Statting Up Worm Characters

[Sanctaphrax]

And here's Legend.

Unlike most of these writeups, this one's not current. It dates back to his interlude. I wanted to stat him as the Protectorate leader.

This posed some trouble, since Legend already pushes up against the limits of 50 skill points and 21 Refresh. He's got social, physical, and political power in spades, and all of that is expensive.

I wanted to make his Speed and Strength Mythic, but it wasn't in the budget. And if I had one more skill point to play with, I'd have given him a 3-wide skill tower up to Superb with Fantastic Presence on top.

His Aspects were kind of fun to write. Stole one of them from the Parahumans Online interlude.

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Legend (In A Submarine)

High Concept: Leader Of The Protectorate
Trouble Aspect: Pawn Of Cauldron
Other Aspects: Oh My God He's So Nice, My Beloved Husband Arthur, Classic Superhero Image, Sometimes I Wish I Could Just Fly Away, All Of My Friends Are Terrible People
Skills:
Fantastic: Presence, Athletics
Superb: Fists, Empathy
Great: Alertness, Rapport
Good: Endurance, Conviction, Discipline
Fair: Investigation, Might, Resources
Average: Lore, Scholarship, Deceit, Intimidation, Performance
Stunts:
Leader Of The Protectorate (Presence): Use Presence instead of Contacts when contacting superheroes.
The Weight Of Reputation (Presence): Use Presence instead of Intimidation when dealing with people who know his reputation.
Spotless Public Image (Presence): Use Presence instead of Deceit to hide association with Cauldron and other unsavoury things.
Powers:
Potent Ranged Natural Weaponry [-3] (Lasers)
Undying [-0]
No Metabolism [-1]
Wings [-1]
Supernatural Sense [-1] (Enhanced vision)
Supernatural Strength [-4]
Supernatural Speed [-4]
Supernatural Toughness [-4]
Supernatural Recovery [-4]
Limitation [+1] (Supernatural Strength adds to laser damage, does nothing else)
Limitation [+1] (Supernatural Speed doesn't benefit Stealth or initiative)
Limitation [+3] (Only has Supernatural Recovery and No Metabolism while flying really fast)
Total Refresh Cost:
-20
Refresh Total:
1

[Hick Jr]

Legend is cool!


Also, upon review, the veteran members of the Nine seem to be able to turn off their ability to feel pain whenever they want, which seems to scream "Human Form restricted Feel No Pain". Bonesaw definitely has it.


Also, after reviewing the Drones power, it seems really appropriate for Taylor. But it doesn't allow for the massive amounts of bugs she has access to, and the fact that it doesn't really bother her when they get killed.

Also, is Panacea doable with this system? It might be possible to hack something together with Incite Effect and Ritual (Biomancy) or even full Thaumaturgy.

[Taran]

Can't...stop....reading....

[Sanctaphrax]

Also, upon review, the veteran members of the Nine seem to be able to turn off their ability to feel pain whenever they want, which seems to scream "Human Form restricted Feel No Pain". Bonesaw definitely has it.

I gave Bonesaw Feel No Pain, without Human Form.

Gave Jack Inhuman Toughness to represent being augmented by Bonesaw. Considered giving him Feel No Pain as well, but decided to conserve Refresh because it hadn't been confirmed in-story.

Not really inclined to edit that retroactively. He needs that massive stack of Fate Points.

Also, after reviewing the Drones power, it seems really appropriate for Taylor. But it doesn't allow for the massive amounts of bugs she has access to, and the fact that it doesn't really bother her when they get killed.

Drones is appropriate, but it's not necessary. I like the current Supernatural Sense + Incite Effect + Limitation set-up.

Also, is Panacea doable with this system? It might be possible to hack something together with Incite Effect and Ritual (Biomancy) or even full Thaumaturgy.

Maybe.

The problem is that Panacea's power is unreasonably strong. She can make Extreme Consequences vanish with a touch. She can casually reverse a city-wide plague. She can make creatures like Atlas and the relay bugs out of whatever biomass happens to be lying around, without significant effort or a significant time investment.

[Sanctaphrax]

Newter's done. Wasn't too tricky.

Alexandria is proving to be harder. I think I have her Powers down, but I'm having trouble with skills and Aspects.

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Newter (Chest Deep)

High Concept: Member Of Faultline's Crew
Trouble Aspect: Cauldron-Born
Other Aspects: Still A Kid, Time Of My Life, Gecko-Like Physiology
Skills:
Superb: Athletics
Great: Fists
Good: Endurance, Alertness
Fair: Stealth, Might, Rapport, Resources, Investigation
Average: Conviction, Discipline, Empathy, Contacts, Presence
Powers:
Spider Walk [-1]
Potent Natural Weaponry [-2] (Tranquillizing sweat)
Lethal Mutual Damage Shield [-4] (Tranquillizing sweat and blood)
Total Refresh Cost:
-7
Refresh Total:
1

[Sanctaphrax]

Alexandria here.

I'm not totally satisfied with these stats, and I might still revise her later. I felt like she needed more skill points than I was allowed to spend.

Input would be greatly appreciated.

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Alexandria (In A Submarine)

High Concept: Cauldron-Sponsored Superhero
Trouble Aspect: Arrogant Thug
Other Aspects: Member Of The Triumvirate, Secretly Chief Director Of The PRT, Mourning For Hero, Mastermind Of The Protectorate, The Alexandria Package Plus Hyperintelligence
Skills:
Fantastic: Fists, Scholarship
Superb: Lore, Deceit
Great: Might, Intimidation
Good: Conviction, Presence, Alertness
Fair: Discipline, Rapport, Athletics
Average: Endurance, Investigation, Empathy, Performance, Stealth
Stunts:
Martial Artist (Fists): Use Fists + 1 for combat assessments and Declarations.
Armed Arts (Fists): Wield huge objects with Fists.
Reading Micro-expressions (Scholarship): Use Scholarship instead of Empathy to read people.
Almost A Mind-Reader (Scholarship): Use Scholarship for social initiative.
Double Life (Deceit): +2 to conceal secret identity and association with Cauldron.
Well-Connected Secret Identity (Deceit): Use Deceit instead of Contacts for government/superhero connections.
PRT Resources (Deceit): May take a point of Sponsor Debt in order to use Deceit +2 instead of Resources for one roll. Debt taken this way represents the consequences of secretly moving around large amounts of other people's money.
Powers:
Wings [-1]
Mythic Strength [-6]
Mythic Speed [-6]
Limitation [+4] (Speed only benefits flying sprint rolls)
Immunity [-12] (All physical stress not based on suffocation)
Immunity [-4] (Some mental attacks, including the Simurgh's song)
Superior Searchable Mental Library [-4]
Total Refresh Cost:
-36
Refresh Total:
-15

[Hick Jr]

Newter and Alexandria look good! Her skill pyramid was a little weird until I read the Immunity thing.


I was thinking that Panacea is just the strongest biomancer who's ever lived. Thaumaturgy, a buttload of Refinements, possibly that Internalized Foci power, and Mastery of Biomancy or Incite Effect for the fast and dirty stuff.

[MadAlchemist]

Yup, this thread got me hooked. Haven't been peeking too much here till I caught up.

[Sanctaphrax]

Glad to have you onboard, MadAlchemist.

And yeah, Panacea is basically "just" the strongest biomancer ever...except, the magic system doesn't go that high. Repairing snapped spines with a casual touch is just not possible for a character in this system.

And considering what Mab had to go through to keep Harry alive after has was "killed", I don't think Panacea-level healing mojo is supposed to exist in the Dresdenverse. Except, maybe, when the White God gets involved.

[KnightOrbis]

How would you stat up certain strikers like Grace, Watch, or Brandish.

[Sanctaphrax]

Natural Weaponry, mostly. Sometimes with a stunt or two.

Watch, for example, deserves a stunt that negates two points of worn armour when he attacks unarmed.

[Hick Jr]

Hmmm.

Musings on Hatchet Face have led me to some interest in a Power-nullifying Power. Possibly creating a block on using any supernatural abilities similar to that of a threshold- any effort is reduced by x shifts.

Is this a terrible idea? It'd be a really scary thing to spring on one's players.

[Sanctaphrax]

I don't think a block is the best way to go about it. When Alexandria goes to punch Hatchet Face, she doesn't find it any harder to hit him. She just doesn't do much damage, because her strength has been negated.

A block would also fail to represent the offensive aspects of Hatchet Face's aura, like the way that Speed doesn't help you dodge him and Toughness doesn't help you tank his hits.

That's why I declined to stat Hatchet Face when he was requested. Proper stats for him would require a new Power-negating Power, and it would be a lot of work to write such a Power.

[PirateJack]

Not particularly. A persistent Block to all rolls that use Powers that would affect the zone Hatchet Face is in would do it (Hatchet Face not included). He would effectively have his own threshold.

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Power Negation [-?]
Description: You have the power to negate the effects of other powers in an area around you, to a degree. Each attempt to use a power in the zone you are in (or that enter the zone you are in) face a persistent block equal to your Discipline rating.
Immunity: Your power does not affect any other powers you may have.

[Sanctaphrax]

That wouldn't actually affect most Powers at all, since most Powers don't involve rolls.

And it would be fairly easy to muscle through for many opponents, since Hatchet Face's Discipline is probably not all that great.

If Taylor is in melee with Hatchet Face, she shouldn't be able to put a BUGS IN YOUR EYES Aspect on him. But by that writeup she could, since she maneuvers at Epic or Legendary with her insect control and his block is probably just Good.