One of my nastier NPCs - opinions?

[BumblingBear]

Note:  If you're a player in the Let's keep Austin a little less weird campaign, don't read past this point.

Alright all - I want to get some feed back on this bad girl.

I think she's priced alright to be a Big Bad of a submerged level campaign, and her weaknesses if exploited properly make her very killable (or take out-able through social means) but I could really easily see her cleaning the floor with a bunch of folks.

She is a Giant Centipede Fae.

Mommy Hannah

High Concept: Daughter of Galmix, dragon cetipede
Other Aspects: Terrible liar, terrified of magical weapons, I eat dragons for breakfast, Being big is both a blessing an a curse, Nobody better harm my babies

Skills:

Fists: +6
Might: +5
Intimidation: +5
Lore: +4
Investigation: +4
Discipline: +4
Alertness: +3
Presence: +3
Rapport: +3
Deceit: +2
Survival: +2
Athletics: +2
Weapons: +1

Stress:

Physical: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] ([ ] [ ] [ ] [ ])
Mental: [ ] [ ] [ ]
Social: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Powers:

-4 Mythic Size

    +2 to hit her. +4 Stress boxes. +4 to might rolls to lift or break things. +2 to athletics to cover distance. +4 to intimidation against normal sized creatures. -2 to stealth rolls, and stealth can never be above 0.


-1 Claws
-1 Venom
-1 Spider Walk
-8 Legendary Strength

    +18 to might for lifting and breaking things. Might is +4 in conjunction with grappling. This also allows you to make a 6 stress hit on an opponent during a supplemental action during a grapple. Always roll a +4 when rolling might to modify another skill regardless of the comparison between the two skills. Add +8 to the weapon rating of attacks the rely on muscle.


-8 Physical Immunity
+2 The Catch: Weapon: 4 or greater attacks, Enchanted weapons, Magic
-4 Supernatural Toughness
+3 The catch: Steel and iron and the like
-2 Worldwalker
-5 (Gargantuan) Greater Glamours

    Same as greater glamours but Mommy Hannah does not receive any penalty for veiling only herself

Total refresh -32

Bio

Mommy Hannah is 200 feet feet long. She is massive, poisonous, ugly, and psychotic.

She’s been alive for so long she has started to lose touch with reality.

She recently decided he wanted to be a mother, and has begun producing monstrosities that she created using human dna from a few people she ate.

One of the wild fae, she is extremely powerful, but not very bright. She also is both too large and too stupid to ever learn magic.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She effectively has +27 might... which I feel is appropriate for a 200 foot long centipede.

Through the course of the narrative, I am going to clue the PCs in to both stay at a distance from her (if they want to fight) and that she is best dealt with using intellect - like setting traps and such.

I like her low weapons rating and ridiculous strength because I like the idea of Mommy Hanna picking up a train engine car to fling at a PC.  Her aim will suck with +1, but something like a 20 shift weapon attack will be sure to get anyone's attention.

[Belial666]

Well, she's got a +0 defense if one can pierce her glamours. A submerged kemmlerian necromancer casting a withering spell at her (nonlethal necromancy with takeout being paralysis) at weapon 8, control 11 is going to deal a 19 stress hit. -2 for armor is still 17 stress, requiring a serious consequence to absorb. If the kemmlerian necro takes 4 mental stress, two mild consequences, 2 physical backlash and spends a fate point to land a weapon 15 control 13 hit, she's toast.

Of course, non-lawbreaking necros are kinda rare. 



PS: she has no endurance ranks. That not only would reduce her stress track by 2 but also make her defend at -2 against gravity attacks.

[crusher_bob]

I'd worry about any non-optimized submerged wizards in the party.  They'll need something to do once they run out of mental stress.  A highly optimized submerged wizard might just be able to go toe to toe with her, or certain physical combat builds.  And it looks like she'd be putty in the hands of WCV's with some of the emotion power boosts.

Assuming you don't have any optimized combat characters in your party, then they'll probably need some help in chewing through her stress boxes before one of them gets unlucky enough to be hit.  Are you expecting the players to come up with whatever 'other stuff' they'll need, or do you think you'll have to nudge them along?

[Belial666]

I'd worry more about mortals. They don't have anything to pierce the physical immunity - normal weapons for  mortals are usually limited to weapon 3 or less.

[BumblingBear]

I'd worry about any non-optimized submerged wizards in the party.  They'll need something to do once they run out of mental stress.  A highly optimized submerged wizard might just be able to go toe to toe with her, or certain physical combat builds.  And it looks like she'd be putty in the hands of WCV's with some of the emotion power boosts.

Assuming you don't have any optimized combat characters in your party, then they'll probably need some help in chewing through her stress boxes before one of them gets unlucky enough to be hit.  Are you expecting the players to come up with whatever 'other stuff' they'll need, or do you think you'll have to nudge them along?

No wizards.... and we do have a vampire.  

Well, she's got a +0 defense if one can pierce her glamours. A submerged kemmlerian necromancer casting a withering spell at her (nonlethal necromancy with takeout being paralysis) at weapon 8, control 11 is going to deal a 19 stress hit. -2 for armor is still 17 stress, requiring a serious consequence to absorb. If the kemmlerian necro takes 4 mental stress, two mild consequences, 2 physical backlash and spends a fate point to land a weapon 15 control 13 hit, she's toast.

Of course, non-lawbreaking necros are kinda rare. 



PS: she has no endurance ranks. That not only would reduce her stress track by 2 but also make her defend at -2 against gravity attacks.

She has +3 endurance.  I forgot to list it.

And no wizards in the party - at all.

Only one character is optimized for combat, and he may not be around.

[BumblingBear]

I'd worry more about mortals. They don't have anything to pierce the physical immunity - normal weapons for  mortals are usually limited to weapon 3 or less.

I would not spring this enemy on a new group, and I would hope that mortals would be combat-savvy enough to place maneuvers with their stronger skills and pass them over to the combat folks.

Mommy Hanna is supposed to be a pretty nasty, but not unkillable adversary.  The idea is to spring her on the group after they've had a few sessions as an object lesson to stay away from physically disgustingly powerful things...or be killed.

I have recurring villains drawn up who have less refresh than Mommy Hannah, but are far, far nastier.  Black court masters to be precise.

[Tedronai]

I'd worry more about mortals. They don't have anything to pierce the physical immunity - normal weapons for  mortals are usually limited to weapon 3 or less.

The Stacked Catch looks to be researchable, so all they have to do is get their hands on some 'enchanted' weapons.  I'm thinking...enchanted to provide theme music while in use.  Or something similarly obnoxious.  Something that's going to be stretching itself just to get to a -0 refresh cost, let alone beyond.  And short-term.  End of the week, at most.
A...Baseball Bat of [theme song] Until the End of the Week.

That is, of course, if the group includes, or has access to, someone with Ritual (Crafting) or Thaumaturgy.
The recipients of such weapons can take minor and Moderate consequences ('Driven Bonkers by that Insipid Song', and 'That's It, I'm Breaking Things') to fuel the crafting ritual so that they get completed on time.  Which, coincidentally, will come in handy when it's time to turn that bug into a mountain of ichor and shattered chitin.

[Belial666]

I have recurring villains drawn up who have less refresh than Mommy Hannah, but are far, far nastier.

If she is the Big Bad of a campaign, isn't she supposed to be the nastiest thing around? Also, a Big Bad that isn't actually that nasty is somewhat of a let down - for the last fight to be memorable, the Big Bad needs to be nasty. That said, a few more comments on the build itself;


1) For claws to be venomous, the refresh cost is -2. OTOH, with a cost of -1 you can get something akin to red court venom that isn't actually a venom but a mental melee attack.

2) She is a 200-ft centipede. Even if she is quite thin for her length (only 20 ft or so), she is still going to weigh somewhere in the region of 1000+ tons. Despite having spider walk, just about anything short of solid rock she tries to crawl on is going to collapse.

3) Since your group has no wizards or other guys with The Sight, remember that she can become invisible with Greater Veils at a veil strength of 6 that doesn't go away if pierced. That means she can effectively defend against attacks at Fantastic and if she is attacking someone that has not pierced her veil, their own defense will be down to mediocre. That might be bad if she throws a locomotive or house at them.

[BumblingBear]

If she is the Big Bad of a campaign, isn't she supposed to be the nastiest thing around? Also, a Big Bad that isn't actually that nasty is somewhat of a let down - for the last fight to be memorable, the Big Bad needs to be nasty. That said, a few more comments on the build itself;

Meh - she is more of a "boss".  Imo Big Big Bads have minions.  Against just one foe, a group can tank and spank, to some extent even in RPGs like this.

She will probably be the end of a "newb to DFRPG" chapter.

1) For claws to be venomous, the refresh cost is -2. OTOH, with a cost of -1 you can get something akin to red court venom that isn't actually a venom but a mental melee attack.

Good catch - I just changed it one my character sheet.  It doesn't really matter all that much, though.  When I'm not actually trying to balance a character within the realms of refresh to stay a PC, refresh rate kind of just becomes an arbitrary number to measure strength.

2) She is a 200-ft centipede. Even if she is quite thin for her length (only 20 ft or so), she is still going to weigh somewhere in the region of 1000+ tons. Despite having spider walk, just about anything short of solid rock she tries to crawl on is going to collapse.

Yup.  She lives in a mountainous area, and it thematically appropriate for her to have that power.  It may not actually come into play in the campaign, but I felt it made sense.

3) Since your group has no wizards or other guys with The Sight, remember that she can become invisible with Greater Veils at a veil strength of 6 that doesn't go away if pierced. That means she can effectively defend against attacks at Fantastic and if she is attacking someone that has not pierced her veil, their own defense will be down to mediocre. That might be bad if she throws a locomotive or house at them.

You're entirely right.

I threw that in there to justify her popping up somewhere that she normally would not be able to get to undetected, and also for her to get away if the story needs her alive.

I also threw that in there for her to turn "on" in case she is not challenging enough.

If she is too challenging and has it on, she can always thematically turn it off.  I would probably compel her "I eat dragons for breakfast" arrogant aspect and give her a fate point for it.

[crusher_bob]

Feh, if you want her to lose her veils, have the iron content of the blood of all those poor, hapless NPCs she's torn apart interfere with her fairy magic.    Of maybe give the PCs some hints that they can shut down the veils with bags of iron filings thrown into the air, or chase the PCs through a construction site and end up with some steel I-beams stabbed into her body, or have the water spraying out from broken fire hydrants outline part of her form, or something.  It's much better than just handing the NPC the idiot ball for a moment.

[sinker]

2) She is a 200-ft centipede. Even if she is quite thin for her length (only 20 ft or so), she is still going to weigh somewhere in the region of 1000+ tons. Despite having spider walk, just about anything short of solid rock she tries to crawl on is going to collapse.

Just figured I would point out: Magic. End of my argument.

I think she's priced alright to be a Big Bad of a submerged level campaign, and her weaknesses if exploited properly make her very killable (or take out-able through social means) but I could really easily see her cleaning the floor with a bunch of folks.

I thought I would point out that, while she doesn't have a lot of social stress, she does have a +9 to deal mental stress in either physical or social combat (via intimidation) and that's going to at least brutalize one or two players before they can take her down in social combat. Not saying that shouldn't be the case, but I'm not sure if I'd consider social combat her area of weakness....

[BumblingBear]

Just figured I would point out: Magic. End of my argument.

I thought I would point out that, while she doesn't have a lot of social stress, she does have a +9 to deal mental stress in either physical or social combat (via intimidation) and that's going to at least brutalize one or two players before they can take her down in social combat. Not saying that shouldn't be the case, but I'm not sure if I'd consider social combat her area of weakness....

I was thinking that the PCs (if they were clever enough) could figure out a way to mitigate the size issue.

Like, if I were a PC in the campaign, I would not talk to her directly in social combat.  I'd use a mic (from a safe distance away) and talk to her via speakers that I either placed or hacked into.

Dealing with her only audibly I would rule mitigates her size bonus to intimidation.

She can also be lied to fairly easily (subjectively).

Not to mention that a character with a high powered AP rifle, like... an anti tank rifle loaded with steel core rounds could put a serious dent into her from a distance.  If one character who was fast kited her around, and one character with the rifle took pot shots, and the other characters ran interference or stacked aspects, even in a straight up fight she would not last very long.

However, if the PCs play dumb and get within reach of her, they will probably die.  I think it would make sense that she could grapple more than on enemy at a time too.

Feh, if you want her to lose her veils, have the iron content of the blood of all those poor, hapless NPCs she's torn apart interfere with her fairy magic.    Of maybe give the PCs some hints that they can shut down the veils with bags of iron filings thrown into the air, or chase the PCs through a construction site and end up with some steel I-beams stabbed into her body, or have the water spraying out from broken fire hydrants outline part of her form, or something.  It's much better than just handing the NPC the idiot ball for a moment.

I agree with you, and this is an EXCELLENT solution. Thank you!

[BumblingBear]

I think this is the final version I am going to go with for her.

Mommy Hannah
Monster Cetipede Fae

High Concept: Daughter of Galmix, dragon cetipede
Other Aspects: Terrible liar, terrified of magical weapons, I eat dragons for breakfast, Being big is both a blessing an a curse, Nobody better harm my babies

Skills:

Fists: +6
Might: +5
Intimidation: +5
Lore: +4
Investigation: +4
Endurance: +5
Discipline: +4
Alertness: +3
Presence: +3
Rapport: +3
Deceit: +2
Survival: +2
Athletics: +5

Stress:

Physical: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] ([ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ])
Mental: [ ] [ ] [ ]
Social: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Armor: 3
Mental armor: 1
+1 mild physical consequence

Powers:

-4 Mythic Size

    +2 to hit her. +4 Stress boxes. +4 to might rolls to lift or break things. +2 to athletics to cover distance. +4 to intimidation against normal sized creatures. -2 to stealth rolls, and stealth can never be above 0.


-1 Claws
-2 Venom
-1 Spider Walk
-8 Legendary Strength

    +18 to might for lifting and breaking things. Might is +4 in conjunction with grappling. This also allows you to make a 6 stress hit on an opponent during a supplemental action during a grapple. Always roll a +4 when rolling might to modify another skill regardless of the comparison between the two skills. Add +8 to the weapon rating of attacks that rely on muscle.


-8 Physical Immunity
+2 The Catch: Weapon: 4 or greater attacks, Enchanted weapons, Magic
-6 Mythic Toughness
+3 The catch: Steel and iron and the like
-2 Worldwalker
-5 (Gargantuan) Greater Glamours

    Same as greater glamours but Mommy Hannah does not receive any penalty for veiling only herself


-1 Tough to kill. 2 more stress boxes
-1 Too stupid to care. Mommy Hannah has +1 Mental Armor

Total refresh -38

*Note: Mommy Hannah makes attacks at +6 in fists with a weapon:10 attack every time. She is also venomous. Mommy Hanna could physically tear apart just about anything or anyone in no time flat.

Grappling with her is suicide. Getting close to Mommy Hannah during a fight is a great way to die. Quickly.

Bio

Mommy Hannah is 200 feet feet long. She is massive, poisonous, ugly, and psychotic.

She’s been alive for so long she has started to lose touch with reality.

She recently decided he wanted to be a mother, and has begun producing monstrosities that she created using human dna from a few people she ate.

One of the wild fae, she is extremely powerful, but not very bright. She also is both too large and too stupid to ever learn magic.

[Save_vs_DM]

Just to give you some perspective, this is the guy I put up against 6 Waist Deep (7 Refresh) heroes:

Wendigo
High Concept: Spirit of Cannibalism
Other Aspects: Cruel; Insatiable Appetite; Weakened From Ages of Imprisonment

Skills
Athletics: Fair (+2)
Composure: Great (+4)
Discipline: Superb (+5)
Fists: Superb (+5)
Endurance: Superb (+5)
Intimidation: Superb (+5)
Presence: Great (+4)
Most other skills default to Good.

Powers
Claws [–1]
Demense [-1]
Hulking Size [-2]
Incite Emotion (Lasting Emotion, At Range) [-3] insatiable hunger
Spirit Form (Poltergeist) [-5]
Supernatural Strength [–4]
Supernatural Speed [–4]
Supernatural Recovery [-4]
Mythic Toughness [–6]
The Catch [+2] is holy weapons and expressions of genuine faith
Physical Immunity [–8]
The Catch (Stacked) [+4] is that it only works against those filled with insatiable hunger
Supernatural Sense [-1] hunger

Stress
Physical OOOOOO(OOOOOO); +1 minor consequence; Armor: 2
Mental OOOO   Social OOOO
Minor:
Minor:
Moderate:
Major:

Attacks
Claws - Fists (+5): Weapon: 6; Defend with Athletics
Incite Emotion - Discipline (+5): Weapon: 2; Defend with Discipline
Warp Demense - Discipline (+5): Weapon: 0; Defend with Athletics or Composure

Defense
Physical Dodge: Good (+3); includes Hulking Size penalty

Total Refresh Cost: –32


They managed to take him out in TWO attacks by burning a ton of collected fate points. Just be warned that if your players have enough fate points they can potentially end the fight very, very quickly.

[BumblingBear]

Just to give you some perspective, this is the guy I put up against 6 Waist Deep (7 Refresh) heroes:

Wendigo
High Concept: Spirit of Cannibalism
Other Aspects: Cruel; Insatiable Appetite; Weakened From Ages of Imprisonment

Skills
Athletics: Fair (+2)
Composure: Great (+4)
Discipline: Superb (+5)
Fists: Superb (+5)
Endurance: Superb (+5)
Intimidation: Superb (+5)
Presence: Great (+4)
Most other skills default to Good.

Powers
Claws [–1]
Demense [-1]
Hulking Size [-2]
Incite Emotion (Lasting Emotion, At Range) [-3] insatiable hunger
Spirit Form (Poltergeist) [-5]
Supernatural Strength [–4]
Supernatural Speed [–4]
Supernatural Recovery [-4]
Mythic Toughness [–6]
The Catch [+2] is holy weapons and expressions of genuine faith
Physical Immunity [–8]
The Catch (Stacked) [+4] is that it only works against those filled with insatiable hunger
Supernatural Sense [-1] hunger

Stress
Physical OOOOOO(OOOOOO); +1 minor consequence; Armor: 2
Mental OOOO   Social OOOO
Minor:
Minor:
Moderate:
Major:

Attacks
Claws - Fists (+5): Weapon: 6; Defend with Athletics
Incite Emotion - Discipline (+5): Weapon: 2; Defend with Discipline
Warp Demense - Discipline (+5): Weapon: 0; Defend with Athletics or Composure

Defense
Physical Dodge: Good (+3); includes Hulking Size penalty

Total Refresh Cost: –32


They managed to take him out in TWO attacks by burning a ton of collected fate points. Just be warned that if your players have enough fate points they can potentially end the fight very, very quickly.

Thanks for the tip.

Hmm.

If the group ever actually faces Mommy Hannah, though, it will either be after (intelligently) trying to face her at great range, or she could stealth right into them and get  the first shot with an ambush (which would be disgustingly nasty).

If the group has to use their fate points for defense (which would be likely), they won't be able to get as much off in offense.

Another thing I could do is have Mommy Hannah attack only part of the group.

Hmm... this really gives me something to think about, though.  According to Your Story, stattting a monster that would give a real challenge to my group would be like... 80 refresh.

An 80 refresh Lich for instance could be tossing around like 40 shift evocations around!

It's all ok as long as my PCs are prepared to die... lol.  I may email them about just that today.