Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Mirgris
Sherwood
Heya, Mirgris! I enjoy brainstorming to help other people out, so here's a brainstorm for you! =)
The Dannigan Disclaimer: When asked for my opinion, I'll give you exactly that because I don't see how a person can improve with anything less than an honest opinion. If I feel a person is honestly asking for improvement (which I believe you are), then I provide my honest opinion. So, here's mine, for what it's worth, given for your benefit. And remember - I'm just one guy with one opinion. That's all. So here it is! =)
I think your character is dead meat, especially if they're caught alone.
Disclaimer: As the new player here and just in case you happen to be wondering, no, Sherwood is not a Player-Killer GM (or I wouldn't be playing in his games). He's Player-friendly and wants everyone to have a good time, but... dice are still dice and we've taken on some heavy hitters in this game and plan to do so in the near future. This is just fine if your character is supposed to be a non-combat support stay-behind-back-at-camp character, but as a Player, you're probably going to be awfully bored if we go into combat without your Character. Every PC we've ever had join this game were battle-capable an in the party during fights. Yours so far, in my eyes, is the most vulnerable.
Mind you, I'm not here to point fingers - I'm here to help you, my fellow player, improve. =)
Here's why:
Your character's Physical Prowess Attribute is 16 (+1 to Strike, Parry, Dodge). This is the big one. Our lowest PC's P.P. Attribute is 27 (+8 to Strike, Parry, and Dodge before Hand to Hand and Racial bonuses) and a few of us are really built to last (see my character, Snowfall, on Characters Page 2 if you'd like one very detailed example). Sherwood has to throw things that challenge this party at its current level of ability and that means baddies with bonuses that are very likely to eat alive a Character with a P.P. of 16.
Your character is coming into a heavy-combat game with Hand to Hand: Basic. Basic means your character is one step away from being entirely untrained. Most of your party has Hand to Hand: Martial Arts with the Strike, Parry, Dodge, Critical bonuses, etc. to match. Plus, casting spells often takes up multiple Actions, Actions your Character doesn't seem to have? (5 Actions per Round. What is that? Two spells per Round?) Plus, there's a lack of Physical Skills here that might get the Character into trouble (I don't see Prowl, so they may get into trouble if they're trying to sneak around?).
Terra
Number of Attacks: 7
Strike: +11
Parry: +10
Dodge: +10
Roll: +10
As best as I can tell, your Character kind of looks like this right now?
Mirgris's Techno-Wizard
Number of Attacks: 5
Strike: +2
Parry: +3
Dodge: +3
Roll: +2
Please correct me if I missed something?
Number of Attacks: 7
Strike: +11
Parry: +10
Dodge: +10
Roll: +10
As best as I can tell, your Character kind of looks like this right now?
Mirgris's Techno-Wizard
Number of Attacks: 5
Strike: +2
Parry: +3
Dodge: +3
Roll: +2
Please correct me if I missed something?
So when Sherwood's baddies are tossing Strikes of +5 to +7 (I'm just tossing numbers here), our Characters have a reasonable chance of mathematically defending themselves. Yours? Um, owwie? =)
Furthermore, your Character's P.P.E. bank is roughly equal to Terra's (our Atlantean Battle Mage with 3 mighty automatons). That's great when you have 3 automatons fighting with you but even for a Character in a support role, I think, during long-term combat, you are going to run dry of P.P.E. more quickly than the rest of us (some of us are packing personal P.P.E. batteries while your Character seems to only have them on their vehicle).
Also, your Character's light armor of 50 M.D. (when the shield is inactive) means a possible death sentence should a creature like those we've been fighting Critically Hit your Character when your Character is not expecting it. The Telekinetic Shield is only good while its up, and I don't see any information there about it being instantly activated upon being attacked. I think this leaves your character open to dying via Surprise Attack.
Plus, it appears to be non-environmental armor (so your Character is still open to gases, extreme temperatures, unable to breathe underwater without casting a spell, and the like). And while the Telekinetic Shield is both a welcome and powerful addition, you might end up burning more of your Character's Actions and aforementioned P.P.E. bank trying to stay alive (keep the spell up) than putting that spell-power in places you'd probably rather have it. Correct me if my data is wrong. Please. =)
Recommendations: In the spirit of wanting to keep your character around, here is my advice. None of us are playing normal humans (at least unaugmented humans like Silanon's Crazy). I think either playing a Mega-damage being or having access to some form of easily-renewable, highly-protective, and convenient Mega-damage protection (or both!) is a very strong step in the right direction. About half of our Characters are Mega-damage beings (I think Psychie's Terra and D. Rex's Daisy and yours are the only ones who aren't).
If I were you, I might ask for a larger P.P.E. battery (minimum 50 P.P.E.) use as backup.
I might check out other races in the game that seem fun (even a normal human with perhaps some special gear or powers to toughen them up). While the Staff of Power is a great device and your spell selection is diverse, I don't think it's enough to get your Character out of trouble if he gets into a bad spot, especially if they're alone - and we are planning to storm a pyramid full of stuff that is going to be tough for our experienced group to take on.
Oh, and before it gets said, "Hey! Mirgris is just playing a support character! The baddies will go after our big guns first!" My rebuttal to this is, "Are you willing to bet Mirgris's new Character on that?" Because at this stage, I'm not. Not yet. =)
Again, this is just an opinion. Use or discard as you please. =)
