Character Creation: DC Adventures

Felt like doing a superhero game today. A bit of actual heroism would not go amiss, I think.

The Game: DC Adventures
The Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: Not much. I did a little writing for the Heroes & Villains Vol I book, but I haven't played the game. I've played a bit of Mutants & Masterminds and that's basically what this is
Books Required: Just the Hero's Handbook

Right, so. This is actually the third DC-related RPG I've done a character for (the first two being Batman and DC Universe). I have done so damn many supers RPGs in general, though, because I love 'em. I'm more a Marvel guy than DC, but for purposes of this game it doesn't much matter because, again, it's a lot like M&M. 

The book tells me that the default starting power level is 10, giving me 150 points, spent thusly:

Guess I should think of concept, huh. I'm actually approaching this kinda backwards, because I have an idea for a nemesis, but not the hero. Said nemesis is Death Rattle, a cloaked, hooded dude who can generate glass knives from his body and hurl them with deadly accuracy. So who's my hero, the guy opposing Death Rattle, gonna be? 

Well, looking over the many, many supers characters I've made, I've hit a few of the basic archetypes - energy controller, shapeshifter, powerhouse - but I haven't really done a paragon/Superman kind of character. I don't usually like ol' Supes anyway, but the jumping-off point for Superboy from Young Justice is better. He doesn't have the absolutely stupid array of powers, and he's actually got some grit to him. I can see a young hero kinda like that - powerful but still trying to figure himself out - going up against a more experienced, deadlier foe in Death Rattle. I'll name my hero Daniel D'Angelo (I'll save his hero name for later). I'll say Daniel lives in Bludhaven; I want someplace a little darker than Metropolis, but not Gotham. Don't know how Daniel got powered yet, but I'll figure it out.

Right, so I have 150 points. First thing I spend them on is Abilities, which cost 2 per rank. 0 is human average, 8 is low superhuman, and 20 is bananas. Superman has 19 Strength, while Batman has 4. I want Daniel to have a modicum of superhuman Strength and Stamina, so we'll arrange his Abilities thusly:

Strength 10
Agility 8
Fighting 6
Awareness 3
Stamina 8
Dexterity 4
Intellect 2
Presence 6

That totals 94 points. That's a lot, but I don't necessarily need a whole spate of powers, either. What's next? I could do defenses. They start equal to controlling Abilities, so:

Dodge 8
Parry 6
Fortitude 8
Toughness 8
Will 3

There are some caveats, here, too. I can't spend points to up Toughness (though I can take powers or advantages that raise it), and there are several pairs of defenses that can't total more than 20 (twice the power level). I feel like my guy needs a higher Will and a higher Parry, so let's bump them both up to 8 (for a total of 7 more points spent; I'm at 101). 

Skills! There's a very manageable list, thank god. One point buys me two ranks, and I get to add the controlling Ability, which is nice. Let's see. I don't think Acrobatics is necessary, but Athletics surely is. Close Combat, yes please, but I have to specify it. I want Unarmed and Grappling, which are two separate Skills. 

Deception I'll skip. Expertise, though...probably Daniel should have some knowhow to do something. I like the idea of him being a woodworker, for some reason, so I'll take Expertise: Carpenter. 

Insight, sure, but I won't take much. Intimidation, definitely. Investigation...yeah, maybe a rank or two. Perception, always. Persuasion, eh. Ranged Combat, I should take Thrown so I can huck cars or whatever. Sleight of Hand is oddly specific, given how broad the rest of these are. Don't think I need it. Stealth, nah, I don't think this guy is real subtle. Technology, sure, Treatment, nah, Vehicles, sure. So with points, it looks like this:

Athletics 5
Close Combat (Unarmed) 5
Close Combat (Grappling) 7
Expertise (Carpenter) 6
Insight 2
Intimidation 5
Investigation 2
Perception 3
Ranged Combat (Thrown) 4
Technology 3
Vehicles 4

That's 46 Skill ranks, which costs me 23 points. I've spent 124, meaning I have 26 left. I may have to lower some Abilities, depending on how expensive powers are.

Ah, but first, Advantages. Some that look good: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Startle. That's only five, actually. Can I do powers with 21 points? Let's see! I'll bet I can.

OK, so I want Daniel to be able to fly, but he doesn't necessarily have to fly fast or well. I wouldn't mind having some kind of toughness-related power (if such a thing there be, apart from just raising my Stamina). But I want something to give him a little flavor...ooh, how about Nullify?

So, Daniel can release a burst of "metahuman static" that shorts out superpowers for a moment. It affects him, too, so once he does it, he's only got his Abilities and so on to rely on (which are considerable), and it has no effect on powers that stem from a non-metahuman source (like magic). Daniel has no idea why he has this power. 

Let's do that one first and then see what kind of points I'm left with. Nullify costs 1 point per rank. Area bumps it to 2 points per rank, and I need to take Broad so that it can affect "metahuman" as a descriptor (3 points per rank), and Simultaneous so it affects all effects of the same type (4 points per rank). 

And then, oy. I want the power to be used and then stay in effect for a short while, but there's no easy way to simulate that. I can take Increased Duration, and indeed I kinda need to, but that won't quite make it work. Well, putting 2 ranks into Increased Duration means the effect is Sustained (I have to use a free action every turn to maintain it), and that raises my cost to 6 points per rank. Holy cats.

OK, but, Flaws! I can take Activation (have to take a standard action to "power up" the Nullify), that makes sense. Distracting makes sense (I'm vulnerable until the start of my next turn), since the power affects me, too. Noticeable, sure, it buys me a point. And then I think the "lose all powers while this is in effect" thing makes sense as a Side Effect, and that lowers the cost by 2 per rank because it happens whether I succeed or fail at the Nullify. 

So at the end of the day, I'm paying 3 per rank for my Nullify. Cool beans. I have 21 points remaining and I still want to buy Flight, so I'll buy 5 ranks. 15 spent, ah, but then I subtract 3 for Activation and Noticeable, so that's 12. 9 remaining. 

Flight is 2 points per rank. I'll take the Concentration Flaw, so it's just 1 per rank (Daniel can fly, but not especially well). I'll buy 4 ranks, so he can fly at about 30mph. 

That leaves me 5 points. Hmm. Let's go back to Abilities. I'll bump Fighting up to 7 (3 points left), raise Awareness to 4 (1 point left), and buy the Diehard Advantage. That's all me points!

A quick total-up, and I'm actually 1 point under. I'll buy two more Skill ranks and bump Expertise up to 8. 

OK, now for the Complications! I have to have at least two, and one has to be a Motivation. I can take more, though. These would give me hero points in play. 

Well, I know that Daniel has an Enemy: Death Rattle. I like the idea that Death Rattle doesn't actually hate Daniel. Sure, the kid gets in his way and screws up hits and bank robberies, but like, you don't become a superpowered assassin without expecting some do-gooder to get in the way. Daniel, meanwhile, does feel pretty personally about Death Rattle. The guy is a cold-blooded, unrepentant killer, and he can generate knives from his hands. (And Daniel's Nullify power doesn't work on Death Rattle, because his powers are magical in nature, not that Daniel knows that.)

As for Motivation, I think Daniel is driven by an unknown force. He feels that he has to go and thwart crime, and he gets itchy if he doesn't. On the surface it's a basic "do good" kind of impulse, but if Daniel ever stops for whatever reason, he's gonna realize it's a deeper compulsion than that.

I want him to have a secret identity, so I'll take that as a Complication. 

And then into background! We've already established that his birth name is Daniel D'Angelo. Let's think about origin.

I think Daniel is a metahuman...or rather, he thinks he is. He manifested his powers the way a lot of metas do; he was under stress (bus accident caused by a battle between a couple of superhumans) and Daniel ripped open the back and helped people get to safety. When the combatants started punching each other even closer, Daniel instinctively released a weird red-yellow flash of light that disabled their powers and allowed authorities to apprehend them.

Daniel has taken to calling this power "ground zero". He hates using it - it makes him feel queasy and, of course, it removes his ability to fly, which he enjoys. But it's pretty darned useful.

As a superhero, Daniel wears a black gaiter covering his face below the eyes, brown boots and gloves, a red shirt and black pants. He's thought about taking a moniker that references his ability to power down other metahumans, but he hates the power too much to make it his identity. Instead, he goes by Rampart, focusing on his desire to protect and defend. 

And that about does it, I think!