Arcane Detective Byron Harte

[Sentack]

Alright, I'm just toying with a new 5e character. This one is a magic based detective. Currently I'm still tweaking the numbers but I figured it wouldn't hurt to post it here and see what people though, what they could tell me what I can do to make the character fit the detective and magic tropes I set for myself.

 

Any ideas?

 

Sentack

 

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Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

Player:

 

Val Char Cost

30 STR 20

23 DEX 39

23 CON 26

18 BODY 16

23 INT 13

10 EGO 0

10 PRE 0

10 COM 0

 

20/30 PD 0

20/30 ED 0

5 SPD 17

11 REC 0

46 END 0

45 STUN 0

 

6"/20", RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

6" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 131

 

Cost Power

Runelined Leather Jacket, all slots OIF (-1/2)

9 1) +14 PD (14 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

10 2) +15 ED (15 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

20 3) Armor (10 PD/10 ED) (30 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

19 Journyman Boots: Running +14" (6"/20" total) (28 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

Police Belt

20 1) Runebound Cold Iron Cuffs: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF, Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks (+1/2) (70 Active Points); 2 Recoverable Charges (-1), No Range (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4)

40 Ghost Touched Pistol: Multipower, 60-point reserve, (60 Active Points); all slots OIF (-1/2)

3u 1) Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, Affects Desolidified Any form of Desolidification (+1/2) (45 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), 2 clips of 12 Charges (-0)

4u 2) Killing Attack - Ranged 4d6 (60 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), 2 clips of 12 Charges (-0)

22 Arcane Brass Knuckles: Hand-To-Hand Attack +6d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), OIF (-1/2)

Powers Cost: 147

 

Cost Martial Arts Maneuver

Police Training

4 1) Fast Strike: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +0 DCV, 8d6 Strike

5 2) Defensive Strike: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, 6d6 Strike

5 3) Defensive Block: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, Block, Abort

4 4) Martial Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 8d6 Strike

4 5) Martial Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

4 6) Martial Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 45 STR vs. Grabs

Martial Arts Cost: 26

 

Cost Skill

3 Analyze: Magic 14-

3 Criminology 14-

3 Deduction 14-

3 Interrogation 11-

3 Lockpicking 14-

3 Persuasion 11-

3 Shadowing 14-

3 Stealth 14-

3 Streetwise 11-

3 KS: Criminal Law and Procedure 14-

Skills Cost: 30

 

Cost Perk

1 Reputation: Arcane Cop (A medium-sized group) 11-, +1/+1d6

3 Vehicles & Bases ( 1/4 acre House for the wife and Kid )

12 Vehicles & Bases ( Personal Enchanted Moterbike )

Perks Cost: 16

 

 

Total Character Cost: 350

 

Pts. Disadvantage

--- Omitted most of them because they are very campaign Specific --

 

10 Dependent NPC: Mel Harte (Wife) 8- (Normal)

15 Dependent NPC: Peter Harte (Son) 8- (Incompetent)

5 Rivalry: Professional (Detective Vasquez), Rival is As Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry

10 Hunted: Temple of Shadow 8- (As Pow; Harshly Punish)

15 Hunted: Crime Lord 8- (Mo Pow; Harshly Punish)

 

20 Psychological Limitation: Code against Killing (Common; Total)

15 Psychological Limitation: Servant of Justice (Common; Strong)

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

[xirr2000]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

I like this character a lot. I think I will make a similar character, but toned down and with a small power pool to simulate him being able to cast minor spells. Have you used him in a campaign?

[xirr2000]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

So is he just a brute type, kick butt? I thought perhaps he would have some magical spells or divination like abilities to help him solve puzzles. Although this works well too I posted in my other reply I'm doiing something similar, but I'm choosing a multiform option. One form is the gumshoe detective, but with some magical abilities. I have not decided whether I want him to be an indiana jones type with magic items to help him or a caster type with arcane powers. The other form is a dragon/demon form he can turn into when things get ugly. Both have their charms I guess.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

You could save a lot of points by folding all 3 foci (handcuffs, gun and brass knuckles) into a single Batman-esq Utility-Belt VPP. More traditional spells could then be added for no extra points.

[Ice9]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

Minor tweak - since the +PD, +ED, and Armor are all OIF, it would make more sense to set them all to "add to Secondary value", so his DEF would look like:

6/30 PD

5/30 ED

 

His EGO seems rather low, given his high stats elsewhere and arcane theme. So unless that's an intentional weak point, you may want to raise it.

 

While it's no different mechanically, you may want to note the source of his extraordinary strength and agility. Rune tattoos? Magical workout routine? Tiger blood?

[Lucius]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

First, I like the concept and think you have some good ideas here. So don't take it personally if I focus on somethings that seem problematic to me.

Taking it from the top:

 

30 STR 20

 

I was going to say this is a little high, but I notice you're playing 5th Edition, also apparently under the superheroic rules. You might want some kind of justification for it, as someone already pointed out.

 

18 BODY 16

 

I doubt you're really going to need that much BODy.

 

23 INT 13

 

Singling this out for praise; that's probably where I would have put INT. A high INT is important if a detective is to do a lot of detecting.

 

10 EGO 0

 

My initial response was - you're kidding. Especially since I didn't notice any Mental Defense either. Are you really expecting an arcane detective to never encounter Mental Powers? Or to have to make a will roll? I'd say you need at least 14, and maybe some Mental Defense or something too.

 

10 PRE 0

 

I also couldn't believe that you didn't raise this guy's PREsence. I don't see an arcane detective as someone who is too easily terrified or overawed, and he should be pretty impressive himself if he's going to convince those scummy Shadow Temple cultists and other assorted thugs to surrender, or get any information out of them. Also let me point out:

 

3 Interrogation 11-

3 Persuasion 11-

3 Streetwise 11-

 

You have three Skills here that are based on PRE. Conversation and Acting are also useful for detectives, especially if they go undercover, and you may want to learn those eventually. I don't see why you didn't give this character at least a PRE of 18. Unless you really just expect the game to wholly revolve around physical combat.

edit: scratch that. Even if you DO expect the game to be a slugfest, you need more PRE!

 

Speaking of physical combat

 

22 Arcane Brass Knuckles: Hand-To-Hand Attack +6d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), OIF (-1/2)

 

Brass Knuckles? Why not a baton or billy club, which seems more in keeping for a police officer? Or if you just want to beef up your hand to hand capabilities, consider Skill Levels with Martial Arts or extra Damage Classes for Martial Arts.

 

Speaking of Martial Arts

 

Cost Martial Arts Maneuver

Police Training

4 1) Fast Strike: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +0 DCV, 8d6 Strike

5 2) Defensive Strike: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, 6d6 Strike

5 3) Defensive Block: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, Block, Abort

4 4) Martial Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 8d6 Strike

4 5) Martial Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

4 6) Martial Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 45 STR vs. Grabs

Martial Arts Cost: 26

 

You already have an impressive list of moves here, but I would consider adding some form of Martial Grab. A police officer would be trained to hold and restrain suspects I would think. Maybe switch out one of the three strike manuevers you already have to get the grab.

 

Speaking of restraining, you might consider replacing the brass knuckles with something like "ghost touch gloves" that combine a little extra STR (and you could buy your regular STR down and save points there) with Advantages like Affect Desolidified.

 

3 Vehicles & Bases ( 1/4 acre House for the wife and Kid )

 

If it's just an ordinary house you don't have to buy it as a base. On the other hand, if you pay for it, you can equip it with arcane defenses.

 

20 Psychological Limitation: Code against Killing (Common; Total)

 

A police officer, who carries a gun (with a 4d6 Killing Attack that is probably instant kill on any bystander he clips by mistake) has a Total Commitment Code against Killing? How about some more likely Disadvantages like "Subject to orders?"

 

And the incurable munchkin side of my nature suggests Normal Characteristis Maxima, since you're playing 5th Edition. You'd have to tone down some of your Characteristics but as I observed, a STR of 30 doesn't seem to fit the character conception anyway.

 

Oh, and one thing I forgot: If you keep the Multipower, as opposed to the suggestion someone else had for getting a Variable Power Pool, you might want to put the Charges Limitation on the whole Multipower, not the slots. It saves points, and I think it models what you're going for better - I don't THINK what you intended was that there are two seperate kinds of bullets, right? Would be easier to track, too.

 

Finally, let me say I like the character and the concept well enough, I hope you don't think I'm just tearing it up and down and saying "change everything." I bet you will have a lot of fun with this character.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Did the palindromedary eat my tagline?

[Sentack]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

These are all great comments, I'll try to work some of them in, I'll quickly answer a few questions.

 

1) Why not a Batman-esk VPP

 

I haven't used a VPP before, and while I understand how it's supposed to work, I'm not exactly sure how to build an efficient one. So I could use a hand here with the Gadget and Magic VPP.

 

 

2) Stats are Screwy

 

Okay, I should have indicated first this was for a Superhero level game in 5e, and the character is intended to be more of a super-hero arcane detective type. So the high Str is more understandable when faced with a 300 pt Brute Villain on the occasional case, but perhaps labeling it under "Runic Tattoos" would be better, even if it'll be the exact same cost value. That being said, the low Ego is not acceptable, so I'm still doing a lot of tweaking. The Gadget and Magic VPP's might save me a few points.

 

 

3) What? No Magic Pool?

 

Again, not strongly familiar with VPP's. I'm also not sure what kind of 'magic' he should have. It should be fairly rudimentary stuff. Maybe a bit of arcane detection, but what else should an arcane detective have? He's not going to be tossing fireballs but he needs enough points to do a few decent things. But everyone is right, he should have something. Any good examples I could work with?

 

 

4) What's with the Base and Vehicle?

 

The Base was an excuse to explain away his Dependent NPC's house, I figure he might need to ward it up for them over the course of the adventure so it doesn't hurt to have something set in stone. The Vehicle was initially a way to give him a super fast bike so he can get around the world, but I might drop that only because it doesn't fit well. I'll have to see what I can do about long distance travel later.

 

5) A 4d6 Gun with a Code against Killing?!

 

It's one of those "I don't intend the character to really use this weapon" sort of thing. I also initally built it as a 12d6 Blast before I realized that pistols are normally Killing Attacks. I might just tone it down to a 2d6 KA, and go with the "Subject to Orders" limitation instead or something similar.

 

Also, about the bullets, I figure it made more sense that the weapon would have different clips, so each clip counts completely differently. Putting one set of charges for the whole gun seemed out of place from what seemed rational to me but, it would make it a heck of a lot easier to keep track of. I'll consider it.

 

 

I don't mind critiques, that's why I posted it. I haven't made too many characters before and my google-fu in finding examples turned up a limited number to work with so i though I would post this one and let people tell me what I'm deficient in. So continue to let loose. I could use all the help I can get.

[Christopher]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

about 5) (the gun):

You could consider taking different amunition along. Blast with Increased Knockback can be the game effect for rigid rubber bullet amunition. But overall the DC/AP for it sounds very high. Maybe if it was a partially magically blessed weapon (runes?) or a sort a magic item that shoots magic bolts (canalysing the energy from him) it would fit better...

 

Overall if a gun (or generally Killing Attack) as his main Weapons is acceptable depends a lot on the tone of the campaing. It may conflict with his CvK, of course. So consider toning it down to Reluctance to Kill ("I try not to use it, but I am neither bulletproof nor a fool"). And don't forget that certain enemys are out of the range for this CvK: Demons, Robots undead such things are fair game.

[Lucius]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

Also, about the bullets, I figure it made more sense that the weapon would have different clips, so each clip counts completely differently.

 

 

Then you obviously knew exactly what you were doing with the Multipower and the Charges. I thought you might have made a mistake, but I was mistaken in that.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary notes that I often am

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

These are all great comments, I'll try to work some of them in, I'll quickly answer a few questions.

 

1) Why not a Batman-esk VPP

 

I haven't used a VPP before, and while I understand how it's supposed to work, I'm not exactly sure how to build an efficient one. So I could use a hand here with the Gadget and Magic VPP.

 

 

2) Stats are Screwy

 

Okay, I should have indicated first this was for a Superhero level game in 5e....

 

3) What? No Magic Pool?

 

Again, not strongly familiar with VPP's. I'm also not sure what kind of 'magic' he should have. It should be fairly rudimentary stuff. Maybe a bit of arcane detection, but what else should an arcane detective have? He's not going to be tossing fireballs but he needs enough points to do a few decent things. But everyone is right, he should have something. Any good examples I could work with?

 

 

I recently built a 60 active point VPP using 6e rules to simulate Green Arrow's Bow & Quiver of Arrows.

Something similar could be adapted to 5e rules and a different special effect fairly easily.

 

Here are some other 5e examples:

Batman (utility belt built as VPP)

Green Arrow (bow and arrows built as Multipower)

 

And just to give a counter example of a fulll-on 'spellcaster':

Zatanna (spellcasting ability built with very large VPP)

 

b

[fbdaury]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

Between the Str 30, the Fast or Mar Strike, and the Enchanted Brass Knuckles, you're looking at a 14d6 Hand Attack for a non building-tipper type. Maybe a +2d6 Hand Attack at 0 End cost and the Penetrating advantage on upto a 10d6 hand attack, only vs supernatural creatures/beings? Makes him quite effective vs normal folk but truly dangerous against the denizens of the supernatural world.

[Christopher]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

Maybe a +2d6 Hand Attack at 0 End cost and the Penetrating advantage on upto a 10d6 hand attack' date=' only vs supernatural creatures/beings? Makes him quite effective vs normal folk but truly dangerous against the denizens of the supernatural world.[/quote']

That would become a 15 DC/75 AP Attack/Naked Advantage.

[fbdaury]

Re: Arcane Detective Byron Harte

 

That would become a 15 DC/75 AP Attack/Naked Advantage.

 

Which is only 5 AP more than the current attack, but it would reduce the character's damage dealing vs non supernatural beings, which I think makes more sense than the guy whaling away on normal folk for 14d6 damage.