Rycon - Starsign - PL 8 Hero

[Starsign]

Characters Name: Rycon

Power Level: 8 (115/115pp)

Trade-Offs: -3 Attack / +3 Damage

Unspent PP: 0

Alternate Identity: Ashley Culdis

Age:16

Gender: Female

Height: 5' 6''

Weight: 119 lb.

Eyes: Dark Green

Hair: Brown

Description: From a normal glance, Ashley looks much like any other female teenager on the street, minus a few differences. She is mostly flat, wearing glasses to keep attention away from other people, and prefers to wear clothing that covers all of her body (like sweatshirts and jeans). She has short brown hair that barely goes down to her neck.

As Rycon, she wears her father's dark blue trench coat, having steel lining on the outside, usually she keeps it buttoned up to avoid exposing her clothing. She wears brown finger-less gloves and long boots. To hide her identity, she ties a piece of gray cloth around her head, using holes in the cloth for her to see, and wears a baseball hat to cover her hair, though she changes the hat each day because she often loses the ones she wares.

History: Ashley Culdis was born August 18, 1993 in the state of Bavaria, Germany. Her father, Rycnov (German), was part of a scientist team studying human biology and her mother, Linda (Canadian), was a former nurse, now stay-at-home mother. At the age of three, Ashley's parents found out that her brain was not working correctly. Her brain could not send waves down to her muscles fast enough, causing slow reactions and responses. This made it difficult to converse and teach her. In September 1996, her father was noted from the head scientist Anluk about a way to cure Ashley's brain issues, by inserting a special type of electricity to "jump start" the area of her brain to fix the muscle delay. This project however, is considered illegal, and Rycnov refused to participate. However two months later, Ashley was kidnapped on the way home from school and the operation Rycnov to assist . The operation was a success and Ashley's muscle delay's were cured, but there were side effects.

The next day, Ashley started to sprout out sparks from her hands, and she was taken to a doctors for examination. It was revealed that her brain started to replicate the electricity that now spread throughout her body, controlled purely by her brain, which now worked harder than usual, giving Ashley insomnia. She was then taught by the scientist team how to control her newfound ability. She also started learning how to weld at school and took an interest in sharp objects like knives (which she made at home, for home) and swords (which she never made).

April 14, 2006. Her father was caught by the government and arrested for the experiment 12 years ago. His wife Linda, at the request of her husband, smuggled Ashley out of Germany and into America, where Ashley would stay with her mother in a private cabin on the border for two years. Eventually, there wasn't enough cash to cover the pay at their home so Linda took Ashley to stay with her aunt Marcia Renfield (Linda's older sister), and uncle Doris, and her cousin Danielle (who she considers to be her sister) in Freedom City. Ashley remembers her mother getting killed by mobsters while in the city. Powerless to protect her mother, Ashley ran away with her father's coat, running aimlessly until she bumped into Danielle, who guided her to her new home in West End. Due to Ashley's insomniac issue, she has been bored at night, and would sometimes venture around in a costume of sorts, practicing her skill with electric powers. Eventually, Ashley decides that she will become a superhero, using her ability to protect those from harm to prevent attacks and deaths like what happened to her mother, Under the name Rycon.

Personality & Motivation: Ashley, as a normal teenager, has difficulty speaking, and she can be rather staggering. When she is talking, she often hesitates if speaking to someone she isn't familiar with. She's a little more open when she has close friends with her.

As Rycon however, she acts like a different person, perhaps it's because she has a way to defend herself. She's confident (unless there's someone important to her in danger), cautious (when she's not in combat with someone), very serious, and impatient at times, willing to interrupt conversations that she feels has gone on too long. She has a habit of talking back to people who criticize her, that or just ignoring them and continuing on her way. This often gets her in trouble, sometimes along with her allies too.

Powers & Tactics: Due to her build, Rycon prefers to stay out of melee combat and prefers to strike at a distance. She can either use her electric powers to attack, or try to paralyze them if she has difficulty with hitting or damaging her opponent. Her father's trench coat also offers some protection. Outside of battle Rycon can link her brain with an electrical device, thereby channeling her mind into a form of electricity, and can travel along atom devices to move around town quickly, able to appear in another area with her body intact. She first learned is at 8 years of age, when she wanted to run away because she was grounded. She turned on her computer and found her body collapsing as she took form of an electric being, moving quickly along atoms, and eventually stopping in a telephone booth somewhere in a nearby town. She still isn't sure how this works.

Complications:

Cousin/Friends: Ashley cares for her cousin Danielle, and her friends Blake and Aiko deeply, and would go to any lengths to protect them (except illegal tasks, she would bitterly turns those down).

Anti-Social: Due to her brain issues in her early years, Ashley has often had difficulty communicating with others. Usually because she's frightened of aggression since she can't fight back without letting anyone know of her powers, unless she acting as Rycon.

Gender-Confused: Rycon's choice of costume and her hair and build may have some people think she's a male. This irritates her if it was a misunderstanding, and frustrates her if used as an insult.

Nazi-Hater: Ashley was raised like this, in support of her parents. Anyone Pro-Nazi will feel Rycon's wrath, regardless of the person's position.

Archenemy: Valkyrie, Rycon met her on a plane with Danielle injured and tied up. In addition, Valkyrie is a nazi, Rycon will not be forgetting her face anytime soon.

In Brief: Electric vigilante who hides with a few shyness issues.

Stats: 0+8+4+6+0+0 = 18pp

Str: 10 (+0)

Dex: 18 (+4)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 16 (+3)

Wis: 10 (+0)

Cha: 10 (+0)

Combat: 6+8 = 14pp

Attack: +3 (+11 Electrical Control/Paralyze)

Grapple: +2

Defense: +8 (+2 Flat-Footed)

Knockback: -3

Initiative: +10

Saves: 2+5+4 = 11pp

Toughness: +2/+8 (+2 Con, +6 Steel-Lined Coat)

Fortitude: +4 (+2 Con, +2)

Reflex: +9 (+4 Dex, +5)

Will: +4 (+0 Wis, +4)

Skills: 15pp

Acrobatics 14 (+18, 28 Skill Mastery)

Craft (mechanical) 4 (+7)

Language 1 (English; German is native)

Notice 8 (+8, 18 Skill Mastery)

Search 7 (+10, 20 Skill Mastery)

Stealth 14 (+18, 28 Skill Mastery)

Feats: 17pp

Acrobatic Bluff

Dodge Focus 4

Eidetic Memory

Elusive Target

Evasion

Hide In Plain Sight

Improved Critical 2 (Electricity Control)

Improved Initiative 2

Luck 2

Power Attack

Skill Mastery (Stealth, Notice, Acrobatics, Search)

Equipment: 0pp

Locket (a gift from her cousin Danielle. it has a built-in stereo that plays a recording of a song Danielle once played on the piano. She said that it was from a game made long ago that she once played on her fathers now-busted computer).

Powers [42pp]

Device 2 (Trench Coat Equipment, 10/10pp; Hard to lose) [8pp]

Invisibility 2 (Unsichtbar, Total concealment from normal vision) [4pp]

Protection 6 (Steel-Lined Coat) [4pp]

Brain Electricity Array 14 (28 Power Points; PFs: 2 Alternate Powers, Accurate 4) [34pp]

BE: Electrical Control 5 (Shock Bullet; Extras: Autofire 3; PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Homing 1) [28pp]

AP: Paralyze 5 (Mind Disjunction; Extras: Autofire 3; PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Homing 1) [28pp]

AP: Teleport 12 (Atom Travel; 1200ft move action, 20 million miles full action; Extras: Accurate; Flaws: Medium [Electrical Devices]; PFs: Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy) [27pp]

Drawbacks: -2pp

Vulnerable (Drains; uncommon, moderate [1.5x to DC]; -2)

DC Block:

Electrical Control 5 (Shock) --- 20/Toughness --- Bruised/Staged, Autofire 3

Paralyze 5 --- DC 15/Will --- Paralyzed/Staged, Autofire 3

Costs: Abilities (18) + Combat (14) + Saves (11) + Skills (15) + Feats (17) + Powers (42) - Drawbacks (-2) = 115/115pp

[Avenger Assembled]

Starsign,

Just looking at the numbers right now, you've got some editing that needs fixed. Remember that your Skill Modifier is based off the relevant attribute, and Rycon's attribute modifiers are a bit lower than you have. i.e; with a Dex mod of +2, her Acrobatics is 2 (+4) and Stealth is 2 (+4). We do require that you buy at least one rank of base Attack/Defense.

I like your choice to make her knives a hard to lose device, the better to not be disarmed. (Or rather, that she always has another one somewhere.) That said, you need to give the cost of the various powers you've bought with the device.

Backstory looks interesting!

[Avenger Assembled]

OK, looks like you've overspent on Feats. What does your other Second Chance feat give you?

[Avenger Assembled]

And you'll want to fix the cost of your blast.

[Avenger Assembled]

Math is looking better.

Low defense is low; you really want to hit PL caps at PL 6. If you lose some of your redundant feats, you can come in hitting combat caps (which you really want to do) and buy them later with XP.

[Avenger Assembled]

OK, here's your first APPROVAL

[Dr Archeville]

Background and other fluff is quite nifty.

Stats: 0+4+4+6+0+0 = 18pp

Str: 10 (+0)

Dex: 14 (+2)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 16 (+3)

Wis: 10 (+0)

Cha: 10 (+0)

Stats are off. You've listed her as spending 18pp, but she's only got 14pp worth of them.

Combat: 4+2 = 6pp

Attack: +2 (+4 ranged)

Grapple: +2

Defense: +5 (+3 Flat-Footed)

Knockback: -3

Initiative: +10

Since her knives have the Accurate power feat, her Attack should be listed as "+2, +4 ranged, +6 w/ her knives"

If she's only spent 2pp on Defense, and has Dodge Focus 1, then her Defense is +2 (+0 flat-footed).

Saves: 0+5+4 = 8pp

Toughness: +2/+6 (+2 Con, +4 Steel-Lined Coat)

Fortitude: +2 (+2 Con, +0)

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

Will: +4 (+0 Wis, +3)

For her Will save, that 3 at the end should be a 4. Otherwise, this is fine.

Skills: 44r = 11pp

Acrobatics 2 (+4)

Climb 1 (+1)

Craft (structural) 1 (+4)

Notice 2 (+2)

Search 2 (+3)

Sleight of Hand 1 (+4)

Stealth 2 (+4)

You have 11 ranks in skills, not 11pp worth of skills.

Did you mean for each of those points to be 4 ranks? If so, it should look like this:

Acrobatics 8 (+10)

Climb 4 (+4)

Craft (structural) 4 (+7)

Notice 8 (+8)

Search 8 (+11)

Sleight of Hand 4 (+6)

Stealth 8 (+10)

Feats: 13pp

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (ranged) 2

Dodge Focus

Eidetic Memory

Elusive Target

Evasion

Improved Initiative 2

Precise Shot

Second Chance (Snare)

Sneak Attack 2

Aside from the concerns with Sneak Attack (see below), this looks fine.

Equipment: 0pp

Locket (a gift from her cousin Danielle. it has a built-in stereo that plays a recording of a song Danielle once played on the piano. She said that it was from a game made long ago that she once played on her fathers now-busted computer).

Cute

Powers: 23+12 = 35pp

Electrical Control 5 (Shock; Extras: Alternate Save (Will), Penetrating; PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Alternate Power) (23pp)

AP: Astral Form 5 (Atom Travel; Flaw: Medium; Power Feats:Attack Specialization (Shock) 1; Hide In Plain Sight)

Here's where some issue arise.

First, why those Extras and Power Feats? As an Alt Save/Will effect, it means she's attacking the target's minds, not their bodies; her electricity can't damage mindless creatures, or objects. Since it affects Will, Penetrating isn't nearly as useful, since Impervious on a Will save is very rare.

Second, the Astral Form AP. The background you wrote seems to be describing Teleport, and the Medium flaw you list there is appropriate for Teleport. Astral Form is not Teleport, it's ESP + Communication. Also, Attack Specialization (Shock) and Hide In Plain Sight aren't valid Power Feats: she can't use her Shock while using the Astral Form, and the Subtle feat is what's needed to make an Astral Form less noticeable.

Device 3 (Trench Coat Equipment; Hard to lose) (12pp)

Blast 4 (Throwing Knife; PFs: Accurate, Split Attack 2) (11pp)

Protection 4 (Steel-Lined Coat) (4pp)

This is fine, though see my note above under Combat re: the Accurate part, and below re: damage from her knives w/ sneak attack.

Drawbacks: -1pp

Vulnerable (Drains; uncommon, minor; -1)

Looks okay.

DC Block:

Electrical Control 5 (Shock) --- 20/Will --- Bruised, Staged

Blast 4 (Throwing Knife) --- 14/Toughness -3 Impervious --- Bruised, Staged

Be sure to list the +3 from Sneak Attack somewhere.

Unfortunately, the Accurate on her knife (which bumps her attack to +6) and Sneak Attack on her knives (bumping damage to +7) means she break caps. One of those will need to be lowered by one point.

[Starsign]

OK, made a lot of modifications.

Stats are off. You've listed her as spending 18pp, but she's only got 14pp worth of them.

Edited and changed.

Since her knives have the Accurate power feat, her Attack should be listed as "+2, +4 ranged, +6 w/ her knives"

If she's only spent 2pp on Defense, and has Dodge Focus 1, then her Defense is +2 (+0 flat-footed).

OK changed, though I'm not sure if the flat-footed check is correct.

For her Will save, that 3 at the end should be a 4. Otherwise, this is fine.

Changed.

You have 11 ranks in skills, not 11pp worth of skills.

Did you mean for each of those points to be 4 ranks? If so, it should look like this:

Acrobatics 8 (+10)

Climb 4 (+4)

Craft (structural) 4 (+7)

Notice 8 (+8)

Search 8 (+11)

Sleight of Hand 4 (+6)

Stealth 8 (+10)

AvengerAssembled also noted this, and I made revisions before (Looks like I didn't follow him correctly). They're fixed now (I hope).

Here's where some issue arise.

First, why those Extras and Power Feats? As an Alt Save/Will effect, it means she's attacking the target's minds, not their bodies; her electricity can't damage mindless creatures, or objects. Since it affects Will, Penetrating isn't nearly as useful, since Impervious on a Will save is very rare.

Second, the Astral Form AP. The background you wrote seems to be describing Teleport, and the Medium flaw you list there is appropriate for Teleport. Astral Form is not Teleport, it's ESP + Communication. Also, Attack Specialization (Shock) and Hide In Plain Sight aren't valid Power Feats: she can't use her Shock while using the Astral Form, and the Subtle feat is what's needed to make an Astral Form less noticeable.

A lot of this came because of inexperience and trial and error experimentation.

I wanted one attack power to have Will as an alternate save because I didn't want all powers to rely on toughness, though I didn't have the brain damage thing in mind for will, so guess that won't work. In retrospect, the Affects Insubstantial wasn't a good idea as it seemed uncommon for insubstantial enemies to appear. Shock had penetration because I had another Blast skill with it instead (Armor Piercing Knife). I decided that 2 Blast skills wasn't needed.

The AP didn't work out either.I wanted a way for Rycon could travel by electric currents using her mind (her body can't follow the mind, so it kinda "feints" as if she fell unconscious). I figured Astral Form was the closest option. I'll change it to teleport at your recommendation.

For the Throwing Knife's Split Attack feat, I wanted a way for Rycon to hit more than one enemy, so she didn't have to target one at a time if outnumbered.

I actually had a lot of powers in mind when making Rycon, just alot of them were complex or (like many examples here) ineffective, and didn't work out, not to mention it required more pp to spend. When/If I add new ones, I'd like your assistance on them, if you have time of course.

Unfortunately, the Accurate on her knife (which bumps her attack to +6) and Sneak Attack on her knives (bumping damage to +7) means she break caps. One of those will need to be lowered by one point.

Fixed and changed.

Changed Rycon in many places. No doubt new issues arose with the ones removed.

[Dr Archeville]

The AP didn't work out either.I wanted a way for Rycon could travel by electric currents using her mind (her body can't follow the mind, so it kinda "feints" as if she fell unconscious). I figured Astral Form was the closest option. I'll change it to teleport at your recommendation.

Oh! Well, if you still want to go with that, then what you originally had -- the Astral Form power -- would work. It'd be

Astral Form (Flaw: Requires networked electronic devices) [4pp/rank]

As an AP of Electrical Control 6, you could have 3 ranks in it. Which gives a range of 1,000 feet. Note that that's the total range form your meat body, not the distance you could "hop" with each use, so she couldn't use it to scan more than a few blocks away.

Do you want to go with that or the Teleport she's got now?

Speaking of the Teleport/Electrical Control you have written now, it appears you've spent enough point to get Electrical Control 6, but you have it listed as Electrical Control 5. As Electrical Control 6, your Teleport 10 (Medium/Electrical Devices) could have two more ranks, or two power feats (like Easy or Progression or Turnabout).

[Starsign]

OK, I changed Electrical Control to PR 6 and kept Teleport (adding Change Direction/Velocity feats).

Also added another complication to Rycon. She's finished now (unless there's a mistake I overlooked).

[Dr Archeville]

:approved: