Here is Providence. I still have a few questions about her:
1) Unlike the rule book where they cannot, can the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak be broken with normal attacks and if so, how is that done? -2 CS? Increased rank of attack power?
2) How long does it take for the Grim Shield spell to dissipate? Is it one hour as per the chart on page 65 of the Player's Guide?
3) Do I pick a rank for the Sensing-Mystical Detection spell? I'm not sure what a rank would be used for. Could Sensing-Mystical Detection be used to see Sheng Tsung when he is invisible? Are there rules for a sense power vs. what it is trying to sense and how the ranks work with that? Does the rule
All mages have an "ear" for magical power, and as such are aware of its use within their general region. The casting of a spell that will affect a ten mile area will alert any mage of that power level or higher in that area, as well as those powerful entities that may have agents operating in that area. Similarly, the casting of spells that will affect all of the Earth will definitely come to the attention of Doctor Strange, who is that Earth's sorcerer supreme (indeed, one of his prime tasks in that roll is to protect Earth's dimension from invasion and damage by other mystics), and magically messing with a dimension will come to the attention of the great Powers of magery.
still apply?
4) Will Troubleseeker often be used for mundane mutant problems, or will the DM use it as intended to allow her to have an occasional magical encounter?
5) Do the magical karma rules apply?
Characters who have true magic abilities (as opposed to those with mystic origins, the potential to gain magic, or using magical items) gain Karma at the standard rate. All Karma losses are at twice the standard rate. The reason for this is thus: A sorcerer, no matter what his background, is more aware that all things are part of a greater whole, that bread cast upon the water comes back a hundredfold, and you reap only what you sow. In other words, Karma counts twice as much against them because they are more aware of its effects.
On the plus side, the cost for a mage to perform Power Stunts using his spells is reduced. It costs an "ordinary" super hero (if there is such a thing) 100 points to attempt a Power Stunt. It costs a mage only 10 points of Karma if the stunt uses Personal or Universal energies, 50 points if using Dimensional energies.
6) Does Providence have to take the Mystic Background talent? The Players Guide seems to indicate yes, Realms of Magic seems to indicate no.
Providence
aka Norelin Abrash
F – GD (10)
A – EX (20)
S – EX (20)
E – RM (30) AM (50) see Troubleseeker
R – GD (10)
I – EX (20)
P – IN (40)
Health: 100
Karma: 70
Resources: Feeble
Popularity: 0
Talents: Languages (Tibetan, broken English), Martial Arts A, Demonologist
Contacts: The monks at the Temple of the Ancient One
[sblock=Powers]
Troubleseeker (Excellent): The Power combines Teleportation with automatically functioning Mental and Detection Powers. Providence subconsciously detects a crisis somewhere within her range and automatically teleports to the vicinity. The maximum range for detection and Teleportation is 25000. Providence has no control over the Power. She usually arrives without any idea of what the problem is that drew her. Her only warning is the dreaded feel of the Power beginning to function. (A brief tingle, a muttered "Here I go again," and poof!). The power does, however, teleport her to an area of some privacy.
Nothing in the Marvel Universe can prevent Providence from teleporting into a crisis area. Her unwanted appearance can only be prevented by nullifying the Power before it functions. This can be accomplished by negating the detection, analyzing, or transportational aspects of the Power (more on this later).
Once she is drawn to the scene, Providence can move freely about. She must remain within 10 areas of the initial attraction. If Providence goes beyond that limit, she is instantly teleported back to her starting place. Only when the crisis has been dealt with can the Troubleseeker leave the area. (Of course, the Power is also free to draw her to a new crisis elsewhere.)
To compensate for the constant demands the Power places on Providence, it increases her Endurance by this Power's rank number. The Power automatically transports anything Providence considers part of her self image. This can be extended to include clothing, equipment, and even companions. The additional weight is limited to the number of pounds equal to the Power rank number (800 pounds).
What attracts the Troubleseeker? The Detection aspects of the Power operate on an Empathic basis. The crisis that attracts it is one that generates extreme levels of turbulent emotions (fear, hate, pure evil, general anguish, and so on).
An event that doesn't directly affect anyone will not attract the Troubleseeker. A screening mechanism prevents the hero from traveling to "false alarms" such as a distressed accountant who just lost his ledgers.
The Power does allow Providence to rest between missions. The Power will not function again until 1-10 days after the successful conclusion of the previous mission. If the mission was unsuccessful, the Power functions again 1-10 hours after the hero's defeat.
Providence has a -1CS resistance to Emotion attacks. Even worse, a perfect simulation of the emotions that accompany extreme distress can serve as a trap to lure and hold the Troubleseeker. Providence cannot leave the 10 area limit until she has discovered the deception and neutralized the source of the spurious emotions.
Whatever its nature, the Power will never try to get Providence killed. The screening mechanism never draws Providence to a crisis that is beyond her ability to handle, though she might not think so at the time. If Providence admits or suffers total defeat, the Power may even allow her to escape. If Providence is in a fatal situation with absolutely no way out, the Judge rolls a red Power FEAT. Success means Providence is teleported to safety, at the loss of all her Karma.
The Power works against the Providence’s opponents if they try to carry her away from the area. Such attempts to hijack Providence proceed normally until the 10-area limit is reached. At that point Providence immediately teleports back to her starting place, minus whatever had carried her away.
As mentioned earlier, the only way to prevent Providence’s unwanted appearance is to somehow prevent the Power from initially functioning. The detection aspect can be temporarily blinded by such means as Mental Invisibility or Force Field vs. either Mental or Emotional Attack. If the villain operates so covertly that no one gets distressed, this will also do. The key is to prevent Providence from receiving the broadcast emotions.
The second mode of prevention deals with the analysis aspect. Anything that can reduce Providence's Reason or Intuition to below Typical can prevent her from recognizing distress as something that demands her attention. Means to this end include Hypnotic Control, Emotion, Control, Induced Sleep, Mind Drain, and Psionic Vampirism.
The third mode is simple enough. The villain need only negate Providence's ability to Teleport. Note: The hero may actually thank the villain for this, if the villain is able to pass himself off as a benefactor.
Note: Due to the fact that the power is controlled by the Lords of Order, Providence typically only teleports to scenes of major magical chaos and not more mundane emergencies. These scenes will often, but not always, have magical components or foes, the Lords of Order are not concerned with the mundane.
Energy Vampire (Remarkable): Providence can drain the energy from a target and convert that energy into extra Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and her spells. She can force a non-living, nor sentient target to release all its energy, an Intensity FEAT equal to the energy potential of the target. For example, an auto battery can be drained on a Typical Intensity FEAT, a gallon of gasoline by Good Intensity FEAT, the magnetism every tape in a music shop on an Excellent intensity FEAT, the heat of a blast furnace on an Amazing Intensity FEAT and so on.
Living and/or sentient targets are harder to drain, because they possess Psyche. The target's Psyche determines the Intensity of the FEAT needed. A successful FEAT enables the hero to drain energy from the target. The amount drained is equal to this Power's rank number. The amount is drawn from all the target's Energy Emission Powers and any energies that form his physical make-up; this applies if the hero is a non-human (a robot, for example).
Providence can only drain Powers that actually emit energy—see the Energy Emission section. Powers that do not emit energy cannot be affected by this Power. She can drain Remarkable amount of energy each turn as long as she keeps making successful FEATs. She can voluntarily stop feeding at any point by making a Psyche FEAT roll of any color except red. A red FEAT means her hunger is beyond her control. She has entered a feeding frenzy that will only cease when the target has been completely drain of energy (or someone stops her).
If Providence fails to make any FEAT during the feeding process, she breaks off her attack and cannot reestablish it. The victim cannot be harmed by this attack again until a future encounter.
The drained energy comes from her victim's highest ranked Energy Power and/or Psyche, and is divided and added in equal amounts to Providence Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and spells (i.e. divided by 7, 4 points each) and 8 is added to her Health. If two or more powers or abilities have the same rank, the 30 points are divided and drained equally among them.
Why do Energy Vampires do it? Due to their odd nature, they lose energy at a dreadful rate. Their rank numbers for Strength, Endurance, and Psyche, and all Powers (except this one), drop 1 point per hour. Providence must feed to bring those abilities and Powers up to their original levels.
Providence cannot actually starve to death; when all her affected rank numbers reach Shift 0, she enters a deathlike trance. Her power continues to function and tries to drain anything that comes in contact with her. When her abilities return to Feeble, she becomes conscious again.
Providence’s Energy Vampirism is not communicable.
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[sblock=Spells]
Providence knows four spells:
Crimson Bands of Cyttorak (Amazing): Providence can cast the bands at Amazing power rank (Psyche+1) due to them being Bands of Cyttorak. This spell manifests itself in a variety of ways, as she chooses: vapors, rings, threads, circles, and so on. In addition, the Crimson Bands can also be manipulated like a whip for snatching things or like a rope for pulling characters out of danger. But since they are Bands of Cyttorak, all of the bands can be severed easily by the Shades of the Seraphim spell.
When Providence calls up this enchantment, bands (or whatever) form around the target and entrap him. It takes a full round for the bands to completely form. The target can try to dodge through the bands only in the round in which they form and only if the area being entrapped is as large as a 10 foot cube. If the spell is directed at the individual himself, he cannot dodge through it. When a character is surrounded by the bands there is a 75% chance that he is bound, a 25% chance that he is gagged, and a 10% chance that he is blinded (see the Bound, Gag, & Blind rule in the Miscellany of Mysticism). A separate roll is made for each of these effects.
The bands cause no damage to the entrapped character. Bands have a material rank that is equal to her Psyche rank (rank+1 in this case). While normal attacks will not affect bands, magical attacks may free the victim.
If the magic attack’s spell rank is higher than the bands material rank, it will shatter the bands if the attacker makes a green FEAT roll. If the material rank is the same rank as the magical attack, the attacker must make a successful yellow FEAT roll to shatter the bands. If the material rank is higher than the spell rank of the magical attack, the attacker needs a successful red FEAT roll to break the bands.
Providence does not have to maintain a high level of concentration to maintain the bands; she can move, cast spells, perform normal actions, etc. However, if she is affected by a hostile attack or spell, she must make a successful Psyche FEAT roll to keep the bands from breaking. Bands automatically break if Providence is rendered unconscious.
Note: the spell does not allow normal attacks to shatter the bands. However, the DM might want to allow this to happen, abet at a more difficult level such as -2 CS.
Bolt of Bedevilment (Remarkable): Providence can fire a remarkable bolt of pure universal or dimensional energy at a range of 4 areas.
Seraphim’s Grim Shield (Remarkable): Once the Grim Shield is created, it can indicate where great evil exists near to the user (Judge’s discretion). This will also indicate to the user, by glowing, if a particular individual is evil (as in a villain).
The shield has an armor rank equal to the spell rank. This shield is usually invisible to all but magic wielders and can be projected out away from Providence’s outstretched hand a few feet. Providence moves the shield to block attacks. If she is attacked from a number of sources at once each shield will only protect her from one attack. If she is surprised, or if the attacking character succeeds in targeting a magical beam or bolt as a bull’s-eye, it means that Providence could not move her shield fast enough to deflect the attack. If the shield is hit by an attack with a higher spell or power rank it shatters, though no damage penetrates it to harm Providence during that round.
Providence can also use this spell to encircle herself with four weaker shields (armor rank Excellent). If any of the shields are broken, the remainder are unaffected. Providence cannot leave the circle of shields until they dissipate or are destroyed.
Note: I could not find rules for how long it takes for a spell to dissipate.
Sensing-Mystical Detection: Providence is sensitive to the use of magic. She can detect magic use and its specific source within the area of effect. Among the specific things she can detect are: magicians casting spells, magical items that are being used or that have a protective spell cast on them, magical portals, and magical creatures. Unlike some sensing spells, this spell does not require a great deal of concentration.
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[sblock=Weaknesses]
Weakness: Whenever Providence sleeps, she subconsciously drains energy from nearby sources. If there are powerful beings around such as mutants, this is typically not a serious problem. She drains a small amount of their energy and they tend to wake up a bit more tired than usual, but it is not very noticeable. The more mutants or other powered beings around her, the less effect it has. If only one mutant is near her (within 1 mile), that mutant will be at -1 rank to Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all energy powers and abilities for that day unless he makes a Yellow Endurance FEAT. If only two mutants are near her, they will be at -1 rank to Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all energy powers and abilities for that day unless they make a Green Endurance FEAT. If no mutants are around her, she drains the local power grid within 1 mile (if it exists) which is not usually immediately detectable by the authorities since it shows up as a spike in power for many homes and businesses in the area, but it is possible for it to be detected if someone is looking for it. She can avoid this by not sleeping, but typically cannot do this for more than a single day. One of the reasons that Providence hangs around mutants (or at least will in the future) is so that the authorities cannot use this method to find her during her sleep.
Weakness: Like all Inhumans, exposure to modern air pollutants causes illness for Providence, just not as severe. A yellow Endurance FEAT must be made each week in a metropolitan area like a city. Failure means that Providence will be ill and at -1 CS to all powers and abilities for the following week. If in a less polluted area than a city such as a small town, it is a green Endurance FEAT. If it is in a low populated area with fresh air and very little pollution, Providence will not be ill and does not need to make a FEAT check. Providence tries to stay in low populated areas as often as possible, but her Troubleseeker ability does not keep her there for long. If she teleports into a higher polluted area, she makes the FEAT check on her normal weekly timeframe.
Weakness: -1 CS resistance to Emotion attacks due to Troubleseeker.
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[sblock=Background]
Like some rare gifted Inhuman children, Norelin was exposed to the Terrigen Mists at the age of 5. Others get exposed at later ages. And like most Inhumans, she changed. Her appearance did not change, but her body did. Norelin became a living energy sink. And at such a young age, she became an energy sink that could not control her power. The Inhuman scientists immediately started working on a mechanism to help her control her power, but it was slow going. Nothing they tried seemed to work, partially due to the nature of her power itself. It prevented many devices from working when they either ran out of power or worked suboptimally due to a lower power input.
In the meantime, Norelin became an outcast in a society of outcasts. Her power expanded over a large area and created many problems. Her fellow Inhumans became tired and lethargic. Their many systems started to fail and accidents, some deadly, became commonplace. Norelin and her parents were ostracized, even by such an enlightened society.
By the age of 8, Norelin knew that only she could prevent this catastrophe from continuing. So, she devised a plan to escape the city of Attilan. At the time, Attilan was still located in the Himalayans, far from the view of mankind. Norelin managed to sneak out of the city, her power helping her to disable security systems without her even knowing it. Once outside, she started to walk away from her life, into a white world of ice and snow. Although she had carefully prepared for the journey, Norelin was not ready for it. For one thing, she was unaware that her body would not be able to handle the pollutants in the air, even air as rarified as that found in the Himalayans. And the Himalayans are a very large area. Norelin walked and walked, but without the energy that her body was used to draining, she eventually walked into the darkness of unconsciousness.
Norelin’s cold and nearly lifeless body was brought to the Temple of the Ancient One in Tibet by the hermit monks that lived there. There, she was restored back to health with spells, warmth, food, and simple kindness. The monks were the remnant of the Order of the Ancient One: sorcerers and martial artists of skill who followed the lords of order. Although not as powerful as the original sorcerer who took the title of Ancient One, Baron Mordu, or Doctor Strange; these monks were still very skilled compared to many practitioners of the magical arts.
At the temple, the monks devised a sleeping area for Norelin where she was surrounded by mystical artifacts of significant power. She was able to slowly drain these devices of power while she slept, but could not harm them since they were devices of nearly unlimited power. The monks then taught her how to control her power, how to speak Standard Tibetan, spells and how to study to gain new spells, and some minor martial arts.
However, the study of spells can be fraught with danger. Magic does not always act predictably, even the magic of order. Due to some combination of her energy vampirism power, the magic she absorbed while sleeping, and her study of spells, Norelin acquired a powerful and sometimes annoying magical ability outside of her control. Norelin has acquired the Troubleseeker power. This ability teleports Norelin to areas where her help is needed, but does not allow her to leave the area until the Lords of Order are satisfied that she has accomplished their goals there. This has caused all manner of problems for Norelin, but she has so far persevered.
After more than two decades at the temple and in her early thirties, Norelin was teleported by the Lords of Order to a far land for her first mission and she has been traveling the globe since. Mostly she tries to stay in English speaking countries due to the fact that she only speaks Tibetan and limited English learned as a child. She quickly found out about her weakness to human pollutants and is often sick. But due to her living in the outside world for such a long period of time, she does not get nearly as sick as other Inhumans would.
Finally, Norelin tries to find sources of power to supplement her Energy Vampirism. During her sleeping hours, she is ok and does not take damage since she drains from many sources around her. During waking hours, she has to feed about as often as normal people, just to keep herself from weakening. She will often just pull power from a nearby electrical source, but she makes sure to not pull too much from one location, so that it just looks like a slightly higher temporary electrical usage.
Norelin is looking for magical artifacts such as the Book of the Vishanti, the Cloak of Levitation, and the Eye and Orb of Agamotto: both for their capabilities and since they could feed her energy forever. But, these items disappeared along with Dr. Strange years ago and are currently lost to time. Or, does the new hidden Sorcerer Supreme have them?
Note: The Lords of Order referred to here are unknown. They could be Agamotto, the All-Freeing, the Ancient One, Hoggoth, Munnopor, Nirvalon, Oshtur, the Vishanti and/or others. Or, it could be one entity.
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[sblock=Appearance]
Norelin is an attractive woman of apparently Caucasian descent. She appears to be in her early twenties, a result of her Inhuman genetics. She speaks broken English and can be difficult to understand at times. She has dark hair, blue eyes and is five foot nine inches tall and weighs approximately 130 pounds. She wears non-descript clothing in order to not stand out, but she always carries a handbag with her that has a costume hidden along its interior sides (the handbag itself is the costume and is hidden at the small of her back by the costume when it is worn, it also contains her normal clothing while she is in costume). Her costume hides her face and body as Providence, but has a short red wig attached to deceive people of her true appearance. Norelin is extremely intuitive and strong willed and her Inhuman physiology makes her much more capable than many of the most capable of trained humans.
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