Help Me Build The Stuntman

Bonehead · Post by **Bonehead** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:30 pm

So, I've had this idea for a "street level" hero kicking around in my head for a while, now. Basically, he's supposed to be a talented hollywood stuntman by day, and a motorcycle riding crime fighter when he's not on the set.

He's a "normal". He has high Agility, and lots of training in acrobatics and motorcycle stunt riding. He can hold his own in a fight, but he's nothing special as a fighter. Since he works in the movies, he knows about costumes and make up, so he can disguise himself fairly well.

Where I'm getting stuck is on the part where, since he works making movies, he should be able to use hollywood "special effects". The idea is that he can use his "special effect" to Confuse or Daze his targets (I'm not sure which power is more appropriate). I'm getting stuck, because I can't wrap my head around what he is actually doing to generate this "special effect". Does he have a little movie projector on his belt? Is he using mirrors? What is he doing to cause his targets to temporarily think that they're seeing something that isn't really there?

If I can understand that, then I can understand what the power should be.

Thanks in advance.

Solarblast · Post by **Solarblast** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:06 am

It sounds like he would be a gadgeteer who would need to setup his equipment ahead of time. Most of his powers would be things like images and confuse.

Saker · Post by **Saker** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 9:03 am

Howdy. Welcome to the BASH fanatics

I agree he should be a gadgeteer to give you significant flexibility on his build. You would only need to build is usual equipment and then power stunt with a hero point for any unusual effects. You should get in your head what would be usual and unusual.

It sounds like he needs a motorcycle, so either spend an advantage to make it special... Or just give him one, if it is nothing out of the ordinary. Regular equipment cost zero points, including weapons. Depending on how many points he has has you could give him Gliding (only with a motorcycle). Then you could do super crazy stunts and always survive.

Max Agility for a normal is 2+3, which means 2 Agility plus Heightened Agility for a total cost of 7 points there.

I would give him a Brawn of 2 to survive. Maybe some armor or Boost Brawn (only for defense), so he wears some protection. Maybe an activation roll, because it's not full protection.

I would invest in 3 points of Martial Arts. You can't go wrong there for a normal scrapper. Maybe Attack Weak Point and/or Disarm Expert for more melee potential.

You may want a lot of Mental skills. I prefer simpler builds by just giving him a higher (2-3) Mind, so he also gets a decent Mental Defense. Others prefer a non-PhD Mind of 1 and giving lots of Skill Training and Boost Mind only for skills. You should review the Mental Skills that you think he needs. If it becomes a ton, you should look at Jack of All Trades, which gives untrained skills only a -1 dice penalty.

Disguise can be run as a skill. If it is super good, you should use Illusion (self only).

Dazed and Confused can be used as smoke bombs.

There was show called FX on years ago. I can remember him using lots of things that would fall into Illusion to make people think they are see or hear things.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

cheers

Bonehead · Post by **Bonehead** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:42 am

Thanks for the replies.

I imagine Stuntman as a "normal" who can do some pretty impressive physical tricks, especially when he's on his motorcycle. He can use his disguise skill to get into places he shouldn't be, and his physical skills to get out again when things go wrong.

What I have in my head for Stuntman's "special effect" is that I want him to be have some ability to distract his targets so that he can evade/avoid them. I imagine him faced with a few opponents (minions, perhaps, but not necessarily), and he needs to get past them for some reason (maybe he's trying to escape with the incriminating thumb drive, or maybe he needs to get into that building undetected to rescue the hostage, or something). He's not that great of a fighter (as I imagine him), and he'd rather not fight anyway, so he wants to distract them for a moment so that he can jump past them. He uses his "special effect" to cause them momentarily to believe that they see something that isn't there (or that they don't see something that is there). In game terms, I think this would count as a Daze power with the gadget limitation.

I can't figure out how I would narrate what he actually does when he uses this power.

Saker · Post by **Saker** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 2:11 pm

oh. Just use Invisibility 3. If you never want his distraction to fail, you could limit it by saying it doesn't work against machines. If you want a low probability of failure limit it with activation.

cheers

Bonehead · Post by **Bonehead** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:49 pm

Saker wrote:oh. Just use Invisibility 3. If you never want his distraction to fail, you could limit it by saying it doesn't work against machines. If you want a low probability of failure limit it with activation.

cheers

This, I don't understand.

I don't need help building the character. I understand how to stat all of the powers and skills that I want him to have.

What I need help with is JUSTIFYING his powers. He has the ability to use a gadget to Daze a room full of people. How does this gadget work? How do I narrate his actions when he uses it?

I understand the effect, but I need help explaining the cause.

Bonehead · Post by **Bonehead** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:55 pm

Here's my version of Stuntman:

street level 25 points

Brawn 2, Agility 3, Mind 2

Advantages: Arch Enemy, Versatile
Disadvantages: In a Relationship, Normal
Powers: Confusion 2 [limitation: gadget], Fleet of Foot 1, Heightened Agility 1, Martial Arts 2 (Kick-Boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Judo), Skillful 2
Skills: Athletics+1/acrobatics, Drive+2/tricks, Perform/acting, Ride
Deception/disguise, Streetwise/shortcuts

Hero points: 4 (assuming that I've done the math correctly)

My question is: how do I narrate his use of his Confusion power? How does his gadget work? "Confusion" is the effect, but what is the cause?

Saker · Post by **Saker** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:30 pm

What I need help with is JUSTIFYING his powers.

Hmm. I find it easier to imagine a character concept by what he can do BEFORE I try to build him. Game mechanics can be used to model a tremendous variety of special effects, especially BASH.

Confusion can be simply be a smoke bomb or pepper spray depending on the range and area that you give it. Notice that the effects of Confusion 2 and being blind are exactly the same: -4 Dice penalty to Agility. Since it doesn't appear that you added any range or area to the effect, call it a can of pepper spray.

cheers

Bonehead · Post by **Bonehead** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 7:40 pm

Saker wrote: Confusion can be simply be a smoke bomb or pepper spray depending on the range and area that you give it. Notice that the effects of Confusion 2 and being blind are exactly the same: -4 Dice penalty to Agility. Since it doesn't appear that you added any range or area to the effect, call it a can of pepper spray.
cheers

This is the sort of help that I'm looking for, thank you.

Something like smoke bombs or flash bulbs could work, but they seem a little bit... mundane. I'm looking for something that is more evocative of the fact that he makes movies for a living. Something more... hollywood-y

Like, maybe, an animatronic monster left over from a sci fi movie, or a car crash sound effect, or a projector that shows a ghost standing next to you when looking into a mirror (a la Disney's Haunted House(tm) ride). Something along those lines.

Did I just answer my own question?

Saker · Post by **Saker** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:04 pm

Like, maybe, an animatronic monster left over from a sci fi movie, or a car crash sound effect, or a projector that shows a ghost standing next to you when looking into a mirror (a la Disney's Haunted House(tm) ride). Something along those lines.

Did I just answer my own question?

Yep. Anything that conceivably lasts 3 pages and affects only one person. Voila.

cheers

Heroglyph · Post by **Heroglyph** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:21 am

You could say he has a holographic projector in his motorcycle helmet. This is how Mysterio (Spider-Man villain) creates his stage illusions and special effects. I believe he was a former stunt man special effects guy as well.

Solarblast · Post by **Solarblast** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 11:40 am

Bonehead wrote:
Saker wrote:oh. Just use Invisibility 3. If you never want his distraction to fail, you could limit it by saying it doesn't work against machines. If you want a low probability of failure limit it with activation.

cheers
This, I don't understand.

I don't need help building the character. I understand how to stat all of the powers and skills that I want him to have.

What I need help with is JUSTIFYING his powers. He has the ability to use a gadget to Daze a room full of people. How does this gadget work? How do I narrate his actions when he uses it?

I understand the effect, but I need help explaining the cause.

Okay, I get you know. Maybe it is a device that confuses neural pathways disorientating everyone in a given area. Or just a simple flash bang grenade.