Uber characters
When I’ve heard people rant and rave about how Uber Characters are the scum
of the planet it pisses me off. So here is my rant in favor of insanely powerful
characters.
All I make is top range characters, if my character is supposed to be good at
killing why not be as good at it as possible? I will use the stereotypical Slaughtering
Sam as my example, though there are much harder things to counter.
I hear it upsets game balance. That’s a lie. If you are the insanely good
Street Sam then that means the decker, mage, rigger, and face don’t have
to enter combat, it means that they can focus on there area of specialties.
If you are in a group of Street Sam’s then it may seem like an imbalance.
It isn’t if the person playing the most powerful one isn’t a dick
about it. In a run with all combat people there will be plenty of bodies to go
around.
No matter what some body is going to be the best of a certain archetype. Even
Uber Characters will die (usually they go down first.)
I have heard of draconian point shaving policies, limiting resources, or telling
people to make a new character. Personally I think these things are wrong. You
change fundamental rules and upset the players. If you really want to limit things,
and I don’t believe that’s necessary, say, “because of last
quarter’s failures, and falling stock, Lone Star has poured resources into
cleaning up trouble zones like (where ever it is you hold your game) and have
cracked down on all illegal substances, characters can’t begin the game
with anything over an availability of 6, or 5, or even 4. Or you could get substance
specific; they cracked down on weapon foci, wired reflexes, illegal Programs especially
those over rating 6, etc.
This way characters can get the normal amount of points and they can’t really
bitch because you aren’t limiting them you are setting up a game universe
that’s different from the same old same old. Also you give a reason for
why besides I hate powerful characters.
Sadistic GM’s can let them have every thing but have a more lethal response
to discourage characters from over powering there characters. I.E. Joshua (some
here had to have played that Genesis game) the Street Samurai has to drop off
a package at SEATAC because Mr/Ms GM couldn’t think of anything better.
Joshua thinks of 3 options (inside joke get a 16bit Sega) A try to talk his way
in. B Open fire on the guards. Or C Try to sneak in.
He decides to go in Blazing. The rent-a-cops scatter after a few drop in the hail
of lead. Joshua thinks he is the fraggin’ man then the SWAT hovercraft shows
up. As long as the SWAT team, armed with better intel, can herd Joshua into a
bad area (Means you GM’s can’t have people standing around trading
bullets) and toss a few neuro-stuns he’s out cold, game over. Or if he escapes
capture, the airport security cameras will have his holopic and he’s a fugitive.
If he try’s option A his lack of essence will make it hard to emphasize
with him people and make negotiations really hard. Even if he can pull it off
Joshua is screwed when he walks through the cyber scanner, he is way passed the
stage where he can bribe them its not ignoring a few things, its ignoring the
majority of his body.
Finally if he sneaks in how much of a problem is he? His 6 stealth doesn’t
make him Uber the wired 3, SMG skill of 20, and homing bullets do.
That is a very basic example. If the player can only see the problem as how much
ammo do I need? His normal characters will amass a large body count too.
The strength of the character has almost no effect on the game balance as long
as the GM works to keep hack and slash with fire arms from happening. A character
who is too smart for his own good will upset the balance more (even though most
groups revels in brilliant plans.) A really good plan will allow the players to
easily finish the run and be like that’s it? This isn’t the GM’s
fault; you are one person trying to out think several.
If you have a smart player with an Uber character then a lot of the time they
high skills and what ever other monstrosities are used and not abused. Also if
everyone is a different archetype then it only upsets the speed at which that
character can complete tasks he is charged with.
I will give a short description about different types of power characters and
how to counter them. Usually I have never ran into real problems with any of them
besides the Avaricious Adept.
-The Slaughtering Sam has high attributes and or skills. His initiative is usually
very high. His weaknesses issocial skills or magic (of course) a lack of essence
and an invincibility complex. I think my example is a good enough blueprint to
stop him if he goes into a homicidal rage.
-The Slaughtering Sham has a ton of foci, high powered spells, and some kick ass
spirits. Use the focus addiction rules, and have mages pop the spell locks. With
out the sustaining foci she/he is a normal shaman.
-The Rampaging Rigger. This is the hardest power character to make. If made properly
the rigger is like a team of street samurai, and a ride. Usually these characters
have an army of drones and IVIS. Most of the time riggers do this so they can
do something at times besides the drive there, and the escape. Jammers can mess
this one up. Also you can usually keep the rigger busy fighting for the security
system.
-The Avaricious Adept. Adepts easily become Samurai with unlimited essence. This
creates the same problems as the Sam plus one new one. Since they don’t
spend money to upgrade it sits around collecting dust. This pisses me off because
I ask the question: why run if you have rent, and don’t need equipment?
I get very mean to people like this. They get harassed by upper class neighbors,
spend money on stupid stuff like replacement Euro-Westwinds because the old ones
got robbed or destroyed. Most of these characters don’t buy useful things
like fake S.I.N.’s, top of the line communications gear, maglock passkeys,
or a number of other useful items.
The moral of this long rant is powerful characters don’t screw up the game.
Players who want a videogame instead of an RPG do.
