Need help turning character concept into reality.

[Poocho]

Hey guys. When a friend of mine (Cassman, as he's known here and there on the Internet) told me he was thinking of running a HU campaign and described what it would involve, I was able to quickly come up with a concept of a hero that I've always thought would be cool. I described what I wanted to him, and he said he thought that would be do-able with the rules provided. When I talked to him again later on when we actually had access to the book, he suggested that I present my character concept here for the experts to mull over and offer suggestions.

Basically, I'm going for a hero who can manipulate fire, but I don't want to be as cliché as Pyro from Xmen. As far as I can tell, all he is is a human blowtorch, judging from his performance. I want to have a more intimate connection with my fire. I want to be able to write my name in the air with fire just as easily as I could throw a fireball. I want the fire to basically be an extention of me--just as much a part of me and as controllable as my physical fingers. I realize that many of the things that I want to be able to do are pretty extreme, but I should be able to scale them down enough to decide on what basic skills I should choose. Let me describe exactly what I want to be able to do . . . eventually.

I want to be able to control the shape of my fire. Like I said, I should be able to write my name in the air. I'd like to be able to put impressive swirls in the air. If I wanted, I'd like to be able to sculpt my fire in to a figure--like a statue. I want to make these designs as big, as little, as simple, or as elaborate as I want. If I want to be outlined with a shield of fire, I should be able to do that. If I want to hold a ball of fire in a certain spot and then move it through the air, I should be able to do that. To sum up, I want to be able to have complete control over the shape, location, and size of my fire. Shooting a ball of fire out of my hand like Pyro did to those cops simply isn't good enough.

I want to be able to control the temperature of my fire. I'd like to be able to make it so hot that you can't stand within a mile of it without bursting into flames. I want to be able to melt metal in a microsecond. But I also want to be able to make the fire very cool. I'd like to make it literally freezing--like -200 degrees F. But I'd also like to be able to have a full fire dancing on a person's hand . . . at a comfortable 70 degrees. I want to be able to have extreme temperatures both ways and everything in between. My ultimate goal is a concept of a type of shield in which I have an incredibly hot thin layer of fire that would disintegrate bullets as they passed through it, but that layer would be surrounded by an incredibly cold layer of fire that would compensate for the hot and prevent the entire neighborhood from being vaporized.

I came up with concept by thinking of how it would be nice to shield myself and my comrades from bullets, but I realized that if my friends (I assume that I would be immune to fire) were near enough to the shield to actually benefit from it they would be vaporized by the extreme heat radiating from it. The only way to make this work would be to have the type of shield I described. This way, bullets can pass through the protective cold layer and into the hot layer where they'll be vaporized before they hit any of us.

So you can see how much control I want to have over the temperature of my fire.

With these powers I should also be able to other nifty things. Since to me it just seems too cruel to try to use fire to burn another person to death, there are other ways I can use it offensively. For example, I should be able to focus a ball of fire into a size so small and yet so intense that it should be able to melt a hole through a door lock or through an opponent's gun. There are all sorts of creative things I'd like to be able to do.

So you can see just how organic I want my powers to be. The question is, just how do I do this with the rules of the game? My friend said that I should be able to combine certain skills together in creative ways to make it work, but he wasn't exactly sure how to get it as specific as I wanted. I hope you can help.

Thanks for the help,
Poocho

[Uncle Servo]

Well, I think if you made use of a few different powers you could swing it.... Maybe CEF:Fire and Holographic Memory for the cosmetic aspects (I've always felt the latter bordered on Minor status, and would probably grant it for a Minor if it was limited to fire "holograms"), throw in something like Energy Field from PU1.... Actually, maybe skip CEF and go for APS:Fire- The fire aura doesn't have to be as flamed out as traditional firebugs. Also gives you inherent temperature control, IIRC.

Holographic Memory Projection? That's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that.

I was thinking that if you (Poocho) wanted to create all these sorts of 'flaming doo-dads' then a good power combination might be APS: Fire and Create Force Constructs and develop the concept of 'solid fire.' That way you could have a ball/cube/Oscar statue sitting in someone's hand that appears to be on fire but is still cool to the touch. If you wanted to go with an Experiment with three major abilities, you could also throw in CEF: Fire or HMP.

[KillWatch]

So you DO want to be Pyro,...

how about for each affect you need a secondary skill?

Or like I use for special affects, Power Control
(ME+PE+Spi)/3=Power Control
of course your game probably won't use Spi (Spirit)
I use them due to various aspects of control you would need

Your PC results in a PC Bonus (work as ME or PE for Bonus)

this bonus can also be used to boost the levels of your powers
A bonus of +2 will result in 1 power raising 2 levels or 2 powers raising 1 level each

anyhow
different tricks will require a difficulty check
Simple = 5
Moderate = 10
Difficult = 15
Very Difficult = 20
Are you kidding = 30
Near Impossible = 35
Impossible (or it should be) = 40

the way you roll is 1d20+lvl (of power)+PC Bonus
So at 15h level without any other bonuses you COULD roll a 20 and get 35

[Poocho]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll admit that I'm pretty new when it comes to Palladium games. I've only played a couple of TMNT sessions. I'm much more familiar with the D20 system (I know, I know). I'll go through these suggestions when I have the book in hand so I can have a clue what you're talking about.

I'll see what Cassman has to say about this.

If anyone else has ideas, please post them!

--Poocho

[NMI]

I got an even better answer then all the rest already presented...

• CEF Fire
• Super Energy Expulsion Fire
• Create Force Constructs

Just have the Force Constructs have the appearance of flame.
Write your name in the air, create flaming animals, flaming surf board, etc... To create flaming prison cells, or barriers you might want to consider ditching CEF Fire and take Create Force Fields instead.

[Levi]

I think NMI hit the nail on the head. That is the same power combo I would have suggested. Although, it doesn't really grant temperature control. You will have to get the GM to allow that.

[Uncle Servo]

I think NMI hit the nail on the head. That is the same power combo I would have suggested. Although, it doesn't really grant temperature control. You will have to get the GM to allow that.

That's why I suggested APS: Fire in my Create Force Constructs-based idea. The APS: Fire power also gives you the ability to generate heat. The CEF: Fire power gives some good powers too (I really like the 'create smoke' one), but I don't think it's a have-to-have ability unless you've got a third Major Abilty slot available.

[NMI]

I think NMI hit the nail on the head. That is the same power combo I would have suggested. Although, it doesn't really grant temperature control. You will have to get the GM to allow that.

That's why I suggested APS: Fire in my Create Force Constructs-based idea. The APS: Fire power also gives you the ability to generate heat. The CEF: Fire power gives some good powers too (I really like the 'create smoke' one), but I don't think it's a have-to-have ability unless you've got a third Major Abilty slot available.

Sorry Servo, I hadnt read your post all the way through and did not realize that you too had the same idea I did, but you had yours first. I bow down to you.

[Uncle Servo]

I think NMI hit the nail on the head. That is the same power combo I would have suggested. Although, it doesn't really grant temperature control. You will have to get the GM to allow that.

That's why I suggested APS: Fire in my Create Force Constructs-based idea. The APS: Fire power also gives you the ability to generate heat. The CEF: Fire power gives some good powers too (I really like the 'create smoke' one), but I don't think it's a have-to-have ability unless you've got a third Major Abilty slot available.

Sorry Servo, I hadnt read your post all the way through and did not realize that you too had the same idea I did, but you had yours first. I bow down to you.

No need to apologize, Nimmy. I just chalked it up as another one of those 'great minds think alike' moments.

Thanks for the sig quote though...

[Uncle Servo]

Therumancer want a cracker?

[Poocho]

Actually what you want is pretty close to "Pyro". Apparently you are not familiar with the character. Pyro is a mutant with the power to control flames to an outrageous extent, but he cannot create them. He wears flamethrowers on his wrists so he can create fire for him to control. He is capable of achieving a large variety of effects including making pseudo-living elemental-like creatures, creating cages from fire, and other things.

Ah, I see. I'm sure you guys are right: I don't know much about Pyro. I never got into the comics, so the only knowledge I have of him is what I saw in XMen and X2. The movie only shows him using his powers a few times. So basically, I've seen him hold a ball of fire in his hand (and then the ice guy turned it into ice), shoot fire at a bunch of cops (and then Rogue used his power to cool the fire), and float a small flame through the air to his hand. From that, I can't see him having the power to control fire as intricately and organically as I had wanted. But obviously he can do more than I know. Pehaps he really is "a god among insects."

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. It seems I'll be able to do what I wanted after all.

Just my thoughts,
Poocho

[Uncle Servo]

Actually what you want is pretty close to "Pyro". Apparently you are not familiar with the character. Pyro is a mutant with the power to control flames to an outrageous extent, but he cannot create them. He wears flamethrowers on his wrists so he can create fire for him to control. He is capable of achieving a large variety of effects including making pseudo-living elemental-like creatures, creating cages from fire, and other things.

Ah, I see. I'm sure you guys are right: I don't know much about Pyro. I never got into the comics, so the only knowledge I have of him is what I saw in XMen and X2. The movie only shows him using his powers a few times. So basically, I've seen him hold a ball of fire in his hand (and then the ice guy turned it into ice), shoot fire at a bunch of cops (and then Rogue used his power to cool the fire), and float a small flame through the air to his hand. From that, I can't see him having the power to control fire as intricately and organically as I had wanted. But obviously he can do more than I know. Pehaps he really is "a god among insects."

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. It seems I'll be able to do what I wanted after all.

Just my thoughts,
Poocho

Just so long as we all understand and acknowledge you are creating your own character and not simply converting the intellectual property of another company...

[Poocho]

Oh absolutely! If anything, I'll just use him for ideas. I woudn't want to copy him anyway. It wouldn't be personalized enough for me to enjoy.

Just my thoughts,
Poocho