Lightning Bullet, a new hero

As you might have figured I've been a little bit behind in updating but should be back up to speed this week.

I'll ask about on the Facebook DC Heroes group to see if there is anyone wants to drop in. Problem is that they know the rules as written so that's tables and column shifts, D10s and spending piles of Hero Points to get everything done. That presents a barrier as some people go for rules as per the book or nothing. Full stop.

I can but ask, and we'll see where we go from there.

Made Lightning Bullet using City of Heroes to create the look.  The Helmet should be more vertical but this was the only choice I had.  the game only lets characters shrink down to just under 4 feet in height.  But still a nice comparative.  the suit glows but has lightning stripes run through it.  Some pics the glow is so bright it sort of fades them out.

Set the game character design up so lightning runs up and down his body since his main attack power is a touch lightning blast.





While the belt has a rocket emblem on it, it is supposed to be a bullet emblem but the game doesn't have bullet insignias.

Can't tell if that's a really big German Shepherd or just a normal large one.




DC online game's screenshot function is shot.  Something about needing to find the Unreal file and allow the screenshots through the computer's protection.  Don't know where the file is and don't want to fool around with it either.  Too bad because they have lots more options for costumes.

Admin wrote:

Look it over see if I missed anything or mistyped but with the Background (15HP) Personality (15HP) and Description (15HP) you might scrape through with 11HP spare.

Edit found a typo (flash 4 instead of 1) you might scrape 4HP left if you come up with background/Personality/Description and that's assuming you pay for the HQ so possibly another 10HP to come

Just doing some fine tuning if I ever get to play this guy in the future.  If the math above is right, the above costs me 606 HP to make.  Taking the 450 base plus 45 for background, description and personality plus 115 in disads, I arrive at having 610 HP.  Meaning I have 4 HP to start the game with or to spend.  Therefore, I could raise:

Directional Hearing to 5 for 2 pts
Flight to 7 for 4 pts
Lightning to 8 for 4 pts
Microscopic vision to 6 for 4 pts
Telescopic Vision to 7 for 4 pts
Ultra Vision to 6 for 4 pts.

Would probably want to raise lightning to 8 to be more effective.  Thought, I also need to look at getting Dispersal so I can eventually reach those mega sonic boom speeds without doing damage and creating sonic booms.


Will look into that in a bit, got to get back to work now.

Page 106, 3rd Ed., Tornadoes, Hurricanes and High Speed Movement

9 APs movement causes Sonic Boom equal to sonic beam attack - AP of movement minus 8 for damage.  16 APs of movement in atmosphere does damage to character and those around him.  AV/EV equal to APs of movement.  Each AP of Dispersal subtracts from this, so 1 AP of Dispersal with 9 AP flight or superspeed equals no sonic boom.

Tornadoes have Air Control Power between 7 & 15 APs and generally moved around at 7 AP. [also have a chance of hurling 7 AP Lightning Bolts withing 10 APs of the tornado.]

Hurricanes have Air Control Power between 7 & 18 APs and affects everything within a radius equal to its AP of Power.

===============================================================
DISPERSAL - BC 10, FC 6 Link - WILL [link cost -2 FC]
If I link and then -1 cost for only while shrunk in Hero ID, Dispersal of 3 will cost 16 HP [3 FC total]


Change Shrinking from 5 to 3 gives 10 HP.
4 HP left over from previous character figuring.
Change Telescopic Vision from 4 to 2 gives 2 HP
Total 16 pts to pay for Dispersal of 3 Linked to Will and -1 for only while shrunk


Can we get a -1 for Not Using it to add to OV/RV vs Physical Attacks?



Can we get a -1 for Not being able to use it for Physical Attacks by partially solidifying?


That would allow only for passing through objects with BODY less than the Dispersal Power and for use against Sonic Boom movement problems.  If all are allowed that would drop the FC from 6 to 1.  Then total cost would be 13 HP.

More Fine Tuning of this character.  Trying and throwing away ideas or keeping them.




1.)  My biggest problem is that this guy has no real defense.  Not at the start.  He is literally a street level hero.  If he can survive his first couple of adventures, he can be more effective.  But actually, he will always be that way, hit him and he can go down in one shot.  At least until I can get his Body high enough that he is bulletproof.

Looking at him, he needs to not be hit, no other defenses.  Adding his Dispersal of 3 and Shrinking of 3, adds +6 to his OV/RV versus physical attacks.  So that is good, very good but if he is hit, down he goes.  Though to be honest, his defense is way better than his offense.  If he was fighting his mirror image, it would probably be a tie of neither one damaging the other unless they got lucky enough to land a devastating attack.  But the minuses to hit each other even normally are way high, add in the attempt at Devastating Attack and they could go many rounds before hitting each other once.

2.)  Maybe drop Sharp Eye [15 HP] and raise his Body up one more to 7?  5 HP left over that way.  Too bad you can't put a limitation on an Advantage, such as "only while shrunk" or "only in hero ID".  Maybe put that together and make it a Misc. Advantage for 5 points?  His smaller size makes it easier to see things he normally would miss, would be the rationale.  Then can give him a Body of 7?

3.)  I was thinking something along the lines of as he gets smaller at each level his physical stats get higher.  But I don't think that is feasible in this game.  And he would have to buy his stats at the same time he bought his shrinking in the same ratio.  Too hard to do.  So one level of shrink would add +1 str, +1 Dex and +1 Body.  10 levels of shrink would add +10 to Str, Body and Dex each.  No way to do that.  Too costly and too hard to keep that many earned HP to buy all that at once.  So scratch that idea.

4.)  hmmmmmmmmmmmm .... how about any new stats he gets after the start has the limitations "Only in Hero ID" and "Only while Shrunk"?  One or the other or preferably both?  Probably "Only While Shrunk" works.  Well, they are actually the same thing.  Rationale is his body is smaller, denser therefore tougher and stronger while being more dexterous due to his small size.  That would make buying future physical stats a bit cheaper.

5.)  And of course, his attacks are only good versus normal folks, what with a Flash of 4 and Lightning of 6 and martial arts of 2.

6.)  And movement will be a problem.  I just saw that every level of shrink you have reduces your movement by 1.  Not sure how the Atom and Ant-Man got around with that restriction considering how small they are.  Well, Ant-Man uses flying ants so that ought to get him up to a 2-4 movement.  Guess he has the Pet Advantage.  The Atom uses the wind or leaping after changing his weight, so he probably has some kind of Gravity Decrease power.  Shrinking Violet has her Legion Flight Ring.


So with 3 levels of shrinking, size of a dog, his movement of 6 would turn into 3.  And since I have limited the lightning attack to zero range, touch only, I guess it comes under hand to hand combat and you can only multi-attack as many foes as you have movement.  So he would only be able to multi-attack 3 at most at that speed.  If I want to be able to move at 3 in all sizes, if I had a shrink of 11 [insect size. 10 or 11 is what I am shooting for eventually], I would need a flight of 14 and a dispersal of 6 and Will of 6 since they are linked.  If I wanted a movement of 8 while at level 11 shrinking, I would need a Flight of 19 with Dispersal and Will of 11.  Pretty expensive but that's why I am thinking long run for this guy.  Still playing him 5-10 years down the road.  :-)

OOPPSSS!  Back to work, they need me.

And back!


7.)  Shrinking - The Atom and Dollman both have insta-change but they do more than insta-change, they shrink automatically with their insta-change and remain that way even while unconscious.  So if I put in something like "Must automatically shrink down to [whatever his starting shrink level is] when in hero ID" that would give me a -1 disad to reduce the FC to 4 and save me a few points.  Many points over the long run.

8.)  Just sort of realizing but I am making a combination Shrinking Violet with a dash of Lightning Lad, Sun Boy and the original Captain Marvel.

Get his Dex and Body to 14, Str to 20 and his Systemic Antidote up to 10 and he can go toe to toe with Captain Marvel.
Get Flash to 13 and it equals Sun Boy
Get Lightning to {Hey!  Lightning Lad has Flash too! at 10} 14 and he equals Lightning Lad
Get Shrinking to 20 {Forget that} and he can equal Shrinking Violet.  13 is tiny insect, not to be confused with Insect [11], 25 is virus and 32 is an atom.  13 is probably max shrinkage for Lightning Bullet.  Really looking at being bullet-size.  And a quick search on the Internet tells me that most cartridges can vary in length from 2" to 0.5".  A .50 Caliber cartridge is just under 4".  So, eventually down to 1/2 inch to 4" which I guess is 10-13.

9.)  Really glad we didn't start this character right away.  Lots of fine tuning needed to be done to maximize his potential.  Getting off work in 15 minutes so no time to redo his character sheet and see what I can come up with.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Latest character sheet for Lightning Bullet.  COMES OUT TO BE A 610 PT CHARACTER IF I DID MY MATH RIGHT.  Origin and background will be gathered later; it's mixed in with previous messages.  Just want to get the numbers right first.

DEX:    7 [56]                 STR:   4  [18]               BODY:     6   [36]
INT:     5 [28]                WILL:   3  [12]               MIND:      4  [18]
INFLU:  3 [14]                AURA:  3  [12]               SPIRIT:     3 [12]
WEALTH:   9 [24]

COST ABOVE:   230

POWERS:  COST  221
------------------------------
2  DIRECTIONAL HEARING %% [7]
3  DISPERSAL ** %% [16]
4  FLASH %% [29]
8  FLIGHT %% [30]
9  LIGHTNING %% () [27]
2  MICROSCOPIC VISION [7]
3  REGENERATION **%% [35]
6  SEALED SYSTEMS **%% [17]
3  SHRINKING ## [23]
6  SYSTEMIC ANTIDOTE **%% [11]
2  TELESCOPIC VISION [7]
2  ULTRA VISION [12]

** = LINKED -2 fc
%% = ONLY WHEN SHRUNK/IN HERO ID -1 fc
## = MUST AUTOMATICALLY SHRINK WHEN IN HERO ID TO 3 MINIMUM -1 fc
() = 0 RANGE/TOUCH -1 fc
!! = FUTURE STAT INCREASES - ONLY WHILE IN HERO ID -1 fc [FOR ANY STAT THAT GOES ABOVE 6, 7 FOR DEX]


SKILLS:  COST   114
-------------------------
2  ACROBATICS    [22]
2  DETECTIVE      [17]
2  MARTIAL ARTS  [31]
2  MEDICINE        [11]
2  SCIENTIST       [15]
2  THIEF             [18]


ADVANTAGES COST 45
---------------------------
HQ: EXPANSIVE                    [15]
INSTA-CHANGE                     [5]
POPULARITY                         [20]
MISC AD SHARP EYE - %%##  [5]

610 TOTAL COST


DISADVANTAGES COST -115
--------------------------------------------------------------
ARCH ENEMY - PACK RAT                                                    [15]
MISC DISAD - DISLIKE BEING TALL - 6'6"                              [5]
SERIOUS IRRATIONAL ATTRACTION TO SMALL THINGS           [25]
SECRET ID - DR. ADAM DANE                                               [10]
TRAUMATIC FLASHBACK [WHEN SMALL PEOPLE NEED HELP]      [60] 

CHARACTER COST:  450 START + 45 FOR BACKGROUND, ETC. + DISADS = 610

Now that I got my hands on Blood Special, I will read through it a bit tomorrow at work and see if there are any new advantages, disads and skills I might want to have instead of what I have put down.
Also, have to see if the costs have changed for what I have.

Really just notes to myself.

BOH2 stat limits to be still considered non-super
Dex 10
Str  6
Body 6
Int  12
Will  12
Mind 12
Infl - 18*  doesn't really say human limit but at 19 people regard you as a god without you displaying any powers
Aura - 18*  doesn't really say human limit but at 19 you can walk among gods as a near equal
Spirit 15*  doesn't really say human limit but at 16 you have the resilience of a mystical god-like being

Traumatic Flashback of 60, when small people need help, is probably too high. That would be an uncommon thing, not common. Kids aren't considered small people, they are kids. So it would be very short people like Danny DeVito or midgets or dwarfs. Might be better to change it to "When people are trapped" a very common occurrence in the superhero world. Or leave as is and lower it to 30 pts and find 30 points elsewhere.

I could drop Traumatic Flashback and take Limelight for 20 pts and works well with his Popular Advantage but I still need 40 more points or 10 more if I go for the uncommon "Short people in danger". Anyone have any ideas on that?
And my workday is done, time to head home.



Did a bit of thinking as I drove home. I think it makes sense to drop the Traumatic Flashback and instead go for an Irrational Attraction "Must save people who are trapped". I would see this as a Serious Attraction but uncommon. It's for people trapped in burning buildings, under or in cars from an accident, trapped in a well, etc. This reflects that his parents died in the car accident and he was too small to get to them to save them. That's 25 points out of the 60 I need.

Then let's add in Limelight for 20. It goes with his Popular Advantage. As the one of the few still active heroes in the City [BTW, we can do a real American City or a fictional one like DC does] and loved by everyone, he will be in the Limelight a lot.

That's 45 points out of the 60 I need.

I was thinking some kind of loss vulnerability or power loss but that makes my head hurt trying to figure it out. I was thinking it affects his Lightning and Flight powers when he is immersed in seawater, dropping them down to 2 APs. This would be uncommon or rare. Beyond that, I can't figure out how much HP I would gain if I took that.

Mr. GM? Can you figure it out for me. Just need 15 points to make up for dropping Traumatic Flashback.

OK, woke up in the middle of the night, wide awake with the ideas for the two Commie Villains. This is the general outline of them since the GM is supposed to do the stats and stuff for them

First off, we have Pack Rat - Our American supervillain, detailed earlier in this chat including why he fights Lightning Bullet.

Second, our villain from Red China - Big Tien, the Collective Man. As LB has 3 levels of Shrinking, this foe has 3 levels of growth, which is why he called Big Tien. In that sense, they are opposites. He also, somehow, can use a small fraction of the collective [Hence the Collective Man nickname] abilities of the people of Red China, which is shown by the Power Reserve he has.

Third, we have the Soviet version of the standard jetpack hero like Buck Rogers, Adam Strange, Rocketman and Rocketgirl, Zip-Jet and Jetgirl, Commander Cody, Sky Marshall and others. He has a rocket/jetpack and a raygun which fires an Energy Blast, later with more HP, it could fire a variety of blasts like Vibration, Fire, Lightning and Sonic. He also has a sidekick. A lovely femme fatale/girlfriend/sister/political officer [pick what works] who fights with him and has her own jet/rocketpack and raygun. They use the Teamwork attack regularly. Together they are Red Ace and Natasha. He was a top Korean War Jet Fighter Ace before being selected to become Red Ace.

As to motivations for our two Commie villains, they mainly have two. First, they want to capture Lightning Bullet and determine how he got his powers so that their respective countries can duplicate them and/or be able to use them as weapons against the Imperialist Running Dogs of the non-Communist world.

Second, they want to prove the superiority of Communism by beating the stuffing regularly of that Imperialist Running Dog Lackey of a Degenerate, Weak American, Capitalist Pig Hero.

Third motivation that they have to be in America that's not directly connected to Lightning Bullet, he just gets involved, is the stealing of military and technological secrets.

As mentioned elsewhere, after running into Lightning Bullet a few times, they may decide to team-up but while their countries aren't enemies they are rival allies, so they wouldn't think twice about double-crossing the other when the time comes since they wouldn't want to share what they learn about Lightning Bullet with each other's countries.

So these would be the Big 3 of Lightning Bullet's list of enemies.

Now to redo his character sheet for the last time, hopefully.

Starting Level Hero 450 pts, in August 1953.
Character:  Lightning Bullet
Type:  Hero
Alter Ego:  DR. ADAM MAXIMILIAN "MAX" DANE
Occupation: Scientist/inventor
Marital Status:  Single
Known Relatives:  Parents [deceased], Aunt Jean & Uncle Ted Walters - live in Florida - raised him after his parents died.  cousins unnamed
Group Affiliation:  None at present
Base of Operations:  Secret Hideout - The Think Tank in Ruby City
Height:  6'6"
Weight:  214 lbs
Eye Color:  Green
Hair Color:  Sandy Blonde/Light Brown
Age:  25
Born: July 28, 1928
Wealth: 9 = $500,000
+5 pts

HISTORY:

Shortly after Max turned 11, he and his parents went on a summer vacation trip.  There was a crash and they went off into a gully filled with water.  The slightly injured 6'  tall Max, who was in the backseat at the time, could not reach his parents to help them get free and get out of the car, due to the way the car was crushed in the crash.  So they died primarily by drowning though Max was told much later that they might have died of their injuries anyway.  Max, recovering in the hospital from his mostly minor injuries,  kept thinking that only if he had been smaller, he could have reached them and saved them.  This belief if he could be smaller he could have helped his parents drove him through adolescence.  This belief that smaller was better, drove tall Max to study many branches of science in order to understand miniaturization better as well as various forms of meditation.  He later became somewhat well-known in the field of miniaturization, creating a number of patents that he leased out to companies, making him a wealthy man.

Using his newfound wealth and the time it allowed him, he studied the problem and with the aid of a biofeedback device of his own design, inhaling certain gases and transcendental meditation was able to alter his body, shrinking in size and gaining powers undreamt of through the force of his Will.  After mastering this ability, he discovered increased vision powers remained with him all the time and the rest only activated when he shrunk his body to whatever size he choose.  Creating a costume that only appears when he shrinks, he became the hero known as the Lightning Bullet.

When he was in college, he made a number of close friends there.  They shared a mutual love of superheroes who had started appearing when they were still kids.  They made a pledge that they would all someday become superheroes on their own and then they would join together to become their own super-team.  Many names for the team were thrown back and forth with no one name winning a majority.  Max is the first of the group to actually become a superhero and he waits for the others to become superheroes and join him in Ruby City.
+15 pts

DESCRIPTION:
Max always slumps when standing or walking, trying to de-emphasize his 6'6" height.  He kind of shuffles as he walks.  He is actually in very good condition but the way he unconsciously holds himself, as Max, tends to hide that.  He dresses in a moderate style, nothing too flashy.  To his friends and family, he is Max.  To colleagues and work folks, he is Adam or Dr. Dane.

As Lightning Bullet, he stand erects but is always shrunk down to one degree or the other.  His costume is mostly white with gold lightning bolts running from his shoulders down the sleeves of the costume and down the legs of it as well.  He has a bullet insignia on his chest and on his gold belt.  He wears a cone-shaped gold helmet.  He can generate electricity and have it run up and down his body when he wished.






PERSONALITY:
Motivation - Upholding the Good
As Lightning Bullet, Max comes across as a very friendly but serious guy with a lot of patience.  He is popular with kids, women and men for various reasons.  Kids like him because he is their size or smaller and he doesn't talk down to them.  Women think he is adorable.  Men find him interesting and a great help when they need a jump start on the battery of their cars.  He is one of the newest yet also one of the last heroes in Ruby City as most other superheroes, most of whom have been active since WW2, have retired over the last six years.  
+15 pts

500 pts start 450+50 background pts

DEX:    7                 STR:   4                  BODY:      6  
INT:      5                 WILL:   3                 MIND:     4
INFLU:  3                AURA:  3                 SPIRIT:    3
wealth 9
cost 230 pts

POWERS:
2  DIRECTIONAL HEARING %
3  DISPERSAL * %
5  FLASH %
8  FLIGHT %
9  LIGHTNING % ()
2  MICROSCOPIC VISION
3  REGENERATION *%
6  SEALED SYSTEMS *%
3  SHRINKING #
6  SYSTEMIC ANTIDOTE *%
3  TELESCOPIC VISION
3 ULTRA VISION

* = LINKED -2 fc
% = ONLY WHEN SHRUNK/IN HERO ID -1 fc
# = MUST AUTOMATICALLY SHRINK WHEN IN HERO ID TO 3 APs MINIMUM -1 fc
() = 0 RANGE/TOUCH -1 fc
! = FUTURE STAT INCREASES - ONLY WHILE IN HERO ID -1 fc [FOR ANY STAT THAT GOES ABOVE 6, 7 FOR DEX]
cost 226 pts

ADVANTAGES:
HQ: EXPANSIVE                
INSTA-CHANGE                  
POPULARITY                      
MISC Advantage SHARP EYE - %#  
cost 45 pts

SKILLS:  
2  ACROBATICS    
2  DETECTIVE      
2  MARTIAL ARTS  
2  MEDICINE        
2  SCIENTIST      
2  THIEF            
cost 114 pts

615 total cost

DISADVANTAGES
ENEMIES     3x, every other adventure, 3 foes same pts level as hero                                                  30 pts                                        
MISC DISAD - DISLIKE BEING TALL - 6'6"                                                                                           5 pts
IRRATIONAL ATTRACTION TO THINGS SMALLER THAN THEY NORMALLY ARE  [SERIOUS, UNC]              25 PTS
IRRATIONAL ATTRACTION MUST SAVE PHYSICALLY TRAPPED PEOPLE [SERIOUS, UNC]                         25 PTS
LIMELIGHT                                                                                                                                      20 PTS
SECRET ID - DR. ADAM DANE                                                                                                           10 PTS
-115 PTS FOR DISADS

615 PTS TOTAL

couple of costume ideas for Red Ace - gotta to change the colors a bit for one of them but you get the idea.

Here's another Red Ace idea.


Gotta do Natasha soon.

Final Writeup? Do we all look good? I've contacted someone else who I've online RP'd with extensively and he's a good, solid player (i.e. he doesn't vanish halfway through a game). He's gotten back to me with suggestion for a Fonz type character or Mork from Ork type. I'll pad out a group with a couple of NPCs as required.

Edit: name changed

Yep, that's it.  Most tweaked character I've ever made.   LOL!
Well, other than he is Dr. Adam Maximilian "Max" Dane. Max to friends and family. Adam to everyone else.

THIS IS NATASHA STAR, RED ACE'S SIDEKICK/LOVE INTEREST/POLITICAL OR CONTROL OFFICE/MASTER SPY/SISTER, OR WHATEVER THE GM DECIDES SHE DOES BESIDES BEING HIS SIDEKICK.

GOT HER WITHOUT HER COWL SO WE CAN SEE HER HAIR, BACKSIDE TO SEE HER ROCKETPACK IS DIFFERENT AND THEN WITH HER COWL.

Okay from City of Heroes, he comes as his normal civilian ID 6'6" height, his starting hero height of 3'3" height, 20" height and 10" height. Game crashed while trying to do 5" height and couldn't get back on and that would be the smallest the game allowed.

20"


\


10"




pretty good size comparison I think.