New Iconics thread

[gaghiel42]

Awesome, thanks Pat.  Oh, one other question for you Pat.  Whats your opinion on giving the characters a Proteus gadget?  (No Tank/Motor homes this time, I promise  )

[Bill Whitmore]

This is a work in progress, but I'll post what I have so far.  I'll fill this in as I come up with the rest of it.

She was a specialist in corporate espionage, stealing their secrets and then selling them to competitors.  She had a successful career for several years before the law caught up with her.  Facing a seizure of her property and an extended jail sentence, she jumped at the oppurtunity when the Agency offered to expunge her criminal record so long as she worked for them.  Since then she has gone, mostly, legit.

This character has all the skills necessary for infiltrating an organization, and, should it become necessary, has the ability to withstand the interrogation that would surely follow if caught.

Couple notes:
If this was a home game, he would have 2 acquaintances and 1 associate, but since this is an Iconic character who won't be leveling, I combined them into a Partner.

I haven't done gear yet, so the wealth is subject to change.

The format I am using draws upon the character bio format Pat listed with the rest of the info laid out in the same order chosen in the 10 step character creation process for everything else.  This is not meant as a final format, by any means, just an easy layout for me to see all the info.  If and when we have format for the Iconic characters I would be more than happy to fill them in.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Lastly, everything for this character is from the Core book only, and I would prefer to keep it that way.  While I am glad to hear about how a feat from Practice Makes Perfect may be perfect for this character, I have no intention of including it in this particular build.

* * *

Name:

Age:           Height:           Weight:

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Background:

Str: 12
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 13
Cha: 16

Talent: Convincing
Specialty: Contract Professional
Special: Once per session, you may make a Resources Request check without spending an action die.

Advocate 3
Class Abilities: Absolute Certainty, Behind the Scenes I (city), Networks (1 gear feat), Persistent

Skills:* 42 - Bluff 6 (+5 Cap), Bureaucracy 6, Cultures 3, Impress 7 (+1 Threat Range, Max Ranks = CL + 4), Intimidate 2, Manipulate 2, Networking 6, Notice 2, Profession 2, Resolve 4, Science 2, Sense Motive 6 (Talented)
Foci: Cultures – Native + 1 others, Drive – Standard Ground Vehicles, Profession – Lobbyist, Science – Economy
Contacts: 1 Partner-grade contact

Feats: Hard core, mark, talented (Diplomat) + 1 Gear Feat

Interests: Politics, +2 more

Subplot: Choose 1

Vitality: 27
Wounds: 14
Stress: 13
Subdual: 14
Unarmed attack: +4
Melee attack: +3
Ranged attack: +2 (+3 with handguns)
Fortitude: +4
Reflex: +1
Will: +4
Defense: 11
Initiative: +4
Knowledge: +4
Request check: +6
Gear check: +4
Reputation: 2

Weapon Profs: Blunt, Handgun (forte), Unarmed (forte)

Weath: Total 9 - L3, S3, P3

Possessions: < in progress >

Mission Gear: < in progress >

* These are only the number of ranks in the skill, and does not include bonuses of any kind.

[Crafty_Pat]

Awesome, thanks Pat.  Oh, one other question for you Pat.  Whats your opinion on giving the characters a Proteus gadget?  (No Tank/Motor homes this time, I promise  )

I wouldn't, for a couple reasons - a) it can cause havoc in some games, and b) it's rules-intensive for something that should be simple in demos (gear).

[Jake]

Awesome, thanks Pat.  Oh, one other question for you Pat.  Whats your opinion on giving the characters a Proteus gadget?  (No Tank/Motor homes this time, I promise  )

I don't think they need to deal with



flying tanks just yet.....Lets get them to play around with the Fluid Initiative System first.

Are we picking common items or still leaving them open like like the current demo characters?

[Crafty_Pat]

Are we picking common items or still leaving them open like like the current demo characters?

Perhaps preselect... half of them per character?

[gaghiel42]

Perhaps preselect... half of them per character?

Yeah, I think that sounds good.  I'd say we just have 4 of the commonest items possible like Zip Ties, Duct Tape, Cellphone/PDA and Sunglasses.  Then leave the rest available for the player to pull out when they need it. 

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

I really like the concept so far.  Finally a not so bright and shining Advocate.  I'd say for the gear pick perhaps something that raises their lifestyle (Home Sweet Home) and then perhaps swap out Mark for Bloodstain Resistant. I'd only say go that route because most of the demo sessions are rather combat heavy, and giving the advocate a little more survivability might be nice.  If you managed to get lifestyle to 7 it'd be a plus 2 bonus, but I think the +1 is fine.  Alternatively, you could go for a feat like gorgeous to further pump up their skills.  (Mark's abillity is cool, but it is an extra rule for the player to remember and may not be something that important for demo play, thats my only real concern)  Great work so far.  Can't wait to see what it ends up like.

I wouldn't, for a couple reasons - a) it can cause havoc in some games, and b) it's rules-intensive for something that should be simple in demos (gear).

Right-o.  I figured that it might be a fun way to show off some of the high tech gadgets.   But, I tend to agree.  If it was in there, I'd have probably made it the Fire Truck/Helicopter proteus and put it in the Combat Gear build.  I'll figure something else out though.

[Badgerish]

So what are the options for a low-lifestyle character who doesn't want to dress like they are homeless?

1) buy clothes etc to raise apperance in the short term (doesn't really fit mission format play)
2) cover identity (needs a cal3 pick to avoid appearance penaltites but has other uses)
3) low-profile armor: average or trendy (does this even work? takes a cal3 or cal4 pick but does provide pretty nice armor as well)
4) increase lifestyle and ignore/downgrade the parts you don't want. (like Erin could upgrade her lifestyle, gain the higher appearance (when on business) and vehicle picks... but still live in a garage)
5) other?

[gaghiel42]

In many situations, the appearance modifier doesn't really come into play.  You can dress however you like but as the book says this about it:

Per the GC’s discretion, you may describe your character’s appearance however you wish. Regardless of the character’s description, however, his Appearance modifier does not change.  The only way to adjust your character’s Appearance modifier is to increase the character’s Lifestyle.  A character may voluntarily choose to adopt an appearance listed at a lower Lifestyle, though this offers no additional benefit.

For your character, since she doesn't have any of the skills affected by the appearance modifier, she will be largely unaffected by its influence.  (Those being: Impress, Cultures, Profession and Networking)  You can dress how ever you feel like.   Use whatever way to describe them as you'd like, but ultimately, it won't matter all that much. 

That being said, I tend to agree that the appearance modifier is a bit harsh, but they have to balance it against possessions somewhat, so take that into consideration too.  Plus, people can be fickle.  How you carry yourself can affect how someone reacts to you a lot.  I may look good in a tux (it probably is the clothing item with the HOT vehicle quality to it), but I don't wear one regularly, and if you watch someone close enough, you can tell these things.  I'm way more comfortable in sweats and t-shirts and as such, move/act/look/etc differently in a tux than someone who wears one on a daily basis.  Plus, If you don't make enough money to have them dry cleaned after every time you wear it you get a worn look going too...

[Jake]

Yeah, I think that sounds good.  I'd say we just have 4 of the commonest items possible like Zip Ties, Duct Tape, Cellphone/PDA and Sunglasses.  Then leave the rest available for the player to pull out when they need it. 

I think we're going for speed here. We want to give them enough common items so they can pick some, but we don't want them sitting there thinking about it for more than a minute. Maybe 4-5 picks? That would be easy to think of and write down in under 60 seconds.

By the by, aren't sunglasses covered under Lifestlye? Unless you want to house something in them.

[OverNinja]

By the by, aren't sunglasses covered under Lifestlye? Unless you want to house something in them.

Glasses (clear or sun) are a common item, according to Big Score and I'd hold to that even if the Big Score was not available.

[Psion]

By the by, aren't sunglasses covered under Lifestlye? Unless you want to house something in them.

I would give a +1 gear bonus to saves against flash damage for common items, and have ones that are "fashionable but not functional" under lifestyle.

[Crafty_Pat]

So what are the options for a low-lifestyle character who doesn't want to dress like they are homeless?

1) buy clothes etc to raise apperance in the short term (doesn't really fit mission format play)
2) cover identity (needs a cal3 pick to avoid appearance penaltites but has other uses)
3) low-profile armor: average or trendy (does this even work? takes a cal3 or cal4 pick but does provide pretty nice armor as well)
4) increase lifestyle and ignore/downgrade the parts you don't want. (like Erin could upgrade her lifestyle, gain the higher appearance (when on business) and vehicle picks... but still live in a garage)
5) other?

So... Question. Would it be helpful to have two versions of the iconics - one for demo play (where anything that isn't necessary, like Wealth, is omitted), and another as starters for campaign play (with everything listed)?

[gaghiel42]

So... Question. Would it be helpful to have two versions of the iconics - one for demo play (where anything that isn't necessary, like Wealth, is omitted), and another as starters for campaign play (with everything listed)?

I think that sounds like a great idea.  For campaign play, would those be lv 3 as well though?  Most of my campaigns start at lv 2 or 3 so I could see it.  I think that is a great idea.  It'd be kinda cool to have some characters players can pull from if they were starting up a home game too.  I think that was Fat Alibert's plan all along.

[Crafty_Pat]

I think that sounds like a great idea.  For campaign play, would those be lv 3 as well though?  Most of my campaigns start at lv 2 or 3 so I could see it.  I think that is a great idea.  It'd be kinda cool to have some characters players can pull from if they were starting up a home game too.  I think that was Fat Alibert's plan all along.

I would go Level 3 for everything. It'll make the design and presentation easier and anyone who wants to scale them back can do so easily enough.

[gaghiel42]

Hasn't been too much noise on here in a little while.  If anyone needs help, let me/us know.  We're here to help.  Even if you just have a loose concept in mind, toss it out there and we can hammer it out together.  Never give up, and all that jazz.