Which system would be best for this character, and how would I build him for it?

[MonkeySage]

A few years back, I was told to make a character for Gurps, a game I've never played before.

My character's a cambion superhero, the son of a white witch and a demon- basically, in exchange for saving the life of her husband, the witch was forced to bear the demon's child. She chose to raise the cambion as an overall good person, and aside from some obviously inhuman characteristics (such as pointy ears, red eyes, claws, small horns, and a tail), he's managed to blend in with human society.

His powers are of magical origins, and include super strength, conjuration or apportation (small objects), above average agility, healing (self or others), and shapeshifting (which he mostly uses to hide his more obvious demonic traits- though he's unable to conceal his tail in this manner).

His weaknesses: He loses his powers on holy ground, and holy water burns his skin like acid.

I wonder if there are games other than Gurps that can handle this particular concept for a character.

It isn't necessary for him to start off with all of the abilities I mentioned.

[Particle_Man]

Mutants and Masterminds could do it. So could BASH.

[MonkeySage]

Looking at it now... How would Apportation work? Say, for example, he has a bat at home, and he wants to summon it to his hand. I see Create, and I see Teleport, but not remote teleport.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Create, Quirk (created items are transported from somewhere else) works. As does some sort of Feature (remote storage), depending on the magnitude of the ability.

[Rhedyn]

A few years back, I was told to make a character for Gurps, a game I've never played before.

My character's a cambion superhero, the son of a white witch and a demon- basically, in exchange for saving the life of her husband, the witch was forced to bear the demon's child. She chose to raise the cambion as an overall good person, and aside from some obviously inhuman characteristics (such as pointy ears, red eyes, claws, small horns, and a tail), he's managed to blend in with human society.

His powers are of magical origins, and include super strength, conjuration or apportation (small objects), above average agility, healing (self or others), and shapeshifting (which he mostly uses to hide his more obvious demonic traits- though he's unable to conceal his tail in this manner).

His weaknesses: He loses his powers on holy ground, and holy water burns his skin like acid.

I wonder if there are games other than Gurps that can handle this particular concept for a character.

It isn't necessary for him to start off with all of the abilities I mentioned.

Savage Worlds Superpowers Companion

The Major Hindrance Power Negation specifically mentions Holy Ground as an example. You could also grab Weakness (Holy) to double up on the problem.
You can get super strength with powers, above average agility could just be a characteristic of yourself (you do not need super powers to be above average), Healing is a power, a limited chameleon power would do the shapeshifting you want.
If you want to conjure minions, the minion power would work.
If you want to conjure objects, a limited Matter Control ability would work.
For apportation, you probably would do a limited Teleport with Transverse, or something sillier like Force Control with Contingent Illusions with trappings that what you are making is a teleported object.

You have a good 3 power set-up for Savage Worlds; Strength + Healing + Chameleon/Conjuration. Your minimum point build would be 15 (or 10 with limitations on the healing). It would scale well too as other abilities "cap out" conceptually you could gain Melee Attack and Toughness/Armor to round out your combat abilities.

Another nice point for the system is that your character could learn non-supers magic if that is something he would want to do for character growth reasons.

[Draz74]

Mutants & Masterminds is certainly the first system that comes to mind for me -- this is a very typical character for that system. (With what Grod suggests for Apportation.)

I compulsively build M&M characters as a hobby, so I'd be happy to help you build the character if you give more details of what he should be like. Starting with Power Level.

PL6 could maybe sort of work for a superhero in a low-magic, low-powered world, but mostly it's used for Badass Normals (like Leverage thieves). Given your character's origin, I doubt this is what you want.

PL7: a good example is TMNT.

PL8: A common power level for "lesser superheroes."

PL10: The standard medium-superhero level. Hawkeye and Black Widow (Avengers 1 movie version) are a good example.

PL12: A common power level for "greater superheroes." Probably Captain America (Avengers 1 movie version) as an example.

PL14-15: "Guardian of a whole world"-scale superheroes. Thor, Superman, and Wonder Woman live here.

[MonkeySage]

The original setting had him protecting a city by Lake Huron, in a team, with 2 others. Not sure how m&m power levels work but I'd say 7-10 would be a safe bet.

[Draz74]

The original setting had him protecting a city by Lake Huron, in a team, with 2 others. Not sure how m&m power levels work but I'd say 7-10 would be a safe bet.

7-10 is still a pretty broad range of power, haha. I'll go ahead and assume PL9.

Without his super-strength or super-agility, what would his ability scores be like? Remember there are eight Abilities: Strength, Stamina, Agility, Dexterity, Fighting, Intellect, Awareness, and Presence. (Stamina is basically D&D's Constitution, Agility is basically D&D's Dexterity, Intellect is basically D&D's Intelligence, Awareness is basically D&D's Wisdom, and Presence is basically D&D's Charisma. Dexterity is careful hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Fighting is an odd duck, but basically measures his overall mental reflexes and discipline when it comes to melee combat.)

I tend to judge what to make these abilities based on the scales given in the book:

-1: Below average or teenager (I'm assuming this is the lowest you'd want to go with any Ability)
0: Average adult
1: Above average
2: Well above average
3: Gifted
4: Highly gifted
5: Best in a (small) nation
6: One of the best in the world
7: Peak of non-super-human achievement

For Strength, you can largely decide what number to pick based on how much you want the character to be able to lift, bearing in mind that this system is biased towards comic-book physics where an extremely strong "normal" human can lift 3 tons. Again, for now I'm asking about his Strength when he's not using his super-strength power.

Keep in mind that Stamina, Agility, and Awareness in particular are extremely likely to be above-average for just about any superhero. My personal habit is to start with 2 Agility and 2 Awareness by default, and adjust up or down from there. (Again, this is when he's not using his Enhanced Agility power.) Stamina, on the other hand, is rarely as low as a 2 for superheroes. Something in the 4-6 range is very common for my builds.

Depending how min-max-y you feel, you should also keep in mind that buying Dexterity, Fighting, or Presence is technically a point sink that doesn't quite get you as much as you pay for. So you may want to leave these at 0 if you feel like really optimizing. I tend to still judge them based on the descriptions above, though. (My average superhero character still has a Fighting rank of 3.)

[MonkeySage]

Without super strength, he'd actually be pretty average, maybe 0 or 1 strength. as for agility, probably 1 or 2, as this isn't affected by his powers. his intellect and awareness would probably be 3 each since he's used to investigative work, and as for stamina, probably 3-4.

[Draz74]

Without super strength, he'd actually be pretty average, maybe 0 or 1 strength. as for agility, probably 1 or 2, as this isn't affected by his powers. his intellect and awareness would probably be 3 each since he's used to investigative work, and as for stamina, probably 3-4.

OK, unless you tell me otherwise, I'll go with:
Strength 1
Stamina 4
Agility 2
Dexterity 0
Fighting 3 (or 4?)
Intellect 3
Awareness 3
Presence 1

Investigative work is a good detail, for when we get to Skills. Keep these details coming!

Tell me more about his super-strength. Does it also involve increased Stamina? How quickly can he turn it on and off? ("Instantly" is a valid answer.) Is it ok if he has to turn it off, even momentarily, in order to use his apportation or healing abilities? (If so, that will save you a lot of points.) Does it go away temporarily if he's stunned? (That will also save you some points.)

Tell me more about his apportation. I assume he can send objects away as well as conjure them? How much control does he have over where they appear? Are there range limitations on the apportation? Can he move a rock from one place to another by looking at it, other than summoning it to himself?

Does his healing regularly heal anything other than normal damage? (Cure poison, restore the dead to life, etc. It's ok if these are possible, but only rarely. Or, for more points, they can be a regular thing.) Does he have to touch someone to heal them?

[MonkeySage]

His superstrength probably does involve enhanced stamina as well. to tap into it involves channeling his emotions, and he can't use it while maintaining a human form, apporting an object, or healing. he also cannot use it at all while on any holy ground, and cant use them while stunned since they require focus.

Apportation, he normally uses to summon a weapon (non lethal preferably, hero) he knows about from a familiar location, and can send it back to that familiar location. its always summoned to his hands, and he has to be touching it to send it away.

He can heal bullet wounds, acid damage(even that caused by holy water) and poison. he can use this power to prevent death, but not to bring someone back. here too he's limited to touch range. :)

[Draz74]

OK, I was assuming he could use his other powers while shapeshifted, but maybe that was incorrect. Can he heal or apportate while "human"?

Can he not heal regular damage unless it's caused by bullets, acid/holy water, or poison?

[MonkeySage]

He can use his other powers while in human form, and can heal regular damage other than what I mentioned.

[Draz74]

Defensively, is his mind or his body stronger, or are they about equal?

And does he tend to dodge attacks more, or do they hit him and he just takes it? I mean, as a superhero, he's probably good at both, but in a relative-to-other-superheroes sense which is he better at?

[MonkeySage]

Defensively, his body may be a touch stronger- he can take punishment.

I imagine he'd dodge attacks when he can, he's not bullet proof and healing requires him to sacrifice his strength momentarily. that said, he may take a few hits if the attacker is clearly weaker/less dangerous.

[Draz74]

Does he have a super-suit, or just wear normal clothing? (Or in-between: normal clothing that offers a little bit of armor ish.)

And I get the sense that he usually fights with improvised weapons, but if he has to fight barehanded for some reason, how good is he at it?

[MonkeySage]

I think he would have a suit, since in "human" form he tucks his tail away under his shirt. (If the tail is prehensile it's probably not something he uses in battle. it looks like a lion's tail).

I think he probably knows a martial art or two for hand to hand combat- Judo comes to mind, as does Kung fu.

[Draz74]

I think he probably knows a martial art or two for hand to hand combat- Judo comes to mind, as does Kung fu.

In the guidelines in M&M, judo involves some wrestling. Kung fu involves breaking opponents' weapons and in-combat intimidating them. Are these aspects of the martial arts that you want to include?

[Draz74]

What does he do for situations where ranged combat would be useful? It sounds like he's not the type to summon a gun and start shooting. Does he throw things? Or just come up with a way to get close to the opponent, even if it's hard?

How well does he know magic other than his specific powers? Can he do slow rituals to achieve a variety of effects?

[MonkeySage]

Probably throws stuff until he can get close. ^_^

His mother was a witch specialized in white magic, she may have taught him a spell or two, for exorcism, dispelling curses, possibly creating shields or slowing moving objects down. she wasn't very powerful, but he's part demon and a quick study. magic probably comes easy to him, even if he's not focused on it.

[Draz74]

Cambion Hero (rough draft)
Darío
Original character, PC-ready
Power Level 9 (135 ppt)

ABILITIES [36 ppt]
• Strength 1 (+10) • Stamina 4 (+8) • Agility 2 (+6) • Dexterity 0 (+0) •
• Fighting 4 (+4) • Intellect 3 (+3) • Awareness 3 (+3) • Presence 1 (+1) •
Load limit 25 tons

POWERS [52 ppt]

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Costume, Device (Removable): • 1 / 1 ppt
Technological Power

Protection 1 • 1 ppt

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Super-Strength: • 25 ppt + 4 ppt for Alternate Effects
Magical Power
Flaw: Quirk 1 (not while shape-shifted) • -1 ppt

Enhanced Strength 9 • 18 ppt

Enhanced Stamina 4 • 8 ppt

ALT - Healing: • 25 ppt
Magical Power

Healing 8 • 25 ppt
Extras: Restorative, Persistent

ALT - Apportation 1: • 13 ppt
Magical Power

Create 15 • 13 ppt
Extras: Innate, Subtle 1, Precise, Variable Descriptor 2 (any material), Flaws: Limited to increased Toughness [partial 13], Quirk 1 (must actually be summoned from familiar location), Permanent, Reduced Range (close)
Volume limit 4 cft created

ALT - Apportation 2: • 25 ppt
Magical Power

Teleport 6 • 25 ppt
Extras: Change Direction, Affects Only Others, Affects Only Objects, Extended, Easy
1800 ft, one move action, 50 lb.; or 60 miles, 2 move actions, 50 lb.

ALT - Apportation 3: • 25 ppt
Magical Power

Teleport 8 • 25 ppt
Extras: Affects Only Others, Affects Only Objects, Increased Range 2 (perception), Change Direction, Flaw: Limited to teleporting into his own grasp
1 mi, one move action, 50 lb.

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Super-Agility: • 8 ppt
Magical Power

Enhanced Agility 4 • 8 ppt

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Shape-Shifting: • 14 ppt
Magical Power

Morph 3 (any humanoid form) • 14 ppt
Flaw: Quirk 1 (cannot change tail)

ADVANTAGES [13 ppt]

• Accurate Attack • Agile Feint • Defensive Roll 1 • Equipment 2 • Improved Critical (Unarmed) 1 • Improved Disarm • Improved Trip • Improvised Weapon 2 • Ritualist • Skill Mastery (Investigation) • Takedown 1 •

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EQUIPMENT [10 ep]

• Commlink • 1 ep
• Smartphone • 2 ep
• Shared HQ • 7 ep

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LANGUAGES
• native: English •

SKILLS [21 ppt]
• Acrobatics 6 (+12) • Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+7) • Expertise: Law Enforcement 1 (+4) • Expertise: Magic 1 (+4) • Expertise: Science 2 (+5) • Insight 7 (+10) • Intimidation 4 (+5) • Investigation 7 (+10) • Perception 3 (+6) • Ranged Combat: Throwing 6 (+6) • Technology 2 (+5) •

DEFENSES [13 ppt]
• Dodge 2 (+8) • Parry 4 (+8) •
• Fortitude 2 (+10) • Toughness (+10/+9*) • Will 5 (+8) •
*without Defensive Roll

OFFENSE
Initiative +6

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• Unarmed: +7 • Close Damage DC 25 (Strength-based), bludgeoning, crit 19-20.
• Improvised Weapon: +7 • Close Damage DC 26 (Strength-based), descriptor varies.
• Thrown Rock (or similar object): +6 • Ranged (250/500/1000 ft) Damage DC 25, bludgeoning.

COMPLICATIONS

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Motivation - Acceptance: Mom always taught him to do the Right Thing, but even more than that, he just wants the humans to accept him for who he is.

Prejudice: Cambions are looked upon as demons and treated accordingly, normally.

Secret Identity: ???

Honor: He prefers to beat enemies into submission by non-lethal means.

Power Loss: He loses all magical powers while on any sort of holy ground.

Power Loss: Super-Strength requires channeling his emotions, and can't be used if he can't do this.

Weakness: Holy water damages him like acid.

ABILITIES [ 36 ] + SKILLS [ 21 ] + ADVANTAGES [ 13 ] + POWERS [ 52 ] + DEFENSES [ 13 ]
135 PPT TOTAL

BIO

For you to fill in with backstory and such.

NOTES

Apportation is indeed the trickiest part of mapping this character to M&M. I opted to make it as flexible as possible by making it into three powers: Sending a held object away (up to 1800 ft away, or up to 60 miles away if he does it a little slower); Summoning an object to his hand that he can currently perceive (up to 1 mile away); or Summoning an object to his hand from "elsewhere" narratively (represented by the Create power with a Quirk).

The Create power has enough ranks to create anything with Toughness up to 15, which is the given toughness for titanium.

His load limit without Super-Strength is 100 lb.

He currently can shape-shift quite flexibly, such as becoming female or changing his apparent size quite a bit. Limiting him to male forms of his same size would save a few points.

His attacks are actually strong enough that he might want to make frequent use of Accurate Attack, making the attacks weaker but more likely to land. (Most heroes don't use this maneuver much.)

If each member of your 3-man team contributes 7 ep, as this draft does, you can have a pretty sweet Headquarters for your team to work out of.

He can always get a skill check result of at least 20 on Investigation checks.

[MonkeySage]

You've made my day, Draz ^_^ Thank you. This looks really cool, and now I look forward to having the opportunity to use this guy in a game!

Still haven't given him a proper superhero name- though his real name is Darío!

[Draz74]

You're welcome! If you want to post this on another forum or thread, hit Reply With Quote and copy the forum code that appears, then get rid of the QUOTE tags at the beginning and end and change all the SPOILER tags to QUOTE tags.

[Mutazoia]

My Superhero game of choice is DC Heroes, and with the magic supplement, you could create this character quite easily (even with out it, actually.) Unfortunately, I don't have access to the books at the moment, so doing a mock-up will have to wait....