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Synape's build


Thevshi

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Okay, figured I would put up the crunch for Synape's build so it can get picked apart here before I take things over to the Character Bank for her to be approved.  I am sure there are going to be some issues regarding her psychic array, so best to get them worked out now.

 

Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 12 + 16 + 2 = 38PP

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 14 (+2)  

Constitution: 14 (+2)

Intelligence: 22 (+6)

Wisdom: 26 (+8)

Charisma: 12 (+1)

 

Combat: 6 + 10 = 16PP

Initiative: +2

Attack: +3

Grapple: +3

Defense: +5 base, +8 with Dodge Focus (+2 flat-footed)

Knockback: -1/-6 w/Forcefield

 

Saving Throws: 5 + 5 + 4 = 14PP

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

Fortitude: +7 (+2 Con, +5)

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

Will: +12 (+8 Wis, +4)

 

Skills: 76R = 19PP

Bluff 6 (+7/+11 w/ Attractive)

Computers 6 (+12)

Concentration 4 (+12)

Craft: Chemical 2(+8)

Craft: Electronics 4 (+10)

Craft: Mechanical 4 (+10)

Drive 6 (+8)

Disable Device 6 (+12)

Kn: History 2 (+8)

Kn: Popular Culture 4 (+10)

Kn: Philosophy and Religion 2 (+8)

Kn: Physical Sciences 4 (+10)

Kn: Technology 4 (+10)

Notice 4 (+12)

Perform (Piano) 12 (+13)

Search 2 (+8)

Sense Motive 4 (+12)

 

Feats: 9 PP

Attractive

Benefit 3 (Wealth 2; Member of British Aristocracy)

Dodge Focus 3

Eidetic Memory

Inventor

 

Powers: 4+2+2+11+33 = 52 PP

Supersense Mental Awarness (Ranged, Accurate) [4PP]

 

Comprehend 2 (Languages) [2PP]

 

Quickness 4 (Flaw: Limited to mental tasks only) [2PP]

 

Forcefield 10 (Feat: 1 alt) [11PP]

AP: Telekinesis 5 {10/10}

 

Psychic Powers Array (29PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 4) [33PP]

BP: Mind Control 9 (Extra: Sustained; Feats: Subtle; Mental Link) {29/29}

AP: Telepathy 9 (Extra: Sustained; Feat: Subtle) {28/29}

AP: Mind Switch 10 {20/29}

AP: Mental Blast 7 {27/29}

AP: Mental Duplication 9 (Feat: Subtle) {28/29}

 

Totals: Abilities (38) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (14) + Skills (19) + Feats (9) + Powers (52) = 148/150 Power Points

Edited by Thevshi
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Quick scan:

 

1. Supersense Mental Awareness. If this is some kind of mental "spatial awareness" then the cost is a little more. 1 PP for the sense, 2PP for accurate, 1 PP for acute, 1 PP for ranged, making 5 PP. And probably 1 PP for radius for 6PP. You will probably need acute on this if you want to differentiate one object from another. 

 

Alternatively, if it is a "detect minds" kind of thing, it costs more - as above, plus 3 PP (as per house rules) for a detect power with common frequency. 

 

2. Comprehend 2 costs 4 PP, no?

 

3. Would a telekenetic force field / telekenesis be subtle? and as it stands the telekenesis is ranged range, rother than perception (good idea though to have them as AP!)

 

4. Psychic Power array:

 

Mind Switch is something that is potentially problematic, as it opens up the possibility of horribly powered amalgamations of mental and physical power. Sustained duration certainly mitigates. I just flag it up as something that is a controversial power in PCs. 

 

Telepathy is actually two linked powers, so the extra would have to apply to each (increasing the cost of each), one or the other. As it stands, you have costed it as +1, so it would apply to either the communication or mind reading component. 

 

I cant recall the Mental Duplication power of the top of my head so cant comment (as long as its not a VP...!)

 

 

NB: Synapse

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As always, thanks for the great comments SC!

 

I have made the corrections regarding the Mental Sense, the Comprehend (not sure how that got so off), and in the Psychic Array (dropping Mind Switch and Mental Duplication as they were problematic and/or against house rules most likely).  I also added a note that the Sustained extra in Telepathy is for the Mind Reading portion, as the Communication portion is already sustained in duration.

 

Based on our chat discussions, added a perception based Paralyze attack, ie: shutting down the synaptic pathways in the target.

 

As to the forcefield/telekinesis, no, those are not subtle.  And I do realize the TK is ranged based, which is fine, she likely won’t be using it offensively much early on.

 

Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 12 + 16 + 2 = 38PP

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 14 (+2)  

Constitution: 14 (+2)

Intelligence: 22 (+6)

Wisdom: 26 (+8)

Charisma: 12 (+1)

 

Combat: 6 + 10 = 16PP

Initiative: +2

Attack: +3

Grapple: +3

Defense: +5 base, +8 with Dodge Focus (+2 flat-footed)

Knockback: -1/-6 w/Forcefield

 

Saving Throws: 5 + 5 + 3 = 13PP

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

Fortitude: +7 (+2 Con, +5)

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

Will: +11 (+8 Wis, +3)

 

Skills: 76R = 19PP

Bluff 6 (+7/+11 w/ Attractive)

Computers 6 (+12)

Concentration 4 (+12)

Craft: Chemical 2(+8)

Craft: Electronics 4 (+10)

Craft: Mechanical 4 (+10)

Drive 6 (+8)

Disable Device 6 (+12)

Kn: History 2 (+8)

Kn: Popular Culture 4 (+10)

Kn: Philosophy and Religion 2 (+8)

Kn: Physical Sciences 4 (+10)

Kn: Technology 4 (+10)

Notice 4 (+12)

Perform (Piano) 12 (+13)

Search 2 (+8)

Sense Motive 4 (+12)

 

Feats: 10 PP

Attractive

Benefit 3 (Wealth 2; Member of British Aristocracy)

Dodge Focus 3

Eidetic Memory

Inventor

Luck

 

Powers: 8+2+2+11+31 = 54 PP

Super-senses Detect Minds (Mental Awareness) (Very Common Descriptor, Ranged, Accurate, Acute, Radius) [8PP]

 

Comprehend 1 (Understand Languages) [2PP]

 

Quickness 4 (Flaw: Limited to mental tasks only) [2PP]

 

Forcefield 10 (Feat: 1 alt) [11PP]

AP: Telekinesis 5 {10/10}

 

Psychic Powers Array (28PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 3) [31PP]

BP: Paralyze 7 (Extra: Perception) {28/28}

AP: Mind Control 8 (Extra: Sustained; Feats: Subtle; Mental Link) {26/28}

AP: Telepathy 8 (Extra: Sustained (on Mind Reading component); Feat: Subtle) {26/28}

AP: Mental Blast 7 {28/28}

 

Totals: Abilities (38) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (13) + Skills (19) + Feats (10) + Powers (54) = 150/150 Power Points

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Looking at points/mechanics, I would separate the Mind Reading and Communication.  Or even recommend putting Communication external to the array.  Given that it is an indirect offensive power at best, beyond co-ordination. Fiddling with extras and the like become really useful for Mind Reading.

 

Does Mental Quickness apply to Mind Reading, as one can get adjust the price for Mind Reading to make it go faster and adding Mental Quickness achieves the same result at a much cheaper and more versatile rate?

 

Also Attractive, from a mechanical standpoint is counterproductive to being subtle with Mind Reading, as getting people to think about certain topics with Mind Ninjaness requires a Bluff check.  And Attractive I don't think applies to it.  I could be wrong though.

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I do not believe Quickness (mental or otherwise) can be used to speed up Mind Reading, which requires opposed rolls.  I picked up some ranks of that to represent Dee's lightning quick mind.

 

As for the Subtle Mind Reading, that is so people do not know you are reading their mind, so Attractive is not counterproductive with that at all.  As for whether on might get the bonus from Attractive on a Bluff check to make someone think about something you want them too....well, I think it could apply, in the right circumstances, but that would be a GM call.  Anyway, not why I put it on the character anyway.

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Well I referencing what is mentions in the Core book about using a Bluff check to induce people to think about what you want them to think about while doing a surface scan.  But, I certainly understand the direction of the character.  Which is cool, a Psychic/Psionic techie is somewhat rare.

Edited by TheAbsurdist
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  • 1 month later...

Okay, a slightly updated build, and all the fluff!

 

Synapse (PL 10)

Player Name Thevshi

Character Name: Synapse

Power Level: 10 (150/150PP)

Trade-Offs: -2 Def/+2 Toughness

Unspent Power Points: 0

Progress to Gold Status: 0/90 (Silver Status earned with Velocity)

 

In Brief:

 

Alternate Identity: "Dee" Farrington; Lady Dawn Farrington

Identity: Secret

Birthplace: Bournemouth, England

Occupation: Activist

Affiliations: Ministry of Powers (not by choice)

Family: Lord Erasums Farrington, 11th Earl Farrington (father); Lady Margret Farrington (mother); Lady Susan Farrington (twin sister); Edward Farrington, Viscount Farrington (brother)

 

Age: 23 (DOB: 5/18/1990)

Gender: Female

Height: 5' 7"

Weight: 120 lbs

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black, with green stripes (naturally blonde)

 

Dee is slightly taller than average, with a slim build.  Though an attractive young woman, that attractiveness is somewhat diminished by her generally irritable disposition.  Her shoulder length hair is black, with a few colored streaks (the color of which varies from time to time between green, blue, magenta, purple and orange), though her natural hair color is blonde.

 

Dee typically dresses in dark jeans, with T-shirts (typically with a band logo or some political statement on them) and a black leather jacket. 

 

Dee has a number of piercings in each ear, as well as tongue and bellybutton piercings.  She also has gotten a few tattoos over the years.  One is a grouping of Chinese characters on her left shoulder blade.  The other is of a black circle made of twisted thorn branches on her lower back.

 

Power Descriptions:

Synapse's Telekinesis, Forcefield, Mental Blast and Paralyze attack all involve a manifestation of red psychic energy that are readily visible.  Her Mind Control and Telepathy, are considerably more subtle in nature, making them somewhat more difficult to detect by either the target or others with mental awareness super-senses. 

 

History:

Dawn was born into an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom.  Much of her early life was spent in either London, where her father serves on the House of Lords, or at her family's estate in Dorset, most often in the care of nannies hired by her parents to help raise her and her siblings.  The family's head butler, Arthur Winston-Smythe was also a prominent figure in caring for the Farrington children, traveling between London and Dorest with the family.

 

Growing up, Dawn and her twin sister Susan were inseparable, as one would expect of twins.  Their older brother, Edward, was somewhat distant, but it did not matter much as they had each other, particularly when their parents began to send them off to expensive boarding schools.

 

In his position in the House of Lords, Dawn's father worked closely with the Ministry of Powers and was a strong supporter of Taskforce UK.  In particular, Lord Farrington was a close associate of the team's mentalist, Headcase.  When the Ministry revived its Powers Project, Headcase convinced Lord Farrington to include Dawn and her twin sister Susan in the Psi Initiative, confident he could induce psychic powers in the two girls.

 

The two girls were subjected to the process, with Headcase himself directly involved.  Over the course of several weeks over the summer when the girls were eleven, they underwent the process.  When it was over, both girls had gained mental powers.  However, something had gone awry in Susan's case, the process causing damage to her psyche, driving the girl insane.  Headcase was forced to subdue her, and drugs were used to suppress her powers.  Dawn's parents had no choice but to commit Susan to a private mental hospital, where she could be provided the best around the clock care, and carefully kept be out of the public eye.

 

In Dawn's case, the process was far more successful, as her psyche had not been harmed, at least by the psi initiative process.  The fate of her sister, and her parents reaction in quietly tucking Susan away, served to create a rebellious attitude in Dawn (who began refusing to acknowledge that name, insisting on being called "Dee" instead), as she blamed her parents, and in particular her father, for what had happened to Susan. 

 

Always an extremely bright girl, Dee began to do everything she could to act out against her parents.  In addition to generally being as difficult as she could, Dee began dying her hair; eventually got additional body piercings and tattoos; and otherwise generally acting as unladylike as possible.  During the times she was home (either in Dorset or London), she would regularly sneak out at night, either going to concerts or nightclubs.  Unbeknownst to her, during those late night outings, she was often followed by Arthur, the family's butler, who had for a time served as an agent in MI6, as he did his best to keep her from coming to harm.

 

Her behavior carried over to the boarding schools her parents sent her off to, including incidents such as mixing together a chemical formula to generate massive amounts of smoke in chemistry class (and thus causing an evacuation of the building) to repeated violations of school curfew and other rules.  Among the prestigious boarding schools she got herself kicked out of were Brighton College, Queen Ethelburga's College (York), Wycombe Abbey, and Cheltenham Ladies' College.

 

As much as Dee hated her parents, she despised Headcase even more.  Unfortunately, over the years she was required to have regular meetings with the mentalist, as he helped her learn to use and control her ever strengthening powers.

 

Despite her rebellious behavior and expulsion from several boarding schools, Dee eventually attended Oxford University.  Dee's rebelliousness subsided somewhat, in large part due to the fact that the university was far less restrictive than her boarding schools, and the fact she wanted to be there.  While she still enjoyed having a good time, she had little trouble maintain excellent marks.

 

It was early during her time at Oxford that Headcase took Dee (despite her protests) to meet the other members of Vanguard.  Unlike so many others, she was not overly impressed with Champion.  Certainly he was powerful, but to her, he was just a figurehead for the status quo.  Y Dderwen was rather inscrutable, and the young woman did not quite know what to make of him.  Lucy on the other hand, she found to be rather cool, even if the older heroine was working with the government.

 

After finishing her degree, Dee ignored her father's attempts to steer her towards going into research work with corporations at which he had connections or for the government.  Instead, the young woman joined a human rights group and left England to spend a year teaching and working on aid projects in Africa.

 

It was only a little over a month ago that Dee returned from her time in Africa.

 

Personality & Motivation:

As a first impression, Dee generally comes off as rather irritable, though she can be generally pleasant as long as someone does not do anything to aggravate her.  Unfortunately, it is not that difficult to aggravate her.  For the most part, Dee is happiest when she is left alone to do what she wants.

 

Although there is a great deal of anger, and even hatred, directed at her parents (and to a lesser degree, her older brother), there is still a part of Dee that cares about them, though she is extremely reluctant to show it. 

 

Being a superheroine has never been anything Dee has strived for, particularly if it meant working with the Ministry of Powers.  However, she reluctantly realizes that despite what she might feel about the government in general, and the Ministry of Powers in particular, choosing not to do anything could well lead to innocents being hurt.

 

Powers & Tactics:

Thus far, Dee has had little in the way of combat experience, and thus has not developed any particular tactics relating to her powers.  She has learned to use her telekinesis to protect herself with a forcefield, and will almost always put up the forcefield if she gets into combat. 

 

She also has generally sought to avoid using her powers in general.  However, she learned to control her powers as they grew in strength over the years, in order to avoid them accidently going out of control. 

 

Complications:

Twin Sister: Susan is still perhaps the single most important thing in Dee's life and the young woman is determined to take care of Susan the rest of her life.  Dee hopes that someday she might be able to find a way to repair Susan's psyche and restore her sanity.

The "bad girl": A number of tabloids have carried pictures of Dee over the years (and some of her wild antics), so she has developed at least a small amount of fame (or infamy, depending on who you ask) as a result.

There has to be a story here: Besides the general tabloid attention Dee occasionally gets, one investigative reporter, Billy Bunting, has heard some rumors about the Ministry of Powers having some sort of psychic powers program, and that it might be somehow connected to the Farrington family.  He is determined to find out if there is anything to these rumors.

Another reason to hate that guy!: For some reason, whether by accident or specific design, Headcase's tinkering with Dee's mind to induce her powers has left her particularly vulnerable to his abilities.  If targeted by Headcase's powers, Dee automatically fails her saving throw for a HP.

 

Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 12 + 16 + 2 = 38PP

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 14 (+2)  

Constitution: 14 (+2)

Intelligence: 22 (+6)

Wisdom: 26 (+8)

Charisma: 12 (+1)

 

Combat: 6 + 10 = 16PP

Initiative: +2

Attack: +3

Grapple: +3

Defense: +5 base, +8 with Dodge Focus (+2 flat-footed)

Knockback: -1/-6 w/Forcefield

 

Saving Throws: 5 + 5 + 3 = 13PP

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

Fortitude: +7 (+2 Con, +5)

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

Will: +11 (+8 Wis, +3)

 

Skills: 76R = 19PP

Bluff 6 (+7/+11 w/ Attractive)

Computers 6 (+12)

Concentration 4 (+12)

Craft: Chemical 2(+8)

Craft: Electronics 4 (+10)

Craft: Mechanical 4 (+10)

Drive 6 (+8)

Disable Device 6 (+12)

Kn: History 2 (+8)

Kn: Popular Culture 4 (+10)

Kn: Philosophy and Religion 2 (+8)

Kn: Physical Sciences 4 (+10)

Kn: Technology 4 (+10)

Notice 4 (+12)

Perform (Piano) 12 (+13)

Search 2 (+8)

Sense Motive 4 (+12)

 

Feats: 10 PP

Attractive

Benefit 3 (Wealth 2; Member of British Aristocracy)

Dodge Focus 3

Eidetic Memory

Inventor

Luck

 

Powers: 8+2+2+11+31 = 54 PP

Super-senses Detect Minds (Mental Awareness) (Very Common Descriptor, Ranged, Accurate, Acute, Radius) [8PP]

Comprehend 1 (Understand Languages) [2PP]

Quickness 4 (X25) (Flaw: Limited to mental tasks only) [2PP]

Forcefield 10 (Feat: 1 alt) [11PP]

AP: Telekinesis 5 {10/10}

Psychic Powers Array (28PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 3) [31PP]

BP: Paralyze 7 (Extra: Perception) {28/28}

AP: Mind Control 10 (Feats: Subtle; Mental Link) {22/28}

AP: Telepathy 10 (Feat: Subtle) {21/28}

AP: Mental Blast 7 {28/28}

 

DC Block

ATTACK               RANGE       SAVE          EFFECT
Paralyze            Perception       22/Fort      Paralyze (Psychic)
Mental Blast        Perception       22/Will      Damage (Psychic)

 

Totals: Abilities (38) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (13) + Skills (19) + Feats (10) + Powers (54) = 150/150 Power Points

Edited by Thevshi
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Yes, it was a type-o that won't happen on the real character sheet.

 

Ari, we already talked about that in chat.  Not every hero shows a history of being a great and wonderful person that is clearly destined to be a hero.  I would imagine she has done a number of charity volunteering and protesting in the past, not sure I need to delve deep into that though.

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