost from his Yellow Zone and the Max Boost from the previous use of this ability onto his Mid die, so the Defend can block most sources of Damage and your Bonus Action is even stronger now. AND THIS CYCLE IS SELF-SUSTAINING! As long as another abilty isn't used, he can continually keep up a strong Defend while also throwing out decent basic actions based on the situation, and if I do use a different abilty, that ability is still going to be boosted by Considered Planning and be even stronger. And factor this in: A generic Mid Boost will probably average to about +2, and a generic Max Boost will probably average to about +3. So I could reasonably add +5 to any of my die with this ability. An average Mid roll is usually 4-6, so lets take the lower end with a 4 and run this math quickly. My Defend Action gains 9 DR (4 on the die and +5 bonus), and with Armored I now have 12 DR, meaning outside of a Villain rolling a Max Attack on a D12 and having a Boost to bump it over 12, or the enemy having the ability to pierce Defend actions or ignore my Armored ability, I'm invincible. And then I get a bonus basic action with this buffed up Mid die. If I Attack, I hit for 9 Damage. If I Boost or Hinder, the mod is +/- 3. If I Overcome, I get a complete Success. If I choose to do another Defend, maybe trying to shield an ally, that Defend is another 9 DR against a singular attack. Also, since these are basic actions, I can also make them Risky Actions for even more effects (like say, drawing Aggro from the BBEG I just decked in the face) at the cost of taking a Minor Twist, which can just be negated by a Collection.

So, while not the most team-centric of set-ups, it does contribute a valuable addition to the team in the form of a hard to stop juggernaut that can accomplish his objectives no matter the cost. While Paragon Feat would allow me more team-play options and Finishing Blow is solid in a combo with Endurance Fighting and Inspiring Totem, Considered Planning allows me to be even more flexible in my choices while allowing my teammates to not need to worry about setting me up. By sheer nature of his capabilities in the Red Zone, smarter Villains are more likely to try and gang up on him to hinder him enough to make him vulnerable (after all, he's just one guy in a set of olden armor who is just too angry to die), and if they're ganging up on him, they aren't ganging up on his squishier allies, who could then in turn focus on picking off foes or winning the scene by dealing with Overcome challenges. This isn't a "I want all the glory" build, this is a "I support the team by being consistent in what I can do regardless of circumstances" build. 

#18

Sure, it’s a good combo (and I mentioned as much). Not as good as any attack that hits three or more targets or uses larger dice, but good. I happen to have a character in a game right now that does the same thing… but with any number of targets, with the mid die, plus a self-heal with Max.

Okay, so you’ve created a character who’s really hard to kill (unless the enemy has a “can’t be affected by Defend or Reactions” attack). But so what? If this is the move you’re spamming in Red, your allies will be dropping like flies around you and you aren’t helping them win. At best you can tank and then take some other basic action. Smarter villains won’t try to gang up on you, they’ll go for your squishy allies, who are very likely more dangerous. (Smart enemies will also use minions or incidental effects to whittle down your persistent bonus, too.)

#19

Here’s a different perspective on that. A smart villain will go for other squishy or equally dangerous allies, or use minions and the environment to whittle down the persistent bonus. On the other hand, the rest of team doesn’t have to worry about Slayer going down, allowing them to focus on supporting each other.

And, pardon me if I’m misconstruing the idea bullfroggy95, but I don’t believe that a hero will always use action abilities from their worst unlocked zone. Just because Slayer has access to it, doesn’t mean that he’ll use every turn.

#20

Here’s my reasoning: Assuming an issue is correctly balanced for the number of players, the most important question is, “Does my character being here make the issue easier or harder?”

As an extreme example, let’s say you have a hero who does literally nothing other than keep themselves alive. That hero’s mere presence is then a hindrance to the team, since their presence means more minions, tougher villains, and more checkboxes in the challenges, and they aren’t helping. Even if the GM distributes attackers exactly evenly, rather than (smartly) ignoring that hero, the other heroes still have to do more killing and more Overcoming to complete a scene. Obviously Slayer is doing more than that, but is he doing enough more? I’m not sure. Is he doing so much more that casual players will look at him and say, “Wow, I’m sure glad he’s here to help?” I really don’t think so.

And I generally assume that when someone talks about self-sustaining cycles, they intend to spam the abilities involved.