cool.  I like that better.  Thanks for the help.

EDIT:

Do I not need a power to shape change into a giant?  It doesn't seem like I would since I have no intention of reallocating skills when in my giant form but you seem to know better than I do on the shapechanging aspects of this game, which, I admit, continue to confuse me.

Oh, I'm not really arguing balance on the Brass Knucles, just the way the rules work, which is pretty simple: Brass Knuckles are Weapon: 1 (which would stack with Strength bonuses, but not claws). You could make Elemental Fists +1 Stress and stackable to go with the knuckles...but that's actually demonstratably worse than just having them be Weapon: 2.

Though directly adding to skills IS legitimately something that only Items of Power and other things that cost Refresh should really be able to do. Your second idea is identical to a Stunt Fix has, and thus shouldn't be available for free, IMO.

On the armor: Reducing all Stress by 4 is really ridiculous actually. Reducing it by 3 is legitimately much more balanced.

Well I'll think about the brass knuckles.  This character will probably never see the light of day anyway.  He's an evil/neutral guy and he's third on my list of evil/neutral characters I want to play. 

For the armor I don't see how having four armor against anything not fire, and 2 armor against fire is anymore unbalanced than a magic user having a cloak that gives Armor 4 with 4 uses or more, which is easily doable at this giant's power level (chest deep).

Actually, if I'm remembering Blood Rites correctly, Thomas(or someone) mentions that the first time they feed is ALWAYS fatal. Unless he was just talking about the first time they have sex.

True.  There's two explanations.

1. The RPG thought a True Mortal with only incite emotion was a boring build and thus changed the WCV from the lore.
2. The only reason the first time was always fatal for the Raiths was because they were told they were mortal since birth and they feed on lust (lots of fun) so they have absolutely no reason to even try to make a discipline roll on their first feeding.

I tend to think the second one is true.  Inari had no clue she could hurt Harry by seducing him, and I imagine that's true for all of Lord Raith's virgin children.  Remember that White Court victims die in pure sexual ecstasy so there's obviously no indication to the unlearned WCV that they are hurting their victim.

Like I said in the actual writeup, the Scholarship is probably undeserved, it's just to reflect them being brighter than most of the other critters listed.

If it makes you feel better, re-read or remember how dolphins show up in Small Favor and assume that dolphins are smarter in the Dresdenverse. 

I kind of got the feeling those dolphins were scions or something.

But in any event, I was just offering my critique which you seemed to keep asking for and no one had anything but compliments

And that's really the only criticism I have.  I'll probably end up GMing in the Fall and I'll be saving these for future reference.  Plus I'll suggest running into some Mountain Lions in my current Houston game.

For every scientific or psychological study you can cite that claims Dolphins are as intelligent as you are claiming, I can find a scientific or psychological study claiming they aren't.  It's a highly disputed topic.  Many psychologists have even tried to claim Dolphins are smarter than humans.  They're usually the tree hugging ones that think Dolphins would do a better job ruling the world than us hyper destructive, evil humans.

My point being that you've given them above average human intelligence.  That's what the average skill means.  We can put aside the "so long and thanks for all the fish" argument and at least agree that they aren't more intelligent than humans.  At least I hope we can agree that.  And if you don't think they're more intelligent than the average human than it doesn't make sense to give your "average dolphin" a scholarship at average.

I made a nephilim for a PbP game, but my group had some problems with him having Soulfire, and it didn't really make sense to me for him to not have it, so I'm changing character. My eventual list of powers would have been Soulfire, Supernatural Speed and Recovery (catch is Hellfire 'unholy stuff' and True Faith of people who still truly believe that Nephilim are abominations) Inhuman Strength and Wings under a Human Guise. Also would have added Holy Touch independant of Rightousness attached to the wings and human guise if the GM allowed it (when he spreads his wings his whole body shines with holy light and burns holy-vunerable creatures)

I can post him if people are interested.

One of my "evil" character concepts is a scion of a frost or fire Giant in norse mythology, maybe a son of Ymir himself.  He'd look something like this:

High Concept: Giant Bastard
Trouble: Ragnarok Starter

Powers: [-1] Elemental Fists (claws), [-4] Supernatural Strength, [-4] Supernatural Toughness, [+3] Fire or Ice

Skills:
Superb: Might, Endurance
Great: Intimidation, Fists
Good: Athletics, Presence
Fair: Alertness, Craftsmenship
Average: Discipline, Conviction

Items: Full body armor (armor 2), Brass Knuckles (Fists +1)


Stress:
Physical: 0000 (0000) (not fire/ice)
Mental: 000
Social: 0000

Armor: 0000

1. True.  If they want to take any more powers (usually inhuman strength, speed, etc...) they need to take feeding dependency.
2. Correct.
3. No.  Only if they kill.  They roll discipline against the value of the power they used to avoid taking a hunger stress hit.
4. They're only ravenous after using the powers.  If the WCV takes a supernatural powers but never uses them he doesn't need to feed.  This is straight from the books.  Thomas only looks ravenous after he exerts a lot of superhuman strength or speed.

No.  When a White Court Virgin feeds he can stop whenever he wants to.  When a GM makes a compel against his high concept he is compelling him to feed because there is a strong emotion that the WCV likes nearby.  The WCV gets a fate point for that compel.  He then rolls discipline to resist that temptation.  Whether his roll succeeds or not is irrelevant to the compel.  The compel was for the temptation to feed, not feeding itself.  The GM can't compel a WCV to kill his victim without dishing out about about a hundred fate points unless the PC is the unluckiest dice roller in existence. 

Remember, each time he feeds it's a mental attack of Deceit vs. Conviction.  So to kill your victim in one feeding you'd need to roll +7 more deceit than your victim rolled conviction.  It's much more likely that it'd take about five feeding attacks to take out a victim (kill him/her) and thus any WCV has five tries to resist through a discipline roll.

Looking at this character I have to say it's ridiculously unbalanced.  There's a reason Sorcerers aren't allowed to take refinement more than twice.  The only characters that should be able to be this good at any aspect of magic are full wizards, and their requirements are there for a reason.  It's the same reason evocation and skills have the stacking rule.  You're not allowed to be that specialized; it unbalances the game.

Of course, it's ultimately up to you and your GM, but I'd put the same limit on your custom build as a sorcerer.