UNLIMITED CHARACTER! UNLIMITED CREATION!

So my goals for character creation are:

• Everyone should have a character that they just LOVE. This is just a one-shot using a broken ruleset, so there's no real point in getting hung up on details just to wind up something just kind of okay. I want everyone having a blast right out of the gate.
• So long as everyone is being reasonable and staying in-genre I'm very much a YES...AND kind of GM. I'm into you guys being good at what you want to be good at, doing cool thing and having awesome moments. If the rules let us do that, we'll follow them. If the rules get in the way of that, we'll ignore them. But I won't accept anyone engaging in bad faith or trying to 'win the game.' It only takes a little bit of that to ruin it for everyone.
• If there's ever a rules inconsistency, ambiguity, contradiction, or anything similar, go ahead and choose the interpretation you like best.

Our 'Main Book' is Heroes Unlimited 2nd Edition, the one with the white go-go-go USA cover. If you want to use anything that's not in this book, please tell me where you got it, and ask if it's okay. I'll probably say yes, but having you ask is the only way I'll be able to keep track of everything.

When you give me a final sheet, I would like to see as much of your math as possible. What your  original rolls were, where your bonuses came from, any XP expenditures you made (see below), and the like.

A Note on Balance: everyone knows that balance doesn't really exist in Palladium in the way that it does in most other systems. But there are lots of ways to find room for low-op heroes in a story, and lots of ways to make sure that everyone can contribute. So if you want to play a kind of hero that's ill-served by the game's math, we can talk about it. We can almost certainly find a way to make it work.

THE RULES (such as they are)

Attributes. Roll 3d6 eight times, re-rolling 1's and exploding 6's (the Dice Roller is configured for this right now). Arrange to taste. If you absolutely can't handle what you rolled, feel free to roll a second time.

Superhero Type and Level. Everyone may choose two Superhero Categories and gain all the benefits of both (no Mega Heroes). Everyone starts with exactly 25,000 XP. You can keep it all, or spend some of it as follows:

• 1000: gain 10 Attribute Points to distribute however you wish
• 1000: gain one additional Skill Program
• 1000: gain any three Skills
• 1000: gain one Martial Arts Power in a category allowed by one of your Martial Arts Forms
• 1000: gain 100 percentile points to distribute among Skills however you like
• 2000: gain one Martial Arts Power from any category
• 2000: gain $100,000 worth of gear
• 2000: gain one very expensive/rare/unattainable item you wouldn't normally be able to get (please ask first)
• 3000: gain one Martial Arts form (including Exclusive forms)
• 3000: gain one Minor Power
• 6000: gain one Major Power (please ask first)

Tables and Budgets. Any time you're asked to roll on any table (Education, Budget, Mutant Characteristics, Alien Planet, etc) you may instead just choose any option (if you all want to be MD's, who am I to stand in the way of your dreams?).

Robots. Robots gain the power source and AI type of their choice for free.

Skills/Education. Any player may take the Sexy-Smart Skill Program. This allows you choose four skills from the following list (each may be taken more than once):

• Basic Brain Embiggening: +2d4 IQ and +1d4 ME
• Advanced Brain Embiggening (requires Basic Brain Embiggening): add 6 + 1d6 to IQ and +2d4 ME
• Basic Brain Enhardening: +2d4 ME  and +1d4 IQ
• Advanced Brain Enhardening (requires Basic Brain Enhardening): add 6 + 1d6 to ME and +2d4 IQ
• Basic Personal Hottening: +2d4 PB and +1d4 MA
• Advanced Personal Hottening (requires Basic Personal Hottening): add 6 + 1d6 to PB and +2d4 MA
• Basic Personal Charmening: +2d4 PB and +1d4 MA
• Advanced Body Charmening (requires Basic Personal Charmening): add 6 + 1d6 to MA and +2d4 PB

Assets/Liabilities. from the list below, choose one as an Asset and one as a Liability. If you wish, you may choose a second Asset (or 'supercharge' your first one), but if you do, you must choose a second Liability. Anything not chosen is just 'average.'

• Anonymity: as an asset, this means your mundane life and identity are especially safe. Maybe you've covered your tracks especially well or maybe you have friends and family to cover for you. As a liability, it means that your mundane life is vulnerable and people may already have reason to suspect your secret identity.
• Fame: as an asset, this is the good kind of fame: you are known and liked. As a liability, this is infamy. In-game events can swing this in either direction, but this represents a solid starting point.
• Freedom: as an asset, this means the 'mundane' part of your life is relatively easy. Maybe you telecommute or set your own schedule. Maybe you live with oblivious parents. As a liability, it means that your mundane life is time-consuming and difficult and rife with responsibilities.
• Network: as an asset, it means that you have friends in all kinds of places, some of whom might owe you favours or goodwill. As a liability, it means that you have enemies who seek to block your goals or harm you.
• Respectability: as an asset, this means you have the general goodwill and cooperation (or possibly even official standing) of the police, government, or other authority figures. As a liability, it means you're seen as shady or unsavory and may possibly be wanted by authorities.
• Resources: as as asset, this might mean you have lots of money or that you're being bankrolled by someone. As a liability, it means you're poor and/or owe money to the wrong kind of people or organizations.
• Security: as an asset, this means that your physical premises are safe most of the time. Good lair, a panic room, good security, Fortress of Solitude, nice neighbourhood, whatever. As a liability it means that your home is insecure or easily found or both.

Equipment/Money. For normal, mundane, legal, off-the-rack equipment, just decide what you think you would have and write it down. Anything non-standard/illegal/superhero-y, ask. So long as you aren't trying to break the game with kit, I'll probably be okay with it (plus, the more stuff you have, the more stuff I get to break!). And, of course, anything you get from your power categories you get to keep as well.

Is that it? I think that's it. I'm sure this is all just a giant mess. Which means we'll all feel right at home.

Questions? Ask away!
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:37, Mon 08 Mar 2021.

So we discuss Chargen here then?

I'll start with that I plan to pick Physical Training (Strength and Endurance0 and one of the Hardware Hero types.

OK...since Doc went first here.

I have Corrupted Good/Deevil Empowerment as Main Category. This is listed in Armageddon Unlimited, pg 41 to 50 with Powers of Darkness(Alter physical Structure: Shadow, Shadow Meld, Shadow Stepping, and Shadow Trap). As I watch others dip into Physical Training, I kinda have to agree with that thought....Shadowbourne will have been a Courier who uses Parkour to deliver items. This Defensive and Fast, Agility and Speed seem like a natural fit.

However...

There is the Demon Hunter category(doubling down) in Armageddon Unlimited pg 23-30. This would add Mystical knowledge(not spells), Protection Circle abilities, and contacts.

Which of these seems appropriate? What do you think of the Demon Hunter? I can expand upon the class if more in depth is needed.

I truly am torn here...BOTH fit thematically PT/DFAS is a very comfortable fit and easy to apply. Demon Hunter has MORE moving parts that might have more downtime applications.

A third option is Enchanted Object/Weapon...This also seems appropriate(Arggghh...I have an idea for something here: Duskmantle Battle Dress and Shadowfang Weaponry/Multiple Karambits)....

Opinions?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Tue 09 Mar 2021.

As I said in the other thread I would really dig being the only Physical Training guy since that is the niche Doc is most based on.

If you guys are dead set on it though then I can flex.

So, at the risk of throwing a whole monkey wrench all up in everything while it's in flux, is two power categories too much?

I'm not married to that, I just find that sometimes allowing two means more use of the 'lower powered' categories.

But, as we see, Physical Training makes a wonderful add-on to just about anything, and so there's some erosion of chosen niches.

What do we think?

I was thinking a Mutant/Experiment.  He was a soldier, an early, part of a group that eventually disbanded on its own after defeating a GBEG.  Part of it was personality clashes, part was the lack of a need for them.  However, a few years later, Pitstop, as he was known, vanished.
The rest of the team got together and searched for him.  After a couple of years, they found him in the hands of the GBEG's heir(s).  He had been used in an attempt to make an army of super soldiers, and to also resurrect the GBEG, and he had been experimented upon for weaknesses, and severely tortured.  And, after his rescue, the destruction of the company run by the GBEG's heir(s), and the incarceration/death if the heir(s), Pitstop, and the rest of the group, soon disappeared into obscurity.....
The truth is that the experiment altered him further, and now, he lives on the streets, hidden from view despite helping the homeless, the impoverished, the forgotten.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Tue 09 Mar 2021.

I think it's an interesting idea and would like to try it.

It WILL make some very powerful characters with some potentially wacky combos (like supernatural strength power punches) possible if people want to go that way.

A lot of Doc's story is about him being a super guy who made himself super so I wanted to request being the only Phys guy.

I was looking forward to the whole 'two categories' thing. I mean, why can't a 'Weapon of Order' be a katana? Sure, it would be pure luck that the guy who finds the weapon is dedicated  to bushido and trained in the use of the weapon. In fact, that's so lucky it's almost as if there's some Karmic Power at work.
This stuff just writes itself.

I feel the same with the idea of Doc getting to be a Phys Hero and a Hardware guy. It plays right into his concept. It seems natural.

Only if you don't allow the Geat Big Evil Gal/Guy, and some of her/his most trusted henchmen to do the same.

Well, the whole point of this is to discuss and plan on builds. I will honor Doc's wishes. I am now looking harder at Demon Hunter. It IS a lower powered option that would pair nicely with Corrupted Good...put slightly more mystical capabilities into the group(I do mean slightly).

Cool. That's fine with me. I prefer two categories. But, in that case, I don't think we can easily grant anyone exclusive rights to any one category. Especially one that matches with almost every other category.

Dr.Roller, if at the end of chargen you still feel like your lack of clear niche is going to mess with your enjoyment of the character, just drop me a PM. There's lots of ways to manage that.

I think Shitsumon and myself are basically running the same two power sets (Magic/Physical), but we are not going to look or feel like same characters at all.

Demon Hunter sounds more specialized, but it might be cool. I was surprised you didn't take Special Training, but I'm not as familiar with Heroes Unlimited as I am with Rifts. Speaking of Rifts, I recognize the name "Armageddon Unlimited" - merc company, bad news, everyone stupidly trusted those guys despite being in a world of psychic/magic people who can literally see demons for what they are, but Naruni and Robot Control were the ones with all the warning flags hanging around them.

skewed priorities, guys

Punching their smug demonic faces sounds fantastic, but Heroing insures a target rich environment regardless of what we go after, whether it be aliens, robots, ninja, or robotic ninjas with alien technology (see the Foot Clan).

Quick note everyone: the 25,000 XP is for levels and for spending. So whatever's left after you buy cool things will determine your level. 25k puts most categories at the top end of 5th level (you could be a 6th level Mutant/Experiment/Special Training if you spend nothing at all).

So there is some leeway before you have to drop down to 4th.

On an aside, I'm seeing Altruist as having a bit of a superiority issue. Not one that would make him a bad teammate, but more the type who rubs allies and enemies alike the wrong way. Statistically speaking, he has no weak points, and I figure this might cause a break in how he relates to others - that is, it is the weak point to be that far removed from others.

He favors surgical planning, he knows he's better, stronger, faster, and harder than most, he tends to detach and distance himself from others because he never knows when he needs someone to do something they'd rather not, and one of his few dilemmas is whether he needs to deal with the impending threat or ignore it to solve the bigger problem. With that said, he tries to control the threat he could be if he were careless, by not being careless.

His patron would prefer it if his "student" were more reactive to the moment, had responsibility with his powers, defended the innocent (without empathy or mercy for the offender), avoided escalation in favor of saving lives, and fully accepted they cannot be "merely mortal." Even if the Altruist is not running counter to these, his patron will judge him according to that metric, for good or ill.

Take extreme caution with this approach, please, especially at the outset before we've developed a rapport and put some trust and grace in the bank. In my experience, it takes only a few errant steps on the 'run people the wrong way' path to sour a PbP game.


Watch this one too. The other thing that kills PbP games dead is tactical pre-planning. Momentum is the single most important resource of a PbP game, and the stop-start-24-hour-delay nature of the medium is not a good for the detailed back and forth of detailed pre-planning.

I tend to prefer full on Leeroy Jenkins all the way, but if Altruist (and/or anyone) wants pre-planning to be a big part of their character or the group or the gaming experience, we could use a Flashback mechanic. I've done this before to good effect. Basically, you expend a resource (Cool Points, usually) to pause a scene and flashback to how you planned for this eventuality and what you put in place to help.

Anything to not kill momentum is good in my book.

Mostly, I was thinking more Justice League Superman's problem - "I'm Superman. You are not Superman. I should be handling this." Nevermind that the League is composed of people around his power weight level and Batman, and that Superman does, in fact, get in over his head and require bailing out.

But I do get your concern. I was actually going to make it clear one of Altruist's flaws was that he spent so much time preparing for things and being overwhelmed by options, he actually often needs to roll with someone else's madness for a bit. He's too damn smart - too many options, too many variables, too many possibilities; the universe is too vast, and existential crisis are a danger.

It's paralyzing. Indecision is a real danger to him. Sometimes, the smartest move is to go with someone who doesn't think so much, and he is aware of that.

He'd likely envy others who can draw a decent conclusion on so little data. They are actually living, and they remind him what he's fighting for. So, in short, a plan of "Altruist, go through the door and fight whatever is behind it," is probably not something he'd argue with, beyond issues of collateral damage.

Any data I need can be requested off-screen. Doc and him might do the planning stage in PMs.

In reply to Altruist (msg # 17):

This all sounds great. Thank you for clarifying.

It's okay.  Gecko tends to be a bit hyper and impulsive.

OK...I have done some considering(or reconsidering). I am going to effectively double dip into the same category, but make alternative selections. Both will be into Deevil Bestowed(Mystically Bestowed Variant). First Dip will give the Darkness Based Powers(APS Shadow, Shadow Meld, Shadow Stepping and Shadow Trap). The Second dip will give Arcane Knowledge w his Spells using Shadow Magic to complement first dip. That means that Shadowbourne will be a spell casting Shadow Demon(Looking at it, He is literally a humanoid Shadowbeast, as in Summon Shadowbeast spell.

This is mainly due to RNG Gods being incredibly generous on the rolls for Attributes, with 30, 24, 23, and 17 for half the rolls. Then the expenditure of 1000XP for Attribute points shores up the others.

Interesting choice. Does that mean he's good at communicating with the generally malevolent beings? Also, on the topic of the War I'm not sure who they are allied with. I got the impression the Shadows hired out to both sides as expendable stealth units.

Armageddon Unlimited is a heroes Unlimited Sourcebook. Of the Merc unit, I am unfamiliar with them. Can you point me in the direction of their information? As for communicating with malevolent beings, he will be able to communicate with anyone as one of his powers will be Mystically understand and speak any language.

So, now that we have a magic character, the Event that heralded the emergence of super beings now also involved the emergence of malevolent magical beings. So Shadowbourne may get to be all wrapped up in the public perception of that whole mess. But one way or the other, there will certainly be some deevil-related shenanigans now that I have a character to anchor them to.

Which is fun.

And feel free to put canon info in your backstory, but anything you don't put there, I'm under no obligation to include.

As a GM I've always been super lazy about canon material. Sometimes it's a strength and sometimes a weakness.

Armageddon Unlimited is a merc company from the Rifts: Mercenaries sourcebook that wants to help break their boss, Ahriman, out of his box. Their means happen to be their end: war. Get a whole bunch of people to kill each other, take advantage of the PPE doubling on death, and funnel any power the company isn't using to crack the boss out.

They are normally a straight fight, because demons and Rifts PCs. Here, however, they might actually have filed local paperwork, and could be much more of a threat as a result.

So how fast is everyone?

Gecko's and Shadowborne's sheets aren't up yet, but I'm likely fast enough. True speedsters and teleporters will outmaneuver me, though.

Do you know your top speed? Full disclosure I am building our team transport and I want to make sure it is useful to everyone (while saving as much of the budget as possible for "cool" stuff).

Edit: Found it. 280mph (for now).
This message was last edited by the player at 19:32, Wed 24 Mar 2021.

Far as I know, top speed is 280 mph in the air if I'm going full power. I don't think you'll have to worry about me too much. Altruist getting shot out of the sky means I need to lower my altitude anyways.

On the other hand, they probably just did that, as after that, I will no longer be missing the ground when I throw myself at it.

Shadowbourne's Speed is 120(somewhere around 80-90 MPH) and can be doubled while traveling through shadows...He can teleport through shadows(roughly 80 ft per melee action? So...with 5 attacks per melee, that is 400ft? I forget how long a round is? For the life of me, I keep thinking it is 15 seconds...so using that as a base(!$#@^@^#$^....Math Stuff) 1600 ft per minute(Roughly)....!$#$#@$@^^^^*&($#@...MORE Math stuff...96,000 ft per hour......@%^@^^@#^@^#@#@@!^&&((&^$#$#@...MATH MATH MATH....18.4 miles an hour? SERIOUSLY? Not sure my math is correct. But if it is....that is some messed up.

That being said....he has a spell that allows him to become someone's shadow...traveling with them. That could affect speed....

The teleportation is probably intended as a short range surprise, not as a jump to jump method. Combine mundane movement with teleportation. Screaming "I'm your shadow!" is completely optional, but hilarious if they are already jumpy.

Gecko will be able to run at 300 mph.  However, he will also be able to pilot prop-driven fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing aircraft, as well as motorized aquatic craft.

So it looks like we will all benefit from a supersonic transport. So be it.

Shitsumon is a samurai warrior, who can fly at 50 mph. That's fast enough, isn't it?

Plenty fast enough for tactical movement but less than adequate of we have to relocate from one city to another. Never fear though Doc's got it covered.