Take makes a half dozen heroes!

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
#1

All right, now that FrivYeti is making environments, I feel it’s time to sit down and do the thing I said I wanted to do: Rip him off and make some heroes! :smiley:

Why the low number, you ask? Well, my purpose here is to fill out the ‘list’, if you will, of Backgrounds, Power Sources, Qualities, etc. that I have not used or seen used in making heroes myself and with friends.

So here’s our starting point:

Backgrounds: Criminal, Medical

Power Sources: Experimentation, Nature, Radiation, Alien, Genius, Higher Power

Archetypes: Robot/Cyborg, Transporter, Reality Shaper, Divided, Modular

Personalities: Natural Leader, Alluring, Naive, Jaded, Arrogant

We want to use all the core hero elements, the rest will not completely get used up, but the list is also too long to post. Since the list of Power Sources is the longest, we’ll go down it in order to make our heroes, picking and choosing other elements first but then rolling (or just picking anyway) to fill in gaps. Once Archetypes or Powers or Abilities have run out, we’ll try to carry on without repeating things as much as possible.

But spoilers, repeats will happen. :B I’ve already written up all six heroes, and while they aren’t all equally great, I had a great time making them and getting to discover what new Abilities are out that I hadn’t seen before. I’ll post one a day (assuming I remember to), starting in just a moment!

Oh yeah, and I ripped off FrivYeti’s post format, too. It’s just practical. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#2

Step 1: Background

We’re starting with our Criminal, which doesn’t give us access to Science (the final Quality that needs to be used), so we’ll take Criminal Underworld at a d10 and Finesse at a d8. This guy’s been a career criminal for long enough to know his way around the underworld, and he’s the fast moving sort, not an imposing bruiser. We get an Expertise Principal, almost none of which are fitting. I’m going take Gearhead, make him someone who knows his way around technology even if he’s not necessarily the one creating it.

Step 2: Power Source

The first Power Source we need to use is Experimentation. Our boy likely ran afoul of a crime lord, either by failing him or getting in his people’s way during a job, and was subjected to testing because who’s gonna come looking for him?

He gets three powers from his source, and of the categories we can choose, Elemental, Mobility and Self Control are the only ones that need to be chosen from. And since Mobility only has Swimming, our friend is unfortunately going to be stuck as an aquatic hero! We’ll compliment this with some Weather control and Density Control, so he can do cool stuff in the water like going up and down quickly. Maybe he even controls wave motion! This was clearly a “throw it at the wall and see what happens” kind of experiment he got caught up in.

For Yellow Abilities, he has to take Misdirection, so we’ll assign Weather to that. I can see him commanding winds to deflect projectiles and the like. Of the other two, Personal Upgrade fits his powers better than Throw Minion, so we’ll let him use Density Control to boost himself.

He also gets a choice between two Green Abilities, neither of which I’ve used before. Overpower sounds like the worst idea possible, and probably speaks to an unstable physiology created by the aforementioned spaghetti experiment, so into the build it goes!

Step 3: Archetype

For Archetype, I feel like there’s only one choice. As a low-level crook, he was a Transporter, so a Transporter is what he’ll be as a hero. I just want him to be able to swim through the air because Swimming is such a useless power. :slight_smile: Of course, he’s just got 3d8 again. This guy can’t catch a break.

For a Power, we need to make sure all the Psychic stuff gets taken, so I’ll give him Illusions. His aquatic physiology gives him the ability to create echolocative audio illusions as well as possibly interfere with neural pathways enough to make people hallucinate. Then we’ll give him two Qualities to balance things out, Fitness and Persuasion. The experiment put him in solid physical condition, while he was always good at wheedling his way into and out of situations as a criminal. Except, y’know, for the one time it was really necessary.

He gets three Abilities, two Green and one Yellow. Interestingly, I’ve already used one of the Transporter Abilities elsewhere, according to my notes. So in Green, he’ll use Mobile Assist with Weather to Boost and attack, probably again using wind or water. And we’ll take Run Down with Illusions so he can make multiple enemies see and hear things they shouldn’t.

Lastly, for a Yellow Ability, we’ll go with Hit & Run and finally use Swimming for something. Good lord, I can’t even envision how this will work.

He gets yet another Expertise Principle? I’m going to go with Tactician, then. He was a planner as well as a runner in his past life, and he’s good at coming up with plans on the fly.

Step 4: Personality

I could make him Naive, but I think Jaded will fit better. He came from a bad place, figured he’d always be there, and though he’s now got enough power that he can help people who used to be where he was, he still knows just how many people out there don’t care and won’t help.

He’s no angel, and he’s no leader, so his roleplaying Quality (yet another d8!) will be Cynical Pragmatist.

Step 5: Red Abilities

There are a few Red Abilities that need to be taken, but sadly, with his dice all being d8’s, he’s not going to benefit from Change Self. We’ll get into a mindset of what kind of hero he becomes when the chips are down. He can make a Heroic Sacrifice and take a hit for someone else, and he can also use his Specialized Info of the Criminal Underworld to overcome challenges a bit better than anyone else.

Step 6: Retcon

Turn that Red status die into another d8, sir!

Step 7: Health

He doesn’t have any Athletic Powers or Mental Qualities, and rolling the die gets us a 2 for a paltry 22 health. This guy can’t catch a break.

Step 8: Alias

He can’t catch a break, but maybe he can catch a…

Stormbreak.

Eh? Eh? I can’t think of too many cool water words. Let’s put his full story here, shall we?

Keith Collins had the misfortune of being born in Rook City. Need anything more be said? Though he had family and mentors who encouraged him to put his smarts to use bettering himself and his community, the longer he lived and the more corruption, pain and suffering he saw, the more those encouragements fell on deaf ears. Fighting back always seemed to provoke dire retaliation so why bother? Just give in.

He fell in with a street gang and quickly became their mover and shaker. He planned heists and deliveries of contraband, ran guns and tech, and generally did his best to make sure their little corner of the underworld ran smoothly.

But you can’t work the underworld in Rook City without bumping up against the Organization eventually. And unluckily for the Sharks, they did so in the worst way possible, marking one of the Organization’s favored fences as a target and trying to take him out and muscle in on his turf. The Organization came down hard on the gang, wiping out almost all of them and throwing the rest to the geneticists of Pike Industries. Keith was the only one ‘lucky’ enough to survive.

A shot of genetic goop gave him scaled skin, fins and spines, and webbing between his digits and limbs. He quickly discovered that he could swim like a fish, echolocate like a dolphin, and even bend wind and wave to his command.

And then Oblivaeon happened. That sort of world-ending catastrophe makes a person rethink their life choices.

The Organization hadn’t quite decided what to do with the rare survivor of their genetic experiments, and had bigger fish to fry in regards to rebuilding Rook City after it was destroyed. (Wasn’t it?) So Keith had an opportunity, not to mention the power, to finally make a real, positive difference in his world. It’s not easy being green, but if he can make any small contribution to ensure another Rook City kid doesn’t grow up feeling like he’s got no choices in life, well, it’s worth it.

Character Sheet

Stormbreak

Alias: Keith Collins

Background: Criminal
Power Source: Experimentation
Archetype: Transporter
Personality: Jaded

Principles: Principle of the Gearhead, Principle of the Tactician

Minor Twists: What mechanical device just shorted out?; What one variable did your plan not account for?
Major Twists: What machine just went terribly off the rails?; What major threat is revealed that invalidates all your plans?

Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d8

Health: 22-18, 17-9, 8-1

Qualities:

Criminal Underworld d10
Finesse d8
Fitness d8
Persuasion d8
Cynical Pragmatist d8

Powers:

Weather d8
Swimming d8
Density Control d8
Illusions d8

Green Abilities:

Unstable Fish-iology (Overpower): -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.
Updraft (Mobile Assist): -A- Boost another hero using Weather. Attack using your Min die.
Dolphin’s Cry (Run Down): -A- Attack multiple targets using Illusions. Use your Min die against each.

Yellow Abilities:

Batter Down the Hatches (Misdirection): -R- When a nearby hero in the Yellow or Red zone would take damage, Defend against that damage by rolling your single Weather die, then redirect any remaining damage to a nearby minion of your choice.
Dive! Dive! (Personal Upgrade): -A- Boost yourself using Density Control. Use your Max die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
Storm Surge (Hit & Run): -A- Attack using Swimming. Defend against all Attacks against you using your Min die until your next turn.

Red Abilities:

Not So Bad at This Hero Thing (Heroic Sacrifice): -R- When an opponent Attacks, you may become the target of the Attack and Defend by rolling your single Red zone die.
Still Better at Being a Criminal (Specialized Info): -A- Overcome using [quality]. Use your Max+Min dice.

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

Aftermath:
Oof. Dude’s got two dice that are not d8’s, and they’re d10’s. I suppose I could have lucked into this with random rolls, but given he’s got the Aquaman kit, I don’t see myself ever actually playing him? That said, he’s a great character for telling stories, so maybe he can show up as an NPC sometime. :slight_smile:

Also, full disclosure, I sort of knew which Background, Power Source, etc. were going into this hero. But not the powers! Those really shaped what we ended up with, and I’m at least pleased that I could go so bizarre right off the bat. All right, next one’s tomorrow!

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#3

It’s barely been 12 hours, but I’ll be out all day, here’s the next one!

Step 1: Background

Our second and final assigned Background is Medical! To my complete lack of surprise, Science is available, so Science shall be taken at a d10, as it’s the only Quality I need to use! I’ll also give this person Self-Discipline at a d8 because… Medicine isn’t an option? What? Why? (N.b.: I have been informed that I am a doofus. We’ll give this person a d6 Medicine, and a d10 Conviction in step 3. Rest assured, the people responsible have been sacked.)

We’ve got another Expertise Principle at play here, so Science sounds like a good one! Just double down on that assigned archetype, why don’tcha?

Step 2: Power Source

For Power Source, we’re going with Nature, both because it’s next and because I think it’ll fit well with the Background. Whether this person underwent some kind of transformation into a plant creature or comes from a long line of nature mages they were trying to rebel against, at least a background in science and medicine will likely come in handy.

Looking at the Nature Powers list, Fire and Plants need to be taken, so a d10 and a d8 to those respectively. That is… a really intriguing combination. I’m thinking maybe rather than living organisms, they control dead ones, like burnt plants. We’ll take Animal Control as well, at a d6, just to continue the theme.

None of these Yellow Abilities have been used yet of course. Wild Strength sounds like it fits in with a theme of gaining strength from death, while Call to the Wild will allow our hapless scientist to put those Plant and Animal Control skills to the test.

For a Green Ability, we’re taking Natural Weapon and assigning Fire to it. This ain’t natural at all, it’s a straight-up blast of char.

Step 3: Archetype

Oof, I’m not quite ready for Divided yet, and I don’t think Robot fits, so this is going to be a Reality Shaping hero!

There are still Psychic Powers that need taken, so this fella gets Suggestion at a d8. We’re also going with Medicine at a d10 (because come ON), and Lightning Calculator at a d8 because strangely, none of the other Information or Mental Qualities spoke to me. Hm.

We get our pick of Abilities here. With a solid attack in Green from the previous step, I think a big hinder via Negative Likelihood and Suggestion, and a big Boost via Probability Insight and Lightning Calc, are good fits.

For Yellow, as much as I love Retroactive Rewrite, I think Alternate Outcome could fit a theme of decay.

And yet more Expertise Principles! I was thinking of the Lab, but that kind of doubles up with Science, and I don’t think this person is using Science to defeat challenges. No, we’re going to go with Principle of Strength. Whoever they are, they have to be careful about touching things, because their entropically fiery presence has a tendency to burn.

Step 4: Personality

I don’t like any of the choices, so we’re going with Arrogant. This person is confident in their ability as a scientist, they don’t like these powers that have been foisted upon them, they are doing you a favor by helping you out, and once these stupid bad guys are dealt with, they’re going back to the lab for more science, dammit.

For a Roleplaying Quality, Reluctant Warden should cover the family legacy that they struggled and ultimately failed to escape. We’ll use Fire for the Out Ability.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Oof, I’m already running into problems here. Like the Wind fits, turning damage into a Hinder definitely goes with the theme. But among the other Abilities that need to be taken, Calculated Dodge is a worse version of Alternate Outcome, and Reliable Aptitude and Harmony would force them to take basic actions to get any benefit from them.

Although, now that I think of it, going Red and then using Reluctant Warden to boost Fire to a d12 would actually be pretty cool and thematic. All right, so Harmony it is! Bizarre how many of this hero’s Ability options just don’t use Qualities or Power, though.

Step 6: Retcon

So that’s a good enough reason to grab a third Red Ability, especially since there aren’t any left that need to be taken. I’d really like a Psychic Ability to take advantage of Animal Control, so we’ll go with Impenetrable Defense. Just imagine a wave of burnt animal skeletons emerging from the ground, so thick that no attacks can get through it.

Creepy. :’)

Step 7: Health

They actually have a d8 Mental Quality, and then we roll a 5, leaving us with 27. Not bad.

Step 8: Alias

Charon Emberwick did everything they could to escape their upbringing. Their family was nothing but a bunch of superstitious, close-minded, uppity rich morons getting fat off exploiting the people of southern California. They studied hard at school, moved across the country to attend college, and eventually became a research doctor at Johns Hopkins University. They even got themselves a science-minded partner named Viola and a nice, happy little life. All the ill their family put into the world would be forgotten, buried beneath a lifetime spent doing good.

That all shattered when their grandmother finally tracked them down and revealed the reason for all the close-mindedness. Their family line were the wardens of an ancient wildfire spirit that, left unchecked, would destroy half of North America in fire and ash, but could be kept imprisoned in a suitably inflexible mind. Now the Brushfire Cinder, an ancient relic of petrified burnt wood, needed to be passed down to the next generation. Charon tried to argue that they weren’t anything like the family they’d left behind, but grandma cackled knowingly. Try as they might, Charon had only crafted their mind into scientific rigidity, the perfect jail for the destructive brushfire spirit.

Then grandma shoved the Cinder into Charon’s chest and dissolved into a pile of ash in their living room.

Ever since that day, life has been anything but easy. Power to control plants and animals that have been burnt alive, an atrophic touch that chars everything around them. They can’t eat because food turns to ash. They can’t sleep for visions of wildfire that haunt their dreams. And Viola understandably could not cope with the sudden change, especially once their house burnt down.

But the one thing that these powers have not extinguished is that desire to do good in the world. Charon is still a scientist first and foremost. Being able to play at a much higher level now means maybe they can help some of those superheroes battle their overpowered foes.

The world may one day fall to entropy and ash, but Singe is going to make sure that day doesn’t come for a very long time.

Character Sheet

Singe

Alias: Charon Emberwick

Background: Medical
Power Source: Nature
Archetype: Reality Shaper
Personality: Arrogant

Principles: Principle of Science, Principle of Strength

Minor Twists: What were the surprising effects of leveraging that scientific principle in this situation?; What just broke?
Major Twists: Oh heck! What just blew up?; Who just broke?

Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d6

Health: 27-21, 20-11, 10-1

Qualities:

Science d10
Medicine d10
Self-Discipline d8
Reluctant Warden d8

Powers:

Fire d10
Plants d8
Suggestion d8
Lightning Calculator d8
Animal Control d6

Green Abilities:

Char Blast (Natural Weapon): -A- Attack using Fire. Use your Max die.
A Whisper of Ash (Negative Likelihood): -A- Hinder using Suggestion. That penalty is persistent and exclusive.
Entropic Insight (Probability Insight): -A- Boost using Lightning Calculator. Use your Max die. If you roll doubles, you may also Attack using your Mid die.

Yellow Abilities:

Touch of Entropy (Alternate Outcome): -R- When a nearby enemy rolls their dice pool for the turn, you may lose 1 Health to reroll their entire pool.
Enervate from Decay (Wild Strength): -R- When you defeat a minion, roll that minion’s die and Boost yourself using that roll to create a bonus for your next action.
Sentry of Cinders (Call to the Wild): -A- Gain a D8 minion. It takes its turn before yours, but goes away at the end of the scene. You may only have one such minion at a time.

Red Abilities:

Wildfire Accession (Harmony): -I- As long as you have at least one bonus created from Reluctant Warden, treat Fire die as one size higher (max D12).
Ashes to Ashes (Like the Wind): -R- When you are Attacked and dealt damage, you may ignore that damage completely. If you do, treat the value of the damage as a Hinder action against you instead.
Charred Defenders (Impenetrable Defense): -A- Defend using Animal Control against all Attacks against you until your next turn using your Max+Mid dice.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Fire die.

Aftermath:

Well, that was neat! The strictures placed by this kind of character building do lead to some interesting choices, and I built a surprisingly poignant story out of what’s basically a bunch of random nonsense. Plus I had fun leaning into my edgelord side for naming those Abilities. Also, I love their stupid name, the kind of thing you’d only get in a superhero comic. XD

Funnily, I hadn’t planned on making an enby hero, as I’ll likely be using ‘they’ in the early stages of any other creation, but here it just seemed to fit. :slight_smile: Also, I was going to call them Firebreak, but let’s not fall into ruts here, shall we?

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#4

The Medical background gets Medicine automatically, so it’s not included on the list below.

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#5

Delighted to see this, and looking forward to how it develops! So far, Stormbreak is neat and I love Charon.

And yeah, as Omegamancer said, Medical is a weird Background. It doesn’t list “Medicine” on the short list because you always have to take it in the Background step, but also you get a third Quality die at d6 that you didn’t add.

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#6

In which we discover I am actually bad at reading!

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#7

My alternate universe counterpart who uses magic instead of technology.

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#8

I legitimately do not know how I made that mistake! Sorry about that.

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#9

“Omegamancer” sounds like a cool hero name, though. :slight_smile:

Step 1: Background

Oh boy, now we move into uncharted territory! Time to actually roll dice! I will not use the same Background twice in this exercise, nor anything else if I can help it. This will be for our Radiation-powered hero.

A 3 and an 8 give us Struggling, Tragic and Retired. As much as I love the idea of someone who Retired from being Radioactive…

No, y’know what? Retired. This is someone who used to be a hero, hung up the cape, then got zapped by Radiation and is now a completely different hero! Their d10s will be put toward Leadership and History. They used to lead a hero team, or maybe a military unit, and might just be anachronistic in nature.

We have a few Identity Principles to choose from and, oh boy, it’s time for the Split. We’re gonna make a Divided hero once we get to that step. That bit about radiation making them a completely different hero might not be hyperbole after all!

Step 2: Power Source

Radiation, right. There are only three powers left that need to be assigned, and one of them just so happens to be from Self Control: Part Detachment!

This guy’s gonna literally split, isn’t he?

I feel like Nuclear is a solid choice, along with Signature Weaponry. This guy once led a military unit, after all. (I keep just saying things offhanded that turn into good ideas.) We’re going with the anachronistic idea, too, so a soldier from yesteryear transported to the modern day, fought as a hero, led a team, I’ll go into more detail later! d12 Nuclear, d6 Part Detachment, d6 Bayonetted Musket.

Yellow Abilities are all open, though Unstable Reaction sounds like something I’ve used before. I want the other two anyway. Part Detachment for Radioactive Recharge and Nuclear for Wither.

For Green, we’ll take Radioactive Aura, except it’s going to be Hairtrigger Reflexes and use his Signature Weapon.

Step 3: Archetype

Okay, Divided. Here we go. I’m doing this late at night and will probably have to finish it tomorrow! He’s going to be a Divided Marksman, though (no sense in doubling up on Archetypes we haven’t used yet!)

So the first thing we’ll do is upgrade his Signature Weapon to a d8, leaving us with a 10 and two 6’s for this step. These we will assign to Ranged Combat, Awareness and Conviction.

As a Marksman, he’ll need to take Precise Shot for a Green Ability, which is fine, since I wanted it. For that, we’ll use Ranged Combat, and we’ll also give him Sniper Aim with Awareness.

Then for Yellow Abilities, he needs to take Exploding Ammo. I suppose that needs to be Ranged Combat as well. I also like the sound of Called Shot with Leadership for an attack and ally boost.

Now we go back to Divided and start doing that, oh boy. This writeup is going to end up being my auxiliary sheet. Obviously, none of these Abilities have been taken before!

Though our guy is trying to come to terms with this new form of living, his transformation is definitely uncontrollable, which gives him the Uncontrolled Transform Green Ability. And I think Split Form makes more sense than Divided Psyche. We’ll make Signature Weapon and Awareness his two “always on” Powers, and Ranged Combat and Leadership the Qualities.

Now we get a Responsibility Principle, all of which have been used already, so we’ll go with Veteran. It may be obvious given his background, but I think he’ll need to be able to keep a level head when his more manic side comes into play.

Step 4: Personality

We’re taking two Personalities here. Natural Leader is on the list for things what have yet to be taken, so in it goes as his ‘civilian’ form, with a 6-8-10 status layout. When he goes Nuclear, he becomes Impulsive, with a 6-6-8 and (I guess?) upgrade of one power or quality a die step. Nuclear’s already maxed out, so I think that will be Awareness, if only to make the poor guy suffer more. :slight_smile:

For a Roleplaying Quality, how about Napoleonic Code, to telegraph what period of history this fellow is from? He was very much a product of the French Revolution, there for his Emperor, and definitely something of a relic of the past these days. But he fights with honor and what beliefs he holds strongest.

Step 5: Red Abilities

I think Reliable Aptitude with Leadership is a good idea. He did lead his men to a rousing victory once upon a time, after all.

Change Self is also calling to me, so we’ll go with that, even though it’s probably not going to be very useful.

Step 6: Retcon

I think a third Red Ability is nice, let’s go with Calculated Dodge since no one else has taken that yet.

Step 7: Health

Conviction gives him a base of 6, with a roll of an 8 for a total of 30! He may be three hundred years old, but he doesn’t look a day over forty. :slight_smile:

Step 8: Alias

Claude Rémy was a Frenchman through and through. He believed in the Revolution, he believed in Napoleon, and he was all too happy to join the Grand Armeé, fighting for his homeland and the principles that made it what it was. He rose quickly through the ranks of the Imperial Guard, proving time and again that he was a gifted military leader and a shrewd strategist.

He had just led his men in part of the victory of the Battle of Austerlitz, with but a single casualty, when a portal made of mist swept him up and into a far worse battle than he could ever have imagined.

Let it not be said that he let things like not knowing where he was, or the language most of the people nearby were speaking, or what literally anything around him was keep him from putting up the fight of his life. He might have been armed with antiquated weaponry, but every Aeon Man that found itself in his musket sights fell that day. His performance was noted, and when it was determined no Mist Portal would send him back to 19th century France, he was given a place to stay and the moniker Le Mousquetaire.

The heroing life proved not to be for Claude, however. He was too human for the DEI to deal with in any depth, and catching up with modern times takes a toll on a person. (He never returned to France, for he feared how much the nascent country he loved might have changed over those intervening centuries.) After a few adventures with other time-displaced heroes, he hung up his saber and retired to a comfortable life in Canada, tending a garden and keeping himself out of otherworldly affairs.

Sadly, strangeness has a way of catching up with those who’ve touched the life of a superhero. A freak accident left Claude’s body flooded with a lethal dose of radiation, but for some reason, he didn’t die. Instead he changed, into a giant, glowing monster with impulse-control issues. Once again thrust into the world of super-powered people, he was given technology to help keep in check the change that literally splits his body in two, but it can only do so much to keep his senses intact. And when La Fracture comes out to play, it’s all Claude can do to aim it in the direction of his foes.

Character Sheet

Le Mousquetaire

Alias: Claude Rémy

Background: Retired
Power Source: Radiation
Archetype: Divided
Personality: Natural Leader

Principles: Principle of the Split, Principle of the Veteran

Minor Twists: What perspective ended up being the wrong one for the situation?; What affected you emotionally about the current conflict?
Major Twists: What inner conflict has completely thrown you off?; How are you withdrawing from the current conflict?

Status Dice: Green 6, Yellow 8, Red 10

Health: 30-23, 22-12, 11-1

Qualities:

Leadership d10
History d10
Ranged Combat d10
Conviction d6
Napoleonic Code d8

Powers:

Bayonetted Musket d8
Awareness d6

Green Abilities:

Split Form: -I- Ranged Combat, Leadership, Awareness and Bayonetted Musket are usable in both forms.
Transformation Uncontrôlée (Uncontrolled Transformation): -I/A- The first time you take damage or change zones in a scene, you must change from your civilian form to your heroic form. You can also transform by taking an action and taking damage equal to a roll of your current status die. After an action scene, you change back to your civilian form.
Réflexes Capillaires (Radioactive Aura): -R- When a new target enters the scene close to you, you may Attack it by rolling your single Bayonetted Musket die.
Tir Précis (Precise Shot): -A- Attack using Ranged Combat. Ignore all penalties on this Attack, ignore any Defend actions, and it cannot be affected by Reactions.
Tireur d’Élite (Sniper Aim): -A- Boost yourself using Awareness. Use your Max+Min dice. This bonus can only be used against one chosen target, and is persistent & exclusive against that target until it leaves the scene.

Yellow Abilities:

Munitions Explosives (Exploding Ammo): -A- Attack or Overcome using Ranged Combat on an environmental target, using your Max+Min dice. If you roll doubles, take a minor twist.
Coup Appelé (Called Shot): -A- Attack using Leadership. Create a Boost for another hero using your Max die.

Red Abilities:

Un Changement de Soi (Change Self): -I- At the start of your turn, swap two of your power dice. They stay swapped until changed again or the scene ends.
Essayé et Vrai (Reliable Aptitude): -I- When taking any action using Leadership, you may reroll your Min die before determining effects.
Trouble du Contrôle (Calculated Dodge): -R- You may take 1 irreducible damage to reroll the dice pool of a target that is Attacking or Hindering you.

Out Ability: Boost an ally by rolling your single Leadership die.

Auxiliary Sheet

La Fracture

Alias: Claude Rémy

Background: Retired
Power Source: Radiation
Archetype: Divided
Personality: Impulsive

Principles: Principle of the Split, Principle of the Veteran

Minor Twists: What perspective ended up being the wrong one for the situation?; What affected you emotionally about the current conflict?
Major Twists: What inner conflict has completely thrown you off?; How are you withdrawing from the current conflict?

Status Dice: Green 6, Yellow 6, Red 8

Health: 30-23, 22-12, 11-1

Qualities:

Leadership d10
Ranged Combat d10
Napoleonic Code d8

Powers:

Nuclear d12
Bayonetted Musket d8
Awareness d8
Part Detachment d6

Green Abilities:

Réflexes Capillaires (Radioactive Aura): -R- When a new target enters the scene close to you, you may Attack it by rolling your single Bayonetted Musket die.
Tir Précis (Precise Shot): -A- Attack using Ranged Combat. Ignore all penalties on this Attack, ignore any Defend actions, and it cannot be affected by Reactions.
Tireur d’Élite (Sniper Aim): -A- Boost yourself using Awareness. Use your Max+Min dice. This bonus can only be used against one chosen target, and is persistent & exclusive against that target until it leaves the scene.

Yellow Abilities:

Dépouiller (Radioactive Recharge): -A- Boost yourself using Part Detachment. Then, either remove a penalty on yourself or recover using your Min die.
Maladie des Radiations (Wither): -A- Attack using Nuclear. Hinder that target using your Max die.
Coup Appelé (Called Shot): -A- Attack using Leadership. Create a Boost for another hero using your Max die.

Red Abilities:

Un Changement de Soi (Change Self): -I- At the start of your turn, swap two of your power dice. They stay swapped until changed again or the scene ends.
Essayé et Vrai (Reliable Aptitude): -I- When taking any action using Leadership, you may reroll your Min die before determining effects.
Trouble du Contrôle (Calculated Dodge): -R- You may take 1 irreducible damage to reroll the dice pool of a target that is Attacking or Hindering you.

Out Ability: The hero who goes directly after you may take 1 damage to reroll their dice pool.

Aftermath:

Wew. That was a heck of a ride! I can see why people criticize Divided as an archetype, it does leave you with a lot fewer options per form, but building one is no less fun than any other kind of hero. But hey, Napoleonic Wars, that’s not a time period you see in superhero comics often, right? I just didn’t want to make another damn Roman centurion was all, I’ve already got one of those. :B Apologies for both the hasty research (don’t ask me what Claude’s rank was, I couldn’t figure that out!) and for Google Translating all his ability names. With so many to attend to, I got lazy. I do like this guy, though, I would play him. Hope I set everything up correctly, do let me know if I missed anything. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#10

Nice job so far, Take!

Huh? What’s this “DEI?”

#11

If I’m remembering the acronym correctly, it’s the Department of Extraterrestrial Integration, and was made up as part of the Sky-Scrapper supporting cast episode.

1 Like
#12

Department of ExoEarth Integration.

Government dept to help aliens acclimate/assimilate into the culture of their new home.

Possibly also getting work from the number of people stuck here after Mist-Gates closed.

#13

Ah, thanks, Godai and WalkingTarget. I’ve been relistening to The Letters Page and so haven’t listened to some of the recenter episodes yet.

#14

Yes! I’ve been very keen on finding an organization like the DEI for stories I want to tell, mostly because it means you can go completely ridiculous in making characters. :smiley:

#15

Step 1: Background

Time for an Alien. Full disclosure, I actually rolled up a hero using this Background, Power Source, Archetype and Personality and I did NOT like how it came out. That’s why I’m posting this so late in the day, I went and remade the character! A quick roll gives me Law Enforcement, Military and Former Villain as possibilities.

You know I gotta take Former Villain.

We’re going to start with a d10 Imposing and a d8 Deep Space Knowledge, because Former Villain who is from space.

I need an Expertise Principle and I don’t have many left, so we’re going to take Clockwork and see how that turns out.

Step 2: Power Source

Technically the last Power I have to use is Postcognition. We’ll put that as one of the d8’s, with a d10 Strength and a d8 Flight.

For Yellow Abilities, everything under Alien is open. I like the sound of Halt with Strength, just being able to put out a fist and catch an incoming attack with pure muscle. And Empower and Repair sounds ridiculous, with its four-fold ability to do pretty much anything. Let’s put that with Postcognition, because I have no idea how it would work. :smiley:

Then we get to upgrade a d6 Power or Quality to a d8, but since we have none, we’ll add in, oh, let’s say a d6 Presence. Our alien bruiser is naturally imposing, and knows how to use that to full effect.

Step 3: Archetype

Did I mention this is an Alien Robot? Or at least a Cyborg. I’m thinking Cyborg, really, someone who’s got some enhancements but is otherwise a meatperson.

Alien just gives us d8’s, but that’s fine at this point, we have options. Looking ahead, we’ll get a d10 Technological Power eventually, so for now, let’s go with some more Qualities and a d8 Vitality. Self-Discipline and Criminal Underworld Info make sense. Our Tech Power will be a d10 Gadgets. This alien has a metal arm or something that produces swarms of little robots.

For Green Abilities, something like Metal Skin has already been used, so it’s off the table. I like the combination of Adaptive Programming and Living Arsenal, though, those will work with Gadgets and Strength, respectively.

Then in Yellow, how about Something for Everyone? There’s a lot of self-combo potential in this Archetype if you’re good at boosting yourself. Let’s assign that to Flight, for a bit of a Flying Smash feel.

We get one more Expertise Principle, and the only one left (again, coming back to this after having finished the rest of the heroes) is the Mentor! So I have a feeling our former villain was resoundingly defeated, which finally meant some sense got beaten into her, and that’s probably the reason why she both A) is a hero and B) has metal arms. So now she’s all, “Don’t make the same mistakes I did, kid!” Yeah, that’ll work.

Step 4: Personality

So. Here’s the thing.

“Alluring” is not a personality trait.

If you say someone is alluring, that’s how you perceive them, not necessarily how they actually are. A person could be charismatic. They could be flirty. But those are not synonyms of “alluring”. They are, however, how we’ll be portraying this hero going forward. She’s just gonna be this big, buff lady who’ll find some scrawny kid, wrap a metal arm around him, squeezing juuuust tight enough so a little pee comes out as she asks him if he wants to know how she lost it. He’s not gonna say no, not if he’s smart.

So now I’m torn on Roleplaying Quality, but I think I’ll settle on Learned My Lesson. No more villainy, just helping out, even if she’s a little rough around the edges and hard to get along with.

For the Out Ability, we’ll use Gadgets for boosting allies because nothing else really fits.

Step 5: Red Abilities

I’ve actually got no choices with Red Abilities, sadly. I have to take Combustion from Technological, and that goes with Gadgets. Then for Psychic, we’ll Give Time with Postcognition, which fits the mentoring theme nicely.

Step 6: Retcon

I think another Red Ability is the way to go here. It’s usually the most fun option for Retcon, after all. :slight_smile: I like the sound of Intercession, with Flight, of course. That’s literally what I did for the other version of this hero, yet I like this one so much more.

Step 7: Health

Because of the Robot/Cyborg’s special rules, we can use Gadgets for a base 10 Health. I’ve been rolling for all the heroes so far, but I think 32 Health sounds fine, so we’ll take the 4. :slight_smile:

Step 8: Alias

Once upon a time, Aarlun Kor-Gorion was a common bully. She was bigger than her peers, and she knew how to use muscle, leverage and presence of will to cow others into giving her what she wanted.

When her home planet became too small to contain her ego, she took off into space, becoming muscle-for-hire and eventually a big name in cosmic crime. The whole time, she strove to be the biggest, baddest, toughest alien tough around. Over time, she grew more and more dedicated to increasing her own personal strength and presence, eventually breaking off from organized crime to go delving planets for artifacts to power herself up and giant monsters to present a bigger challenge.

It was during a run-in with the cosmic hero [FILL THIS IN LATER] on the machine world of Pyria IV that she was finally bested. A rogue hit sent her flying into a tangle of scrap headed for the heap, and she couldn’t get out. The hero finally freed her, but not before the machines had taken both of her arms.

Aarlun’s days of being the strongest were over.

But Beroniuns are nothing if not a tough species. Once her newfound friend fixed her up with a mechanical genius who could give her some new arms to use, she admitted she’d reached the end of her times as a badnik. She’d been wrong about where to go in life. It was time to turn over a new leaf and put her immense strength to use helping people instead of hurting them.

So now, her metal fists pound like pistons into the machinations of whatever ne’er-do-wells haunt the far reaches of space, and she takes time to help powered people struggling to decide how best to use their talents in life. One good turn deserves another, after all. So says Reciprocator.

Character Sheet

Reciprocator

Alias: Aarlun Kor-Gorion

Background: Former Villain
Power Source: Alien
Archetype: Robot
Personality: Alluring

Principles: Principle of Clockwork, Principle of the Mentor

Minor Twists: What tool just broke?; Which whippersnapper just showed you up?
Major Twists: What faraway location are your tools now occupying?; What has just proven that you’re too behind the times?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10

Health: 32-25, 24-12, 11-1

Qualities:

Imposing d10
Deep Space Knowledge d8
Self-Discipline d8
Criminal Underworld Info d8
Learned My Lesson d8

Powers:

Strength d10
Gadgets d10
Postcognition d8
Flight d8
Vitality d8
Presence d6

Green Abilities:

The Little Guys Are Pretty Neat (Adaptive Programming): -A- Boost yourself using Gadgets, and Defend with your Min die.
I’m Really Good at This (Living Arsenal): -A- Attack using Strength with a bonus equal to the number of bonuses you currently have.

Yellow Abilities:

Just Stop (Halt): -R- When you are Attacked at close range, Defend yourself by rolling your single Strength die.
Wanna Hear How I Lost My Arms? (Empower and Repair): -A- Boost, Hinder, Defend, or Attack using Postcognition. You and all nearby heroes in the Yellow or Red zone Recover Health equal to your Min die.
The Right Tool for the Job (Self-Improvement): -A- Boost yourself using Gadgets. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Red Abilities:

Hey! That’s My Job! (Intercession): -R- When multiple nearby heroes are Attacked, you may take all the damage instead. If you do, roll your Flight die + Red zone die and Defend against the Attack by the total.
Got a Million of These Little Guys! (Combustion): -A- Attack multiple nearby targets using Gadgets. Use your Max+Mid dice. Take irreducible damage equal to your Min die.
Give 'em Space Hell, Kid (Give Time): -A- Boost another hero using Postcognition. If that hero has already acted for the turn, use your Max die, and that hero loses Health equal to your Min die. That hero acts next in the turn order.

Out Ability: Boost an ally by rolling your single Gadgets die.

Aftermath:
Oh-kay! It just goes to show how two characters with nearly the same loadout can have resoundingly different outcomes in this game! The original Alluring Alien Robot was… Y’know what? Let’s just not talk about that and move forward!

I think when she was a villain, she didn’t have any special name, just went by her own. She was probably the kind of person who a galactic hero might run into by accident and then have their life and self flipped upside down because they got in her way. Otherwise, not the sort to go out scheming and plotting and trying to ruin a hero’s day. She just wanted to be the strongest, until she realized she couldn’t anymore. I think that’s a pretty good story. :slight_smile:

Also, bonus points if you know who the Beroniuns are! At least, I assume that’s what they’re called. I didn’t make it up, is the point.

1 Like
#16

Now for the really BIG one.

Step 1: Background

Our penultimate hero has very little to choose from. They will be a Naive Modular Genius. I have a lot of Esoteric and Ideals Principles left, so I’m going to pick a Background that gives me one of those. In fact, I’m going to go specifically for Ideals, which gives me Tragic, Military and Dynasty. Let’s go with Dynasty!

So our Genius may have grown up the only non-powered member of a super family or something similar, but she’s at least been trained to defend herself if need be. The d10’s will go to Close Combat and natural Insight into how other people tick. This is not your average social shut-in sort of genius.

For a Principle, we’ll take Equality. This kid knows what it’s like to be really different from everyone else around you. I may be accidentally making Sindrome.

Step 2: Power Source

Boy does this Background not work well with Genius. Two 8’s and a 6? Yeesh. Well, our Genius has some solid Intuition as well as a knack for Robotics, so there’s that. Just to up the braininess quotient, she’s also got a d6 Lightning Calculator.

Wow, Genius gets some amazing Yellow Abilities, I’m sad I never saw these before! The two coolest are A Plan for Everything and Overwhelming Vision, so we’ll assign Intuition and Robotics to those.

For our extra Quality, we’ll take a d10 Creativity.

Step 3: Archetype

All right, it’s pain time. I have decided this hero’s powers manifest as nanomachines she wears as kind of a grey goo body suit, which should lend itself toward modularity with no problem. She will be Modular (Armored).

First up is a d10 Power Suit because duh. For something different, we’ll say the suit can extend tendrils of grey goo so she can Swing from place to place. She’s also got a d6 Fitness, because training. Now we skip the Abilities of Armored and go back to Modular, so I hope there’s some damage reduction here!

We get three switching Abilities automatically. For the record, we’ll put Creativity on the Green Ability Switch, as she decides just what form the suit’s going to need to take in order to meet the challenges in front of her.

Boy, this part is really confusing. So Default Mode is just what’s written down at this point, I think? For Green, we get two modes. The first will be Debilitator Mode, assigned to Swinging. The tendrils can entangle nearby enemies, and then she can smack them together or swing into groups of them if she rolls doubles. The powers we’ll take over will be Swinging increased to a d8, Lightning Calculator, Robotics increased to a d10 and Power Suit reduced to a d8 as it stretches thin. I think this makes sense?

I also like Improvement Mode, that can use Robotics for boosting. We’ll take Power Suit and Robotics as-is, and increase Intuition to a d10 and Lightning Calculator to a d8 as she has more time to sit and think about what she’s doing to her suit.

Okay, two Yellow modes. Regeneration Mode sounds good! We will take Power Suit and increase Robotics to a whopping d12 so she can tinker better, and we’ll use that to defend with the associated Ability.

I also like the sound of Skirmish Mode, especially for the free Mode switch at end of turn. We’re going to take Swinging and reduce it to a d4, increase Robotics to a d10 and Power Suit to a d12, and keep her Intuition as normal. We’ll go Power Suit for this attack, just massive damage up front.

For Red, man, these are all neat. I like the sound of Shield, but I think we can go for cool Shmenom-style takedowns with Hunter/Killer Mode. This will be pure Swinging and Power Suit, at a d8 and d12, respectively. We’ll assign Swinging to the Ability again.

Lastly, we get an Armored Principle, which means good old Expertise again. Well, the good news is, the last one available is the Lab, which is perfect!

Step 4: Personality

I keep referring to her as a ‘kid’, and she is. 20 years old at most, she’s a kid genius who thinks that just because she invented a nano-suit that lets her be a superhero like her family, she’s actually going to be good at it. Not completely incompetent, mind, but she does have a ways to go. She’s gonna be nuts in the Red Zone with as many d12s as she can manifest.

With that in mind, I think her roleplaying Quality will be Something to Prove. And for the Out Ability, we’ll Hinder using Robotics, as she sends out little swarms of nanites to slow down whoever’s left on the field.

Step 5: Red Abilities

Full Defensive exists for Technological Red Abilities still, so we’ll take that and assign Power Suit to it.

I feel like an Innate Ability would be good as well, so we’ll take Inspiring Totem. That speaks to her ability to split the suit and do different things at once if necessary.

Step 6: Retcon

I’ve never been so torn on a Retcon before. We can’t increase her Red Zone die. I’d like to swap some Power dice, but that would require rewriting a lot of step 3, and I am very lazy. I suppose I could go with another Red Ability, but I have to be careful because I’ll only have the two Powers available. Don’t want to lock myself out of using an Ability! She can’t Defend or Overcome in Hunter/Killer mode either… How about Ultimate Weaponry using Power Suit? That should work well. :slight_smile:

Step 7: Health

Creativity gives us a base 10, so I think I’ll go ahead and roll the d8.

A 3, see? That means she only has… 33 Health. Oh well!

Step 8: Alias

Dora Cassidy is the youngest child of speedster Tymeframe and water manipulator Tydepool, who served the city as the crimefighting duo Tyme & Tyde in the 90’s.

Life in a super household isn’t always easy and is never normal. Just ask her older sister Jessie, aka Wydeload, who can increase her size, mass and strength proportionately. Or her older brother Clarence, Jr. (aka Chuck), who inherited both their parents’ powers and fights crime as the speedy Ryptyde. And, of course, life is always hardest on the youngest sibling of three. But Dora persevered, undergoing physical training, studying hard at school and just waiting, waiting, waiting until the day her powers showed up.

They never did. Though her mother privately is of a mind that Dora’s genius intellect is her power, the girl is perhaps understandably miffed that she didn’t get anything as flashy as her siblings. All it meant was she had to work harder than either of them to be a hero like the rest of her family.

She got into college early, studied robotics, and finally put together a suit of nanite robots that would help her achieve her dream. Look out, world, here comes Sylver, and she’s gonna show you all that she’s the best hero around!

Character Sheet (Default Mode)

Sylver

Alias: Dora Cassidy

Background: Dynasty
Power Source: Genius
Archetype: Modular (Armored)
Personality: Naive

Principles: Principle of Equality, Principle of the Lab

Minor Twists: Who is in danger that you just spotted?; What did you make a detour to observe and sample for later experiments?
Major Twists: What will you sacrifice to protect the downtrodden?; Something’s gone very wrong at the lab; what was it?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d6, Red d12

Health: 33-26, 25-13, 12-1

Qualities:

Close Combat d10
Insight d10
Creativity d10
Fitness d6
Something to Prove d8

Powers:

Power Suit d10
Robotics d8
Intuition d8
Lightning Calculator d6
Swinging d6

Green Abilities:

Switch: -A- Boost yourself using Creativity, then change modes.

Yellow Abilities:

Smooth Like Butter (A Plan for Everything): -R- When you are attacked, first roll your single Intuition die. Defend yourself with that roll. Then, Boost yourself using that roll.
Quick Switch: -A- Destroy one Bonus on you. Change modes, then take an action in the new mode.
Swarming Protocol (Overwhelming Vision): -A- Attack using Robotics. Then, if the target of the Attack survived, also Attack that target with your Max die. Otherwise, Recover an amount of Health equal to your Min die.

Red Abilities:

Shimmery and Stretchy (Inspiring Totem): -I- When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die on the same roll.
Emergency Switch: -R- When you are hit with an Attack, you may change to any mode. If you do, take extra damage equal to the Min die or take a minor twist.
Shields Up! (Full Defensive): -A- Hinder yourself by rolling your single Power Suit die. You are immune to damage until the start of your next turn. You cannot use this ability again this scene.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Robotics die.

Auxiliary Sheet (Debilitator Mode)

Health: 33-26, 25-13, 12-1

Qualities:

Close Combat d10
Insight d10
Creativity d10
Fitness d6
Something to Prove d8

Powers:

Power Suit d8
Robotics d10
Lightning Calculator d6
Swinging d8

Green Abilities:

Switch: -A- Change modes.
Hook, Line & Sinker (Debilitator): -A- Hinder all nearby opponents using Swinging. If you roll doubles, take damage equal to your Max die and then you may also Attack all nearby opponents with your Min die.

Yellow Abilities:

Quick Switch: -A- Destroy one Bonus on you. Change modes, then take an action in the new mode.
Swarming Protocol (Overwhelming Vision): -A- Attack using Robotics. Then, if the target of the Attack survived, also Attack that target with your Max die. Otherwise, Recover an amount of Health equal to your Min die.

Red Abilities:

Shimmery and Stretchy (Inspiring Totem): -I- When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die on the same roll. (Cannot Boost, Defend or Overcome.)
Emergency Switch: -R- When you are hit with an Attack, you may change to any mode. If you do, take extra damage equal to the Min die or take a minor twist.
Shields Up! (Full Defensive): -A- Hinder yourself by rolling your single Power Suit die. You are immune to damage until the start of your next turn. You cannot use this ability again this scene.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Robotics die.

Auxiliary Sheet (Improvement Mode)

Principles: Principle of Equality, Principle of the Lab

Minor Twists: Who is in danger that you just spotted?; What did you make a detour to observe and sample for later experiments?
Major Twists: What will you sacrifice to protect the downtrodden?; Something’s gone very wrong at the lab; what was it?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d6, Red d12

Health: 33-26, 25-13, 12-1

Qualities:

Close Combat d10
Insight d10
Creativity d10
Fitness d6
Something to Prove d8

Powers:

Power Suit d10
Robotics d8
Intuition d10
Lightning Calculator d8

Green Abilities:

Switch: -A- Boost yourself using Creativity, then change modes.
Tinker on the Fly (Improvement): -A- Boost yourself using Robotics. Create one bonus using your Max die and one bonus using your Mid die. These bonuses are persistent and exclusive.

Yellow Abilities:

Smooth Like Butter (A Plan for Everything): -R- When you are attacked, first roll your single Intuition die. Defend yourself with that roll. Then, Boost yourself using that roll.
Quick Switch: -A- Destroy one Bonus on you. Change modes, then take an action in the new mode.

Red Abilities:

Shimmery and Stretchy (Inspiring Totem): -I- When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die on the same roll. (Cannot Attack or Hinder.)
Emergency Switch: -R- When you are hit with an Attack, you may change to any mode. If you do, take extra damage equal to the Min die or take a minor twist.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Robotics die.

Auxiliary Sheet (Regeneration Mode)

Principles: Principle of Equality, Principle of the Lab

Minor Twists: Who is in danger that you just spotted?; What did you make a detour to observe and sample for later experiments?
Major Twists: What will you sacrifice to protect the downtrodden?; Something’s gone very wrong at the lab; what was it?

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d6, Red d12

Health: 33-26, 25-13, 12-1

Qualities:

Close Combat d10
Insight d10
Creativity d10
Fitness d6
Something to Prove d8

Powers:

Power Suit d10
Robotics d12

Green Abilities:

Switch: -A- Boost yourself using Creativity, then change modes.

Yellow Abilities:

Quick Switch: -A- Destroy one Bonus on you. Change modes, then take an action in the new mode.
Repair Protocol (Regeneration): -A- Defend using Robotics. Use your Max die. Recover Health equal to your Min die.

Red Abilities:

Shimmery and Stretchy (Inspiring Totem): -I- When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die on the same roll. (Cannot Attack or Hinder.)
Emergency Switch: -R- When you are hit with an Attack, you may change to any mode. If you do, take extra damage equal to the Min die or take a minor twist.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Robotics die.

Auxiliary Sheet (Skirmish Mode)

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d6, Red d12

Health: 33-26, 25-13, 12-1

Qualities:

Close Combat d10
Insight d10
Creativity d10
Fitness d6
Something to Prove d8

Powers:

Power Suit d12
Robotics d10
Intuition d8
Swinging d4

Green Abilities:

Switch: -A- Change modes.

Yellow Abilities:

Quick Switch: -A- Destroy one Bonus on you. Change modes, then take an action in the new mode.
Swarming Protocol (Overwhelming Vision): -A- Attack using Robotics. Then, if the target of the Attack survived, also Attack that target with your Max die. Otherwise, Recover an amount of Health equal to your Min die.
I Learned This One from Dad (Skirmish): -A- Attack one target using Power Suit. Attack a different target with your Min die. At the end of your turn, you may change modes.

Red Abilities:

Shimmery and Stretchy (Inspiring Totem): -I- When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die on the same roll. (Cannot Boost, Defend or Overcome.)
Emergency Switch: -R- When you are hit with an Attack, you may change to any mode. If you do, take extra damage equal to the Min die or take a minor twist.
Shields Up! (Full Defensive): -A- Hinder yourself by rolling your single Power Suit die. You are immune to damage until the start of your next turn. You cannot use this ability again this scene.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Robotics die.

Auxiliary Sheet (Hunter/Killer Mode)

Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d6, Red d12

Health: 33-26, 25-13, 12-1

Qualities:

Close Combat d10
Insight d10
Creativity d10
Fitness d6
Something to Prove d8

Powers:

Power Suit d12
Swinging d8

Green Abilities:

Switch: -A- Boost yourself using Creativity, then change modes.

Yellow Abilities:

Quick Switch: -A- Destroy one Bonus on you. Change modes, then take an action in the new mode.
Swarming Protocol (Overwhelming Vision): -A- Attack using Robotics. Then, if the target of the Attack survived, also Attack that target with your Max die. Otherwise, Recover an amount of Health equal to your Min die.

Red Abilities:

Shimmery and Stretchy (Inspiring Totem): -I- When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die on the same roll. (Cannot Defend or Overcome.)
Emergency Switch: -R- When you are hit with an Attack, you may change to any mode. If you do, take extra damage equal to the Min die or take a minor twist.
Shields Up! (Full Defensive): -A- Hinder yourself by rolling your single Power Suit die. You are immune to damage until the start of your next turn. You cannot use this ability again this scene.
The Classic Takedown (Hunter/Killer): -A- Move to any target in this scene and Hinder that target using Swinging. Then, Attack that target using your Max+Min die.

Out Ability: Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Robotics die.

Aftermath:
Wow! That was an absolute nightmare, but I really like the result! Despite being more difficult to construct, I think I like Modular better than Divided, though I expect I will be shying away from both in the future because, again, I am lazy.

I hope everyone appreciates the 90’s superhero names in this knockoff Incredibles family. :slight_smile: Also, Wydeload is the worst name for a superhero ever, but I got stuck on it and couldn’t think of anything else. XD She gets bigger like Sky-Scraper, but also wider like Big Bertha from the Great Lakes Avengers, and becomes stronger and tougher proportionally.

Just one hero to go, and I already have a few ideas I want to try…

1 Like
#17

Last one!

Step 1: Background

All right. There’s one Power Source left – I’ll get to which in a minute – so this is our final hero. The goal for this exercise is to pick things that will mark off as many bits still left on the list as possible.

So, we still have lots of Esoteric and Ideals Principles to choose from. There’s also Identity available, but I don’t see either of them fitting, so let’s focus on Esoteric since we did Ideals last time. The Backgrounds that offer Esoteric Principles are Anachronistic, Interstellar and Otherworldly. I feel like Otherworldly is the right fit here. Our starting Qualities will be a d10 Self-Discipline and a d8 Otherworldly Mythos. Pretty standard kit, really.

For a Principle, we’re going to go with Destiny because I see this guy as way out there. Also because…

Step 2: Power Source

Higher Power is the final Power Source choice. So we’ve got someone who’s a scion of some being from another realm. 10, 6, 6 is the surprisingly poor dice layout we get from Otherworldly, let’s see what damage we can do.

For the 10, I’m going to take what’s actually the final Power I haven’t used before: Invented Power.

See, I’ve thought long and hard about this, and SCRPG cleverly covers just about any single power you could want to have. I keep coming up with “oh, what about this?” and then realizing, no, that’s already on the list. The game is less concerned with what your power is than what it can do, and so most of the bases are covered.

But we’re going with a d10 Hair Control. This could be replaced by Swinging, but that would ignore the ability to grapple things. That could be Telekinesis, but… you get the idea. So this guy can control his own hair and do a bunch of weird stuff with it. (Worth noting, you can’t get Hallmark powers from Higher Power, but at this point, I don’t care, plus I think the purpose of Invented Power is just to go with whatever whenever.)

For the 6s, we’ll go with Vitality and Absorption. Kind of a big, sturdy, meaty dude, here.

Once again, Yellow Abilities are all open to choose from. Resolve and Dangerous Explosion sound like they would fit, using Absorption and Hair Control respectively.

Then we get a Green Power, and this one’s actually chosen for us ahead of time: Resilience. Speaks to our guy’s calm demeanor and ability to stay unruffled.

Step 3: Archetype

I’m not going to be able to cover a lot of things I’d like to with this, but let’s see what Archetypes offer Esoteric, Ideals and Identity Principles: Blaster, Flyer, Elemental Manipulator, Sorcerer, Psychic, Wild Card and Form-Changer. Well, as it happens, there are a lot of Psychic Yellow Abilities left to take, so we’re going with that. (Actually, if I wanted to scoop up more Red Abilities too, I’d go with Minion-Maker, but you don’t see it on this list, nor does it fit.)

So we need two Psychic Powers, and these will be chosen from the list of what Abilities still need to be taken: Illusions, Postcognition or Animal Control. Also a Mental Quality? I actually want Postcognitive Understanding and Psychic Analysis, so we’ll put Postcognition at a d10, Telepathy at a d6, and Creativity at a d6.

Then for the Green Abilities, let’s go with Psychic Assault and Telepathy, and Psychic Coordination and Postcognition.

We get one more Esoteric Principle! I kind of want him to have Principle of Hair, but I think Immortality will fit. This guy’s been around for a long time thanks to his patron’s influence, which is why he’s so chill. He’s just seen it all before, man.

Step 4: Personality

All Personalities have of course been taken, so we’ll go with what fits: Cheerful. For the Out Ability, Boost with Telepathy.

His roleplaying Quality will be Out of This World. Like, far out, man.

Step 5: Red Abilities

I have one last Red Ability to use (that’s available): Sacrificial Ram. This normally requires Signature Vehicle, but I don’t care. He will make one last-ditch attempt to save his friends by sacrificing his hair. Just think about it.

Beyond that, I think I’d like a big peaceful kind of Ability. He also doesn’t have any reactions. Purification’s always good for telling everyone to chill out, but looking at my options, I think Change Self would actually be a good idea. Could take that nice Hair Control die after using Sacrificial Ram and give it to something I actually can use. At least, I assume that’s how it would work. We’ll get a reaction via the retcon…

Step 6: Retcon

Namely, Defensive Deflection, using Absorption.

Step 7: Health

Again, we get a 10 from Self-Discipline. I’ll go ahead and roll, for 6. 30 Health, not bad!

Step 8: Alias

Gubb-Narsh Murnarthrilarty had a calm, peaceful life as a High Loofah of the Serene Court of the Almazotz. The realm was chill, vibes there were always mellow, and all were one. It was groovy, man.

Then word came that some big square called Oblivaeon was going around the material world and harshing everybody’s vibes like you wouldn’t believe. So the Most Serene Almazotz was all, “Hey, Gubbo, you’re one smooth customer. Why don’t you shuffle off to that Earth place and teach those cats to vibe in tune with creation, man?”

And Gubbo was all, “Far out.” So off he shuffled.

And he found that Earth was, indeed, a harsh place, but in time he learned to groove to the vibes of the material world and taught the crazy superpowered cats there to chill. A little, anyway. In turn, they taught him the pleasures of being material, and also the rules, like “actually use your mouthparts to talk to people, man, you’ll break somebody’s brain if you’re not careful.” And he maybe overdid it a bit with the aforementioned pleasures because he got a bit too big to fit back in the Serene Court. But that’s okay, man. Life’s pretty groovy here on Earth when you’re a Longhair.

Character Sheet

Longhair

Alias: Gubb-Narsh “Gubbo” Murnarthrilarty

Background: Otherworldly
Power Source: Higher Power
Archetype: Psychic
Personality: Cheerful

Principles: Principle of Destiny, Principle of Immortality

Minor Twists: What omen of dire fortune did you just witness?; You take the long view of things. How does that cause you to be too slow?
Major Twists: What heinous prophecy just came true?; What important attachment must you shed?

Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d6

Health: 30-23, 22-12, 11-1

Qualities:

Self-Discipline d10
Otherworldly Mythos d8
Creativity d6
Out of This World d8

Powers:

Hair Control d10
Postcognition d10
Vitality d6
Absorption d6
Telepathy d6

Green Abilities:

Just Vibing (Resilience): -I- At the start of your turn, remove any -1 penalties on you.
Forgot About Talking Again (Psychic Assault): -A- Attack using Telepathy. Hinder the target using your Min die.
This Worked Last Time (Psychic Coordination): -A- Boost using Postcognition. Apply that bonus to all hero Attack and Overcome actions until your next turn.

Yellow Abilities:

Let’s Talk It Out, Compadre (Postcognitive Understanding): -R- After an enemy rolls dice to take an action for their turn but before using the result, Hinder that enemy’s roll using your single Postcognition die.
Material World’s Good Eatin’ (Resolve): -A- Boost yourself using Absorption, then remove a penalty on yourself or Recover using your Min die.
Y’all Need to Chill (Dangerous Explosion): -A- Attack multiple targets using Hair Control. Use your Mid die. Hinder all targets damaged by this ability with your Min die. Hinder yourself with your Max die.
Happy Little Ideas (Psychic Analysis): -A- Boost yourself using Creativity. Either use your Max die, or use your Mid die and make it persistent.

Red Abilities:

Ain’t Easy Bein’ Physical (Change Self): -I- At the start of your turn, swap two of your power dice. They stay swapped until changed again or the scene ends.
Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Thanks for the Grub (Defensive Deflection): -R- When you would be dealt damage, you may roll your single Absorption die as a Defend against that damage and as an Attack against a nearby target other than the source of that damage.
I Hate Doing This (Sacrificial Ram): -A- Attack up to three nearby targets using Hair Control. Use your Max+Mid dice against each of them. You cannot use your Hair Control power for the rest of this scene and until it is recovered/repaired.

Out Ability: Boost an ally by rolling your single Telepathy die.

Aftermath:
And here we are! The final of my new heroes, and I rather like him. :slight_smile: Once I figured out that Hair Control worked for Invented Power, I pretty much knew everything about him. Also, I knew I specifically wanted a male hero, as every character in comics I can think of whose power is controlling their hair is a woman. I also love the image of this fat, blissed out hippie from another dimension who’s not used to having a physical form or all the weirdness that would be imposed on him once he came to the material realm.

So, that wraps this up! Thanks for reading these if you have. I encourage anyone to do something similar and share it with the forum, this is a ton of fun and I always enjoy seeing what people can come up with. :smiley:

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