You remember The Men In Black, don't you? :-) They're pretty easy to use in a campaign if you're the GM, but for a while I've been toying with the idea of somehow running them as a player... after toying with various odd ideas (like spending all of the points on agents and bases and the like and just PLAYING an entire organization, or using lots and lots of duplication and playing a coordinated team) I decided to sit down last night and write up a single Man In Black to run as a player character (ghod alone knows why he'd end up working with a team of heroes, but... :-). So far I've got it to about 490 points and I'm trying to figure out what to take away :-) My efforts were partially inspired by various influences, including the ex-CIA shapeshifter mentioned by another player in the last thread of messages (part of what got me thinking about the Man In Black last night) and posts on rec.games.frp about variations on mentalists. This has resulted in a somewhat extensive set of abilities... Original route I was taking was the "supernaturally high skill levels" allowing the character to do things that seem like magic. I put about 80 points into various stats (a lot of 'em in Int/Ego/Pre), bought about 45 points worth of skills (maybe I should put them in a package deal of some sort?) and 100 points worth of overall skill levels. Throw in a 24 point martial art (commando training) and you've got a pretty decent basic character. But there were other possibilities I wanted to explore, because I didn't want him to be solely a skill-meister. Perks like International Police Powers (he somehow manages to get credentials no matter WHERE they go...), wealth (representing resources he has access to, not necessarily personal wealth), agents, a variable power pool restricted to vehicles only, well connected, and contacts and favors, all make a LOT of sense for the "Men In Black". Talents are a bit iffier, but a combination of speed reading, eidetic memory, and cramming three times allow him to very quickly and easily pick up odd info for the duration of the adventure (make one of the contacts a computer database with tons of odd information), not to mention the way he can pick up data on the fly and keep it as long as he needs. Lightsleep and Combat Sense are relatively cheap, useful, and make some sense. Find Weakness with his pistol (I'm coming to that) is (relatively) cheap with potentially devastating combat effectiveness. Luck simply makes sense, if defined as the fact that powerful forces are at work behind the scenes to arrange things for the character's convenience (the luck would be less likely to crop up in combat, for example, but more likely to help him in dealing with admin gov't types, corporations, etc). Moving along to powers... minimal armor (bulletproof vest) make some sense, as does a simple RKA 2.5d5 OAF, Charges, possibly Autofire pistol. Life Support Immune to drugs/poisons is a subtle power that will give him a strong advantage in the right circumstances. Shapeshift to any humanoid form combined with disguise (and hellacious levels) makes him a master of disguise and able to go just about any where, but that might be chopped in favor of the "supernatural" levels of disguise/stealth/shadowing/security systems which would allow him to do most of the things he'd use shapeshifting for. Limited mental powers make sense, I think. He's got a small multipower of four powers, telepathy, mind control, mind scan, and mental illusions. He can keep one power going at a time. The powers are designed to simulate classic SF psionic powers - reliable, generally not super-strong, and undetectable. Each power has a -1 limitation which strongly limits how the power may be used, so the character doesn't become a super-mentalist who spends his time probing people's minds. However, all of the powers are rather strong, ensuring that although limited in effect, they'll work most of the time. They're all invisible as well, so he can use them without giving away the fact that he has them. He can almost always read people's surface thoughts, but not deeper. He can control minds, but only for modifying the target's psychology. His mental illusions are good for manufacturing false memories only. I'm not sure about the mind scan. The concept is that he can always tell who's around and locate them, but he can't use the power lock on with powerful mental attacks. Maybe this should be replaced with a sense, "detect minds." Or perhaps have two slots, one which allows him to "see" the minds around him and a separate one that allows him to "zero in" on a specific minds. Use a "detect" for the first and normal mind scan for the second? Incidentally, I stumbled across a power inappropriate for this character but if it works it would be nasty for a mentalist to have - mind scan, bought to 0 END, continuous and uncontrollable. So once the mentalist "locks on" to somebody that person is always targetable unless a common and obvious defense, getting another mentalist to interfere or doing something drastic to your own mind (deep tranq would do it, probably, but that has, a-hem, side effects...) is used. Well, now. The problem is, of course, that there are just too many powers/points. What's your opinion out there on the list? Which area should I trim back? Which perks and talents make the better combo? I kind of like the idea of "weak" mental powers, and for only 25 points they seem like a good value. Should I lose the martial art or the firearm? Keep them both? Maybe I should make the pistol a good long range weapon (built in range levels or no range penalty) and then use the mind scan to target and the pistol to make long range strikes when necessary? What am I missing? Maybe KS: Things Man Was Not Meant To Know?? :-) After some of the feedback I've refined my concept a *bit*. There are still a few different directions I could take, but... first, this is the basic set of stats and skills and levels. I took the suggestion of those on the list and set up a three-layer set of levels, 3 overall levels, 3 five point levels, and 4 three point levels. Question: what does a three point level cover? I've always been under the impression that it covers three skills, but I've been told it also covers a "tight group" of skills. How many/which of the skills listed would fit into that tight group? For that matter, how many of them fit under the five point levels? Is this "eligible" for a package deal of some sort? Note the "empty" skill, I'm open to suggestions... The Man In Black (Revised) Characteristics Skills 18 Str 8 27 Spy Skills 18 Dex 24 3 Shadowing PRE 13 Con 6 3 Stealth DEX 10 Bod 3 Concealment INT 18 Int 8 3 Streetwise PRE 18 Ego 16 3 Disguise INT 18 Pre 8 3 Persuasion/Psychology PRE 14 Com 2 3 Electronics GEN 4 PD 3 Security systems INT 3 ED 3 Lockpicking DEX 7 Rec 3 ??? Insert Skill Here ??? 4 Spd 7 2 PS: Secret Agent 26 End 2 KS: Covert Operations 25 Stn 30 Overall Levels +3 Sub-total 79 15 Levels with Spy Skills +3 12 Levels with Stealth/Shadowing/Concealment +4 Variation 1) comes "equipped" with a lot of resources, including four agents, authentic (as far as anyone can check it out :-) paperwork, well- connected and a bunch of contacts and favors. Possibly one of those contacts can be a source of "normal" vehicles. One of the agents can be the transportation specialist. Aside from the perks, he's got combat sense, life support immune to drugs and poisons, some minor armor and a pistol. Maybe I should trade the pistol for the martial art I couldn't afford? 5 "Real" false identities & paperwork 20 Agents (50 base, 4 agents) 3 Well Connected 11 Contacts & Favors 3 Combat Sense 3 Life Support, immune to drugs/poisons 10 Armor 4 PD/ED, IIF (bulletproof vest) 25 Pistol: OAF (-1), Charges 6x2 (-1/2) Pool 45 Cost 18 u 4.5 3d6 RKA u 4.5 2d6 RKA w. no range penalty (+1/2) u 4.5 2d6 RKA w. armor piercing (+1/2) u 4.5 1d6 RKA w. NND (+1) & +2 Stun Multiplier (+1), defense is a life support power that seals all skin areas vs nerve toxins, or immunity to poisons Stats 79 + Skills 34 + Levels 57 + Perks 39 + Talent 3 + Powers 38 = 250 Variation 2) Same basic stats and skills, same life support vs drugs & poisons, same armor, same pistol. A mini radio for keeping in contact with the rest of the team. None of the resources that variation 1 has. Mental Defense, Sense Minds, and a multipower full of minor psionics, telepathy, mind control, mental illusions, and a low strength TK that cannot be used to make attacks of any sort but is fully indirect and potentially useful for doing sneaky spy stuff. Again, no martial arts. Another problem is that I'm not sure that Sense Minds is "sufficient" at this point level. If it had 360 degrees, targeting, and telescopic, it would probably do quite well, but it'd also cost 40+ points... Perhaps I should just drop the gadgets (raido, pistol, armor) altogether and go with beefed up mental powers, but then it doesn't fit the concept any more. Or perhaps some of the skills and levels should be trimmed down. 3 Radio Listen & Transmit, IAF 3 Life Support, immune to drugs/poisons 10 Armor 4 PD/ED, IIF (bulletproof vest) 25 Pistol: OAF (-1), Charges 6x2 (-1/2) Pool 45 Cost 18 u 4.5 3d6 RKA u 4.5 2d6 RKA w. no range penalty (+1/2) u 4.5 2d6 RKA w. armor piercing (+1/2) u 4.5 1d6 RKA w. NND (+1) & +2 Stun Multiplier (+1), defense is a life support power that seals all skin areas vs nerve toxins, or immunity to poisons 10 Mental Defense 10 Sense Minds (5), Discriminatory (5) 26 Multipower Pool 15, Cost 6, Invisible Effects (+1/4), u Telepathy 6d6, only for surface thoughts (-1) u Mind Control 6d6, only for modifying psych lims. (-1) u Mental Illusions 6d6, only for modifying memories. (-1) u Telekinesis, indirect (+3/4), invisible (+1/4), Cannot Attack (-1) Stats 79 + Skills 27 + Levels 57 + Powers 87 = 250