TheThirdWay - Geist - PL10 Hero

[NewsHound]

Player Name: TheThirdWay

Character Name: Geist

Power Level: PL10/150 PP

Trade-Offs: None

Unspent PP: 6

Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30

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In Brief: Master thief turned superhero attempting to make up for his past.

Alternate Identities: Roscoe Clay (civilian identity)

Identity: Secret

Birthplace: London, England

Occupation: Owner of Clay Brokerage

Affiliations: Clay Brokerage (owner/founder)

Family: Roslyn clay (Grandmother), Clarice Clay (sister), Ian Clay (brother), Mike Clay (brother), Doyle Clay (brother), Damian Clay (brother), James Clay (brother)

Age: 29. DOB: March 17, 1982

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 170 lbs/77kg

Eyes: Green

Hair: Black

Description: Roscoe is tall and slender, with a very athletic build. He tries to keep himself well-groomed, as should be expected. He prefers to dress in either suits or at least button-up shirts, and will tie his hair back if he's required to be particularly formal.

Power Descriptions: Roscoe's powers were practically tailor-made for the criminal career he was drawn to when he was younger. He can teleport short distances, turn invisible, walk through walls, and can see through nearly anything except gold, ironically enough.

History: Roscoe grew up in London's East End. He was the youngest of many siblings, and his parents died at an early age, so they lived with his grandmother. He took to crime fairly early in his life, partially because his grandmother had trouble providing for all of the kids, and partially because of pressure from his older brothers. He "unlocked" his powers during his early teenage years, after a failed attempt at shoplifting. The shop owner chased him out of the store in an attempt to get back at him. In order to escape him, Roscoe attempted a dangerous jump over an especially deep drainage ditch and passed out midway through the jump. When he woke up later, he was lying on the other side of the ditch, and when he looked back across it, he realized that there was no way he could have made that jump. After that, his powers slowly began manifesting, and at the same time, he began learning to control them, and eventually began using them to make shoplifting and such easier.

Eventually, as he grew older and reached the age where he would be expected to move out, he held down an unassuming day job, but also began taking advantage of his powers to "supplement his income" as he justified it to himself. He slowly graduated to larger and more valuable targets, eventually swiping the valuables of some of the richest people in the city and pawning them away on the black market, and spending most of his money away on frivolities. One night, however, he got a tipoff that something had gone wrong. Either he had finally slipped up and left behind some crucial evidence, or one of his "trusted friends" in the underground stabbed him in the back. Either way, he heard that the feds were quickly closing in on him, and he came to the conclusion that he needed to leave the country. He made his arrangements for overseas. He used all of the favor he had left with his underground connections to cover his tracks, slip past customs, and arrange for asylum in the States in exchange for a few years of work as a costumed super in the crime ridden city of San Andreas.

Shortly after his move, he fell victim to his love for the bottle that he developed during his years of debauchery. He succumbed to alcoholism to deal with the pressures he now felt. When he first moved, he convinced himself that this was going to be a temporary arrangement, that it was just a game he was going to play along with so that he could get his life back. However, one night, while he was drowning his sorrows, it occured to him that he truly no longer had anything to be proud of, that because of his greed he had truly lost everything. The next morning, after he had sobered up, he resolved to himself that he would make the best of this new life, and that he would truly put his all into fighting crime. After the years of his agreement were up, and crime had largely been settled in San Andreas, Roscoe packed up and moved to Freedom City, where he felt he could do the most good.

Personality & Motivation: Roscoe is a very outgoing person and usually strives to be the center of attention. He has a tendency to be full of himself, which he occasionally makes an honest attempt to fight. He's a smooth talker, which came naturally from his criminal years, and he has put to good use in his later life as an honest businessman.

He can also be emotional, especially when given a little bit of liquid courage, but this is also something he tries to keep under wraps. He is also prone to slip into this mode when placed under sufficient stress.

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Powers & Tactics: As above, Geist has an array of stealth-based powers. As such, he prefers to not fight his foes directly. He is also capable with a gun and skilled with a staff, both of which he will use to his advantage should his foe present an oppurtunity. As could be expected, he prefers to avoid killing his foes if he can help it. He'll either cripple or otherwise incapacitate his foe.

His favored target criminal is thieves, and his modus operandi is simple. Beat them to their target, and either steal what they're intending to steal, keeping it safe until after it blows over, or lay a trap for them.

---

Complications:

Alcoholism: Not to the level of Tony Stark or such, but Roscoe is an alcoholic. He will quickly turn to the bottle when stressed. When out having fun, he can usually be convinced to have a drink or two, but will actively avoid resist harder drinks.

Enemies: Needless to say, he made many enemies during his criminal career. Agents of the UK government trying to bring him back to be tried and those who he stole from looking for payback, just to name a couple. In addition, his work in San Andreas may have left some organized crime heads seething to get him back.

Secret Identity: His identity as Geist is not public knowledge. He does everything in his power to keep it a secret.

Abilities: 5 + 10 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 7 = 28PP

Strength: 15 (+2)

Dexterity: 20 (+5)

Constitution: 11 (+0)

Intelligence: 13 (+1)

Wisdom: 12 (+1)

Charisma: 17 (+3)

Combat: 0 + 2 = 4PP

Initiative: +8(4 from Improved Initiative)

Attack: +10 (+4 melee, +2 staff)

Grapple: +5

Defense: +12 (+12 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -4

Saving Throws: 5 + 7 + 6 = 18PP

Toughness: +8 (+0 Con, +6 Defensive Roll, +2 Undercover Shirt)

Fortitude: +5 (+0 Con, +5)

Reflex: +10 (+3 Dex, +7)

Will: +5 (-1 Wis, +6)

Skills: 119R = 30PP

Acrobatics 8 (+13)

Bluff 8 (+11)

Climb 9 (+14)

Diplomacy 2 (+5)

Disable Device 12 (+13)

Drive 4 (+9)

Escape Artist 5 (+10)

Gather Information 8 (+11)

Intimidate 6 (+9)

Knowledge (Popular Culture) 4 (+5)

Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7)

Notice 8 (+9)

Search 12 (+13)

Sense Motive 6 (+7)

Sleight of Hand 9 (+14)

Stealth 12 (+17)

Feats: 43PP

Accurate Attack

Acrobatic Bluff

Ambidexterity

Attack Focus 4 (Melee)

Attack Specialization (Quarterstaff) 2

Benefit 2 (Rich)

Defensive Roll 3

Distract 2

Equipment 8

Improved Disarm 3

Improved Grab

Improved Grapple

Improved Initiative 2

Improved Trip 1

Precise Shot 2

Prone Fighting

Quick Change

Sneak Attack 3

Startle

Taunt

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Quarterstaff (Damage 2) [4EP]

Sports Car (Strength 25 Speed 5 Defense 9 Toughness 8) [8EP]

Speedboat (Strength 35 Speed 5 Defense 8 Toughness 9) [8EP]

Undercover Shirt (Protection 2 [Feats]) [3EP]

Utility Belt

Handcuffs [1EP]

Concealable Microphone [1EP]

Digital Audio Recorder [1EP]

Video Camera [2EP]

Binoculars [1EP]

Mini-Tracer[1EP]

Powers: 4 + 4 + 4 + 9 = 21PP

Invisibility [4PP]

Super-Movement 2 (Permeate) [4PP]

Super-Sense 4 (X-Ray Vision, Cannot see through gold) [4PP]

Teleport 3 (Easy, Short-Range, Turnabout) [9PP]

Drawbacks: 0PP

DC Block:

ATTACK      RANGE     SAVE                        EFFECT

Unarmed     Touch     DC15 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Physical)

Staff       Touch     DC17 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Bludgeoning)

Abilities (28) + Combat (4) + Saving Throws (18) + Skills (30) + Feats (43) + Powers (21) - Drawbacks (0) = 144/150 Power Points

Note: I know I definitely messed up in here somewhere, as this is my first time with this system. Please feel free to give suggestions on top of corrections to formatting

I'm also worried about this hero not really gelling well with the canon and system you've got going on, so please be straightforward about this as well.

[Avenger Assembled]

Some basics:

The backstory as written largely looks good. You've got a clear concept and idea here, it's just a matter of working your ideas out mathwise.

Other stuff:

Make sure you watch spelling and such. You have a few extra hols in your alcoholism, I think. Speaking of alcoholism, make sure you get this one right: we're an optimistic, family-friendly PG-13 sort of site. Your character will not be having drunken antics; he will be going to AA meetings. (Which, if you are an Iron Man fan, has led to some great stories)

Is this a PL 10, or PL 7 character (you go back and forth)? If you're new to M&M, you really should start at PL 10. The game and setting is designed for characters at that level. And if you do go that way, you'll have a lot more points to spend. You can start at PL 7, though, so keep that in mind.

Your exotic saves (Fort/Ref/Will) should average out to somewhere around PL-2. Otherwise you'll be getting destroyed all the time.

Avoid odd ability scores (take that point and buy up his WIS, this character, as written, should not be stupider than the average person).

Similarly, you need to meet combat caps. Remember, that's your highest Attack+your highest Damage/2 and your highest Defense+your highest Toughness/2= both should average up to whatever your PL is.

[NewsHound]

I believe I've fixed everything. Not sure whether I should find something to sink those last six points into or leave them be for now.

[Dr Archeville]

We don't allow characters to start with unspent points.

His Combat numbers are way off

Your Attack + Damage (which can be actual damage as from a super-strong punch or energy blast, or some attack effect like a blinding flash or ensnaring webs) cannot be more than 2x your PL. When these numbers are at 2xPL, you are said to be "meeting caps," and this is a Very Good thing for a starting character to be.

His Str of 15 (+2) would give him an Unarmed Damage of 17 (15 base + 2 from Str), or 21 in cases where he can use Sneak Attack (since his Sneak Attack 3 adds +4 to the damage).

When using his Quarterstaff, these go up by +2 (since that's the damage of the staff), to 19 and 23.

At most, he does +8 damage (2 from Str, 2 from Staff, 4 from sneak attack). With a maximum of +8 damage, he can have Attack of up to +12 (since 8+12 = 2 x PL of 10).

You have down Attack Focus (Melee) 4 (which gives a +4 to Melee attacks) and Attack Specialization (Staff) 2 (which will give an additional +4 to Attack with the Staff). That's +8 right there when using the staff, so getting it up to +12 requires buying 4 ranks of 'base' Attack. (Which works well, since our House Rule is that at least 1/3rd of your total Attack and Defense must come from 'base' traits). This will cost 8pp (since 'base' Attack and Defense each cost 2pp/rank). It would be written as so:

Attack: +4 ranged, +8 melee, +12 w/ quarterstaff

Right now, he's spend 0pp on his Attack, which should be written as so:

Attack: +0 ranged, +4 melee, +8 w/ quarterstaff

This goes against our aforementioned house rule, and also puts him, in terms of Attack/Damage, at an effective PL of 8.

Similarly, your Defense + Toughness cannot exceed 2 x PL.

Right now, his Con of 11 (+0), Defensive Roll 3 (+6 Toughness when not flat-footed), and Undercover Shirt (Protection 2) give him a Toughness of +8. This allows him to have a Defense of +12 (since 8+12 = 2 x PL of 10).

You have written that he has Defense +12, which works fine! But that costs 24pp, and you have listed that he's sent 4pp.

Also, his Will save is off: he has +1 from his Wisdom of 12, not -1. Spending 6 more points on it would give a total of +7, not +5.

[Raveled]

You cannot have a starting character with unspent points. You have to put them somewhere. That being said...

Abilities: 5 + 10 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 7 = 28PP

Strength: 15 (+2)

Dexterity: 20 (+5)

Constitution: 11 (+0)

Intelligence: 13 (+1)

Wisdom: 12 (+1)

Charisma: 17 (+3)

C.f. what AA said about odd numbers in Abilities. With the possible exception of the 15 Str, those odd numbers aren't doing anything for you but costing more.

Combat: 0 + 2 = 4PP

Initiative: +8(4 from Improved Initiative)

Attack: +10 (+4 melee, +2 staff)

Grapple: +5

Defense: +12 (+12 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -4

Multiple errors here. Ini is Dex bonus + Improved Initiative. With a 20 Dex and 2 ranks in Improved Ini, it should be +13.

His Attack line doesn't make any sense; his base Attack is +10 but in melee it's +4, and with his staff it's +2?

Base Defense costs 2 PP per rank, so 12 ranks of base Def would cost 24 PP, not 4.

Saving Throws: 5 + 7 + 6 = 18PP

Toughness: +8 (+0 Con, +6 Defensive Roll, +2 Undercover Shirt)

Fortitude: +5 (+0 Con, +5)

Reflex: +10 (+3 Dex, +7)

Will: +5 (-1 Wis, +6)

I'm not sure if Toughness bonus from powers stacks with Toughness bonus from Equipment. I'll let a ref handle that and just say that his exotic saves a bit lower than you probably want.

With 30 PP invested here, you're essentially paying for an extra skill rank that you aren't using.

Wow, lot's of stuff going on here. Let's start from the top, shall we? Ambidex is largely useless as there are no rules for using two weapons at a time in M&M (at least, as compared to using one weapon at a time. It's exactly the same mechanics).

Benefit 2 (Rich) should be written as Wealth II or Wealth 2.

Improved Disarm is affected by caps; which is to say that more than a couple ranks would take you over caps. Drop the third rank.

More than one rank in Sneak Attack is rarely ever worth it. It's more cost effective to buy stuff elsewhere, and if you can't make your opponent flat-footed then all that extra damage goes out the window.

Not gonna comment on Equipment ATM.

Wow, you really need to learn the formatting. Super-Movement should be Super-Movement 2 (Permeate 2) [4PP]

Under our house rules, having a material that can defeat X-Ray Vision is a Drawback. So Super-Senses should be Super-Senses 4 (X-Ray Vision; Drawback: Cannot see through gold) [3PP]

Teleport should be Teleport 3 (300 ft; Feat: Turnabout; Flaw: Short-Range) [4PP]. Short-range teleports don't make you flat-footed, so there's no point to Easy.

Should probably write Invisibility as Concealment 2 (Normal Vision) [4PP]

Overall, the idea is solid, but the build looks schizophrenic. The character can do stuff with Bluff AND Intimidate, but isn't really good at either. I'd focus on one or the other, buy it up to a respectable level (+10 or +15 check) and get Skill Mastery for it, since the less chance you give the dice to screw you, the better.