Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting CLOSED

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Nunya B
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Nunya B »

EpicEclipse wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:03 am
Nunya B wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:41 am Of course, Variable (or Alternate Effect) being the smart way to buy a lot of skills is also likely to make the GM say it's too smart and not permitted.
Maybe, but when it's the one major thing your character does well, you can easily offset that skilled flexibility by not min-maxing the rest of the character.

With a setup like this, a character can still be caught off guard by not having skill points in a skill they need at the moment they need it as a reaction or whatnot (Perception being a prime candidate for this, or insight since they are often used reactively, Insight especially), which happens to skill monkey types all the time. They get caught off guard because they didn't anticipate something.

The main concern a GM should have about a power like this is not having access to the ability to have a maxed skill at a given time, but the bookkeeping on keeping track of where skill points have been allocated.

Further management of the power could also be including "Non-combat skills" to the limitation, and limiting it to skills with a minimum number baseline points (Skills with at least 4sp in them natively for example). Basically, I'll argue that the principle is solid, but the execution could be tweaked to limit possible negative gameplay elements like slowdown due to bookkeeping.

Something like;
Skill Monkey: Variable 2, Action(Free), Feature(Beginner's Luck), Innate, Limited (Non-combat skills with at least 4 native skill points) - 18pp

This gives you 20sp to allocate as a free action, and only to non-combat skills with 4 skill point in them already, meaning you still need to point some investment in your actual skills, alleviating some of the perceived concern since it adds a sort of use cost of 2pp per skill you want to be able to use this with.

In the end, the purpose of it is to help make a skill monkey character someone can enjoy playing and actually not feel like they are cut off at the knees with the limited points they could allocate to skills while still be relevant in other areas.
I ain't buying it. Pop-and-drop redeployment of points mitigates the "wrong thing" issue, and the AWE skills are the only ones that you generally want high all the time anyways. 14-18 PP to get +20 to any skill ever tends to ring alarm bells because it's so good that only AE'd skills can compete.
I personally do agree that skills are overpriced and wouldn't blink at a Variable 1 (Expertise Skills) or AEing Expertises, but at Variable 2+ hitting every skill cap represents too much flexibility for too cheap. It's less points than many characters invest in skills anyways, and renders their less-effective investment basically moot. For it to work well, it needs to not step on the toes of other people with narrow specialties or who spread their points via normal methods.
Either way this isn't the thread for these walls and I've said my fill.
RainOnTheSun wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:01 am Actually, a character who was a symbiote that could be "worn" by different normal bystanders would be an interesting challenge. Although I'm not sure how you'd stat it up off the top of my head, and it would make for some intensely awkward conversations...
Buy everything as a really big Enhanced Trait with Affects Others and Side Effect 1 (Paralyzed while Affecting Others). Maybe free a few points for a Sidekick and let the GM stat them out as your host-of-the-day so you're not stuck gooping onto minions.
Stick yourself to whoever, play as them until they drop or the plot cuts them out, glue yourself to somebody else or fight on your own for a bit. Rinse wash repeat.
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Arkrite
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Arkrite »

Flynnarrel wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:19 am
RainOnTheSun wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:01 am Actually, a character who was a symbiote that could be "worn" by different normal bystanders would be an interesting challenge. Although I'm not sure how you'd stat it up off the top of my head, and it would make for some intensely awkward conversations...
I made that character. It was awesome!
And I wind up wearing another of your characters like a coat in yet another game :lol:
EpicEclipse
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by EpicEclipse »

Either way this isn't the thread for these walls and I've said my fill.
Yeah, I think we are going to fundamentally disagree on this particular use of mechanics in the game.. in the end, it's all about having fun as a group. I would have no issues with someone using a power like that to play a believable skill monkey so long as the rest of their build isn't min-maxed out to be a monster in some other niche as well, because hybrid niches SHOULD be weaker in the individual components they hybridized. Clearly, you would have an issue with someone using a power like that, so if it was in play it would reduce your fun, which is no good either.

It's a team game, and sometimes conscientiousness gets forgotten at the door when building characters as it becomes more about building the concept then worrying about how the concept will interact with others, both players and characters. (Perfect example is Jab's straight up ban on joke characters. Evidently, GMing for them would not be fun for him, so allowing any would reduce his fun and that's really no fair to him)
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Ken
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Ken »

Batgirl III wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:56 am
MacynSnow wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:49 am Taking a swig of his Nuke-A-Cola,Todd returned snarkily
"Why not call him Sawyer,like he asked?"
"Clearly we're going to have to get HuMayne to spring for a Monty Python DVD boxed set for the headquarters."
"'Well, I will ask him, but I don't think he will be very keen. Ah, he's already got one, you see. Oh yes it'sa very nice.'"
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Batgirl III »

Variable is top of the list for “red flag” powers. I’ve never outright banned it from a game, but I do highly discourage its use. Not only because of its possible abuse by munchkins, but also because it can really slow a game to a crawl as the player “umm’s” and “ahh’s” for ten minutes every time his turn comes up.

(My opinion of it really turned sour when I saw someone submit — in all seriousness — a PL 10 / 150 PP character that had spent everything on “Variable 18 (Extras: Free Action) [ 150 PP ],” which made them a mere 90 PP character, sure, but c’mon!?)
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EpicEclipse
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by EpicEclipse »

Variable is like alcohol. When used responsibly, it can lead to some good experiences. Otherwise you run the risk of ruining everything for everyone.

Basically, any problems with Variable come down to how it's used by the player.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Batgirl III »

A rank or two, especially if narrowly defined and used by a player that has figured out common configurations in advance is nothing to worry about. Usually.

It’s the characters that have loads of ranks in it and/or have an indecisive player. Those are the big problems.

(For similar reasons I also “red flag” Create, Duplication, Luck Control, Morph, Metamorph, Summoning, and Transform. Again, these aren’t banned, but they do prompt a closer look at the character from me when I GM. I will often suggest/encourage alternative means of achieving the same concept whenever possible. As seen with my Beast Boy and Zatanna builds.)
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Jabroniville
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Jabroniville »

Batgirl III wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:12 am Variable is top of the list for “red flag” powers. I’ve never outright banned it from a game, but I do highly discourage its use. Not only because of its possible abuse by munchkins, but also because it can really slow a game to a crawl as the player “umm’s” and “ahh’s” for ten minutes every time his turn comes up.

(My opinion of it really turned sour when I saw someone submit — in all seriousness — a PL 10 / 150 PP character that had spent everything on “Variable 18 (Extras: Free Action) [ 150 PP ],” which made them a mere 90 PP character, sure, but c’mon!?)
Yeah, I see "Variable" and I immediately raise an eyebrow. It's easily-abusable. In the "Use For Skills" thing, it could ALMOST make sense, but would need an in-universe explanation, like "My brain is a computer" or "I talk to ghosts who tell me what to do". And "Move Action" might be out. Too much of it seems like something that players would use JUST to shave off points.

On a related note, all this talk of optimization is amusing given some of the under-optimized characters you'll be facing. Like you gotta go to all this work to beat the Agents of Aq-- I mean, the kinds of guys you will be fighting.
Jabroniville
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Jabroniville »

catsi563 wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:16 pm Halcyon (Rena Canary)
HALYCON: Nice Skillmonkey! Yeah, they did get screwed a lot by M&M's 3rd Edition.

As for the suit, it's a BIT iffy to include so much gear on "Equipment", but individually, none of that stuff is really worrisome power-wise. However, if it's Equipment, it's vulnerable to a lot more things and can suffer the fragility of such things. It's just as well to include most of that stuff as separate Equipment anyhow- like the boots & gloves aren't a part of a full bodysuit, y'know what I mean?

Given that she's otherwise not a powerhouse, it's not a big issue, though.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Prof Weird
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Prof Weird »

Lori Heather O'Donnell, aka Lunulata, Reformed Criminal
Age : 29
Height : 5' 9"
Weight : 150
Hair : Slate grey, with brown streaks (formerly brown)
Eyes : gold (formerly green)
PL8/150 PP
Why Are You On The Team?: Use her abilities for the greater good for a change; it's why she actually trained for rescue work to save lives.
Why Might You Have To Be Away?: Being on parole (essentially) means she may have to meet with her parole officer. Or she may have to attend meetings/courses to maintain accreditation for Water Rescue.
Why Might You Have To Leave?: Some of her enemies caught up with her to 'discuss' a few things. Or make her an offer she dare not refuse.

Abilities 48 + Advantages 16 + Skills 27 + Saves 21 + Powers 38 = 150/150

Abilities : STR 3 STA 3 AGL 3 DEX 4 FGT 6 INT 3 AWE 1 PRE 1 [ 48 pp]
Advantages : Beginner's Luck, Improved Initiative, Uncanny Dodge, Hide In Plain Sight, Power Atk, Connected, Defensive Roll 2, Teamwork, Set Up, Taunt, Improvised Tools, Skill Mastery 4 (Stealth, Sleight, Athletics, Expertise [Burglar]) [ 16 pp]

Skills : Athletics 4 (+7*), Insight 4 (+5), Perception 4 (+5), Persuasion 4 (+5), Expertise 7 (Burglar +10*), Expertise 2 (Streetwise) (+5), Sleight 4 (+8*), Stealth 5 (+8*), Close Combat 2 (unarmed), Treatment 2 (+5), Expertise 2 (Water Rescue) (+5), Expertise 5 (Science ) (+8), Tech 5 (+8), Deception 4 (+5) [27 pp]

Saves : Dodge +6 Parry +3 Fort +5 Will +7 [ 21 pp]

(Final Scores : Dodge +9 Parry +9 Fort +8 Will +8 Tou +5/+7)

Powers :
Octopus powers [ 38 pp]
Enhanced Traits : Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Favored Environment (Underwater) [ 4 pp]
Crushing Grip 4 (STR +4, limited to grabs only) [ 4 pp]
Swift Strike : STR-based Damage 5, Subtle [ 6 + 2 pp]
  • AP : Concussive Strike : STR-based Damage 1, Alt Save : Will
  • AP : Sleeper Hold (Cumulative Grab Based Affliction 6 [Resist and Overcome with Fort : Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated ])
Senses 3 : Direction Sense, Dark Vision [ 3 pp]
Protection 2 [ 2 pp]
Immunity 3 (Drowning, Cold, Pressure; Affect Others +1) [ 6 pp]
Swimming 6 (30 mph, or 500'/move action) [ 2 pp]
Movement : Environmental Adaptation (underwater) [ 2 pp]
Concealment (Normal Vision; Blending, Passive) [ 1 pp]
Elongation 3 [ 3 + 3 pp] 60' reach
  • AP : Wall Crawl 1, Safe Fall (Limited : near surfaces)
  • AP : Power LIft 3
  • AP : Insubstantial 1 (Action : Std -2)
Offense :
Initiative : +7
Unarmed : +8 to hit, DC18 Damage
Swift Strike : +8 to hit, DC23 Damage
Concussive Strike : +8 to hit, DC19 vs Will for damage
Sleeper Hold : +8 to hit, DC16 cumulative affliction
Armed : +6 to hit, up to DC25 (depending on weapon used)
Grabs : +6 to hit, DC20 to escape (STR 3 + Elongation 3 + Crushing Grip 4)
Trip/Throw : +6 to hit
Ranged : +4 to hit, up to DC27 damage (depending on weapon used)

Background :
All secret lairs need people to keep them running, or to feed the mutated flying pirahna, or keep the vats of toxic chemicals full.
And Lori gets to do it.

Always interested in science since a young age, Lori decided on a career in henching since villains - not being held back by 'ethics' or 'sanity' - always had beyond cutting edge technology that she could study and master. And it was FAR more interesting ! Normal labs were just too safety conscious to ever RISK trying anything interesting.

She'd helped enough non-criminal scientists write up their grant proposals to know she wanted none of that - they were stressed out for weeks before AND afterwards.

While all she had to do was keep working like she had before. And if things got too bad, she could just apply somewhere else.
True, she wasn't a supergenius, and lacked the psychotic fixation on crushing all that opposed her that all true Mad Scientists have, but at least she knew and accepted that.

She may not be able to devise ridiculously complicated devices, but she was great at keeping them running. Or putting them back together if they exploded/dissolved/displaced themselves to another dimension.

Besides, working for other people proved to be advantageous - there were always new things to learn, new challenges to overcome, and if the heroes arrived, someone else to take all the blame.

And as sources of equipment and supplies. On occassion, some of the materials required for an experiment were not legally available - so Lori became very adept at 'acquiring' them. Even from other mad scientists if necessary; she not only had a habit of taking HER work home with her, but also other people's - usually without their knowledge or consent.

One fateful day, the wannabe BioLord with an octopus fixation she was working for had formulated a serum that would grant anyone that took it the powers of an octopus - in his case, a Hapalochlaena lunulata (the greater blue ringed octopus. Known as one of the most poisonous marine creatures on the planet, a single specimen could fit comfortably in a person's hand - but had venom toxic enough to kill twenty six people.).

Assuming, of course, the serum actually worked and didn't kill the subject.

In an unexpected bout of good sense, he decided to test it on someone OTHER than himself, and Lori just happened to be standing nearby.

After weeks of testing, she determined that she had indeed received octopus powers - JUST NOT THOSE OF THE BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS HE WANTED. She had no venomous capabilities at all. She could strike very hard, very fast, but that was something the Humboldt squid was known for.

He was rather irate that she got the wrong powerset, but decided he'd just have to cure her and try again - but it was a very expensive procedure.

So she started her criminal career stealing whatever items she was told to (the other option being to test his serum on kidnapped subjects. Stealing items is one thing, but stealing PEOPLE was over the line. She could not in good conscience give him a chance to do that). She decided that if she was a mutated criminal, she would be the BEST mutated criminal she could possibly be, and improved her already adequate larcenous skills.

Henching for others was good and steady work for years, but eventually she got arrested.

Having time to think things over, she realized that 1) it was in his best interest to NOT cure her, as it gave him a way to keep her under control, and 2) she REALLY didn't want to spend large portions of her life in prisons.

She quickly determined that the only way to have some say over her life was to quit the criminal life and do, well, anything else.

She figured that since she had octopus powers, she should put them to SOME sort of use; "must play the hand I've been dealt."
For some strange reason, she could share her ability to breathe underwater with others, and quickly figured that, for some jobs, it could be a very useful and lucrative ability.

So she chose Water Rescue - her ability to swim at high speeds, breathe underwater and temporarily grant others immunity to drowning could save many lives a year.

Or ocean research. There were actually many good options, now that she had time to actually think about them.

She served her time, then got to the business of, well, getting into a legal business.

Motivation : Doing good. For a change.
Complications :
Reputation (Former criminal) - her identity and criminal history are easily researched.
Enemy (former employers) - Lori once had a habit of 'borrowing' items from other researchers. That plus turning state's evidence on them did not endear her to her former employers.
Responsibility (Rescue Worker) : Being on call, and continuing education requirements means she sometimes has conflicting demands for her time.
Last edited by Prof Weird on Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Jabroniville »

OKAY, GM's ANNOUNCEMENT:

(PS: Every time I need to make one of these, it'll be in bolded and all caps)


So I have a few issues here, of various importance:

* I have twice as many potential players as I could possibly need. Which is flattering (d'awwwwwww, so much excitement!), but troublesome. I'd be saying no to a lot of good characters.
* Some characters are pretty good, but probably not quite "right" for the Victory League.
* I've been working out how a Super-Team that works for the U.S. Government more directly (to prevent stuff like, say, the Legion of Light operating in ways that Uncle Sam doesn't like) would work, and how to staff such a team. But I haven't done any of the groundwork on such an idea, like even putting names and powers to the characters.
* I have more OC Jobber Villains than I could possibly need for one campaign. I mean, one "scene" would take more than a MONTH in a play-by-post game.
* My "Castellia" build thread is largely filled, and won't need much more effort from me. So there's some extra free time there.

SO WHAT I'M THINKING IS... WHAT IF I RUN *TWO* JABVERSE GAMES?:

-After all, I have the potential players, potential villains, and I could definitely use both. This allows for me to use most (probably not all, especially if others still submit guys) of the characters submitted. I've even got some stuff planned out just while I was at work today- I'm thinking the government wants "in" on the hero thing, and has a retired super-hero, Megapatriot (injured by a Bad-Ass '90s Anti-Hero __ years ago), acting as their "official liaison". This allows for some more potentially "dark" antics, some "shades of grey" storytelling, and a more international flavor, as this team might go to different countries and stuff.

Will this be way too much to handle? Well, I dunno- we'll see. I might be able to manage it, so long as the players don't spam out too many posts per day :). After all, my Castellia thread's about done, but Jabverse thread doesn't have too much to it, and my Rifts thread is largely "filler"-related after getting through the Main Rulebook. I can put more attention on here. And most of the NPCs are built already.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Batgirl III »

So... when do we have the massive crossover where the two teams fight?

And how do you say “Martha” in Te Reo Māori?
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Jabroniville
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Jabroniville »

Prof Weird wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:46 am Probably very little point in offering this character, but eh, WHY NOT ?
Work in Progress; just putting up for perusal

Lori Heather O'Donnell, aka Lunulata, Reformed Criminal
LUNULATA: She can be a potential "look in" to various super-villains, which could be handy. I like how her powers offer some versatility and unique Octopus-themed things.
EpicEclipse
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by EpicEclipse »

Batgirl III wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:17 am So... when do we have the massive crossover where the two teams fight?

And how do you say “Martha” in Te Reo Māori?
According to https://glosbe.com/en/mi/Martha ; Māta, though there are a few apparent variants. :P
Jabroniville
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Re: Recruitment Thread (The Jabverse)- Recruiting Till July 23rd

Post by Jabroniville »

So a couple people PM'd me and suggested "running two games" is too much even for some seasoned GMs- anyone else have suggestions? It might be for the best just to take only 10 guys for the "Victory League", tough as it'll be to say "no".

It might be better to wait a few weeks, then make a decision on it.
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