Post by gamedave on Dec 9, 2007 11:16:17 GMT -5
STAR*GUARD
Preston Quinn
HP: 1
Calling:
Adventurer: Preston seeks the thrill of adventure as a super hero and member of the Star*Guard.
Traits:
Origin - Endowed (0): A dying alien member of the Star*Guard transferred his Star*Matrix to Quinn's mind; the Star*Matrix is a psychic construct that allows members of the Star*Guard to tap into the cosmic energy from the Well of Stars in the center of the Galaxy.
In the Know (N - 50): An adventurer since he was a teenager, Quinn is familiar with most of the major players on the superhuman scene.
Flaws:
Tranformation (0): Quinn must use an action to transform into Star*Guard form; he can only use his Super Abilities in this form.
Vulnerable- Dark Matter (0): A Star*Guard's powers do not affect dark matter, a material only found in deep space - dark matter is invulnerable to cosmic energy and ignores any cosmic energy-based defenses.
Abilities:
Star*Guard Training 7 (M - 90): Quinn has received Star*Guard training, which includes basic hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, starship piloting, and Star*Guard tactics and procedures.
CosmicEnergy Blast 17 (M - 290): Quinn can draw on the Well of Stars to fuel powerful blasts of pure cosmic energy for a Rank 17 Shock (cosmic energy) attack; he also has Rank 17 Resistance to Shock (cosmic energy) and Rank 13 Resistance to all other Shock attacks.
*Flight 13 (20): As a Spin-Off Feat, Quinn is able to channel his cosmic energy to fly.
*Force Shield 13 (20): As a Spin-Off Feat, Quinn is able to channel his cosmic energy into a protective shield (compare Damage Rank to Shield Rank: CF or F = no result, MF = +2 Ranks Damage to next attack, MS = Shield weakened - 4 Ranks, S = Shield brought down, CS = Shield shattered, damage to target).
CP Value: 470 CP: 30
History: Preston, known to his friends as "Quinn", is the middle of three children born to the Quinn family. His father, now deceased, was a retired Air Force mechanic who worked as an auto mechanic, his mother is a nurse, who interrupted her career for her family. Preston's older brother, Spencer, is the golden boy of the family - straight A student, star athlete in high school and college, church volunteer, and has gone on to become an officer and pilot in the U.S. Air Force. His younger sister, Kelly, is a prodigy, a gifted mechanical, electronic, and computer genius, who graduated high school at 13, college at 16, and is now pursuing multiple graduate degrees while working for the Challenger Institute. Preston, the middle child, was the slacker, never measuring up to his star older brother or pampered baby sister.
Preston's life forever changed his junior year of high school. While driving with his girlfriend, Amber, to the local "make-out point", they saw a bright flash in the sky, a trail of fire, and an explosion in the nearby tree line. Investigating, Preston found a badly injured alien some kind of uniform, surrounded by glowing energy. Preston, unsure what to do, did his best to help the alien. The alien, it turned out, was a member of the Star*Guard, a galactic peacekeeping force, who had been mortally wounded by a dangerous alien criminal. Dying, the Star*Guard transferred his Star*Matrix to Preston's mind, granting Preston the ability to transform into a Star*Guard, Defender of the Galaxy!
Preston went on to an up-and-down career as the super hero Star*Guard, mainly on his own, but also for a time as a member of [insert name of PC teen group here]. He barely graduated high school, and briefly attended college before dropping out under the pressure of his adventuring career, gravely disappointing his parents, and his girlfriend.
Preston eventually was contacted by the Star*Guard and formally inducted into their ranks, receiving some actual training in the use of his powers. He also found out that, due to the circumstances of the transfer of the Star*Matrix and his lack of preparation (most potential Star*Guards spend years in training in preparation for receiving the Star*Matrix), he was far less powerful than the average Star*Guard [the average Star*Guard has Rank 21 Cosmic Energy Manipulation].
Now in his early 20s, Preston has been a super hero since he was a teenager. He has achieved a minor reputation in the superhuman community, and has even saved the world once or twice (and who hasn't?) However, he has been a failure in his personal life. A college drop-out with no real job skills, he works as a pizza delivery man. His girlfriend, Amber, dumped him when it was clear his life, outside of being a super hero, was going nowhere, and went on to law school. When his father had a heart attack, was hospitalized, and later died, Preston was on a mission, and was unable to be there with his family or explain why (his sister had actually already figured it out, and his mother suspects, but still doesn't know the full details - his brother is completely in the dark, and his father died thinking of him as a slacker).
Preston has spent the last two years in space with the Star*Guard, and has only recently returned to Earth, and is now attempting to rebuild his life, and fight an alien menace which threatens all of mankind. Sounds like he could use a few friends...
Design Notes: Star*Guard is inspired by DC's Green Lantern characters, and even more by Marvel's Nova, especially as he was depicted during the first run of the New Warriors. His Origin Trait is, of course, free - it is a slightly different take on the "dying alien transfers gizmo/power to unprepared hero-to-be." His In the Know Trait reflects the fact that he is, in fact, a veteran, experienced hero, if not a remarkably successful one. His Transformation Flaw is a big hindrance in some circumstances, not much of one in others - if unawares, he has to use his first Initiative Card just transforming, but if he is prepared, he can, of course, transform beforehand. His Dark Matter Vulnerability is nasty - if he fights anyone with access to a substance only found in deep space (hardly out of the question in an supers campaign. These two Flaws, on their own, are a little iffy, but Jeff was satisfied that together they gave Star*Guard sufficient weaknesses. After discussion with Jeff, we decided his Star*Guard Training Ability could be used for unarmed attacks, attacks with his powers and alien weapons, and most defenses, but not for attacks with Earth weapons, and not for Feats; it is an important part of his character concept that he is a capable adventurer, but has no mundane, "real world" skills - he can pilot a Rigellian Hyper-Fighter or Arcturan Battle Cruiser, but not a Cesna. This Ability is fairly broad, but with the caveats that he is unfamiliar with mundane Earth technology, and even more that he can't base combat Feats off of it, Jeff and I agreed it was a Medium Ability. His Cosmic Energy Blast Super Ability is a standard energy blast power - the unusual "cosmic energy" form means that not many opponents will have specific defenses against it, but he also won't have specific defenses against most opponents' attacks. His Flight and Force Shield Feats are standard "blaster" Feats - as with all Spin-Off Feats, they begin at -4 Ranks from the Ability they are based on, and there weren't enough CP left over to boost them. I could have just spent 5 CP each to create them as Feats without Establishing them, and just counted on die rolls during game play to Establish them, saving 30 CP; however, for his concept, he should have those Feats fully Established, and it's meta/power-gaming not to fully establish them - Feats you begin with should be fully Established unless there's some compelling character concept reason why they aren't. Total CP cost: 470. That leaves him 30 CP for after-market customization - improving abilities, or, more likely, gaining additional Feats.
Preston Quinn
HP: 1
Calling:
Adventurer: Preston seeks the thrill of adventure as a super hero and member of the Star*Guard.
Traits:
Origin - Endowed (0): A dying alien member of the Star*Guard transferred his Star*Matrix to Quinn's mind; the Star*Matrix is a psychic construct that allows members of the Star*Guard to tap into the cosmic energy from the Well of Stars in the center of the Galaxy.
In the Know (N - 50): An adventurer since he was a teenager, Quinn is familiar with most of the major players on the superhuman scene.
Flaws:
Tranformation (0): Quinn must use an action to transform into Star*Guard form; he can only use his Super Abilities in this form.
Vulnerable- Dark Matter (0): A Star*Guard's powers do not affect dark matter, a material only found in deep space - dark matter is invulnerable to cosmic energy and ignores any cosmic energy-based defenses.
Abilities:
Star*Guard Training 7 (M - 90): Quinn has received Star*Guard training, which includes basic hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, starship piloting, and Star*Guard tactics and procedures.
CosmicEnergy Blast 17 (M - 290): Quinn can draw on the Well of Stars to fuel powerful blasts of pure cosmic energy for a Rank 17 Shock (cosmic energy) attack; he also has Rank 17 Resistance to Shock (cosmic energy) and Rank 13 Resistance to all other Shock attacks.
*Flight 13 (20): As a Spin-Off Feat, Quinn is able to channel his cosmic energy to fly.
*Force Shield 13 (20): As a Spin-Off Feat, Quinn is able to channel his cosmic energy into a protective shield (compare Damage Rank to Shield Rank: CF or F = no result, MF = +2 Ranks Damage to next attack, MS = Shield weakened - 4 Ranks, S = Shield brought down, CS = Shield shattered, damage to target).
CP Value: 470 CP: 30
History: Preston, known to his friends as "Quinn", is the middle of three children born to the Quinn family. His father, now deceased, was a retired Air Force mechanic who worked as an auto mechanic, his mother is a nurse, who interrupted her career for her family. Preston's older brother, Spencer, is the golden boy of the family - straight A student, star athlete in high school and college, church volunteer, and has gone on to become an officer and pilot in the U.S. Air Force. His younger sister, Kelly, is a prodigy, a gifted mechanical, electronic, and computer genius, who graduated high school at 13, college at 16, and is now pursuing multiple graduate degrees while working for the Challenger Institute. Preston, the middle child, was the slacker, never measuring up to his star older brother or pampered baby sister.
Preston's life forever changed his junior year of high school. While driving with his girlfriend, Amber, to the local "make-out point", they saw a bright flash in the sky, a trail of fire, and an explosion in the nearby tree line. Investigating, Preston found a badly injured alien some kind of uniform, surrounded by glowing energy. Preston, unsure what to do, did his best to help the alien. The alien, it turned out, was a member of the Star*Guard, a galactic peacekeeping force, who had been mortally wounded by a dangerous alien criminal. Dying, the Star*Guard transferred his Star*Matrix to Preston's mind, granting Preston the ability to transform into a Star*Guard, Defender of the Galaxy!
Preston went on to an up-and-down career as the super hero Star*Guard, mainly on his own, but also for a time as a member of [insert name of PC teen group here]. He barely graduated high school, and briefly attended college before dropping out under the pressure of his adventuring career, gravely disappointing his parents, and his girlfriend.
Preston eventually was contacted by the Star*Guard and formally inducted into their ranks, receiving some actual training in the use of his powers. He also found out that, due to the circumstances of the transfer of the Star*Matrix and his lack of preparation (most potential Star*Guards spend years in training in preparation for receiving the Star*Matrix), he was far less powerful than the average Star*Guard [the average Star*Guard has Rank 21 Cosmic Energy Manipulation].
Now in his early 20s, Preston has been a super hero since he was a teenager. He has achieved a minor reputation in the superhuman community, and has even saved the world once or twice (and who hasn't?) However, he has been a failure in his personal life. A college drop-out with no real job skills, he works as a pizza delivery man. His girlfriend, Amber, dumped him when it was clear his life, outside of being a super hero, was going nowhere, and went on to law school. When his father had a heart attack, was hospitalized, and later died, Preston was on a mission, and was unable to be there with his family or explain why (his sister had actually already figured it out, and his mother suspects, but still doesn't know the full details - his brother is completely in the dark, and his father died thinking of him as a slacker).
Preston has spent the last two years in space with the Star*Guard, and has only recently returned to Earth, and is now attempting to rebuild his life, and fight an alien menace which threatens all of mankind. Sounds like he could use a few friends...
Design Notes: Star*Guard is inspired by DC's Green Lantern characters, and even more by Marvel's Nova, especially as he was depicted during the first run of the New Warriors. His Origin Trait is, of course, free - it is a slightly different take on the "dying alien transfers gizmo/power to unprepared hero-to-be." His In the Know Trait reflects the fact that he is, in fact, a veteran, experienced hero, if not a remarkably successful one. His Transformation Flaw is a big hindrance in some circumstances, not much of one in others - if unawares, he has to use his first Initiative Card just transforming, but if he is prepared, he can, of course, transform beforehand. His Dark Matter Vulnerability is nasty - if he fights anyone with access to a substance only found in deep space (hardly out of the question in an supers campaign. These two Flaws, on their own, are a little iffy, but Jeff was satisfied that together they gave Star*Guard sufficient weaknesses. After discussion with Jeff, we decided his Star*Guard Training Ability could be used for unarmed attacks, attacks with his powers and alien weapons, and most defenses, but not for attacks with Earth weapons, and not for Feats; it is an important part of his character concept that he is a capable adventurer, but has no mundane, "real world" skills - he can pilot a Rigellian Hyper-Fighter or Arcturan Battle Cruiser, but not a Cesna. This Ability is fairly broad, but with the caveats that he is unfamiliar with mundane Earth technology, and even more that he can't base combat Feats off of it, Jeff and I agreed it was a Medium Ability. His Cosmic Energy Blast Super Ability is a standard energy blast power - the unusual "cosmic energy" form means that not many opponents will have specific defenses against it, but he also won't have specific defenses against most opponents' attacks. His Flight and Force Shield Feats are standard "blaster" Feats - as with all Spin-Off Feats, they begin at -4 Ranks from the Ability they are based on, and there weren't enough CP left over to boost them. I could have just spent 5 CP each to create them as Feats without Establishing them, and just counted on die rolls during game play to Establish them, saving 30 CP; however, for his concept, he should have those Feats fully Established, and it's meta/power-gaming not to fully establish them - Feats you begin with should be fully Established unless there's some compelling character concept reason why they aren't. Total CP cost: 470. That leaves him 30 CP for after-market customization - improving abilities, or, more likely, gaining additional Feats.