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Cubist

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  1. Here comes the third draft of the character! It's an interim draft; Jube is not ready for prime time yet, nohow contrariwise. I still haven't bothered to stat out the component parts of Jube's 'utility vest'; I also am not entirely sure I've got the cost right on the Timeshift Array. I think you pay 1 PP for each Alternate Power in the array, because if you have to pay full price for each AP in the Array, why not just buy the AP as a normal power unto itself? If I've worked out all the game-mechanical stuff properly, and if I haven't made any errors in simple arithmetic, this version of Jube is 124PP... which gives me 26PP to raise his attack/defense caps up to PL10 norms in the 4th draft. Players Name: Cubist Characters Name: Jubatus, aka Jay Nelson Xavier Power Level: (10) (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, +2 Defense / -2 Toughness Unspent PP: 0 Gold Status: 0/30 In Brief: Speedster who is his own worst enemy -- his toughest challenge will be overcoming 'the demons within' Alternate Identities: None. The character willingly answers to either his 'real' name or to 'Jubatus'. Identity: Public (it's kind of hard to maintain a Secret Identity when you're blatantly Not Human...) Birthplace: San Francisco Bay Area Occupation: Freelancer specializing in technological troubleshooting and tech writing Affiliations: Hero group he's attached to by court order (see History for details) Family: Parents: Albert Xavier (father -- dead), Rebecca Xavier (mother -- Alzheimer's-stricken 105 yrs. old in nursing home). Siblings (in birth order): Corrie Xavier (sister, 86), Maxwell Xavier (brother, dead), Dan Xavier (brother, dead), Elaine Xavier (sister, 79), Nancy Xavier (sister, dead), Randolph Xavier (brother, 64). Jube is aware that he has several more-distant relatives (cousins, etc) in various parts of the US and Europe, but has never attempted to build relationships with any of these persons. Age: 64 (DoB: September, 1946) Apparent Age: Young adult (how old does a cheetah look..?) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Cheetah (formerly Caucasian) Height: 6'1" Weight: 102 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Fur w/ typical cheetah markings -- sandy-yellow all over, with black spots, and white on the torso's front side Description: First impression: The guy's a cheetah, end of discussion. A closer look reveals that his braincase is rather larger than that of a 'real' cheetah, and the digits on his forepaws are a fair amount longer, slimmer, and more dexterous than those of a 'real' cheetah (which isn't saying much). He typically doesn't wear anything more than a khaki vest that's got ridiculously many (gadget-filled) pockets. Power Descriptions: Jubatus' only exotic ability is what he calls "Timeshifting", the power to control how quickly Time flows for himself. He calls it 'upshifting' when he's running faster than normal, and 'downshifting' when he's running slower than normal. This ability has some innate side-effects. One, gravity becomes weaker (when he upshifts) or stronger (when he downshifts). Two, it 'Doppler shifts' all wavelengths (of light or sound or whatever else); when he's running X* faster than normal, he percieves all wavelengths as 1/X of their 'normal' value. History: With an IQ around 140, Jay Nelson Xavier has been 'the smartest kid in the room' for most of his childhood (and a good fraction of his adult life). Thanks to an intermittent, continuing series of abusive incidents at the hands of his so-called 'peer group', incidents which were either ignored or dismissed as "kids playing around" by adults who were nominally in positions of responsibility, Jay learned early on that most people are stupid or crazy or both... a conclusion which was only reinforced during his adolescence and later years. s been a technical writer and troubleshooter for the past 40 years plus change. Personality & Motivation: Jay Nelson Xavier has never been anyone's idea of a superhero. He's a cynical, hardshell pragmatist, and while he does have altruistic impulses, his life experiences have forcibly taught him to ignore said impulses, as the outcome is usually bad. Jay has few friends, and he likes it that way -- especially now that his brain has been rewired to add cheetah traits/instincts, such as their generally solitatry nature. Jay, a detail-oriented fussbudget, is aware that he's more competent than most people, but where some might think "damn, I'm great!", Jay wonders "why can't they do it, too?" Powers & Tactics: Jube is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing, pre-planned activity to improvisation. Complications: Too Darn Fast: Jube's bodily processes (metabolism, nerve impulses, etc) are permanently stuck at 6* normal speed; in order to interact with normal-speed characters, he must use his Timeshift power to slow down to their speed. As well, he needs to eat 6* more than anyone else; Jube going 1 day without food affects him much the same way a normal person would be affected by not eating for 6 days straight. Similarly, Jube needs to sleep 6* more often than any normal person. Time Will Let Me: Jube's Timeshift affects gravity (Timeshifting slower = stronger gravity; faster = weaker gravity). He can Timeshift to slower than normal, with the accompanying effect on personal gravity. As well, the Timeshift affects anything with a wavelength; when Jube is running N* faster than normal, he percieves the frequency of an X-Hertz sound as (X/N) Hz, and analogous color-shifts affect light. His Infravision, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision, and X-Ray Vision are all affected by this quirk. The Nature of the Beast: Jube's eyes and ears are cheetah-normal; thus, he has lousy color discrimination, and he cannot hear any sounds below 100 Hz or so. The digits on his forepaws are longer and slimmer than those of normal cheetahs, but nowhere near as good as human fingers; hence Jube's manual dexterity suffers at times. Obligate carnivore; chewing on one leaf won't hurt him, but a whole salad would give him horrible diarrhea. Human-style clothing is very uncomfortable; it chafes against his fur and makes him overheat. Jube's voice sounds terrible; he can't actually speak, so he strings together carefully-selected sound effects to produce 'speech' which is easy to comprehend. Jube is naturally quadrupedal, but he insists on standing up on his hind legs anyway, no matter how much it hurts. I'm a Man...: Jube lives in denial -- on a fundamental (subconscious) level, he simply refuses to accept that he's not 'human' (whatever that means) any more. ...Not a Monster!: Jube is (understandably) terrified of the possibility that his mind could regress to a feral state, making him an animal in mind as well as in body. When possible/practical, he goes far out of his way to avoid doing anything which would mark him as an inhuman creature. Do it Right, or Not at All: Jube was always a pain-in-the-ass perfectionist, but now that he can break the sound barrier under his own power, he's terrified of making mistakes -- at Mach speed, even the tiniest error could have horrible consequences. I Gots the Blues and I Can't Sing: Jube used to be an excellent singer, and is pissed off that he can't do that any more. As well, his speech impediment continually butts up against his I'm not a goddamn animal!! mental quirk. Thou Shalt Not...: (ube is very very very opposed to killing anything, and takes a rather dim view of even inflicting injury; he's scared spitless that the scent of blood might allow his 'beast side' to take over. Can't Touch Me: Jube's Danger Sense is permanently active -- he cannot shut it down -- and whenever the DS thinks there's trouble inbound, it actives his Timeshift for Jube... Abilities: -4 +14 +4 +8 +6 +2 = 30pp Str 6 (-2) Dex 24 (+7) Con 14 (+2) Int 18 (+4) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 12 (+1) Combat: 20 + 20 = 40pp Initiative: +7/+23 Attack: +10 [20pp] Grapple: +12 Defense: +10 [20pp] (+10 Base), +0 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 3 = 7 Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4) [4pp] Reflex: +7 (+7 Dex) Will: +10 (+3 Wis, +3) [3pp] Skills: 32R = 8pp Stealth 1 (+8) Notice 5 (+8) Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) Computers 0 (+4) Craft: Electronics 0 (+4) Disable Device 0 (+4) Investigate 0 (+4) Perform (Imitate sounds) 0 (+1) Knowledge: Current Events 2 (+6) Knowledge: Business 3 (+7) Knowledge: Technology 3 (+7) Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 2 (+6) Profession: Writer 7 (+10) Profession: Troubleshooter 7 (+10) Feats: 5PP Environmental Adaptation (Low gravity) Jack of All Trades Master Plan Evasion 1 Uncanny Dodge Powers: 6 + 3 + 6 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 10 = 34PP Cheetah-related stuff: Super-Senses 6: (Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking, Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure)) [6pp] Super-Senses: (X-ray Vision, Infravision (Power Modifier: Linked to Timeshift -- X-ray Vision only active when all 7 ranks of Speed are in use, IR only when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal) [3pp] Super-Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 1, Slow Fall 1, Sure-footed 1) [6PP] Strike 3 (Feat: Mighty) (Jube's claws and fangs) [4pp] Regeneration 2 (recovers faster from Bruised and Unconscious) [2pp] Feature 1: Mimicry (+10 on rolls to mimic sounds) [1pp] Immunity 2 (aging, diseases specific to either humans or cheetahs) [2pp] Jube's Timeshift power: Timeshift 7 (14PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 3) [10] Base Power: Speed 7 (Feats: Alternate Power 2) [7PP] Alternate Power: Quickness 7 ( Flaws: Linked to Speed) [7PP] Alternate Power: Improved Initiative 7 ( Flaws: Linked to Speed) [7PP] Alternate Power: Enhanced STR 7 ( Flaws: Linked to Speed) (gravity-altering side effect of the Timeshift) [7PP] DC Block: ATTACK   RANGE  SAVE            EFFECT Unarmed   Touch  DC 17 Toughness (Staged)   Damage +2 Fangs & Claws (Strike) Touch DC 18 Toughness Abilities (30) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (7) + Skills (8) + Feats (5) + Powers (34) = 124pp
  2. I downloaded the demo version of the Hero lab software, and typed the initial draft of Jube's sheet into it. Hero Lab thought Jube was 60-odd PP over budget -- which was a pleasant surprise, because I'd thought Jube was 80 PP over budget. And after a frenzy of ruthless point-shaving, I ended up with a version of Jube that weighs in at 148 PP! This, without implementing Geez3r's suggestion about dissecting Super-Speed into its component parts! By the time I come up with an approved-for-FC version of Jube, he may be able to afford some non-free gadgets for his 'utility vest'... Anywho, here's the One True First Draft of Jubatus. As before, comments and suggestions are encouraged, and even welcomed: Players Name: Cubist Characters Name: Jubatus, aka Jay Nelson Xavier Power Level: (10) (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, +2 Defense / -2 Toughness Unspent PP: 0 Gold Status: 0/30 In Brief: Alternate Identities: None. The character willingly answers to either his 'real' name or to 'Jubatus'. Identity: Public (it's kind of hard to maintain a Secret Identity when you're blatantly Not Human...) Birthplace: San Francisco Bay Area Occupation: Freelancer specializing in technological troubleshooting and tech writing Affiliations: Hero group he's attached to by court order (see History for details) Family: Parents: Albert Xavier (father -- dead), Rebecca Xavier (mother -- Alzheimer's-stricken 105 yrs. old in nursing home). Siblings (in birth order): Corrie Xavier (sister, 86), Maxwell 'Max' Xavier (brother, dead), Danny Xavier (brother, dead), Elaine Xavier (sister, 79), Nancy Xavier (sister, dead), Randolph 'Randy'; Xavier (brother, 74). Jube is aware that he has several more-distant relatives (cousins, etc) in various parts of the US and Europe, but has never attempted to build relationships with any of these persons. Age: 64 (DoB: September, 1946) Apparent Age: Young adult (how old does a cheetah look..?) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Cheetah (formerly Caucasian) Height: 6'1" Weight: 102 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Sandy-yellow fur all over, with typical cheetah markings (block spots, white dorsal surface) Description: First impression: The guy's a cheetah, end of discussion. A closer look reveals that his braincase is rather larger than that of a 'real' cheetah, and the digits on his forepaws are a fair amount longer, slimmer, and more dexterous than those of a 'real' cheetah. He typically doesn't wear anything more than a khaki vest that's got ridiculously many (gadget-filled) pockets. Power Descriptions: Power: Timeshift -- Jubatus can control how quickly Time flows for himself; he calls it 'upshifting' when he's running faster than normal, and 'downshifting' when he's running slower than normal. This ability has some innate side-effects. One, gravity becomes weaker (when he upshifts) or stronger (when he downshifts). Two, it 'Doppler shifts' all wavelengths (of light or sound or whatever else); when he's running X* faster than normal, he percieves all wavelengths as 1/X of their 'normal' value. History: Jay Nelson Xavier has been a technical writer and troubleshooter for the past 40 years plus change. Personality & Motivation: Jay has few friends, and he likes it that way -- especially now that his brain has been rewired to add cheetah traits/instincts, such as their generally solitatry nature. Jay, a detail-oriented fussbudget, is aware that he's more competent than most people, but where some might think "damn, I'm great!", Jay wonders "why can't they do it, too?" Powers & Tactics: Jube is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing. Complications: Too Darn Fast (Jube's bodily processes (metabolism, nerve impulses, etc) are permanently stuck at 6* normal speed; in order to interact with normal-speed characters, he must use his Timeshift power to slow down to their speed. As well, he needs to eat 6* more than anyone else; Jube going 1 day without food affects him much the same way a normal person would be affected by not eating for 6 days straight) Time Will Let Me (Jube's Timeshift affects gravity (Timeshifting slower = stronger gravity; faster = weaker gravity). He can Timeshift to slower than normal, with the accompanying effect on personal gravity. As well, the Timeshift affects anything with a wavelength; when Jube is running N* faster than normal, he percieves the frequency of an X-Hertz sound as (X/N), and the analogous perceptual change affects light. His Infravision, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision, and X-Ray Vision are all affected by this quirk.) The Nature of the Beast (Jube's eyes and ears are cheetah-normal; thus, he has lousy color discrimination, and he cannot hear any sounds below 100 Hz or so. The digits on his forepaws are longer and slimmer than those of normal cheetahs, but nowhere near as good as human fingers; hence Jube's manual dexterity suffers at times. Obligate carnivore; chewing on one leaf won't hurt him, but a whole salad would give him horrible diarrhea. Human-style clothing is very uncomfortable; it chafes against his fur and makes him overheat. Jube's voice sounds terrible; he can't actually speak, so he strings together carefully-selected sound effects to produce 'speech' which is easy to comprehend. Jube is naturally quadrupedal, but he insists on standing up on his hind legs anyway, no matter how much it hurts.) I'm a Man... (Jube lives in denial -- on a fundamental (subconscious) level, he simply refuses to accept that he's not 'human' (whatever that means) any more) ...Not a Monster! (Jube is (understandably) terrified of the possibility that his mind could regress to a feral state, making him an animal in mind as well as in body) Do it Right, or Not at All (Jube was always a pain-in-the-ass perfectionist, but now that he break the sound barrier under his own power, he's terrified of making mistakes -- at Mach speed, even the tiniest error could have horrible consequences) I Gots Me the Blues (Jube used to be an excellent singer, and is pissed off that he can't do that any more) Thou Shalt Not... (Jube is very very very opposed to killing anything, or even inflicting serious injury; he's scared spitless that the scent of blood might allow his 'beast side' to take over) Can't Touch Me (Jube's Danger Sense is permanently active -- he cannot shut it down -- and whenever the DS thinks there's trouble inbound, it actives his Timeshift for Jube...) Abilities: -4 +14 +4 +8 +6 +2 = 30pp Str 6 (-2) Dex 24 (+7) Con 14 (+2) Int 18 (+4) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 12 (+1) Combat: 20 + 20 = 40pp Initiative: +7/+23 Attack: +10 [20pp] Grapple: +12 Defense: +10 [20pp] (+10 Base), +0 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 3 = 7 Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +4) [4pp] Reflex: +7 (+7 Dex) Will: +10 (+3 Wis, +3) [3pp] Skills: 9pp Stealth (+7) [0pp] Notice 5 (+8) [1.25pp] Language 2 (French, Spanish) [2pp] Computers (+4) [0pp] Craft: Electronics (+4) [0pp] Disable Device (+4) [0pp] Investigate (+4) [0pp] Perform (Imitate sounds) 6 (+7) [1.5pp] Knowledge: Current Events 2 (+6) [.5pp] Knowledge: Business 2 (+6) [.5pp] Knowledge: Technology 2 (+6) [.5pp] Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 2 (+6) [.5pp] Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) [2pp] Profession: Writer 6 (+9) [1.5pp] Profession: Troubleshooter 6 (+9) [1.5pp] Feats: 5PP Environmental Adaptation (Low gravity) [1pp] Jack of All Trades [1pp] Master Plan [1pp] -- seemed natural for an obsessive perfectionist Evasion 1 [1pp] Uncanny Dodge [1pp] Powers: 7 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 20 + 8 + 1 = 57pp Super-Senses: Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking, Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure) [Power Feat: Innate] [7pp] Super-Senses: X-ray Vision, Infravision (Power Modifier: Linked to Timeshift -- X-ray Vision only active when all 7 ranks of SS are in use, IR only when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal) [3pp] Hunting Sprint (Speed 2 [Power Feat: Innate]) [3pp] Fangs and Claws (Strike 3 [Power Feat: Innate]) [4pp] Moves Like a Cat (Super-Movement 3; Wall-Crawling 1, Slow Fall 1, Sure-footed 1) [Power Feat: Innate] [6pp] Quicker Healing (Regeneration 2; recovers faster from Bruised and Unconscious [Power Feat: Innate]) [3pp] Immunity 1 (aging) [Power Feat: Innate] [2pp] Timeshift -- (Super-Speed 4 [Power Feat: Rapid Attack]) [20pp] -- (Enhanced Strength 8 [Power Modifier: Linked (to Super-Speed)]) [8pp] (Deflect 1 (all ranged attacks); Flaw: Limited (only works on physical attacks, and then only if Jube is strong enough to manhandle whatever-it-is) [-1]) [1pp] DC Block: ATTACK   RANGE   SAVE            EFFECT Unarmed   Touch   DC17 Toughness (Staged)   Damage +2 Fangs & Claws (Strike 3) -- Touch -- DC 18 Toughness Abilities (30) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (7) + Skills (9) + Feats (5) + Powers (57) = 148pp
  3. This is the... well, zeroeth, really... draft of my Jubatus character. I bloody well know this writeup is not acceptable as it stands, not least because the point totals sum to [gag-wheeze-choke] 231. At the very least, 81 points must needs be trimmed away, and I throw myself upon the mercy of FC's Powers That Be to advise me on which bits to reduce and/or eliminate... Players Name: Cubist Characters Name: Jubatus, aka Jay Nelson Xavier Power Level: (10) (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, +2 Defense / -2 Toughness Unspent PP: 0 Gold Status: 0/30 In Brief: Alternate Identities: None. The character willingly answers to either his 'real' name or to 'Jubatus'. Identity: Public (it's kind of hard to maintain a Secret Identity when you're blatantly Not Human...) Birthplace: San Francisco Bay Area Occupation: Freelancer specializing in technological troubleshooting and tech writing Affiliations: Hero group he's attached to by court order (see History for details) Family: Parents: Albert Xavier (father -- dead), Rebecca Xavier (mother -- Alzheimer's-stricken 105 yrs. old in nursing home). Siblings (in birth order): Corrie Xavier (sister, 86), Maxwell Xavier (brother, dead), Dan Xavier (brother, dead), Elaine Xavier (sister, 79), Nancy Xavier (sister, dead), Randolph Xavier (brother, 74). Jube is aware that he has several more-distant relatives (cousins, etc) in various parts of the US and Europe, but has never attempted to build relationships with any of these persons. Age: 72 (DoB: September, 1938) Apparent Age: Young adult (how old does a cheetah look..?) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Cheetah (formerly Caucasian) Height: 6'1" Weight: 102 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Sandy-yellow fur all over, with typical cheetah markings (block spots, white dorsal surface) Description: First impression: The guy's a cheetah, end of discussion. A closer look reveals that his braincase is rather larger than that of a 'real' cheetah, and the digits on his forepaws are a fair amount longer, slimmer, and more dexterous than those of a 'real' cheetah. He typically doesn't wear anything more than a khaki vest that's got ridiculously many (gadget-filled) pockets. Power Descriptions: Power: Timeshift -- Jubatus can control how quickly Time flows for himself; he calls it 'upshifting' when he's running faster than normal, and 'downshifting' when he's running slower than normal. This ability has some innate side-effects. One, gravity becomes weaker (when he upshifts) or stronger (when he downshifts). Two, it 'Doppler shifts' all wavelengths (of light or sound or whatever else); when he's running X* faster than normal, he percieves all wavelengths as 1/X of their 'normal' value. History: Jay Nelson Xavier has been a technical writer and troubleshooter for the past 40 years plus change. Most of his life has been fairly uninteresting; that stopped a few weeks ago when he woke up with a permanent, built-in fur coat, and the persistent feeling that the whole world was stuck in slow motion. [Jay has no idea why he transformed; was it insidious experimentation by the Grue? accidental exposure to a potent mutagen? something else?] Medical science being what it is in a superhero universe, it wasn't long before Jay, with the vitally necessary help of his doctors, acquired all the proper body-reflexes for his new corpus and mastered his new Timeshift ability sufficiently well that he could slow down to interact normally with other human beings. Jay tried to get on with his life... a goal which was forcibly removed from the realm of possibility a week or so after he was discharged from hospital. On that sad evening, Jay found himself surrounded by five muggers who looked like they'd be just as happy to take his money from his dead body as otherwise. They might have gotten their wish, too -- except that for the first time, Jay's Danger Sense triggered an involuntary Timeshift. Suddenly, Jay found himself 20* faster than normal -- with gravity being reduced to 1/20 G. He tried to just run away from the muggers, but (thanks to the reduced gravity) he ended up smacking painfully into a car's side panel. This was the muggers' opening to start their assault in earnest. Jay, still disoriented from the involuntary Timeshift and not recovered from his 'crash landing', could do nothing to defend himself. However, as soon as the first knife broke Jay's skin, he basically went berserk, ripping and tearing into his assailants with dangerously high-speed claws and fangs. This was no battle; it was more of a disassembly... By the time Jay regained his senses, all five of the muggers were lying inertly on the asphalt. Jay called for an ambulance, after which he puked his guts out. Four of the muggers would live; the fifth would die of his injuries before reaching hospital. Horrified at what he'd done to the five (even... or perhaps 'especially'... if he had not been in full conscious control of his actions), Jay turned himself in to the police. He ended up being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service as a Timeshifting superhero. The judge ordered that Jay join $Hero_group as a novice member, and that he accept $Hero_group's training to master his powers and ensure that he never again cause the unintended death of anybody, criminal or not. Personality & Motivation: Jay is a cynical man with few friends, and he likes it that way -- especially now that his brain has been rewired to add cheetah traits/instincts, such as their generally solitary nature. Jay, a detail-oriented fussbudget, is aware that he's more competent than most people, but where some might think "damn, I'm great!", Jay wonders "why can't they do it, too?" He is terrified of his current body's potential for mayhem and gore, and he goes out of his way to be abrasive, pushing other people away so that they'll be less likely to get hurt when (not 'if', because he's irrationally certain that it will happen some day) he loses control. Powers & Tactics: Jube is about speed and precision, not brute force. He prefers the surgically exact strike to carpet-bombing. He does not want to get used to, let alone start to enjoy, violence! Complications: Too Darn Fast (Jube's bodily processes (metabolism, nerve impulses, etc) are permanently stuck at 6* normal speed; in order to interact with normal-speed characters, he must use his Timeshift power to slow down to their speed. As well, he needs to eat 6* more than anyone else; Jube going 1 day without food affects him much the same way a normal person would be affected by not eating for 6 days straight) Time Will Let Me (Jube's Timeshift affects gravity (Timeshifting slower = stronger gravity; faster = weaker gravity). He can Timeshift to slower than normal, with the accompanying effect on personal gravity. As well, the Timeshift affects anything with a wavelength; when Jube is running N* faster than normal, he percieves the frequency of an X-Hertz sound as (X/N), and the analogous perceptual change affects light. His Infravision, Ultra-Hearing, Ultravision, and X-Ray Vision are all affected by this quirk.) The Nature of the Beast (Jube's eyes and ears are cheetah-normal; thus, he has lousy color discrimination, and he cannot hear any sounds below 100 Hz or so. The digits on his forepaws are longer and slimmer than those of normal cheetahs, but nowhere near as good as human fingers; hence Jube's manual dexterity suffers at times. Obligate carnivore; chewing on one leaf won't hurt him, but a whole salad would give him horrible diarrhea. Human-style clothing is very uncomfortable; it chafes against his fur and makes him overheat. Jube's voice sounds terrible; he can't actually speak, so he strings together carefully-selected sound effects to produce 'speech' which is easy to comprehend. Jube is naturally quadrupedal, but he insists on standing up on his hind legs anyway, no matter how much it hurts.) I'm a Man... (Jube lives in denial -- on a fundamental (subconscious) level, he simply refuses to accept that he's not 'human' (whatever that means) any more) ...Not a Monster! (Jube is (understandably) terrified of the possibility that his mind could regress to a feral state, making him an animal in mind as well as in body) Do it Right, or Not at All (Jube was always a pain-in-the-ass perfectionist, but now that he break the sound barrier under his own power, he's terrified of making mistakes -- at Mach speed, even the tiniest error could have horrible consequences) I Gots Me the Blues (Jube used to be an excellent singer, and is pissed off that he can't do that any more) Thou Shalt Not... (Jube is very very very opposed to killing anything; he's scared spitless that the scent of blood might allow his 'beast side' to take over) Can't Touch Me (Jube's Danger Sense is permanently active -- he cannot shut it down -- and whenever the DS thinks there's trouble inbound, it actives his Timeshift for Jube...) Abilities: -4 +26 +4 +12 +8 +4 = 50pp Str 6 (-2) Dex 36 (+13) Con 14 (+2) Int 22 (+6) Wis 18 (+8) Cha 14 (+2) Combat: 20 + 20 = 40pp Initiative: +13 Attack: +10 [20pp] Grapple: +0 Defense: +10 [20pp] (+10 Base), +0 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1 Saving Throws: 0 + 6 + 6 = 12pp Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) Fortitude: +6 (+2 Con, +6) [6pp] Reflex: +13 (+13 Dex) Will: +10 (+4 Wis, +6) [6pp] Skills: 21pp Stealth 2 (+15) [0.5pp] Notice 8 (+16) [2pp] Language 2 (French, Spanish) [2pp] Computers 4 (+12) [1pp] Craft: Electronics 4 (+12) [1pp] Disable Device 4 (+10) [1pp] Investigate 4 (+12) [1pp] Perform (Imitate sounds) 8 (+10) [2pp] Knowledge: Current Events 6 (+14) [1.5pp] Knowledge: Business 4 (+12) [1pp] Knowledge: Technology 4 (+12) [1pp] Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 8 (+16) [2pp] Language 2 (English [native], Spanish, French) [2pp] Profession: Writer 6 (+14) [1.5pp] Profession: Troubleshooter 6 (+14) [1.5pp] Feats: 11PP Environmental Adaptation (High gravity, low gravity, freefall) [3pp] Well-Informed [1pp] Jack of All Trades [1pp] Master Plan [1pp] -- seemed natural for an obsessive perfectionist Evasion 2 [2pp] Benefit: Wealth 2 [2pp] Uncanny Dodge [1pp] Powers: 6 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 13 + 6 + 3 + 35 + 14 + 8 = 97pp Super-Senses: Low-light Vision, Scent, Tracking, Ultra-hearing, Danger Sense (Tactile? -- motion-sensing via detection of subtle changes in air pressure) [Power Feat: Innate] [6pp] Super-Senses: X-ray Vision, Infravision (Power Modifier: Linked to Timeshift -- X-ray Vision only active when all 7 ranks of SS are in use, IR only when Jube is Timeshifted slower than normal) [5pp] Hunting Sprint (Speed 2 [Power Feat: Innate]) [3pp] Fangs and Claws (Strike 3 [Power Feat: Innate]) [4pp] Moves Like a Cat (Super-Movement 6; Wall-Crawling 1, Slow Fall 1, Sure-footed 4) [Power Feat: Innate] [13pp] Quicker Healing (Regeneration 5; recovers from all five conditions faster than normal [Power Feat: Innate]) [6pp] Immunity 2 (aging, diseases specific to either humans or cheetahs) [Power Feat: Innate] [3pp] Timeshift -- (Super-Speed 7 [Power Feat: Rapid Attack]) [35pp] does this 'stack' with the Speed 2 of Hunting Sprint? if so, make this one 5 ranks -- i want a total of 7 ranks in Speed -- (Super-Strength 7 [Power Modifier: Linked (to Super-Speed)]) [14pp] (Deflect 4 (all ranged attacks); Extra: Reflection [+1]; Flaw: Limited (only works on physical attacks, and then only if Jube is strong enough to manhandle whatever-it-is) [-1]) [8pp] DC Block: ATTACK   RANGE   SAVE            EFFECT Unarmed   Touch   DC15 Toughness (Staged)   Damage Abilities (50) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (12) + Skills (21) + Feats (11) + Powers (97) = 231pp
  4. This is as good a time as any: Thank you, Dr. Archeville, Geez3r, and Supercape, for your comments and observations. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up using at least some of said comments/observations as they stand, without even filing off the serial numbers... Why is this guy a hero? The ur-Jube's backstory includes a rather ugly five-against-one encounter with violent bigots; during this battle, Jube's Timeshift power switched itself on and he kinda went berserk, and he thrashed all five of his attackers... one of them so badly hurt that he eventually died in hospital. For the FC version of Jube, how about if that happened, after which Jube turned himself in, plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, and the judge sentenced him to psychological counseling plus N hours of community service (i.e., hooking up with a local superteam for training and yada yada yada)? Obliterating the speed limit As per Geez3r's advice, I'm giving Time Control a miss. Jube's max. running speed of 70 MPH, together with a Timeshifted acceleration factor of 40*, yields a top speed of 2,800 MPH -- a bit more than Mach 4. Since 7 ranks in Super-Speed gives you 1,000 MPH, I think Jube should have 8 ranks in Super-Speed. For the gravity-tweaking side effect, what about 8 ranks in Super-Strength, with the modifier Linked (to Super-Speed)? For the "Doppler shift" side-effect that affects light and sound, I'm thinking of maybe throwing in some appropriate Super-Senses with the modifier "Limited: Only when [number] ranks of Super-speed are active". Yes? No? Tools and equipment The ur-Jube wears a vest with far too many pockets, which are filled with useful stuff -- first aid kit, Swiss army knife, etc etc etc. Basically, Batman's utility belt with a fresh coat of paint. The Variable structure strikes me as an obvious game-mechanic to use here; I'm thinking one rank, maybe two, and it's the 4-pt Variable level, with the descriptor "commercially available tools and products". Yes? No?
  5. Jube's Bad Stuff In Jube's "home setting", there is an organized KKK-alike hate group whose reason for existing is to make life miserable for people like Jube. Does any analogous hate group exist in FC? If so, Jube is definitely on their 'hit list' -- which I think would qualify as a Complication. As well, the ur-Jube is kind of a basket case, psychologically speaking; it's part of his charm. It also comes with the territory, when you've suffered an unwanted, involuntary transformation, and you've got a statistically decent chance of your mind regressing to a feral animal state, and you're so bleeding fast that there's no one around who's physically capable of stopping your rampage if you do go feral... But I digress. The FC version of Jube is going to be significantly less broken, but still not at all happy about his permanent fur coat. Possible Complications: Failure to accept his current body (which could lead to Search For A Cure storylines), Self-Loathing (not uncommon amongst people who have suffered deformity in Real Life; something that can/will be ameliorated during play, i'd expect), and Code Vs. Causing Injury (i.e., Jube is reeeaallllyyy worried about killing people). Jube has a smattering of physical quirks which really ought to be reflected in Drawbacks, except that it's not clear if any of them are serious enough to be worth giving the boy Hero points for: Lousy color discrimination, no ability to hear sounds below 100 Hz (feline ears have a lousy low end), reduced manual dexterity on the hands, and a 'speaking' voice which sounds like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop tried to create spoken words by splicing together judiciously-selected sound effects (which is pretty much accurate, since Jube's vocal tract is physically incapable of producing real speech). Maybe a catch-all "Cheetah handicaps" Drawback to cover all that stuff? Jube's high-speed metabolism forces him to consume mass quantities of food -- 6* speed means 6* the calorie intake -- and he can crash pretty hard if he hasn't eaten anything in the past couple hours. This prolly counts as a Complication, or perhaps it's part of that catch-all "Cheetah handicaps" Drawback? Jube has somewhat overactive Danger Sense hardwired into his brain; sometimes it activates his Timeshift power involuntarily. This may or may not be worth incorporating into the final character sheet in some form, not really sure.
  6. Hmm. That seems... odd, to me. Well, if it turns out that I need to shave a few points off of something, DEX is a prime candidate; otherwise, I'm okay with a preposterously high DEX of 36.
  7. Jube's (Hero System) skills As mentioned in a previous post-ette, I've already written up Jube for HeroSystem; I’m going to cut-and-paste the whole list here, with each HeroSys skill being accompanied by my best guess at a suitable MnM equivalent. One aspect of Jube’s skills is stuff which reflects the partial neural rewiring he got as part of his transformation into a semi-feline creature -- instinctual feline-type behavior, basically. As well, Jube is a technocrat; he makes his living as a freelancer in the fields of technical writing and troubleshooting, with sufficient expertise to make it worth people’s while to re-hire him. And finally, Jube’s days are about 150 hours long, thanks to his innate 6* speed boost; this means he always has time on his hands, and he does a lot of reading and/or research on random topics... First up, the feline-type ‘skills’: Breakfall -- Redundant; covered by Super-Movement: Slow fall, hence no need for an explicit Breakfall-type skill in MnM Stealth -- Skill: Stealth, 1pp Shadowing -- Not sure what MnM construct, if any, is the equivalent to this HeroSys skill. Maybe it's subsumed under Skill: Stealth? Mimicry -- Skill: Perform (Imitate sounds), 2 pp. Cheetahs have versatile vocal tracts which can produce a very wide range of sounds; they can do bird calls that are sufficiently convincing to serve as the basis for a hunting technique! So Jube's throat is a serious sound-effects generator... which is controlled by human-level intelligence. Climbing -- Skill: Climb (1pp). Am inclined to leave this out of Jube’s MnM writeup, since it looks to be covered by Super-movement: Wall-crawling, as best i can tell. Yes? No? Next, Jube’s making-a-living skills: Professional Skill: Troubleshooter -- Skill: Profession (Troubleshooter), 1pp Professional Skill: Technical Writer -- Skill: Profession (Technical Writer), 1pp Knowledge Skill: Graphic Design -- Skill: Knowledge (Graphic Design), 1pp Knowledge Skill: Writing -- Skill: Knowledge (Writing), 1pp Cramming -- Inapplicable? If there’s an MnM construct which is a suitable equivalent here, I’m not seeing it. Familiarity w/Inventor -- Feat: Inventor, 1pp Deduction -- Inapplicable? This is basically an “ask the GM for a hint†game-mechanic in HeroSys. As with Cramming, it’s not clear to me that there’s an MnM construct which is a suitable equivalent. Electronics -- Skill: Craft (Electronics), 1pp Computer Programming -- Skill: Computers, 1pp Cryptography -- Redundant, as it’s covered by Skill: Computers. I think. Bureaucratics -- Skill: Knowledge (Bureaucratic procedures), 1pp Systems Operation -- Hmm. The MnM construct Skill: Disable Device covers some of the stuff you’d use Systems Op for, but what about making use of an otherwise-unfamiliar piece of machinery? Maybe give Jube a suitable Knowledge skill to go with Skill: Disable Device? Security System -- As with Systems Op just above, Skill: Disable Device covers part of the territory here. Again, give Jube Skill: Disable Device with a suitable Knowledge skill on the side? Trading -- Not sure; perhaps Skill: Knowledge (making deals) might be appropriate here? Other stuff not in either of the first two categories: +4 Overall Skill Levels -- This reflect’s Jube’s general level of overall competence. Not sure of the MnM equivalent, if any; perhaps I should just make sure Jube always has some spare Hero points to spend on making skill rolls? Maybe give him Feat: Jack-of-All-Trades? Knowledge Skill: All the World’s Religions -- Skill: Knowledge (All the World’s Religions), 2pp. Knowledge Skill: General Trivia -- Feat: Well-Informed, 2pp. Language: Spanish (basic fluency) -- Skill: Language (Spanish), 1pp Language: French (basic fluency) -- Skill: Language (French), 1pp Familiarity w/Criminology -- Skill: Investigate, 1pp. In Jube’s ‘home’ setting, he has this because he’s often had to file complaint reports with the police, and therefore has a certain amount of expertise with this sort of thing; in FC, he has it because it just makes sense for a superhero to have it. Combat Driving -- Skill: Drive, 1pp. Superfast reflexes = decent expertise as a driver.
  8. More bite-sized post-ettes... Jube's ability scores After reading the comments and letting it percolate in my brain, here's my current notion for this bit of the character's writeup: STR 6 -- One: Jube is about Speed and Precision, not Brute Force. Two: I deliberately created Jube as an explicit subversion of certain tropes which were fairly common in the setting he was built for, so it's kind of appropriate that he breaks FC's "half-animal person iz STRONG!!!" trope. Three: Given the gravity-tweaking side-effect of Jube's Timeshift power, and given the fact that his 'native' speed is 6* faster than normal, it makes sense that Jube's normal-speed STR is pitifully deficient. Four: Again given the gravity-tweaking thing, Jube's effective STR should increase significantly when he speeds up (and I'll deal with this when I'm nailing down the powers)... and since he'll be revved-up in combat, hopefully this won't handicap Jube too much. DEX 36 -- I've just learned that FC uses the term "Defense-shifted" for characters whose major defense is Not Getting Hit. Jube is very extremely Defense-shifted! CON 14 -- THis should help Jube survive just in case he ever does get tagged. INT 22 -- Benchmarks table on pg 30 of the MnM2E book says this is on the high end of human, and below the low end of superhuman, which sounds about right to me. WIS 18 CHA 14
  9. Jube's Time Control Because of the high-speed metabolism, Jube 'lives' 6* faster than normal. I'm thinking this should be 3-4 ranks in Time Control with the flaws 'Permanent' and 'Limited: Self-only' (that last one because factory-standard Time Control explicitly allows you to use the power on other characters, and Jube's TIme Control is strictly a one-man thing). He should also have 3 'extra' Ranks of Time Control that he can switch on and off normally; these would have the "Limited: Self-only' flaw, but not 'Permanent'. As I mentioned above, Jube's Time Control has some quirks. Like, when he's TC'ing faster than normal, gravity gets weaker for him; when he's slowing down (as he does to interact with normal-speed people), gravity gets stronger. As well, anything with a wavelength -- this being sounds and light -- gets "Doppler shifted" when Jube does his TC thing. These quirks are part of Jube's TC, and therefore only affect him personally, and then only when he's using the TC power. I'm not sure how this should be written up in MnM; hopefully someone out there will have an idea. Because of the gravity thing, Jube should have the feat Environmental Adaptation (low gravity, including freefall).
  10. The physical instrument Dude's a cheetah. Strictly speaking, Jube isn't even built to stand upright, but he does anyway because he's too damned stubborn to 'give in' to the animal side of him... Anyway. The cheetah's celebrated 70-MPH top end looks like 7 ranks in Speed, to me. Jube has claws and fangs, hence Strike, but these built-in weapons aren't very good. The lion writeup on pg 231 has +5 damage from claws; I'm thinking maybe 3 ranks in Strike, for Jube. Super-senses, for sure: Low-light vision, scent, tracking, ultra-hearing (for high frequencies, not low -- cats' ears tend to bottom out around 100 Hz). Super-movement: Wall-crawling, thanks to the claws giving Jube that much extra grip. Slow Fall. Sure-footed.
  11. Ability scores STR: Jube stands about 6 feet tall and 100 lbs. This means he's lost a lot of muscle mass, as compared to his former (human) self, so he should have below-average STR. At the same time, cheetah muscles are good enough to propel them at 70 MPH, so he's not far below average. I'm thinking STR 9, maybe 8. DEX: Cheetahs should have high DEX just because. On top of that, Jube's high-speed metabolism means his nerve impulses travel thru his body at a much higher speed than normal. All in all, Jube's DEX should be sickeningly high -- say, DEX 29. CON: That 'high-speed metabolism' schtick means Jube heals significantly faster than normal. At the same time, he is 6' and 100 lbs, so he's got a somewhat high degree of innate fragility. Put it together, and I'm thinking CON 13 or so. INT: Accelerated nerve impulses = super-high INT. At the same time, Jube's brain has been partially rewired to animal (cheetah) specs, which should logically result in a penalty to INT. After the smoke clears, I think INT 19 sounds reasonable. WIS: The page-30 description of Wisdom says this ability covers strength of will and intuition. This is a problem, as I see Jube as having insane quantities of willpower, but not so much intuition. [shrug] What the heck; I'll split the difference, and give him Wis 17. CHA: I see Jube as having a forceful personality, but not so much on the physical attractiveness scale (he looks like a cheetah, what can I say?). CHA 14, maybe?
  12. Greetings, folks! My name is Quentin Long, but you can call me 'Cubist'. I'm a total noob with respect to Mutants & Masterminds, but I've got mass quantities of experience with many other superhero RPGs, so with any luck I'll get up to speed in a reasonable amount of time. The character I've got in mind is one I created a few years back for a fannish shared-world project built around the premise of an extraterrestrial pathogen with properties unknown to modern science; an ET disease which can severely remodel the bodies of its victims, some of whom gain super-powers out of the deal. Yes, this sounds like the WILD CARDS series,but the shared-world actually predates WILD CARDS, so that's alright. I'm not sure if the Freedom City setting has any analogous ET diseases, but there are certainly ET badguys who inflict heinous biological experiments on helpless victims, so I'm not gonna sweat the details... Anyway, my character's hero-name is Jubatus. He's sorta-kinda like Ecalsneerg's Animal Scientist archetype, the major point of deviance being that he's closer to being an engineer than a scientist. In brute physical terms, he's a cheetah with an oversized braincase (enough to maintain his human intellect) and forepaws whose digits are somewhat more dexterous/useful than those of a 'natural born' cheetah. He's got a high-speed metabolism that renders him permanently stuck on 'fast forward'; fortunately, he also has Time Control (with some quirky side-effects...), which allows him to slow down to interact more-or-less normally with normal-speed people. Of more interest in this context, his Time Control works both ways, so he can be a bargain-basement speedster... I've previously [goto=http://anthrozine.com/clmn/clm.wanderer.09.html]statted him out[/goto] in Hero System terms, so it'll be interesting to compare and contrast the MnM writeup that will be made here. Ideally, Jube should be built on a foundation of whatever's normal for cheetahs, with a side order of Time Control and so on. Looking at the MnM 2nd edition rulebook, I don't see a cheetah writeup in the Creatures section of Chapter 11, so I'll improvise off of the Cat and Lion writeups. And rather than try to cover everything in one TL;DR post, I'll break things up into a series of smaller, more manageable, posts...
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