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Blueshift (PL 12) - QuoteMyName (Gold)


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Players Name: quotemyname

Characters Name: Blueshift

Power Level: 11 (178/181PP)

Trade-Offs: +2 Defense, -2 Toughness

Unspent PP: 3

Progress to Platinum Status: 31/120 (Gold Status earned with Colt)

[floatr]BlueShift.png[/floatr]

Blueshift.jpgJewel_Blueshift.jpg

See Also: portrait 2

In Brief: A curious inventor with a heart of gold. Her mind is her best weapon.

Alternate Identities: Rachel Geist

Identity: Secret

Birthplace: Collingswood, NJ

Occupation: Best Buy Associate

Family: Mother and Father both living in Collingswood

Age: 22

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Height: 5'5''

Weight: 117lbs

Eyes: Green

Hair: Brown/Blond

Description:

Rachel is of about average height for a girl her age. She is very physically fit due to her athletic training, but still sports a rather slight frame. Her Green eyes burn with an unquenchable curiosity and sometimes seem to glow even brighter when she is given an interesting problem to solve. Rachel is attractive, yet fails to put her good looks to use, preferring to wear functional rather than revealing clothing.

As Blueshift, however, she defaults to wearing a form fitting jumpsuit beneath her various gadgets and armor. Like any trained acrobat, she realizes the need for mobility, and cannot abide being hampered by baggy clothing in a fight. Thanks to the miracles of modern science, Rachel was able to invent a small portable machine that will bleach or unbleach hair. This makes her otherwise identity-revealing disguise that much harder to see through.

Power Descriptions:

Rachel's powers include a massive intellect, an acrobat's physical grace resulting from years of childhood training, and her ability to think faster than so many others. Though the last could simply be a derivative of her incredible intelligence. Blueshift's intelligence has not stopped expanding since shortly after her birth. There is a small possibility that this points to the nature of her powers being something more than just mundane brainpower and an overactive imagination.

In addition to these powers, when Rachel don's her costume and becomes Blueshift, she employs the use of a multitude of mechanical devices of her own invention to aid her in her heroic endeavors. The first device is the Tesla Gauntlet. Strapped to her right arm, it functions like a Taser, though it is no more deadly than a normal Taser, the power that it outputs makes the initial shock much stronger. The second device is a simple shield generator strapped to her left writs. It does nothing to absorb any of the damage to either Blueshift or the suit, but instead is purposed at redirecting attacks before they impact. The shield actually appears near her arm like a medieval buckler made of a cascade of colored light when it successfully deflects attacks. Her other devices include a pair of Dash Boots. They are a pair of metallic boots similar in structure to roller blades or ski boots (with the addition of three inch heels). The soles of these boots hold not wheels or buckles, but rockets. When activated, they can propel her to great speeds along the ground, and while running, she looks as if she might be skating or skiing. The rockets are not powerful enough to provide sufficient force for flight, though. Next is her pride and joy, her headgear. It covers her ears with what looks like a radio headset right down to the strap running over her head that secures it in place. This headset, also includes a pair of visor-like goggles that cover her eyes and provides readouts and visual scanning capabilities. Her last large device is her Cloaking device. This oval shaped metal generator straps to her back via a bandoleer. This device is the most finicky of all her devices. It drains much of her suits power, and commonly is the first device to malfunction when the suits power is direct to other devices like the Tesla Gauntlet. For this reason, a quick release catch is included on the bandoleer so the heavy device can be divested easily a malfunction occurs. Last but not least, Blueshift wears a utility belt. This sectioned, plated belt straps to her waist. It's pockets are seemingly endless, including more than a few that house extra-dimensional spaces within. From this belt, she can produce any number of smaller devices to aid her in her crime fighting career.

History:

Rachel is a problem solver. She always has been. She always will be. But when you're a genius, it's hard to find a problem you can't solve. It's hard to keep your mind busy. At 18, she "solved" school, graduating from FCU with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Physics all at the same time.

She had reached a point in her life where she had solved all of the problems in front of her, including the 137 Sudoku books on her shelf. Life got real boring, real fast. Then she had another idea. She would help others solve their problems! It wouldn't be a big deal. She certainly had the time.

Rachel got her hands on every scrap of newspaper she could. She went over article after article. Old man Jones was having a zoning problem. She found a loophole and solved it for him. It took her ten minutes. A nearby Mom and Pop hardware store was going under. After a five minute conversation, and a five minute glance at their files, she had their assets straightened out so that they could keep the store running.

These problems were easy. Soon enough, she was bored again.

She started reading articles about crimes, and leaving anonymous tips so that the police could solve them. Briefly, she wondered if Sherlock Holmes got this bored.

She decided to tackle her boredom once and for all by taking on an extremely large problem: Super Villains. She hit the work bench, and the gym. She put some real time into training her already agile and flexible body. And when she wasn't training, she was building. She constructed a series of devices that would help her directly fight crime rather than just telling the police how to do it.

For months, she didn't solve any problems. But that was okay. This was an investment in her future.

Personality & Motivation:

Rachel is inquisitive and curious to a fault. She is hard working and diligent. She loves solving problems and she is good at solving problems, which creates some in and of its own. Namely, boredom. So her restlessness and general dislike of boredom constantly drives her to find harder and harder problems to stick her nose into. Rachel also loves helping people. The logical solution is to kill these two birds with one stone. She views fighting crime as a way to help people that always presents new and interesting problems in and of itself.

Rachel has Minor OCD which manifests itself as a compulsion to count things. When leaving or arriving at a destination, she must knock twice and only twice. When under stress she counts every step in binary while walking to a maximum of eight and then starts over again (1, 2, 4, 8). As her disorder worsens, she may develop other compulsions.

Rachel's mind does not define the word, "disorder," but it is certainly a supportive argument. She has been diagnosed with several clinical mental disorders, and is being medicated for them. The medication allows her to go about her daily life normally without falling prey to her many compulsions and phobias. However, a missed dosage, or a particularly powerful panic attack may cause her to lapse into paralyzing fear from time to time. As the medication itself is quite successful at controlling her fragile state of mind, these cases are few and far between. However, extended usage of these medications may lead to further issues down the line.

Powers & Tactics:

Rachel was born with genius level intelligence and a mind like a race car. She wasn't super intelligent, just peak human. But there is still plenty of things you can do with tools like those. Rachel was also blessed with a natural grace of movement. Though it is a minor trait compared to her intelligence. She puts both of these abilities to use inventing a multitude of miniature gadgets that she uses to fight crime. But it doesn't stop there. She uses her brain and her high maneuverability when she fights. She never fights without planning things out first, and she never fights a fight she knows she can't win. She doesn't fight dirty, but she will use everything she can to gain an advantage including her surroundings, and her opponents themselves.

Although at her birth, her intelligence was merely that of the most intelligent of humans, the fact that her mind can process information so quickly is certainly not a natural occurrence. Neither is the fact that she was already brilliant, without having to waste time during the normal childhood mental development periods. Her rapid brain functionality, and her massive intelligence are both mutations. Though not magical, or the result of any sort of outside acting force like terminus energy, these unnatural traits are mutations nonetheless. One unfortunate side affect of her incredible intelligence is that of her anxiety and social disorders as well as powerful migraines. Her brain is so efficient at processing whatever information it focuses on that sometimes, Rachel experiences a backlash from the mutations. Over the years her brain has only gotten smarter, and faster. As of yet, there exists no information that would indicate it will cease to become more powerful and more efficient.

As far as the gadgets themselves, in addition to various small devices of varying functions, Blueshift also regularly uses multiple larger devices. She has a pair of boots with low strength rockets in them, allowing her to move quite a bit faster by coasting just above the ground. Her right arm is wrapped in an electronic gauntlet that ends in a taser-like device which delivers an electric shock to those it touches. A unit strapped to her back is capable of projecting waves of light that can interfere with both observational devices and even has enough power to distort light waves enough to mask her presence against organic observation as well. However, due to the massive drain on her suit's power, the cloaking device commonly malfunctions when she uses some of her other devices (most commonly the Tesla Gauntlet). Due to the common malfunctioning of this device, Blueshift has included a quick release catch on the bandolier that holds the device strapped to her back. It is purposed so that she can quickly drop it's extra weight for increased mobility should it malfunction. The downside is that the device becomes more easily stripped by others. The goggles she wears have multiple settings, allowing her to dial in and view any spectrum of light as well as compensate for distortions of light and other such common methods of evading detection. These goggles allow her to see anything and everything that may or may not be hidden, even by solid objects provided the target is otherwise within the normal range of her vision.


Complications:

Agoraphobic: The fear of public places, open spaces, and having nowhere to hide. This complication mostly affects Rachel, who is powerless to escape such situations. Blueshift, however has devices that allow her to run quickly and become invisible. However, if these devices fail to function, as with her Reconnitoir Complication she may become stunned for a round due to her paralyzing agoraphobia.

Migraine: Rachel's brain processes information at an incredible rate. Sometimes, using her brain's full capacity causes her to have terrible headaches. She gains a Hero Point when using her Maximum Mental Quickness to take twenty on a skill check at an increased speed causes her to be stunned the following round due to having a brief migraine.

Passionate and Pushy - Rachel has finally found a decent guy who's stuck around long enough to get to know her. More than that, he's even done a great deal helping her come to grips with some of her more debilitating mental disorders. The man? Gabriel Quinn, a.k.a. Push. She's incredibly appreciative of everything he's done for her, and looks for every chance to thank him. Though she may soon find herself fighting a new battle on two new fronts. On one side, the darker things from Gabe's past creep closer, on the other, Rachel struggles to fight the onset of co-dependency.

Reconnoiter: The energy powering her cloaking device is good for little more than information gathering. She gets an HP when making an attack while cloaked, which causes her to uncloak. (i.e., the Passive Flaw for Concealment, but taken as a Complication).

Abilities 0+10+2+8+4+0=24pp

Str 10 (+0)

Dex 20 (+5)

Con 12 (+1)

Int 18/24 (+4/+7)

Wis 14 (+2)

Cha 10 (+0)

Combat: 8 + 12 = 20pp

Initiative: +5

Attack: +4 Base, +10 Gauntlet

Grapple: +4

Defense: +13 (+6 Base, +3 Dodge Focus, +4 Shield), +3 flat-footed

Knockback: -4; -2 FF; -2 w/o Equipment; -0 FF and w/o Equipment

Saves 2+4+3=9pp

Toughness +8, +4 Flat Footed (+1 Con, +3 Bodysuit, +4 Defensive Roll)

Fortitude +3 (+1 Con; 2)

Ref +9 (+5 Dex; 4)

Will +5 (+2 Wis; +3)

Skills 140R = 35PP

Acrobatics 6/10 (+11/+15, Skill Mastery)

Craft (electronic) 13 (+17/+20)

Craft (mechanical) 13 (+17/+20)

Concentration 8 (+10)

Computers 16 (+20/+23)

Disable Device 13 (+17/+20)

Escape Artist 5 (+10)

Knowledge (Technology) 8 (+12/+15, Skill Mastery)

Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 8 (+12/+15, Skill Mastery)

Knowledge (Pop Culture) 8 (+12/+15)

Knowledge (Tactics) 8 (+12/+15, skill Mastery)

Notice 13 (+15)

Search 8 (+15)

Stealth 5 (+10)

Sense Motive 8 (+10)

Feats 36PP

Attack Specialization [Gauntlet] 2

Acrobatic Bluff

Challenge (Fast Acrobatics)

Defensive Roll 2

Defensive Attack

Dodge Focus 3

Eidetic Memory

Equipment 2 [10ep]

Evasion 2

Improvised Tools

Inventor

Luck 2

Master Plan 2

Online Research

Power Attack

Setup

Sidekick 4 (+15 Veteran Reward = 19 [95PP])

Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Knowledge (tactics), Knowledge (technology), Knowledge (physical sciences))

Skill Mastery (Disable Device, Stealth, Computers, Sense Motive)

Sneak Attack

Ultimate Effort [Craft (Electronic)]

Ultimate Effort [Craft (Mechanical)]

Uncanny Dodge (Hearing)

Well-Informed

Protective Bodysuit (Protection 3, Subtle) {4ep}

Comm Link {1ep}

Handcuffs {1ep}

MW Inventor Tools (+2 Craft [Electronic]) {1ep}

Spy Camera {1ep}

MW Investigative Tools (+2 Investigate) {1ep}

Powers: 5 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 12 + 6 + 7 + 6 + 6 +1 = 57PP

Communication 2 (Mental, 100ft, Extras: Linked [Comprehend]; Flaws: Limited to Machines) {1PP} + Comprehend 2 (Electronics; Speak and Understand) {4PP} ("Audito Apparatus") [5PP]

Device 2 "Tesla Gauntlet" (Easy to lose) [6pp]

Strike 8 (PF: Precise, Variable Descriptor (Heat and Electricity)) {10dp}

Device 1 "Plasma Bangle" (Hard to Lose) [4pp]

Shield 4 (PF: Subtle) {5dp}

Device 1 "Dash Boots" (Hard to Lose) [4pp]

Speed 4 {4dp}

Enhanced Skills: Acrobatics 4 {1dp}

Device 3 "Sensory Scanner" (Hard to Lose) [12pp]

Datalink 6 (Radio, 20 miles) [6PP]

Super Senses 9 (All Visual Senses [Extras: Extended], Danger Sense [Radio], Distance Sense, Infravision [Visual, Extras: Tracking], Radar [Radio, Extras: Accurate, Drawbacks: Not Radius], Radio) [9PP]

Visual-type senses are Accurate, Acute, and Ranged by default. Radio-type senses are Acute, Radius, and Ranged by default.

Device 2 "Cloaking Field" (Easy to Lose) [6PP]

Concealment 8 (All Visual, Audio & Radio Senses [Total]; Flaws: Blending; PFs: Close Range, Selective) {10dp}

* Please note Reconnoiter Complication[/device]

Gadgets 1 (Hard to Lose) [7pp]

Examples:

"Diving Suit" Immunity 3 (Cold, Underwater Breathing, Pressure); Swimming 2

"Hot Suit" Immunity 4 (Disease, Heat, Poison, Radiation); Super Senses 1 (Analytical for Infravision)

"Vert Mode" Super Movement 1 (Wall Crawling 1); Enhanced Skills 3 (Climb 12);

"Grease Release" Immunity 5 (Entrapment)

"Anchor Shield" Immovable 6 (Flaws: Action 2 [Move]) and Impervious Toughness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Physical)

Enhanced Intelligence 6 [6PP] (mutant)

Quickness 12 (x 10,000; Flaws: Limited [Mental Only]) [6pp] (mutant)

Quickness Cheat Sheet

Can Take 20 on a Computer check to Write a Program (normally 1 hour) in 36 seconds/6 rounds.

Can Take 20 on a Knowledge check (normally 1 hour) in .36 seconds/Free Action.

Can Take 20 on a Notice check (normally 1 minute) in 0.006 seconds/Free Action.

Can Search a 2000-ft diameter area (normally 1.5 hours) in .5 seconds/Free Action.

Can Search a 10000-ft. diameter area (normally 8 hours) in 3 seconds/1 action. Can Take 20 on that same Search (normally 160 hours) and do it in 1 minute.

Super Senses 1 (Communication Link w/ MAC; Descriptors: Mutant; Mental) [1pp]

Drawbacks [-3pp]

Overactive Imagination (Chance of restlessness with every sleep, check of DC 10 causes sleep deprivation, after sleep deprivation is fatigued until restful sleep; -3)

DC Block:


ATTACK               RANGE       SAVE                         EFFECT

Unarmed             Touch        DC15 Toughness (Staged)     Damage

Tesla Gauntlet       Touch       DC25 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (fire/electricity)

Abilities (24) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (35) + Feats (35) + Powers (57) - Drawbacks (3) = 178/181 Power Points


Name: Mechanical Analytic Construct (MAC)

Power Level: 5 (95/95 PP)

Trade-Offs: None

Abilities: (-8+0-10+10+0+0=-8) [floatr]MacMkII.jpg[/floatr]

STR 2 (-4)

DEX 10 (+0)

CON ---

INT 20 (+5)

WIS 10 (+0)

CHA 10 (+0)

Combat: (2+4=6pp)

Attack: +1 / +5 Robotics Array

Grapple: -14 / +8 w/ Telekinesis

Defense: +5 (+2 Base +3 Dodge Focus)

Knockback: -2

Initiative: +0

Saves: (0+2+1=3pp)

TOU: +1

FORT: --- (Immune)

REF: +1 (+0 Dex, +2)

WILL: +0 (+0 WIS, +1)

Skills: (4)

Notice 8 (+8)

Search 8 (+13)

Feats: (4)

Benefit (counts as MW tools for any Craft Check)

Dodge Focus 3

Powers: (10 + 13 + 8 + 5 + 30 + 10 + 9 + 1 = 86)

Concealment 8 (All Visual, Audio & Radio Senses [Total]; Flaws: Blending; PFs: Close Range, Selective) [10pp]

ESP 6 (Auditory + Visual Senses, Extras: Affects Others, Duration [sustained], Simultaneous; Flaws: Action [standard], Limited [Others], Limited 2 [blueshift's Visor], Feats: Subtle) [13pp] (Sensory Link)

Flight 4 (100 MPH) [8pp]

Force Field 5 [5PP]

Immunity 30 (Fort effects) [30pp]

Robotics Array 3.5 [7pp powers; PF: 1 Alternate Power, Accurate 2] [10pp]

  • Base Effect: Strike 5 (PF: Precise, Variable Descriptor [Heat/Electricity]) "Robot Laser"

    Alternate Power: Telekinesis 3 (PF: Precise) "Robot Manipulator Beam"

Shrinking 8 (Tiny; Extras: Duration [Continuous]; Flaws: Permanent; PFs: Innate) [9pp]

Super-Senses 1 (Communication Link w/ Blueshift) [1pp]

Drawbacks (0)

None

Totals: Abilities (-8) + Combat (6) + Saves (3) + Skills (4) + Feats (4) + Powers (86) - Drawbacks (0) = 95/95PP

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You've got 21PP worth of feats, not 19PP. The rest of the math checks out, so you're 2PP overbudget.

Please elaborate on the fluff for the goggles.

I don't understand why her holographic projector has the Phantasm flaw. Phantasm makes it a Sensory (Mental) effect that exists only in the mind of the observer(s). Does the projector have a psychic component? If so...why?

Is "Overactive Imagination" a renamed Nightmares drawback?

What's "Master Tactician?"

Are you aware that Gadgets requires a Standard Action to allocate?

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You've got 21PP worth of feats, not 19PP. The rest of the math checks out, so you're 2PP overbudget.

I've cut Master Tactician and Ultimate Effort (Craft [Mechanical]) I'll expand towards purchasing those later.

Please elaborate on the fluff for the goggles.

I've included the following in the above sheet. It expands on not only the goggles, but her other larger devices as well.

As far as the gadgets themselves, in addition to various small devices of varying functions, Blueshift also regularly uses multiple larger devices. She has a pair of boots with low strength rockets in them, allowing her to move quite a bit faster by coasting just above the ground. Her right arm is wrapped in an electronic gauntlet that ends in a taser-like device which delivers an electric shock to those it touches. A unit strapped to her back is capable of projecting waves of light that can interfere with observation devices, or alternatively producing a sonic wave that interferes with the portion of an observers brain that causes them to notice the presence of people and objects. The goggles she wears have multiple settings, allowing her to dial in and view any spectrum of light as well as compensate for distortions of light and other such common methods of evading detection. These goggles allow her to see anything and everything that may or may not be hidden, even by solid objects provided the target is otherwise within the normal range of her vision.

I realize that some of these explanations fall under the jurisdiction of super science mumbo jumbo, but that's really what I'm going for with this character. I've never played the scientist type, so I might as well go all out.

I don't understand why her holographic projector has the Phantasm flaw. Phantasm makes it a Sensory (Mental) effect that exists only in the mind of the observer(s). Does the projector have a psychic component? If so...why?

See above description.

Is "Overactive Imagination" a renamed Nightmares drawback?

Yes. I got a tentative approval from Doc about this. I made a suggestion of the idea, and he said that he liked the twist on the otherwise common descriptor, so I put it in the sheet.

What's "Master Tactician?"

Despite dropping it, I'll explain anyway. It's basically a Challange (Replace one skill for another) feat, though with a different name. I believe it's printed in the Masterminds Manual. It allows a character to replace the Intelligence Check during Master Plan with a Knowledge (Tactics) check. I've dropped it for now, but I'm hoping to expand to it later.

Are you aware that Gadgets requires a Standard Action to allocate?

Yes. This is also an area that I'm looking forward to improving.

Hope this helps!

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Equipment doesn't stack with Devices. She can benefit from redundancy, but she can't benefit from Equipment-Protection and Device-Protection simultaneously.

The goggles make me uncomfortable. Partially because it feels like a stretch for the descriptors, and partially because just straight-up ignoring any and all powers built with Concealment, Illusion, or Obscure, regardless of descriptors, seems like a drama-killer of Healing proportions that's likely to make her adventures less fun, not more. But I wouldn't be as uncomfortable if the descriptor was "magic" instead of "tech," and that feels a little hypocritical. Tech that gives, enhances, or blocks psychic powers isn't unprecedented. And since her cloaking device is already tech that interacts with the mind/brain directly, I suppose a device that examines the sensory input her brain is reacting to and compares it with its own scans isn't too far of a stretch.

The part that really bothers me is that, while it's possible this is what you already had in mind, you want her to fill a pseudo-detective role, and you just couldn't or didn't articulate it for some reason, it's also possible that you hadn't thought about it at all, that you wouldn't have thought about it if I hadn't prompted you, and that this was a case of shopping for the mechanics you wanted (or wanted to be able to ignore) rather than trying to build a coherent, organically-flowing character concept.

Despite the nagging doubts from my Ref-sense tingling, I've decided to chalk it up to your usual problem of not being able to keep up with your own scatter-brained enthusiasm and give you the benefit of the doubt. Fix the issue with the stacking Protection powers (either by leaving her undercapped or by shuffling points around to buy up one of them), and I'll get you your first approval.

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As per our discussion on AIM:

Revamped the Super Senses Suite,

Revamped her Protection powers: Moved points out of the Device. Added more ranks in Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus, and Equipment to afford the appropriate Protection. Added more Equipment.

Totals should be updated properly, and breakdowns of protection and defense should be appropriate to the new setup.

Hope this gets that approval! :D

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For future reference, for yourself and others, never ever listen to someone who hears you say "I'm not sure what Super-Senses to give this device" and says "Just give it True Sight!" :P

Everything looks good, save that you've short-changed yourself by overcharging for the Concealment powers. Concealment is 2PP/rank, so with a -1 flaw, it goes down to 1PP/rank, and with a second flaw, it goes down to 1PP per 2 ranks. So that's one less rank of Device needed, which means you have 4PP left to spend.

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Improvised Materials? I believe you mean Improvised Tools.

She has a VP, so I would like to see a few examples of that sorts of things she'd use it for.

My one reservation is this Complication

Reconnoiter: The energy powering her cloaking device is good for little more than information gathering. She receives a Hero Point whenever her cloaking device fails and cannot be reactivated do to making an attack, or being hit by an attack during any combat.

1) that should be "due to making an attack," and

2) "gets an HP when making an attack while cloaked, which causes her to uncloak" (i.e., the Passive Flaw for Concealment, but taken as a Complication) is okay. "Gets an HP when hit in combat while cloaked" is not.

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