Supervillains/vidgelante team for Worm

[Sanctaphrax]

While I can't speak from the DFRPG side, since I'm hardly a master of the system, from a pure story perspective I always found a lot of the Undersiders to be pretty crazy strong right from the start. Grue and Regent took a while to get really scary, and Imp doesn't enter the picture for a while, but Skitter, Tattle, and Bitch struck me as forces to be reckoned with from the get-go. Skitter hospitalizes one of the strongest capes in Brockton Bay all on her own right at the start of the story, and the Undersiders beat the numerically superior Wards, plus Glory Girl and Panacea, in a straight fight very early on, and with Skitter and Bitch both holding back from any potentially lethal use of their potent powers.

They are indeed pretty scary. But Feet In The Water characters can kill professional soldiers like it's nothing if they're built for combat. You don't need a lot of Refresh to be powerful.

That being said, there's some subjectivity in this kind of assessment. I tend to stat people at lower levels than people expect...for example, I'd say Lung is Submerged, and most superheroes and villains are weaker than him. Including the Undersiders, at least when the story starts. (There are Undersider stats later in that thread, but they're meant to be applied later in the story.)

I took a look at the thread Sanctaphrax is talking about, and that depiction seems to be a great way to represent a pure mortal in a cape world without needing extremely high skill amounts!

Thanks.

I got your point, but I still don't think, that Flayer with his friends' help can't be the gung leader. I mean, Kayzer and Lung are not Thinkers, but they ruled their gungs during the long time. Yep, they were capes, but Kayzer wasn't the strongest capes in E88. So, if Flayer will be clever and skilled enough (now he had 70 skillpoints) and his mates will be ready to listen him (cuz he actually most clever of them) - why not?

Yes, he could be the leader. No argument here. Leading is mostly about chutzpah.

My point is mostly that you don't need 70 skill points to be a very competent person. IIRC I've literally never written a character with more than 65 skill points, and I've written up some pretty ridiculously overpowered characters.

I guess there's no real harm in giving him a crazy skill total, but it feels inelegant to me. So I'd rather make him skilled through the careful use of stunts and Aspects.

P.C. What you think about the backstories of Wendigo and Hummersmith?

They look solid to me.

[Tirs]

I guess there's no real harm in giving him a crazy skill total, but it feels inelegant to me. So I'd rather make him skilled through the careful use of stunts and Aspects.

Actually, I put 17 different stunts. About aspects - so, Street-Smert and Coldblooded can'be quite useful. Others... to be honest after nWoD system, aspects for me play more like narrative, not mechanical atributes.

[Sanctaphrax]

I saw the stunts. But quantity can't replace quality. Buying stunts carelessly actually makes a character less competent, since it reduces their Fate Point count.

As for Aspects...they're largely narrative, but being super-skilled is mostly a narrative thing. A character with Great Weapons and a MASTER SWORDSWOMAN Aspect is better with a sword than a character with Great Weapons and no relevant Aspect. They might be equally effective mechanically before you take FP into account, but the one with the Aspect is more skilled within the story of the game-world.

[Tirs]

Sanctaphrax
I thoght about it... But the concept of character is about action, and I focused on the verstality more than pure effect.
Anyway, new concept:
Serpent
Main Aspect: Tough girl with golden heart
Problem aspect: Former Drug User
Other aspects: Tsundere, Street-Smart, Moves Like a Ninja
Skills
Superb: Stealth
Great: Alertness, Deceit
Good: Contacts, Burglary, Athletics,
Fair: Fists, Weapons, Guns, Presense
Average: Schoolarship, Perfomance, Emphaty, Intimidation, Investigation
Powers
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (snakes)
-Displacement [-1] (from wiki) - _{You are not where you appear to be. A glamor or other optical effect obscures your true location, making it difficult for opponents to properly target you.}
-Cloak of Shadows [–1]
-Inhuman Speed [–2]
-Incite Emotion (lust) [–2]
-Aura Of Obscurity [-0]_{You cannot be photographed clearly- be it film, digital, or video, you are somehow always out of focus, blurred, etc… Furthermore, people who don’t know you well have a very difficult time remembering you clearly.}
Stunts
-Blend In: You blend into a crowd easily. If there’s a crowd to hide in, you gain +2 to your Stealth rolls. This is particularly useful when Shadowing someone on foot.
-Stay Close and Keep Quiet!: When sneaking around with a group, you are able to use your
Stealth skill to complement everyone else’s Stealth skill as they roll to stay hidden and quiet, provided they stay nearby and follow your instructions. Failure on either of these points means they lose the benefits. If you have any aspects specific to your ability to sneak around, your companions may invoke those aspects for their benefit as well.
-Swift and Silent: When Skulking, any difficulty increases due to fast movement are reduced by up to two.
-Honest Lies: Whenever incorporating a real, valuable piece of the truth (however marginally valuable it may be) into a lie, you gain a +2 on your efforts to pass off the untrue parts.
-Cat-Burglar: You’re a thief with catlike tread; you may use Burglary instead of Stealth for Hiding or Skulking
-On My Toes: Gain +2 to Alertness when using it to determine initiative.
Backstory: Susan Sullivan was born in Brockton Bay, a mixed middle-class family. Her parents divorced when she was eight - the girl continued to live with his father. He was a caring - sometimes too caring. Maybe he would like to debunk the myth about the "absent black fathers". Any way, for her it was irritable. From the age of thirteen, she regularly began to run away from home. Then she began hanging out with the wrong crowd. Perhaps her father (and mother, who still took part in the upbringing of his daughter) was worth being harder ... Anyway, soon she finally settled on a street where all experienced the joy of a free life: beatings, rape, prostitution, hunger, and of course drugs. Perhaps her father (and mother, who still took part in the upbringing of the daughter) was worth being harder ... Anyway, soon she finally settled on a street where all experienced the joy of a free life: beatings, rape, prostitution, theft, and of course drugs. Susan could go home, but she felt herself too "dirty" for this. During a gangbang (which is different from rape only because she was too drunk to refuse and resist), a girl ever wanted to be somewhere else. Unexpectedly for her, she begun to ran - and when she came to himself, she understood, that she had ran five blocks less than a minute, and not out of breath. Ability wasn't make not that much easier her life. But she at least stoped sell her body and begun to sell stolen goods. During the raid she was caught, and passed from hand to hand to parents. The girl underwent a course of rehabilitation and cure of venereal sores. She could start a new life, but the streets are not so easy to let go. She saw extrimely bad things and she want to help people.  Especially since she was familiar with a hefty guy-Indian who once saved her from  knife of a drunken client, and now offers a truly real deal with one real guy...
Appearance: Slender, athletic girl. Swarthy, with brown eyes, but the hair is more dark red than black. Hair cut short. Her costume -  scaly dark-green skintight suit and the mask in the form of the top of the snake's head.

[Sanctaphrax]

This one I don't like so much.

It's hard to tell what her actual power is. Speed, stealth, snake senses, snake empathy, a weak illusion, some limited mind control, and the ability to see in the dark...it all seems kinda random.

The stunts are weird. Cat Burglar is thoroughly useless on a character with Stealth > Burglary, and both On My Toes and Swift And Silent seem pointless on a character with Speed. Swapping those two for another level of Speed would be a big upgrade.

As for the backstory, someone having sex with you while you're too drunk to consent is not different from rape at all. In fact, the vast majority of rape involves alcohol. Dunno if that's a language error or what, but you should fix it.

[Tirs]

Hm-m... Yep, I shouild fix it.
About rape... She was in severe apathy and drunked. Formally, she was agreed - but in this state she could agree on anything. She just did not want to live.

[Tirs]

Serpent
Main Aspect: Tough girl with golden heart
Problem aspect: Former Drug User
Other aspects: Tsundere, Street-Smart, Moves Like a Ninja
Skills
Superb: Stealth
Great: Alertness, Deceit
Good: Contacts, Burglary, Athletics
Fair: Fists, Weapons, Guns, Presense
Average: Schoolarship, Perfomance, Emphaty, Intimidation, Investigation
Powers
-Echoes of the Beast [–1] (snakes)
-Cloak of Shadows [–1]
-Supernatural Speed [–4]
-Incite Emotion (lust) [–2] (pheromone attack)
-Spider Walk [–1]
Stunts
-Blend In: You blend into a crowd easily. If there’s a crowd to hide in, you gain +2 to your Stealth rolls. This is particularly useful when Shadowing someone on foot. _{she learn this trick while she lived on streets}
-Stay Close and Keep Quiet!: When sneaking around with a group, you are able to use your Stealth skill to complement everyone else’s Stealth skill as they roll to stay hidden and quiet, provided they stay nearby and follow your instructions. Failure on either of these points means they lose the benefits. If you have any aspects specific to your ability to sneak around, your companions may invoke those aspects for their benefit as well.
-Honest Lies: Whenever incorporating a real, valuable piece of the truth (however marginally valuable it may be) into a lie, you gain a +2 on your efforts to pass off the untrue parts.
-Acrobat: Gain +1 on Athletics when using it to survive a fall. Also, gain +1 to attempts to dodge ranged attacks (throwing and guns), so long as you describe it colorfully.
Backstory: Susan Sullivan was born in Brockton Bay, a mixed middle-class family. Her parents divorced when she was eight - the girl continued to live with his father. He was a caring - sometimes too caring. Maybe he would like to debunk the myth about the "absent black fathers". Any way, for her it was irritable. From the age of thirteen, she regularly began to run away from home. Then she began hanging out with the wrong crowd. Perhaps her father (and mother, who still took part in the upbringing of his daughter) was worth being harder ... Anyway, soon she finally settled on a street where all experienced the joy of a free life: beatings, rape, prostitution, theft, and of course drugs. Susan could go home, but she felt herself too "dirty" for this. During a gangbang, a girl ever wanted to be somewhere else. Unexpectedly for her, she begun to ran - and when she came to himself, she understood, that she had ran five blocks less than a minute, and not out of breath. Ability wasn't make not that much easier her life. But she at least stoped sell her body and begun to sell stolen goods. During the raid she was caught, and passed from hand to hand to parents. The girl underwent a course of rehabilitation and cure of venereal sores. She could start a new life, but the streets are not so easy to let go. She saw extrimely bad things and she want to help people.  Especially since she was familiar with a hefty guy-Indian who once saved her from  knife of a drunken client, and now offers a truly real deal with one real guy...
Appearance: Slender, athletic girl. Swarthy, with brown eyes, but the hair is more dark red than black. Hair cut short. Her costume -  scaly dark-green skintight suit and the mask in the form of the top of the snake's head.

[Tirs]

And last but not lest - Jasper:
Jasper
Main Aspect: Don't-Look-At-My-Tits-I-Have-A-Mind
Problem aspect: Don't know real life
Other aspects: Reachgirl, Loyal, I require my adventuries!
Skills
Superb: Empathy
Great: Rapport, Resources
Good: Presence, Contacts, Discipline
Fair: Scholarship, Performance, Alertness, Athletics
Average: Driving, Endurance, Weapons, Guns, Fists
Powers
-Evocation [–3]
-Thaumaturgy [–3]
Effects: -She can manipulate the temperature and the state of aggregation of matter, based on the energy of the intermolecular and interatomic bonds. It is let her to use pyro-/cryomacy, as much as transfome the solid materials in liquid form, and iquid - in gaseous, and vise versa - without changing its temperature.
-Generally, she can manipulate amount of material approximately equal to its own weight (approximately 45 kg). However, concentrating and spending a certain amount of time (Thaumaturgy rites), she is able to change the temperature of gases and thus, control the weather, on the scale of the whole city. Usualy, the using of Jasper's power accompanied by specific dark red aura around her body.
Stunts
-The Social Graces: Keen awareness of the ebb and flow of social situations makes you the master of your circumstances. When determining initiative in a social conflict, gain +2 to Empathy.
-Won’t Get Fooled Again: It only takes once for someone to lie to you before you start to wise up to it. Once you’ve discovered a particular person’s lie for what it is, you gain a +2 on any future Empathy rolls when dealing with that liar.
-Best Foot Forward: People just like you, especially when you’re deliberately trying to make a good first impression. You gain a +1 on your roll to make a good first impression, and failing that roll cannot give you a negative temporary aspect or make the situation worse.
Windfall: You’re occasionally able to tap into more Resources than usual, such as cashing out stocks or receiving a periodic disbursement from a trust fund. Once per adventure, you may spend a fate point to make a single Resources roll at +4.
-Calm Blue Ocean: You are skilled at keeping your emotions in check. Gain +2 to Discipline when rolling to keep emotions under control.
Backstory: Many people may envy Maggie Bishop - she has a loving and wealthy family, beauty, popularity and good mind (although the last trait often isn't noticed). Her early childhood was spent in Boston, teenage years - in Brockton Bay. Her superpower woke up when she returned from vacation - the plane on which she was traveling, nearly crashed. At that moment, the girl wanted only one thing - to be on solid ground. When the plane landed, she noticed his legs, immured in a layer of transparent substance. Before she could scream, substance disappeared - blown away in the inconspicuous flash.
As Skitter, Maggie begun to study her abilities, and she planned to be a hero. She take name Jasper (cuz she always liked jasper jewelry and becouse of color of the flash). She perceived it as entertainment and hobby, but starting to patrol the streets - quickly realized that this is a serious business. Serpent (the had met each other a couple of time before that) led girl in the team, and Maggie soon imbued with the Flayer's ideas.
Appearance: Tall, slender, green-eyed blonde. Not very athletic, but have a good forms. Dark red suit, a short coat with a hood and a white half-mask.

[Sanctaphrax]

About rape... She was in severe apathy and drunked. Formally, she was agreed - but in this state she could agree on anything...

What an awful thing to say.

[Tirs]

Yep. ButWorm-verse can be really dark.

[Sanctaphrax]

I don't mean it's too dark. I mean what you said is awful.

[Tirs]

  Sorry, if I hurt you.

[narphoenix]

Sorry, if I hurt you.

I think it has less to do with "hurt him", more to do "that's a horrible thing to say." I won't go into a tirade now, but the basic thing is: if someone can't give meaningful consent, it's rape.

[Tirs]

Ow, sorry. I explain the situation wrong. The point is not about "girl was stunned and facked after" but "she was totaly emotionalt smashed and drinked and she GIVE meaningful contest becouse she didn't saw reason to say 'no'".

[Sanctaphrax]

See, that's exactly the problem. If she was drunk and emotionally wrecked, she didn't give meaningful consent. Period.

But honestly, this isn't an appropriate topic for the forum. So I'm not going to discuss it anymore.

Anyway, Jasper should probably have Ritual instead of full Thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy can do all sorts of things that have nothing to do with her power. Plus, she needs focus items.