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Oddball -- PL 6 Villain -- NothingToSeeHere


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Oddball.jpg

Players Name: NothingToSeeHere

Power Level: 6

Trade-Offs: -2 Defense for +2 Toughness

Unspent PP: 0

Characters Name: Oswald Arnold

Alternate Identity: Oddball

Height: 5' 11â€Â

Weight:165 lbs.

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Description:

Oddball has pale skin and a wiry physic. His hair brown is cut close to the skull. A few days worth of thin coarse facial hair covers his angular facial features, giving him an unkempt appearance. While in costume, he wears a baggy pair of gray cargo pants over a simple dark blue form fitting suit that covers his entire body except for his mouth and chin. A bright red circle, almost like a target, adorns the chest of his costume.

The kinetic force field which surrounds his body is invisible most of the time. However, when struck with enough force, it emits a dim pale blue flash of light and low hollow whumping sound. The “force grenades†he is capable of projecting appear as small translucent spheres of the same color.

History:

Oddball was born Oswald Arnold. Abandoned by his parents at an early age, he spent his youth in various orphanages and foster care facilities. By age 16, he fled the system to live with a number of other runaways and vagabonds. Inevitably, Oswald was drawn into the criminal element. He engaged in a number of illegal activities including muggings and protection racquets, but his favorite was burglary.

After years of being on his own, Oswald eventually fell in with a fledgling street level criminal organization (little more than a gang really), lead by an upstart troublemaker calling himself the Autocrat. Their first big job would be to hijack a small shipment Daka crystals making its way through Freedom City. However, Oswald's abrasive personality quickly put him at odds with the rest of the group, and he was ejected only days before the big heist.

Enraged, Oswald hatched his own plan to snatch the score of crystals right out from under his former companions. Never a brilliant strategist, Oswald's plan landed him secretly locked inside the hijacked armored car with the valuable crystals. As a last resort, he swallowed a number of the smaller ones, hoping to live long enough to recover them later. When the Next-Gen showed up to foil the heist, the car itself was caught in an explosion during the ensuing confrontation. Oswald miraculously survived the devastating force of the explosion, unharmed but forever changed.

After the battle, he was discovered by the Next-Gen lying unconscious among the rubble, and brought back to Claremont Academy. Once he came around, he claimed to have been taken hostage by the hijackers. When his newfound powers were discovered, he was quickly admitted to the academy.

For a time, things went well for Oswald. He was given a special suit designed to help regulate his kinetic powers and the training to use them. But it wasn't long before his inability to fit in would start generating friction between himself and his fellow students. After a failed romance, and a few training “accidentsâ€Â, Oswald left the academy to be on his own, where he quickly fell back into old habits.

Personality & Motivation:

The one constant in Oswald's life is that he never seems to fit in. Whether his abrasive personality is a cause of this or a consequence is a matter of psychological debate. Whatever the reason, Oswald does not see himself as a part of society in general, and as such, does not feel bounded by its laws. He is irreverent, crass, and violent, though not particularly vicious. Neither is he overly ambitious. He pursues his criminal career as much for the thrill as for wealth. While he is not above doing mercenary work, most of his illicit activities are of the smash-and-grab variety.

Powers & Tactics:

Oswald's body is surrounded by a generally invisible force field that emits bursts of kinetic energy whenever struck by an outside force. This field protects him from physical harm and also causes him to “bounce†when struck with sufficient force. Through training, he has gained some control over the field, allowing him to use its energy to augment his punches and kicks. He can even create tiny “pockets†of kinetic energy and hurl them like grenades to flatten enemies. While wearing his special kinetic energy regulation suit, he has even more control over this field, and can use it to screen himself from some energy attacks and to make controlled leaps.

Complications:

Odd Man Out – Oswald never fits into any social structure for long.

Enemy – The remnants of the Autocrat's crew may still want revenge for his interference in there plans.

On the Run – After leaving Claremont Academy, some of his former classmates may be out to bring him back for redemption or justice.

Stats: 12pp

Str: 12 (+1)

Dex: 14 (+2)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 10 (+0)

Wis: 12 (+1)

Cha: 10 (+0)

Combat: 8pp

Attack: +2 (+6 w/ Kinetic Strike)

Grapple: +3

Defense: +4 (+1 flat-footed) (Base Defense +2)

Knockback: - 7 against physical impacts, -2 against everything else

Initiative: +2

Saves: 8pp

Toughness: +2 (+2 Con) (+8 vs Physical Damage (6 Impervious))(+4 vs. Energy Damage)

Fortitude: +5 (+2 Con, +3)

Reflex: +5 (+3 Dex, +3)

Will: +3 (+1 Wis, +2)

Skills: 28r = 7pp

Bluff 8 (+8)

Disable Device 4 (+6)

Drive 2 (+4)

Gather Information 2 (+2)

Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+4)

Notice 2 (+3)

Sense Motive 2 (+3)

Stealth 4 (+6)

Feats: 7pp

Attack Specialization (Kinetic Strike) 2

Dodge Focus 2

Instant Up

Power Attack

Taunt

Powers: 48pp

Bouncing 6 (Kinetic Force Field, Extras: Bounce-Back-Attack+1, Pfs: Ricochet) [19]

Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious +1, Flaws: Limited (Physical Only)-1) [6]

Trip 6 (Kinetic Land Mine; Extras: Area (General, Burst) +1, Knockback +1, Opposed by (Strength) +0, 1 Alternate Power) [19]

AP: Strike 5 (Kinetic Force Strike, Pfs: Mighty, Knockback 3)

Device 1 (Energy Regulation Suit, Hard to Lose, Pfs: Restricted (People with Kinetic Powers)

Protection 2 (Flaws: Limited (Energy Only) -1,

Leaping 3) [4]

Drawbacks: 0pp

DC Block:

ATTACKS: --- SAVE DC: --- DAMAGE TYPE:

Hyper Kinetic Strike --- 21/Toughness --- Bruise (Staged)

Kinetic Grenade --- 16/Reflex --- Trip Opposed by Strength

Costs: Abilities (12) + Combat (8) + Saves (8) + Skills (7) + Feats (7) + Powers (48) - Drawbacks (0) = 90

There are a couple things I will need to get GM approval on regarding the Bouncing power (from Ultimate Power).

First, the Bouncing power provides a +2 bonus to toughness saves against falling and knockback damage for each rank. That means, that this characters toughness save bonus vs. falling and knockback damage would be +18, well above power-level limits. However, since this is such a limited save, and since the bouncing power makes it nearly impossible to stay under the toughness save cap without adding odd power-loss drawbacks to any other toughness save bonus, I was hoping you would allow it.

Second, the Impact Resistance extra on the Bouncing power states that you can add your bouncing rank to toughness saves against “all physical impactsâ€Â. I understood that to mean “Physical Damage†(as opposed to “Energy Damageâ€Â). If you disagree, just let me know.

One more thing regarding the Bouncing power, Steve Kenson has stated on the Atomic Think Tank forums that ranks in the Bouncing power don't necessarily add to a characters Knockback modifier. Meaning, that even if the character succeeds on the toughness save, he may still be knocked back (or choose to be knocked back) by an attack. Since that isn't explicitly stated in the powers description, I thought I should confirm with you that this particular rule will be in valid one in this game.

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Welcome to the boards! Let's see if we can get this guy approved, we need more villains.

Stats: 12pp

Str: 12 (+1)

Dex: 14 (+2)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 10 (+0)

Wis: 12 (+1)

Cha: 10 (+0)

Combat: 8pp

Attack: +2 (+6 w/ Kinetic Strike)

Grapple: +3

Defense: +4 (+1 flat-footed)

Knockback: -9 against Physical, -2 against Energy

Initiative: +2

Adds up. Do me a favor though and add "(Base Defense +2)" at the end of the Defense line. Also, for Knockback change it to "- 9 against Physical Impacts, -2 against everything else"

Saves: 8pp

Toughness: +2 (+2 Con, +0 other) (+10 against Physical Damage (6 Impervious), +4 against Energy Damage)

Fortitude: +5 (+3 Con, +2)

Reflex: +5 (+3 Dex, +2)

Will: +3 (+2 Wis, +1)

I'm only counting 5 points here. You're toughness line is also needlessly complex, I'll get back to that in a moment.

Skills: 28r = 7pp

Bluff 8 (+8)

Disable Device 4 (+6)

Drive 2 (+4)

Gather Information 2 (+2)

Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+4)

Notice 2 (+3)

Stealth 4 (+6)

I'm counting 26 ranks here, you still got 2 more to spend.

Feats: 7pp

Attack Specialization (Kinetic Strike) 2

Dodge Focus 2

Instant Up

Power Attack

Taunt

Adds up.

Powers: 48pp

Bouncing 8 (Kinetic Force Field, Extras: Bounce-Back-Attack+1, Impact Resistant (6*) +1, Pfs: Ricochet) [31] *Note: Impact Resistant is applied to only 6 ranks of the power.

Trip 6 (Kinetic Land Mine; Extras: Area (Burst) +1, Opposed by (Strength) +0, 1 Alternate Power) [13]

AP: Strike 5 (Kinetic Force Strike, Pfs: Mighty, Knockback 3)

Device 1 (Energy Regulation Suit, Hard to Lose,

Protection 2,

Leaping 3) [4]

For the Trip's area, denote whether it is a general area or a targeted area. Based on your descriptors I believe that it's a general area.

Now onto Bouncing.

I am personally fine with allowing you to break caps for falling and knockback damage, I can't speak for anyone else however.

Impact Resistant makes it apply to all Physical Impacts, not all Physical damage. You would apply Impact Resistant to being hit in the head with a golf club, but not being stabbed with a hunting knife.

It is my understanding that unless you are stunned by an attack, you can't be Knocked back.

Now going back to your Toughness save.

Toughness: +4 (+2 Con, +2 Protection) (+10 vs Physical Impacts (6 Impervious))

Would be a more appropriate way to model it. But we also run into a problem here. As a PL 6 character with a +4 Defense bonus, the highest Toughness save you should have is +8. Now while it's true that it's +10 only in a given circumstance, "Physical Impacts" would be something like being punched in the face, a rather common tactic in the super powered world.

So take what I've said under consideration, while I run some of the Bouncing rules by the other mods.

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This was originally a PL 8 or so character that I tried to trim down to PL 6. Guess I miscalculated when trimming down his defenses. I'll get to work straightening these little issues out.

As for the "voluntary knockback" issue, here is a link to the Atomic Think Tank post by Steve Kenson I mentioned earlier, just in case it sways your thinking at all.

http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=26665&p=435021&hilit=bouncing#p435021

Without this little addendum, the Bouncing power is next to useless. You might as well just take immunity to falling and knockback damage, and save yourself some points.

I have something of a love hate relationship with the Bouncing power. I really like the idea of it (for some reason), but mechanically it's just so clunky, and overpriced. Nevertheless, I will try to press on and make it work.

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I think I've seen similar bouncing constructs before, and to be honest, I'd prefer to model it that way if it's considered a valid construct here. The only problem then is how to handle the "Bounce-Back-Attack" extra. It's not a critical issue, but I do like the general idea behind the extra and would like to preserve it if possible.

How about something like this.

Bouncing

Immunity 5 (Falling Damage) 5pp

Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious +1, Flaws: Limited (Physical Damage) -1) 6pp

Leaping 6 (Extras: Action (Reaction) +2, Flaws: Limited (Falls and Knockback Only) -1, Limited (No Further than Distance Knocked Back) -1) 6pp

This is paraphrased from another post on Atomic Think Tank. Now this obviously breaks the rule against reducing the action of a movement power, but it seems to be the way the UP version is built. It also lacks support for the Ricochet feat, and the Bounce-Back-Attack extra. Also, it has none of the hidden little addons like the "voluntary knockback" idea from the Steve's response on the official question forum.

So what do you guys think? Too complicated? Do I need to rethink this guy from the ground up?

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OK, I made the requested updates along with a few more.

Reduced the Ranks in bouncing down to 6.

Added the Limited (Energy Only) flaw to the Protection in the costume device and added the Restricted feat.

Added the Knockback extra to the area Trip power.

A potentially more contentious change was the replacement of the Impact Resistant extra with plain old Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious +1, Limited (Physical Damage) -1). This has the same cost as applying the Impact Resistant extra to 6 ranks of bouncing, while providing the toughness save bonus to all physical attacks rather than just bludgeoning damage. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view), this would have the unintended side effect of stacking with the ranks of Bouncing on toughness save against falling and knockback damage, bringing said bonus up to +18 or so. Well above power level limits (obviously), but a rather limited save as was stated before. Outright immunity to said damage would obviously cost much less than what I have spent here.

Now, if this change rubs anyone the wrong way, then I will settle for the Impact Resistant extra. Gives him a little more of a glass jaw than I had originally intended, but, what can you do.

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Stats, good.

Combat, good.

Saves, good.

Skills, good.

Feats, good.

Powers, almost.

The problem I see is that you have Impervious 6, but only a +4 Toughness save bonus in regards to energy, you can't have Impervious higher than your Toughness save bonus.

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