Guild of the Bat [OOC]

[roguescribner]

No problem, Harry. We all started somewhere.

To view a list of games open for recruitment, venture here. Also, games looking for players will usually indicate as much in their thread titles.

[Lord Fell]

Hmm... I keep trying to convince people I'm a total bastard, but rumours that I'm not keep surfacing. Although I virtually curb-stomped Harry via PM, and made it clear we weren't interested in this thread... I'm going to start those rumours again by actually advocating that we entertain Harry's submission.

We started with seven characters, and lost two players (first page with Cast info needs updating, by the way). Spectrum replaced one of our absences, but we're "still" down a character. I don't think we necessarily need a new player, but I don't mind the idea either.

As for Harry, aside from the newbie misstep of planning to play in a game without being accepted, but it's not like he'd be the first to do that. I'm actually kind of liking the submission. He's obviously read the original post and has a handle on what kind of game this is. The type of character submission and the flavour of the build are spot on. There are a couple of errors with the build, but nothing a little tweaking couldn't fix.

Anyone else feeling magnanimous towards a newbie?

[Shock]

I guess it's Coyo's call as to whether we'd want to go back up to 7. I wouldn't be averse to it. I'd worry a bit about the overlap of technical knowledge between Brunel and the new guy. Does he need to be an Inventor as well?

[Macguffin]

I'm not opposed to a new character and a GL isn't the worst thing, but that submission might need tweaking in a couple of places. It's been a while since character creation, but I seem to remember array powers being specifically prohibited, and he appears to have exceeded the caps in a few places. It looks like it was designed to be a hero who can do everything and be hurt by nothing (save a baseball bat, if it can get past his parry), which are really not my favorite.


I'm not exactly thrilled at having another inventor, but one way it could work is if he broadened the spectrum to do the integration of science and tech England is pioneering.

[Harry Ham Bone]

Okay. Constructive criticism I can take. What would you change?

[Macguffin]

Hrmm....

Well, in a general mechanical sense you have got to get back to the caps, and I would discard the array. I would also discard sleight of hand, because it makes no sense for the character. Having some degree of Agility and fighting, at least a point or two, might work better than buying up the dependent traits. Also, while high will is nice, it is a mark of the corps more than Scott.

The original Alan Scott was a train engineer, and I would suggest returning to that concept. Since England is using the mix of magic and tech, you could give him a passable knowledge of both (without pushing into Brunel or Blackstone's niche) and the Improvised Tools feat makes more sense in that field as well.

The other thing about the Alan Scott Lantern is that he either re-forged or discovered the lantern, he did not make it. While on the surface this may seem to rob him of an act of creation, it also opens up his background to include a bit of mystery, old enemies, power grabbing secret societies, and a reason to keep the darn thing secret.

Those are my thoughts anyway

[Harry Ham Bone]

What is "caps"?

[Shock]

What is "caps"?

PL caps. Your Parry + Toughness is over the cap. You're also over on your Will+Fortitude cap. Neither of those pairs can go over 14 for a PL7 game.

[Lord Fell]

Caps is probably the Fundamental Law of character building. It is shorthand or slang for "the maximum score you can have for any given thing, or blend of things" -what your character is "capped" at.

For Fortitude and Will, your combined numbers must be 2xPL or less (this game is PL7, so 14 total)
Your Dodge and/or Parry + Toughness are capped at same -your toughness is 10 with your "metal plating" which means your Dodge and Parry must be 4 or less.
Skills are capped at PL+10, in this case 17.

I didn't mind the notion of this GL also being an inventor, but it's not my character's niche. But I kind of agree with Macguffin that it's truer to the character if he found (or otherwise acquired) his lantern. Being a Train Engineer is another super cool intersection with this campaign. For Alan Scott to know about magic and technology, but at an expert rather than Mage or Inventor level is a nice twist; he can assist Brunel or Blackstone, but he can't usurp their spots.

[EnigmaticOne]

Well, since I am interested, and you seem to be considering one person's submission, I want to know if you'd be willing to consider a submission from me as well. If Coyotzin or you guys say no, I hereby apologize for being an intrusive bounder, and off with this cad! Tallyho!

[Harry Ham Bone]

by Macguffin » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:46 pm

Hrmm....

Well, in a general mechanical sense you have got to get back to the caps, and I would discard the array. I would also discard sleight of hand, because it makes no sense for the character. Having some degree of Agility and fighting, at least a point or two, might work better than buying up the dependent traits. Also, while high will is nice, it is a mark of the corps more than Scott.

The original Alan Scott was a train engineer, and I would suggest returning to that concept. Since England is using the mix of magic and tech, you could give him a passable knowledge of both (without pushing into Brunel or Blackstone's niche) and the Improvised Tools feat makes more sense in that field as well.

The other thing about the Alan Scott Lantern is that he either re-forged or discovered the lantern, he did not make it. While on the surface this may seem to rob him of an act of creation, it also opens up his background to include a bit of mystery, old enemies, power grabbing secret societies, and a reason to keep the darn thing secret.

Well, in the important part of my character is his Green Lantern-esque powers. I made him a galvanics engineer because it seemed more fantastically steampunk. There are plenty of other Elseworlds interpretations of characters radically different in origin but fundamentally the same as their derivative character, or vis versa.(Batmankoff, much?) I don't want to just create Alan Scott in a steampunk setting, and thats it. I want to give him his own identity.

Also, on the point of the green light's origins being shrouded in mystery, isn't mysterious green lightning enough of a mystery? I kept the origin of the lightning vague so it could be expanded as Allen's story progresses.

So, if it's all the same to you, I think I'm keeping his flavor as is.

However, I've accepted most of the criticism you gave about his mechanics and applied them. Thank you. They've helped me to balance him out more.

[Harry Ham Bone]

And so, without further ado, I give you: Allen Scotsworth 2.0!!

Allen Scotsworth: The Green Spark PL7
Male
Hair Color: blond
Eye Color: green
Age: 32


Bio
Allen Scotsworth was a galvanic engineer who harnessed a mysterious green electricity that manifested around his laboratory/flat one stormy night. As he extended his lightning rod on the rooftop, he imagined the medal he would recieve for his discovery and harnessing of the green lightning. When the lightning finally struck his lightning rod, he was still imagining the medal. When he removed the galvanic jar containing the lightning from the gathering chamber, he was shocked to find that the medal he imagined was hanging around his neck, only it glowed like a green star. Allen only needed to will it away to make it disappear.

As Allen experimented further with the green lightning, which manifested above his flat from time to time, he found that when controlled, the green lightning could be shaped into whatever he imagined. He eventually created an apparatus for carrying the "verdentricity" as he named it, and using it's power mobilly. He uses this device mainly for engineering work, and occasionally clobbering some ruffians.

Complications
Enemies: Several, including the so-called "demon of shadows" Ian Karkull, and the swamp-born zombie known as Grundy.
Weakness: Allen's constructs can't affect wood or wooden objects.
Responsibility: To pay his rent weekly to his firm-but-fair landlady, Mother Huckley.
Motivation: Doing Good: The way Allen sees it, since he has this technology, why not use it constructively for his community?

Abilities: 36pts
Strength: 1 Stamina: 2 Agility: 1 Dexterity: 3 Fighting: 1 Intellect: 5 Awareness: 3 Presence: 2

Defenses: 19pts
Dodge:4 Parry:4 Fortitude: 6 Toughness: 10/2 Will: 8

Skills: 14pts
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Galvanics) 9 (+14)
Ranged Combat (Verdentricity Blast) 5 (+8)
Technology 10 (+15)

Advantages: 7pts
Beginner's Luck
Benefit 1 (Ambidextry)
Fearless
Improved Initiative
Inventor
Taunt
Teamwork

Powers: 18pts
Verdentricity Device: Removable - (-4pts)
Steel Plating: Protection 8 - 8pts
Verdentricity: Array - 14pts
-Verdentricity Blast: Ranged Damage 6 - 12pts
-Verdentricity Constructs: Create 5, Continuous, Precise, Movable - 2pts

Offense
Initiative +5
Unarmed +4: Close, Damage 1
Verdentricity Blast +8: Ranged, Damage 6 plus others

36+19+14+7+18=96

Hero Points: 1
Power Points Spents: 96
Power Points Earned: 9

[Lord Fell]

@Enigmatic One
I didn't mean to open a can of worms with this. I guess where I'm at, is that Harry Hambone's character submission accompanied by a statement that suggested he was going to start posting to our IC set me off... once that was all squared away, and I relaxed I took a closer look at his build. The build was a bit problematic, but the concept really matches what we're doing here. So... I'm not advocating that we open a general submission for an extra player... more what I had in mind was possibly accepting a new character for the purpose of developing a new player to the boards.

@Harry Hambone
First... please don't quote entire posts that are on the same page. I just faqqing read that, and I don't need to read it again two posts down in quote form. It's a peeve of mine.

I would ask you not to post more versions of your character, etc... the GM of this game needs to weigh in. Coyotzin is the GM, and he will decide if he's interested in adding another character, and whether Allen Scottsworth would be a character he'd entertain. If he is interested in proceeding, then we can go over your build and get it tuned up.

[Harry Ham Bone]

Okay.

[Spectrum]

Fell, I'm starting to suspect that you're having problems with the security of your ATT account. Some other person keeps sneaking on and is a really nice guy or a complete bastard. I'm.. not sure who the real owner of the account is at this point