Action Galaxy Preview: The Elasticity Talent Tree

Okay, what have I been working on?

Well, San Francisco 2107 should be going on sale at RPGnow within the next couple of days.

I've just finished another book in the Black Tokyo Unlimited line: Races of Black Japan, which features six new Black Tokyo races, written in the same format as the Tatakama races like Kitsune and Dodoma, that prefer hanging out in modern Tokyo rather than fantasy land. Races of Black Japan will be coming out a day or two after San Francisco 2107 does.

Tonight or tomorrow, I'm going to start working on some new feats and talents for Black Tokyo heroes. As I was writing up pre-gen characters for the Niishima Inn adventure, I realized that while there's a TON of new feats, most of them are slotted for mid or high level characters, and I want to include more entry level feats and abilities. I'll be previewing some of the Black Tokyo stuff later, including spotlighting some content I cut....maybe.

I've also been working heavily on Action Galaxy, and I thought I'd preview a new Powered Hero talent tree, premiering in Action Galaxy. The Elasticity tree is pretty Legion-specific, in that it's designed to allow you to build Elastic Lad (shown here) or the ever-badass Bouncing Boy.

Take a look,
CHRIS

Elasticity Talent Tree

Prime Ability: Dexterity

            Superheroes with elastic power can stretch and contort their limbs to incredible lengths and into incredible shapes. Others might be able to inflate into a rubber ball, bouncing around knocking out bad guys by the dozen. The Elasticity Talent Tree synergizes nicely with talents from the Shapeshifter, Warform and Reflex trees.

           
Elasticity is available to the following Enhancement Protocols:

Angel Helix, Chyss Experiment (this book), Galactic Legionnaire, Genetic Enhancement, Gross Out (Psi-Watch Zero Issue), Hereditary, Meta-Athlete, Metaporn Enhancile, Symbiote (Psi-Watch Zero Issue)

Elasticity I

            You can make your body rubbery and fluid at will, when you need to. Your reach in combat increases by 5 ft, and your maximum reach increases by an additional +5 ft each time you take a talent from the Elasticity Talent Tree. You may still threaten squares adjacent to you, simply by shortening your swings.

           

Elasticity II

Your elastic body allows you to inflate yourself at will. As a move-equivalent action, you can increase your size by one category, gaining all the bonuses and penalties associated  with your new size.

While inflated, your body forms into a spherical shape, de-emphasizing your limbs, to a degree you choose. You can either suck your limbs entirely into the rubbery mass of your torso, or leave them mostly extended. When you first inflate, you may choose to suffer a penalty of -1 to -4 on attack rolls (which is in addition to the size penalty, if any). For every point of attack penalty you suffer, you gain Damage Reduction 2/slashing or piercing, which stacks with DR from other sources, such as Tough Hero class levels.

Prerequisite: Elasticity I

Constrict

You gain the Constrict special quality.

Prerequisite: Elastic Skills, Elasticity I

Controlled Bounce

You can control the path of your bounce. You still move in a straight line when boncing, but each time you impact and change directions, you can choose the direction traveled, in addition to the original direction of travel

Prerequisite: Elastic Bounce, Elasticity II, Elasticity I

Elastic Bounce

Your body takes on the consistency of hard rubber. You become immune to bludgeoning damage and falling damage. For every point of HP damage a bludgeoning impact would normally inflict upon you, you are sent bouncing 5 ft in a random direction. You move in a straight line. If you impact a wall, or other obstruction, you are sent bouncing in a new random direction. Do not calculate damage (and thus additional bouncing distance) for these secondary collisions to make game-play simpler.

This bounce is not considered a move action, and does not count against the Elastic Powered Hero’s total movement for the round. You can use this chart to randomly determine direction of travel. Any creature struck by the Elastic Powered Hero during their bounce suffers damage equal to the Powered Hero’s unarmed strike (REF Save 10 + the Powered Hero’s DEX modifier + her class level for half damage).

1 NW	2 North	3 NE
4 West	Original Position	5 East
6 SW	7 South	8 SE

Example:

A super strong battle robot punches Spring Queen in the face with a big metal fist-slam that would of inflicted 2d4 HP on an ordinary human, and the dice say the robot inflicts 6 HP worth of damage. That’s 30 ft worth of bounce. Rolling randomly, Spring Queen is knocked south in a straight line. She flies 15 ft before slamming into a bulkhead, and then moves 10 ft to the west before hitting a computer console, and finishes out her bounce with 5 ft of movement to the west again.

Prerequisites: Elasticity II, Elasticity I

Elastic Ladder

Thanks to your super-long elastic legs, you can stride right over obstacles and reach high places with ease. You can stretch upwards a number of feet equal to your enhanced melee reach. Your size does not change, but you can walk right over most low level obstacles, pull yourself easily to higher levels, or walk along rooftops.

Prerequisites: Elasticity I

Elastic Skills

Your super-elastic body provides you with a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics, Escape Artist and CMB, which increases by an additional +1 each time you take a talent from the Elasticity Talent Tree.

Prerequisite: Elasticity I

            Elastic Slap

            When you want to hit someone, you swell your hands up to the size of large dogs, and slap your opponent into submission with elastic fists. When making a melee attack with natural weapons, you resolve the attack as a melee touch attack.

            Prerequisite: Elasticity I

            Elastic Tangle

            You can trip up unwary opponents with your grotesquely elongated legs, fingers or other body parts. As a swift action, once per round, you can create a number of squares of difficult terrain at any point within a radius equal to the augmented melee reach provided by your Elasticity. These squares need not be contiguous, but they must all be within range.

            Example:

            Spring Queen (DEX 17) is trying to slow down a horde of Time Scum, and decides to use this tactic to create three squares of difficult terrain. She has 4 talents from the Elasticity tree, giving her an enhanced melee reach of 25 ft (5 ft base + 20 ft). Spring Queen to create the three squares of difficult terrain at the entrance of the room she’s in, in a straight line, with the most distant square being about 20 ft from her current square. With a thought, she turns her lower body into spandex-clad spaghetti and succeeds in tripping up the Time Scum.

            Prerequisite: Elastic Skills, Elasticity I