Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Marvel FASERIP And Random Character Generation


Nothing beats RANDOM character generation.

Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP) is the all time king of random character generation (Traveller is up there, and Heroes Unlimited too.) Often in Marvel, you have to make sense of truly odd power combinations, and many times back yonder, we would just reroll. Screw that. Random generation allows you to create characters that you would never otherwise think of. 

It is the path to true originality.

I rolled up this character in all of 10 minutes, 100% random, no fudging, no rerolls.

A Mutant...

Improve their Endurance by 1 rank (nice, since I only rolled Typical(6)), one extra power, and zero popularity.

Stats are decent, Health is on par with a lot of street level heroes. 

Talents are Military (plenty of sub-plots here, experimented on? Spy?) and Martial Arts E (+1 to initiative, actually makes sense as her two highest stats are Agility and Intuition at Incredible(40) each.)

Powers:

  • Extra Attacks
  • Probability Manipulation* -- counts as two powers (I rolled 4, +1 for being a Mutant)
  • Earth Control
  • Computer Links

What a group!

Looking for patterns...

She can change outcomes, Probability Manipulation (reverses % die rolls), for better and for worse, but only for non-living things -- like making a gun jam. She can manipulate the earth itself, Earth Control (that's earth in an elemental way, as in... dirt) and she has an immensely powerful (Monstrous (75)) connection with computers. Almost sounds like she's from a simulation, a virtual reality, or that's the way she sees reality. She's an architect, a creator, a shaper of the world.

I named her Mint (thought of Warp, Architect, Shaper, etc.)

Extra Attacks, according to the rules, simply gives her a better shot at rolling to see if she can make an extra attack. I prefer to see this power as a minor form of Super Speed, or Super Multi-Tasking. I would allow her to use two powers in one round (makes sense too with her Agility/Intuition.) Perhaps she appears somewhat pixelated when she moves or her Earth Control manifests in a pixilated way like in Minecraft (which I've never played.) Could have called her Pixi...  

Earth Control, at the beginning stage only allows you to use clumps of earth to bash and block. There are several other useful things you can develop as power stunts, tunneling, traveling on waves of earth, grappling, earthquakes, sculpting golems, etc.

She can block and bash, bash twice, bash two separate foes, manipulate and bash, manipulate twice, block block, etc.

Combat with this character would never be dull.

Perhaps she looks like this...


Or this...

FASERIP -- Best Super-Hero system ever!

It's not even close.


7 comments:

  1. The trouble is, is that it is so random.

    I remember the last time I was running a FASERIP oneshot game, and I thought I'd roll up some random characters to frisbee out to the players. The first I rolled was basically a Thor/Hercules level powerhouse with enormous Dark Control. The second was a basically a mook with only 1 stat that was GOOD, the rest TYPICAL or lower and whose strongest power was GOOD in something so forgettable I honestly don't remember even what it was except it would have been pretty useless at UNEARTHLY rank.

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    1. I think in that case, you would use that terrible character as a low-level crook and have the player roll another one.

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  2. If you like FASERIP / Random Character Generation, I'd highly recommend I am the Weapon. Have been toying with it the last few months and it's fantastic.

    https://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2021/08/i-am-weapon-you-can-have-it.html?m=1

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    Replies
    1. I remember reading that post, it's a shame the project got cancelled.

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    2. Agree, but one can purchase the draft copy of the the rules for $20. More than workable and well worth it.

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