pl 7 Maximan (PL7) - Sophistemon

[Sophistemon]

Maximan
Power Level: 7 (105/105PP)
Unspent Power Points: 0
Trade-Offs: -2 Defense / +2 Toughness

 

In Brief: Idealistic teenager Max Mooreson can, by speaking a magic word, transform into the preternatural Maximan.

Catchphrase: "Barzai!"

Theme: Superhero (Unknown Brain)

 

Alternate Identity: Max Mooreson (Secret)
Birthplace:  Vibora Bay, Florida

Residence: Freedom City, New Jersey
Base of Operations: Claremont Academy
Occupation: Student / amateur superhero
Affiliations: Staff and students of Claremont Academy
Family: Greg Mooreson (uncle and adoptive guardian)

 

Description:
Age: 16 (2004)
Apparent Age: Mid-teens (mid-twenties as Maximan)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 5'7" (6'3" as Maximan)
Weight: 132lbs (200lbs as Maximan)
Eyes: Green (blue as Maximan)
Hair: Brown (black as Maximan)

Athletic and powerfully built for his age, Max has a freckled face, bright green eyes, and a head of shaggy brown hair he rarely bothers to comb. As a civilian he can usually be found wearing a pair of faded denim bluejeans and a tee-shirt festooned with a rock-band logo. When he speaks the word and transforms into Maximan, however, he becomes unrecognizable as the same person. Maximan is an impressive figure, standing tall and exuding an aura of preternatural strength and vitality. With clear skin, blue eyes, and jet black hair, Maximan might be said to represent Max's mental picture of his ideal self. The transformation also bestows a change of clothes, providing Max with a primary-colored costume of navy blue, with a golden yellow M stretching across his chest and down his arms. Dark red cuffs, boots, and a belt with a gold, M-shaped buckle complete the outfit. Furthermore, Maximan's entire body is covered in a skintight field of transparent energy that glistens faintly in the light. This field leaves a fading trail behind him when he flies, and sparks aggressively when struck.

 

History:

Orphaned as an infant by a terrible house-fire, Max Mooreson was adopted and raised by his paternal uncle Greg, who treated him as the son he'd never had. Growing up in Vibora Bay, Florida, a preteen Max idolized the superheroes he saw on television and could often be seen running about his uncle's estate with a towel tied around his neck, loudly proclaiming the amazing adventures of Maximan, the world's greatest hero. His bedroom walls were papered with amateur drawings of his favorite heroes and newspaper clippings of their most incredible feats, and Max would dream of joining their exploits. All of that changed when he turned 13. On the night of his birthday, Max dreamed of the Mountain. Impossibly tall, windswept, and barren of life, the Mountain dominated his dreams for years. He knew (the way you always know in dreams) that he must climb the Mountain, and that greatness awaited him there at the peak. After 33 months of nightly dream-climbing, the teenager reached the apex and met the man who lived there. In that long-awaited meeting, Maximan was born.

 

The man at the summit lived alone in a clearing, dressed in rags and exposed to the tempestuous elements. A wizened, withered elder, he had skin like old paper and a long white beard stained gray with dust, hopelessly tangled. He had no eyes in his sockets; where they should have been there were instead deep pits of infinite depth, full of starry blackness. The old man said his name was Barzai, once known as the Wise, and he was the last before Max to reach the peak of the Mountain countless years before. There and then, Barzai had been tasked by the Ancient Ones to await the coming of another, and to bestow upon that person a gift of power and purpose. He claimed Max was that person, and the gift was for him. To call upon that gift, to possess the power it bestowed, the boy must only speak the elder's name and be transformed. Max did so, and was engulfed by a flash of pale light, cool heat, and impossible weight. As he woke, he could swear he heard the old man laughing. Much of what occurred in the dream was lost in waking, but Max remembered the word.

 

Personality & Motivation:
Max is a friendly, jocular young man with more idealism than common sense, as his desire to lend a hand to those in need causes him to leap into action before looking. He is motivated by a desire to be accepted into the superhero community he’s idolized since early childhood. As such, he adheres to a rigid, perhaps naive code of conduct. He tries to hold true to the familiar trappings of being a superhero, which includes withholding his secret identity from the world -- save for his uncle Greg, who quickly put two and two together and confronted his nephew with the evidence. They quickly made arrangements to send Max to attend the Claremont Academy, where he could more safely hone and develop his incredible abilities. As a student, Max is eager to prove himself to both the staff and his peers. Throwing himself into training exercises with the dedication of a career athlete, Max is determined to excel as a student and a hero, and takes every opportunity he can to improve. He treats every new challenge as a molehill compared to the Mountain of his dreams.

 

Powers & Tactics:
Max's powers come as a result of his transformation into Maximan, and are wholly dependent upon it. In practice, they take the form of preternatural strength, durability, and unaided flight. In battle, he likes to position himself between his teammates and the source of danger, using his nigh-invulnerability to defend his friends from harm. When facing a crowd, Maximan will land in the center of the group and attempt to strike as many as he can in rapid succession, allowing his superior strength to carry him through. When up against a single, more challenging foe Max employs hit-and-run tactics, or lifts his opponent up into the air to keep them off balance while they slug it out. While eager, Max does lack the skill of experience and is working tirelessly to learn more advanced combat techniques. It's accurate to say the powers are more Maximan's powers than they are Max's. If somehow prevented from speaking the word, or otherwise stripped of his transformation, Max is as powerless as any other grade-school teenager -- but that doesn't make him defenseless, and he doesn't give up.

 

Power Descriptions:
Maximan's most visually impressive powers are his unaided flight or applications of preternatural strength. His invulnerability is somewhat visible, in the form of a skintight field of transparent energy that glistens softly in the light. When struck, or striking others, the field sparks in retaliation by throwing off brief flashes of pale light and bursts of cool heat. This field streaks behind Max when he flies, leaving a fading trail of softly sparkling motes. He is also able to project beams of this energy, usually from his eyes or hands, as a weapon. Strictly speaking, Max's superpowers are magical in nature, the result of his dream-quest to the top of the Mountain. He currently rationalizes this as a trial of self-discovery, his subconscious mind attempting to come to terms with his transformation into a superhero. Max believes the word "Barzai" is just his way of tapping into the forces he was born to possess. He doesn't know, or even suspect, that the Mountain may be real... or that the man he met at its jagged peak might want something in exchange for the power he's been granted.

 

Complications:
Idealistic: Maximan is optimistic to the point of being naive, and views the world in black and white.

Identity: Max endeavors to keep the fact that he is also the hero Maximan a carefully guarded secret.

Impulsive: Maximan is a bulletproof teenager, and prone to acting before he thinks things through.

Pyrophobic: Buried memories of the fire that orphaned him make Maximan hesitant around flames.

Responsibility: Max is a full-time student at the Claremont Academy, and has to keep up his grades.


Abilities: 2 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 2 = 18PP
Strength: 12 / 24 / 44 (+1 / +7 / Super-Strength)
Dexterity: 14 (+2)
Constitution: 14 / 28 (+2 / +9)
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Charisma: 12 (+1)


Combat: 10 + 10 = 20PP
Initiative: +2
Attack: +5 Base, +7 Melee, +9 Blast
Defense: +5 Base, +3 Flat-Footed

Grapple: +8 Base, +14 Enhanced Strength, +18 Super-Strength
Knockback: -8


Saving Throws: 3 + 5 + 3 = 11PP
Toughness: +9 (+9 Con, Impervious 7)
Fortitude: +12 (+9 Con, +3)
Reflex: +7 (+2 Dex, +5)
Will: +5 (+2 Wis, +3)


Skills: 40R = 10PP
Diplomacy 8 (+9)

Gather Information 8 (+9)

Notice 8 (+10)

Search 8 (+9)

Sense Motive 8 (+10)

Feats: 7PP

Attack Focus: Melee 2

Fearless

Interpose

Luck 2

Takedown Attack

 

 

Powers: 13 + 14 + 2 + 6 + 11 = 46PP

Combat Array (12PP Array; Feat: Alternate Power) [13PP] (Magic)

Base Power: Enhanced Strength 12 {12/12} (Magic)

Alternate Power: Blast 5 (Feats: Accurate 2) {12/12} (Magic)

Enhanced Constitution 14 [14PP] (Magic)

Flight 1 <10 mph, 100 ft/round> [2PP] (Magic)

Impervious Toughness 7 (Drawback: Noticeable) [6PP] (Magic)

Utility Array (8PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power, Dynamic 2) [11PP] (Magic)

Base Power: Dynamic Flight 4 <250 mph, 2200 ft/round> {8/8} (Magic)

Alternate Power: Dynamic Super-Strength 4 <5.6 tons> {8/8} (Magic)

 

Drawbacks: (-3) + (-3) + (-1) = -7PP

Involuntary Transformation (failure to save against a Nullify effect; Frequency: Uncommon; Intensity: Major) [-3PP]

Normal Identity (unable to speak the magic word; Frequency: Uncommon; Intensity: Major) [-3PP]

One-Way Transformation (effected by Involuntary Transformation; Frequency: Uncommon; Intensity: Minor) [-1PP]

 

 

DC Block

ATTACK              RANGE      SAVE                           EFFECT
Unarmed             Touch      DC 22 Toughness                Damage (bludgeoning)

Blast               Touch      DC 20 Toughness                Damage (bludgeoning)
 

 

Totals: Abilities (18) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (11) + Skills (10) + Feats (7) + Powers (46) - Drawbacks (7) = 105/105 Power Points

Edited March 26, 2020 by Sophistemon

[EternalPhoenix]

All right, nothing too fancy here. I'd like you to note his maximum Lifting STR by his Strength, please. For completeness, write out the differences in Grapple Bonus because of Super Strength and without his powers. Knockback should be -8. Full Impervious Toughness, half regular Toughness. Note how much he has there without his powers, too.

[Sophistemon]

I've made the changes.

[EternalPhoenix]

APPROVED

[Sophistemon]

Thank you!

 

Please hold off on the second approval; I'd like to add some more information to the backstory.

 

Edit: I've added a paragraph to the "History" section.

 

Edit: (Abilities) a minor formatting change. (Feats) removed Attack Specialization: Unarmed, Evasion 2, and Move-by Action. Purchased Attack Focus: Melee 2. (Combat) adjusted Grapple to accommodate Attack Focus. (Skills) added four ranks to Search. (Powers) added a DC20, attack-shifted Blast power as an Alternate Power to Enhanced Strength. I've also reorganized things to be alphabetical. (Power Descriptions) edited to incorporate the new blast power. (DC Block) edited to incorporate the new blast power. (Totals) edited to reflect the new math.

 

Edit: (Combat) edited to fix math, changed "Unarmed" to "Melee" in the Attack line to represent the above-mentioned change to Feats, added the attack bonus of the above-mentioned Blast power, and made a minor formatting change.

Edited March 26, 2020 by Sophistemon

[EternalPhoenix]

Everything still seems in order for Ref #2.

[Fox]

Minor notation thing on the Combat tally line - it's currently adding 5 + 5 = 20, instead of 10 + 10 = 20.

 

Less minor, the Attack line should be +7 Melee, not +7 Unarmed. It's probably worth noting the attack bonus on that Blast here, too, so that it's easily-tracked and -referenced.

 

I'm a little curious about the Involuntary Transformation drawback. You don't actually have a mechanical alternate form on the sheet - you'd need to wrap the powers up inside a container for that - and everyone loses their powers to a Nullify, that's what the Nullify power does. The only additional effect this character seems to have is reversion to a normal physical identity when nullified (effectively losing his 'costume'), but I have a hard time judging that as a major limitation above already being reduced to a mere mortal.... I'm willing to hear the argument, at least.

[Fox]

Discussed it with Sophistemon, who clarified the drawbacks. Works for me.

 

APPROVED!