Transform Self 2.0 Idea

[bikermatt]

I owe you an apology, Arch. I took a look at the original examples, and found I had misread the conclusive part, whre it shows the challenges already listed, and I had mistaken it for the challenge for Tranform Self itself. I ooped

[arch2ngel]

No problem at all - everyone makes mistakes, and I appreciate you letting me know, as I was wondering where I'd made an error (and pulling my hair out when I couldn't find it after re-reading what I'd written...) I finally decided to just go by the finalized copy, as I was sure it didn't include the error.

[Ziegander]

Okay, so here's a character I was having trouble writing up earlier by using the standard Transform Self rules. The character used a normal 40+5 stone count and I used the house rules Transform Self rules found here.

I spent 22+3 stones before applying the Transform Self modifier, leaving me with 18 stones out of 40. Using the rules in this thread I ended up with 27+3 stones, then added +2 more from the nonhuman appearance.

Let me know if I've made any errors.

BASIC INFORMATION
Name: Rembrant White
Aliases: Bloodhound
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 165lbs
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Black
Skin Color: Fair
Species: Mutant

Intelligence 4/4 (2w)
Strength 2/4 (2r)/(1w, 1r)
Agility 2/4 (2r)/(1w, 1r)
Speed 2/4 (2r)/(1w, 1r)
Durability 2/4 (2w)/(4w)

Health 2/4
Energy 6/12
Recharge 2/4

ACTIONS
Close Combat 4 (2w)
--Strength bonus or Weapon modifier
--Karate
--Kung Fu
--Brawling
--Feral Rage

General Knowledge 3 (2w)
--Intelligence bonus, free
--Machinery
--Circuitry
--Math/Science

Hunting/Tracking 4/6 (2w)/(2w)
--Follow Trail
--Set up/Spot Ambush
--Set up/Spot Traps

Social Skills 3 (1w)
--Youth in Rebellion
--Gearhead Culture
--Blue Collar

Technology 2 (1w)
--Intelligence bonus, free
--Situational modifier (-1) while Transform Self is triggered

Inventing 2/0 (9w)
--Intelligence bonus, free
--Max Aspect Level = 3

Climbing 0/3 (0w)/(1w)
--Strength bonus, free

MODIFIERS
Animal Senses 2/4 (2r)/(1w,1r)
--Enhanced hearing
--Enhanced vision

Claws 0/2 (0w)/(4w)

Healing Factor, Accelerated (4w)
--Regen 3 extra energy/two health
--Heal 1 health every two panels

Mental Defense 0/4 (0w)/(2w)

Reflexive Dodge 2/4 (2w)/(2w)
--Bought with Animal Senses

Toughness 2 (3w)

Transform Self (2w)
--Involuntary change; triggered by anger/adrenaline (cost 0w)
--Transformation takes 1 action (cost 2w)
--Strength, Agility, Speed, and Durability increased to 4 (cost 8w)
--Hunting/Tracking increased to 6. Pick up Trace Scent. (2w)
--Climbing 3 gained. (1w)
--Animal Senses increased to 4. Pick up Enhanced Scent. (1w, 1r)
--Claws 2 gained. (4w)
--Mental Defense 4 gained. (2w)
--Reflexive Dodge increased to 4. (2w)

Wealth 0 (free)
--Broke: $5,000 net worth; $500 income

CHALLENGES
Being a Mutant, +3 stones (both forms)
Nonhuman Appearance, +2 stones (alternate form only)

[Neros]

What was wrong with the Transform self as a challenge?

[arch2ngel]

The problem with Transform Self as a Challenge was that, in my opinion, it didn't cover the wide range of character options under Transform Self.

Colossus? PERFECT. Transform Self as a Challenge handles this one easy.

Hulk? Well, how many points do I get to create Banner? He's super intelligent and has Inventing - pretty potent combination, but he's also got some pretty severe restictions on his ability to transform between the two forms... How much would that be worth? Hulk is definitely a grey area...

Emma Frost? Does her abilities even count as a Challenge? She has about equal stones in her two forms, so while we think of the Telepathic as the "powerful" form, because we're used to her as a Telepath, since they were created with equal points, it's harder to say. So...can she get a 1 stone Challenge for her Transform Self? Hell, can we get a ZERO stone Challenge, but keep the forms equal in power? Then she's, in essence, getting a free 40 stone form (or let's call it 39, so we can still call it the "weaker" form). And now the player has the stigma of looking like a power gamer, when he just wants two equally powerful but different forms.

Now, if you take my method, all three characters can be created without any problems, and without looking like they're trying to find a loophole, rather than their intention of creating a unique and interesting character...

That's my problem with Transform Self as a Challenge - it doesn't provide the flexibility its simple nature suggests...

[bikermatt]

Mar 2, 2010 6:48:55 GMT -5 Neros said:

What was wrong with the Transform self as a challenge?

My problem bad been that I hadn't realized that the example given for Colossus having 10 stones in challenge was due to the challenges. For other people it's the Munchkin effect, though one might figure that The Hulk would be the answer to what happens if you try to munchkin the rules... It could easily come back and bite you... or not, if you like playing that sort of game.

[terrorscarecrow]

You may wish to tweak the multiplier. It still has the problem I had with the Core rules, I make one form with something like General Knowledge, some Close Combat, Maybe one or two other things, and decent stats, and then my other form ends up having a level 2 Mastery of Fire with "decent" stats. This fixes that slightly so I can make a better character, but I still run into the "I can't make two semi-powerful forms" category. I like it but Than you have some problems making Emma Frost like characters, where its hard to have one form that's completely different. Take, for example, my dilemma. I want a character. In form one, he should have mostly 2's or 3's in stats and some close combat. Add in some General Knowledge and give Energy Drain to both. Than my other form would have a Mastery of Electricity, Tail whip, a Growth of 1 or 2 and some low level Teleportation (and also higher Durability and Speed [to determine order]). If I made either one of those forms normally they would work fine, but with either method of Transformation I can't seem to make a character that can transform from one into the other. In fact the more powerful form was an old character who I removed some things from. Like Toughness, A much more powerful Energy Drain some flight and another Mastery of Fire. It cost a lot, and had to work out quite a few challenges and disadvantages, but I had one helluva lot more powerful form. If anyone can make even the powered down version I'd be grateful (and amazed!) and to test out your balancing skills you could try to make the beefed up super version. I doubt it's possible with any non-gamebreaking transformation though...