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Tarantula, Tier 2 NPC


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((This is based off an Archetype I was dying to tryout.))

Players Name: Joshua

Power Level: 10 (153/155 pp)

Unspent PP: 2

Characters Name: Tarantula

Alternate Identity: Yukio Mishka

Height: 5’5â€Â

Weight:175 lbs

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Brown

Description: Yukio carries with her a sort of rugged beauty, one that only a select few may find as beautiful. Her skin carries an off-white tint, her hair a reddish auburn, and her eyes a dusty brown. Her circular eyeshape, normal nose, and medium lips keeps her from being a stunning knockout.

History: Project 9 appeared to be a rousing success. As the Illuminati vice chancellor viewed the growing form in the chemical filled vat he was filled with pride. The genetic material and technology provided and stolon from various labs around the world were acting as promised. All data indicated the clone growing in the vat was vastly superior to her genetic donor. Exceptional physical abilities on a lightweight but durable skeletal structure were the least impressive of the child’s features. Brain scans indicated exceptional psychic potential as well.

Project 9 was birthed when she reached physical maturity and Agent 6 was assigned to handle education and indoctrination. Agent 6 selected a spider for psychological programming believing that the arachnid’s small size would allow her to instill a sense of vulnerability, while it’s predatory nature would allow her to push Project 9’s potential. She designated Project 9 Tarantula and began work.

Under Agent 6’s instruction and mental programming techniques, Tarantula learned to utilize her superior physique and manifested her psychic abilities with a spider theme. By generating psychic ectoplasm she could adhere to surfaces and generate webbing (she seems to enjoy using her fingers to produce the psychic webbing). She also developed a psychic ability to detect threats that entered or arose in her general area, through this ability has been known to be spotty at best.

Tarantula’s training was going well until her first planned field exercise. The mission was simple. Go from point A to point B. Arach-Miss left location A as planned and proceded to not arrive at location B. Her homing tranmitter was located on a Pit Bull Terrier in the suburbs. Tarantula was missing and Agent 6 fled before her superiors could hold her responsible.

Complications:

:arrow: Enemy [Hunted by Illuminati]- Every exploit Yukiko does in public, risks exposure to the Illuminati. Whenever she risks public exposure (television coverage that can be seen nationally), she gains a hero point.

:arrow: Phobia [Tight and enclosed spaces; Underwater; Needles]- Yukio has been a lab rat most her life, and now that she has a taste of freedom, there is no going back for her. Enclosed spaces, being under water, or needles sticking into her are three things that on a failed WILL check will cause Yukiko to 'freeze' up and miss her turn. Memories of her time in the labs will resurface.

:arrow: Responsibility [Protecting Angela Creed (Agent 6), Job as courier for Newspaper, High school student]- Yukiko must share the responsibility of protecting her adoptive mother, her job as a freelance paper carrier (which often is used to finance her vigilantee night job), and being a junior in high school. She has a reputation of being late and lax in her studies due to her crime-fighting. Whenever Yukiko is late to school or work, is forced to choose between eraning money and saving lives, or her mother is in danger, she earns a hero point.

:arrow: Secret [identity]- This is obvious. If her secret Identity is endangered, she gains a hero point.

:arrow: Phobia [Fear of trusting men] Yukiko due to her cruel early child hood around male scientists and the kindness of a woman scientist, has a rough time connecting with males and an easier time around females. While she can interact just fine, whenever she has to 'trust' a male on anything interpersonal, she must make a WILL check to break past her own emotional walls. Failure will lead to her sealing up her emotions. If this leads to a dangerous situation, a hero point. She can communicate with other women, no problem.

Stats: 7pp

STR: 7[28] (-2/+8)

DEX: 10[32] (+0/+11)

CON: 10[24] (+0/+7)

INT: 16 (+3)

WIS: 10 (+0)

CHA: 14 (+2)

Combat: 22pp

Attack: +6 (+10 Melee, +12 Unarmed

Grapple: +0

Defense: 16/19 with dodge focus (13 flat-footed)

Knockback: -3

Initiative: +11

Saves: 14pp

Toughness: +7 (+7 Con, +0 other)

Fortitude: +11 (+7 Con, +0)

Reflex: +15 (+11 Dex, +4)

Will: +6 (+0 Wis, +6)

Skills: 56r = 14pp

Acrobatics 9 (+20)

Bluff 8 (+10)

Climb 4 (+13)

Concentration 8 (+8 )

Disable Device 4 (+7)

Investigate 6 (+9)

Notice 5 (+5)

Search 5 (+8 )

Stealth 7 (+18 )

Feats: 9pp

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (melee) 4

Attack Specialization (Unarmed)

Defensive Attack

Dodge Focus 3

Improved Defense

Sneak Attack

Taunt

Powers: 89pp

Enhanced Strength 21 (21pp)

Enhanced Dexterity 22 (22pp)

Enhanced Constitution 14 (14pp)

Super-Senses 6 (Danger Sense [mental], Spatial Awareness, Uncanny Dodge [mental]; 6pp)

Super-Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling 2; 4pp)

Super-Strength 2 (Heavy Load: ~1.5 tons; 4pp)

The Psychic Webbing:

Snare 6 (Power Feats: Split Attack, Tether; 14pp)

Alternate: Create Object 6 (Power Feats: Innate, Tether; 1pp)

Speed 2 (25 MPH; Flaw: Limited [only when Swinging; -1]; 1pp)

Super-Movement 1 (Swinging; 2pp)

Drawbacks: -5pp

Vulnerable (DC 15 to overcome psychic attacks; uncommon Frequency, Major Intensity -3pp)

Power Loss (Danger Sense, Snare/Create Object, and Wall-Crawling, when under the lasting effect of a mental power; -2pp)

DC Block:

ATTACKS: SAVE DC: DAMAGE TYPE:

Regular Melee 20 Bruise

Sneak Attack 22 Bruise

Snare (Webs) 16 (reflex) Entangle

Costs: Abilities (07) + Combat (22) + Saves (14) + Skills (14) + Feats (13) + Powers (89) - Drawbacks (05) = 153/155pp

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Welcome to the site, Josh. There are a couple of places where the numbers don't add up. 56 ranks of skills is 14 pp, not 13, and I count 89 pp of powers total. Also, while it's not a problem, I will note that Tarantula is a little further below her PL-based caps in attack/save DC and defense/Toughness than other PL 10 characters. When reshuffling the two points that you're over, you may wish to increase them, or you may choose to save that for your power points earned during play.

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Based on the characters on the site, I wouldn't call the psychic descriptor a common one, and I don't think it's likely to show up every other adventure. If you increase the severity to moderate, I could see the frequency being worth the extra pp.

I also looked more closely at the wealth drawback. We only have a complete lack of wealth worth 1 pp as a drawback, and that's living on the streets. It seems like Yukio has a bit more money than that, and that's a complication. The Character Creation rules have the general information on how Wealth works on the site.

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Looking over this, two things immediately pop out.

First, why are her Str, Dex, and Con done as they are? That is to say, why, if her "Superpowers" were nullified, would she have the physical stats of a 10-year-old girl?

Secondly, this:

Drawbacks: -3pp

Vulnerable (DC 15 to overcome psychic attacks; uncommon Frequency, Major Intensity -3pp)

Vulnerable means you take more damage from an effect; at major intensity, it means the DC modifier of all things are double normal. So a Mind Blast 5 would affect her as Mind Blast 10, Mind Control 6 would affect her as Mind Control 12, and so on. Is this what you meant?

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Looking the stats back over, there is only one stat that would be considered that of a ten year-old: Her strength. I did this as a character flaw. If her enhanced strength was to go away, she would literally have the strength of a ten year-old cause she never 'had' to rely on natural muscles.

The Psychic flaw was developed to the other mod's tastes. He asked for it to be this level and I agreed to him and moved it up (playing ball, as they say ;-) ). I don't mind, as it's something that'll make the character interesting.

Any more questions?

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Kids (age 8-12) have Dex 6, Dex 11, Con 10, so she's a bit stronger but a bit clumsier than an average 10 year old, without her powers. So it's not just her strength. Why does she have the body/physique of a 10-year-old girl?

And to get into this question in a bit more depth: why, speaking in-game/in-character, was she made that way? Why would the Illuminati scientists not engineer her to have permanent increases (i.e., no Enhanced Stats, just naturally high ones), or to have lower 'enhancements' but high 'baseline' stats?

On a similar note, do you have an idea for whom she was cloned from, and why that individual was chosen? Does that individual knows of the clone? If you don't have answers for these, the Refs will figure something out... :twisted:

The frequency of the psychic descriptor is right, but the effect you have written isn't, that's what I was pointing out. Is that Vulnerability -- taking twice as much damage/effect from mental/psionic things -- what you were wanting for the char? If so, cool, if you were wanting something else, we can work on that.

And, on a similar track to my questioning above, why does she have this? Was it something the Illuminati intentionally put into her to make her more easily controlled? An unintended flaw in her creation process? Sabotage by someone else?

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Why does she have the body/physique of a 10-year-old girl?

Now I see what you mean. The Char stats were a goof up on my part. >>; That being said, I think I'll stick with them. I envision her as a 16 year-old, if I 'have' to change them, what are your recommendations?

why, speaking in-game/in-character, was she made that way? Why would the Illuminati scientists not engineer her to have permanent increases (i.e., no Enhanced Stats, just naturally high ones), or to have lower 'enhancements' but high 'baseline' stats?

Because the process itself wasn't 'permanent'. Normally things aren't sealed until they become a finished product. It was insurance in case Yuki turned against them. Her powers could be 'shut-off'. (More on that later).

On a similar note, do you have an idea for whom she was cloned from, and why that individual was chosen? Does that individual knows of the clone? If you don't have answers for these, the Refs will figure something out...

I'll have to read through her background again (I may have used an older version of her background), but she is NOT a clone. Merely a subject who as a child was infused with genetic information (DNA splicing/tampering). As far as her doner, I'll definitely leave that to a ref. Could be fun. :-p

The frequency of the psychic descriptor is right, but the effect you have written isn't, that's what I was pointing out. Is that Vulnerability -- taking twice as much damage/effect from mental/psionic things -- what you were wanting for the char? If so, cool, if you were wanting something else, we can work on that.

And, on a similar track to my questioning above, why does she have this? Was it something the Illuminati intentionally put into her to make her more easily controlled? An unintended flaw in her creation process? Sabotage by someone else?

Okay, remember that switch I was talking about earlier? In her background I made mention that her webbing and wall-crawling ability were both pyschic based. When one uses a psychic attack on her, it 'interferes' with her powers. At the right pyschic frequency, her powers can be nullified. I didn't really know how to replicate this.

However, on top of any suggestions you might have, I'll like to keep the drawback I already have. Since her powers are psychic based, that would mean that her mind may be extra vulnerable to psychic attacks, so they should be more effective against her.

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Why does she have the body/physique of a 10-year-old girl?

Now I see what you mean. The Char stats were a goof up on my part. >>; That being said, I think I'll stick with them. I envision her as a 16 year-old, if I 'have' to change them, what are your recommendations?

Well, I'm not saying she literally has the body of a 10-year-old girl, just that her physique would be comparable to that of a 10-year-old girl. She can certainly look like a 16-year-old, she just wouldn't be... voluptuous. Like a Beetlejuice-era Winona Ryder (who was 16 at the time that movie was filmed).

why, speaking in-game/in-character, was she made that way? Why would the Illuminati scientists not engineer her to have permanent increases (i.e., no Enhanced Stats, just naturally high ones), or to have lower 'enhancements' but high 'baseline' stats?

Because the process itself wasn't 'permanent'. Normally things aren't sealed until they become a finished product. It was insurance in case Yuki turned against them. Her powers could be 'shut-off'. (More on that later).

That's cool.

On a similar note, do you have an idea for whom she was cloned from, and why that individual was chosen? Does that individual knows of the clone? If you don't have answers for these, the Refs will figure something out...

I'll have to read through her background again (I may have used an older version of her background), but she is NOT a clone. Merely a subject who as a child was infused with genetic information (DNA splicing/tampering). As far as her doner, I'll definitely leave that to a ref. Could be fun. :-p

Ah, gotcha. And, muah hah hah :twisted:

The frequency of the psychic descriptor is right, but the effect you have written isn't, that's what I was pointing out. Is that Vulnerability -- taking twice as much damage/effect from mental/psionic things -- what you were wanting for the char? If so, cool, if you were wanting something else, we can work on that.

And, on a similar track to my questioning above, why does she have this? Was it something the Illuminati intentionally put into her to make her more easily controlled? An unintended flaw in her creation process? Sabotage by someone else?

Okay, remember that switch I was talking about earlier? In her background I made mention that her webbing and wall-crawling ability were both pyschic based. When one uses a psychic attack on her, it 'interferes' with her powers. At the right pyschic frequency, her powers can be nullified. I didn't really know how to replicate this.

However, on top of any suggestions you might have, I'll like to keep the drawback I already have. Since her powers are psychic based, that would mean that her mind may be extra vulnerable to psychic attacks, so they should be more effective against her.

Keeping the Vulnerability she's got now is fine.

The other thing you mention, though, is either really simple or really complicated, though neither seem an exact match for what you want.

Simple way, just say that any mental power can be used to Counter her Snare and Create Object, following the rules as normal for countering effects as given in the core rulebook and in ULTIMATE POWER. But, that'd just cover the Snare & Create Object, not the Wall-Crawling.

[[ Speaking of, descriptors: which of her powers have the Psionic descriptor, and which have the Mutant/Altered Genes descriptor? Which ones wouldn't work if in an area of "Psychic Static" -- an Area Nullify All Psionics effect -- and which would still be in effect? Just the Wall-Crawling and Snare/Create Object? What about the Speed/Swinging, or the Super-Senses? ]]

More complicated way, she has a Power Loss drawback, where she loses those powers when affected/under the effect of a mental or psionic ability. So if she's standing on a ceiling and is hit with a Mental Blast, it also turns off her wall-crawling and she falls. But, this'd also mean she couldn't use those powers while under the lasting effect of a mental effect, so she couldn't use her psychic webbing while under the effects of emotion control or mind control.

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Based on her background, I would guess that it would be her 'webs', Wall-Crawling, and her 'Spider-sense' like Danger-sense. She'll only have her strength and agility to defend herself with. [Though since they are mere enhancements and not permanent, they could be fair game as well with a stronger psychic aura]

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