Back when I first started thinking up character concepts I had come up with an idea for a character who was magical, but all of his magic was tied up in Tattoos or Brands of some kind but I didn't know enough about the game to know how to make it work right so it got back-burnered for awhile. Now that I'm a bit more familiar with the system I've given it some more thought and have filled out what I think is a workable variation and wanted it to run it by experienced folks for a review. So here it is;
Note: this is based on a lowest-level game (Getting Your Feet Wet; Base Refresh 6, Skill Cap 20)
Verbal Khaine; (Base Refresh 6, Skill Cap 20)
High Concept: Branded Supernatural Super Soldier turned Bounty Hunter
Trouble: Subject X (Hunted Test Subject)
Other Aspects: Paranoid, Ugly as Sin, Memorable
Template: Focused Practitioner
Rough Background: Escapee from a Supernatural super-soldier program. He has been enhanced with Magic based on Scarification and Branding. When activated, his scars and brands will glow red and the scars may occasionally drip blood.
Skills: (Cap 20)
Good (+3) – Alertness, Endurance, Fists
Fair (+2) – Athletics, Conviction, Discipline
Average (+1) – Contacts, Intimidation, Presence, Resources, Scholarship (Languages)
Stunts/Powers: (6 Refresh)
Wizards Constitution (-0); he is essentially a creature of Magic
*Item of Power (+2); Tattoos/Brands
> Human Form (+1); Represents need to activate the Brands
> Feeding Dependency (+1); Aspect; Eating Machine; does not require Blood but instead has to consume a lot more Food than normal.
> 2x Refinements (-2); 4x “Focus Items” as Skill or Defense-Enhancing Brands <exact refinements to be determined>
> Modular Abilities (-7; up to 5 Refresh Worth of powers)
Typical Powers Available:
- Aquatic (-1; gills & webbing), Breath Weapon (-2; ranged attack)
- Tentacles (-1/-2 w/Claws; ranged grapple), Claws/ Venomous Claws (-1/-2)
- Echoes of the Beast (-1; sense-related aspects), Paralytic Venom (-1)
- Hulking Size (-2), Spider Walk (-1), Wings (-1), Cloak of Shadows (-1)
- Mana Static (-1), the Sight (-1), Supernatural Sense (-1/-2)
- Speed; Inhuman, Supernatural or Mythic (-2, -4, -6)
- Strength; Inhuman, Supernatural or Mythic (-2, -4, -6)
- Toughness and Recovery; Inhuman, Supernatural or Mythic (-2, -4, -6)
> Toughness Catch;?
* The effect of the Brands is to enhance his bones, blood and muscles so he can shift his physical form to a fair degree.
Adjusted Refresh; (1)
Gear of Note:
Custom Body-Armor (Armor 2); Armored Long Jacket and Under-Armor
The idea was to have a character who could have a variety of abilities he could change around as needed and originally I was going to run him based off of Thaumaturgy until I saw the "Modular Abilities" Power and realized that was much more fitting and gave me the flexibility I wanted without all the clunky pre-game and downtime work.
I don't know if this is over-powered or not, but for the benefits he gets there are limitations that I've built in; such as the limited to Physical or Sensory modifications. Though there are no actual points gained from this limitation i didn't want a character who could suddenly develop Evocation or the ability to transit between worlds at will (Though I could see him doing this at later power levels).