Looking for help creating a character.

[jhtpo]

I hope this is in the right place, if not, sorry mods!

I'm a long time RPer, and been playing plenty of tabletop campaigns over many different systems and settings. I was hoping to have a chat with someone who's familiar with the character gen system to help me make one of my first characters in MURPG. I understand the system well enough, but am looking for a skilled eye to help me with the numbers. 

The goal is a high int character with power armor. But I have a habit of making characters with poor stat allocations, and don't wanna gimp myself out the bat. Anyone who frequents this board able to help me out? 

Much appreciated! 

[Manah]

Hello there, and welcome to the board!

Pretty sure there's many among us who could probably help you out in one way or another, but you'd probably have to give more details. 'A high Int character with power armor' in this system is about as vague as saying 'I wanna play as a mutant'. It could mean a billion different things.

My suggestion? Give more details about what you got in mind. How many stones can you use in character creation? Are there any house rules you have to respect? What else aside from high intelligence and power armor could describe your character? What can their power armor do? What weapons or defensive systems are equipped on it? Any other devices aside from the armor itself?

Give the board some meat around that bone, and someone will likely bite.

[lilithsboy]

Plenty of us will be able to help you out there is also this if you need something to help you stay a bit organized.

murpg.proboards.com/thread/2915/murpg-character-builder?page=1&scrollTo=42938

[ultron2099]

An idea of what your build stone limit is would REALLY help

[jhtpo]

You guys are totally right, I should have put more info down, but at the time I figured I would see a few "Yeah I'll help! Let's chat!". I was also a bit punch drunk from a lack of sleep. My bad, Let's dive into this:



40 stones! Nothing home brewed, nothing outside the Core Rules. Eratas are ok to reference though.



===============


While I don't have all the details worked out, I'll start with my fluff, and finish off with the technical preferences.


Oliver O'conor is a genius prodigy. A 20 something in the big city, his life goal is to one day perfect the process of transferring human consciousness reliably into a digital form, a technological form of immortality. Reliably though. None of that super villain one time fluke bullshit.



Monitarially, hes may have "lucked" into a few state lottery wins, and got the patents on a few cheap, but universally used widget, so he's got massive cash flow coming in through a maze work of Byzantine corporate legalize and various shell companies. He's never hurting for wealth.



When deep in academic pursuits, he will often
go by the moniker of "Dr. Omega." Mostly as a way to keep his accomplishments from intruding on his personal life. He's detached himself from his family mostly through a lack of contact and distance, but there isn't any tragedy there, just a lack of relatability. He's mostly introverted socially and while he knows he can do great things, it helps to use the other name as a mask. While not impossible to put the two together, he rarely makes a big deal of his intellectual pursuits, because most of his work so far has been preliminary, or personally educational. 

However, he is acutely aware of his personal fragility, and while not medically frail or weakened by some trauma, is not one of primarily athletic pursuits, and as such began designing himself an exo-suit to aid in some assets of his work. What started as a simple exoskeleton designed to modify his strength in order to help move couches, refrigerators and other heavy equipment around a new lab being set up, evolved into the early workings of a protective suit of powered armor.

Living in a city of heros, and the dangers that came with it, being a brain in a lab can get rather stressful. He ended up finding that he felt less vulnerable as he added and improved his powered armor to the point that it was actually rather invigorating to take his creation to the city at large. Strength, speed, endurance and durability that he could only dream about when working at a lab bench, the adrenalin high that he got from running around the city and taking on ally level threats was like nothing else. 

Eventually he refined the suit to be focused on protection and enhancement, with offensive abilities relegated to handheld weapon platforms like rifles and pistols. A bullet or a beanbag round were plenty effective. But just like how he prefered to place his academic life behind the moniker of 'Dr. Omega', when he took his power suit out on the town, he set all that aside, and became a more confident, headstrong, aggressive individual that flew under the handle: 'Alpha'. 

Most of his work as alpha was street level at best. Beating up gangs, busting out hideouts, working mostly solo, or aiding another hero as he passed by, Alpha was even more detached a personality than Omega, only really being able to be presented by Oliver when he was in his fully working power suit. 

These days, he spends his more productive daylight hours inventing and researching the technology in the computer sciences and biological sciences needed for his goal of an uploadable human consciousness, and his odd evenings riding an excitement high as Alpha, taking the fight to the gangs of the city streets and keeping the peace in a language these thugs understand. 

======================

Ok! First time I put all that to paper, but I like where it's going! Lets get a few of the game technicals down, and see what we can work with!

Stat wise, The main focus in Intelligence. I want it as high as feasible, maybe 6 to 8, but something damn impressive.

Action wise, I want technology and inventions. Beyond that, general knowledge seems appropriate however anything else I'm open to suggestions my experienced players. 

Power armor wise, I want just that. Armor. Stats focused in protection and durability, I can leave offensive tools to things I can make or buy. An advanced rifle still packs a good punch. 

Ranged combat should be a higher action number than close combat, but he's not the punisher, just not a fool with a longarm. 

Wealth should be 3 or 4, I don't wanna have to think about it. 

I think that covers most of the big things, feel free to toss around advantages or disadvantages as you think they'd run with the fluff, or present me with suggestions! 

[jhtpo]

Should I have this moved to the writeups board or something?

Also, I'm open to PMs or discord chat if people wanna discuss it that way. I'm mostly looking to have some chat about what makes a good balanced starter character,

[Manah]

Nah, it's fine where it is. Writeups is usually for completed CADs. You're asking for help creating a character, so this board is fine. I'd personally help with it if I wasn't sick in addition to being busy this week, so my brainpower isn't as effective as usual right now.

Just give it some time, I'm sure someone with their mental capabilities intact will give you a hand. You literally posted your request just yesterday. Sometimes, answers can take a couple of days to come. ^_^

[ultron2099]

How's this sound:
Intelligence 6
Strength, Agility, Speed 1
Durability 1
Intelligence based energy
Energy 12 Regeneration 6
COST 10W

Biocomputing 5
cannot be upgraded
Business 4
Computers 7
Inventing 1
Social Skills 3
Technology 4
COST 22W

WEALTH 6 (net worth 1 million - 100 million)
COST 4W


Armored Suit:
Intelligence 4
Strength 4 (lift 1500lbs)
Agility 4
Speed 4 (run 60mph)
Durability 2

PA, Combat, Ranged 3
extended range (Rifle)
PA, Firearms 2
2x damage (machine pistol)
PA, Life Support 6
6 hours oxygen
PA, Toughness 2 (Plastic Composite Shell)

COST 10W stones minus 6W free stones from wealth
SUIT COST 4W


TOTAL BUILD COST 40W

[jhtpo]

Oh, I like that! I might drop some of the life support for something more defensive? I need to track down the rules PDF again. I like the idea of the armor being just that, focused on various forms of protection.

Biocomputing, didn't even think about that! And I forgot the free wealth for PA, thanks!

Now, I've only dabbled in on some of the advantages or disadvantages, but would it be possible to work some of the numbers so that some actions are only capable when he's in a particular 'mindset' such as working in a lab as 'Dr. Omega' or fighting as 'Alpha' in the power armor? Maybe he has trouble hacking computers when he's in the power armor, so he'd have to step out to get into his more intellectual mindset? Might that offer up some more stones?

[lilithsboy]

If you do not take the life support then many enemies can use that against you, a fire user will simply burn up the oxygen in the air ect... So it is a defensive option just not one that many people think about.

And yes you can take abilities which only work when other abilities are active "Only useable through other Action/Modifier" is a -1 to the cost of an ability.

[jhtpo]

Oh, no argument that the life support is important! I just feel that maybe 6 hours is a bit much to start? Ah well, if that seems apropriate, then I can live with it!

[ultron2099]

6 hours of life support cost 1W stone. also this protects against gas attacks, however in a hermetically sealed system he needs a portable life support.
And the armor is pretty low cost no bells and whistles to modify for more effect. The most expensive feature was 2W stones (the rifle), the rest all 1W stone each.
Perhaps you can modify the person, but then again I did make it pretty tight, not lots of room to push limits with. You can modify invention, try to give him a neurosis for when he gets into that mindset, the rest again are limited in cost expenditure.

[jhtpo]

1W? Fair enough, that's a good enough deal, thanks! Hell, makes me think up some interesting options with tossing in a few Pepper spray grenades and wading in after them, safe from their effects.


EDIT: Looking things over, I realised why I never thought of Bio computing, it was outside the core rules. I didn't have the other PDF's. I think this is a great action, but Reading its properties, I think that's an ability he'll be gaining later in his journey. He /wants/ to transfer consciousnesses in digital form, he just can't, yet. I'll have to find a place for those stones. But damn if that isn't a season three or so turn of events!  

[ultron2099]

Actually having that ability only allows you a maximum invention attribute of 6. Transferring ones mind I would say is at least an 8 or 9, and since you can't up Biocomputing any, that only leaves improving your intelligence or invention by 4 points.

[jhtpo]

Ok, so I think I've got the jist of the character. I'll have a few numbers to work around, depending on the GM and game, but thanks for getting me in the range I want.

I'm looking over a LOT of different games in progress, any suggestion to anything that's starting up or looking for a new character like mine?