... So, apparently my brain decided that forgetting about this thread was a thing.
In all honesty, I didn't have power the past few days. So give me a few minutes.
No worries, and thanks for the evaluation!
If I may ask, what do you think about the flavour bits? Does it all come together as a consistent persona, and does it make for good narrative possibilities?
It fits together. Doesn't really inspire any thoughts immediately, but there's possibilities in there somewhere.
:D
Thanks.
I built this character on something of a whim to see if something could mechanically work, and having now coded some simulations around them, I think that they work well. However, I'd like a second (or further) opinion, so here we go.
Erd Rumant was discovered standing on a plateau by construction workers when building homes for a new town, by way of multiple jackhammers breaking against a cocoon of hyper-condensed material around him. When excavated, and given a medical examination, he was quietly transferred to Freedom Plaza after it became evident that super powered individuals were better suited to dealing with his almost elemental stubborness. With his clothing transmuted so many times that it functions as a power suit, and his ability to make himself and others resistant to change, Erd Rumant has taken the name of Mantle.
Woe be to criminals who break themselves against him.
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17iqByTAxtAlmOjChCB8B-eRdz5FY_2R3/view?usp=sharing
Edit: Forgot to mention which abilities were which.
Scarred Flesh Drips With Blight = Punishment
Deep Sinews Pulse With Life = Self-Improvement
Unyielding Bone Pierces = Living Arsenal
Stubborn Solidity = Magical Shield
Scarred And Rigid Tissue = Relic Drain
Strength Protrudes From Broken Gears = Something For Everyone
Attention Shifts Like Sand In Wind = Pushing The Limits
Endurance Of Desolation = Like The Wind
Times Turns Pain To Power = Impossible Knowledge
I don't have a lot of comments but I am super impressed by that Red zone. Change attacks into hinders which automatically become a bonus on your turn. That's beautiful. I will say that he would be best in a battle with hindering baddies but that's probably obvious. Your hero is a great frontliner after a round but it would obviously be better if you had a few teammates able to drop bonuses.
Following up on that, that's part of why I chose to give him Self-Improvement/Deep Sinews Pulse With Life. It turns on his bonus-based abilities without external assistance, at the cost of a turn to use it.
The Red Zone is definitely when Mantle is at his most potent. With careful targeting, He can make full power attacks on one foe without taking any actual penalties on the attack, or even hit multiple foes with minimal penalties involved. Scarred And Rigid Tissue, while niche, also gives some ability to regenerate health loss should he reach critical levels.
catDreaming good to see my print to PDF is not the only one that exaggerates l
My print to PDF only really freaks out when I open the PDFs in a text editor to change the tab names, because I hate all of them saying the original file name, and then repopen them. And even then, it's easily legible.
Felt like throwing a character up here, and it’s not just because I’ve gained an appreciation for the Physical Powerhouse over time. Okay, mostly because the Physical Powerhouse archetype has grown on me.
Bunker Buster
Alias: Mark
Background: Adventurer
Power Source: Tech Upgrades
Archetype: Physical Powerhouse
Personality: Jovial
Powers: d8 Momentum, d8 Lightning Calculator, d8 Clockwork Implants (Power Suit), d8 Strength
Qualities: d10 Finesse, d8 Fitness, d10 Leadership, d8 Acrobatics, d8 Gears Of Obstruction
Green: 30-23, d6
- This Is How We Do It (A): Boost using Lightning Calculator, assigning your Min, Mid, and Max dice to 3 different bonuses, one of which must be given to an enemy.
– Indiscriminate Fabrication
- I Can Take It! (I): 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.
- Interlocking Gears (A): Attack using Leadership. The target of that Attack must take an Attack action against you as its next turn, if possible.
– Frontline Fighting
- Principle Of Strength
- Principle Of Clockwork
Yellow: 22-12, d8
- Clockwork Outburst (A): Attack multiple targets using Clockwork Implants, using your Min die against each.
– Energy Burst
- Kinetic Empowerment ®: When Attacked, treat the amount of damage you take as a Boost action for yourself.
– Tactical Analysis
- Follow Through ®: When you eliminate a minion with an Attack using Finesse, Recover Health equal to your Min die.
Red: 11-1, d10
- Enduring Might (I): You have no limit on amount of Reactions you can take. Each time you use a Reaction after the first one each turn, take 1 irreducible damage or take a minor twist.
– Push Your Limits
- Bring It On! ®: When you are Attacked and dealt damage, you may Attack the source of that damage by rolling your single Strength die, plus the amount of damage you take.
– Reactive Strike
- Stance Breaker (I): Whenever you Attack a target with an action, also Hinder that target with your Min die
– Endurance Fighting
Out: Defend an ally by rolling your single Leadership die.
Mark was always that stereotypical friendly jock. Big guy, nice to be around, and sometimes gave hints that he acted a bit dumber than he actually was. When an accident on an archeological expedition ended with ancient clockwork technology merged to his muscular, skeletal, and nervous system, Mark just took it in stride. Stronger, a bit faster, and with the ability to store kinetic energy and release it from his implants, he took the new name Bunker-Buster.
With a booming voice and keen mind, and a bit more finesse than in his youth, Bunker-Buster is ready to protect the innocent.
Edit: Added the original ability name for Interlocking Gears, and changed name of green zone inherent. I hadn’t noticed that it was still called Bring It On.
I love that background story, and how it ties things nicely together! BUNKER BUSTER is a character I can picture, and instantly think of possible situations he might be in. All while "ancient egypt cyborg" as a concept is unique enough to warrant more exploration. Well done!
(On a related note, that would be my only - and quite late - gripe with the aforementioned MANTLE, where the Relic+Cyborg combo seems a bit of a stretch, in the narrative dimension. Still impressive as an experiment on rule mechanics though, can't deny that.)
Edit: I notice you have two abilities both named 'Bring it on'. Since they don't really build on each other, I'd suggest re-naming one.
I wanted to re-post a character here. My players are now 2 issues into their 2nd collection without questioning their character sheets (that I made for them) once, so at the end of the 1st collection, I gave them a more liberal opportunity to modify their characters than the book “allows.”
For 2 of the 4, it only required changing 2 Abilities each (instead of 1), and 1 changed a Principle. Another character had died and come back to life, so I gave him wide latitude to re-make his character, but in the end he didn’t change a lot.
The final guy, who is my player who usually just shows up to roll dice and not much else, opened up at the end of last session about what he wanted to see for his character. It would require a substantial re-do of the character without a corresponding story reason for it, but I was OK with it if it meant he felt more connection to the character and story.
This is what I came up with. He’s good at one thing. I still welcome analysis on the results.
BARRACUDA RE-DUX
Tragic – Nature – Armored – Fast Talking
Principle of Equality
Principle of Strength
Awareness 10, Leaping 10, Strength 10, Vitality 8, Swimming 6
Banter 10, Close Combat 8, Persuasion 8, Meridian Super-Soldier 8
GREEN
Natural Weapon (Strength) (Finishes Fights Fast)
Armored (I) (Armored Scales)
Dual Offense (Awareness) (Combat Awareness)
Living Bulwark (Vitality) (Powerful Charge)
Repair (Strength) (Overconfident Fighter)
YELLOW
Predator’s Eye (Strength) (Wild Haymakers)
Wild Strength (R) (Trash Talking Thrashing)
RED
Reactive Strike (Strength) (Spec Ops Reflexes)
Unerring Strike (Awareness) (Tactical Predator Senses)
Take Down (Leaping) (Leaping Smash)
Thanks for the comments!
BARRACUDA RE-DUX
First Impression: Barracuda Re-Dux is a brawler, getting up and beating down one foe.
In the Green Zone, Barracuda opens up swinging. Finishes Fights Fast is the most potent Attack, while Combat Awareness, Powerful Charge, and Overconfident Fighter give a range of different utility effects. Armored Scales and Overconfident Fighter is a mini-combo; Reducing incoming damage only to heal it back off can almost neutralize the threat posed by most minions or Lieutenants.
In the Yellow Zone, Barracuda doubles down on the offense. Wild Haymaker’s will deal damage to almost anything, although it’s worth noting the risk from it; Giving a foe an advantage can be dangerous without good teamwork. Trash Talking Thrashing gives him an incentive to hunt down minions; Wild Haymkers being a near instant skill on a single minion at a time can be a very reliable way to empower himself for a big punch somewhere else.
In the Red Zone, Barracuda sticks with what he does best. Spec Ops Reflexes further rewards him for staying in the thick of the fight, while Tactical Predator Senses ensures that his strikes will land without interference. Leaping Smash is a solid attack, and while not his most potent (That honor goes to Wild Haymakers and Tactical Predator Senses), it does put a solid restriction on whatever target get’s hit with it.
Overall, Barracuda Re-Dux is an effective single target beater.
In terms of a team setting, Barracuda still appreciates allies who can hand out Boosts or deal with multiple foes at once. While Armored Scales will help mitigate attacks from multiple foes, there’s still a distinct possibility of him just getting buried underneath them.
Thanks, catDreaming!
Got an idea for this character, and after turning it over a couple of times, finally got it to where it is now.
Thataway
Alias: Tabel Larius
Background: Criminal
Power Source: Experimentation
Archetype: Shadow
Personality: Impulsive
Powers: d8 Momentum, d8 Wall Crawling, d8 Leaping, d8 Speed
Qualities: d12 Acrobatics, d8 Finesse, d8 Stealth, d8 Fitness, d8 Free Fallin'
Green: 28-22, d6
- It's All Down To Me (I): Whenever you are Boosted, increase that bonus by +1. Then, if that bonus is +5 or higher, take damage equal to that bonus and remove it.
- Up The Walls (A): Attack using Acrobatics. Remove one physical bonus or penalty, Hinder a target using your Min die, or maneuver to a new location in your environment.
-- Sabotage
- Stepping Stones (R): When you would be dealt damage, roll a d4 while in the Green zone, d6 while in the Yellow, or d8 while in Red. Reduce the damage you take by the value rolled. Attack another target with that roll.
-- Untouchable
- Principle Of Speed
- Principle Of Great Power
Yellow: 21-11, d6
- Leap Of Faith (A): Boost yourself using Leaping and use your Max die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
-- Personal Upgrade
- Contact Dispersal (R): When a nearby hero in the Yellow or Red zone would take damage, Defend against that damage by rolling your single Momentum die, then redirect any remaining damage to a nearby minion of your choice.
-- Misdirection
- Can't Stop Me Now (A): Attack or Overcome using Speed. Boost yourself using your Min die.
-- Overcome From The Shadows
Red: 10-1, d8
- Terminal Velocity (I): You have no limit on amount of Reactions you can take. Each time you use a Reaction after the first one each turn, take 1 irreducible damage or take a minor twist.
-- Push Your Limits
- It's Not The Fall (A): Attack using Acrobatics. Use your Max die. Remove any number of penalties from the target. Add your Min die to the Attack each time you remove a penalty.
-- Finishing Blow
Out: The hero who acts directly after you may lose 1 health after rolling to reroll their entire dice pool.
Tabel never had a chance to be a kid. Taken at birth by some shady organization she never learned the name of, raised in a simulated city as part of an experiment on some subject she never learned, she learned quickly how to take what she needed to get by. And when someone showed up in town with a drug could supposedly stop time for everyone but you? Well, the researchers certainly didn't expect one resident to steal all of the first shipment in and inject it unrefined directly into her bloodstream.
Turns out time being stopped for everyone but you was an understatement. Tabel could move as if time was stopped for her, and was completely blind while doing so. She literally moved faster than she could think. And that was before she realized that she could 'fall' in any direction she wanted, controlling which direction was her down. Shipment after shipment went in to try and continue the experiment, until one day the experiment was abandoned. Not because it ran out of funding, but because some neon blue blur erupted from the back of a truck that had gotten it's shipment stolen once again, taking out several scientists as it ricocheted madly through the facility until it just happened to go flying out a door into a populated city, vanishing into the night.
Thataway still doesn't know what that lab was for, who was funding the city they were raised in, or what the drug they'd subsisted on for god knows how long was. But they do know one thing: It's all downhill from here.
----
Thataway ended up as a merger of two concepts, one a speedster who literally moved faster than she thought, and one someone who could 'fall' in any direction they wanted. The two just fit together, and then we get Thataway. I'm not sure if their actually good in any mechanical sense.
Oh, and I did make the switch from 'she' to 'they' on purpose. Thataway might or might not be properly human anymore.
So I rolled up one of my more iconic City of Heroes characters as a Sentinels RPG character. But I feel like I missed a step, as the power vs qualities vs abilities mix seems a bit off. But it might be my imagination.
High concept: Shadow controller/jumper that uses twin swords when things get too close. Wears a blindfold due to sensitivity to light, but can sense light and shadow around her.
Onyx Oracle
Background: Academic
Power Source: mystical
Archetype: Transporter
Personality: inquisitive
Principles: Stealth, Defender.
Powers: Teleportation d10, Awareness d8, telekinesis d10, strength d8, agility d8
Qualities: history d12, self-discipline d8, close combat d10, insight d8, magical lore d10, Shadowy Paladin (custom) d8
Abilities:
Green:
Displacement Assault (use teleportation)
run down (use telekinesis)
principle of stealth
principle of defender
Yellow:
modification wave
mystic redirect
hit and run
Red:
Field of Hazards
Aware Response
So in general, she is supossed to bounce around the combat zone, using tendrils of shadow to restrain foes or help friends. This is represented by the TK, so it's always using tendrils of shadow. The teleportation is jumping through shadows, so failure is likely to be represented by light sources preventing her form entering or leaving.
This may change after I finish reading MindWanderer's character thread.
I'm back with another hero to be rated.
This one is a small, quick Plant Spirit from Spirit Islan- er, I mean the Nexus of the Void. ; )
I think you made a typo in your hero name; shouldn't it read "Kudzu"?
Haha no. Kudzu is known for being an invasive species, which really has nothing to do with my concept. Also, I doubt Sentinel Comics would use it, since it is already taken by their Shear Force property's K.U.D.Z.U.
So, first character I've tried to create in SCRPG. And of course I can't get my mind off a concept I've had for a while, which isn't simple I guess.
Hopefully I'm reading the rules close enough to get this right. I did take a liberty suggested in another thread, and swap in a Yellow from another Power Source to better model the character's abilities. In Green, she's creating drones, Boosting an ally, or using Robotics (for the general drone swarm) or the EMG along with Technology and Status for basic Attacks. Flight isn't there for the d6 so much as for the actual mobility it provides.
Tek
Vash was decanted into the control caste, intended to use the arcanotech crystals that power all of her people's technology. Sadly, she's a glitch, a genetic failure, unable to touch the crystals without setting off an unstable, often violent reaction. Her penchant for tinkering with inferior mechanical devices was humored for a time, as long as she stayed out of the way -- until she started experimenting with using the crystals to power her "crude robotic friends". Forced to flee a "recycling order" in the middle of the chaos caused by one of her "little mishaps", she ended up on Earth with a stash of crystals.
On Earth, her "inferior mechanical devices" and "crude little robots" are mysterious alien technology, and her array of arcanotech drones are a potent force. She can use the crystals for many of their myriad intended functions, so long as she can create a device to channel their power to the desired effect. Good thing, since she could be here for a very very long time -- and while she still has a hard time thinking like these humans, at least she can be useful here.
Alias - Vash Zhekot (Sophia Smith)
Gender - Female
Eyes - Red (Green)
Hair -- Iridescent Black Feathers (Black)
Skin -- Blue (Caucasian)
Height -- 5'10"
Build -- Wiry
Costume -- Mid-length black coat lined with pockets, grey utility trousers and shirt, goggles, big arcanotech gauntlets. Disguise projector allows her to pass for human (most people aren't looking for a alien in line at the coffee shop, which is good, because she loves dirty chai...)
Background -- Interstellar
Power Source -- Alien
Archetype -- Minion-Maker
Personality -- Stalwart (more for the mechanical effects, honestly)
Principle of the Gearhead -- You always know the general state of repair or function of an item of technology, whether it's a simple toaster or an alien orbital defense system.
Principle of the Immortal -- You do not age and will not be affected by mundane ailments.
Powers:
Robotics (d10)
Vitality (d8)
Energy Manipulator Gauntlets / EMGs (Signature Weapon - d8)
Gravitic Impellor Harness (Flight - d6)
- Inventions (d8)
Qualities:
Technology (d12)
Alien Polymath (d8)
Self-Disciple (d6)
- Deep Space Knowledge (d8) {Wondering if this has too much overlap with the Special "Alien Polymath" or not...}
- Science (d8)
Abilities -- Green:
Create Arcanotech Drone (Make Minion) -- Create a Minion using ROBOTICS.
Arcane Infusion (Power Up) -- Boost another hero or one of your Minions using SIGNATURE WEAPON. Either use your Max Die, or your Min Die and make the Bonus persistent.
Principle of the Gearhead -- Overcome a technological challenge and use your Max Die. You and each of your allies gain a Hero Point.
Principle of Immortality -- Overcome a situation involving your physical condition and use your Max Die. You and each of your allies gain a Hero Point.
Abilities -- Yellow:
Multipurpose Drone Swarm (Empower and Repair) -- Boost, Hinder, Defend, or Attack using ROBOTICS. You and all nearby heroes in the Yellow or Red zone Recover Health = Min Die.
Field Upgrades (Upgrade Minion) -- Boost one of your Minions using ROBOTICS. You may also upgrade that Minion to your Max Die size, replacing its Minion form.
Energy Intercept (A Plan For Everything) -- When you are attacked, first roll your single SIGNATURE WEAPON die. Defend yourself with that roll. Then, Boost yourself using that roll. {Can be switched to HALT! if one wants straight Constructed Method}
Abilities -- Red:
Thinking Sideways (Considered Planning) -- Boost using TECHNOLOGY and use your Max Die. Defend against all attacks using your Mid Die until your next turn. Option to Hinder as a Reaction with Min Die.
Alien Metabolism (Major Regeneration) -- Hinder yourself using VITALITY, use Min Die. Recover Health = Max+Mid Dice.
Ability -- Out:
Emergency Protocols -- Defend an Ally by rolling ROBOTICS (d10)
* See pages 87-88 for Minion Maker rules -- Technology (d12) gives Tek access to all 12 options on the Minion Forms table.