[Part Three] Thoughts On Character Creation

I left off with most of the Combat Stats down and a few Feats chosen to justify the character concept for Base Attack and Base Defense. What I have thus far is:

Combat Stats [16pps]
Initiative: mod (=dex mod) 
Base Attack: +3 [Ranged: +3, Melee: +5, Grapple: mod (BA+Str), Weapon: +7] (6pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Damage (dc): +5 max, +2 Unarmed (dc17), +5 Flail (dc20), etc
Base Defense: +5 (Base)/+7 (w/ Shield) [Dodge Bonus: +2 (1/2 Base Defense), Flat-footed: +3 (Base - Dodge Bonus)] (10pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Toughness: +5 (+3 Con, +2 Armor)
Knockback: -2 (1/2 tough save, size, immovable)
Hero Points: #

Feats [7pps]
Attack Focus: 2 (melee)
Attack Specialization: 2 (weapon)
Dodge Focus: 2  Chose to take a shield instead
Equipment: 3 (15ep, 3ep remaining)

Adding Abilities and Equipment then adjusted the above...

Abilities [24pp]
Strength: 14 (+2), Dexterity: 16 (+3), Constitution: 16 (+3), Intelligence: 12 (+1), Wisdom: 14 (+2), Charisma: 12 (+1)

Equipment [12ep]
Studded Leather Armor: +2 Toughness (2ep)
Medium Shield: +2 Dodge, +2 Block (4ep)
Flail: +3 Damage, Crit 20, +2 Trip & Disarm (6ep)
* +2 for Trip & Disarm attacks might exceed PL limits if added (need to find out)

Yep, it was added to the errata:
Pg 107, Trip: At the end of this power’s description, add the following sentence “Trip counts as if it forced a saving throw for power level purposes.”
See here: http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?t=12601

Dang something to consider. Do I just lose that bonus or modify my Attack Bonus to take it into consideration...

Stay tuned...
TB

[Part Two] Thoughts On Character Creation

Running with what I decided in Part One, I will expound on the following:

Combat Stats [#pps]
Initiative: mod (=dex mod) 
Base Attack: +7 [Ranged: mod, Melee: mod, Grapple: mod (BA+Str)] (14pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Damage (dc): +5, Unarmed (+0), etc
Base Defense: +7 [Dodge Bonus: mod (1/2 Base Defense), Flat-footed: mod] (14pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Toughness: +5
Knockback: -2 (1/2 tough save, size, immovable)
Hero Points: #

Focusing on the first stat I can work on (Initiative will be determined from Ability Stats - Dexterity) I will develop Base Attack. With tradeoffs, I decided to max this at +7 (PL+1). Now I have to decide why (justify) it. I could leave it at a +7 bought straightaway with pps, but I don't think all 7 points are innate. I think, based on my concept, that the character should be more focused on his primary weapon(s) and less-so on general attack. To that end, I will take some Feats that will modify this:

Feats [#pps]
Attack Focus 2 (melee)
Attack Specialization 2 (weapon)

With Attack Specialization providing the largest modifier (+2/rank) to the Base Attack (- 4), I will use it to determine the Base Bonus. These Feats change the Attack Stats as such:

Base Attack: +3 [Ranged: +3, Melee: +5, Grapple: mod (BA+Str), Weapon: +7] (6pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)

The specialty drops the Base Attack bonus by 4 (for the +4 mod) to a +3. This saves me 8pp (14 cost to purchase outright - 6 current cost after factoring in Attack Specialization = 8pp) Nice!

Looking at Base Defense I feel the character is inherently hard to hit, but not wanting to purchase the full defense bonus outright, I will add 2 ranks of Dodge Focus. I don't want him to get caught too low when flatfooted.

Feats [#pps]
Attack Focus 2 (melee)
Attack Specialization 2 (weapon)
Dodge Focus 2

Which changes my Base Defense to so:

Base Defense: +5 (Base)/+7 (w/ Dodge Focus) [Dodge Bonus: +2 (1/2 Base Defense), Flat-footed: +3 (Base - Dodge Bonus)] (10pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)

I think I will end Part Two there. Completing the Combat Stats requires equipment and Ability scores to be determined, which I will address in Part Three.

More to come...
TB 

[Part One] Thoughts On Character Creation

As I suggested in my Intro Post to this series, I want to reverse my character creation process, to an extent, to see if I can fix what I usually do wrong when building a M&M character. I envision it kind of like the suggestions of spell checking your writing, which I do terribly, by reading what you have written backwards (from the bottom up, right to left). Why do they suggest this? Simple, your mind will fill in what it perceives should be there, whether the words are spelled correctly or not.

Now I just need a concept, something simple (hopefully) that I can track through the process in this series. I want to start with a Power Level (PL) of six. The first character I made was intended to be a PL4 character. I lost sight of that and, well, it just turned into a mess. One of the key things that I had an issue with that character was trying to get all the things I wanted out of the concept from the limited Power Point supply (60pps). Hopefully a different approach will help that issue. So on to the concept, take your basic fighter and give him some cool maneuvers and if I have some PPs left over, then give him some cool gear to support those maneuvers.

Here is the Combat Stat blocks that hold the four parts of what I suspect is the Holy Grail of character construction:

Combat [#pp]: Base Attack +0 [+0 type], Base Defense ## [## flatfooted], Initiative +0, Grapple (BA+Str+Size), Knockback (1/2 tough save, size, immovable), Hero Points #

This and the Damage and Toughness stats. Now, I will admit that I shamelessly 'borrowed' the layout for my character build sheet from Brian Roth, aka Joshua Dunlow, because I could read through it and see all the interlacing connections of how things built upon each other. I think I need to design something that more fits my process and features reminders that I often forget. Though his layout reads well and I can follow it, I just haven't had any success building a character with it. The only drawbacks I see in this is that a layout I envision will be longer (wordier) and it won't be what the experienced masses of M&M character designers are used to seeing. If it works though... magic.

So, a new layout starting with a Combat Stat block where small print, utilized as a reminder, will be removed on completion. (Work in Progress)

Combat Stats [#pps]
Initiative: mod (=dex mod) 
Base Attack: mod [Ranged: mod, Melee: mod, Grapple: mod] (#pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Base Defense: mod [Dodge Bonus: mod (1/2 Base Defense), Flat-footed: mod] (#pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Knockback: mod (1/2 tough save, size, immovable)
Hero Points: #

The two other stat blocks that directly correlate to the Combat Stat block is the Damage Stat block and the Saves Stat block. Damage because it corresponds to Base Attack, and Saves because it contains Toughness that corresponds to Base Defense. For this series I am going to try putting Toughness and Damage Stats in the Combat Stats block.

Combat Stats [#pps]
Initiative: mod (=dex mod) 
Base Attack: mod [Ranged: mod, Melee: mod, Grapple: mod] (#pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Damage (dc): Unarmed (+0), etc
Base Defense: mod [Dodge Bonus: mod (1/2 Base Defense), Flat-footed: mod] (#pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Toughness: 
Knockback: mod (1/2 tough save, size, immovable)
Hero Points: #

Now I should be able to work the whole interlinked stats in one place by setting them to the maxes I want, and then retrofitting them backwards as the character develops. How I envision the character is a fast (+Defense) lightly armored (-Toughness) quick hitter (+Attack) that does maneuvers rather than Damage (-Damage). So I set the stats at their max (6) modified for the tradeoffs and if they can be bout-out-right I figure the full pp cost of doing so:

Combat Stats [#pps]
Initiative: mod (=dex mod) 
Base Attack: +7 [Ranged: mod, Melee: mod, Grapple: mod] (14pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Damage (dc): +5, Unarmed (+0), etc
Base Defense: +7 [Dodge Bonus: mod (1/2 Base Defense), Flat-footed: mod] (14pp) (2pp/+1,Limit=PL)
Toughness: +5
Knockback: -2 (1/2 tough save, size, immovable)
Hero Points: #

I think that is all I can do for this step in the series. I now have to figure out (justify) why the stats have the level they do individually. I will take each individually in the upcoming series.

Best,
TB

[Intro] Thoughts On Character Creation

My previous attempts at character creation have been, at best, lackluster. While looking back at them, I think I might have discovered where I go wrong. Most of the issues I have is the Combat Stats and Powers. I want to focus on what I think am doing wrong with calculating Combat Stats to start the series of posts and move on to Powers later in the series.

What got me to thinking about it was an epiphany I had. The revolation came when I thought about starting a PbP Fantasy M&M game. I thought, "You can't even make a character without help. How could you make the masses of opponents that would be required to challenge the characters throughout their adventure?" Don't get me wrong, I know what "right" looks like, I just have a very difficult time reproducing it. These thoughts, and a discussion on the Atomic Think Tank about balancing encounter, were the key. It was suggested that one could take the four Combat Stats and average them, like what is said in the Core book for NPCs, to determine their PL and then factor in what kind of challenge it would be for the Players. Combat Stats, the very thing that I usually mess up.

So, if that is what defines a challenge, they should be the focus, right? Well, they weren't when I was creating a character. I went straight down the assembly line; Abilities, Skills, etc. This had me scrambling to keep my Attack, Damage, Defense, and Toughness in check with Power Level (PL) at the end of character creation and had me back peddling. What I want to do now, in these posts, is to design a character in reverse of my previous process, minus one step; Character Concept. Character Concept will have to be done first.

Stay tuned for more on Character Creation...
TB