Victor Von

Sorry I didn't notice this comment before now. I've been a bit busy.

You bring up a good question about the Morph power. Originally, I had Mind Reading (Fears only) as part of the Emotion Control array, and had an extremely wonky Fear Sense as a Super Sense. However, for reasons that Doc pointed out, that kinda sucked.

As things are, I suppose Gus could decide to instinctively Morph into someone's fear, and hope for good results. That, uh... yeah. I'll have to think about that.

With Regrowth as a Feat, instead of an extra, I guess that makes Regeneration cheaper? I like that part.

You make an interesting point about Gus' resurrection power. I think your reading of the rules is absolutely correct. Unfortunately, it's not what I had in mind. How would I go about separating that out? Ideally, I'd like Gus to remain "dead" until nightfall, at which point he'd make his Con check. I'm not insulted by suggestions and guidance.

Thanks for the help. I'll try and incorporate this when I'm not in the middle of a long study session.

Actually that's what I meant to do. Ugh. I must've posted a version I was playing with a rejected. I'll edit it.

That won't work -- Darkvision is 2pp, so any AP off it must also be 2pp or less. Acute analytical ranged rapid detect fear is 5pp.

I'd suggested having the basic Detect Fear power as one of his always-available not-in-an-array super-senses, and have as an AP of his Emotion Control an Enhanced Super-Senses power that adds all sorts of extra stuff to the basic Detect Fear. When using those 'super' super-senses it'd lock out his other fear-based stuff -- he's focusing on sensing fear-energies rather than manipulating them -- but he'd still have his Density/Incorporeal.

I'll go ahead and resubmit his stats in the suggest format. Additionally, some tweaks have been suggested regarding Gus' AP set and his Super Senses, and they make sense to me. I'll go ahead and include those as well, before the old stuff gets approved.

Stats [41pp]:

Str: 18/+4 (30/+10 w/ Density) (8pp)

Dex: 14/+2 (4pp)

Con: 20/+5 (10pp)

Int: 9/-1 (-1pp)

Wis: 20/+5 (10pp)

Cha: 20/+5 (10pp)

Combat [24pp]:

Attack: +8 (16pp)

Grapple: +12, +20 w/ Density

Defense: +4 (8pp)

Initiative: +6 (+2 Dex, +4 Imp. Initiative Feat)

Saves [5pp]:

Toughness: +9 (Imp 4), +12 (Imp 7) w/ Density

Fortitude: +5 ( +5 Con, +0)

Reflex: +5 (2 Dex, +3)

Will: +7 (5 Wis, +2)

Skills [52 ranks = 13pp]:

Bluff 2 (+7)

Diplomacy 2 (+7)

Intimidate 10 (+15)

Knowledge: Arcane Lore 6 (+5)

Knowledge: Pop Culture 3 (+2)

Notice 6 (+11)

Perform: Comedy 2 (+7)

Sense Motive 6 (+11)

Search 5 (+4)

Stealth 10 (+12)

Feats [6pp]:

Fascinate (Intimidate)

Fearless

Fearsome Presence 1

Improved Initiative

Sneak Attack 1 (+2)

Startle

Powers [62pp]:

Comprehend 1 (languages) [cost=2]

Dreams know all languages, every human tongue.

Density 6 (Str +12, Immovable 2, Impervious Protection 3, Super Strength 2 [effective Str 40, Heavy Load 6,400 lbs]; Flaw: Only at Night; PF: 1 Alternate Power) [cost=13pp]

* AP: Insubstantial 3 (dream/magical energy; Flaw: Only during the day)

During daylight hours a dream can be as insubstantial as a breeze. At night, though, they are more substantial and real than anything found in the waking world.

Emotion Control 10 (Flaw: Fear Only; PFs: 3 Alternate Powers) [cost=13pp]

AP 1: Morph 5 (any form, +20 Disguise; Flaw: Fears only)

AP 2: Strike 5 ("Mental Weapon"/Fear-based melee attack; Extra: Alternate Save/Will)

AP 3: Super Senses 1 (Sense Fear with Accurate, Acute, Analytical, Radius, Ranged, Rapid, Tracking... and maybe two more...)

Gus has an intimate relationship with human fear, making it a potent emotional weapon. Additionally, Gus can look into minds and see the fears that dwell there. As a bogeyman, his body was made to mimic those fears. He can even physically strike into the human (or animal) mind, attempting to overload it with an almost tangible weapon made of fear.

Immunity 5 (aging, need for sleep, starvation & thirst, suffocation effects) [cost=5pp]

Dreams do not eat, nor sleep, nor breathe, nor age. It's a perq.

Invisibility 1 (normal sight) [cost=4pp]

In Gus' prior life, avoiding parental detection was paramount. Fortunately, dreams fade and vanish as they please.

Protection 4 (Extra: Impervious) [cost=8pp]

Bogeymen are made of tough dream material, hard to hurt or kill. It's their nature.

Regeneration 8 (Bruised 3 [1/round automatic], Injured 3 [1/1 minutes], Resurrection 2 [1/ Day; not if incinerated]; PF: Regrowth; Flaw: Only at night) [cost=5pp]

At night, Gus' injuries are short-lived. Even death will not hold him for long, when the shadows are between the earth and sun. Being consumed by light, though, can be the death of any dream.

Super-Senses 2 (Darkvision) [cost=2]

Gus thrives in darkness; it can never blind him.

Teleport 5 (Flaw: Medium: Shadows, Feats: Change Direction, Easy, Mass Progression 2 [500 pounds], Turnabout, 1 Alternate Power) [cost=11pp]

* AP: Super-Movement 5 (air walking 2, slithering, wall-crawling 2)

Walking through shadows quickly and silently is an old nightmare trick. These days, it's Gus' principle means of transportation.

Drawbacks:

Noticeable Protection (Ugly/Gray, Lumpy Skin) -1

Repulsive, ain't he?

DC Block:

ATTACKS --- SAVE DC --- DAMAGE TYPE

Basic Melee --- 19 (25 w/ Density, +2 more w/ sneak attack) Toughness --- Bruise/Nonlethal

Phobic Strike --- 20 Will--- Nonlethal Damage

Emotion Control --- 20 Will --- Emotion Control/Fear

Costs: Abilities (41pp) + Combat (24pp) + Saves (5pp) + Skills (13pp) + Feats (6pp) + Powers (62pp) - Drawbacks (-1pp) = 150 Total Cost

Any friend of Dr. Archeville... is someone we'll stay far away from.

Welcome to the boards, man.

You've got me laughing... that's a good start. :-)

Thanks for the help. Readability never hurts, I know.

The "Sense Fear" power isn't very useful for a hero who can read minds to see fears, is it? Any suggestions on improving this point?

Okay, I'll tell you all a few secrets.

I'm just returning to grad school. I spent the last 7 years as a library tech, and now I am going to get my Masters in Library Science. It's my second Masters degree; the first is in English Literature.

I write a webcomic, The Dada Detective (http://www.likelystories.com), which has been ongoing for over 3 years. It's a comedy/mystery, a story of crimes, mimes, mystery, murder, and a missing duck. There are two published volumes of the comic, plus an ancillary "Dada Alphabet." My name and avatar, Dr. Victor Von Phlogistein, come from the comic. Eli Whitney is his nemesis, so you know.

I've been studying Chinese martial arts since I was 12. It's one of my favorite things.

I also love films-- good, bad, old, new-- literature, opinions, games. I've been an active role-player with the same group for about 10 years. Some of my favorite books are The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Infoquake, Snowcrash, V.A.L.I.S., and Scott McCloud's Zot!

Players Name: Victor Von

Power Level: 10

Characters Name: Mister Scares

Alternate Identity: Gustav Makesbabiescry

Height: 6' 10"

Weight: Varies. 280 lbs during daylight hours, over 1000 lbs at night.

Hair: Sparse, brittle blonde

Eyes: Flame orange

Description:

Mister Scares is a creature that once haunted children's nightmares. Almost seven feet in height, with dark gray skin, a bulbous belly, long groping arms, and a hideous twisted smile, the sight of him is enough to frighten most adults. His irises are orange, his teeth dirty and misshapen, his hair grows in strawlike patches on his head and elsewhere on his body. His movements tend to be unnatural, with joints that bend in the wrong places, and a tendency to skitter across floors when he's in a rush.

His face tends shape itself unconsciously in response to people's fears. One moment, he may have a decidedly canine look to him. Another, he may have sprouted a small ring of spider's eyes.

In spite of his grotesque appearance,Gus, as he likes his friends to call him, is a distinguished gentleman of sorts. He likes to clad himself in sartorial splendor. He collects hats, and whenever possible he wears dark tailored three-piece suits and clutches a splendid cane-handled black umbrella. He strives to stand upright and present a neat appearance. He can carry himself with great dignity at times, but could never be mistaken for anything human.

Even though dreams know all human languages, Gus speaks with a thick Eastern European accent. It is no affectation. It is something that became a part of him, because it once scared a child.

History:

There was a man in Samantha Rosen's closet. When her father went to look in the closet, she would see him grinning out from the shadows underneath her bed. No one believed her, of course. In his many years of frightening children, Gustav Makesbabiescry had never once been seen by an adult.

However, this child Samantha was not like the other children Gus had terrorized. When she realized that her parents were useless against this hideously dapper intruder, she reacted more with curiosity than with fear. It wasn't that she was not afraid-- Gus could see her fears inside her, squirming around-- it was simply that she did not give in to her fear. "Why are you here?" she asked him as he towered over her bed. "Can you teach me that?" she asked when took the form of a camel cricket-- which he knew she loathed!-- and came clicking across her ceiling towards her. Gus abandoned his place inside the heads of other juvenile sleepers, determined to make Samantha squirm and scream with fright.

Samantha only continued to talk to him, making conversation with him whenever his bizarre visage peered out from her closet door. Eventually, in exasperation, Gus found himself asking "What, child? What do I have to do to frighten you? Devour your parents? Make you watch, yes?"

"I'd prefer you didn't" she replied cautiously.

He sat down on the foot of her bed. "You," he proclaimed with a strong (but oddly generic) Eastern European accent, "are worst child in existence. I am Boogeyman! Don't you know enough to be afraid?"

"I don't think that would help." said Samantha, staring at Gus with unblinking brown eyes. There was a long moment before she asked "Where do you come from?"

"Because I am Monster?" Gus asked with a sneer.

"Because you talk funny," was her reply.

Against his better judgment, Gus returned to Samantha's room the next night. And the night after that. She grew older, and smarter, and more curious, and braver still. It was some time before Gus realized that he had abandoned the torment of children for earnest conversation and imaginary tea parties in the dark. He spent his days pacing his run-down mansion in the Dream Realm, a gift from the Dream Lord many centuries back, thinking of the brown-haired girl. He did not know the right word for her. When he asked her for it one night, she told him the word was "friend."

One night, when Gus arrived to see his friend, Samantha's room was empty. Her door was open, and he heard voices beyond her darkened door. He stepped toward the threshold listening, hearing Her voice beyond. Little Sam was angry, but there was no quaver of fear in her voice as she demanded that the strange men leave. He heard unfamiliar voices shushing her, then heard a blow, then silence. All this beyond the forbidden doorway leading to the adult world. Adults were not meant to see the faces of living dreams. But she could be hurt. Whispering Samantha's name, Gustav Makesbabiescry walked into the waking world.

The burglars were there. They mistook him for her father, briefly, then tried to run. It was useless, of course. Seconds later, the three men were cowering in the empty fireplace, one trying forlornly to scramble up the chimney. Gus smiled horribly at them, then offered a gentle misshapen hand to Samantha. She stood up gravely. She knew her world had changed. Gustav Makesbabiescry was not just a Boogeyman anymore. He could be a hero.

Gus grinned at the thought. "I believe," he said, his Russian accent made thicker by excitement, "I have perfect name."

Stats:

Str: 18/30 (8pp)

Dex: 14 (4pp)

Con: 20 (10pp)

Int: 9 (-1pp)

Wis: 20 (10pp)

Cha: 20 (10pp)

Combat:

Attack: +8 (16pp)

Defense: +4 (8pp)

Initiative: +6 (Improved Initiative Feat)

Grapple: +12/+20

Saves:

Toughness: +9 [iMP 4]/ +12 [iMP 7, Density]

Fortitude: +5 ( +5 Constitution)

Reflex: +5 (3pp + 2 Dexterity)

Will: +7 (2pp + 5 Wisdom)

Skills:

(44 SP [11PP])

Bluff 2 (+7), Diplomacy 2 (+7), Intimidate 10 (+15), Knowledge: Arcane Lore 6 (+5), Notice 6 (+5), Perform: Comedy 2 (+7), Sense Motive 6 (+11), Stealth 10 (+12)

Feats:

(6pp) Fearsome Presence 1, Fearless, Fascinate (Intimidate), Sneak Attack 1 (+2), Startle, Improved Initiative.

Powers:

Emotion Control 8 (Fear Only) Alternate Powers: Mind Reading (Fears Only) 10; Morph (Any form, Fears only) 4; Paralyze 4; Stun 4, Mental Weapon 4 [Fear-based melee attack]) [cost=13pp] Fear has many effects, causing people to quake, to freeze, to flee, to reel. Gus is a master of these effects. Additionally, Gus can look into minds and see the fears that dwell there. As a bogeyman, his body was made to mimic those fears.

Immunity 5 (Starvation, Suffocation, Sleep, Age) [cost=5pp] Dreams do not eat, nor sleep, nor breathe, nor age.

Invisibility 1 (Regular sight) [cost=4pp] In Gus' prior life, avoiding parental detection was paramount. Fortunately, dreams fade and vanish as they please.

Density 6 (Flaw: Night Only) (Str +12, Protection (Impervious) 3, Super Strength 2 (Heavy Load 6,400 lbs), Immovable 2)(Alternate Power: Insubstantial 3 (Flaw: Daytime Only) [cost=13pp] During daylight hours a dream can be as insubstantial as a breeze. At night, though, they are more substantial and real than anything found in the waking world.

Protection 4 (Impervious) [cost=8pp] Bogeymen are tough. It's their nature.

Regeneration 8 (Bruised 3(1/round automatic), Injured 2(1/5 minutes), Resurrection 3 (1/ 5 hours; weakness: incineration) (Extras: Regrowth, Flaw: Night Only) [cost=5pp] At night, Gus' injuries are short-lived. Even death will not hold him for long, when the shadows are between the earth and sun.

Teleport 5 (Medium: Shadows, Feats: Change Direction, Easy, Turnabout, Mass Progression 2 (500 pounds) (Alt Power: Super-Movement 5: Wall-Crawling 2, Slithering, Air Walking 2) [cost=11pp] Walking through shadows quickly and silently is an old nightmare trick. These days, it's Gus' principle means of transportation.

Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision, Detect Fear) [cost=3] Darkness is no cloak for nightmares. And don't show fear... they can sense fear.

Comprehend 1 (languages) [cost=2] Dreams know all languages, every human tongue.

(Total Cost=64pp)

Drawbacks:

Noticeable Protection (Ugly/Gray, Lumpy Skin) -1

Repulsive, ain't he?

DC Block:

ATTACKS: SAVE DC: DAMAGE TYPE:

Basic Melee 19 Toughness or 25/Toughness Bruise/Nonlethal

Phobic Strike 19 Will Nonlethal

Costs: Abilities (41pp) + Combat (24pp) + Saves (5pp) + Skills (11pp) + Feats (6pp) + Powers (64pp) - Drawbacks (-1pp) = 150 Total Cost