Eld's builds:Thomas Rhymer, Morph Fiend, Low Blow

[Arthur Eld]

Ravana ended up being a really scary monster at the end of my game. Ravana was pretty much able to kill a whole lot of paragons before my players could corner him. Even then I had to pull off a Deus Ex Machina with the use of a enhanced Otherkin to help them out. I think I changed Otherkin into a mimic or a metamorph with PL:X stats to help even the odds. Thanks Eld for the Ravana build.

It looks like they changed the mimic power in 3E. I'm not totally sure you can stack traits like in 2E anymore. Does mimicking multiple enhanced strengths stack together or can you only take the highest number? At least I get that impression from Amazo in the DC Heroes and Villians book. The rules for Mimic were kind of vague on that point.

Well, like I said, the lack of stacking was a mechanical limit imposed by the descriptor of Mimic in 2E. In 3E, which I think does a better job of putting the focus on effects, Variable does what you need it to do within its descriptive framework. There is no Mimic Power, nor is there a Nemesis power, or a Shapeshift power. They're all just different expressions of Variable.

So let's say Ravana killed Nightstalker and Alpha Male. It would be unnecessary to allocate his Variable to Enhanced Strength 7 (for Alpha Male) and Enhanced Strength 6 (for Nightstalker), with Stacking. You'd just give him Enhanced Strength 13-which would of course break Ravana's caps, which is why I said his PL should be mutable.

If you wanted to build a mimic that couldn't 'stack' powers, that would be either a Limit or Quirk of that character's Variable power.

Its funny you mentioned Otherkin, cause she's one of the upcoming Paragons builds I'm doing. Her, Patriot, Felicia Dumont, Nightstalker, and then my first Dresden Files build-Karrin Murphy.

[HustlerOne]

So let's say Ravana killed Nightstalker and Alpha Male. It would be unnecessary to allocate his Variable to Enhanced Strength 7 (for Alpha Male) and Enhanced Strength 6 (for Nightstalker), with Stacking. You'd just give him Enhanced Strength 13-which would of course break Ravana's caps, which is why I said his PL should be mutable.

If you wanted to build a mimic that couldn't 'stack' powers, that would be either a Limit or Quirk of that character's Variable power.

Its funny you mentioned Otherkin, cause she's one of the upcoming Paragons builds I'm doing. Her, Patriot, Felicia Dumont, Nightstalker, and then my first Dresden Files build-Karrin Murphy.

Yikes! I thought you only take Alpha males Enhanced strength of 7 and add one rank of Enhanced Strength for anyone else. I hate to see Ravana kill someone like patriot.

Sweet that your doing Otherkin. I liked her concept but I hated the stats and the male alter egos given to her. It was pretty strange that Rachel herself was never given any ranks in morph. I ended up giving her Mimic linked to morph. Pretty much making her into Peter Petrelli from Heroes.

[Arthur Eld]

I think the reason she wasn't given any ranks in Metamorph was because she had no control over the transformations, and because she was the least expensive build, thus she couldn't be bought as the main character.

I'll have to take a look at the build though, I know there are some conversions I've had to do more work with than others due to the 2E-3E changes.

[Arthur Eld]

Balor
PL 12 277

Abilities
Strength 13, Stamina 12, Agility 4, Dexterity 4, Fighting 11, Intellect 1, Awareness 1, Presence 2

Powers
Anti-Magic Field Burst Area Close Nullify Magic 7 (Broad, Simultaneous, Randomize, Effortless) 35
•Spewing Chaos Cone Area Weaken Toughness 6, Affects Objects, Linked to Cone Area Damage 6 1

Super-Strength Power Lifting 2 (800 tons) 2
Strenth Stunts (AEs of Strength Damage) 2
•Groundstrike Burst Affliction 12 (Resusted by Fort, Vulnerable/Prone, Limited-Both Balor and targets must be in contract with the ground, Instant Recovery) 1
•Shockwave Burst Area Damage 12 (Limited both Balor and targets must be in contact with the ground) 1
Magically infused body Immunity 16 (critical hits, disease, cold, own powers, pressure, magic-Limited to Half Effect), Protection 2 (Impervious Toughness 13) 26
Unkillable Immortality 10 (one hour) (20)

Big Dude Growth 3 (Permanent, Innate) 7

Chaos Field Reaction Visual Perception Area Affliction 12 (4 ranks Uncontrolled, Resisted by Will, Dazed/Compelled/Controlled, Limited to randomizing actions), Morph 2 (Uncontrolled, various humanoid monsters), Reaction Affliction 3 (Resisted by Will, Dazed/Stunned/Incapaciated, Perception Range, Limited to when targeted by mental effects) 67

Advantages: All-out Attack, Instant up, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Skills: Deception 4 (+6), Athletics 1 (+14), Expertise (architecture) 4 (+5), Technology 4 (+5), PErception 4 (+5), Insight 6 (+7), Stealth 4 (+8)

Offense
Initiative +4
Unarmed +11 Damage 13

Defense
Dodge 10 (7), Parry 10
Toughness 14, Fortitutde 12, Will 7 (6)

Abilities 84+Powers 160+Advantages 6+Skills 14+Defenses 13=277

•Balor is kind of a tricky build, but I think I got the necessary parts down. Formerly Liam O'Herlihy, an IRA bomber who was given power by the Fomorians. The process granted him a lot of power-superhuman strength, a chaos field that distorts magic, and rendering him almost unkillable. But it also turned him into a hideous giant monster. Best used as a foil for magical heroes, he could easily menace a group of PL 9 or so heroes, but would go down against a standard team of PL 10s. Still, that's what villanious team-ups are for, probably with smarter magical types who manipulate Balor into doing their dirty work.

[Arthur Eld]

Karrin Murphy
PL 6 105

Abilities
Strength 2, Stamina 2, Agility 2, Dexterity 2, Fighting 7, Intellect 1, Awareness 2, Presence 2

Advantages: Assessment, Defensive Roll, Equipment 5, Fast Grab, Improved Critical 2 (guns, unarmed) Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 6

Equipment P90 (Blast 4, Multiattack), Undercover vest (Protection 2, Limited to ballistics, Subtle), Glock (Blast 4), handcuffs

Skills: Athletics 4 (+6), Deception 1 (+3), Expertise (arcane lore) 2 (+3), Expertise (current events) 4 (+5), Expertise (police officer) 5 (+6), Expertise (streetwise) 5 (+6), Close Combat (unarmed) 2 (+9), Insight 5 (+7), Intimidation 3 (+5), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Treatment 1 (+2), Vehicles 3 (+5)

Offense
Initiative +2
Unarmed +10 Damage 2
P90 +8 Damage 4

Defense
Dodge 7 (5), Parry 7
Toughness 5/3/2, Fortitude 4 (4), Will 6 (4)

Abilities 38+Advantages 19+Skills 35+Defenses 13=105

Complications
Responsibility Murphy's sworn an oath to protect the citizens of Chicago, and she takes it very seriously.
Relationship Harry Dresden, Jared Kincaid, Stallings.
Obligation As an officer of the law, Murphy faces certain restrictions and regulations.

•In my perfect world, Sarah Jones would play Karrin Murphy in a movie/second tv series of the Dresden Files. Its probably just cause I started reading the series around the same time I started watching Alcatraz, but it fits for me. But anyway, this is Karrin Murphy. If you have to peg her down to a certain book, let's say Proven Guilty.

•I could take Murphy down to a playable 90 points, but I'm not sure I'd still be happy with the build. As is, I'm fairly happy with this build. I dithered about giving her Improved Critical (unarmed) or not, because her primary martial art is aikido, which isn't really about hard strikes, but she's also mentioned as practicing a lot of other martial arts. I kept her just undercapped on offense without a gun, because while in M&M its all too common to see characters just as (or more) effective with fists than bullets, in the slightly more realistic world of the Dresden Files, even Karrin Murphy needs a gun. Also, assuming one of the Swords of the Cross is Strength-based Damage 3 (among other things), she'd be perfectly within her caps if she picked one up. That's the kind of little thing that makes me happy.

[HustlerOne]

I think the reason she wasn't given any ranks in Metamorph was because she had no control over the transformations, and because she was the least expensive build, thus she couldn't be bought as the main character.

I'll have to take a look at the build though, I know there are some conversions I've had to do more work with than others due to the 2E-3E changes.

The Sisters in scarlet from the Starbreed threat report might be something you want to look at. The sisters in scarlet also has multiple identities that uses morph as a power. Personally, I think Green Ronin did a much better job with the sisters than with otherkin.

Thanks for the good Empress conversion Eld. Your converting most of my favorite Paragons build so far.

[Thorpacolypse]

Nice Murph, Eld. I like the not quite PL6. I re-worked mine to a PL7-ish which I think is where she is at this point in the series. She knows enough about the supernatural world now to take out a major talent on her own, apparently, so I thought that felt about right.

I like the pic choice, too. I think she's a good fit for Murph.

[Arthur Eld]

Glad you like her. More Paragons stuff is up next, then some Algernon Files characters, and then more Dresden-verse stuff. Thomas and Lara Raith, maybe with a sidebar for the average White Court baddie (like Madrigal or Madeline). Toot Toot, definitely.

[Arthur Eld]

Felicia Dumont
PL 10 135

Abilities
Strength 1, Stamina 2, Agility 4, Dexterity 4, Fighting 6, Intellect 2, Awareness 0, Presence 1

Powers
Quick Healing Healing 4, Personal, Persistent 5
Magic Flintlocks (Removable) 26
Magic Bullets Blast 10, Accurate 2
•Supernatural Smiting Variable 3 (Limited to effects that target supernatural opponents)
Made to Hunt Senses 9 (Demonic Awareness, Acute Scent, Vision Counters all Concealment, Vision Counters Illusion)

Advantages: Benefit (Ambidexterity), Attractive 2, Equipment 2, Improved Critical (flintlocks), Improved Initiative, Instant Up, Precise Attack (Ranged, cover), Ranged Attack 2, Language 3 (English, Aramaic, Enochian, base-French)

Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+10), Athletics 5 (+6), Deception 7 (+8/+13), Technology 6 (+8), Vehicles 3 (+7), Sleight of Hand 5 (+9), Investigation 7 (+9), Expertise (arcane lore) 6 (+8), Expertise (streetwise) 5 (+7), Perception 5 (+5), Insight 6 (+6), Stealth 6 (+10)

Offense
Initiative +8
Flintlocks +10 Damage 10

Defense
Dodge 9 (5), Parry 9 (3)
Toughness 2, Fortitude 7 (5), Will 3 (3)

Abilities 40+Powers 31+Advantages 14+Skills 34+Defenses 16=135

•Felicia Dumont is a french heiress and possible 'stealth' paranormal, although her abilities may be magical in nature. What is known is that she was driven to acquire an antique pair of flintlocks in Prague, and when she did, her world changed forever. They showed her things, opening her eyes to the truth about the world behind the normal ken of human understanding. Since then, she's gotten involved in combat against monsters, magical beasts, and others in the shadow, such as Silas the Elder and the forces of the Pact.

•Felicia basically has one thing going for her, her pistols. Her healing power ensures she can get out of scrapes that a normal woman would find lethal, but she's still majorly undercapped on defense. Her Equipment should definitely be allocated to armor, and she needs to play smart in a fight. But if she gets the drop on supernatural opponents (especially those that might not know she can see them) she can deliver some devastating first round attacks, especially if she has her Variable set properly.

[Arthur Eld]

Nightstalker
PL 10 208

Abilities
Strength 8/2, Stamina 2, Agility 12/3, Dexterity 12/3, Fighting 12, Intellect 3, Awareness 2, Presence 2

Powers
Superhuman Enhanced Strength 6, Enhanced Agility 9, Enhanced Dexterity 9 48
Fast Leaping 3, AE: Speed 3 4
Predator Movement 2 (Safe Fall, Trackless), Senses 9 (Accurate hearing, accurate scent, danger sense, extended hearing, low-light vision, tracking-scent, ultra-hearing) 13
Mask (Removable) 7
Sensory Shield Enhanced Fortitude 4 (Limited to resisting sensory effects)
Hi-tech optics Senses 6 (Darkvision, Distance Sense, Microscopic vision 2, Extended vision)

Gauntlets (Removable) 24
Claws Improved Critical (unarmed 2), Movement 2 (Wall Crawling 2)
Bolos Snare 7
Cables Movement 1 (Swinging)

Advantages: Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Equipment 5, Evasion, Grabbing Finesse, Inventor, Instant Up, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Takedown 2, Language 1 (Spanish)

Equipment: Body Armor (Proteciton 3), Flash-grenades (Burst Visual Dazzle 4), AE: Smoke grenades, Handcuffs, Mini-tracer, rebreather, multi-tool,

Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+14), Athletics 6 (+14), Expertise (soldier) 4 (+7), Technology 7 (+10), Vehicles 1 (+13), Sleight of Hand 1 (+13), Investigation 7 (+10), Expertise (current events) 4 (+7), Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+9), Perception 12 (+14), Stealth 3 (+15)

Offense
Initiative +12
Unarmed +12 Damage 8
Bolos +12 Snare 7

Defense
Dodge 12, Parry 12
Toughness 8, Fortitude 10/6 (4), Will 6 (4)

Abilities 58+Powers 96+Advantages 19+Skills 27+Defenses 8=208

•Nightstalker, also known as Army Lieutenant Carter James, is basically what you would get if the Punisher had superpowers and didn't use conventional weapons. Which would be simply horrifying for PL 2-4 street thugs, facing off with a guy with cutting-edge weapons and superhuman strength and no compunctions about killing. Reminds me of the Blue Knight of Astro City, if only because you really got the sense that this guy was simply terrifying.

•Depending on the tone of the game and the players involved, Nightstalker could make a valuable ally for the PCs, or someone they oppose over morality issues. In the traditional Paragons setting, most people would probably be on his side, but in a more 4 color world like Freedom City, he'd be an anti-villain more than anything else.

[Unbeliever]

Just wanted to say that I'm digging your Paragons builds. It's one of my favorite books from 2E -- great memorable characters and good riffs on the classics -- and I'm happy that you're making it so easy for us to make use of them in our later games.

P.S.: also a fan of the Dresden Files, though I kind of file that under "guilty pleasure."

[Arthur Eld]

I'm just glad people might actually want to use my builds.

As for the Dresden Files, yeah I hear you on that. They're entertaining as all get out, but Butcher sure ain't no Chabon or Lethem.

[iNSOMN14]

If you're glad people might want to use your builds, I'll let you know I've used a few and plan to use more. A few weeks back I used your conversion of the Beast of Kilimanjaro as a generic "rise-from-the-ocean giant-monster" and just this week I made use of your conversion of Spasm (using his default dumb muscle character) and Tom Anwar (switching him to be Mindfire's mafia lawyer father who uses his secret ability for evil, who's still alive in my game).

So keep those builds coming, and I'll keep using them.

[Arthur Eld]

That does make me glad, not just because you used my builds, but because that sounds like a pretty awesome game. Spasm is a cool generic thug villain because he has a neat, if disturbing, visual to him, and the idea of the Answer being evil is really cool as well.

[iNSOMN14]

It actually did go well. Anwar and his power made for a bit of an "oh sh!%" moment when, taking the stand to testify against a few villains who had attacked and robbed an AEGIS transport vehicle. You see, one of the heroes had a few too many indiscretions during the fight, like using Anvil (from Threat Report) like a baseball bat after he'd fallen unconscious and then using Anvil's unconscious body to block a hit from Captain Oblivion's (from ECK #2) Disintegrating Touch. Having admitted that and then having to talk their way out of it was QUITE interesting.

As for Spasm, his look has always been something I liked about him. Like a creepy mutant Bane. And his power level and Regeneration made him quite the threat for my group fr a couple of rounds until they stumbled onto his weakness to Electricity. Then it because all Lightning Bolts from the sky, electrical bursts from the Projection Vortex, Tasers, and "Someone find me a fuse box!"

Next game is going to be the start of part 3 of Emerald City Knights, so I plan on using your conversions from the G'tach from Time of Vengeance as just throw away villains. I'd ran Time of Vengeance in 2nd edition with most of my current players, so we'll see if any of them recognize them.