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Kavonde - Volcano - PL10 Hero


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[floatr]Volcano.png[/floatr]

Player Name: Kavonde

Character Name: Volcano

Power Level: 10 (150/150 pp)

Trade-Offs: None

Unspent PP: 0

Gold Status: 0/30

In Brief: Normal guy from Southside undergoes spontaneous human semi-combustion and turns into a walking magma man.

Alternate Identities: None

Identity: Michael Cindra

Birthplace: Southside, Freedom City

Occupation: Unemployed, former bartender/DJ.

Affiliations: None yet

Family: Lisa Cindra (mother), Victor Cindra (estranged father), Robby Cindra (brother), Alissa Cindra (sister-in-law)

Age: 27 (DoB: February 4th, 1984)

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 478 lbs.

Eyes: Glowing orange (formerly green)

Hair: Glowing orange (formerly red)

Description:

Handsome, with an athletic runner's build, shaggy red hair, and a small soulpatch. Resembles a young Michael J. Fox. Made of shiny obsidian that is searingly hot to the touch, with small cracks occasionally forming until they're sealed by the magma beneath.

Volcano's superhero uniform was designed to look very tribal, with an ornate (and heat-resistant) chestplate and bracers, and tights and boots made of a heat-conducting material that redirects the heat radiating from his body up and out through his torso and arms. His street clothes, insomuch as he has any, are a few pairs of black pants with a high melting point, the same thick boots as his hero outfit, and a dark gray fireproof hoodie.

Volcano often has to make use of public transportation to get around town, particularly subways. When he's going to be dealing with crowded areas, he wears a massive, bulky, gray containment suit that completely obscures his features save for a thick plasteel face panel. The suit insulates his heat and protects those around him, though it is still noticeably warm to the touch.

Power Descriptions:

Mike's transformation turned him into a living volcano, with magma for blood and obsidian for skin. He is extremely hot to the touch and unable to interact with most people and objects. When wounded, his magma blood solidifies outside his body, a crude form of regeneration. Mike's obsidian body grants him remarkable strength and toughness, and combined with the searing heat of his skin, his right hook is absolutely devastating. He has learned to project blasts of intense heat from his palms, and can deliver precise strikes or conical blasts as needed. Mike can also hunker down and project heat from his entire body in a huge explosion. He has also learned to propel himself into the air for short, quick bursts by essentially launching himself like a rocket; this is extremely tiring, however, and he can't maintain it for long.

Power Source:

Neither Mike nor the scientists are the Albright Institute are 100% sure what caused his sudden transformation, but the change itself is a complicated genetic mutation. This makes Mike vulnerable to powers and gadgets affecting mutants.

History:

Mike grew up in a rough part of Southside, rolling with a gang of juvenile delinquents and getting intro trouble constantly. He discovered he had a rare talent for baseball and, with his brother Robby's encouragement, used it to win a scholarship to Freedom City University. Unfortunately, a severe leg injury during his Sophomore year sidelined him and cost him the scholarship. He took jobs wherever he could to pay for the rest of his education, graduated in 2005 with a major in Communications, and eventually found himself tending bar at a Southside club and occasionally manning the turntables.

In February of 2010, a week after his 26th birthday, he began manifesting his powers. The first sign was a massive fever that continued to soar upwards. His skin began to harden and blacken to rock-like consistency. His eyes started to glow with his internal heat. When he sneezed and spewed molten lava all over his living room, Mike decided he needed help.

He contacted a childhood friend now working as a junior researcher at the Albright Institute, Zack Tan. Zack brought him in for examination, and soon the entire Institute was in an uproar trying to figure out what was happening. Mike hadn't come into contact with cosmic rays; he hadn't been bitten by any mutated or radioactive animals; he wasn't related to anyone with superpowers. And yet, suddenly, somehow, he'd turned into a metahuman.

No real answer could be found. After a few months of tests and studies, the Albright Institute decided they couldn't figure out why the transformation had happened, or what they could do to reverse it. They gave Mike some custom-made fireproof clothing and a regular stipend for him to come in once a month or so for more tests, and sent him back to Southside.

Mike hit a slump. He couldn't hold a job anymore. His girlfriend, Diana, had left him after the change. He couldn't touch anything without burning or melting it. He couldn't even eat food anymore; instead, he'd head to the local hardware store and buy a big bag of rocks.

Finally, thanks to a run-in with an old friend he'd helped out as a kid, he decided to put his new abilities to some use. He got himself a costume, learned a few offensive uses for his powers, and decided to start helping Southside -- and Freedom City as a whole -- become a better place.

But the minute someone finds a cure...he's out.

Personality & Motivation:

Mikey's a Southside street kid through and through. He's direct and to the point, enjoys being a smartass, and isn't afraid to start a fight. He's also steadfastly loyal to his friends and family, and willing to put it all on the line to help someone in need. He is, however, intensely lonely; he's no longer a part of the world in any real sense, thanks to his powers. It eats away at him constantly, but he tries to distract himself from thinking about it by helping people whenever and wherever he can.

Powers & Tactics:

Mike's a brawler at heart; he grew up on the street, and he knows how to rumble. However, he prefers not to engage non-superpowered enemies in melee, since he doesn't have any control over his body temperature and physical contact could leave serious scarring. Instead, when dealing with petty crooks and the like, he relies on regulated heat blasts to disable them without doing any permanent damage.

He's also learning how to absorb heat, hoping to use this ability to put out fires by drawing them into himself. He hasn't quite figured it out yet, however, but CAN absorb heat attacks aimed directly at him.


Complications:

The Building Was On Fire And It Wasn't My Fault: Volcano has no control over his body temperature; his obsidian skin can be used to fry eggs. He wears thick, heat absorbant tights and boots to prevent burning buildings down just by walking across them, but unfortunately, this material restricts movement and keeps him from just wearing a full-body suit. He has to be very, very careful at all times to keep his exposed skin from causing property damage.

On The Albright Payroll: Since he can't hold down a job anymore, the Albright Institute kindly pays for Mike's expenses and equipment. However, this obligates Mike to check in regularly for tests and experiments, and also means he's on-call in case of an emergency.

Like the Midas Touch, But With Burning and Melting: Mike can't have a beer with his friends. He can't hug his young nephews. He can't hold a woman close. He tries not to let himself think about this too much, but it eats away at him constantly. Deep down, he worries that it's just a matter of time til he goes nuts...

I'd Take a Nuke For My Brother: Mike is extremely protective of his brother and his family. Since his identity is no secret, he's done what he can to make sure Robby's protected, but he knows it's just a matter of time until some enterprising villain takes a swing at them.

T Minus Five: When Volcano uses his Flight power, he tends to cause significant property damage to everything he passes, and can utterly obliterate anything around his launch site. When flying vertically, he also can't land safely without using his Flight power a second time (at least, not without burning Hero Points).

The Two Senses: Volcano's transformation dulled (though didn't eliminate) his senses of touch, taste, and smell. He has difficulty manipulating small objects (even ones that don't melt on contact), and can't detect any but the strongest smells and tastes.

Containment Suit: To get around town in subways or cars without endangering others, Volcano wears a thick containment suit. While in the suit, he can't use any of his powers and has his movement greatly restricted. He can remove the suit safely with two standard actions. Alternatively, he can remove the suit permanently by activating his Boost power. The Albright Institute frowns upon this method.

Abilities: 6 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 22PP

Strength: 22/16 (+5/+3)

Dexterity: 14 (+2)

Constitution: 20/14 (+5/+2)

Intelligence: 14 (+2)

Wisdom: 12 (+1)

Charisma: 12 (+1)

Combat: 18 + 18 = 36PP

Initiative: +2

Attack: +9 (+10 melee, +9 range; +10 unarmed, +9 blast)

Grapple: +16

Defense: +9 (+9 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +9 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -7

Saving Throws: 4 + 4 + 4 = 12PP

Toughness: +10 (+5 Con, +5 [Protection]; also, [impervious 4])

Fortitude: +9 (+5 Con, +4)

Reflex: +6 (+2 Dex, +4)

Will: +5 (+1 Wis, +4)

Skills: 52R = 13PP

Bluff 5 (+6)

Clumb 4 (+10)

Disguise 3 (+4)

Escape Artist 2 (+4)

Intimidate 9 (+10)

Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10)

Notice 5 (+6)

Perform (DJ) 4 (+5)

Sense Motive 7 (+8)

Stealth 2 (+4)

Swim 2 (+8)

Feats: 8PP

All Out Attack

Attack Focus (Melee)

Defensive Attack

Improved Overrun

Improved Pin

Improved Trip

Power Attack

Takedown Attack

Powers: 59PP

Alternate Form 15 (75pp Array, Flaws: Permanent, Drawbacks:Noticeable) (Heat) [59pp]

  • Absorption 6 (Absorb Heat): (Absorbs: Energy; Effect: Boost (Searing Aura); Limited: Energy Type (Heat); Flaw: Personal) (6pp)
    Blast 10 (Heat Blast): (Range: 100 ft. (1000 ft. max); DC: 25; Feats: Alternate Powers 3, Improved Aim) (25 pp)
    • Alternate Power: Boost (Searing Aura) 6: (Feats: Fearsome Presence 8, Flaw: Personal) (11pp)
Alternate Power: Matter-Eating 10 (15pp)
Alternate Power: Strike 10 (Cone): (Cone Area: 100 ft. cone; DC: 25) (20pp)
Alternate Power: Strike 10 (Burst): (Burst Area: 50 ft. radius; DC: 25) (20pp)

Enhanced Abilities 12: (Strength +6, Constitution +6) (12pp)

Enhanced Feat 2: (Fearsome Presence 2) (2pp)

Impervious Toughness 4 (4pp)

Flight 4 (Propulsion): (Speed: 100 mph, 1000 ft./round; Flaw: Tiring) (4 pp)

Protection 5 (5 pp)

Regeneration 8 (Recover Bonus: +4, Recovery Rates: Bruised (1/round), Staggered (1/20 min), Injured (1/20 min), Disabled (1/5 hours)] (4 pp)

Strike 4 (Searing Aura): (DC: 19; Extra: Duration 2 (Permanent), Aura (Touch); Drawback: Full Power) (15pp)

DC Block:

    ATTACK            RANGE         SAVE                        EFFECT

    Unarmed           Touch         DC21 Toughness (Staged)     Physical Damage

    Searing Aura      Touch         DC19 Toughness (Staged)     Heat Damage

     + Boost 6        Touch         DC25 Toughness (Staged)     Heat Damage

    Unarmed + Aura    Touch         DC25 Toughness (Staged)     Phys/Heat Dmg

    Heat Blast        Ranged        DC25 Toughness (Staged)     Heat Damage

                      Ranged/Cone   DC25 Reflex                 Heat Damage

                      Ranged/Burst  DC25 Reflex                 Heat Damage

Abilities (22pp) + Combat (36pp) + Saving Throws (12pp) + Skills (13pp) + Feats (8pp) + Powers (59pp) - Drawbacks (0pp) = 150 Power Points

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Nice concept, gorgeous pic! But some issues.

Full Power is not a suitable drawback for a Permanent power. (It's effectively double-dipping; it's already as powerful as you can make it since you can't turn it off or ameliorate it). More to the point, I think you're underestimating how damaging a Permanent Damage Aura 4 is to your day.

Here's my suggestion:

Make the Aura Sustained. It costs the same as Permanent, and you can keep the Full Power drawback. So how do you let Volcano get hot under the collar about his toasty problem? Take Hot Foot! as a complication! Specify that Volcano has serious issues controlling his flaming aura, and that it's liable to snap on when he least expects it. That way, you can have him get around Freedom City (and do things like eat food), but at the same time have him always be concerned about how much damage he could do if he lost concentration.

You can get a similar benefit by buying it with the Default duration (a +0 extra), so that the default state is that his Aura is on but that he can turn it off with a free action every round. (Again, you could keep the drawback that way). That way, if he loses concentration/goes to sleep/gets really distracted, boom, guaranteed fireball!

Another idea: Absorption is not a great power for what it does. My advice is to take the 6 pp you have there and buy Device 1 (hot pants) (hard to lose). That'll cost you 4 pp, and give you 5 pp to spend to buy off the Permanent flaw on your Aura. (Which will cost 4...the other pp can go to Attractive. Look, everyone likes hot pants)

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Well, reviewing your notes and the discussion in the chat room, here's what I'm changing:

1) I'm dropping Absorption, per your suggestion. My idea of eventually using it to put out fires isn't supported by the mechanics, so I'll hafta figure out some other way to pull that off. But it's not something I need right away for the character concept, so it goes on the back burner. (No pun intended...)

2) I'm taking Boost as an alternate power stunt under Blast 10, bumping Searing Aura up to cap and giving me 8 more ranks of Fearsome Presence. So basically, this is now Balrog Mode.

3) I'm picking up Matter Eating from Ultimate Power, so Volc can eat rocks. I thought that was just a flavor thing, didn't realize they'd made it an actual power. It'll only be Rank 1, but that should be enough to eat rocks, right? (Or at least suck on 'em until they melt, like hard candy.)

4) I know how huge of a pain in the neck the permanent aura is, but it's vital to my character concept. Instead, I'm going to add a Complication about Volc's containment suit; while wearing it, he can't use any of his powers and has trouble moving, but he CAN travel around town without hurting anyone. I think having it take a couple rounds to remove safely (or a use of Boost to remove it permanently) should make it suitably cumbersome.

About the Full Power drawback on the aura: I went with it on the understanding that not having Full Power meant Volc could regulate it down when he needed (so, say, it would only be doing DC 16 burns instead of DC19). That could work if I had to change it, but the idea with the aura is kind of like lava cooling after a fresh eruption; it might start forming a shell of obsidian right away, but underneath that, it's still lava, and you can very easily lose a finger or a foot by carelessly stepping on it. Also, the Full Power drawback is something I was planning to eventually buy off with PP, after a few missions.

But, like I'll said, I'll change it if it's going to cause insurmountable problems or wreck anyone's fun.

Anyway! Updatin' the charsheet now.

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Kav,

You can't turn off a Permanent power; it's always on.

What's really important right now, though, is that Permanent is not a -1 Flaw. It's a +0 Extra, it costs the same as Sustained. Your Alternate Form has too many points in it for overall cost.

I get that you can't turn a Permanent power off, but Full Power doesn't have anything to do with that; it just means you can't lower the damage DC at all.

As for the Flaw/Extra thing, yeah, that's gonna require some retooling. But I think I'm gonna put Volcano here on the backburner for a bit (no pun intended) and submit my PL7 guy, who should be a little less damaging to his environment. I want to rethink what I'm trying to do with Volc, anyway; he's kind of stuck halfway between a melee brawler and a ranged blaster, and I think I'd rather have him be more like the Thing and less like the Human Torch.

So...I guess we delete the thread or something?

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