Rock Slide - PL10 Hero - ClassDunce

[ClassDunce]

Trade-Offs: -2 Attack for +2 Damage and -2 Defense for +2 Toughness

Unspent PP: 150/150

Characters Name: Rock Slide

Alternate Identity: David Giles

Age: 24 (March 1986)

Gender: Male

Height: 5’10â€

Weight: 173

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Brown

Description:

David has a very slight build, weighing only 170 pounds at 5’10â€. He keeps his hair cut pretty short with a little bit of a spike up front, it’s kind of an out of date style but he hasn’t had the time to change it lately. He has a very boyish face and gets carded constantly it doesn’t hurt that he can’t grow a beard to save his life. He tried for sideburns a few years ago but it just didn’t work. He doesn’t really have the money to splurge on clothes so he tends to stick to a few simple things, a nice button up or a t-shirt and either jeans or slacks.

When he turns into his Stone form he looks exactly the same, you can still make out the individual hairs and the slight smile lines on his face. You can even still see the wrinkles in his slacks but they’re made of an almost organic stone. He’s a light brown.

History:

David Giles is originally from Austin Texas and is the youngest child of James and Angie Giles. He has an older brother and sister, James Jr. and Brandy. James was a late in life baby, both of his parents were in their 40’s when David was born and his older siblings were each already just out of High school. Throughout school David was a quiet kid, he never participated in sports or almost any of the clubs that were offered. He wasn’t shy at all, in fact he was quite outgoing but he just didn’t relate with a lot of the kids in his school for the longest he didn’t know why. He wasn’t unpopular and for a boy his size, he was slight of build even then, he was hardly ever bullied and never very severely. He never really flourished socially until he came to realize what just about everyone around him already knew, David was gay.

After he came out, he started to make more and more close friends because he was more comfortable with himself. After High school David went to college at the University of Texas, mainly because he could still stay at home and it was a really good school. He had always had a love for science but unlike most young scientists he didn’t focus on biology or animals or even the stars, his interests lied right beneath his feet. Geology was where his passion was, if you can ever say that Geology was a passion for anyone. During a summer trip his senior year he went to Nevada with a group of Geology students and one of the Universities newer professors. They were mapping a fault line that was recently found, it ran from Canada all the way through South America.

David fell in love that summer, for the first time. There had been other men but he fell head over heels for Keith Trammel, a Graduate Student from USC. He was also on that research trip and he and David had snuck off into the mountains the day that David got his powers. It had just turned dusk and David and Keith snuck away from the camp fire and over to a little stream that was nearby. David thought they were just going to fool around, which is what young people in love do. When they came across this strange man in what looked like a very expensive suit, it had to be expensive because only the Nuevo rich would wear a suit in that reddish purple hue. He had short black hair and piercing blue eyes, he also had a bottle of wine in a bucket of ice sitting on a nearby rock.

The man smiled as they approached and said a few words to Keith who reverently handed him a black business card. The man’s smile slipped from his face, David was inching away from them as all this was happening he knew that something wasn’t right but he didn’t want to leave Keith alone with him. The strange man still appeared to be calm in fact a different type of smile appeared on his face, “You’ve made promises Keith. If you won’t accept my gift then I have to give it to someone.†He looked at David then, his smile spreading wider. “This one will do, and every time you look at him Keith you’ll see nothing but what you’ve wanted your entire life but now will never have.†He said and with a wave of his hand David’s life changed forever.

A sharp pain started in David’s gut and his body buckled sending him to his knees on the ground, he curled up on himself for what felt like hours as his skin dried out and his body hardened. He could feel the very earth underneath him it was a connection that no man had ever had to earth and it was his. He was horrified. Keith was at his side in seconds, apparently the man had already vanished, the wine still on the rock and the black business card sitting in the ice with it. Everything changed after that, Keith couldn’t look at him without jealousy flashing across his face. Keith left the camp a few days later and David never heard from him again.

David spent the rest of the summer at the camp, trying to focus on his work but he snuck off more often than not to explore his new powers. He had control over the very earth his body could become made of pure stone. It was terrifying but exhilarating. The only clue he had about the man was that small black card, with gold writing.

Mr. Infamy,

Your Deepest Desires could be yours.

Freedom City, 666-666-6666

After the summer was over he went back to Austin and continued his school work, hiding his powers from everyone. He went to school during the week and on the weekends he would sneak off into the foothills outside of the city and experiment with his powers. He never even considered getting a codename and going out into the city to help people, Super Heroes weren’t as common in Texas as they were on the East Coast. He did save a life or two, foiling a robbery at a Starbucks by turning the stone tiled floor into quicksand round the robber’s feet and helping to tear someone out of a burning car after a wreck and before emergency personnel could arrive. He even made the evening news a few times.

After Graduation from college he was accepted into a few different Graduate programs, the only one that offered him any kind of scholarship money was the one at Freedom City University. At first he refused to even consider the school, regardless of the financial help that they offered him. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Freedom City, that’s where they man with the card was from. He went round and round with his parents over it, not really able to tell them why he didn’t want to go to Freedom City but them telling him that they couldn’t afford to help him go anywhere else. Eventually he just broke and went to Freedom City.

David lives in a small apartment in the West End with two other Graduate students, between the three of them they more or less pay the rent on time and eat half decent but there’s not a lot of money to go around. None of his roommates know about his powers. The biggest change for David, in moving to Freedom City, has been being around all the Supers, he always knew that the east coast was just full of them and that Freedom City especially was like a super hero nexus but it just blew his mind one morning when he got out of bed and looked out his window and saw a woman flying through the sky. It was even a common sight.

He got a job working as a bartender on the weekends at a local gay club called Station 4 and this is where Rock Slide made his first appearance. When David was leaving work one morning, a car came speeding down the street with teenagers hanging out the window. The group of boys flung glass bottles at the men that were leaving the club but the bottles never hit because a wall of stone that wasn’t there before just rose up out of the ground itself and the bottles shattered against it. The boys tried to speed off only to crash their car into another column of stone that rose from the street, they totaled their car but there were no injuries. The police reports state that several witnesses saw a man made from stone at the scene, and that he flew away standing on a slab of concrete.

After that first time it was harder and harder for David not to intervene whenever he saw any trouble. He stopped a carjacking by the college and a few robberies. People in the west end began to talk about the new hero in the area, they called him Rock Slide. David has made an effort to keep his identity as Rock Slide a secret, which has been rough since he lives in an apartment that’s always full of people.

Personality & Motivation :

David is a nice guy, he can be kind of gullible when it comes to a pretty face and he’ll go out of his way to help someone more often than not. He’s not a hero for the adventure every time he uses his powers and places himself in danger it’s to help someone else. He doesn’t show them off or joy ride through the city. He’d be perfectly happy if he could wake up tomorrow and no one would ever need his help again but until that happens he’s willing to step up and help where he can. He knows that his powers come from a pretty bad place. De doesn’t know any of the details surrounding Mr. Infamy in fact all he knows is on the card but what he knows is that he got his powers from someone who he doesn’t trust but that doesn’t mean that he should pretend that he doesn’t have them.

Powers & Tactics:

In a fight David’s first priority is any civilians in the area, he’ll use his Object Creation to build and shape walls between them and the violence for cover, he’ll do the same for police officers. He’s hardly ever on the ground, preferring to fight from a floating piece of stone. He’ll try to end fights quickly, to lessen the likelihood of civilian injuries. He mainly stays at a distance, using blasts and his quicksand (Snare) attacks. The only ability that he uses in everyday life is his tremorsense, mainly just to keep track of what’s going on around him.

Complications:

Complication: Struggling

Complication: Secret (Powers come from Mr. Infamy)

Complication: Secret (Identity)

Stats: 4+4+4+2+2+4 = 20pp

Str: 14 (+2)

Dex: 14 (+2)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 12 (+1)

Wis: 12 (+1)

Cha: 14 (+2)

Combat: 8+16 = 24pp

Attack: +4 melee, +8 ranged

Grapple: +6

Defense: +8 (+4 flat-footed)

Knockback: -6

Initiative: +6

Saves: 6+5+6 = 17pp

Toughness: +12 (+2 Con, +10 other)

Fortitude: +8 (+2 Con, +6)

Reflex: +7 (+2 Dex, +5)

Will: +7 (+1 Wis, +6)

Skills: 64r = 16pp

Bluff 8 (+10)

Climb 0 (+2)

Concentration 3 (+4)

Diplomacy 8 (+10)

Disguise 0 (+2)

Escape Artist 0 (+2)

Handle Animal 0 (+2)

Gather Information 0 (+2)

Intimidate 2 (+4)

Knowledge (Earth Science) 6 (+7)

Knowledge (Popular Culture) 6 (+7)

Notice 9 (+10)

Search 9 (+10)

Sense Motive 9 (+10)

Stealth 4 (+6)

Survival 0 (+1)

Swim 0 (+2)

Feats: 9pp

All-Out Attack

Attack Focused (Ranged) 4

Improved Initiative 1

Improved Throw

Move by Action

Power Attack

Powers: 29+23+10+2 = 64pp

Earth Control 12[29pp] (Power Feats Instant Up)

AP: Blast 12

AP: Blast 8 (Extras: Area Burst 8; General)

AP: Snare 12

AP: Trip 8 (Extras: Area Burst 8; General)

Create Object 10 Dynamic [23pp]

AP: Flight 5 (Dynamic; Flaws: Platform)

Alternate Form 2 (Stone Form – Active: Free Action/Sustained Duration) [10pp]

-Protection 10

Super-Senses 2 (Tremor Sense)[2pp]

DC Block:

Blast 12 --- 27/Toughness --- Bruised, Staged

Blast 8 --- 23/Toughness --- Bruised, Staged

Snare 10 --- 20/reflex --- Staged

Trip 8 --- 18/Strength or Acrobatics --- Staged

Costs: Abilities (20) + Combat (24) + Saves (17) + Skills (16) + Feats (9) + Powers (64) - Drawbacks (00) = 150pp

[N/A]

The fluff is mostly fine. It wasn't clear to me whether Rockslide has a secret or public identity as a superhero. And the characterization of Mr. Infamy doesn't quite match up with the way he's acted in other published works - he's always been depicted by the Green Ronin guys as calm and unflappable almost to a fault, wryly amused with everyone around him. I don't see him losing his cool like that.

The math all checks out, except for the powers.

Is the 3 ranks of Flight on the DAP a voluntary limit for concept reasons? Because technically he could afford up to 20 ranks if he allots the entire array to it on a given round.

Why is the Snare AP rank 10? There's enough points in the Earth Control array to push it to rank 12, or to add some power feats.

Just to make sure you understand how Ranged Areas work - currently, with a Ranged Cone, you can place the starting point of that cone anywhere within Range (rankx100ft), then it extends outward to the usual area size (rankx10ft long/wide/high cone).

If what you had in mind was a cone that would emanate directly from Rockslide, then you want this:

Strike 12 (Extras: Area [Cone]) [24PP]

If you really did want a truly Ranged Area effect, a Cone seems like a strange shape for it. A Burst or Cylinder might be more appropriate.

You should specify whether your Area powers are General or Targeted Areas.

You should specify whether your Alternate Form is an Active (Free Action / Sustained Duration) or Passive (No Action / Permanent Duration) Container by default.

On a purely strategic note (These are just opinions / suggestions):

I find that the Improved Throw feat significantly increases the effectiveness of the Trip maneuver and the Trip power. Foes with a lot of either Strength or Dexterity tend to be very light on the other. I'd highly suggest working it in, either as a normal or power feat. I'd recommend a power feat (see the next item below).

For the same cost as Attack Focus (Ranged) 4, you could just add 2 ranks of the Accurate power feat to each of the single-target powers in your Earth Control array. You'd get the same bonus, and the powers in the array would have more points to work with.

Why does this character have Improved Trip or Improved Overrun? He doesn't have a high Strength or Dexterity bonus. Improved Trip doesn't stack with the Trip power.

I wrote an article on Skills that you might find useful.

[ClassDunce]

The mentioned changes have been made, including the changes in the background. I raised the flight maximum to 5 even though I honestly don’t see him going past 3 all that often. He’s flying on a platform, even if it’s possible for him to get up to Flight 20, it just doesn’t make sense to me for him to go that fast. I also changed his cone area attack to a burst as suggested.

I made a couple of the changes that you mentioned as suggestions but not all of them.

[N/A]

You should add "Secret (Identity)" to his list of Complications. Other than that, everything looks solid to me.

APPROVED

[Geez3r]

Yep, it all checks out. Approved.

[Dr Archeville]

Archived due to player absence.