[2.5e] Freedom City Adventures - OOC

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FuzzyBoots
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Doctor Malsyn wrote:There's one thing that confuses me about your home rules, while everything else makes at least a vague amount of sense. What exactly do you mean by "Note: Once an effect hits 4pp/rank it's PL drops by 2."?
My interpretation of it was that a sufficiently expensive effect can't operate at full PL. So if you have a Perception-range Burst-Area Blast, it can't be over PL 8 at PL 10. If you had Strike with Autofire, Penetrating, and Affects Corporeal, you could perhaps have an attack bonus of +6 and an effect rank of +10.

:lol: But I could be all wrong. I often am.
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badpenny
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by badpenny »

Nailed it in one.
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Ahh, gotcha
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Removed
Last edited by Doctor Malsyn on Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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badpenny
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by badpenny »

I'm sorry, but that's a character better suited to fiction than to a comic book in terms of what will present a threat. While Affects Insubstantial is relatively inexpensive, the majority of opponents don't have it. And, really, you have nothing to risk. Insubstantial, as an effect you have to maintain, or use to accomplish a task, would be fine, a permanent effect like this is unbalanced for plot purposes.
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Nevermind that, then.
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badpenny
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by badpenny »

I'm looking for costumed comic book heroes like the ones featured in the Freedom City sourcebooks, or the ones I've built on my thread.
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ZenGypsy
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by ZenGypsy »

I think I pm'd you a stat block with the Quick creation option you initially discussed I had a cowl with the ability to create an obscuring cloud of darkness. I'll have to tweak the build some, but I'll submit a character when I get home from the office.
FuzzyBoots
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Palooka Joe
Real Name: John Bradley
Hair: Sandy Brown Eyes: Hazel
Height: 5' 10" Weight: 165 lbs

Image

Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 150/150

STR: +0 (10), DEX: +1 (12), CON: +0 (10), INT: +10 (30), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +1 (12)

Tough: +0/+8, Fort: +8, Ref: +10, Will: +6

Skills: Bluff 6 (+7), Computers 8 (+18), Concentration 5 (+10), Craft (electronic) 8 (+18), Craft (mechanical) 8 (+18), Diplomacy 7 (+8), Disable Device 8 (+18), Investigate 3 (+13), Knowledge (technology) 10 (+20), Medicine 5 (+10), Perception 7 (+12), Sense Motive 5 (+10)

Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (ranged) 2 (+2 ranks from Device for 4), Attack Specialization 2 (Palooka Gauss Pistols (Device 5)), Dodge Focus 3, Eidetic Memory, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Online Research, Precise Shot, Skill Mastery 2 (Craft (Electronic), Craft (Mechanical), Disable Device, Knowledge (Technology)), Well-Informed (from Charisma)

Powers:
Palooka Bipolar Boots (Device 2) (Hard to lose) [8 pp]
. . Flight 3 (Speed: 50 mph, 250 ft move action) [6 pp]
. . . . Leaping 6 (Alternate; Jumping distance: x100)
. . . . Speed 6 (Alternate; Speed: 500 mph, 2500 ft move action)
. . Super-Movement 1 (wall-crawling 1 (half speed)) [2 pp]
Palooka Deflector Belt (Device 4) (Hard to lose) [16 pp]
. . Enhanced Trait 4 (Traits: Defense Bonus +2 (+12)) [4 pp]
. . Force Field 8 (+8 Toughness; Impervious) [16 pp]
Palooka Pulse Pistols (Device 4) (Easy to lose, Custom (Paired (First disarm only removes half ranks))) [12 + 1 pp]
. . Enhanced Trait (Takedown Attack 2) [2 pp]
. . Blast 8 (DC 23 Toughness) [16 + 2 pp]
. . . . Dazzle 8 (DC 18 Reflex / Fortitude, Visual)
. . . . Confuse 8 (DC 18 Will, Insidious)
Palooka Visor (Device 1) (Hard to lose) [4 pp]
. . Enhanced Trait 2 (Traits: Attack Focus (ranged) 4 +2 (+4)) [2 pp]
. . Super-Senses 3 (analytical: Sight, extended: Sight 1 (-1 per 100 ft), microscopic vision 1 (dust-size)) [3 pp]

Attack Bonus: +4 (Ranged: +6/+8, Melee: +4, Grapple: +4)

Attacks: Blast 8, +12 (DC 23), Unarmed Attack, +4 (DC 15)

Defense: +10/+12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -8

Initiative: +1

Languages: Native Language

Totals: Abilities 34 + Skills 20 (80 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 41 + Combat 20 + Saves 18 + Drawbacks 0 = 150

Complications
  • Addiction (grandstanding) - John had always been the quiet kid in school. Joseph hooked him up with an acting coach when it became evident that John was going to have to be the man in the suit if they wanted to be able to swim with the big fish in superheroics. John took to the lessons with gusto and he will sometimes get caught up in his character, allowing villains to get the drop on him.
  • Code of Behavior (naive) - John grew up on syndicated episodes of Freedom Friends, and defaults to believing that villains will try to avoid excessive collateral damage, and that all heroes are upstanding paragons of morality. Needless to say, not all villains play fair and not all heroes are wonderful people, and this might blindside him.
  • Obsession (New technology) - John loves learning new things and he's particularly fascinated by the wide variety of technological solutions that heroes and villains employ. He's not above trying to reverse-engineer their capabilities, and he sometimes strings out a fight if it means he has a chance to observe a nifty device at work.
  • Power Loss (fiddly technology) - The technology of "Palooka Joe" is bleeding edge, which means that it will sometimes break down without warning, necessitating field repairs. This is particularly tricky for John because he needs to represent the equipment as reliable.
  • Responsibility (corporate mascot) - "Palooka Joe" is a character who represents the Bradley company. John has to be careful about not messing with that image. That means always acting in an upstanding manner, shilling the products at every opportunity, and avoiding any situation where he might be seen using a competitor's product (unless to show how badly it works. Intentionally botching that attempt is an option).
  • Rivalry (Daedalus) - Daedalus believes that the world just isn't ready for things like jet boots and pocket pulse pistols and feels that Bradley Technologies is irresponsible in trying to bring such technology to the masses. As such, John has a bit of a friendly rivalry with Daedalus, complicated by the fact that Daedalus is superior in practically every way.
  • Secret Identity - John hides his real identity both because the idea of an "everyman" sells better than some egghead and because he could otherwise be used as leverage against his brother.
Background
"Palooka Joe" is the hero, and walking advertisement, for Bradley Technologies, a firm which is attempting to carve a niche in the market adapting super-technology for the masses. Their icon is always quick to the scene, and just as quick to explain his devices and how consumer versions are available on the market to the general public. Despite the corporate shilling, Joe is sincere in his desire to help, and the home versions of the technology work on a more more limited level, and with large quantities of batteries, or the addition of wall power.

The general suspicion is that "Palooka Joe" is actually Joseph Bradley, CEO of the company, who has a tendency to disappear at odd times and always seems to have inside info on what's going on in the Hero business. In actuality, the truth is slightly more simple. "Palooka Joe" is actually John Bradley, Joseph's younger brother, and the brains behind the technology they've been adapting. You see, the issue they've run into (and the reason why super-tech is not standard on every corner) is energy storage and output. As anyone with a smartphone can attest to, it's hard to store large amounts of energy in a small package. As anyone with a Samsung Galaxy Note can tell you, even that small amount of energy can be dangerous to have around... as it is, Bradley has not yet completely solved the energy problem. John has a prototype reactor that he claims taps into Zero-Point fields, but it's temperamental enough that it's far from ready for mass production. The devices they sell to the public aren't scaled down for safety, but because there's no way to sustain the power output yet.

John has leapt headlong into his role are "Palooka Joe", and Joseph has occasionally suspected that John is sandbagging research efforts to make the reactor more stable, because it might put him out of work, particularly as Joseph is concerned that John might injure himself, both because he's family and because he is their head technologist, capable of brilliant leaps of logic and jury-rigged fixes in the field.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition is ©2005-2015 Green Ronin Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

Notes: This is basically the standard Gadgeteer archetype with altered technology and a shift toward being attack / defense shifted (because I'm curious about how the changes will work out).
Last edited by FuzzyBoots on Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:58 pm, edited 10 times in total.
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badpenny
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by badpenny »

Good build, Fuzzy. The only issue is that Autofire is built into the game mechanics now, and I'm not keen on double Autofire.

We're doing away with crits in favor of 3e's +2/+5 for second and third degree hits to beef up the attack trade-off (vs. effects).
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FuzzyBoots
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by FuzzyBoots »

badpenny wrote:Good build, Fuzzy. The only issue is that Autofire is built into the game mechanics now, and I'm not keen on double Autofire.

We're doing away with crits in favor of 3e's +2/+5 for second and third degree hits to beef up the attack trade-off (vs. effects).
Ah. I wasn't sure, since you never really mentioned Autofire that I saw. Hmm... I'll probably just modify him to not have that extra, add Takedown Attack 2 (so that he can hit multiple minions) and maybe add a few alternate sort of fire so that he has things like Dazzle, Snare, etc.
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badpenny
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by badpenny »

You're right. I had it in there originally when I was using the [+1/per 2] Autofire 2e rules, but realize I edited it out when I went for the 3e Multifire bonus structure.

I also updated the skills section to reflect my take on background skills, such as Profession and Performance. In general, don't spend points on things that will never come up. That also goes for things like Immunity to Aging, etc.

Too many of them feel like artifacts from the D&D days, which don't really have bearing on the supers genre.
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FuzzyBoots
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by FuzzyBoots »

{nods} I changed his pistol around to only Device 4, moved the Paired part to the base of the device, removed Autofire, added two alternate powers (Visual Dazzle and Confusion), and added Takedown Attack 2 to allow him to mow down multiple minions. With the two extra points, I added another rank of Skill Mastery and added Online Research so that his Well-Informed feeds off of his Computer skill.

I actually kind of like his Perform and Profession skills as I think they round him out a bit, plus I've got most of what I want on the character due to Device discounts. ^_^
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badpenny
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by badpenny »

You don't have to get rid of his background skills; you just don't have to pay for them.

Edit: Concentration will come in handy.
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Hero4hire
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Re: [2e] Freedom City Adventures (extensive house rules) - recruiting

Post by Hero4hire »

I haven't played 2e in awhile. This was an old character of mine tailored specifically for a Freedom City campaign.

I know he is not house rule compliant yet. But I want the concept itself approved before I go ahead and make those changes.

Paragon (Power Level 10)
Image
Strength: 24 (+7) Dexterity: 24 (+7) Constitution: 24 (+7) Intelligence: 24 (+7) Wisdom: 24 (+7) Charisma: 24 (+7)

Combat: Attack +10 or +11 (mw club), Damage +7 (unarmed) or +9 (mw club), Grapple +17 (attack 10 + 7 Str), Defense 20 (15 flatfooted), Initiative +7 (+7 Dex)

Toughness +10 (+7 without armor), Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +7

Skills
Acrobatics - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Bluff - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Climb - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Computers - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Concentration - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Diplomacy - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Disable Device - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Disguise - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Drive - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Escape Artist - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Gather Info - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Handle Animal - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Intimidate - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Investigate - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Medicine - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Notice - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Pilot - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Ride - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Search - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Sense Motive - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Sleight of Hand - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Stealth - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Survival - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Swim - (0 ranks + 7 ability)
Feats
Attractive (1): +4 bonus Bluff & Diplomacy people affected by your looks
Beginner's Luck: Spend a Hero Point to gain 5 temp skill ranks
Benefit: +4 on Wealth Checks
Eidetic Memory: Perfect recall of everything you've experienced
Equipment (2): 10 points worth of equipment
Jack-of-All-Trades: Use any skill untrained
Luck (2):
Well Informed: Make Gather Info check when meeting someone
Powers
Omnitalented: Reflex Memory 1 (Extra: Feats)
AP: Comprehend 5 (Codes, Languages-All)

Mental Prowess: Quickness 10 (Flaw: Mental Tasks Only)



Equipment
Armored Jumpsuit: Protection 3 (Subtle)
Truncheon: Strike 2 (Masterwork, Mighty, Thrown)

Base Attack: +10
Base Defense: +10

Abilities: 84 Combat: 40 Saves: 0 Skills: 0 Feats: 10 Powers: 16 Total Cost: 150

Trade-Offs: +1 Atk/-1 Max DC (club only)

History:
John Common was once just a normal, ordinary, everyday guy. Normal that is until he picked up the self-help book “The Pinnacle Path: Achieving Your Highest Potential” written by Jeremiah Ross; founder of the Pinnacle Path. What many considered “New Age claptrap” began to actually work for John, every day in every way his life began to improve. His finances, love-life, and health all began to drastically improve until; a year later he began to achieve his ultimate potential, physically, mentally. Barely recognizable as the man he once was, he took on the alias "Paragon: The Perfect Man".
« Last Edit: March 04, 2010, 09:41:49 PM by hero4hire » Logged
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