John Harcourt, "Rescuer"

[hakootoko]

Note: Total is 362, because I couldn't figure out how to get 2cp of Profession for free.

Note: Using "3-Column Compressed" because it's the only template that lists MCV.

Edit: Removed 1cp of Mental Defense because I was 1cp over.

Name:  John Harcourt, Rescuer Alternate IDs:    Player:    Val Char Roll Notes 15 STR 12- HTH Damage 3d6 END [3] 13 DEX 12-   13 CON 12-   13 BODY     18 INT 13- PER Roll 13-/14- 13 EGO 12-   23 PRE 14- PRE Attack: 4 1/2d6 15 PD     15 ED     4 SPD     10 REC   Run: 12m 40 END   Swim: 4m 24 STUN   Leap: 4m Disadvantages Pts Hunted: UFO Institute Frequently, Less Powerful, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish  15 Social Complication: Requests from the Government Frequently, Minor  10 Physical Complication: Alien Symbiote Interference Infrequently, Fully Impairing  20 Psychological Complication: Rescue Innocents (Common; Strong)  15   XP   0     Base : 302   Disads : +60   XP Spent : +0   Total = 302   123 : Characteristics Cost 127 + Powers Cost 52 + Martial Arts/Skills/Perks/Talents Cost 302 = Total Cost

champions5.jpg Pts.  Power/Skill/Perk/Talent END   Powers 60   Mentalist: Multipower, 60-point reserve    6f   1) Mental Blast 6d6 (60 Active Points)  6 5f   2) Telepathy 10d6 (50 Active Points)  5 5f   3) Mind Scan 10d6 (50 Active Points)  5 1f   4) +5 OMCV Mind Scan (10 Active Points)    40   See Mind: Detect A Large Class Of Things 13-/14- (Mental Group), Blocked by Teak, Discriminatory, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Penetrative, Targeting,  0 1   +1 PER with See Mind  0 5   Nightvision  0 4   Mental Defense (4 points total)  0     Skills 3   Bureaucratics 14-    3   Conversation 14-    3   High Society 14-    3   Persuasion 14-    3   Paramedics 13-    3   Stealth 12-    2   Climbing 10-    3   KS: Art 13-    3   AK: Sovereign City 13-    3   CuK: City Government 13-    3   Combat Driving w/ TF: Large Motorized Ground Vehicles 12-    0   Concealment 8-    0   Deduction 8-    0   Language (basic conversation; literate) (2 Active Points)    2   PS: Fireman 11-    0   Shadowing 8-    0   TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles        Perks 1   Access    12   Contact (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact limited by identity, Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 12-    2   Positive Reputation (A medium-sized group) 14-, +1/+1d6        Talents 3   +1/+1d6 Striking Appearance (vs. all characters)

Base OCV: 3   Base DCV: 6   Base ECV: 6 - 3 Adjustment +     Adjustment +     Adjustment +   Final OCV:     Final DCV:     Final ECV:     Levels: +5 OMCV Mind Scan (10 Active Points) Combat Maneuvers Name Phase OCV DCV Effect Block 1/2 +0 +0 Block, Abort Brace 0 +2 1/2 +2 vs. Range Mod. Disarm 1/2 -2 +0 Can disarm Dodge 1/2 --- +3 Abort, vs. all attacks Grab 1/2 -1 -2 Grab two limbs Grab By 1/2 -3 -4 Move and Grab Haymaker 1/2* +0 -5 +4DC to attack Move By 1/2 -2 -2 STR/2 + v/5 Move Through 1/2 -v/5 -3 STR + v/3 Set 1 +1 +0 Ranged attacks only Strike 1/2 +0 +0 STR or weapon Range 0-4 5-8 9-16 17-32 33-64 65-128 RMod 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 DEX: 13 SPD: 4 ECV: 6 - 3 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 15 PD (0 rPD) 15 ED (0 rED) MD: 4 END: 40 STUN: 24 BODY: 13 Roll Location STUNx NSTUN BODYx To Hit 3-5 Head x5 x2 x2 -8 6 Hands x1 x1/2 x1/2 -6 7-8 Arms x2 x1/2 x1/2 -5 9 Shoulders x3 x1 x1 -5 10-11 Chest x3 x1 x1 -3 12 Stomach x4 x1.5 x1 -7 13 Vitals x4 x1.5 x2 -8 14 Thighs x2 x1 x1 -4 15-16 Legs x2 x1/2 x1/2 -6 17-18 Feet x1 x1/2 x1/2 -8 Height: 2.00 m Hair: Brown Weight: 100.00 kg Eyes: Brown Appearance:  Background:

Edited April 25 by hakootoko (see edit history)

[hakootoko]

John always wanted to be a painter. But he knew his chance of 'making it' as a painter was slim. So just out of school he trained as a fireman, painted in his spare time, and kept his real work separate from his day job. The art world was just as tough to break into as he thought, and even as he got better at it, his big break never came.

Then he died. He was working a fire at the UFO Institute when an upper floor collapsed on top of him. It was a quick, painless death. Or was it?

An alien artifact the institute had lying inert on a shelf had been secretly using its powers to scan people to see who was healthy and who was not. Its programming told it to wait for someone near death, then make a copy of their body and transfer their mind into it, saving their life. It jumped into action. Since it hadn't been programmed for humans, it wasn't able to dive in and copy one, so it had spent its time on the shelf studying human biology and planning out a superior body. John got that body. Still the artifact ran into trouble. It was supposed to dissolve into the new body after its purpose was fulfilled and cease to exist. It's biology was just too different to achieve that. So it continues to exist in the back of John's mind, invisible to the outside world.

It was several days before John's mind was stable enough to think straight again. He found that he'd even missed his own funeral. He found he looked absolutely nothing like his old self, and that he had a slightly disturbingly perfect human appearance: his features were a bit too symmetrical, his muscles a bit too well balanced across his body. Overall he's taller, broader, stronger, and tougher than he ever was. He decided that no one would believe he was the old him. So he let the old him die. He went through training again to re-qualify as a fireman, and started putting to use there the super abilities the alien artifact had left him with. He could see where people were through walls or rubble, could tell how healthy they were, and affect their minds. This helped him to locate disaster victims, and even missing people. First he came to the attention of the higher-ups in the fire department, then the police, then the mayor, and then the upper crust of Sovereign City society. People wanted favors from him, and were willing to accept him as he was. They bought his paintings, set up art shows for him, and helped him gain a modest amount of critical acclaim. With his new art income, he doesn't have to rely on firefighting as a day job, but is still on-call when needed, trading favors for favors, calling on the authorities in exchange when he needs something.

His new name is John Harcourt. The news started calling him The Rescuer. Who can stop the news from inventing super names? He sure can't, so he puts up with it. He's never gone back to his pre-death name, and never will. There were few he would contact anyway, and they're already gotten over their grief; meeting them again would just be too painful for everyone. And thanks to his contacts, "John Harcourt" is a real person, with all the usual identity documents.

He still doesn't know what the alien artifact is or where it came from. It doesn't communicate in any way, and while he can look into minds, it had no mind to look into. It's nothing more than a programmed machine. Rarely, but usually at the worst times, some part of that programming kicks in, and the artifact tries to take over and act. There's little that John can do to stop it from doing what it wants.

The UFO Institute has video footage of John's new body leaving the building after the fire, and suspects him of having something to do with the disappearance of one of their artifacts. They would very much like to find out who John really is, as theirs is the first time anyone had ever seen him.

John has a spacious, top-floor apartment with a painting room in a small building in Auberdeen. It's a couple of miles from the community college and just down the block from the college area fire and police station. The area is mostly populated by ex-students who never really wanted to leave college, including struggling and semi-successful artists. Those who 'make it' tends to flee to the Heights. Some students also live in this area, those willing to schlep it all the way to campus in order to live somewhere that isn't run down. When not at home, he can be found anywhere from Auberdeen to Downtown. He drives a Jeep Rubicon, a bit scratched and dinged but still in great shape. He's got an emergency services scanner in the jeep to complement the one at home, and the back of the jeep is always a mess of emergency and survival gear. He almost always leaves his laptop at home (unless a meeting at city hall requires it) and depends on his phone when on the road. He'd feel lost without the gear in his vehicle, so he rarely takes public transit anywhere.

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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 painter 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. At a fire, at a kooky place call The UFO Institute, he was in the burning building trying to locate the last couple of people still inside when the ceiling collapsed on him. Days later, on the street, he was finally thinking straight again and tried to start piecing together the astonishing facts of what had happened.

He'd been killed. The ceiling had crushed his head and chest. Yet a dormant alien biological machine on a shelf had leapt into action and saved his life. As it was still with him, he didn't see it as conscious in any way, but only following its programming to save a life when needed. The problem was, it was alien. It wasn't designed to work on humans, so hadn't been able to re-create a duplicate of his old body and transfer his mind into it. Instead, it made an idealized human body it had put together from observing the humans around it. His new self looked nothing like his old self, but was more fit, tougher, and attractive. And the alien device which was supposed to be destroyed in the process was still somehow inside of his mind. He could feel it, it and its telepathic abilities, abilities that were now his own.

He didn't try to go back to his old identity. That man was already dead. He started over, re-qualified as a fireman, and in the process let people know about his abilities. He could find things. And more importantly people. He could safely incapacitate someone who was being a danger to themselves or others. It moved from an ability that helped him at emergency locations, to something the police (and then the mayor, and then the rich and powerful) asked to utilize. These people bought his art and helped him set up exhibitions, to get the modest critical acclaim that made his career. Now living off his art, he's listed as a volunteer fireman, someone the department can ask to help out in emergencies, and someone always welcome there. As his commitments spiral outwards from just finding people and he's drawn into fighting crime, he finds he doesn't have the expertise to go it alone, and gets together with others who share his ideals.

[So keeping the 'fireman', 'art', and 'social' aspects, and going towards alien-symbiote-that-made-him-an-egoist. Should be easier to build than what I was going to try for before, too.]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25 by hakootoko (see edit history)

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 40/40  Status: none

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OOC:

Edited April 30 by hakootoko (see edit history)

[Papa Bear]

Easier is good 😊

[hakootoko]

I have a couple of things in this build I should run past you, in case you need me to change them.

The alien symbiote, that "biological, programmed machine that was supposed to go away after performing its duty but failed to do so" is the source of his mentalist powers, but he knows nothing about it other than what's in the quotes.

Alien Symbiote Interference (Physical Complication, -20cp: Infrequently, Fully Impairing): Some unknown part of the symbiote's programming activates and asserts control. GM briefly does something instead of player.

Alien Takeover (Cannot be Stunned, 15 Active Points, -1 Side Effect: Major, Occurs whenever power is used): he can be stunned, but the alien symbiote can't. Whenever he's stunned, the alien symbiote acts instead, as decided by GM.

 

My main powers are:

A 60 point Mentalist Multipower with Telepathy, Mind Control, Mental Blast, and Mind Scan.

See Mind, a massively souped-up version of Mental Awareness, perhaps too much so: Large Class (10cp: minds and psychic powers), 360 degrees (5cp), Penetrative (10cp), Discriminatory/Analyze (10cp), Targeting (10cp). This is the symbiote's only sense, and a powerful one. When by itself, it used this to see all minds in its vicinity and analyze their health to see if any of them were about to die. Is 45cp overkill here? How narrow should the exception to Penetrative be? The classic example is "lead" (rather than all metals), so I'm thinking some particular kind of organic material, maybe "silk" or "teak".

 

[Papa Bear]

So, I'm away from home until next Thursday so I can't check on that 'narrow' exception. But if I remember correctly, Lead is one of the suggestions (at least in earlier versions) so Silk or Teak would be appropriate, and I like the organic idea. What's main purpose of the mind scan sense of the alien for your character? The stun/no stun/sort-of-but-not-really-stunned thing is very interesting.

[hakootoko]

Before the merge, the alien organic machine had the following abilities: the Mentalist Multipower, the See Mind power, and was Immune to Stun because it's a machine. In fact, the alien's only sense was See Mind; it didn't have eyes, ears, or any similar organs. After the merge, the PC has access to the Mentalist Multipower and See Mind power, but isn't Immune to Stun because he's a living being. So when the living being gets stunned, the alien isn't stunned, and can act according to its programming.

If you're asking "What's main purpose of the mind scan sense of the alien for your character" in terms of "Why do you want it and how will you as a player use it?", it allows him to detect living beings behind walls, buried under rubble, etc., determining how injured they are and if they're in urgent need of help, and it lets him use his mentalist powers on people while hidden behind or inside something secure.

[Papa Bear]

I like it

[hakootoko]

(deleted)

Edited April 10 by hakootoko (see edit history)

[Papa Bear]

Character Name: John Harcourt, Rescuer Alternate Identities: Player Name:		herologo.jpg
CHARACTERISTICS Val Char Base Points Total Roll Notes 15 STR 10 5 15 12- HTH Damage 3d6 END [1] 13 DEX 10 6 13 12-   15 CON 10 5 15 12-   15 BODY 10 5 15     18 INT 10 8 18 13- PER Roll 13-/15- 13 EGO 10 3 13 12-   23 PRE 10 13 23 14- PRE Attack: 4 1/2d6                             15 PD 2 13 15   15 PD (0 rPD) 15 ED 2 13 15   15 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 2.0 20 4   Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 10 REC 4 6 10     40 END 20 4 40     26 STUN 20 3 26     12" Running 12 0 12m     4" Swimming 4 0 4m     4" Leaping 4 0 4m 147 Total Characteristics Points CHARACTER IMAGE   EXPERIENCE POINTS Total earned: 0 Spent: 0 Unspent: 0 Base Points: 363 Disad Points: 60 Total Points: 363 MOVEMENT Type Total Run (12) 12m [24m NC] Swim (4) 4m [8m NC] H. Leap (4m) 4m V. Leap (2m) 2m DEFENSES Type Amount Physical Defense 15 Res. Phys. Defense 0 Energy Defense 15 Res. Energy Defense 0 Mental Defense 5 Power Defense 0			COMBAT INFORMATION OCV: 3 DCV: 8   Combat Skill Levels: +5 with any single attack (10 Active Points) COMBAT MANEUVERS Maneuver Phase OCV DCV Effect Block 1/2 +0 +0 Block, abort Brace 0 +2 1/2 +2 vs. Range Mod. Disarm 1/2 -2 +0 Can disarm Dodge 1/2 -- +3 Abort, vs. all attacks Grab 1/2 -1 -2 Grab two limbs Grab By 1/2 -3 -4 Move and Grab Haymaker 1/2* +0 -5 +4 DC attack damage Move By 1/2 -2 -2 STR/2 + v/5 Move Through 1/2 -v/5 -3 STR + v/3 Set 1 +1 +0 Ranged Attacks only Strike 1/2 +0 +0 STR or weapon COMBAT MODIFIERS Range 0-4 5-8 9-16 17-32 33-64 65-128 RMOD 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 Targeting shot OCV Hit Location Head shot (Head to Shoulders) -4 1d6+3 High shot (Head to Vitals) -2 2d6+1 Body shot (Hands to Legs) -1 2d6+4 Low shot (Shoulders to Feet) -2 2d6+7 Leg shot (Vitals to Feet) -4 1d6+12

 

Character Name: John Harcourt, Rescuer Alternate Identities: Player Name: herologo.jpg
SKILLS Cost  Name 3 Bureaucratics 14- 3 Charm 14- 3 Conversation 14- 3 High Society 14- 3 Persuasion 14- 3 Trading 14- 3 Paramedics 13- 3 Forensic Medicine 13- 3 Demolitions 13- 3 Artist: PS 14- 3 Art: KS 13- 3 Law: KS 13- 3 AK 13- 3 City Government: CuK 13- 3 Climbing 12- 3 Combat Driving w/ TF: Large Motorized Ground Vehicles 12- 0 Concealment 8- 0 Deduction 8- 0 Language (basic conversation; literate) (2 Active Points) 2 Fireman: PS 11- 0 Shadowing 8- 0 Stealth 8- 0 TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles 50 Total Skills Cost PERKS Cost  Name 1 Fire Stations and Restricted Areas: Access 12 Fire Department: Contact (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact limited by identity, Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 12- 2 Positive Reputation (A medium-sized group) 14-, +1/+1d6 15 Total Perks Cost TALENTS Cost  Name 3 Oddly Perfect: +1/+1d6 Striking Appearance (vs. all characters) 3 Total Talents Cost		POWERS Cost  Power END 60 Mentalist: Multipower, 60-point reserve   6f 1) Telepathy 12d6 (60 Active Points) 6 12v 2) Mental Blast 6d6 (60 Active Points) 6 5f 3) Mind Scan 10d6 (50 Active Points) 5 1f 4) Mind Scan OMCV: +5 with any single attack (10 Active Points)   45 See Mind: Detect A Large Class Of Things 13-/15- (Mental Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Penetrative, Targeting 0 2 +2 PER with See Mind 0 5 Nightvision 0 7 Alien Takeover: Cannot Be Stunned (15 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-1) 0 5 Mental Defense (5 points total) 0 148 Total Powers Cost

 

 

Character Name: John Harcourt, Rescuer Alternate Identities: Player Name: herologo.jpg
DISADVANTAGES
Cost	Disadvantage
15	Hunted: UFO Institute Frequently, Less Powerful, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish
10	Social Complication: Requests from the Government Frequently, Minor
20	Physical Complication: Alien Symbiote Interference Infrequently, Fully Impairing
15	Psychological Complication: Rescue Innocents (Common; Strong)
60	Total Disadvantages Cost
APPEARANCE
Hair Color:	Brown
Eye Color:	Brown
Height:	2.00 m
Weight:	100.00 kg
Description:
CAMPAIGN_USE
3cp over because I couldn't figure out how to make TF and PS free

Character created with Hero Designer (version 20110203)

 

[Papa Bear]

Worst case scenario, you can just clone that and make changes as necessary.

[hakootoko]

Opening the html file in notepad, copying all, and pasting it into "Source" worked. Thanks!

Ready for review.

[Papa Bear]

Yay

[hakootoko]

Do I have too many useless skills? I can see how "Art: KS" and "Artist: PS" are different in the rules, but perhaps it's overkill to have both when neither will much affect play. I might also drop a couple of other skills after seeing who's accepted to the game (Law and Forensic Medicine come to mind), so I can afford Stealth and Mind Control (6cp in the multipower).

[Papa Bear]

ooof, when a multi-power pool is in play, it is always so tempting to drop skills for that extra power!

I will say this, IN THEORY skills are supposed to play a bigger part of Dark Champions adventures. I say "in theory' because in most cases, if players just miss information, the GM has to feed it to them somehow or the villain's ultimate plan proceeds without heroic intervention and the heroes are always a step behind. its much more fun when players get to roll skills (and thus are happy they spent points on such and such) and are able to put things together but I know I get brain lock a lot of times and can't even see simple things so I get it and no blame or anything when it happens.

As to the Art vs Artist, the art KS can be worked in I think. The artist PS would really be more 'fluff' for you.