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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Tirs on October 12, 2014, 09:54:09 PM
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I finished the concept of team, but still not sure about stats of some members. What do you think?
Title: The Pack
Numerous: 5 active members
Activity: racketeering, extortion, blackmail. Also they "taxing" of others gungs, who want to work within their territory
The banch of young capes, who considering themselves as "Robin Hoods" (in their territory, nobody can sell drugs and guns teens and involve them in prostitution, their victims - unscrupulous businessmen, part of the money they spend on charity).
Members-list
The leader, bad-ass normal (of DC Red Hood-level, as I see his stats)
The Flayer
Main Aspect: Surrogat father of his team
Problem aspect: Nouble monster
Other aspects: I'm the less evil!, Street-Smart, Coldblooded
Skills
Fists: Superb (+5)
Athletics: Superb (+5)
Alertness: Great (+4)
Weapons: Great (+4)
Guns: Great (+4)
Stealth: Great (+4)
Scholarship: Great (+4)
Investigation: Good (+3)
Contacts: Good (+3)
Driving: Good (+3)
Might: Good (+3)
Intimidation: Good (+3)
Might: Good (+3)
Survival: Good (+3)
Burglary: Fair (+2)
Craftsmanship: Average (+1)
Deceit: Fair (+2)
Discipline: Great (+4)
Endurance: Great (+4)
Intimidation: Good (+3)
Stunts
-Acrobat: Gain +1 on Athletics when using it to survive a fall. Also, gain +1 to attempts to dodge ranged attacks (throwing and guns), so long as you describe it colorfully.
-Fleet of Foot: When sprinting (page 212), gain a +2 to Athletics.
-Fast Reload: Provided that you have a supply of ammunition, reloads are rarely an issue. You take no penalty when reloading as a supplemental action (page 213); if you’re in a race to see who reloads first, or anything else having to do with your speed or ability to reload, gain a +1 on the roll.
-Scene of the Crime (Investigation): Gains +1 to his roll and arrives at his findings one step faster than usual on the time table when investigating a crime scene.
-Linguist: You may speak (and read) additional languages as if your Scholarship score was 4 higher than it is. You may take this stunt multiple times, adding four more each time. Up to half of the languages you speak may be obscure, rare, or dead, provided you can establish an opportunity to study them.
-Killer Blow: Add 3 to the damage of a Fists attack on a successful hit, once per scene, for a fate point. This stacks with any other damageincreasing stunts for Fists.
-Leadership: When you talk, people listen. When using Presence to command a group, gain +1 on the effort. Further, your efforts to coordinate a group are efficient, moving one time increment (page 315) faster than normal.
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The big guy (Brute, Shaper, maybe Mover)
The Wendigo
Main Aspect: Loyal
Problem aspect: There's only one Big wolf in Brockton Bay! (Hookwolf is personal arc nemesis)
Other aspects: I was born for fight, Problem child, I like city life
Skills
Alertness: Good (+3)
Athletics: Good (+3)
Fists: Good (+3)
Endurance: Great (+4)
Intimidation: Good (+3)
Schoolarship: Average (+1)
Survival: Fair (+2)
Lore: Average (+1)
Deceit: Average (+1)
Might: Good (+3)
Weaponry: Average (+1)
Powers
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (wolf)
-Beast change [–1]
-Inhuman everything [-8]
Human form affecting:
-Supernatural everything [-16]
-Claws [-1]
-Hulking Size [–2]
Stunts
-Good Arm: Thrown weapons normally have a range of only one zone. With this stunt that range extends to two zones.
-Juggler: Throwing deadly items around is just par for the course for you. Catching them is, too. Even bare-handed, you may use your Weapons skill to defend against a thrown attack, allowing you to catch the item if you succeed on the
defense. In addition, you may use your Weapons skill instead of Performance in order to entertain an audience with your juggling.
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The smart guy (Tinker)
Hammersmith
Main Aspect: Ambitious scientist
Problem aspect: Diffident
Other aspects: I hate bullies, No more nerd, Changed man
Skills
Schoolarship:Great (+4)
Lore: Fair (+2)
Fists: Fair(+2)
Weaponry: Average (+1)
Guns: Good (+3)
Discipline: Fair (+2)
Might: Fair (+2)
Endurance: Good(+3)
Conviction: Average (+1)
Discipline: Fair (+2)
Powers
-Item of power [–3] (hi-tech armor, implanted in the body)
Armor (supernatural), speed, strenth (inhuman), fly, flying drones (3 at the same time, their efficiency more or less equal to average gunfighter), different bugs and scanners.
Stunts
-No pain, no gain
-Linguist: You may speak (and read) additional languages as if your Scholarship score was 4 higher than it is. You may take this stunt multiple times, adding four more each time. Up to half of the languages you speak may be obscure, rare, or dead, provided you can establish an opportunity to study them.
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The lancer (Stranger)
Serpent
Main Aspect: Tough girl with golden heart
Problem aspect: Former Drug User
Other aspects: Tsundere, Street-Smart, Moves Like a Ninja
Skills
Alertness: Good (+3)
Athletics: Good (+3)
Deceit: Fair (+2)
Endurance: Fair (+2)
Fists: Good (+3)
Guns: Average (+1)
Conviction: Fair (+2)
Presence: Fair (+2)
Stealth: Greate (+4)
Weapons: Good (+3)
Powers
-Inhuman Speed [–2]
-Cloak of Shadows [–2] (double bonuses)
-Incite Emotion (lust) [–2]
Stunts
-Blend In: You blend into a crowd easily. If there’s a crowd to hide in, you gain +2 to your Stealth rolls. This is particularly useful when Shadowing someone on foot.
-Stay Close and Keep Quiet!: When sneaking around with a group, you are able to use your
Stealth skill to complement everyone else’s Stealth skill as they roll to stay hidden and quiet, provided they stay nearby and follow your instructions. Failure on either of these points means they lose the benefits. If you have any aspects specific to your ability to sneak around, your companions may invoke those aspects for their benefit as well.
-Swift and Silent: When Skulking, any difficulty increases due to fast movement are reduced by up to two.
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The chick (Blaster, Breaker)
Jasper
Main Aspect: Don't-Look-At-My-Tits-I-Have-A-Mind
Problem aspect: Don't know real life
Other aspects: Reachgirl, Loyal, I require my adventuries!
Skills
Alertness: Fair (+2)
Athletics: Fair (+2)
Deceit: Good (+3)
Endurance: Average (+1)
Fists: Average (+1)
Conviction: Good (+3)
Presence: Good (+3)
Resourses: Good (+3)
Discipline: Average (+1)
Empathy: Good (+3)
Scholarship: Fair (+2)
Lore: Average (+1)
Powers
-Evocation [–3] (her abilities let her to manipulate energy and materials, yep, it's work like this)
Stunts
-Blessed Words: The strength of your faith alone allows you to give others pause. You may use your Conviction skill to perform a block in physical conflict, potentially preventing someone from making a conflict action against you.
-Personal Magnetism: You have a calm confidence that others find appealing. When rolling Presence to establish a “passive” reaction to you (Charisma), make the roll at +2.
-Windfall: You’re occasionally able to tap into more Resources than usual, such as cashing out stocks or receiving a periodic disbursement from a trust fund. Once per adventure, you may spend a fate point to make a single Resources roll at +4.
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So, what do you think?
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Well, a lot of this depends on what you want these characters to do. Are they to be recurring villains? Mooks to be beaten then never seen again? The power level of the game is important as well because all of those +3 stats are usually what I give my mooks in a Submerged game. There to provide manoeuvres so that the real bad guys can hit hard, then be smashed into the floor by the PCs.
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Actually, now I just want to knowif this guys can be powerfull enough to considering as A-list of Brockton Bay gungs? Can they sit on the same table as Kaiser, Coil and others, when they prepared to fight against ABB?
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Not a chance. Like I said, the effective skill levels of these guys puts them pretty firmly on the mook side of the equation. They'd get stomped into the ground and would not get back up.
If you want these guys to be on par with Lung, Kaiser and the likes, consider upping the skill cap to Fantastic (+6) and giving them 17 refresh/45 skill points. Put their primary skills in the +4/+5/+6 region and then laugh your way home. Also, if you could give a brief description of each power, that would help a lot.
More specifically:
Jasper: Evocation is good, but give her a bunch of Refinements to go with it. Blessed Words doesn't really fit in with the Worm setting because faith isn't a power unto itself.
Serpent: If you're looking for real stealth consider taking Displacement/Invisibility, available on the wiki (http://dfrpg-resources.wikispaces.com/). Core concept is good with speedster/stealther, just needs some more versatility behind it, and probably some combat stunts.
Hammersmith: Items of Power and Enchanted Items are your best friend here. Ritual (Crafting) + IOP Strength/Toughness/Speed powers work very well. Just be aware that Tinkers should always stick to their specialisation when building stuff. You may also want to consider some stunts that let you use his Scholarship as an attacking stat for the Drones.
Wendigo: This guy could stand toe to toe with Kaiser if he had his skill levels increased a bit. The powerset is good and would work great in combat. Just buff his skills some and you're golden.
The Flayer: As a setting note, Worm doesn't really do Badass Normals, but it's an interesting idea. You should also consider kitting this guy out in some Hammersmith made Tinkertech, because he's looking mighty squishy for a close combat specialist. The first brute that comes along would wreck him like he was made of paper.
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Thank you. I will think a bit.
P.S. Also, I mean not to stomp Empire88 or ABB, but to have the same respect in Brockton bay criminal society, as The Undersiders. But them also must be considering asmore dangerous and cruel, than Undersiders.
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Yeah, Worm has a generally higher power level than regular DFRPG games because the powers don't correlate with skill points. In the Dresdenverse knowledge is power, whereas even the stupidest people can become world class heroes/villains in Worm.
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If you want these guys to be on par with Lung, Kaiser and the likes, consider upping the skill cap to Fantastic (+6) and giving them 17 refresh/45 skill points.
I wouldn't go that far. I've got Lung down as a Submerged character, and if I wrote up Kaiser I'd probably put him on the same level. Both slightly in the negatives, Refresh-wise.
I optimize a lot more than Tirs, though. You won't catch me putting Killer Blow on a character. So maybe he ought to use a higher level for similar characters.
But yeah, these guys don't have the skills to compete. A character with Fair or Good combat skills is not going to get far against someone with a Superb fighting skill.
The total skill count isn't really the issue. The cap and the way the skills are distributed matter more.
PS: Who are these people? They don't seem to have any backstory written out...
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I can't write their backgrounds if it will intresting for, but I'm still not sure about some moments.
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To be honest, based on how they're described I wouldn't rate these guys too highly on the Brockton Bay tier list, if you will. Being a badass normal just doesn't really cut it in the highly lethal and high-powered Wormverse, and none of the others are particularly intimidating when compared to people like Skitter, Imp, Regent, Vista, Lung, Clockblocker, or Purity, to name a few. As Vista put it, Brockton Bay capes are some real [censords].
I'd strongly consider taking another look at the badass normal. Story reasons for all capes having powers aside, even the most preptime'd of preptimer normals cannot compete with a decent Tinker in the Wormverse, let alone the stronger capes. If you want Wormverse A-listers, you can't really have a normal. Remember, capes aren't just there to fight other capes. Both heroes and villains serve as the first and last line of defense against Endbringers and S-level threats, and a normal can contribute absolutely nothing to that kind of fight.
You might be able to sell these guys as scarier than the Undersiders within your story because the Undersiders pull their punches like crazy, but in an actual head-on fight they'd definitely get wrecked.
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So, edition version with backstory.
NOTE: English isn't my Native language, and an American reality I know mostly from movies. So, their stories can be strange.
The Flayer
Skills: as it was cuz I already spend more then 45 skill points.
The Flayer
Superb: Fists, Athletics
Great: Alertness, Weapons, Guns, Stealth, Scholarship, Endurance, Discipline, Intimidation, Presence
Good: Investigation, Contacts, Driving, Might, Survival, Rarrort
Fair: Deceit, Burglary
Average: Craftsmanship, Perfomaces
Stunts:
-Martial Artist: As a result of advanced training, you are able to recognize many styles of martial arts, using Fists as a knowledge and perception skill focused on unarmed fighting. This enables you to make assessments and declarations
related to fighting styles and fighting culture using your Fists skill. This stunt may be used as a prerequisite for other Fists stunts.
-Lethal Weapon: Your hands are lethal weapons. When using Fists to strike an unarmored opponent, you are considered to have Weapon:2.
-Acrobat: Gain +1 on Athletics when using it to survive a fall. Also, gain +1 to attempts to dodge ranged attacks (throwing and guns), so long as you describe it colorfully.
-Fleet of Foot: When sprinting (page 212), gain a +2 to Athletics.
-Paranoid? Probably.: Gain +2 to Alertness when rolling against surprise.
-Riposte: On a successful defense with Weapons, you may sacrifice your next action to turn that defense into an immediate and automatically successful attack.
-Fast Reload: Provided that you have a supply of ammunition, reloads are rarely an issue. You take no penalty when reloading as a supplemental action (page 213); if you’re in a race to see who reloads first, or anything else having to do with your speed or ability to reload, gain a +1 on the roll.
-Blend In: You blend into a crowd easily. If there’s a crowd to hide in, you gain +2 to your Stealth rolls. This is particularly useful when Shadowing (page 143) someone on foot.
-Leadership: When you talk, people listen. When using Presence to command a group, gain +1 on the effort. Further, your efforts to coordinate a group are efficient, moving one time increment (page 315) faster than normal.
-Linguist: You may speak (and read) additional languages as if your Scholarship score was 4 higher than it is. You may take this stunt multiple times, adding four more each time. Up to half of the languages you speak may be obscure, rare, or dead, provided you can establish an opportunity to study them.
-Scene of the Crime: You have a practiced eye when combing over a crime scene. In such a circumstance, you gain +1 to your Investigation roll and arrive at your findings one step faster than usual on the time table (page 315).
-No Pain, No Gain: You can take a bunch of punishment before it starts to add up. You may take two additional mild physical consequences.
-Supreme Concentration: Your Discipline is considered to be Fantastic whenever Discipline
would restrict, complement, or otherwise modify another skill. This has no effect on your actual Discipline rating when the skill itself is being rolled.
-Bend and Break: When successfully breaking an object using your Might, increase the effect (stress, usually) by two steps.
-Takes One to Know One: You may use Deceit instead of Empathy to catch someone in a lie.
-Shake the Tail: When you are the one being followed in a car-chase, you have a real talent for sudden turns and daring maneuvers to shake off your pursuers. Gain a +2 to Driving in such a case.
Backstory: Nick van Dongen never want to be a villain. His father was the policeman, who was killed on duty, while his mother was early retired cape (she was crippled by supervillains). She was sure that the son would inherit her abilities, that why the boy spent his childhood between schoolbooks and gymroom without any silly things which children call hobby. From an early age he was trained by the best masters, which the mother could find, preparing to become a hero. By age 15, Nick could serve in SWAT - he was strong and skilled enogh for it. He was also very smart, and graduated from high school by his 15. But as time passed, and the ability and did not show up. Even in very stressful situations, which have been staged for him by his mother, he stiil be human. Later, the psyhologist explain to women, that a possible cause was the education of Nick - if he had some hidden powers, he could not open them in a trigger situation, because subconsciously used to rely on the skills acquired. It was just a theory, but the woman was broken - it turned out that she had destroyed the future of her son, thus depriving him of his childhood. Old injuries made themselves felt, and soon she died.
Nick got a pretty good heritage, but he was squashed. He was alone, no superhero bunch was ready to accept the teen without powers, and he actually didn't want to join to heroes. He didn't tell his mother, but he understand, how this system work. Status quo is the God, nobody will break the balance, etc... He was dissapointed though he understood to go from other side...
Appearance: Middle height, slim, athletic build. Brown hair, gray eyes.
Suit - black, on the basis of uniform SWAT, with Kevlar inserts. Mask - black, free (like the mask of Grifter or Ultim-Hawkeye) . Sometimes wears Kevlar helmet.
P.S. It's the first back story, I can put another.
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I like that backstory. Gives a normal person a reason to be a cape, and includes a good excuse for taking powers later.
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Actually, I don't understand this "racism" toward the normals. I mean, the most of Coil gung ARE normals - and even before the book's plot were started, they were strong enough to fight against E88, which included very much strong capes.
P.S. What about the name? I mean Flayer a quite old word, as I know, but I tried to find something intimidated.
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It's not much like racism. Nobody is saying normal people should be treated poorly or discriminated against.
But normal people in Worm are no smarter and no more skilled than capes are. It's not like DFRPG, where you lose Fate Points for taking Powers. Capes just get extra abilities, often ridiculously unfair ones, and pay nothing for them. (Well, they pay nothing that would make them worse at cape-ing. Powers are bad for your mental health, but not in a way that makes you less dangerous. Quite the opposite, actually.)
So you've gotta compare someone like Flayer to someone like Flayer who also shrugs off gunfire and punches through stone walls. It's really not a fair comparison.
As for the name, it sounds fine to me.
PS: Wearing a costume to fight or commit crime is a bit silly, really. It makes sense for the powered because there's a cultural expectation there. A non-powered person would need an exceptional reason.
PPS: Coil's gang was backed by Coil's extremely powerful power. They're not a normal person faction.
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I'm not so sure, that somebody ofUndercovers have Great Weapons and Superb Fists. But anyway - the point is The Flayer is leader and "brain" of gung, while the "fist" is Wendigo or Hummersmith.
P.S. About costume - actually, it's just uniform which is comfortable for fight/ Also, it has psyhological reason - even if his not a cape, he s till part of their world. And he actually considered himself as a crime fighter (still) and he wear it also for memory about father.
P.P.S. Yep, but they still dangerous with good equipment. Oni Lee can garantee that.
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Even in a leadership/thinking role, parahumans are better. Compare Flayer to Flayer plus Tattletale's power.
Normal people can accomplish things in Worm, but they'll never be as capable as capes are.
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The Wendigo
Main Aspect: Loyal
Problem aspect: There's only one Big wolf in Brockton Bay! (Hookwolf is personal arc nemesis)
Other aspects: I was born for fight, Problem child, I like city life
Skills
Superb: Endurance
Great: Alertness, Athletics, Survival
Good: Intimidation, Might, Weaponry, Discipline, Fists, Driving
Fair: Schoolarship, Craftsmanship, Deceit, Presence
Average: Lore, Guns
Powers
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (wolf)
-Beast change [–1]
Feeding affecting (meat) [+1]:
-Inhuman everything [-8]
Human form affecting [+2]:
-Beast change [–1]
-Supernatural everything [-16]
-Claws [-1]
Stunts
-Good Arm: Thrown weapons normally have a range of only one zone. With this stunt that range extends to two zones.
Backstory: Max Gray grew up in a small town in Alaska. By origin - Kri, although his family was completely assimilated and he never ever deeply understand his native culture. Still, all of his childhood was spent in the woods and / or sea, and this was his trigger - during the hunt, he fell into a ravine and broke his leg. He was really scaried, that nobody will help him, and it was enough to run the hidden abilities. His first change turned him into big shapeless creature which instinctively came to the house and once again there has taken human form. The first thing he felt when I came, was brutal hunger...
It may sound funny, but for a normal life to the guy needed to eat a few pounds of meat per day. So almost all the family's finances were spent on something that literally feed the eldest son (Max has younger sister and brother). At the same time the guy learned to control his powers. He chose the image of a large wolf-like creatures, he became stronger and faster even in human form. Seeing that he has become a burden for the family, Max ran away from home. From early childhood, he was a confirmed bully, so the money for the bunkhouse and meat he earned fighting without rules, and one-off jobs. Wandering from place to place, he came to the Brockton Bay in the end. He take name Wendigo and begun work as a cape-villain. Soon, he met Hookwolf and there was fight between them. Wndigo had showed himself as a good and skilled fighter, but Hookwolf was more expirienced and won in those time. Only the intervention of Flayer (who deafened Hoookwolf by stun grenades) saved Max from the death. After Nick learned the story of Max, he develope the way to defeat hunger (special diet based on eating of plants with high animal protein, such as soy) and suggested to Wendigo work together...
Appearance:Large, mighty Native guy, who seems older than he is. Long hair usually pulled back in a ponytail. There is a couple of tatoos.
Costume is a gray-green, dark. Very wide trousers and ponchos strapped straps on the wrists, ankles and waist. The patterns traced Indian motifs. Mask in Native style, stylized wolf face. Usually he had two big machete-knives.
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As Sanctaphrax said, it's not really about racism, it's about the conventions of the Worm world. You pretty much need a Thinker or, failing that, a ton of really serious superpowered muscle to be seen as one of the city's strongest forces. Even the most competent normal can't hold a candle to Skitter's unbelievable multitasking, Coil's risk management, or Tattletale's information-gathering and psychological warfare.
A standard comic book "normal" like Batman would be a Tinker in the Wormverse anyways given his ability to produce and/or manufacture a variety of bizarre and specific tools and weapons on demand, which leaves a true Wormverse normal with nothing but their wits and their guns. Wits will not suffice against a Thinker, and guns will not suffice against quite a few different kinds of capes.
If you're really determined, you can run with it, but you'll need to come up with a very compelling reason as to why this gang is taken seriously when they're headed up by, and taking orders from, a non-powered individual. In the eyes of the nastier types in Brockton Bay, not having powers makes you weak, and if you're a powered person taking orders from a normal, than to them you're weak too. Flayer's gonna need one hell of a rep. You might consider having him pass himself off as some kind of Thinker for appearances when in fact he's just a near-genius level intellect without the benefit of any special powers. This accomplishes your goal of retaining his normalcy while also granting a plausible reason for him to be taken seriously within the community, as well as a potential weakness and plot hook for PCs to explore and exploit. His parentage will also make establishing such a facade fairly easy for him. Keep him well away from Tattle, though! ;)
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Actually, they must be on the respect-level of Undercovers. I mean, they can't destroy E88 or ABB, but they must be strong enogh to keep their district.
About tons of superpower - Wendigo is quite strong and I want to "lift" others to his level. Flayer will be brain, cuz he clever and know 'cape' world very good (as well as laws). And, yes, Flayer can't create iron from air, but his skills I think, quite higher than for Kayzer.
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Also, about Flayer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0npdZT2yWM
this is the his level as I see it.
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I feel it is important to note that Red Hood survives several falls and throws there that would leave a Wormverse normal crippled or dead. :P
You'll definitely want to power these guys up and tweak the general nature of their powers if you want them to have the same amount of respect as the Undersiders, since the Undersiders are pretty hardcore in terms of powersets, if not always mentality. Wendigo should be a solid enough Brute with Supernatural everything, but the others just aren't quite there. Taylor alone could probably destroy the rest of the team under Wormverse logic as it stands, and the Undersiders' MO of giant hellhounds, enveloping darkness, swarms of killer bugs, possessing your own allies and turning them against you, and an invisible assassin is a good sight more terrifying.
I would urge you to consider reevaluating Flayer's skill distribution. He's supposed to be a highly competent leader, but right now pretty much every skill above Good (+3) is a combat-related one, with the exception of Scholarship. If all of his skills related to leadership are just slightly above-average for his level, I don't think he makes a particularly convincing or effective leader, especially since he has no kind of Thinker power to fall back on. Consider dropping down some of his combat skills in favor of social ones. The dude's inevitably going to struggle in combat compared to most of Brockton Bay's heavy hitters, so you might as well.
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I'm still don't finish, but I'll consider what you say.
What if I give him also Great Intimidation, Good Rapport, Great Presence and Average Perfomances?
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The guy already has a silly skill total. I would be reluctant to add to it any further. The good news is that you don't have to add to it. If you use stunts intelligently, you can cover his competencies pretty well.
I'm honestly a bit confused, though. You had an earlier thread where you asked for advice on how to build this kind of character, and I sketched out one way to do it. You seemed to like my approach, but here you've gone on a completely different track where you spend more and get less.
That aside, I think people are overrating the Undersiders. At the beginning of the story I doubt any of them were even Submerged, and with a decent FP supply Flayer could probably take out any of them. High-FP mortals don't really exist in Worm canon, but that's beside the point.
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Also, modifed Hummersmith:
Hammersmith
Main Aspect: Ambitious scientist
Problem aspect: Diffident
Other aspects: I hate bullies, No more nerd, Changed man
Skills
Superb:Craftmanship
Great: Lore*, Schoolarship
Good: Guns, Endurance, Alertness
Fair: Might, Resources, Discipline, Driving
Average: Deceit, Fists, Burglary, Contacts, Rapport
Powers
-Rituals (Craft) [–2]
-Item of power [–3] (hi-tech armor, implanted in the body)
-Inhuman Toughness [–2]
Human form affecting [+1]:
-Supernatural Toughness [–4]
-Inhuman Speed&Strength [–4]
-Wings [–1]
-Inhuman Recovery [–2]
Catch[+1]: cold (T<100C is a problem)
-Channeling [–2] (kinetomancy: gravitygun)
Stunts
-Jury-Rigger: You have a talent for improvising with available materials. When jury-rigging, your repairs last two scenes longer than usual.
Average drone stats (he can use 3 drones in the same time)
Skills
Good: Guns, Endurance
Fair: Alertness
Average: Stealth
Powers
-Wings [–1]
-Pack Instincts [–1]
-Inhuman Toughness [–2]
Catch[+1]: can be hacked
-Inhuman Speed [–2]
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (senses)
Weapon: 3 (or 4 - depends on situation)
Backstory: First twelve years of his live, Kevin Holloway lived in New Orlean's French quarter. He was typical nerd and almost the only white guy in his class. This two factors provide him a very "happy childhood." May be he would have taken similar views with the views of the Empire88, but his famly moved in Brokton Bay, and he begun in more "white" school - and nothing changed. Once, when he was literally beaten, his ability to awaken - it all night thinking about how to take revenge, until he realized that he can easily develop technical tools beyond the conventional technique.
He was not only nerd, but geek - but in Worm-verse superhero geek intresting a real things. As Taylor, he want to become a hero, but he was broken by the fact that his hidden abilyties don't improved his life. He still was nerd - and decided to speak about this with only guy in school, who *sometimes* protect and support him.
The name of this is Nick.
Of couse, Flayer could not miss the opportunity to recruit another cape. He also gave him a few simple tips: learn how to do push-ups in the morning, put the shot, showed how normal teenagers talk. Nick showed him that the problem nerds often in themselves. Kevin got this thesis, and become more popular, but he still hate bullies (as much as nerds).
Appearance: Тhin and pale blonde guy with dark eyes, quite tall. His armor looks like futuristic armor plate with a solid helmet. Colour - black with a greenish.
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While I can't speak from the DFRPG side, since I'm hardly a master of the system, from a pure story perspective I always found a lot of the Undersiders to be pretty crazy strong right from the start. Grue and Regent took a while to get really scary, and Imp doesn't enter the picture for a while, but Skitter, Tattle, and Bitch struck me as forces to be reckoned with from the get-go. Skitter hospitalizes one of the strongest capes in Brockton Bay all on her own right at the start of the story, and the Undersiders beat the numerically superior Wards, plus Glory Girl and Panacea, in a straight fight very early on, and with Skitter and Bitch both holding back from any potentially lethal use of their potent powers.
I took a look at the thread Sanctaphrax is talking about, and that depiction seems to be a great way to represent a pure mortal in a cape world without needing extremely high skill amounts!
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The guy already has a silly skill total. I would be reluctant to add to it any further. The good news is that you don't have to add to it. If you use stunts intelligently, you can cover his competencies pretty well.
I'm honestly a bit confused, though. You had an earlier thread where you asked for advice on how to build this kind of character, and I sketched out one way to do it. You seemed to like my approach, but here you've gone on a completely different track where you spend more and get less.
That aside, I think people are overrating the Undersiders. At the beginning of the story I doubt any of them were even Submerged, and with a decent FP supply Flayer could probably take out any of them. High-FP mortals don't really exist in Worm canon, but that's beside the point.
I got your point, but I still don't think, that Flayer with his friends' help can't be the gung leader. I mean, Kayzer and Lung are not Thinkers, but they ruled their gungs during the long time. Yep, they were capes, but Kayzer wasn't the strongest capes in E88. So, if Flayer will be clever and skilled enough (now he had 70 skillpoints) and his mates will be ready to listen him (cuz he actually most clever of them) - why not? He at least as much as smart as Grue or Skitter, and now Wendigo and Hummersmith are quite strong, no? And Serpent and Jusper will be stronger too.
P.C. What you think about the backstories of Wendigo and Hummersmith?
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While I can't speak from the DFRPG side, since I'm hardly a master of the system, from a pure story perspective I always found a lot of the Undersiders to be pretty crazy strong right from the start. Grue and Regent took a while to get really scary, and Imp doesn't enter the picture for a while, but Skitter, Tattle, and Bitch struck me as forces to be reckoned with from the get-go. Skitter hospitalizes one of the strongest capes in Brockton Bay all on her own right at the start of the story, and the Undersiders beat the numerically superior Wards, plus Glory Girl and Panacea, in a straight fight very early on, and with Skitter and Bitch both holding back from any potentially lethal use of their potent powers.
They are indeed pretty scary. But Feet In The Water characters can kill professional soldiers like it's nothing if they're built for combat. You don't need a lot of Refresh to be powerful.
That being said, there's some subjectivity in this kind of assessment. I tend to stat people at lower levels than people expect...for example, I'd say Lung (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,37922.msg1857811.html#msg1857811) is Submerged, and most superheroes and villains are weaker than him. Including the Undersiders, at least when the story starts. (There are Undersider stats later in that thread, but they're meant to be applied later in the story.)
I took a look at the thread Sanctaphrax is talking about, and that depiction seems to be a great way to represent a pure mortal in a cape world without needing extremely high skill amounts!
Thanks.
I got your point, but I still don't think, that Flayer with his friends' help can't be the gung leader. I mean, Kayzer and Lung are not Thinkers, but they ruled their gungs during the long time. Yep, they were capes, but Kayzer wasn't the strongest capes in E88. So, if Flayer will be clever and skilled enough (now he had 70 skillpoints) and his mates will be ready to listen him (cuz he actually most clever of them) - why not?
Yes, he could be the leader. No argument here. Leading is mostly about chutzpah.
My point is mostly that you don't need 70 skill points to be a very competent person. IIRC I've literally never written a character with more than 65 skill points, and I've written up some pretty ridiculously overpowered characters.
I guess there's no real harm in giving him a crazy skill total, but it feels inelegant to me. So I'd rather make him skilled through the careful use of stunts and Aspects.
P.C. What you think about the backstories of Wendigo and Hummersmith?
They look solid to me.
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I guess there's no real harm in giving him a crazy skill total, but it feels inelegant to me. So I'd rather make him skilled through the careful use of stunts and Aspects.
Actually, I put 17 different stunts. About aspects - so, Street-Smert and Coldblooded can'be quite useful. Others... to be honest after nWoD system, aspects for me play more like narrative, not mechanical atributes.
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I saw the stunts. But quantity can't replace quality. Buying stunts carelessly actually makes a character less competent, since it reduces their Fate Point count.
As for Aspects...they're largely narrative, but being super-skilled is mostly a narrative thing. A character with Great Weapons and a MASTER SWORDSWOMAN Aspect is better with a sword than a character with Great Weapons and no relevant Aspect. They might be equally effective mechanically before you take FP into account, but the one with the Aspect is more skilled within the story of the game-world.
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Sanctaphrax
I thoght about it... But the concept of character is about action, and I focused on the verstality more than pure effect.
Anyway, new concept:
Serpent
Main Aspect: Tough girl with golden heart
Problem aspect: Former Drug User
Other aspects: Tsundere, Street-Smart, Moves Like a Ninja
Skills
Superb: Stealth
Great: Alertness, Deceit
Good: Contacts, Burglary, Athletics,
Fair: Fists, Weapons, Guns, Presense
Average: Schoolarship, Perfomance, Emphaty, Intimidation, Investigation
Powers
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (snakes)
-Displacement [-1] (from wiki) - You are not where you appear to be. A glamor or other optical effect obscures your true location, making it difficult for opponents to properly target you.
-Cloak of Shadows [–1]
-Inhuman Speed [–2]
-Incite Emotion (lust) [–2]
-Aura Of Obscurity [-0]You cannot be photographed clearly- be it film, digital, or video, you are somehow always out of focus, blurred, etc… Furthermore, people who don’t know you well have a very difficult time remembering you clearly.
Stunts
-Blend In: You blend into a crowd easily. If there’s a crowd to hide in, you gain +2 to your Stealth rolls. This is particularly useful when Shadowing someone on foot.
-Stay Close and Keep Quiet!: When sneaking around with a group, you are able to use your
Stealth skill to complement everyone else’s Stealth skill as they roll to stay hidden and quiet, provided they stay nearby and follow your instructions. Failure on either of these points means they lose the benefits. If you have any aspects specific to your ability to sneak around, your companions may invoke those aspects for their benefit as well.
-Swift and Silent: When Skulking, any difficulty increases due to fast movement are reduced by up to two.
-Honest Lies: Whenever incorporating a real, valuable piece of the truth (however marginally valuable it may be) into a lie, you gain a +2 on your efforts to pass off the untrue parts.
-Cat-Burglar: You’re a thief with catlike tread; you may use Burglary instead of Stealth for Hiding or Skulking
-On My Toes: Gain +2 to Alertness when using it to determine initiative.
Backstory: Susan Sullivan was born in Brockton Bay, a mixed middle-class family. Her parents divorced when she was eight - the girl continued to live with his father. He was a caring - sometimes too caring. Maybe he would like to debunk the myth about the "absent black fathers". Any way, for her it was irritable. From the age of thirteen, she regularly began to run away from home. Then she began hanging out with the wrong crowd. Perhaps her father (and mother, who still took part in the upbringing of his daughter) was worth being harder ... Anyway, soon she finally settled on a street where all experienced the joy of a free life: beatings, rape, prostitution, hunger, and of course drugs. Perhaps her father (and mother, who still took part in the upbringing of the daughter) was worth being harder ... Anyway, soon she finally settled on a street where all experienced the joy of a free life: beatings, rape, prostitution, theft, and of course drugs. Susan could go home, but she felt herself too "dirty" for this. During a gangbang (which is different from rape only because she was too drunk to refuse and resist), a girl ever wanted to be somewhere else. Unexpectedly for her, she begun to ran - and when she came to himself, she understood, that she had ran five blocks less than a minute, and not out of breath. Ability wasn't make not that much easier her life. But she at least stoped sell her body and begun to sell stolen goods. During the raid she was caught, and passed from hand to hand to parents. The girl underwent a course of rehabilitation and cure of venereal sores. She could start a new life, but the streets are not so easy to let go. She saw extrimely bad things and she want to help people. Especially since she was familiar with a hefty guy-Indian who once saved her from knife of a drunken client, and now offers a truly real deal with one real guy...
Appearance: Slender, athletic girl. Swarthy, with brown eyes, but the hair is more dark red than black. Hair cut short. Her costume - scaly dark-green skintight suit and the mask in the form of the top of the snake's head.
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This one I don't like so much.
It's hard to tell what her actual power is. Speed, stealth, snake senses, snake empathy, a weak illusion, some limited mind control, and the ability to see in the dark...it all seems kinda random.
The stunts are weird. Cat Burglar is thoroughly useless on a character with Stealth > Burglary, and both On My Toes and Swift And Silent seem pointless on a character with Speed. Swapping those two for another level of Speed would be a big upgrade.
As for the backstory, someone having sex with you while you're too drunk to consent is not different from rape at all. In fact, the vast majority of rape involves alcohol. Dunno if that's a language error or what, but you should fix it.
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Hm-m... Yep, I shouild fix it.
About rape... She was in severe apathy and drunked. Formally, she was agreed - but in this state she could agree on anything. She just did not want to live.
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Serpent
Main Aspect: Tough girl with golden heart
Problem aspect: Former Drug User
Other aspects: Tsundere, Street-Smart, Moves Like a Ninja
Skills
Superb: Stealth
Great: Alertness, Deceit
Good: Contacts, Burglary, Athletics
Fair: Fists, Weapons, Guns, Presense
Average: Schoolarship, Perfomance, Emphaty, Intimidation, Investigation
Powers
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (snakes)
-Cloak of Shadows [–1]
-Supernatural Speed [–4]
-Incite Emotion (lust) [–2] (pheromone attack)
-Spider Walk [–1]
Stunts
-Blend In: You blend into a crowd easily. If there’s a crowd to hide in, you gain +2 to your Stealth rolls. This is particularly useful when Shadowing someone on foot. she learn this trick while she lived on streets
-Stay Close and Keep Quiet!: When sneaking around with a group, you are able to use your Stealth skill to complement everyone else’s Stealth skill as they roll to stay hidden and quiet, provided they stay nearby and follow your instructions. Failure on either of these points means they lose the benefits. If you have any aspects specific to your ability to sneak around, your companions may invoke those aspects for their benefit as well.
-Honest Lies: Whenever incorporating a real, valuable piece of the truth (however marginally valuable it may be) into a lie, you gain a +2 on your efforts to pass off the untrue parts.
-Acrobat: Gain +1 on Athletics when using it to survive a fall. Also, gain +1 to attempts to dodge ranged attacks (throwing and guns), so long as you describe it colorfully.
Backstory: Susan Sullivan was born in Brockton Bay, a mixed middle-class family. Her parents divorced when she was eight - the girl continued to live with his father. He was a caring - sometimes too caring. Maybe he would like to debunk the myth about the "absent black fathers". Any way, for her it was irritable. From the age of thirteen, she regularly began to run away from home. Then she began hanging out with the wrong crowd. Perhaps her father (and mother, who still took part in the upbringing of his daughter) was worth being harder ... Anyway, soon she finally settled on a street where all experienced the joy of a free life: beatings, rape, prostitution, theft, and of course drugs. Susan could go home, but she felt herself too "dirty" for this. During a gangbang, a girl ever wanted to be somewhere else. Unexpectedly for her, she begun to ran - and when she came to himself, she understood, that she had ran five blocks less than a minute, and not out of breath. Ability wasn't make not that much easier her life. But she at least stoped sell her body and begun to sell stolen goods. During the raid she was caught, and passed from hand to hand to parents. The girl underwent a course of rehabilitation and cure of venereal sores. She could start a new life, but the streets are not so easy to let go. She saw extrimely bad things and she want to help people. Especially since she was familiar with a hefty guy-Indian who once saved her from knife of a drunken client, and now offers a truly real deal with one real guy...
Appearance: Slender, athletic girl. Swarthy, with brown eyes, but the hair is more dark red than black. Hair cut short. Her costume - scaly dark-green skintight suit and the mask in the form of the top of the snake's head.
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And last but not lest - Jasper:
Jasper
Main Aspect: Don't-Look-At-My-Tits-I-Have-A-Mind
Problem aspect: Don't know real life
Other aspects: Reachgirl, Loyal, I require my adventuries!
Skills
Superb: Empathy
Great: Rapport, Resources
Good: Presence, Contacts, Discipline
Fair: Scholarship, Performance, Alertness, Athletics
Average: Driving, Endurance, Weapons, Guns, Fists
Powers
-Evocation [–3]
-Thaumaturgy [–3]
Effects: -She can manipulate the temperature and the state of aggregation of matter, based on the energy of the intermolecular and interatomic bonds. It is let her to use pyro-/cryomacy, as much as transfome the solid materials in liquid form, and iquid - in gaseous, and vise versa - without changing its temperature.
-Generally, she can manipulate amount of material approximately equal to its own weight (approximately 45 kg). However, concentrating and spending a certain amount of time (Thaumaturgy rites), she is able to change the temperature of gases and thus, control the weather, on the scale of the whole city. Usualy, the using of Jasper's power accompanied by specific dark red aura around her body.
Stunts
-The Social Graces: Keen awareness of the ebb and flow of social situations makes you the master of your circumstances. When determining initiative in a social conflict, gain +2 to Empathy.
-Won’t Get Fooled Again: It only takes once for someone to lie to you before you start to wise up to it. Once you’ve discovered a particular person’s lie for what it is, you gain a +2 on any future Empathy rolls when dealing with that liar.
-Best Foot Forward: People just like you, especially when you’re deliberately trying to make a good first impression. You gain a +1 on your roll to make a good first impression, and failing that roll cannot give you a negative temporary aspect or make the situation worse.
Windfall: You’re occasionally able to tap into more Resources than usual, such as cashing out stocks or receiving a periodic disbursement from a trust fund. Once per adventure, you may spend a fate point to make a single Resources roll at +4.
-Calm Blue Ocean: You are skilled at keeping your emotions in check. Gain +2 to Discipline when rolling to keep emotions under control.
Backstory: Many people may envy Maggie Bishop - she has a loving and wealthy family, beauty, popularity and good mind (although the last trait often isn't noticed). Her early childhood was spent in Boston, teenage years - in Brockton Bay. Her superpower woke up when she returned from vacation - the plane on which she was traveling, nearly crashed. At that moment, the girl wanted only one thing - to be on solid ground. When the plane landed, she noticed his legs, immured in a layer of transparent substance. Before she could scream, substance disappeared - blown away in the inconspicuous flash.
As Skitter, Maggie begun to study her abilities, and she planned to be a hero. She take name Jasper (cuz she always liked jasper jewelry and becouse of color of the flash). She perceived it as entertainment and hobby, but starting to patrol the streets - quickly realized that this is a serious business. Serpent (the had met each other a couple of time before that) led girl in the team, and Maggie soon imbued with the Flayer's ideas.
Appearance: Tall, slender, green-eyed blonde. Not very athletic, but have a good forms. Dark red suit, a short coat with a hood and a white half-mask.
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About rape... She was in severe apathy and drunked. Formally, she was agreed - but in this state she could agree on anything...
What an awful thing to say.
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Yep. ButWorm-verse can be really dark.
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I don't mean it's too dark. I mean what you said is awful.
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:-\ Sorry, if I hurt you.
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:-\ Sorry, if I hurt you.
I think it has less to do with "hurt him", more to do "that's a horrible thing to say." I won't go into a tirade now, but the basic thing is: if someone can't give meaningful consent, it's rape.
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Ow, sorry. I explain the situation wrong. The point is not about "girl was stunned and facked after" but "she was totaly emotionalt smashed and drinked and she GIVE meaningful contest becouse she didn't saw reason to say 'no'".
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See, that's exactly the problem. If she was drunk and emotionally wrecked, she didn't give meaningful consent. Period.
But honestly, this isn't an appropriate topic for the forum. So I'm not going to discuss it anymore.
Anyway, Jasper should probably have Ritual instead of full Thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy can do all sorts of things that have nothing to do with her power. Plus, she needs focus items.
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Yeah. That's my Flayer. It's a shame that I didn't know this movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYYldKvN5pk