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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 6, 2006 1:35:46 GMT -5
Building Blue Lightning 4: Speed-Based Characters “Not Just For Quicksilver Anymore”
Overview
There aren’t that many archetypal characters built around Speed: basically it’s Quicksilver, Northstar, Flash, and…the various variants on the Flash (Kid Flash, Impulse, Zoom, etc.) However, just because it isn’t a commonly used tactic doesn’t mean it has to be one that we aren’t familiar with.
Speed is useful for: running, running, and more running. Speed also has the unique property of being used for initiative in the place of agility if you pay an extra stone. Also, you can use it to run up walls or across water at Speed 7, and at speed 10 to create “temporary cyclone-like gusts of wind up to 5 stones,” useful for putting out fires. You can also use Speed to leap distances, according to the D&R chart.
Other than that, speed has few very useful applications, in terms of actions that get it as an automatic bonus. Close Combat can use a speed bonus, as can Unstoppable, Swimming, and…that’s really about it.
How to Properly Play a Speed-Based Character
Three words: mobility, mobility, mobility. Did I mention mobility?
Durability and energy output is increasingly important here: to regularly travel at varying speed indefinitely, you need a certain number of stones to regenerate a panel, for example, a speed 4 requires you to regenerate at least 2 a panel to keep going, a speed 6 requires 3, a speed 8, for, and 5 stones for speed 9 and 10. That’s why Quicksilver has that 5 in Durability, so he can manage to run at Mach 20 regularly without having to worry about running out of steam (or red stones.)
And, just because an action doesn’t have a speed bonus doesn’t mean we can’t buy one. Any speed based character worth his salt should have at least a 7 in Speed (to pull off one of the better speed-based tricks,) so you actually gain more stones than the cost of the advantage.
Sample Character: Vente
This is actually been the hardest part of this article, because a lot of the speed-based characters have already been done. However, by dedicating a speed bonus into an unusual power, I could create something different. What I think of doing is making a character who relies force-blast attack that is fired really fast which covers a large area. With a superhumanly high speed, that kind of attack can be really effective.
First off, the basics. I decide in giving him a 7 in speed, using it as the focus for his initiative (7 white stones,) then a 4 in durability (6 white,) and 2’s in every other stat (2 white total.) That gives him a definite edge in terms of reaction time. I round out his abilities with Close Combat (Speed bonus,) Social Skills, and Swimming (Speed bonus) or 2 (2 more white stones) and I give him Unstoppable 1 (2 white) as a nice little fall-back power. That gives him 21 stones. I make him a mutant (again a cop out, but it really is easier to say your powers just manifested at puberty,) and, because I have a sense of humor, give him a special attachment to use his power: he needs to consume caffeine (one cup of coffe or cola or the equivalent) to use his powers. Thus, I name him Vente. That’s worth a stone… So, he has 25 stones he could use to make his uber-speed force blast.
I pause. Although my character with his super-speed force blast will be an offensive powerhouse, he isn’t a very defensive character. I decide on giving him Reflexive Dodge at (+2) (4 stones) and Toughness (+1) [2 white]. 19 white left for his force blast, so the best I can do is AN 10 [15 white.] I’m buying the Speed bonus, so that would limit my AN to 5. I think of it falling over an area, so I make it an area effect…so that lowers the highest Action Number I can buy to 2… I think about disadvantages. Disadvantages, if judiciously and cautiously applied, can help your character. I put “can’t split stones from attack to defense,” which is a -2, so I can now have that force blast at AN 4. I want it to do double damage as well…so that drops it to 2 again. I think about it, and I decide to do away with the double damage. It’s a very handy advantage, but I can always use my lines to buy it (it would take 20 lines [the +2 bonus of double damage x10] to purchase the advantage.) Vente would rely on his energy blast at Action Number 4 (being able to put 11 stones into a blast that could fill an area of 4 [100 feet diameter area up to 1 mile away, although he can spend stones to limit the area to just 5 feet]) at first, then combine close combat and unstoppable (for that 2x damage-y goodness) if his opponents close. I like the character, and start fleshing out the details.
Name: Vente Identity: Juan Valdez
Height: 5’6 Weight: 110 lbs. Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Black Species: Mutant
Abilities: Int: 2 Str: 2 Agi: 2 Spd: 7* Dur: 4
White: 4 Red: 12
Actions: Close Combat 2 (Speed bonus or Weapon modifier; Hand-to-Hand) Social Skills 2 (Coffee shops, Fasttalking) Swimming 2 (Speed bonus) Unstoppable 1 (Speed bonus) Concussive Force Blast 4 (Speed bonus, Area Effect, Can’t Split Stones Between Attack and Defense)
Modifiers: Toughness (+1) Reflexive Dodge (+2) Wealth (0)
Equipment: Cream-Colored, Coffee-Stained Costume
Challenges: Mutant, Human Appearance Dependence on caffeine (must consume at least 1 cup of caffeine-laden product [coffee or cola] daily or will be unable to use powers)
Next week: I ask the Wizard for a Brain when I try to teach all you aspiring Big Brains out there how to build an Intelligence-based character. Will I succeed? Who knows…
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Post by sgingell on Jan 6, 2006 2:21:21 GMT -5
I wish there was some way to get speed and agility based characters more energy. The intelligence energy rules are fine and high strength characters can easily justify high durability, but speedsters don't feel right to me.
It is all very well to be able to put 11 stones into a forceblast, or 9 into close combat, but on durability 4 he won't often be making full use of his high Speed. As it stands Quicksilver gets Durability 5, and while he needs it, it never really sat right with me that Quicksilver got written up as being as tough as Wolverine. I would suggest pulling some stones out of the Forceblast to pay for a higher Durability (or more in theme) a higher Reflexive Dodge, just so he has more stones per panel to throw around.
As it stands, I worry that he'll fall into the 'Cyclops Trap' of having great big action numbers (or in this case attributes) and not having the stones to use them.
I really like the idea of the forceblast, I just don't think he'd get to use it much.
-Stephen
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 6, 2006 2:51:34 GMT -5
Actually, all you need is 4 stones a panel. Look at the D&R charts. The resistance for running at speed 7 is 4 stones. So, you put in 4 stones, which he can do indefinitely, he'll be able to keep up at speed 7 for his heart's content, and put up to 3 more stones into Defense should he desire. Perhaps a good approach would be to tone down the blast to AN 2 (saving 6 stones) and springing for a healing factor (4 stones) and tacking on maybe an increase to something like Unstoppable 3. It would up his versatility a bit and give him 2 more energy a panel to spend, which is also nice.
However, I do agree with the problems relating to energy. There have been a few proposed ideas to get around it, one of the better ones is the "Innate Talent" modifier that Whitewing put up for his Star Wars game. However, none of the answers really have been all that satisfactory. Certain characters (not naming names, *cough*ScottSummers*cough*,) really require some way to get around the lack of energy. I've been wracking my brain recently about it as well. One easy way for him to get a little more bang for his buck would be targetting, and he must be squirreling away stones the way the character's been put together (I think the Core Book puts him at something like 25 stones, which is laughable, to say the least.)
But, now I'm going off on a tangent. Your points are appreciated. Thank you very much for reading!
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Post by sphynx on Jan 6, 2006 3:16:27 GMT -5
Actualy I think a high durability is very fitting for a 'speedster'. Pretty rare to see one tired. Durability means more than toughness and mass, and even in real-life (that's the area outside of the comic books and roleplaying games), most of the too thin, wiry, fast runner types I've hung out with have had incredible metabolisms, going without sleep longer than I could, even after very rough days that exhaust me entirely. Besides, as DarkKnight mentioned, Durability 5 is all you need to run at the fastest speed possible for however long you want (you could go nonstop around the entire world at full speed). DorkKnight: Anyone can build an Int based character, show how to make a Magic based character (and how magic actually works) Anyhows, good job on the speedster., any chance you could edit it and add in stone counts for people actually wanting to use the info?
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 6, 2006 3:28:02 GMT -5
I'm actually planning on writing a whole article about Mastery of Magic at a later date (after I write the article on the other Masteries.) Coming down the pipe I foresee:
* Intelligence-based characters (telepathy as a focus mainly) * Close Fighters * Ranged Fighters * Scouts * Masters * Mastery of Magic * Support * Transform Self-Based Characters * Powered Armor (a rehash of Powered Armor for Dummies, maybe with some more practical building tips put in) * Tips on Making Equipment * Other/Misc. (anything else I can't fit into the above categories)
After that, we'll see.
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Post by sgingell on Jan 6, 2006 14:58:42 GMT -5
Actualy I think a high durability is very fitting for a 'speedster'. Pretty rare to see one tired. Durability means more than toughness and mass... All well and good, but if Captain America and Quicksilver both start splitting logs for firewood, Captain America is getting tired first under the rules as written. Athletes of all stripes are going to be hardy, but Durability 5 is really high. I'm fine with Quicksilver outlasting Captain America in a race, but Dur: 5 lets him take heavier blows, resist poison better, withstand extreme temperatures longer, etc... All of which I'd expect Captain America to do better from the comics. I'd much rather handle Quicksilver as Durability 3 with Whitewing's Innate Talent for Speed (which I really like). Give Quicksilver Innate Talent: 4 for speed and he has tons of energy to devote to speedy punches, dodges, and running, but doesn't have to be tougher than Beast to do it. As far as running speed goes, sure you only need 4 stones/panel to keep up a cross country run, but there are other things he'll want to do with speed. Zip out of the way of a 9 stone attack for instance, zip in quick with his own 10 stone force blast, he can do those things as written, just not often. The change I would make is not spending so many white stones on being allowed to spend so much energy on a force blast when most of the time he won't have the energy to spare. I may be drifting off topic into energy reform house rules, but I think speedsters are one place where the current rules don't work as well as possible. -Stephen
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 6, 2006 15:08:59 GMT -5
I agree, but this article isn't about what changes need to be made to the rules regarding speed, but rather how to use the currently existing rules to make a speed-based character. Earlier I was going to play Impulse/Kid Flash in the DC Universe game, and Meetgrinder came up with a nifty "Speed Force" modifier.
It worked pretty well with giving the Flash-types free speed. However, it is a house rule, and we didn't figure out a cost for it. But, here's the mod (which, just to doubly give credit where credit is due, Meetgrinder came up with.) If you figured out a cost on it (I would say Modifier Number + 6 or 7 or so might work well) it could work pretty well (although, I haven't really had a chance to test it yet.)
Speed Force - The character can move at accelerated speed in their normal ways of moving (swimming, running generally), adding DOUBLE their speed force score to their speed as a modifier (free stones) with regards to movement, and gaining the advantages of increased speed as per the book. (Run over water, run up walls, use tornado style attacks) - Speed force adds to the characters agility for purposes of going first - Speed force provides a reflexive dodge score and a toughness score equal to the Speed Force number whenever it is used in a panel - it effectively protects the user from burning up, but the character could still be surprised (they're only human after all,) though if they see an attack coming it adds. - Speed Force acts as a modifier when attacking in close combat, and can be used to augment both the characters actions in a panel, so they could move at high speed then attack with the mod as well - Time travel - Speed Force can be used to travel through time, though at GM discretion. The difficulty is set by the GM (it's over 10 in any case, depending on how far forward or back you want to go) and the characters' speed needs to beat that number.
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Post by sphynx on Jan 7, 2006 4:42:51 GMT -5
I disagree, if QuickSilver were chopping wood with Captain America at the same speed as Captain America, he'd out-last Captain America. However, QuickSilver would usually put stones into Speed into his Chopping Wood action, so he'd tire faster, but would get more wood chopped in that time.
Quicksilver could chop wood so fast, that he'd go through a small woodland area, and all you'd see was a pile of wood in a minute. Captain America would be quite exhausted 2 days later when he'd complete the same size small woodland area. Sorry boss, QuickSilver is alot more 'durable' than Captain America.
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Post by rennyn on Jan 7, 2006 6:07:59 GMT -5
How much wood would a Quicksilver chop if a.. err nevermin
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 7, 2006 16:27:32 GMT -5
The better question is: if Quicksilver chopped down a bunch of trees in the woods, would they all fall down at once? And if he ran away at Mach 20, would they make a sound?
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 7, 2006 16:28:19 GMT -5
Building Blue Lightning 5 Building an Intelligence-Based Character Or “If I only had a brain…”
Overview Not all of us are as smart as we’d like to be. Sure, most of the comic book geeky types are brighter than the Average Joe on the street (and remember, unlike the physical stats where 1 is normal, 2 is considered average,) but still that only means in the 2-4 range (ok, 5 tops, some of you are pretty bright.) However, that doesn’t mean we can’t make the super-brilliant scientist that we all secretly aspire to be. So put on your lab coats, kids!
Some good examples of intelligence-based heroic characters are any characters who rely on their intelligence for energy, including Professor X, Jean Grey, the Wasp, Sage (an excellent example, in fact,) Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, Cypher/Douglas Ramsey, and Forge.
Why In Pete’s Name Would You Be Intelligence-Based
Because it’s the smart thing to do, of course.
An intelligence-based character should have an intelligence-based energy. Sure, your intelligence will be costing double, but if you want to play a smart guy, durability likely shouldn’t be your strong suit anyways. Think about it: if you’re relying on an intelligence bonus, wouldn’t you like to spend double for the ability to use all that beautiful intelligence to your advantage?
There are also some great advantages to having a Durability of 3. When a Durability-based character is damaged, their energy increases at the rate of their wounded stones. However, an Intelligence-based character’s max reserve is merely reduced by 3 for the first damage. For a character of a 5 intelligence, this could be quite a hit, but for a 6 or a 7 it’s night unto hardly noticeable, especially if you start burning energy at your Intelligence rate (which you should be doing anyway.) Also, it means you’ll have way more energy than a comparable character, as long as your intelligence is your energy source, and you’re paying double (look, even Doug Ramsey’s got an extra stone/panel over Gambit, and he can spend 2 more red a panel without tiring out. Who’s cooler now?)
Not only that, Intelligence is built into a lot of skills, like General Knowledge, Gambling, Inventing, Technology, Concentration, Business Skills, Computers, Genetic Engineering, Gambling. It’s a decreased bonus in terms of cost for Psychiatry, Telepathy and Telekinesis (down -3 to +2) and a “recommended” bonus for Mastery of Magic and Sorcery (but they give those people everything and the kitchen sink anyway, so it’s best to ignore it, and they don’t decrease the cost any for you.)
Regarding Using Intelligence as a Close Combat ability: Most GM’s don’t like it. I sure as heck don’t. However, if you pay the +5 and use your Intelligence bonus and another ability bonus, that is all the more awesome. Your intelligence is high enough anyway. Go for it, if that’s what you’re after.
That’s not all intelligence is good for: it’s good for “solving problems, operating devices and machinery, learning new subjects, etc.” You, the player, got you’re head in a knot? Just spend some stones in intelligence and try to figure this all out.
Some Intelligent Synergy
Besides purchasing the skills, there’s some easily usable skills: Intelligence bonus: always handy to have, and it makes sense with almost any skill. I’m fond of buying Biocomputing at 1 with an intelligence bonus (12 stones,) but if you have over 6 in Intelligence it is extremely worth it as you can spend your full energy on any sort of intelligence-based skill check. Good for the up-and-coming geniuses of the world. The Infamous Telepathy/Telekinesis/Force Field Combination: a lot of characters rely on it. Each one is decreased in cost for owning the other, it encourages players to buy the whole set. I discourage it in my own games, but that’s only because I think it’s boring.
Other than that, you get a bevy of skills to choose from to use that intelligence bonus for free. Use them!
Sample Character: Mindman
For my sample intelligence-based character, I want to rely on telepathy-based powers (I'll be discussing Mastery of Magic in an individual article later.) But, instead of being some kind of mutant, I opt instead to create an inventor who created a special “brain helmet” to power his telepathy and telekinesis (I briefly think about a force field, but that just seems crass to me and not what I envision.) I opt for Strength, Speed, and Agility of 1, and a Durability of 2 (that’s 3 stones.) I decide to make him nearsighted (1) and, since this helmet could always be removed (an easy weakness,) I give him a 5 stone “needs helmet to use telekinesis, biocomputing, cybernetic senses, or telepathy.” Wait, biocomputing, cybernetic senses? Yes, of course, what cybernetic helmet wouldn’t be complete with computing power and some kind of chemical analysis? And since this is his bread and butter (I don’t plan on investing too many stones in anything else), it will make for an interesting, if flawed, character.
I buy his intelligence at 6, with the special energy option, for 8 stones. Counting my challenges, I’ve only spent 5 stones out of my 40. I buy Close Combat 1, Social Skills 2, General Knowledge 3, Technology 2, and Inventing 2 (that adds up to 13 more stones.) Now, I decide to combine Technology and Inventing into one action, to 1) save space, and 2) because combining actions is good, and the less lines I spend improving different things is very good. I have 22 stones left to spend. I buy Cybernetic Senses (+1), which gives me 19 stones left to spend.
I’m going to add a disadvantage to my mental actions: can’t improve by adding lines. Here is the “do as I say, not as I do”: do not use can’t improve by adding lines to an action if you can help it. Being unable to improve a power, particularly a power you plan on focusing on, is a very unwise move. However, if it fits thematically with the character, go for it (all good rules and guidelines were made to bent, broken, or flat-out ignored.) Besides, I would plan on this character improving social skills, technology, and perhaps buying some leadership or business skills (maybe both as a combined action.)
My helmet is equipment, but since I don’t try to get any free stones, or combine with any actions, it’s all very simple and straight-forward in terms of equipment. I’m just going to add the disadvantage to reflect how the telepathy, telekinesis, and biocomputing are all an aspect of the helmet that he can’t improve. Cybernetic Senses doesn’t need it because it’s a modifier that I can’t improve anyway.
Remember earlier how I mention Biocomputing 1 with an intelligence bonus? I buy that, except I add the can’t improve by adding lines disadvantage, so instead of being AN+8, it’s instead AN+6, so I pay 6 stones for it. That gives me 13 stones left to spend. If I divide those stones 6 and 6 (AN 7,) that leaves me a stone left over for a wealth of 3 (1 stone.) Telepathy’s cost is strongly related to its options, so I start off by buying the cheaper intelligence bonus, because, from an optimization standpoint, for decreasing the effective AN from 2, I get a net gain of 4 stones I can use to defeat mental resistance, and telepathy is all about defeating mental resistance. So, so far, we’re dead even in terms of cost (+2-2,) but I look at options. I like Mental Bolts, Telepathic Communications, and Project Thoughts/Control Others thematically for the character (and Project Thoughts/Control others allows the use of illusions for free, which is always nice,) the others don’t interest me, although many of them are very valid options (and given to a clever character can be really handy.) Those options add up to +4, so I buy Telepathy at AN 3 (3+4=level 6, or 7 white stones,) which also gives him a free mental defense of (+3.) Pretty nice. And I have 6 stones left for telekinesis. Telekinesis normally costs +2, it gets a -1 due to Telepathy, and another -2 for being unable to improve, so I’m at -1. Telekinesis gets 2 options, a +2 intelligence bonus and a +1 weapon modifier. An intelligence bonus helps overcome resistance, and it is cheaper, but it decreases the net amount the character can lift, since the action number is used as a substitute for strength. It’s up to you: lift less better, or lift more crudely. My guy feels like the cruder kind of mentalist, so I give him a weapon modifier, and buy Telekinesis at AN 7 (which means he can pretty effectively lift up a school bus and then use the bus as a weapon modifier to crush some poor sap.) Also, combining telekinesis and close combat will be a very valid combat strategy, especially utilizing a weapon modifier from close combat (when I improve close combat, I might add specialties like [improvised weapons] and [large objects].) Having finished up, I start writing up the details into my CAD.
Name: Mindman Identity: Miles Minder
Height: 5’1 Weight: 99 lbs. Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Brown (shaved) Species: Human
Abilities: Int: 6 (i) Str: 1 Agi: 1 Spd: 1 Dur: 2
White: 2 Red: 12 (i)
Actions: Close Combat 1 (Strength bonus or Weapon modifier) Social Skills 2 (Academia, Scientific Community) General Knowledge 3 (Intelligence bonus; Mechanics) Technology/Inventing 2 (Intelligence bonus) * Biocomputing 1 (Intelligence bonus, can’t improve by adding lines) * Telepathy 3 (Intelligence bonus, project thoughts/control others, illusions, mental bolts, telepathic communications, can’t improve by adding lines) * Telekinesis 7 (Weapon modifier, can’t improve by adding lines)
Modifiers: * Cybernetic Senses (+1) [from helmet] Mental Defense (+3) Wealth (3)
Equipment: Mind Helmet: provides telepathy, telekinesis, biocomputing, and cybernetic senses
Challenges: Nearsighted (wears glasses) Can’t use powers without helmet
And there’s a mentalist (and Intelligence-based character) worthy of note.
Sidebar: I’m not writing an article on how to properly build a durability-based character. This is because Durability should be a stat of secondary (or, at the absolute worse, tertiary) importance to any character character. From a cost-based perspective, buying a durability of more than 6 is an ineffective use of stones (the jump from 6 to 7 is 12 stones to 18 stones, and 8 jumps up to 27 stones [what was the Silver Surfer thinking?]) If you buy a durability of 6 or greater and still have plenty of stones to throw around, buying a durability bonus to something like close combat might not be a bad idea.
Next time on Building Blue Lightning, since I’m done looking at the different abilities, I look into how to make an effective close fighter. Stay tuned.
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Post by sgingell on Jan 7, 2006 16:29:30 GMT -5
Quicksilver could chop wood so fast, that he'd go through a small woodland area, and all you'd see was a pile of wood in a minute. Captain America would be quite exhausted 2 days later when he'd complete the same size small woodland area. Sorry boss, QuickSilver is alot more 'durable' than Captain America. Quicksilver can put out a lot of energy (in either the RPG or physics sense of the word), but I think the best way to do that is to give him free energy toward Speed (via something like 'Innate Talent'). If you provide all the energy he needs by giving him a high durability, there are unintended consequences since durability covers a lot more than energy. You get a Quicksilver who can withstand injuries that would kill almost every X-Man, a Quicksilver who wins games of 'bloody knuckles' with Beast, shrugs off toxins that would kill Captain America, etc... Part of this may come down to reading the comics differently, if you're happy with a Quicksilver who can do all those things, then more power to you. The broader issue is that even if you think Quicksilver is hardier (not just able to pump out more energy, but plain *tougher*) than Beast or Captain America, the system doesn't have a way to make a fast, fragile, non-genius, and it should. Regardless, this is meant to be a character design tread not a game design one, so I'll shut up... -Stephen
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 7, 2006 16:35:33 GMT -5
Still, a valid point. There was some clamoring earlier about some kind of "energy battery" that would function for a source of energy instead of durability or intelligence. I don't know the specifics, but it could work as well to minimize stone expenditures.
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 7, 2006 18:42:38 GMT -5
Building Blue Lightning 6: Close Fighters Or “Laying the Smackdown and Getting Away With It”
Now that we’ve looked at how to build characters focusing on Strength, Agility, Speed, and Intelligence-based characters, we’ll be looking at the specifics on making characters that fill the five archetypes of a good team: close fighters, ranged fighters, masters, scouts, and support.
First, let’s get a proper definition of close fighter, this is from page 60 of the Guide to the X-Men: “Those who fight effectively at a range of 1 or less, whether or not they use actions other than Close Combat to do it.” That gives us quite a lot of room to work...
Some examples of excellent Close Fighters include Beast, Captain America, Daredevil, Elektra, or Wolverine.
The Three Tanking Tenets
There are three facets of a melee-based close-fighting character, which a truly effective close fighter needs in varying degrees: Offense, Defense, and Mobility. Some characters may focus and excel at one or two, but the best fighters have some of all three to properly defeat opponents.
Offense: Abilities that can potentially damage an opponent, Close Combat is one example, as is Ninja (albeit a much more costly one.) Modifiers like Claws, and actions that can combine with close combat also apply (like Acrobatics [in certain occasions,] Unstoppable/Blasting, Black Ops, Flight, Force Field, and Mastery of Elements [with the “can combine with close combat” option.]) Defensive: Toughness, Energy Defense, Magical Defense, Mental Defense, and Force Fields are all excellent choices for a defensive-minded character. However, any action that can have stones shifted to defense can also help a character be defensive. Mobility: Actions that improve mobility, like Flight or Teleportation. Abilities like Speed and Agility can also make for a very mobile character.
So, to sum up, to make a good close combat character you need to be able to hit hard, take the damage your other opponent dishes out, and have some means of mobility to keep up with your opponents. If you mock the value of mobility, read the example combat I wrote in “Scrappin’: Hank and Logan’s Guide to Combat” featuring Blob and Gambit. All the strength and toughness in the world didn’t help the Blob who plodded around with his speed of 1 until Gambit finally finished the Immovable Object.
So, the basic gist: use your stones and divide them with these three notions in mind. Some characters are a very even 33-33-33 in terms of division, but it can be more effective to slightly focus on two or those abilities (something like 40-20-40 or 40-40-20, or even 20-40-40) but having enough in everything so as not to come totally short in combat.
The next section will focus on close combat characters who focus on each of the three tenets, and one balanced character.
Archetype 1: The Brute
Some say the best offense is a good defense. The Brute believes, more simply, that the best offense is a good offense. These characters focus more on dealing damage than they deal with soaking it up or mobility, although many focus on defensive abilities over mobility.
The best examples of a Brute are the Juggernaut, the Thing, the Hulk, or even Iron Man.
Damage dealing powers that can be combined with Close Combat are the focus of the Brute, like Unstoppable. Force Field, which can be combined with close combat, is great for defensive-minded Brutes, as is Toughness. Flight can similarly be exploited for those brutes with a focus on mobility.
Brutes tend to focus on Strength, Durability, and Toughness. Generally, brutes are: Offense: 40% Defense/Mobility: 40% Mobility/Defense: 20%
Quick Example of a 40-stone Brute-type character: Gorgon; Abilities: Int 2, Str 6, Agi 2, Spd 2, Dur 6; Actions: Close Combat 2 (Strength bonus or Weapon modifier), Social Skills 2, Flight 5; Modifiers: Toughness (+4) [no AP, no 2x damage] Claws (+3) Reflexive Dodge (+2) Animal Senses 1; Wealth (1) Equipment: Challenges: Mutant (Snake-like appearance, wings)
The idea behind this Brute is to focus on a power that improves mobility that can be easily combined with close combat (like flight.) Another approach would be to focus on a power like Force Field, that has great defensive potential, but can be combined with close combat.
Archetype 2: The Wall
Whereas the Brute has to rely on raw damage output, the Wall relies on defensive power to protect himself from the onslaught of his opponents. By surviving the attack of his opponents and outlasting the opponent, the Wall hopes to win a campaign of attrition.
The best example of a wall is not the Blob, but rather Colossus.
Durability is important to Walls, especially those that rely on a power like force field to keep them protected. Every other ability can be negotiable.
Walls rely on defensive powers like Force Field and Toughness to keep from getting hurt. Generally, Walls are: Defense: 40% Offense/Mobility: 40% Mobility/Offense: 20%
Quick Example of a 40-stone Wall-type Masada; Abilities: Int 3, Str 2, Agi 2, Spd 2, Dur 4; Actions: Close Combat 2, Ranged Combat 2, Social Skills 2, Force Field (effective vs. Mental Attacks and Magical Attacks) 6, Flight 2; Modifiers: Healing Factor, Toughness (+4) only when using Force Field; Wealth (0) Equipment: Challenges: Mutant (Human Appearance)
Wall characters who utilize Force Fields which they combine with close combat can also make incredible Support characters.
Overall, it is rare to see a close combat character focus primarily on defense. However, it is viable, and not impossible.
Archetype 3: The Rake
Nightcrawler is my favorite X-Man (and one of my favorite comic characters in general,) and he embodies the notion of a rake: mobility, mobility, mobility. Stay out the line of fire and hit ‘em when their backs are turned and you can turn the tide of battle. Good if you’re the sixth person on a team, and all the other combat roles are filled. Oh, and Spider-Man could be an excellent example too, but he’s good at practically everything anyway, so it goes without mentioning.
Rakes focus on Agility or Speed, reflexive dodge, and usually a mobility-power (like Web-Slinging, Acrobatics, Wall-Crawling, Flight, or Teleportation.) Acting first and hitting hard is a major strategy of such characters. Generally, Rakes are: Mobility: 40% Offense/Defense: 40% Defense/Offense: 20%
Elusive; Abilities: Int 3, Str 2, Agi 6, Spd 2, Dur 4; Actions: Close Combat 5 (Agility bonus or Weapon modifier), Acrobatics (can always combine with Close Combat [+3]) 3, Social Skills 3, Wall-Crawling 3; Modifiers: Claws (+3), retractable, Toughness (+3) Reflexive Dodge (+4), Healing Factor; Wealth (2) Equipment: Challenges: Mutant, (human appearance)
Rakes can also double as decent scouts or support characters (especially if they utilize teleportation.)
Archetype 4: A Balanced Fighter
The best fighters do all three of these things well, and try to find some balance in offense, defense, and mobility. Wolverine’s offense is great, but he’s also got an excellent defense (reflexive dodge, and a healing factor) and his agility and speed are adequate for him to move around the battlefield. Captain America’s built similarly. These characters might not be exceptionally strong, fast, or tough, but it’s their jack-of-all-trades nature (skill at all 3 tenets, master of none,) that can give them the edge in battle. These kind of characters usually have a very high Close Combat score and free stones to combine with close combat from a weapon modifier or a skill like claws.
Beatdown; Abilities: Int 3, Str 4, Agi 4, Spd 4, Dur 4; Actions: Close Combat 7, Social Skills 3, Ranged Combat/Baseball 4; Modifiers: Healing Factor, Toughness (+2) Reflexive Dodge (+2); Wealth (4) Equipment: Unstable Molecule Costume (+1) to Defense, Adamantium Baseball Bat (+5) close combat or ranged combat weapon modifier, unbreakable; 6 baseballs (+0) weapon modifier; Challenges: Haunted Past 1
Conclusion:
Close Fighters are really the easiest archetype to put together: just keep the three tenets (offense, defense, and mobility) in mind, and you could really do almost anything and build a character who is effective at fighting your enemies up close (so your allies can do the best job they can at a range, or scouting, or supporting, or what have you.)
Next time, we look at how to make a Ranged Fighter in “The William Tell Overture.”
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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 15, 2006 5:22:20 GMT -5
Buildling Blue Lightning 7: Effective Ranged Fighters or “The William Tell Overture”
Ranged Fighters are characters effective at distances greater than 1. That’s a very broad definition. Characters who utilize Ranged Combat, Force Blasts, Fireworks, Charge Object, tongue/tendril/tail whip, or even Mastery of Elements/Magic can qualify as a ranged combat character, since their primary method of attack is over a distance greater than 1. Although these characters can be built in many different ways, the method used to create them is generally the same.
Cyclops and Jubilee are two good examples of archetypal Ranged Fighter, although there are many, many, others.
When the system was being created, Ranged Fighters and their advocates apparently slept in, as they are poorly represented in terms of the Energy usage in the Action Resolution System. Irregardless, this is about the theory of building a character using the existing rules, and not a proposition for changing them, so let’s leave that thought by the wayside.
Ranged Fighters characters require proper use of two of the tenets of the close fighter: offense, and mobility. Defense is much less important for a Ranged Fighter, who works best if he hits first and hits hard, and then won’t have to worry about being hit back. A high agility will help you hit first, and a high durability will help you have enough energy to make that hit count, unless…
The Most Important Thing to Take from this Article One Word: Targeting. Targeting is what every ranged combat character worth a damn should take. Free stones will make your hits more effective, especially when used with a force blast or other attack that doesn’t require a modifier (meaning there is no upper limit to how high your targeting can help you.) If you want to use targeting with something specific and that only (like say, a force blast,) you can take a -1 to restrict it to only helping that force blast.
Sample Character: Calamity Jane
I’m going to build a ranged combat character around a combination of force blast and targeting. I picture a character who will use bad luck and targeting to help keep her alive in battle. None of her stats will be above peak human, I think: Int 2, Str 2, Agi 3, Spd 2, Dur 3 (6 white total.) She’s going to be a human-appearing mutant (-3 white,) and that’s the only challenge I want to give her. I’m going to buy Bad Luck (+2) (9 white,) Reflexive Dodge (+2,) Toughness (+2) (6 more white,) and Targeting (+7) with the special condition it applies only to her force blast (15 white.)
I buy some basic actions: close combat 2, social skills 2, acrobatics 2, vehicle operations 2, technology 1, and wealth (2) (4 more white.) I’ve spent 37 white total, which puts me in bad shape for buying a force blast. But, then again, I don’t need to have a very high Action Number with my force blast, you know why? I bought the 7 in targeting? I have 7 free stones I can put into my force blasts, when I’m only spending…3? To make this even more optimization-friendly, I think about the action number that gives me 3 stones (AN 5.) I could buy the dreaded “3x damage” challenge to my force blast (AN+4=5, so AN 1,) then add the “can’t split stones between attack and defense” challenge (AN+2=AN 3.) Now, think of this: I can spend 3 stones into attack, I can get an almost +10 attack at triple damage, enough to decimate most normal opponents. Her bad luck (rather, her opponents’,) her toughness, her reflexive dodge, and a freebie (+1) costume will protect her from most attacks that could pose a threat. Quite a formidable force, if she hits first, at least.
Name: Calamity Jane Identity: Jane Gooding
Height: 5’2 Weight: 99 lbs. Eye Color: Green Hair Color: Brown Species: Mutant
Abilities: Int: 2 Str: 2 Agi: 3 Spd: 2 Dur: 3
White: 3 Red: 9
Actions: Concussive Force Blast 3 (3x damage, can’t split stones between attack and defense) Close Combat 2 (Agility bonus or Weapon modifier; Hand-to-Hand, Streetfighting) Social Skills 2 (Mutant culture, Streetwise) Acrobatics 2 (Agility bonus) Vehicle Operations 2 (Motorcycles, Trucks) Technology 1 (Intelligence bonus)
Modifiers: Bad Luck (+2) Reflexive Dodge (+2) Toughness (+2) Targeting (+7) [force blast only] Wealth (2)
Equipment: Unstable Molecule Costume: (+1) to Defense
Conclusion:
That’s quite a powerful example of what ranged fighters can do, given the exploitation of the right tricks.
Next time on Building Blue Lighting I take a look at how to build a Master of Elements, entitled “The Elements of Style/The Style of Elementals.” See you then.
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