Hardin, the Man in the Tectite Suit

[hakootoko]

Reserved for character sheet

[hakootoko]

Reserved for character description and background

[hakootoko]

1. What is your experience with the Hero System Rules?
I first played Champions in the late-80s. I still recall that slim, perfect bound book with the light blue cover. There was an awful lot in that book, and it was the first time I'd seen a purely point-buy game. Later I played in a brief Fantasy Hero game, but we got annoyed by the build-your-own-spells aspect of it and gave up. Then I ran a couple of brief pulp campaigns using Justice, Inc. I don't think I've played Hero 6e before (or any Hero in ten years or more), but I'm reading it now. The lack of derived stats seems like it will make everything simpler.

2. What is your experience with PbP?
I've been on MW since 2009, and was on RPOL and Tangled Web before that. I've been in dozens of games, but sadly, most don't last even a few months. I've never run a PbP game, but I've run live online games for friends. We're using discord and roll20 these days.

3. What is your Role-playing Experience (overall, PbP and otherwise)? And, what makes a game "good"?
My experience with RPGs before PbP was about playing live with friends, learning various systems, making a mix of stock and oddball characters as the whim strikes me after finding out what the GM wanted. It wasn't until PBP that I got into playing with strangers, but I think the same things still apply. You have to make a character that fits with what the GM wants for their world and story, someone who is a team player, and someone who also has their 'niche', some narrow focus where they're the best in the party. A game is good when everyone is on the same page about expectations and where people aren't just responding, but are active and setting the stage for responses by the GM or other players. Specifically in PBP, it means responding promptly so the pace doesn't falter.

4. Please link me a couple examples of your Roleplaying here at the Weave (preferred). If no examples, be sure to post an "RP" in the open RP thread (when I get one up) I'd like to see a sample of your game-style writing.
https://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php?/topic/14496-blackwater-creek-game-thread/

https://og.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=542785

Here's one thread from oMW and one from nMW. Hopefully the oMW threads are still viewable by non-players.

5. Tell me about a couple of your favorite characters you've actually played (in PBP or even in TT) and why you enjoyed those characters so much.
In a live game that recently wrapped up after five years or so, I was a middle-aged grizzled guerrilla fighter whose planet had been conquered by humans. He, like his entire species, looked exactly like twelve year old human girls. It allowed for lots of comedic impersonation and undercover work. Everyone in the party got to make jokes about him. Yet he was a serious character almost all of the time who was at war for the survival of his people and knew how to pull off hit-and-run ops.

My first PbP character was a one-eighth-elf (human for all game mechanics reasons) who identified with his elven heritage. He was a ranger with one level of cleric of the elven high god. He tried to pal around with any elf the party came across, and some found they had to accept him because the elven high god had. He definitely wasn't the best fighter in combat, but was fun to roleplay.

6. Name (do not use the "mention" function) one or more players 'applying' for this game ("Shadows of the City") whom you would like to be accepted (Other than yourself, obviously you want to be accepted or you'd just withdraw) into this game and why you would like to play with them here. (example reasons. Good Character concept that fits well with yours, Played with them before and they are a good RPer, They are Helpful, whatever). Please be sure to put this response in a private tag for myself (if left blank, private tags are still viewable by the GM). Please use the Private tags. I don't want anyone's feelings to get hurt. Also, you may need to come back to this later after seeing who has applied.



7. Describe your desired character for me
Don't worry... change this as often as you need to. I fully understand that characters can't be fleshed out until you know what the heck you're playing toward!)

He was a talented sculptor that never got the lucky break he needed to make a go of it professionally. So he worked days as a fireman and practiced his art privately in his off time. Once, depressed over his lack of success, he took a couple of weeks of vacation and rented a cabin far off in the woods. There he saw a meteor fall and went to look for it. Whatever was in that meteor leapt at him and encased him in a semi-transparent blob of viscous goo. He didn't and doesn't know if it's even alive, but it definitely doesn't feel sentient. Back in the city, no one recognized him, but his new symbiotic abilities quickly made him famous, and he cast off his old identity and became Hardin. He pronounces it like Rodin, but most people mispronounce it as Harden. He got certified as a fireman (easy enough, since in his old identity he'd done that for years) and was deployed to places in danger of imminent collapse to shore them up and save lives. He's in thick with the whole fire department, and occasionally other parts of the city government use those contacts to call on him as well.

His powers (if I can manage to make this work in Champions) are the ability to hive off or throw chunks of goo he calls 'tectite'. He can make them harden into permanent forms, either to repair a damaged building before it collapses or to make a unique sculpture. Or he can encase someone in soft, temporary goo that slowly dissolves; gooing a hostage-taker and their hostage prevents one from shooting the other, and allows for the safe separation and retrieval of both. I could also see it being used to make a fortified wall or a field of caltrops, but perhaps these are things to grow into.

He supports himself now by selling tectite sculptures, mostly to those buying them to support him as a superhero. But money is money. At least there are a few experts out there who appreciate his creations as art.

 

Hopefully I can get this done in time. I'm still reading the 6e rules and have a busy next couple of weeks. If you have a recommendation for how much his relationship (contact?) with the fire department is going to cost, please let me know. That section of the perks chapter looks like mostly the GM's decision.

 

[Papa Bear]

Probably Access at 1 Pt to allow him to get into firehouses and credentials as a fireman to get into areas when there is an emergency situation where officers won't be letting people go inside a massive office building.

From what you've described, it sounds like you want an 'Organization Contact' as it extends to related governmental offices... which ultimately is cheaper though it is a x3 cost... Of course, that depends on how far spread you want that contact to reach because I would be inclined to cost reduce that to x2 since the fire department doesn't have as significant a reach as say, the police department.

Then, of course, you have to build the contact based on the rolls (11- for 2pts, maybe the -1 if its only in your superhero OR normal ID, useful skills/resources (0 pts), Neutral relationship ( 0 points... but a +1 for a better relationship might be appropriate, up to you)... there's probably some tweaks that you'd like to do to personalize it but that's what I'm thinking off hand.

The difference on that x3 cost vs x2 would be the 'scope' of the access the contact has with in the organization/fire department and the relationship with, say, the mayor's office and the Police Department. You could add the +1 point for Major institutions which kind of is that 'scope' thing I mentioned. So a 2x would be very limited to the fire department directly with the 3x having a broader scope with the +1 granting a certain amount of access to city government beyond the chain of the FD.

eek, does that make sense?

[hakootoko]

So I can take 12- [3], Super identity only [-1], Contact has access to major institutions [1], Good relationship with contact [1], Organization contact x3 = 12 cp

This means he can call the Fire Chief directly, explain the problem to him, and ask him to arrange a meeting with the Mayor, eh?

[Papa Bear]

Yes, I think that would be appropriate and reasonable for that build.

[hakootoko]

A heads up. I see two other apps with entangling attacks, so I'm going to rethink my concept and start another app.

I plan to still make a social character with connections to the city government. But I need a different combat angle.

[Papa Bear]

Thanks...sorry about that

[hakootoko]

Haha. You didn't do anything! I'm just being selfish in wanting to be different than the others!

Give me a couple of days and I'll have another concept.