Attempt at a Free Spirit PC, thoughts? Options

[pbangarth]

So, there's a sometimes heated discussion going on in THIS thread, and I thought I would take a shot at making a PC who does not fail the way so many say a Free Spirit PC would. I present her/him/it here for some creative, constructive comments.

This character is a prospective PC in a campaign taking place in L.A., in which the PCs will be connected to a gang named H.O.D. (Honour or Death). The other PCs are infiltration oriented, so I thought I would build a Free Spirit PC that would meld with and enhance this focus. The alternative for me to play is a Norse tradition combat mage who is a party dude. I vacillate between these two as to which I really want to play.

Story

[ Spoiler ]

Sometimes the fog lifts a little. I get a flash of memory, a word, a face, a blurring ride through darkness. I almost always can't make any sense of it. But I find it strangely comforting. I did have a life ... or something … before I came ... free?

Now? Now I try to figure out this world, the one I call home. It isn't really. Home I mean. Home really is Valhalla. I know because I go there often and things are familiar. I understand them. Others there tell me it is home for me. But this place holds me now, just as much as that one. Here I have friends. I don't have friends back there.

There must have been one special friend here before I was reborn. That's usually the way, I am told. Someone held me in thrall. Not really a friendly thing to do, I guess, but we had to be really close. Then the bond broke, and I became one of those of my kind that stays. I don't know why. Did my friend die? (What is it like, to die?) Did I decide to stay all by myself, or did it just happen? It's all a mystery to me. Just like this world. There is so much to learn!

And fear. There are things here that hate me. Other things want to eat me. My friends… they help protect me. And I help protect them. I was born… reborn near their place. It's not a house, but bigger. Not a cave, but it has that kind of openness to it. And all kinds of machines, some that work, some that don't. It's where they meet and talk about protecting and fighting and making money. I don't have money figured out yet. They talk a lot about a thing called honour. That makes sense to me. They have honour in Valhalla too. Most of them.

So I wander around and watch things. My friends are people. I watch them and other people too. Some of them get all angry and hateful when they see me. Others run away. I guess it is because I look strange in the form I think of as 'me'. There aren't many shield maidens in this place. So I make myself into something they don't worry about. A bush. A machine that burns bread. A baby cat. They like that one. Most of them. There was the one person who tried to put kitty-cat me in a metal thing with fire. His aura was really bad. I fixed him. The baby cat put him in the fire. He seemed surprised. Till he died. That felt good. Him dying. I'm not sure why. My friends say it is the honour thing. But I think it was something more. I think I will have to investigate.

Stats

Metahumanity [250]

Free Spirit

Norse Tradition

Guardian, Water, Fire, Air,
Earth
Drain: WIL + CHA

Qualities [-15]

Magician [free]
Lucky [20]
Amnesia [-10]
Computer Illiterate [-5]
Gremlins (4) [-20]

Attributes [20]

BOD 2 + 1 = 3
AGI 2 = 2
REA 2 = 2
STR 2 = 2
CHA2 = 2
INT 2 = 2
LOG2 = 2
WIL 2 + 1 = 3

Special Attributes [105]

ESS = 6
MAG = 6
EDG 2 + 5 = 7
Force 2 + 4 = 6

INI = 4 (2 IP) / 4 (3 IP)

Spirit Powers (7 pts.)

Sapience (*)
Astral Form (*)
Materialization (*)
Banishment Resistance (*)
Spirit Pact (*)
(Friendship)
Immunity to
Normal Weapons (*)
Aura Masking 3.0
Realistic Form 0.5
Mutable Form 0.5
Concealment 2.0
Guard 0.5
Psychokinesis 0.5

Active Skills [24]

Perception 2 INT [8]
Assensing 1 INT [4]
Spellcasting 2 MAG [8]

Dodge 1 REA [4]

Knowledge Skills(12 pts.)

Norse N
English 3
L.A. street gangs 1
Metaplanar Geography 2
Norse Mythology 5
Local Area Knowledge 1
(HOD territory)

Spells [6]

Stunbolt ( C )
M (F/2)-1
Heal ( H )
M (DV)-2

Contacts [8]
(connection/loyalty)

HOD:
gang (group) 3/5

Gear 10,000 ¥ [2]

-haven't figured this out yet

EDIT: Beats me why the spoiler tags don't work on this Stats text. Must be something in it I can't see.

[Marcus]

I have to admit I have never really tried to make a Free Spirit PC. Mainly b/c we never came to a conclusion on the force stat discussion in our local group. On that topic I do feel like their should be a third way, for lack of a better expression. The low skill make nervous, but I guess that just part the build.

We did have a Norse Caster once. Possession tradition alway seem to leads to wacky hijinks. But I enjoyed the background, and with some Karma on him i'm sure it could a solid character.

[pbangarth]

The Norse tradition is Materialization, not Possession. Still a lot of fun, though.

[Starmage21]

Gear 10,000 ¥ [2]

-haven't figured this out yet

EDIT: Beats me why the spoiler tags don't work on this Stats text. Must be something in it I can't see.

Fake SIN, Lifestyle, Commlink.

now you own enough to exist and get paid.


ALso, you can go ahead and cross out those spirits. No summoning for you, 1/2 a mage!

[pbangarth]

Don't need lifestyle, really. No food, go home to Valhalla whenever I want ...

[Starmage21]

Don't need lifestyle, really. No food, go home to Valhalla whenever I want ...

Then you dont really need to spend any money on gear.

I'd drop gaurd and psychokinesis, Lucky, and the extra point of edge. If youre going to suck that bad, at least counterspell for your team so they dont die while carrying you about.
//yes, I realize this is mostly snark, but it's also true.

[naga-nuyen]

Force increases can be purchased at character generation for the same price as any attribute. Page 92, RC

For BP the only thing I see is that Force would = 55 BP (2+1[10BP] +1[10BP] +1[10Bp] +1[25BP]) spent and Edge=65 BP spent (2+1[10BP] +1[10BP] +1[10BP] +1[10Bp] +1[25BP])

I never thought of using Lucky quality, nice catch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[pbangarth]

For BP the only thing I see is that Force would = 55 BP (2+1[10BP] +1[10BP] +1[10Bp] +1[25BP]) spent and Edge=65 BP spent (2+1[10BP] +1[10BP] +1[10BP] +1[10Bp] +1[25BP])

I never thought of using Lucky quality, nice catch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The discussion in the other thread convinced me that the 25 BP for all the Attributes but Force is considered to have been spent at the beginning. See that thread for the details.

@Starmage21: While being carried about as a fly on one of the other's shoulders is a possibility, this PC has other means of travel. Counterspelling is a very useful capability. I don't see where I included in the post that no other teammate can counterspell. I value the advice, thanks.

[Badmoodguy88]

Under Karmagen
Stats
Metahumanity [250k]

Free Spirit


Norse Tradition

Guardian, Water, Fire, Air,
Earth
Drain: WIL + CHA

Qualities [-30k]

Magician [free]
Lucky [40]
Amnesia [-20]
Computer Illiterate [-10]
Gremlins (4) [-40]


Attributes [30k]

BOD 2 + 1 = 3 [15]
AGI 2 = 2
REA 2 = 2
STR 2 = 2
CHA2 = 2
INT 2 = 2
LOG2 = 2
WIL 2 + 1 = 3 [15]


Special Attributes [215k]

ESS = 6
MAG = 6
EDG 2 + 5 = 7 [125]
Force 2 + 4 = 6 [90]

INI = 4 (2 IP) / 4 (3 IP)


Spirit Powers (7 pts.)

Sapience (*)
Astral Form (*)
Materialization (*)
Banishment Resistance (*)
Spirit Pact (*)
(Friendship)
Immunity to
Normal Weapons (*)
Aura Masking 3.0
Realistic Form 0.5
Mutable Form 0.5
Concealment 2.0
Guard 0.5
Psychokinesis 0.5


Active Skills [24k]

Perception 2 INT [8]
Assensing 1 INT [4]
Spellcasting 2 MAG [8]
Dodge 1 REA [4]

Knowledge Skills(12 pts.) Do you get free knowledge skills under karmagen?

Norse N
English 3
L.A. street gangs 1
Metaplanar Geography 2
Norse Mythology 5
Local Area Knowledge 1
(HOD territory)

Spells [10k]

Stunbolt ( C )
M (F/2)-1
Heal ( H )
M (DV)-2

Contacts [16k]
(connection/loyalty)

HOD:
gang (group) 3/5

Total 521 karma

That leaves room to make a better character. Also I do like the use of lucky.

[Neraph]

The low skill make nervous, but I guess that just part the build.

It's not just the skills that are low - the stats are atrocious also.

Really, without Shapechange or Possession, Free Spirits under these assumed rules are simply not playable until much, much later. Oh, and I suggest Shapechange if you didn't catch that. It'll help you out a ridiculous amount in the survivability department.

[sabs]

I call Shenanigans on gremlins.

The free spirit cannot use the matrix, nor can he interface with most electronics.

Gremlins should just not give that many points.
It's like a Hacker taking a quality that says he's bad at casting spells.

[pbangarth]

That leaves room to make a better character. Also I do like the use of lucky.

Yes, I saw that, too. But the potential game is using BP. If I had been involved at the start of the campaign development process and thinking of a Free Spirit PC, I would have lobbied for karmagen.

Really, without Shapechange or Possession, Free Spirits under these assumed rules are simply not playable until much, much later. Oh, and I suggest Shapechange if you didn't catch that. It'll help you out a ridiculous amount in the survivability department.

The combination of Realistic Form and Mutable Form allows all that Shapechange does and much more. Not only does it allow that spell effect, but a disguise capability and a 'beneath notice' capability. She can appear to be a chair in the corporate office until needed. And with Aura Masking and Edge 7, she has a pool of 15 to keep prying astral eyes out. Even if they would think to try to look at a chair.

I call Shenanigans on gremlins.
The free spirit cannot use the matrix, nor can he interface with most electronics.
Gremlins should just not give that many points.
It's like a Hacker taking a quality that says he's bad at casting spells.

I would have called shenanigans, too, except this is in Los Angeles. There will be lots of opportunity for background count to force a decision as to which powers to drop at the moment. and if Guard is ever dropped, the wheels will literally fall off. I think both the GM and I would have fun with that one.

The other two are almost forced by the design of the PC. We are told the Free Spirit remembers nothing, so I as a player and she as a PC will have no access to prior knowledge even if we wanted it. Same with Computer Illiterate. She is prevented by her spirit nature from reading/understanding computer displays. I had other Negative Qualities for her at the start of the chargen process, but discussion in this thread opened up my eyes to the logic of these choices.

As far as Lucky, goes, not only does it give her an increased Edge, useful in and of itself for a PC with such small dice pools in many areas, but that Edge gives another Power point. I think a high Edge is one of the saving graces of this PC (and the whole type), who I admit has several weak points. How many times in a well executed run will it be necessary to cast a Heal or a Stunbolt? Ideally, none. A group focused on stealth and infiltration should try to avoid the necessity for these. But shit happens. So a few times in a run one needs to hit hard and end it quickly. So you bump a spellcasting pool of 8 to 15 (with exploding 6s) and deal with it. Or your Hardened Armor of 12 isn't enough, and you bump the 18 dice (-AP of the weapon) of damage resistance with 7 more dice or a reroll.

The Counterspelling mentioned earlier is an issue. I originally had her with that Skill, in fact at the best level of all her Skills. I changed it out. I'm still considering. If I dropped the Lucky, and the Edge to 6, then I would have 30 BP for Skills, and still have a damn good Edge. That could give her a Counterspelling of 6, with a specialization in Combat spells, another spell, and one more BP... into gear I guess.

[sabs]

Are you allowed to have an Edge of 7 with a force of 6?

[pbangarth]

Yes, with the Lucky Quality.

[sabs]

Yes, with the Lucky Quality.

I wasn't sure how Lucky was worded. But you're correct. It lets you have an Edge max 1 higher than your meta-type maximum. Neat.

I'm still not sure I buy gremlins.. but if your GM thinks it'll be cool.

[Neraph]

I call Shenanigans on gremlins.

The free spirit cannot use the matrix, nor can he interface with most electronics.

Gremlins should just not give that many points.
It's like a Hacker taking a quality that says he's bad at casting spells.

If he tries to drive a car - gremlins. If he tries to shoot a gun - gremlins. If he tries to order pizza for his teammates - gremlins.

The combination of Realistic Form and Mutable Form allows all that Shapechange does and much more. Not only does it allow that spell effect, but a disguise capability and a 'beneath notice' capability. She can appear to be a chair in the corporate office until needed. And with Aura Masking and Edge 7, she has a pool of 15 to keep prying astral eyes out. Even if they would think to try to look at a chair.

We discovered in the Shapechange thread that Mutable Form/Realistic Form is not compatable in that way with Shapechange. It has to do with Mutable/Realistic working as you Materialize, and the spell effect is after the fact. You can't use those abilities on Shapechange because of the duration and other stipulations of those powers. I'll find the thread so you can read it.

[pbangarth]

I'm still not sure I buy gremlins.. but if your GM thinks it'll be cool.

I've played killer PCs a lot. I have another PC as a potential in this campaign who is a traditional mage, lots of power, spirits, the whole nine yards. At this point in my gaming life I would like to take a shot at something that is freaky, cool and vulnerable as hell, and work my ass off to keep her alive and useful. with quick thinking and careful planning, I think this PC can do a good job. Yeah, it's a challenge.

In a few days I will meet with the other players and the GM. We will talk over the PCs and figure out which will be the best mix. If I end up with the mage, I will have lots of fun, not the least of which will be talking in character with an accent not too far off the Swedish Chef. Blowing shit up. Doing the 'face mob' on an opponent with a bunch of Watcher Spirits. Summoning just the right killer spirit for the job. Second-role-ing as the groups face. Looking for every opportunity to party and get laid. And hey, if I want 'challenge', the mage-face is an Ork.

See... I flip-flop daily in who I want to play.

[Neraph]

Shapechange Question thread. 14 pages of generally decent debate. Lots of questions are answered.

[pbangarth]

If he tries to drive a car - gremlins. If he tries to shoot a gun - gremlins. If he tries to order pizza for his teammates - gremlins.

Exactly. Which is why she must keep Guard going, not only on the party as a whole, but herself in particular.

We discovered in the Shapechange thread that Mutable Form/Realistic Form is not compatable in that way with Shapechange. It has to do with Mutable/Realistic working as you Materialize, and the spell effect is after the fact. You can't use those abilities on Shapechange because of the duration and other stipulations of those powers. I'll find the thread so you can read it.

That isn't how I was proposing the powers be used. With Mutable Form, every time she materializes, she can pick any shape she wants. Realistic form keeps the toaster from exuding green mist as it sits there, and actually can make toast. Also together, they allow the PC to take the form of an actual person, and add Force to the Disguise Test pool.

How are Realistic Form and Mutable Form limited in duration?

EDIT: I will peruse the shapechange thread later, but the above question piques my interest.

[Neraph]

They are sustained. Since they are sustained, their abilities cannot be used on a creature that is under the effects of Shapechange - the effects of the spell overwrite the effects of the spirit powers. That's what I meant by it.

If you take Shapechange, you can turn yourself into, say, a wolf, and with ~4 successes you'd have 6, 7, 7, 6 for your physical stats, greatly increasing your survivability, but your Mutable/Realistic Powers could not come into play, as those are decided when you Materialize.

EDIT: I was suggesting Shapechange for the Physical Attribute increases, not for the forms you could take. That may be where we don't seem to be thinking the same about it.

[pbangarth]

They are sustained. Since they are sustained, their abilities cannot be used on a creature that is under the effects of Shapechange - the effects of the spell overwrite the effects of the spirit powers. That's what I meant by it.

If you take Shapechange, you can turn yourself into, say, a wolf, and with ~4 successes you'd have 6, 7, 7, 6 for your physical stats, greatly increasing your survivability, but your Mutable/Realistic Powers could not come into play, as those are decided when you Materialize.

OK, I see what you are saying. Though I like the idea of getting better Attributes, in this particular case, PC in the context of a team, I suspect Shapechange is less useful than the Form powers.

[Mooncrow]

OK, I see what you are saying. Though I like the idea of getting better Attributes, in this particular case, PC in the context of a team, I suspect Shapechange is less useful than the Form powers.

Less useful for sneaking around, arguably - but far more useful for staying alive. Though, with such a low spell casting dicepool, I suppose it wouldn't make a huge difference anyway.

Is this build playable? Sure. But it's easily the narrowest character I've ever seen. You'll be the master scout, and that's pretty much it. I guess I just can't get past that a reasonably built mage could summon up a spirit that could outperform you on just about everything that you're able to do.

But hey, that's just me - I don't really understand the appeal of the Full-Immersion hacker character either, and I know there are players that love that.

[Neurosis]

If he tries to drive a car - gremlins. If he tries to shoot a gun - gremlins. If he tries to order pizza for his teammates - gremlins.

You're forgetting commlinks.

Every other time my team's mage picked up her or an ally's commlink, it exploded. : D

[Neraph]

Right, but due to the certain abilities (or inabilities, rather) of FSPCs, commlinks are basically unneccessary gear. The best you can do is use it like a cellphone, where all commands and responses are verbal.

Even then it's more of a hassle than anything.

[pbangarth]

Less useful for sneaking around, arguably - but far more useful for staying alive. Though, with such a low spell casting dicepool, I suppose it wouldn't make a huge difference anyway.

Is this build playable? Sure. But it's easily the narrowest character I've ever seen. You'll be the master scout, and that's pretty much it. I guess I just can't get past that a reasonably built mage could summon up a spirit that could outperform you on just about everything that you're able to do.

Outperform some functions, I can see. One thing that is being missed here is that the Free Spirit PC has no service limits. And no attendant cost to increasing services or increasing duration of service availability.

Another thing is the Edge. Summoned/Bound spirits don't normally use their Edge. This PC would, and have the Edge rating as part of her pool for Aura Masking, making her as hard to unmask as a serious mage. A couple of her Powers, Aura Masking and Mutable form are not available to Summoned spirits. I think these are hugely useful. Actual play may prove me horribly wrong.

In many, certainly not all, combat situations, this PC is Immune to the damage the opposition can dish out. So instead of a scout she can be the bullet magnet. This would have to be played very carefully.

Maybe this PC type is for the player who has done the mages, the tanks and the ninjas, and is looking for something that requires a lot of finesse, not only to thrive, but to survive. If she dies one mission in, despite my best efforts, I guess I will have an answer.