Amelia
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Quote
Combat: 12 + 12 = 24 PP
Attack: +6 base; +8 melee, +9 ranged
Defense: +6 base; +3 Dodge
Initiative: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Where are you getting the melee and ranged attack bonuses from? I don't see any Attack Focus or Attack Specialization under your feats, and I don't see Accurate on any of your attack powers. Abilities in 2E don't directly affect your attack or defense bonus like they do in 1E and 3E.
QuoteSaving Throws: 8 + 3 + 6 + 3 = 20 PP
Toughness: +10 (+2 CON, +8)
Fortitude: +5 (+2 CON, +3)
Reflex: +7 (+3 DEX, +6)
Will: +4 (+1 WIS, +3)
The math checks out, but these saves are really low. Most of the sample PC builds in the 2E book average the 3 exotic saves at about PL-2. The 3E book raises the average to PL. You're free to build a character who will probably be taken out of the fight with one exotic attack, but you should know that's what you're getting into.
QuoteSkills: 32r = 8 PP
Acrobatics 6
Concentration 8
Intimidate 4
Notice 6
Stealth 8
I'd write the whole skill bonus here for clarity. So, for example, Acrobatics 6 (+9).
The main mistake people make when buying skills is not looking at the skill DCs in the book. I recommend deciding what tasks you want to be capable of, then looking up the DC for those tasks, and buying your skill to within 10 or 20 of it, so you can reliably do it. The task DCs vary significantly from one skill to another. Survival and Swim have pretty low DCs. A little bit of skill goes a long way. Disable Device has sky-high DCs, but it's assumed that you'll usually be able to Take 20. Computers just has unqualified sky-high DC numbers.
QuoteFeats: 3 PP
Eidetic Memory
Improved Initiative
Seize Initiative
I question the worth of buying both Improved Initiative and Seize Initiative. I question the worth of Seize Initiative, period.
I don't recommend Eidetic Memory unless you need it for concept reasons. Mechanically, it's not great. The general interpretation of when you get that +4 bonus is "almost never."
QuotePowers: 81 PP
Instant Costume Change (Feature 1 [1 pp])
Singularity Mastery (Dynamic Array 70 pp, Feats Alternate Power 10.) [80 pp] (Gravity)
Concealment 10 (Feats Close Range, Dynamic, Selective. Flaws Blending) [13 pp]
Dimensional Pocket 65 (Feats Accurate 2, Dynamic, Progression (range), Subtle. Flaws Fades) [70 PP]
Flight 5 (250 MPH) (Feats Dynamic, Subtle.) [12 PP]
Force Field 34 (Feats Dynamic, Subtle. Extra Impervious.) [70 pp]
Immovable 33 (Feat Dynamic, Subtle. Extra Unstoppable) [70 pp]
Immunity (gravitic, total) 10 (Feat Dynamic, Selective.) [12 pp]
Move Object 34 (Feat Dynamic, Subtle. Extra Damaging. Flaw Limited Direction [only up/down].) [70 pp]
Nauseate 34 (Feats Dynamic, Subtle. Extras Range. Flaws Fades.) [70 pp]
Snare 16 (Feats Dynamic, Reversible, Subtle. Extras Linked [Fatigue Extra Range.]. Flaws Fades.) [67 pp]
Teleport 32 (Distance 3200' as a move action, carry 100 lbs.) (Feats Change Direction, Change Velocity, Dynamic, Subtle, Turnabout. Extras Accurate. Flaws Short-Range.) [69 pp]
Quick Change shows up as both a Feat and a Feature power, so you can buy it as either. Someone with the feat may be wearing special tear-away clothes (made out of fragile fabric, or strategically tailored with snaps/zippers/etc.). Someone with the power may have a costume made from the super-tech "morphic molecules" the Atom Family makes.
You don't want primary defense powers like Force Field or Immunity folded into an array. You want those to always be on, or at least always available. I would pull them out and buy them as stand-alone powers.
I also think you want at least some of the movement power as a stand-alone effect outside the array.
I think this array is bigger and more complicated than it really needs to be. 80PP is a ton of points to spend on any one power. 10 alternate powers is a gigantic array. Dynamic arrays are complicated. You're far past the point of diminishing returns on all fronts, and the sooner you understand that, the better a time you'll have.
You could drop half the alternate powers, buy a couple ranks of the Luck feat instead, and have hero points handy to buy off the fatigue when you use Extra Effort to gain a temporary alternate power feat in the heat of the moment, if/when you need that AP.
Some of those exotic attacks are redundant. Do you really need both Fatigue and Nauseate? They do pretty much the same thing and they target the same save. And do you really think you'll use either one often enough to justify buying it up-front instead of stunting for it? Power stunts are one of the things that make this game great, because not everything you can theoretically do has to be etched in stone on your character sheet first.
There are extras and feats you can apply to those powers to make them more expensive and more effective, rather than just buying up the ranks sky-high. For example:
- Dimensional Pocket. By default, the range on that power is Touch. You could buy it up to Ranged, and open up pockets under people at a distance. The default duration is "Instant (Lasting)", so on every single round after you hit them, they get a new save at +1 to break free. Buy that up to "Continuous (Lasting)", and named villains will need to use Extra Effort to get another save to break free, while their minions will just be stuck.
- Teleport: Get some Progression for the mass, and you can bring a friend or two. Open up a Portal instead, and you can bring pretty much whoever you want.
QuoteDrawbacks: (-4) = -4
Vulnerable (Cold) (Common [+2], Major [+2]) [-4PP]
A weakness like this is always going to be either a Drawback or a Complication. Each choice has its merits and flaws.
If you take it as a Drawback, then you get a few bonus points at character generation, and then you spend the rest of that character's career earning those points back. When it comes up, you get nothing, because you already got the bonus points. You just suffer. But it may never come up. Or it may come up so rarely that it may as well have never come up.
If you take it as a Complication, then you get nothing up-front. But you get the promise that, if it does come up, you get a Hero Point, and the spotlight. I think most people would concede that the Hero Points will do more for you than the bonus Power Points will in the long run, but that the bonus Power Points pay off immediately and definitely. It's a gamble.
You should read up in the core book on "Power Level caps." Your offensive traits (attack vs damage) and defensive traits (defense vs toughness) need to each average out to your Power Level, or lower. So, for example, as a PL10 character, you can have Attack +10 and Blast 10, or Attack +5 and Blast 15, or Attack +15 and Blast 5, but you can't have Attack +10 and Blast 15. Same goes for Defense and Toughness. Defense +10 and Toughness +10 is ok. Defense +5 and Toughness +15 is ok. Defense +10 and Toughness +15 is not.
And we're not just talking base Attack or base Defense. We're talking total bonuses. Things like Attack Focus count against those caps. Things like Attack Focus are cheaper than base Attack bonus because they apply in more narrow circumstances. They're easier to lose. But they don't let you break PL caps. This isn't D&D, despite the superficial similarities.
For your first character, you probably want to hit your PL caps for attack, damage, defense, and toughness. Otherwise, you could find yourself face-planting very early. Every single person I've known who built their first PC under PL caps has regretted it in hindsight, unless they were very specifically choosing to build what is effectively a lower-PL character on a higher-than-usual point budget. You see that a lot with Batman-style characters, who have (relative to super-heroes) weak combat stats but tons of skills and feats. But even then, you have to be prepared for the possibility that, for example, a GM running an adventure for PL8 characters isn't going to want to include a PC with a PL10's pile of points, whether you spent the extra points on combat stats or not.
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I'll stick to your Super-Sense power in this post. In my next post, I'll go over the rest of the sheet.
The way I understand it, the sidebar in Ultimate Power for Super-Senses describes how each sense type has default extras that it gets for free. For example, Visual-type senses are Accurate, Acute, and Ranged by default. That's why Infra-Vision costs 1PP for a new Visual-type sense, rather than 5PP. I'm guessing that the intended inherent balance is that, while Visual-type senses have the most free Super-Senses extras built into them, they're also the sense type most commonly Dazzled, Obscured, and Concealed against. Conversely, Mental-type senses have no Super-Senses extras built in, but there is also next to nothing out there which provides concealment against Mental-type senses.
For the most part, it is the Sense Type, rather than any Flaws or Drawbacks, which determines what does and does not interfere with a given sense. Darkness interferes with Normal Vision, but not with Infra-Vision (at least when it comes to heat sources). Invisibility to all Visual-Type senses interferes with both Normal Vision and Infra-Vision, but not with Radar (a Radio-type sense) or Sonar (an Auditory-type sense). Similarly, it is the individual sense which mostly determines what information you do and don't get. For example, by default, Normal Vision would be the only sense which tells you the color of an object. Infra-Vision and Ultra-Vision see into different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum than visible light, and by default, colors are seen, not heard or smelled.
Here's a quick run-down of these extras, in case you're confused:
- Counters Concealment is what you buy when you want your sense to see through power effects like "Invisibility," which are relevant to your sense-type. You'd need Counters Concealment to see someone with an "Invisibility" power, but you wouldn't need it to hear them.
- Counters Obscure is what you buy when you want your sense to see through power effects which create things like "Darkness" and "Fog." Again, you'd need Counters Obscure to see through a "Darkness" or "Fog" effect, but you wouldn't need it to hear through them.
- Penetrates Concealment is what you buy when you want your sense to see through intervening obstacles, barriers, crowds of people, etc. Again, you'd need Penetrates Concealment to see through a solid opaque wall, but not necessarily to hear through it.
The house rules here combined Detect and Awareness into one Super-Sense, so there's a layer of complexity we don't need to worry about.
If you choose "Mental" as the sense type for your mass-detection, then by default, it has none of the Super-Senses extras, but there is also almost nothing which provides concealment against it.
- Extended wouldn't do anything for you unless you first bought the Ranged extra. Since Mental-type senses have no extras by default, they're not ranged, so by default, your mental mass-detection could only detect something you were touching it.
- You wouldn't need to buy Counters Obscure for it to "see" through darkness or fog, since those are things which provide concealment against Visual-type senses, not Mental-type senses. (It's also worth noting that Counters Obscure is one of the Super-Senses extras which covers all senses you have of a particular type, rather than just one individual sense.) You probably wouldn't have to buy Penetrates Concealment for it either, since there isn't really any terrain or objects which provide concealment against Mental-type senses. The only things I can think of which provide concealment against Mental-type senses are specific sensory super-powers. If you chose a different sense type for this power, however, then you might have use for Counters Obscure and/or Penetrates Concealment (and possibly Counters Concealment).
The house rules here also give a variable base cost (1-3PP) for Awareness Super-Senses, depending on the frequency of the descriptor they detect. "Mass" would definitely be a "Very Common" descriptor for this Awareness, so the base cost would be 3PP.
For what you're describing, I'd build it as Super-Senses 9 (Mass Awareness [Descriptor Frequency: Very Common, Sense Type: Mental, Default Extras: None], Extras: Accurate, Acute, Extended [100ft Notice Increments], Radius, Ranged) [9PP]
- Accurate would let him target a given source of mass in combat at no penalty. Without Accurate, he'd be vaguely aware of the presence of an object, but he couldn't pinpoint its exact location.
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Acute would let him distinguish between different sources of mass, knowing that one object was more or less massive than another. Without Acute, he wouldn't be able to tell any objects apart from one another.
- If you want him to know precisely how massive each object around him is, then he'd need Analytical as well.
- Radius would let him detect sources of mass in all directions, rather than just in his front arc.
- Ranged would let him detect sources of mass further away from him than touch-range.
The only Concealment, Dazzle, or Obscure power effects which would interfere with this (or any other Mental-type sense) would be the ones which specifically target Mental-type senses. So even if he were, for example, blinded, or deafened, he could still navigate and target based on the relative mass of the objects around him.
I would consider making this a Tactile-type sense instead of a Mental-type sense, allowing him to "feel" the gravity of the objects around him. I suggest this because, by default, the only thing which gives one direct concealment against Tactile-type senses is being Insubstantial. That would make sense here, since the only way to hide from his mass-detection is by having no mass to detect. Physical objects and intervening terrain, such as barriers or crowds of people, could also effectively provide concealment against a ranged Tactile sense, if you don't buy Penetrates Concealment for it.
Super-Senses 5 (Mass Awareness [Descriptor Frequency: Very Common, Sense Type: Tactile, Default Extras: Accurate, Acute, Radius], Extras: Extended [100ft Notice Increments], Ranged) [5PP]
A Dazzle or Obscure power effect which "numbed" him or the area he was standing in would shut down this Tactile-type sense. I don't know if that works for your idea or not. Being blinded or deafened would have no effect.
You could theoretically make an Auditory-type or Olfactory-type sense instead, if you'd rather he "hear" or "smell" the relative gravity pull of any given object, but that hurts my brain.
Crius - PL 10 - Thunderbolt7 - just the math
in Archives
Posted
Here's a sample re-working of the powers:
Here's a step-by-step breakdown:
Force Field 12 (Extras: Impervious 10, Feats: Selective, Subtle) [24PP]
House rules here cap Impervious ranks at your Power Level, so you can't have more than 10 ranks.
12 ranks of Force Field combine with your +2 Con bonus for +14 Toughness. Since your Defense is +6, you hit your defensive power level caps for Power Level 10. 6 + 14 = 20, 20/2 = 10. You're relatively easy to hit, but hard to damage.
Gravity Control 15 (30PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 3) [33PP]
Base Power: [29PP]
Move Object 10 (Max Range 1,000ft, Lifting Strength 50 [Heavy Load: 12 tons], Extras: Damaging, Flaws: Limited [Direction: Up/Down], Feats: Accurate 2 [+4 Attack], Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Improved Range 3 [1,000ft Range Increments], Precise, Subtle) [29PP]
This is your staple attack power.
Quick note on how Ranged powers work (this applies to most powers in this array): A Ranged power has a maximum range of (Power Rank x100) feet, and 10 range increments of (Power Rank x10) feet. For every range increment between you and your target, you suffer a -2 attack penalty.
The Improved Range feat increases the size of your range increments, without increasing the max range of the power. With Improved Range 3, your range increment is increased to be equal with your max range. So you'll never suffer any range penalties.
Normally, you wouldn't even be able to really see a target that far away. The default increment for Notice checks with ranged senses is 10ft, and you suffer a -1 Notice penalty for every increment between you and the target. It's only a DC0 Notice check to see something out in the open, but at 1,000ft out, you're at -100 Notice. But the Mass Awareness Super-Senses below is Extended, so your Notice increments are 100ft, and it's Accurate, so you can use it to target in combat. So at your max power range of 1,000ft, you're only at -10 Notice. A DC10 Notice check isn't that hard to make. And if you can see them, you can attack them with no range penalty, as if they were standing next to you.
With Accurate 2, you get +4 to attack with this power. Combined with your +6 base attack bonus, that's +10 attack, and with a rank 10 power, that hits your offensive power level cap for Power Level 10. 10 + 10 = 20, 20/2 = 10.
If you wanted to be less accurate but to have more raw power, then you could drop one or more ranks of Accurate to lower your attack bonus, and you could buy a higher power rank.
The Precise power feat is the same as the Precise Shot feat, so you ignore the penalty for targeting people who are in melee combat. It also lets you do fine manipulations, as if you had two hands (though limited to vertical movement in this case).
You could take the Attack Specialization feat for this array instead of the Accurate power feat, and/or Improved Critical as a feat instead of a power feat, and/or the Precise Shot feat instead of the Precise power feat. The advantage would be that, if anyone else copied your power, they wouldn't get those feats, since they'd represent your proficiency with the power, rather than the innate accuracy of the power itself. But those would also be feats taken away from the power array, which would give you fewer points with which to power stunt (see below). And power mimics almost never happen.
Alternate Power: [30PP]
Dimensional Pocket 8 (Extras: Duration 3 [Continuous, Lasting], Flaws: Action [Full], Distracting, Feats: Accurate 3 [+6 Attack], Precise, Progression [Capacity] 1 [100 tons], Subtle) [30PP]
This one was just too expensive, even with all the flaws, to get up to rank 10 like the rest, so I threw in a third rank of Accurate. Instead of +10 Attack / Rank 10 like the rest of the powers in the array, this one's +12 Attack / Rank 8. It still hits your power level cap, just a little differently. The house rules let anyone use the temporary tradeoff feats (Accurate Attack, Power Attack, etc.) at +2 to -2 without actually having the feat, so you could just Power Attack for +10 Attack / Rank 10 by default if you wanted to.
It's expensive to use: It takes a full action instead of a standard action, you lose your dodge bonus to defense for the round, and it's only touch-range, so you have to get in close (if you're not already in melee range, then you'll have to either spend 2 rounds setting it up, or you'll have to use Extra Effort for an extra action to both move and pop this). But if it lands, it's basically a one-shot kill. And if the GM has the villain use Extra Effort to get another save to break free, then it's clear that they didn't want the villain captured, period, and they would have gotten free one way or the other anyway.
Alternate Power: [29PP]
Nauseate 10 (Extras: Range [Ranged, Max Range 1,000ft], Flaws: Action [Full], Feats: Accurate 2 [+4 Attack], Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Improved Range 3 [1,000ft Range Increments], Precise, Subtle) [29PP]
Full Action is a great flaw for expensive long-range powers, because it's likely you won't have to move to set it up anyway.
Alternate Power: [30PP]
Snare 10 (Max Range 1,000ft, Feats: Accurate 2 [+4 Attack], Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Improved Range 3 [1,000ft Range Increments], Precise, Reversible, Subtle) [30PP]
You can use Extra Effort and suck up a level of Fatigue (or burn a Hero Point to get rid of the Fatigue) to add a temporary power feat to any non-Permanent power. The most common use of that rule is to get a temporary Alternate Power feat, to do something cool that you don't do often enough to pay for permanently. It's called "power stunting." So if there's an alternate power that you don't think you'll use very often, it's best to just leave it off your sheet and occasionally power stunt it. For example, you probably won't need to be Immovable very often. But once in a while, you can use Extra Effort, gain Immovable 15 (Extras: Unstoppable) [30PP] as a temporary AP for this array, jump in front of the runaway train, and bring it to a screeching halt.
Gravitic Movement 6 (12PP Array, Feats: Dynamic Alternate Power, Dynamic Base Power) [15PP]
Base Power (Dynamic): [3/11PP]
Flight 1/5 (10MPH/250MPH = 100ft/2,500ft [1/2 mile] per Move Action, Feats: Subtle) [3/11PP]
Alternate Power (Dynamic): [7/11PP]
Teleport 1/3 (100ft/300ft per Move Action, Extras: Accurate, Flaws: Limited [Short-Range], Feats: Change Direction, Change Velocity, Progression [Capacity] 2 [500 lbs.], Turnabout) [7/11PP]
You seemed to want to be able to both fly and teleport, and this was one way to do that.
With Flight and Teleport in a dynamic array together, you can decide each round to allocate all the points to one or the other, or to give some to each. So you could just give everything to Flight, hitting rank 5, or everything to Teleport, hitting rank 3. Or you could go Flight 1 + Teleport 2, or Flight 2 + Teleport 1.
I don't know what short-range teleports give you that Flight doesn't, except for bypassing the occasional solid barrier, but there it is.
If nothing else, being able to fly and teleport at the same time means you can teleport in mid-air without falling.
What was the rationale for using gravity manipulation to get Concealment against all senses? I left that out because I couldn't wrap my brain around it.