Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Jabroniville »

And that's it! My Full Archives & Design Diaries posted! Welcome to the all-new Jab's Builds!!

I started a thread of builds for the first time in late 2006 (wow- TEN YEARS AGO at this point!), after getting interested in it by Kreuzritter, a guy from my old writing community. As I was always into statting Marvel SAGA builds, I was a natural for being interested in this kind of thing.

In the early days, my thread was super-unpopular, as I was a newbie, posted NO images for any of my builds, and was statting up generally random people. Fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff, where I would stat a few Archie characters, then some Sailor Moon characters, then a Godzilla build, then some other random thing. Kreuzritter suggested I might become "The Nineties Guy" by statting up X-Cutioner's Song builds.

Eventually, I got burned out be repetitive builds (RIGHT? So weird given where we are now!) and left for four months. I returned... and left again for a few months, still burned out. But THEN I came back, and suddenly I was posting all the time, and never stopped!

Four years after I started, M&M 2nd Edition begat 3rd Edition, and I made an all-new thread. Four years after THAT, I was a big part of "Roll Call", had tons of great commenters, and all was well.

When Green Ronin dropped their forums for a "better" model (which wasn't really "better", as you had either 10 or 20 posts per page, a weird way of Editing that left a HUGE gap between your post and the "Edited by" line, and a Front Page Bug that wouldn't let you post for some bizarre reason), I moved over to Ronin Army. Two and a half years later, some flaming & harassment from a moderator, an unfair Permaban, followed by a "cover-up" to ensure that they were made to look better, and then a lecture from GR management about how "trolling & harassment" had caused this... ruined everything. Thankfully, several posters actually SAW what happened, so me and the other people (most of whom had been banned for complaining about the permaban) gathered together and founded this new site, run by my pal Ares!
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Jabroniville »

So I'm gonna just start reposting my Street Fighter builds here, all in order like before. Feel free to renew your old notes on them and stuff- it'll be a day or two before I'm "caught up", even if I spam them out pretty quickly :).
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L-Space
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by L-Space »

How are you at 3 pages already?! The site JUST went up! :lol:
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Formerly luketheduke86
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Jabroniville »

Archive-Posting, dude. I made that mistake on my first thread :). Didn't leave enough posts for an Archive, and then when I needed one, I had to start deleting stuff. So I put up all of my "necessary" stuff on the first two pages so I wouldn't have to deal with it later. For now, I'll just start reposting my Street Fighter builds (I was just at the end of SF II, anyways).
Jabroniville
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Street Fighter

Post by Jabroniville »

"Round ONE... FIGHT!"

STREET FIGHTER:


Gotta love Street Fighter II, man... that was THE game as far as many kids were concerned, and it's probably one of the two most-copied games ever. You've got Mario for platformers, and Street Fighter II for fighting games... nothing else comes close, as far as I'm concerned (mainly because the exact origins of RPGs and First-Person Shooters go really far back, and most had successors that were far more popular and influential).

The Story:
Generally speaking, the SF series has a wafer-thin plot, which is just kinda how most fighting games are, and includes some of the Flattest Flat Characters to ever be Flat. Bison wants to take over the world... by gathering martial artists for some reason. Guile & Chun-Li have solid motivations (revenge against Bison for killing their loved ones), Sagat is GREAT (a proud warrior humbled by a "boy" who wants to prove himself again, and he later gets real character development), and a few other characters have some good stuff, but most of them are just Flat Characters. E.Honda wants to "prove sumo wrestling" (and Hakan has the same deal with Turkish wrestling), and Zangief wants to "prove Mother Russia". Dee Jay wants to fight for... his music? And El Fuerte fights for cooking. Stuff like that. Nobody's here for the big character stories, though (most of those don't even get any resolution). They're just here for great character designs and awesome gameplay.

Regarding The Stats:
Street Fighter characters can be a little tricky to stat in a game like Mutants & Masterminds. The White Wolf Street Fighter RPG was actually a very fun (if totally unrealistic) fighting system, which involved high-Init guys interrupting slower guys' attacks with moves, each of which was keyed to a certain speed (so not every attack was the same speed for each guy), and a quite varied score for damage effects. But for a system that needs to be more broad (because in includes martial artists, animals, super-heroes, Gods and soldiers), you need a different approach- a system that has a man's punch and a God's Hammer Strike in the same damage range is gonna have more "log-jamming" in its categories. Basically, most Street Fighter characters are going to have Strength & Damage scores within the upper-levels of human norms (between Strength 3 and 5), with their Special Moves doing a bit more damage (but not overly-much- a Fierce Punch doesn't do way less damage than a Dragon Punch does, for example).

Most of the characters will be within the same range- I see some of the main World Warriors as being PL 10s, so that they can brawl with Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Daredevil and Wolverine on an even keel. Lower-level guys will probably be PL 9- they're still great fighters, but nobody would believe Dudley or Balrog defeating the mighty Ryu one-on-one most of the time (or even half the time). PL 9 is still pretty good with the way I stat guys, anyways (many solid Avengers were around that level). The PL 10 status means that the accuracy is high-end: they do +3-5 damage, with +15-+17 being the accuracy. Quite reasonable for guys who are ONLY martial artists, and are the greatest in their world.

How do I determine who goes where? Some of it is guess-work, but for the most part, if you're a MAIN Main Character, you get to be at least PL 10. Subordinate types are PL 9s- guys who recur, but aren't treated like they're a huge deal. The more games you appear in, the more "major" you seem to be- there's a good number of characters who popped up in one or two games and then vanished- these are the PL 8s. Good fighters, but not on the level of a Ryu or a Chun-Li. And a PL 8 CAN defeat a PL 10- it's just an uphill climb.

In general:
PL 7: Joke Fighters. Early rookies who didn't get ported to the sequels.
PL 8: Unproven rookie to the games. Only appear in a few games- more common of Alpha and SF III characters.
PL 9: Full-on World Warrior- everyone in Street Fighter II is at least at this level. A recurring character who doesn't quite hit the full "Main Character" status, and is more likely to be a good "speed-bump" in a movie or something.
PL 10: Your Main Characters- Ken, Ryu, Guile, Chun-Li, etc. Major recurring stars with tons of appearances and big roles in the overall story.
PL 11-12: Bosses, "Elite" versions of other characters.
* Given that Fighting Game characters max out at around Toughness +5-6, there's a LOT of room for upset wins- the accuracy of most of the attacks tossed their way means that even Ryu or Sagat is one bad roll away from being KTFO'd by a goof like Rufus.

As such, every Street Fighter character features the following Advantage set-up for 12 points:

"World Warrior" Fighting Style: Accurate Attack (Jab), All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab (Grab), Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2 (note: Weapon-users like Vega & Eagle will be lower), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack (Roundhouse), Takedown, Withstand Damage (Trade Defenses For Toughness- Block)

Every SF fighter can grab, Crits easily in melee, and Block to absorb the damage from punches (but usually none from Special Moves)- this to me is a picture-perfect reflection of the Withstand Damage Advantage from "Mecha & Manga" in 2nd Edition- you give up some Defense for higher Toughness.

Special Moves:
Special Maneuvers are less accurate, as anyone who plays the game will tell you- they're harder to pull off compared to a Jab. And going by the fluff (comics, movies), they're also probably less accurate, since most require some "charge time" or the target to be a bit tired/dazed, since otherwise everyone would be ONLY doing their Special Moves. Speaking of which... SF guys have six different basic attacks to choose from, going from the fast, light punches (Jab) to powerful but slow kicks (Roundhouse). This means they have both Accurate and Power Attack.

Special Moves are tricky, and often leave you completely open, but with occasional accurate bursts- this is All-Out Attack. Most of them are merely "Strength Damage +2" (Enhanced Strength- Limited to Striking- I keep the same Attack Bonus as Unarmed Damage, since these are all still unarmed attacks) attacks with Inaccurate thrown on (balancing them out with their unarmed attacks, PL-wise). Moves that are grapples are not "Grab-Based", as I have learned through actual gameplay that the grappling rules are utterly broken if your character is anywhere near the same strength as his opponent- a Grab-Based move will almost never work in a Street Fighter campaign. Instead, I'll throw in a thing like "Feats: +2 to Hit if Enemy Parried Last Turn" to reflect how grapples are a great technique against blocking opponents, as grapples ignore the guard.

Some Specials grant you bonuses in certain circumstances- the best-known examples are the multiple Anti-Air Uppercuts used by Shotoclones & Sagat. These moves will have things like "+2 to Jumping Opponents" in their Feats section- I would take that to mean you get a +2 to hit if your opponent used a jumping-based move in this or the prior round. That's good enough for a 1-point Power Feat, really. Generally, it'd be a "jump" if the enemy was a bit further away and had to get over their quickly (90% of Street Fighters can only do this by jumping), or used a Special Move that involves going into the air. ALSO, you need to jump to avoid Fireballs (unless you "tank" and block them, which is risky, as they can still do damage), so anyone who Dodged a projectile attack last round can be affected by the "+2" bonus. Hell, even the MULTIATTACK moves must be dodged in this manner!

Also, to make Multiattack moves a better option (the way I usually had them, they were a "Multiattack" upgrade to standard damage that was Distracting so it wouldn't always be the "No-Brainer" option. But that way made them kind of sub-optimal, as Distracting is really bad for Defense-shifted characters, and Multiattack on 4-5 ranks isn't THAT big of an advantage), I added an "Affliction" linked to the whole thing. This Affliction will leave victims Stunned & Defenseless- a reflection of how one of the best things about the "Lightning Leg"-type moves is that 

Combos:
NOPE. Ignoring it. I've never read "Combo Rules" that didn't confuse me and make me want to just ignore them. I just use them as descriptors, where instead of saying "I hit him", you describe a flurry of punches ending with a roundhouse kick that knocks a guy over as a single attack roll.

Super Moves:
After Super SF II Turbo, every character developed the ability to do Super Moves, which are basically high-energy versions of regular attacks thrown into combos, with shadow-energy following the guy. These can only be done once or twice in a fight, and are generally just more power. Most are just your regular Special Moves, but MORE of them- pulling out massive super-combos. For these, I felt the best way would be to use Extraordinary Effort- the Advantage that allows you to add more to your bonuses on rare occasions. Also, a lot of these would just be playing Hero Points- Super Moves are practically the DEFINITION of how HP stuff is done in combat.

Due to this, no Super Moves will be accounted for in the stats themselves unless they have a completely different Power than the baseline moves- at which point they will have a Flaw like "Requires Hero Point" or something like that.

V-Triggers & Other Things:
Street Fighter V has added "V-Triggers"- a special move set off by filling up a gauge above the Super Gauge by taking damage and doing certain moves, and some characters draw benefits from them. Many other SF games also feature unique things that don't appear in other games, as Capcom tends to screw around with minor rules in ways that a scrub like me can never quite figure out or master, having only played occasionally in the arcades. In the long run, I mostly ignore this kind of stuff, as a lot of it is very minor, and typically just a descriptor to what goes down in an RPG anyways (like countering or whatever- one game allows you to "Parry" by striking at the right time- that's not really a special move in M&M as much as it is "the guy fails to get past your defenses").

Some Other Notes:
* The Strength rules for M&M can be a bit quirky, and some guys who should be doing more damage than +3 or +4 can't really lift 800-1,600 lbs., and as a result, those guys will have Strength-Damage +1 "Power Punch" moves in their "Powers" section. This is basically Enhanced Strength (Limited to Punching), which I write as Strength-Damage +1, because it looks neater on the page.
* Many Street Fighters use projectile attacks, such as the Fireball or Sonic Boom. These attacks do about as much damage as a medium-to-strong punch (+4 to +6 usually), but are less accurate than melee attacks (they move very slowly across the screen). Similarly, these Blasts are hampered by Diminished Range, meaning that their long range is 50 feet, and medium range is 25 feet. Therefore, attacks from "across screen" (25 feet) have worse accuracy, just like the game.
* Most Street Fighters are much better at their Parry than their Dodge- Ranged Attacks tend to have less accuracy anyways.
* Most Street Fighters are evened-out with their Parry/Toughness and Attack/Damage. Since Stronger guys tend to have an advantage in the law of averages in M&M, a few Strength-based fighters may be diminished further in their Accuracy, to keep the balance.
* Most guys have some form of Expertise (Martial Artist). This is a catch-all for knowledge of fighting styles (avoids Surprise and stuff like that), countries from which they come, and a general who's-who of everyone in the Street Fighter world, and things related to Shadowloo- since Bison is mixed-in with everything "Martial Arts", most skilled fighters have run into his representatives.
* Most multi-hitting types of moves have the Multiattack Extra on their unarmed damage, and the Distracting Flaw. This showcases that they can hit many times (doing more damage), but are also forced to kinda stand there and be easier to hit at the same time (Distracting leaves you Vulnerable)- since all SF guys have Defensive Roll, this also diminishes their Toughness. This is in place both for in-game accuracy, and the fact that if you had a Multiattack Strike, you'd just be doing that all day long instead of your regular moves.
* Generally, characters will be statted based off of their fluff personae, rather than based directly off of the games. If you want, you can easily just add some points to Attack & Defense to even out the characters to the same PL.
* In Street Fighter games, Spamming out attacks like a cheese-meister can be effective, but is highly-predictable, and leaves you open for counter-attacks. And in M&M, certain attacks are more effective math-wise (Special Moves and their higher power, especially when boosted by Accurate, All-Out or Power Attack). As such, every fighter will include the complication "Weakness (Predictability)- Ryu, like all Street Fighters, cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time he tries the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, he will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done." This will prevent Spamming, and keep people honest.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Jabroniville »

The Posting Order:
I'm gonna do something a little different, here- my usual tactic is to assign guys "Letter Grades", decide on a certain number of builds per day, and then make an order of posting that uses the letters to decide who gets posted when. So on a day where an important "A" guy (like Ryu or Bison) gets posted, there would usually be low-grade "D" or "E" types (like Retsu or some loser) alongside him, so that this particular day wouldn't be overwhelmed by too many people talking about too many notable characters. With a "B" guy might be some "D"s or one "C"- that kind of thing. So I'd usually have at least one "Big Name" per day, and not "spam" too many of the popular acts at once (a rookie mistake I made way back in the day was to stat the unpopular guys first, then spam out the popular ones- people have a tendency to stop talking about everyone but the most recent "Big Name" when I do that).

So instead, I'm going to post the guys in the order they came out, more or less. Street Fighter characters will be first, followed by the World Warriors of SFII. Then it'll be some Alpha newbies, followed by SFIII, then the fourth installment, then the fifth- characters even getting posted based off of which updates presented them (ie. Fei Long, T. Hawk, Cammy & Dee Jay will be posted after the other SF II guys). Things will naturally get quite "heavy" in the middle range, with SFII producing the greatest number of recognizable fighters, but I think it's a fun way to go nonetheless. And yes I still used Letter Grades because I am crazy and everything needs to be exact.

And before anyone asks the inevitable question, no, I will 100% NOT be statting up the characters from Street Fighter EX! I've never played the series, I have no interest in that series, and even CAPCOM has stated that they consider the series non-canon and that it "never happened". And really, all of the characters are weak, substandard loser---

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OK, FINE, I will be statting the Street Fighter EX characters...

(Photobucket.com isn't working right now. But trust me- it's hilarious)
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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SF I

Post by Jabroniville »

STREET FIGHTER:
And it all came from Street Fighter, a silly little game in 1987 that was totally forgotten. You played Ryu or his head-swap Ken, two gi-wearing Karate dudes, up against a stretch of other guys. One-noters like Birdie, Eagle, Mike & Lee would fall by the wayside, and you'd challenge the super-huge Sagat, the Emperor of Muay Thai. The game was never translated to most systems, and to this day, I've met no one who actually played it. It would be four years (an ETERNITY for sequels by today's standards) before we'd get the sequel which would change the industry forever. The game is exceptionally unbalanced, with most of the Special Moves being ridiculously hard to pull off, doing tons of damage, and only a few hits ending most fights. For example, one Tiger Shot from the boss, Sagat, will take of *2/3* of your health bar! These issues would be rapidly fixed by the next game.

Roster:
1) Ryu (gi-wearing generic dude)
2) Ken (head swap, outgoing rich guy)
3) Geki (ninja)
4) Adon (Sagat's student)
5) Lee (generic Chinese guy)
6) Gen (generic Chinese guy, later becomes a master of various kung-fu styles)
7) Eagle (English butler with knightsticks)
8) Birdie (big chubby punker, first white, then turns black)
9) Mike (generic black boxer)
10) Joe (generic white American dude)
11) Retsu (generic Japanese dude)
12) Sagat (Giant kickboxer, later becomes obsessed with beating Ryu)
Jabroniville
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Joe

Post by Jabroniville »

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JOE
Created By:
Manabu Takemura
First Appearance: Street Fighter (1987)
Game Appearances: Street Fighter
Home Country: The United States
Role: Generic Guy, Forgotten Character
Vague Martial Art Basis: Underground Martial Arts/Kickboxing
PL 7 (78)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+11)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+6)

Advantages:
None

"World Warrior" Fighting Style: Accurate Attack (Jab), All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Fast Grab (Grab), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack (Roundhouse), Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Special Moves"
None

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications: 
Weakness (Predictability)- Joe, like all Street Fighters, cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time he tries the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, he will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 0 + 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (78)

-Joe is probably the single most generic character design in the history of video games... a white dude in red pants. That's the entire design. Unsurprisingly, we never saw him reappear, though Abel in SF IV looks kinda like him, and is stated to have amnesia. Hmmmm...

-Joe is basically a more accurate, weaker Mike, shifting the caps around. A one-shot character will only ever get PL 7 from me (presumably he sucks so badly that he wasn't allowed at any other tournament), but you'll note that +10/+4 is actually pretty good, and more than enough to demolish most thugs (or even a Blaster/Psionic-style superhero who didn't focus on a lot of Parry).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Mike

Post by Jabroniville »

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MIKE
Created By:
Manabu Takemura
First Appearance: Street Fighter (1987)
Game Appearances: Street Fighter
Home Country: The United States
Role: Scary Black Man, The Big Guy, Forgotten Character
Vague Martial Art Basis: Boxing
PL 7 (76)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+10)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 7 (+7)

Advantages:
Great Endurance

"World Warrior" Fighting Style: Accurate Attack (Jab), All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Fast Grab (Grab), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack (Roundhouse), Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Special Moves"
None

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +3

Complications: 
Weakness (Predictability)- Mike, like all Street Fighters, cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time he tries the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, he will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 1 + 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 14 (76)

-Mike was terrible... which is why we never saw him again. Actually, I've heard tell that those two dudes squaring off in the SFII opening screen were actually Mike & Joe from SFI, and that Mike is the black dude getting KO'd in one hit. However, Capcom has since said that those are two different guys, and since we all know that Capcom has never wavered or changed their story on their canon ever (COUGHpoisonHACK), I guess that's the final word. But yeah, no more game appearances for this guy. And this is a game series that brought back Birdie & Gen in the Alpha games, and threw in EAGLE for Capcom vs. SNK, so you know Mike sucks. Really, everything about him was done better in Balrog (who was also thought to possibly be a redone "Mike") anyways, so there's no reason to worry.

-Some recent backstory to Mike has stated that he's a reformed criminal who now tries to teach street kids how to box to get them out of a life of crime.

-Mike is remarkably large as an in-game sprite, but quite weak as a fighter, just being a big Boxer dude who does short-hops and punches you. As such, he has no special moves, and is just a PL 7 (75) Mook type of guy. PL 7 is nothing to sneeze at, of course, but I doubt he could defeat any PL 10 World Warrior on his own.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thorpocalypse
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Thorpocalypse »

Glad to see you back at it, Jab. The images aren't coming through, but if they're from Photobucket, it's them, not you. 8-)
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Psistrike »

Thorpocalypse wrote:Glad to see you back at it, Jab. The images aren't coming through, but if they're from Photobucket, it's them, not you. 8-)
Yeah, just checked their front page. They are doing maintenance and have been since sometime yesterday evening at least.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Jabroniville »

Yeah- that site has been slow for me for at least a week. Hopefully this fixes it.

PS I love that the first build on my brand new thread is of JOE.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Ryu

Post by Jabroniville »

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RYU
Created By:
Manabu Takemura
First Appearance: Street Fighter (1987)
Game Appearances: All
Home Country: Japan
Role: The Ryu (Trope Namer), aka All-Around Guy, Battle-Seeker, The Wandering Warrior, Captain Potential
Vague Martial Art Basis: Karate (Kyokushinkai-style) & Judo
PL 10 (155)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 9 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 7 (+16)
Expertise (Travelling Martial Artist) 11 (+12)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 7 (+11)
Ranged Combat (Fireball) 9 (+13)
Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Fireballs) 3, Improved Critical (Dragon Punch) 2, Improved Critical (Hurricane Kick), Last Stand (Ignores All Damage For 1 Round w/ HP Spent), Ranged Attack 4

"World Warrior" Fighting Style: Accurate Attack (Jab), All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Fast Grab (Grab), Improved Critical (Unarmed) 4, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack (Roundhouse), Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Martial Arts Strike" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Jumpy Moves" Leaping 1 [1]

"Special Moves"
"Flaming Fireball" Blast 6 (Extras: Secondary Effect 4) (Flaws: Distracting) (Diminished Range -1, Inaccurate -1) (7) -- [10]
  • AE: "Fireball" Blast 5 (Flaws: Reduced Defenses 2) (Diminished Range -1) (5)
  • AE: "Dragon Punch" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
  • AE: "Hurricane Kick" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Multiattack 4) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Affliction 4 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (7)
Offense:
Unarmed +16 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Special Moves +14 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Fireball +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Flaming Fireball +11 (+6 Ranged Damage & +4 Sec.Effect, DC 21 & 19)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +12

Complications: 
Motivation (The Battle)- Ryu seeks to perfect himself physically and mentally, and travels the world to do so. This will be accomplished by beating the $#!& out of people.
Relationship (Ken)- The two trained together as young men, and grew very close. Ryu is more placid and noble, while Ken is energetic and boisterous. Despite their differences (and an intense rivalry), they are as close as two people can be. They're bangin'. Shut up, they are.
Relationship (Gouken)- The boys are both very devoted to their master, Gouken, and fought to avenge his "death". Even now that he is alive, but worship him as a mentor-figure, despite his insistence that both are grown men, and must live their own lives.
Enemy (Akuma)- Akuma seeks to pervert Ryu's power for his own means, and unlock The Dark Hadou within him. Ryu is too noble for this, however.
Responsibility/Involuntary Transformation (The Dark Hadou)- Ryu can become overtaken by "The Killing Intent" of his martial arts style, and he grows more and more vicious.
Enemy (Sagat)- The Emperor of Muay Thai has sought revenge and a rematch against Ryu for years, ever since Ryu's "Killing Intent" scarred his chest.
Weakness (Predictability)- Ryu, like all Street Fighters, cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time he tries the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, he will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 18 + 14 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 26 (155)

-Ryu is of course the famous "hero" of the Street Fighter Universe, coming out in the very first game as the player character up against all the Jobbers. He's since been transformed into a kind of "Wandering the Earth" warrior who somehow has to attain perfection by beating the sh** out of people. Of every character in video games, he's easily in the Top Ten as far as being influential goes (Sonic the Hedgehog is easily the most-copied), as not only is "The Generic Guy" in fighting games always a Ryu-type "Middle of the Road" warrior, but almost all of them possess his standard "Uppercut Move/Energy Blast/Across Screen Attack" combo. Just look at the SNK series- Art of Fighting (done by the same creative team) ripped him off to an embarassing degree with "Ryo", but then you had the similar Bogard Brothers in Fatal Fury, and even Kyo King of Fighters mimics his style. And don't even get me started on Kyo's various KoF clones. Ryu is basically the launcher of a thousand video game characters.

-Ryu isn't exactly a DEEP character- he's really just all about "I want to seek the MEANING of being strong/I want to be strong" (which is like the ultimate Shonen cliche, and total "Fake Characterization"- even stuff I ENJOY does this, like Hajime no Ippo/Fighting Spirit, where the character just starts going "What is the meaning of strength?" like he's saying something deep). He's based off of a real person- a karate champion who claims to have "wandered the earth", fought a bear bare-handed and killed it, faced some "mysterious old master" and more... but it's probably all B.S., because he doesn't have proof of SQUAT. Charlatans like this are very common in the history of the martial arts, especially as they touted more mysticism & legend that real, practical knowledge- the modern rise of Mixed Martial Arts has really done a number on the more ethereal nature of martial arts at the same time as it's made them more popular than ever. Nonetheless, the guy became a Japanese icon.

-Of course, Ryu's relative lack of characterization compared to the vengeance-seeking Guile & Chun-Li, fun-loving Ken, evil Bison, psychopathic Vega and more is probably DELIBERATE- a true "Video Game Mascot" is, by definition, often a Flat Character- someone for the player to see as a mirror of themselves- their lack of traits allows the player to imagine that THEY are playing Sonic the Hedgehog, or Super Mario, or any number of other characters with a handful of generic traits. It's sort of like how Bella in Twilight was made as plain as dull as possible, so that every young female reader could imagine themselves as the plain girl being torn between Sparkly Vampire and Shirtless Werewolf. And yes, I just compared Ryu to Bella from Twilight.

-A slight wrinkle was added to Ryu's nature in some works, where they point out that Ryu is untalented, but works hard, whereas Ken is lazier, but has natural talent. This is a very "Japanese" kind of mindset to have, where constant repetition, practice and hard work are the key to Ryu's success, and he constantly practices the fundamentals, because he himself has no real gift for it. Ken, meanwhile, does all the crazy stuff, because the basics can so naturally to him that he never has to work on them. Which is probably how the Japanese see Americans. By contrast, I've read about Europeans visiting the U.S. and being SHOCKED at how hard Americans work- Hugh Laurie says he realized Americans' secret for success while filming House, because every single person around him worked their asses off for all 22 episodes per season of his long-running show. Though Europeans are rather infamously lazy by other nations' standards, having massive "siestas" in some countries, short-ass work weeks in others, and more.

-Ryu's design is a bit interesting, because it tells you a lot about the guy, while also being one of the simpler designs out there ("Gi Guy" became a massive cliche after Ryu showed up, as his imitators copied him almost exactly)- sure, he's wearing a traditional gi, which implies a respect for the old school, and a stoic, unpretentious nature. But... his gi is in TATTERS. Torn sleeves would indicate a lack of respect for one's own dojo in a karate tournament, but here they signify that he's an unfussy, tough traveler of the world, probably wearing the same shirt all the time. Plus there's his red headband (a gift from his beloved Ken, complete with staring longingly into each other's eyes) and red gloves, which further illustrate a departure from "tradition"- Ryu is rooted in the basics of karate, but he's forging his own path.

-Ryu was the main character in the awesome Street Fighter: The Animated Movie, oddly not doing the "fighting my dark inner side" thing that he's been doing in every game since, but just travelling around the world, beating the $#!& out of people. Gotta love it. He took out Fei Long in the movie's second or third-best fight scene, but got the snot beat out of him by his buddy Ken (though Ryu was playing defensive the whole time).

-Stats-wise, he's pretty much a just like Ken, minus all the Presence-based stuff, and with a focus on the Fireball as opposed to the Dragon Punch (does anyone else find it funny that Ryu focuses on the Fireball, instead of the move that WON him the original tournament?). Speaking of that last tournament, Capcom's continuity is so weird and half-assed (as opposed to SNK's, which is incredibly precise- they always state flat-out who won the last tournament) that though Ryu should technically be a world champion, nobody refers to him as such ever. In fact, he's been retconned as having LOST to Sagat, and used the Dark Hadou to lash out at his enemy in a post-fight cheap-shot after losing control of his power.

-Fighting Style: Ryu is the "Average Guy" of the "Street Fighter" series, and is so influential that his particular archetype is referred to as "The Ryu". He averages out his speed, strength and ability scores, and fights a direct, average style, not too focused on throws, strikes or projectiles- he can do a little bit of everything. His versatility is his strength, though most opponents will better him in at least one category. He & Ken both have 4 full ranks of Improved Critical- this is why they're the elites. And also why every single player who hasn't picked up the series for a while picks them; Ken & Ryu have remained largely unchanged for more than twenty-five years now, retaining the exact same tactics and moves as before. There are a few switches here and there, and they were differentiated in one of the SFII updates, but they're pretty much alike. What I discover in enemy tactics, from players and Computer AI alike, is that Ryu tends to be played by patient, confident, precise gamesr, while Ken is the character of choice for Special Spammers and cheese-machines who like to hammer out endless Hurricane Kicks & Dragon Punches until you get hit by a lucky one ("TatsumakisSHORYUKENTatsumakisSHORYUKEN!!"). Screw Ken players. SCREW THEM.

Image

RYU- circa Street Fighter I
Created By:
Manabu Takemura
First Appearance: Street Fighter (1987)
Game Appearances: All
Home Country: Japan
Role: The Ryu (Trope Namer), aka All-Around Guy, Battle-Seeker, The Wandering Warrior, Captain Potential
Vague Martial Art Basis: Karate (Kyokushinkai-style) & Judo
PL 8 (116)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+10)
Athletics 9 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+13)
Expertise (Travelling Martial Artist) 7 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Fireball) 6 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Fireballs), Improved Critical (Dragon Punch), Improved Critical (Hurricane Kick), Ranged Attack 4

"World Warrior" Fighting Style: Accurate Attack (Jab), All-Out Attack, Fast Grab (Grab), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Jumpy Moves" Leaping 1 [1]

"Special Moves"
"Hurricane Kick" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Multiattack 3) (Flaws: Distracting) & Linked to Affliction 3 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (5) -- [7]
  • AE: "Fireball" Blast 5 (Flaws: Reduced Defenses 2) (Diminished Range -1) (5)
  • AE: "Dragon Punch" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Special Moves +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Fireball +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications: 
Motivation (The Battle)- Ryu seeks to perfect himself physically and mentally, and travels the world to do so. This will be accomplished by beating the $#!& out of people.
Relationship (Ken)- The two trained together as young men, and grew very close. Ryu is more placid and noble, while Ken is energetic and boisterous. Despite their differences (and an intense rivalry), they are as close as two people can be. They're bangin'. Shut up, they are.
Responsibility/Involuntary Transformation (The Dark Hadou)- Ryu can become overtaken by "The Killing Intent" of his martial arts style, and he grows more and more vicious.
Weakness (Predictability)- Ryu, like all Street Fighters, cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time he tries the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, he will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 11 + 9 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 16 (116)

-Ryu in the first Street Fighter game was a mere baby, hitting as a PL 8 fighter who drops 40 full points from the "baseline" Ryu.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:58 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote:Ken, meanwhile, does all the crazy stuff, because the basics can so naturally to him that he never has to work on them.
And it drives the people around me crazy.
Jabroniville wrote:He & Ken both have 4 full ranks of Improved Critical
Yeah, but mine will work on Internet forums.
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Re: Jab's Builds!

Post by Spam »

Mad thanks to you, Ares and the others for keeping things going. I have less than five sites I visit daily, and your builds page is one of them, so I was pretty bummed when things turned weird the last few days.
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