Character Creation Rules for the 5th City Campaign

This is for NEW characters, not your existing characters.

Tone of the Campaign This is the hardest question to answer.  Much like Marvel and DC comics, this world can take a comedic twist.  But also like those worlds, the tone is generally more serious.  That’s not to say that you can’t have a comedic character, just that he might be a bit incongruous with the surroundings.  Just be concerned if all of your powers are purely for laughs and have no real combat effect, as you’ll likely get bored really fast. Background Pretty much any background for the character is acceptable, assuming it does not force your poor GM to design a dozen new enemy organizations to fill out the character’s background.  The only concerns regarding origin are as follows… In the world of 5th City, there has not been limited contact with aliens.  In the original version of this document I asked for “No Aliens”.  Since I got one anyway, I’m saying it’s best not to have one, simply because it involves making a whole new bunch of hunteds and watcheds, languages, etc. that will be a drag on my time. There is no moratorium on how the character’s powers were spawned, though your origin may take some tweaking by the ol’ GM if it’s too strange for the world.  But essentially, a time-traveling pirate, intelligent robot, gypsy witch, mutant ooze, and the classic victim-of-radiation-accident all co-exist here. No one should have the ability to travel through time.  I don’t want anyone going back and changing events unless it’s through the Deus Ex Machina of the GM (me!). Personalities and Personality Clashes You need to get along well enough to do your job.  You can dislike each other, as happens in the comics.  You just have to do your job. Anyone who joins the group with the intent of committing a crime is likely weeded out by the process.  It’s different if something crops up in play.  But the city council isn’t hiring someone who they think will loot the bank instead of protecting it. Stuff You Don’t Need to Buy The following are things you have little need to purchase. A Headquarters (One being provided by the city, and the city is unlikely to approve building of any other publicly recognized base, so you’d have to build with “batcave” level secrecy.) Conventional Cars (A limo for public appearances, and half a dozen motorcycles are provided as part of the facilities, but you likely have a car if you want one.  However, none have abilities beyond normal vehicles, except the limo is lightly armored.  If you want a mounted turret and grenade launcher you’d got to expend the character points). Given time, laboratories can be configured at the base to fit nearly all needs, without character point expenditure. You will have enough money to live comfortably, though you can expend points to become filthy rich, if you like. The base’s Caretaker/Owner, Audra Blue, has extensive knowledge of computers and is a preeminent hacker.  She will not be useful in the field, as she is not a team member and will not go into the field, so computer skills may still be useful.  But inside the base she is a serious asset.  She is also a bundle of knowledge regarding the City of Lazarus, it’s politics, geography and people, as well as knowing all about it’s founder, Nolan Brisbain, and the previous team of Sentinels. Do Not Assume… That collateral damage is acceptable.  The city (and it’s insurers) know that damage is going to happen in the pursuit of justice, but someone blatantly destroying property or disregarding the safety of citizens will draw the ire of the public, the police, and worst of all, the media. That the base has babysitters for your DNPCs.  You got the points for them, so they are your responsibility.  The base is a highly secure environment, but leaving them to run amok in the base will not ensure their safety.  In other words: There are no free points for DNPCs, if you neglect them I’ll find a way to hurt you. That you won’t need skills.  Sure, you can use agility to run through the array of laser beams, but couldn’t you have gotten everyone across if you’d only bought the skill to disable security systems?  You could ask Audra about what gangs operate out of the docks, but if you’d taken a bit of city knowledge you wouldn’t have to try and contact the base and hope she’s available to answer. That I won’t withhold experience or mutate your disadvantages if you fail to live up to them.  For example, if your Secret ID becomes public you will see your next experience go to paying that disadvantage down.  And if your DNPC dies, you’ll likely gain a “guilt” or other psych disadvantage to compensate, or spend a while paying off that disadvantage with your experience. A Note on Secret v. Public IDs Your call as to which.  But a Secret ID usually entails maintaining an outside residence and not showing up at the base out-of-character.  Mild-mannered Hank Robbins isn’t likely to go out drinking with the famed heroes of our city either, so use some common sense, or someone will pick up on your secret (And that might be bad for your DNPCs, etc.) Canned Motivations These are some suggestions for how you found yourself joining the group. You are a former low-level super-criminal.  As a result of your capture and incarceration, you have been granted the opportunity to work off the “Public Service” as a member of the Sentinels.  You are under contract for the length of your sentence. You are a member of one of the street-level hero organizations that cropped up.  They seem to disappear within weeks or months as a result of the level of violence they encounter.  But when Lazarus decides to rebuild the Sentinels you are contacted by a recruiter for the City Council. You are from out of city/state, and have come in answer to the massive advertising campaign to draw heroes to the city.  Or you’ve simply seen the crime statistics that are published often and know that they really need the help. You want to fight crime, but your DNPCs and secret identity are a drag on your time and wallet.  You realize that as a member of the Sentinels you have the opportunity to actually get paid to fight crime for once. You have a dependence that requires use of a laboratory to manufacture.  The House of Rain (Super-base) is riddled with labs in which to keep yourself in juice, plus you can work toward a cure (or whatever). Health, Life and ADD Insurance.  May sound pretty mundane.  But who would insure someone who regularly gets beat to a pulp?  You’ll have difficulty to say the least.  But Lazarus offers such benefits, so your DNPC will be rich should a bad guy squash you like a bug. Camaraderie.  You want to work with others, and you feel that you have something to offer a group.  Or maybe you’re just tired of getting beaten up by groups of villains and realize there’s strength in numbers for heroes too! Median Levels The following is a list of power levels for the average hero you’d encounter on the street.  They are just meant as a guide. Energy Blast: 8D6AP, 10D6-12D6, or 6D6 NND. Killing Attack: 3D6KAP, 4D6K Ego Attack: 6D6 Resistant PD/ED: 20 Each, often higher if they have END cost or activation roll. Brick STR: 40-50 (Because thrown/swung objects add so much to damage). DEX:  Brick (18-23), Energy Projector (20-28), Martial Artist (23-30), Speedster (28-33) SPD:  Brick (4-5), Energy Projector/Egoist (5-6), Martial Artist (5-7), Speedster (6-8) EGO:  Egoist (23-33), Other (10-18) Maximum Levels Beware all ye who try to pass these limits for you incur the ire of the GM and all his minions. ACTIVE POINTS are defined as the cost of a power AFTER advantages are applied but BEFORE limitations are applied.  For example, an 8D6 AP Energy Blast, 12D6 EB, and a 12D6 EB w/ a focus and charges are all 60 Active points. Attack Power:  80 Active Points.  As noted above, the median is typically more 50-60. Defenses:  40PD / 40ED.  This can all be resistant, if you like. Other Defenses (Flash, Mental, etc.): The stat itself, not it’s Cost:  STR (80), DEX (36), EGO (40), PRE (50), SPD (9) Powers and Disadvantages REVISED:  A starting hero gets 215pts FREE.  He can add an additional 100pts through disadvantages, thus making a 315pt character. There is no restriction on which disadvantages you can have.  Keep in mind that I have plenty of organizations already set up, and if you request to be hunted by a certain type I’m sure I can accommodate you.  I’d prefer not to make a dozen more organizations, 2 for every player.  But I’ll make more as needed.  If you aren’t sure how common a disadvantage might happen (Such as taking extra damage from cold attacks, radiation, etc.) just ask. Variable Power Pools Ah, yes… the great adventure killers.  Here are the rules for employing a power pool.  They are strict rules, but then they have to be if everyone is to have something to do rather than having a gadgeteer run every adventure.  If you can’t tell from my tone, I don’t like Power Pools much on player characters. Powers are only changeable between scenes.  That way if you think you might be running into the great Mexican icicle hurling villain, Muy Frio, you can build that ice shield, but won’t have time during the fight to account for special guest star, Firechild and her burning hands of pain and vulnerability-exploiting. Changing powers requires lab/temple/spell library.  Doesn’t necessarily have to be your own, mind you.  So if you find Dr. Hex’s Inner Sanctum you can use his books to create a spell to stop his fiendish mind control or to cure those warts he gave you (COM drain). All powers within a pool are gained by the same Maximums listed above under powers.   We won’t be holding up scenarios for very long while you make your changes, so you might consider have a standard set of pre-made powers noted so you can pick and choose, making modifications as called for. Power Frameworks The advantage of Elemental Controls has always been a lower cost for slots in a power.  The disadvantage has been that you can only have so many points worth of powers operating at once.  So I will allow them. Multi-power is another story.  Though my players had never abused multi-power, it has great potential to be abused, and I sense that it will be.  So unless I hear a good argument to allow it (for everyone) I’m not allowing PCs to use it.  Mind you, I won’t be reworking the villains that I grab from books just to account for this edict, since the costs for building super-villains are pretty much irrelevant. REVISED:  If you really want a multipower, petition the GM.  Note that the downside of Multipowers is that you can only have as many points running at a time as there are in the pool.  So an 80pt pool won’t let you run your 60pt Energyblast AND your 60pt force field at the same time, especially if they are “Ultra” slots (Ones that always cost maximum points to run). Recommendations These are suggestions for things you should consider putting into your character. Resistant defense.  Anyone without a chance of resisting a killing attack may not last long. No SPD lower than 4.  A guy who has a 70 STR can be pretty effective with a 4 SPD, but if you go to less you’ll be sorry. Three or more primary means of attack.  An EB, a NND attack, and a Drain.  Or maybe high STR, levels in throwing objects, and a shockwave attack that sweeps an area of ground.  Ego Attack, Mind Control, and a Laser Rifle Killing attack (for when only a physical fight will do).  Three attacks is a good number.  There are always variations, such as bouncing an energy blast or performing a haymaker, but if you only have one or two attacks then you stand a chance of becoming ineffective. Take a few skills to round out the character, even if they’re just professions.  I realize people making supers tend to go for the meat and skip the veggies.  You came from somewhere, didn’t you? Levels Another one of those things that brings down a game (because then I’d have to pile levels onto your opponents just to keep you in line), skill and attack levels can get pretty brutal.  So as a general rule, you can have up to 20 points in skill levels to start.  Thus you can wind up with a +2 in everything you do, +4 with melee weapons, or a +6 with your bolos, or some combination.  The average hero you come across will likely not have much in the way of skill levels unless he’s an agent type, in which case he’ll need them to compensate for his lack of anything else useful.  The average villain will vary wildly.