[3e] Bullets and Badlands (OOC)

[Sid]

Hrm - so far it seems like a lot of defense-shifted characters. I may go against type and do a Toughness-shifted martial artist.

That's a good point, I imagine it's because in a game with guns, most people would think that they'd rather not get shot.

[Sid]

@nineofspades

Nice build, I think those abilities work well as powers.

[XeroKhan]

My Submission

Jack Spade
Ex-member of the Aces Gang

BIO
Jack was raised by his father, who was a member of the Aces. Jack had no mother because she died at childbirth. One night, when Jack was 10, he was outside the Aces Saloon in Gambler's Pass (that is somewhere in Arkansas) when he saw a meteor land outside the town. When Jack got close enough to examine the meteorite, he was hit by some cosmic radiation from the meteor. When Jack returned to the saloon, Jack's father was found dead, and Jack became his father's replacement in the Aces. From what he heard, Jack's father lost a gamble for his life, so Jack vowed ti never gamble a life. Jack had been with the Aces for about 10 years, learning ways to cheat in gambling and fire his father's revolver effectively. In those ten years, Jack became aware of his ability to read people's minds and learned to use it to his benefit. Jack eventually left the Aces upon his 10th year with them for a some exploration of the Great Plains. Before leaving, Daniel Cobalt (he is the leader of the Aces.) said Jack may come back at any time when he wished. With that, Jack departed, eventually arriving in Wyoming.

DISCRIPTION
Jack has short, blonde hair with a beard/mustache combo. He wears the Aces attire, a black fadora, brown vest, red bandanna, black dress shirt, black pants, and brown boots. He is 6' 0" tall, 175 lbs, and hazel eyes.

STATS (50 pp)
STR 2
STA 3
AGL 2
DEX 5
FGT 2
INT 1
AWE 5
PRE 5

DEFENSES (22 pp)
Toughness +8
Fortitude +8
Dodge +8
Parry +8
Will +8

SKILLS 16 (32 ranks)
Athletics 2 (+4), Deception 4 (+9), Expertise(Gambling) 4 (+9), Insight 4 (+9), Perception 4 (+9),
Persuasion 4 (+9), Ranged Combat (revolver) 6 (+11), Sleight of Hand 4 (+9)

ADVANTAGES (9 pp)
Eidetic Memory, Improved Initiative, Precise Attack

Equipment 6

Revolver (25 ep)
-ranged damage 5
-6 shot
-multiattack

Gambler's Kit (5 ep)
-deck of 52 cards
-poker chips
-10 dice
-1 knife

POWERS (22 pp)

Mind Reading 10 (Will DC 20)
-effortless
-vision dependent
-subtle 2

OFFENSE
Initiative +6
Unarmed +2 (close, damage +2)
Knife +2 (close, damage +3, critical: 19-20)
Revolver +11 (ranged, damage +5, multiattack)

COMPLICATIONS
1) Joins for guard duty out of greed
2) Known as an Aces member

Any problems?

[Sid]

XeroKhan,

I like the build, but I think he needs equipment (a gun would probably help).

Normal clothes you don't have to worry about, but any clothes that offer protection, you'll need to purchase as well (something I should have mentioned earlier), but that might not work for this character although, a Duster jacket can work for pretty much everyone in this setting.

By your damage, it looks like you have a heavy revolver, which is definitely fine (a Colt .45 for example), but I could also imagine a character like yours would also carry a concealed, small weapon (small revolver or knife) somewhere on his person. That's just a suggestion, not a requirement.

[Nineofspades]

@nineofspades

Nice build, I think those abilities work well as powers.

Thank you! I really like how the build all came together. She's got a very nice arsenal of little tricks for keeping the enemy at a distance and disoriented, leaving her plenty free to take her time and pick her shots.

I especially like the image of her using ricochet to deflect her shoots off of rocks and hitting her targets from their sides or rear, tricking them into thinking they are surrounded.

[Bombaatu]

Edits made to Wu Guang

[XeroKhan]

Stupid me forgot to include Equipment under Feats. So, I did some rearranging.

Also, would it be alright if I have a Gambler's Kit with me? I put details in on what's inside.

[timothy]

Too much going on for me to try this one.

But for those interested in martial artists, there were a large number of european options. Savate and la canne from France, British boxing, Basque zipota, Swiss schwingen wrestling, bartitsu wasn't around until later, but there was an awareness of jiujitsu floating around, too. This could give a pretty cool option for a multiple weapon using mixed martial artist without going the (somewhat cliched) wandering chinese master.

Just thought I'd share...

[Nineofspades]

two things.

1. Added a backstory for Truth.

2. Badpenny has been PMing me about my Perception damage effect, and is of the opponion that the way it is stated doesn't work, that

The way I see it is this

A gun has an effect of

Ranged Damage X [2pp/rank]

My sniping power is intended to be an Alternate effect of the guns effect, such that.

Perception Ranged Damage (Activation (move action))(-1)[2pp/rank]

Since the costs are the same, as I see it, there should be no problem to make the perception range effect a AE of the guns inbuilt damage ability.

Badpenny is of dissenting opinion on this, and insists I would have to build the Perception range power as an entirly seperate effect, using only the 3e I get from my equipment, and losing their benefit. Or, to build my gun as a device and have its effect as a normal Alternate effect.

The reason I am against this is that, the 'build your damage effect off of 3pp and lose your equiptment' makes no sense at all, since I'm not AEing the equipment, I'm AEing the equipment effect.

And the issue with the latter is that It's not a property of the gun. its an ability of the shooter. Truth is Just. That. Good. a shot. So she can pick up a gun, take a move action to aim, and then hit her target.

So, Sid, hopefully you can lend some insight here. Like I said, I'm basing this of off a feat from 2e, and that feat was a 1pp effect which let you use use a ranged weapon as a perception ranged attack, in exchange for not being able to do anything else that turn.

[Sid]

Stupid me forgot to include Equipment under Feats. So, I did some rearranging.

Also, would it be alright if I have a Gambler's Kit with me? I put details in on what's inside.

Re: the Gambling Kit, sure, just detail what's inside it.

@nineofspades

Let me go through the power. Up until now I've just been glancing through the builds relatively quickly, without deep diving into them.

[badpenny]

Ranged Damage 5 = 10pp

Perception Ranged Damage 5 = 15pp (or 14pp with the Move action Activation of -1pp)

You can't have the latter as an AE because it's worth more points than the base effect.

If you want to add just the perception effect, you can't AE it. It would be meaningless.

Ranged Damage 5 = 10pp
AE: Perception 5 = 5pp

Perception 5 added to what? As an AE you can't use both slots at the same time.

Third, you can't AE off of equipment. It's an Advantage. Even if you could, you can't AE off of the value of the equipment.

There are equipment arrays (like a utility belt)

rifle = 10ep
AE: gun = 1ep
AE: knife = 1ep

But that's all in equipment points. Your REAL cost is 3pp (Equipment 3 [up to 15ep])

If what you're talking about is the Perfect Aim feat from W&W:

So long as nothing obstructs your view of the target, you simply will not miss. Ever . This is the Perception Range modifier applied to Blast Limited to use with Ranged Weapon only, and generally bought at damage ranks equal to whatever the weapon of choice for the character is. The character needs a ranged weapon in order to use the power, but it doesn’t really matter what kind of weapon that may be—he’s just that good.

You still have to buy it up to the ranks you want to use it with. So 5pp for Blast 5, then apply the Flaw (personally I don't think the Flaw is valid because you're buying the Extra Increased Range, which needs as a base to be meaningful the Extra: Ranged. So by default it only works with ranged damage effects. The Flaw is meaningless. To my mind, you need to pay the difference between Ranged and Perception Range

Unerring Accuracy: Enhanced Extra 5 (Increased Range: Perception) (Variable Descriptor: Ranged Attacks, Quirk: Limited to lower of Attack or Extra's rank for 5pp

This would allow you to use any ranged damage effect up to +5 and apply perception range to it. But you can't do it as an AE, and certainly not off of equipment.

[Sid]

I understand the issue, it's mainly because damage comes from the equipment, but to "to hit" comes from skills.

GR gets around that for Jonah Hex by giving him a "power" for Enhanced Skill (guns), then has an array off of that for his Independent Aim. That way the AE is off the Power, not the equipment.

At the end of the day, the idea of the power is, if Truth can concentrate the entire turn (not move, not get attacked, etc.), then she doesn't need to make an attack roll. At the same time, she can't stunt it, or modify her damage or rate of fire (like Power Attack or Multi-Attack it) either. So I'm okay with the idea of the "power", because it's situational and not particularly overpowered.

Badpenny's solution is 5pp and seems valid, the original power was 3pp and does have some technical issues with it. So it makes sense to me to just use Badpenny's solution unless you think it should be 3pp. At the end of the day, I'm not sure 2pp is worth fighting over.

On a separate note, I like the background for Truth.

[Nineofspades]

Alright, I made the changes that Badpenny described to Truths aim. It still allows her to work as function, and to absolutely shine when she's given the time to set up a good sniping position. I also like that the way its built now, she's got perfect aim with any ranged weapon.

Who's up for a friendly game of darts?

[badpenny]

Quote: "Friend, treat her kindly or answer to me!"
Power Level: 8
Concept: Old West powerhouse
Occupation: Blacksmith
Real Name: Horace Higgens
Legal Status: Citizen of the United Kingdom with no criminal record
Place of Birth: Truro, Cornwall, England
Marital Status: Single
Living Relatives: none
Height: 6 ft. 5 in.
Weight: 245 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

Horace Higgens - PL 8

Strength 5, Stamina 7, Agility 2, Dexterity 0, Fighting 8, Intellect 1, Awareness 3, Presence 0

Advantages
All-out Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 1, Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Great Endurance, Improved Grab, Improvised Weapon, Inventor, Languages 1, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Skill Mastery: Intimidation, Startle, Takedown, Ultimate Effort: Toughness

Skills
Close Combat: A fist like a steel gauntlet: 2 (+10), Expertise: Blacksmith 6 (+7), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 12 (+12), Investigation 8 (+9), Perception 6 (+9), Ranged Combat: Throw 8 (+8), Stealth 6 (+8), Technology 10 (+11), Vehicles 6 (+6)

Powers
A fist like a steel gauntlet: Strength-based Damage 1
A head of steam: Speed 1 (Speed: 4 miles/hour, 60 feet/round)
Eyes in the back of his head: Senses 1 (Radius Vision)
In the presence of a lion: Enhanced Trait 3 (Advantages: Fascinate (Intimidation), Skill Mastery (Intimidation), Startle)
Iron Constitution: Immunity 2 (Disease, Poison; Flaws: Limited - Half Effect)
Iron Stomach: Feature 1
It's only a flesh wound!: Regeneration 2 (Every 5 rounds)
The Mighty Bellows: Feature 1 (His voice can be as loud as a PA system)

Equipment
Toolkit (Basic), Warhammer

Offense
Initiative +2
Grab, +8 (DC Spec 15)
Throw, +8 (DC 20)
Unarmed: A fist like a steel gauntlet: Strength-based Damage 1, +10 (DC 21)
Warhammer, +8 (DC 23)

Complications
Honor: Horace is an honorable man, who believes that women (of all stripes) should be treated with respect.
Obsession: Horace will never give up looking for his daughters.

Languages
English, Spanish

Defense
Dodge 5, Parry 8, Fortitude 10, Toughness 8/7, Will 6

Power Points
Abilities 52 + Powers 11 + Advantages 13 + Skills 35 (70 ranks) + Defenses 9 = 120

Background: Horace Higgens came to America in 1860 at the age of 25 after his family succumbed to typhoid. He is a fourth generation blacksmith. He sought out the frontier to lose himself in, to take himself to a point far removed from his old life. There, he found the love of a good woman (Maria Rigaldo), who taught him Spanish, and bore him two beautiful daughters, Gabriela and Esmeralda.

Horace was happy, productive as a blacksmith, and all was well with the world. But for the bandits. They attacked the town, looted it, and made off with the women. His wife lay dying after putting up resistance and Horace swore vengeance. With no time to lose, he left his wife in the care of a survivor and took off after the men responsible.

It took him months to track them down. They had no idea where his daughters were. Sold to the mines or into prostitution. When he returned to his home, he learned his wife had not survived. Again, Horace was lost. He wandered around for a year until he found work on the railroad. He vows no more comittments, but his heart is not entirely made of stone. He just once again needs to find the love of a good woman.

He still maintains hope that he will one day be reunited with his daughters. He carries a daguerreotype of his girls in his breast pocket. In it, Gabriela (15) is laughing at something her sister Esmeralda (14) has just done. It was to be re-taken as his wife felt it wasn't proper behavior for young women (Maria was a loving mother, but strict--unlike Horace). It was taken just a week before the attack by the bandits and is the only thing remaining from their house (which succumbed to fire).

[Sid]

Badpenny,

Nice, I like it. Quick question, is the vehicle 6 related to his time on the railroad?