One of the new characters at Three Rivers is a boy who is able to transform into a brutish ape or as we’ve come to know him, Brorilla. As a super strong, super tough man of monkey business his player was looking for different ways to separate Brorilla from the positively perfect princess Arianna. Who, for those that do not listen to the podcast is an ultra human, stronger, faster and tougher than the peasantry around her.
Of the ways Brorilla’s player has accomplished this is in how he chooses to use his willpower and various combat maneuvers. One his most iconic attacks is Brorilla’s howl. A demoralizing scream that leaves opponents stunned and recoiling for a few moments. Here’s how it works…
Brorilla’s core power, Gorilla Out, allows him to transform into a gorilla gaining enhanced strength and durability along with bonuses for when he is hurt, or uses over sized improvised weapons, like a tree. This all fits with his concept of being a super powered gorilla. However, none of this grants him a super scream ability. So how does Brorilla make a howl into an attack?
The first question is, does this fit with his concept? Yes, yes it does. Because it does fit his concept, Brorilla’s player may simply describe his attack as being a deafening scream. However, a direct sonic attack that does damage doesn’t feel right. So our first step is to add a Combat Modifier of Stagger to the Attack.
Stagger applies a moderate penalty to the attack Roll but then converts the damage inflicted into actions the opponent either loses or must spend willpower to take. With this one change, Brorilla is already shouting at a super powered level. Here’s were Willpower comes into play.
Brorilla’s normal attack only affects one person. By spending 1 Willpower for a Power Trick he adds the Cone Bone boon allowing him to Stagger multiple foes in front of him. Now you have a giant ape able to scream with such intensity that anyone caught in the path is left shaking and disoriented from the ringing in their ears.
Of course if Brorilla really wanted to lay it on, his player could add additional Tricks such as Defended by Psyche, reducing the base damage but limiting how the foes can resist the attack increasing the cost by 1 Willpower. And, to really go all out adding in Advantage knocking foes off their feet or adding an increasing the number of Actions Staggered for 2 more Willpower.
