Discussion on Character Creation

[Merc]

Why not just let Iddy build a character same as everyone else, 450 points, and have the backstory and attributes thematically tie his familiar/companion character to another character? o_O

[Dracos]

Well, I don't really want a 6 characters.  This is something that sorta combines 2 chars in one.  I dunno, seems like a reasonable idea.  If he's truly inconvenienced in the opening ep, we can discuss full sizing the familiar, but that usually doesn't turn out as a 'familiar'.

[Dracos]

Just to keep the actual thread clear.

[Dracos]

Iddy: Looks pretty good.  Can you add:

1)Point values by the attributes (and not just at the top)

2)Description for your fox form.

3)Description for your foxy alternate form.

4)A short backstory

[Merc]

1) I'm amending my concept from magical girl to just go with miko (mostly). Any issues/concerns?

2) I am trying to model Ofudas as items in BESM. I would like to get permission for Power Flux - Minor (?), dunno yet what to call the ? yet, for the item's attribute. Advice if you'd rather change it from Minor to Major if allowing (cost goes from 5->10pts). Current planned uses would be as follows: no damage weapons (thrown) that paralize supernatural beings, thrown weapons that deal damage only to evil/supernatural beings, exorcism. Possible others as approved, but those are the main three.

3) Do we follow designer benchmarks for mythic level? Aka, attribute cap of level 5 (with some listed exceptions like armor) and require 10 pts worth of defects? Ask as Iddy has a few attributes at lv 6, and only 8pts of defects (and was having troubles thinking what would be appropriate to add).

4) Did you ever answer Jon's question on Power Variation? What was the consensus, if so?

[Dracos]

let's see:

1)Not really.  Magical Miko Girl. :P

2)Not sure how you'd model that Ofuda with that but I see where you're going.  I'd allow a minor with a specific class of spirits (such as Oni or Youma or possibly Hostile/Violent Spirits, or Little Kamis or Animal Spirits).  Or Major with something a bit more broad along the lines of Shinto Spirit Training (The background to deal with in a variety of ways the uneathly spirits that live alongside normal people).

3) Yes, we do, EXCEPTING defects.  Treat all values as Less than or Equal To on those benchmarks.  So you may have up to 10 points of defects at this time.  That should be enough for a few minor-moderate defects without going overboard.  I've never been a fan of mandatory defects anyway.

4)I dinnae recall the question.  Jon, ask it here again if you want an answer.

[Merc]

Well, the reason I was thinking of modeling Ofuda like that is that I had two options otherwise:
1) Make various different types of ofuda for the occassion
2) Make a single type of ofuda that does it all at once

#1 is the easiest, but seems kinda wasteful, while #2 seems too catch-all. I tend to think of the ofuda as more powered by intent, with limitations on what they can do, from what I recall of seeing them in use in anime, and they can only be used with that intent (Although the intent can give wrong results). So I ended up thinking of power flux, which seems to fit that.

[Merc]

Any issues in general with the mechanical part of my sheet? Iddy and I are bouncing ideas for background.

[Dracos]

Okay, reviewing Iddy and Merc's sheets.  General comments also good for others.

1)First names go first.  Family names second.  Not sure if folks are doing that or otherwise, but I'm assuming Merc is "Nakayama" or "Ms. Shizuka" and Iddy is Suetsumu.  ...Who is probably always going to get called Sue for ease, right Na-chan?  If you intended the other way around, flip them to match.

2)Aura of Inspiration: Note we're not dealing with energy points, so this really just cheers folks on as a meta effect (and gives a slight bonus against despair inducing stuff).

3)As I'm a new DM and we're generally new players, add a short tidbit on what things do beside them if you can.  Treat attributes how you would feats in another game.  Example:
Combat Technique: 2 (4 pnts)
-Judge Opponent - Can estimate opponents combat ability and hp
-Lightning Reflexes - +3 to initiative rolls

Doing it like this will like make it easier for both players and me I think.

4)Illusion (by default) lasts 60 seconds.  You may want to spend more paying for higher duration on illusions, Iddy.  Also only affects 1 person at a time by default.

5)Folks, in general please include Duration/Range/Targets on your sheets where applicable.  That way I don't have to look up mid game that Iddy's illusions last 60 seconds, or that projection level 4 is a '3 meter radius'.  My goal really is that I (and same for you guys) don't need the BESM book open mid session to see if you can do something.

6)Iddy, you took untrackable, but not the 'untrackable by scent' feature.  Intentional?  Just bringing up to check.

7)It's Wall-Crawling not Wall Walking.  Also both Wall-Crawling and Water Walking costs double.  So you need to spend more points if you want it.  (Boo book having extra costs in the description, but that's what it says)

8)We discussed a bit on the Dynamic-Power Spirit bit.  Add a little clarification.  I note you only bought 1 level, so that'd be tiny spirits really.

9)Metamorph would technically be 20 points for "Humans with Fox ears" and another 20 for humans without.  I suppose I could waive this, but it actually seems a cute disadvantage that your fake forms always show a bit of your real essence within.  You can always cloak them in illusion if you want.

Rest looks good.  Realize that 6 is generally the skill cap pending request to be a genius in an area.

Slicing here.  Continue on Merc's.

[Merc]

I did clarify what combat techniques/special movement, I am using on my sheet. I'd rather keep other explanations in this thread (besides what I left in sheet), so as to not letting it get bloated and still be easy to browse.

For stats, I spent 180 points to get Body 5, Mind 4, Soul 9.

HP = (Body+Soul)x5+ToughnessxLevel= (5+9)x5+5x5=95
CV = (5+4+9)/3=6

Attributes:
Companion is what builds Shinobu. Was given 10 points as a bonus for Iddy to build companion, and could spend more points as long as Iddy was below 50 points mine (before defects). Since I spent 28, 450+10-28=432. 28 companion points build to 28*10+100=380. 432-380=52. So he's free to use 380 points.

Combat techniques cost 2/lv and I got five. See sheet for info.

Defense Combat Mastery boosts my DCV from 6 to 8 for 20 pts (10/level).

Divine Relationship lets me reroll dice 5x per session.

Exorcism lets me fight mind control and reverse metamorphosis effects that are soul-based, with opposed rolls: Soul+Exorcism vs Mind+Mind Control.

I spent a point to increase the range from personal (I'd have to be touching them), to 10m. However, I also gained back a point by adding the dependant feature to Ofudas. Basically, what this means is that if I hit someone with an Ofuda, I can exorcise them. I cannot exorcise them otherwise.

Extra Defenses lets me roll +2 defense rolls before penalties occur.

Features (Appearance) for 2 points just means I'm really, really pretty. =p

Items, I somewhat explain in their sections. Items cost 1/2 the total attribute points spent (rounded down)

For the Hoshi no Tama (Shinobu's star ball), I gave it an armor of 10, and unknown power. Didn't really know what to do with the ball, so I modelled it as basically a fancy gimmicky magical item that I don't know how to use and is highly resistant to damage. It has 20 hit points, and it only takes damage if an attack does more than 10 damage (in which case it takes the difference as damage). 36 points went into it, so the item costs 18.

Ofuda are weapons that do no direct damage (hence level 0), and can be thrown for a range of 10 meters. The drain variable means that when it hits, it deals 2 soul damage (so if the character has soul 6, it goes down to soul 4). This only occurs if the creature is supernatural in some form (a spirit, youkai, etc). If it is evil, the targeted variable means it takes 4 soul damage instead. The incapacitating 3 variable means that something hit with an ofuda is paralyzed for 1 minute (2 minutes if evil, 0 if not supernatural). Psychic variable just means that the attack ignores armor, shields and forcefields and can target spirit enemies (have no body). 13 points went into the item, so it costs 6.

Weapons supposedly have an armor rating and hit points equal to weapon level x 5, but there's no rule covering level 0 weapons. I would -assume- they have no armor rating and only 5 hit points then.

The naginata is modeled as a two-handed reach weapon that does double damage to evil creatures.

Heightened awareness, well, she's a miko, so she has to be aware of spirits and so forth.

Healing, she can heal up to 50 HP/day (for others too, not just herself), as long as they're within 10 meters from her.

Jumping/Land Speed, I debated going with just the special movement (fast) attribute, but I wanted Shizuka to be a little more superhuman. And I was running out of places to put points in anyway, so better to put them where they cost a bit more.

Massive Damage, since you've given impression that youkai and spirits should be handled separately, I took it twice, one for each race.

Melee Attack just means my ACV goes up with the naginata.

Ranged Attack (spiritual attacks), you may want me to remodel this separately for the special attack and ofudas. Did this because one of the examples is "Special Attack (all attacks associated with a particular psychic ability or superpower)", and both come from training as an exorcist. Not sure if that would be right, but that's how I did it. Plus if I were to put them together, I'd probably just be better off spending points in attack combat mastery instead of three separate attack categories (which I don't want, I want her to be more helpless if she doesn't have her naginata or ofuda). But that's up to you.

I'm also not entirely happy with how it separates attacks by melee/range. Personally, I would consider the special attack a naginata attack (since it is dependant on it), even if it involves her powers as a miko, but it's a ranged attack instead of melee, so it can't be affected by Melee Attack (naginata). Similarly, it seems retarded that an ofuda can be used with ACV 9 at ranged, but if I try to slap it on someone next to me, it's much harder, because ACV 6.

Say what?

But I worked with what I had, and that's just my complaint on the matter.

Carrying on!

Sixth Sense: She's a miko. Every point lets her sense something different, so I spent two: one for youkai, one for spirits. I also spent an additional point to increase the area of the sixth sense from a 10m radius around me, to a 30m radius.

Special Movement, refer to sheet. It says what it does.

Tough: Adds 5HP per level, so 25 HP.

Unknown Power: I was running out of places to spend points without going over level 5, and I didn't want to make a buttload of special attacks, so I just tossed 20 points in here. Just means that during sessions (whenever, could take forever, but whenever), you can give stuff to me with attribute bonuses up to 30 points in cost (+50% of points spent in attribute, 20).

Special Attacks: From what I saw of the book, if you have a weapon, you model it as an item with the weapon attribute. If you have a special attack, you just model it as a weapon.

Essentially, Zanmansen is meant to be a ranged slash attack with the naginata, expelling a 'cutter' that targets evil enemies and does double damage to them, but ignores non-evil characters. The flare variable means that if they're looking in the direction of the attack, they can be temporarily blinded (as long as they're evil), hence the 'flash' part of the attack name. To avoid being blinded, they roll Body vs 14. If they fail, they're blinded for a number of rounds equal to how much they failed the roll by. Psychic variable, same as ofuda. Attack ignores armor, shields and forcefields and can target spirit enemies (have no body). It's inspired by the love hina attack of the same name. Alternatively, the Sky Cutter Flash from Hyunkel (DQ:Dai) with his polearm. Same difference.

[Iron Dragoon]

Something's throwing me off. The 'progression' for Illusion at level 4 is 100 meters, but the range seems to be a static 100 meters also.
So.. WTF.
That doesn't make sense to me, because at next level I can create a 1 km illusion, but then the illusion extends past my range?

[Merc]

From what I see, Illusion ranks increase the area size of the illusion, but it's always centered on you. They badly represent area both as the level variable (2pt/lv) and a custom variable (1pt/lv), not to mention different increasing sizes. You're probably supposed to pay 2pt/lv when increasing that rank. The area variable just means how big you can get it in the spot that you create it. Has nothing to do with range. Range specifically means how far you can create the illusion away from you.

So if you had Illusion Level 5, no custom variables, you could create a 1km sized illusion as long as it was centered on you. If you added the range variable, you can center the 1km-sized illusion up to the range away from yourself.

On a different note: Metamorphosis is apparently -not- the correct attribute to use for shapechanging. Instead you're supposed to use Dynamic Powers (Major:Shapechange), it seems. That's what the template for shapechanging uses in either case. Reason is because metamorphosis gives you the power to change -others- in shape. It's an attack attribute. That said, yowza, dynamic power is way more expensive to boot. I'd prefer to use metamorphosis, but didn't see a restriction that makes it so you can only use it on yourself. Closest is Object restriction, which is obviously not appropriate...

[Iron Dragoon]

I can't really say that makes sense. It takes a 20 point attribute to *forcibly* change another person into something against their will, but it takes a 40 point attribute to change yourself? Doesn't make much sense to me.

[Merc]

Yeah, it's weird. Hell, the shapechanger template goes as far as spending -60- points for it.

[Dracos]

Yeah, it's weird. Hell, the shapechanger template goes as far as spending -60- points for it.

Yes.  Aware of all of that.  Metamorph though can also be used to shapechange yourself in a far more limited fashion.  And given Iddy was looking to just do that, I figured we would both ignore that you could also use it to attack (Though his attack would be...giving folks fox ears?  Not much of one!)