[Mutants & Masterminds] A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

[Davies]

Uplink

Art by Michal Lisowski

The woman who uses the name Uplink has been relatively close-mouthed about her past -- which is perhaps understandable, as she claims that her past was the future of the World More Grim, and may still be. She uses the name Victoria Lemaçon when she needs to use a civilian name. While that might be an alias, it's been noted that she used it quite frequently, which suggests that it's more important to her than a disposable name would be. It's also been noted that her speech contains something of the rhythm of Haitian Creole, suggesting that her origins might lie in a future version of that nation.

Uplink first came to prominence in 2015 when she assisted the Superhuman Crew in defeating the genocidal robot Metalika. At the time, she claimed to be a time traveler from the future that came from Metalika's victory, who had only recently arrived in the present. The fact that the latter statement was soon discovered to be untrue -- there was photographic evidence of her presence as early as 2008, though none before that -- raised doubts about the former as well. She has never addressed these doubts, tending to answer questions about her origins with the phrase, "Believe me or don't."

Whatever questions might exist concerning her origins, there is none about her motivations. She has assisted the Crew, individually and as a group, on several other occasions since then, as well as obtaining employment -- on a strictly freelance basis -- with Real American Heroes, Inc. Uplink's activities tend to focus on preventing both the development of other artificial super-intelligences and other criminal activity involving hyper-technology. However, her opponents have included aliens, mutants and wizards, just like any other SPI on either side.

In truth, Uplink is a bit bewildered that she still exists. According to the theory of time travel as it was explained to her in her native era, the 2060s, she would be able to change history by helping to defeat Metalika before it slaughtered seventy per cent of humanity, but the cost of that change would be that she blipped out of reality. Yet here she still is. Does this mean that Metalika is not permanently defeated? Were the scientists who explained all this wrong, or were they lying to her. She has no way of getting any answers, as there are no experts on time travel in her world. However, while discussing his visitor from a parallel reality, Renegade has mentioned that time travel has been known on theirs for a lot longer.

An even more unusual journey might be in Uplink's future ...

Uplink -- PL 11

Abilities:
STR 10/3 | STA 5 | AGL 5 | DEX 5 | FGT 6 | INT 3 | AWE 4 | PRE 1

Powers:
Cybernetics: Radio Communication 3; Enhanced Advantages 6 (Close Attack 2, Evasion, Improved Initiative 2, Improvised Tools), Quirk (Close Attack is only enhanced against targets with a lower initiative total); Protection 6, Impervious 10; Senses 7 (Accurate Hearing, Analytical and Extended Vision, Danger Sense, Infravision, Radio) - 40 points
Cybernetic Weapons: Array (22 points)

• Augmentations: Enhanced Strength 7; Leaping 4 (120 feet); Speed 4 (30 MPH) - 22 points
• Blaster: Ranged Damage 11, Accurate 3 - 1 point

Translator Circuit: Comprehend Languages 2 - 6 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Close Attack 2, Chronal Memory, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Fearless 2, Improved Initiative 2, Improvised Tools, Skill Mastery (Technology), Startle, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+10), Deception 8 (+9), Expertise: Military 6 (+9), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+9), Intimidation 10 (+11), Perception 6 (+10), Technology 8 (+11), Vehicles 6 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +13
Unarmed +12/+10 (Close Damage 10)
Blaster +11 (Ranged Damage 11)

Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 10, Fortitude 9, Toughness 11, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 64 + Powers 68 + Advantages 11 + Skills 30 + Defenses 17 = 190 points

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Electronic (becomes Hindered, Immobile and Paralyzed if subjected to Nullify Electronics.) Secretive.

 

[Davies]

Tommy Elagabalus

Not quite twenty-seven years ago, two children were born to a witch named Callahan. The wife of the acknowledged leader of Boston's mystic underground, she had consumed alchemical reagents after learning of her pregnancy in hopes of inducing mystical abilities in her child. She succeeded, as both Weiss and Ross, as her son and daughter were named, possessed powers even in their infancy. She had relatively little time to take pride in her success, however, for the poisons she'd consumed killed her soon after they were born. Their father soon married again, this time to a mundane woman, and now they had the requisite step-mother.

Ironically, she was actually a very kind woman to the two of them, and it was their father who proved to be an onerous presence in their lives. He demanded that both of them demonstrate a mastery of mysticism, abusing them when they failed to live up to his expectations. While Weiss had abilities that made learning the secrets somewhat easier, Ross had a much harder time of it. Despite that, it was Weiss who decided that she'd finally had enough of all this, and urged Ross to run away from home with her when they were seventeen.

Unfortunately, they were quickly to discover that their lifestyle, for all its pain, had been positively luxurious by comparison to what they had as teenaged runaways, and they found themselves trapped in a life of crime. Their powers facilitated their activities, but also drew attention from so-called superheroes like the Superhuman Crew, whom the two of them fought on several occasions. They were never captured, but never really managed to accomplish much, either. So they decided to join forces with other supercrooks as the Cohort of Misfortune.

When they discovered that the leader of the Cohort of Misfortune, Metalika, had ambitions of widescale genocide, however, they were appalled. This was not what they'd signed up for, and they defected to the Crew in order to oppose the robot's ambitions. Tragically, Ross was killed in the battle that followed, taking a blast to the chest from one of Metalika's minions.

But he didn't stay dead, as it turned out that he had more powers than anyone had ever realized. A few hours later, he awoke in front of one of his new teammates, who helped him to conceal his resurrection. Ross had come to believe that his sister would be better able to make a new life for herself if she wasn't constantly looking after him. He seems to have been right, since she has become a leading member of the Superhuman Crew as Snow White.

For his part, Tommy Elagabalus has also moved on, becoming an occult investigator in Prague, the most haunted city in Europe, based out of a haunted mansion that he received as a reward for his first case. Ironically, this life has given him the opportunity to finally develop his mystical abilities through self-study that his father's punishing courses never did. His path has frequently led him into alliances (and conflicts) with Llogres and her master, and what has been passed onto him about that other world has him wondering if his world-walking powers could be used to go there ...

Tommy Elagabalus -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 1 | AGL 5 | DEX 5 | FGT 4 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2

Powers:
Hyper-Reflexes: Enhanced Advantages 7 (Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Improved Initiative 2, Uncanny Dodge); Enhanced Defenses 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4) - 17 points
Teleporter: Accurate Teleport 9 (2 miles), Turnabout - 28 points
Won't Stay Dead: Immortality 12 (minimum of 15 minutes), Limited (not if beheaded), Stamina Check Required (DC 14); Immunity 1 (aging); Regeneration 10 - 19 points

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Connections, Contacts, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 3, Evasion, Improved Initiative 2, Languages 2 (Czech, German, Hungarian, Slovakian), Ritualist, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Spook Central: Size Medium, Toughness 10, Features Concealed, Dual-size (Huge), Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Personnel, Sealed, Security System, Self-repairing, Workshop - 15 points

Skills:
Deception 7 (+9), Expertise: Magic 6 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+6), Insight 8 (+10), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Persuasion 6 (+8), Stealth 4 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +13
Unarmed +4 (Close Damage 1)

Defense:
Dodge 10/6, Parry 8/4, Fortitude 4, Toughness 6/1, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 42 + Powers 64 + Advantages 9 + Skills 24 + Defenses 10 = 150 points

Complications:
Atonement ... Sort Of--Motivation. Manipulative. Secret (lots.)

 

[Voltron64]

Their crap dad still out there causing trouble?

 

[Davies]

Their crap dad still out there causing trouble?

Yes, though neither of them have crossed paths with him since then; Snow White is based in Chicago, and while she travels a lot, she's only gone back to Boston once since 2013 -- when her father was in D.C.

 

[Davies]

Merlin

Long ago, there was a man named Morgan. Legend would remember him under another name, just as the ancestor for whom he was named was better known as Pelagius. Gifted with certain superhuman abilities in addition to those which he learned through his study of magic, he decided that the best thing he could do for the world, the best way to make the world a better place, would be to bring about a superhuman aristocracy to govern it well. The rape of a woman named Igraine by a man named Uther was one of the lesser crimes that Morgan enabled in pursuit of that goal.

Such activities are bound to make enemies, and eventually one of Morgan's would arrange for him to be imprisoned in a crystal cave, able to observe the world but not affect it. By the time someone freed him from that imprisonment, his first attempt at creating an ideal kingdom was already in ruins. Undaunted, he vowed to do better next time, and decided to use the girl who had freed him as a key part of his subsequent plans. She went in the cave while he went walking up and down on the world. A few centuries later, he would be known as Maugris, when he involved himself with some of the Frankish aristocracy. Later yet, he adopted the name that his earliest legend had given him -- Merlin.

At some point, Merlin achieved what no other mystic in the history of his world had managed to do, becoming truly immortal. Needless to say, he has never revealed exactly how he did this, but it seems to have involved melding his psyche and body with the fabric of another dimension, from which he could then dispatch incarnations which would instantly return to their origin if fatally injured. (This is much how the Ascendants of the World More Sorcerous operate, and Merlin bears a marked resemblance to one of them, a patron of sorcery known as Mardlyn. What connection, if any, exists here is not known.)

Despite this ascent, Merlin was, like all the mystical powers of the World More Grim, lulled into a deep sleep by certain events which took place on the island of Bermuda around 1540, not to awaken until 1921. Disgusted by what he saw of the world that the superhuman aristocracy had made, he spent much of the subsequent century passing judgment (in the form of Llogres) on the worst of them, reshaping them into their current form. By the early years of the current century, he finally felt able to rest a bit, just in time to witness the start of the age of heroes.

Merlin has had a few interactions with these so-called SPIs, some friendly, some hostile, though he generally prefers to leave such interactions to Llogres. However, he did provide assistance to those who opposed the invasion of Dionysus in 2011, though he declined to take part in the formation of the Superhuman Crew in the aftermath. Truthfully, he feels the weight of his years, and would prefer to pass on his self-appointed responsibility as the world's mystical guardian to a younger party. Unfortunately, none of the candidates he has approached have had any interest in his patronage, and so he must soldier on. "How weary is my life," he is often heard to say.

Recently, however, a new spark has entered into that difficult life, as he has learned (through Llogres) of another world, arousing his curiosity for the first time in forever ...

Merlin -- PL 15

Abilities:
STR 10/2 | STA 3 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 8 | INT 3 | AWE 7 | PRE 12

Powers:
Immortal: Immortality 5 (one day); Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to mystical dimensions), Standard Action - 15 points
Master of the Mystic Arts: Array (55 points)

• Healing Word: Perception Ranged Healing 8, Energizing, Resurrection, Restorative, Side Effect (inflicts Damage 8 to target on failed roll) - 1 point
• Lightning Barrage: Ranged Multiattack Damage 18, Dynamic - 2 points
• Spellshatter: Nullify Magic 18, Broad, Simultaneous, Precise, Dynamic - 56 points
• Portal: Extended Only Teleport 13, Portal, Dynamic - 2 points
• Probing: Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 13, Subtle - 2 points
• Scrying: Remote Sensing 10 (all senses), Dimensional, Dynamic - 2 points
• Shielding: Immunity 80 (Toughness), Concentration; Dynamic - 2 points

Mind Over Matter: Enhanced Strength 8; Continuous Flight 6 (120 MPH); Move Object 8, Subtle; Sustained Protection 9, Subtle - 60 points
Mystic Attunement: Senses 5 (extended 4 mystic awareness) - 5 points
Staff: Environment 1 (light); Strength-based Damage 2; Removable (-0 points) - 3 points

Typical Combination:
Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 6, Subtle; Remote Sensing 6 (all senses)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Equipment 4, Fearless, Improved Defense, Language 6, Ritualist, Trance.

Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 12; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Gym, Isolated, Library, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System - 18 points.

Skills:
Deception 4 (+16), Expertise: History 12 (+15), Expertise: Magic 4 (+16), Insight 6 (+13), Perception 7 (+14), Persuasion 4 (+16), Ranged Combat: Mystic Arts 9 (+12), Treatment 8 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 10/2)
Staff +8 (Close Damage 12/4)
Lightning Barrage +12 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 18)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude 6, Toughness 12/3, Will 18

Totals:
Abilities 80 + Powers 151 + Advantages 16 + Skills 27 + Defenses 20 = 294 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Arrogant and Patronizing. Secret Identity.

Note: If Merlin ever travels to the World Less Magical, he suffers Weaken 5 on all Master of the Mystic Arts effects except Shielding, is Disabled on checks with his Expertise: Magic skill, and suffers Power Loss for his Immortal and Mind over Matter powers.

 

[Voltron64]

At some point, Merlin achieved what no other mystic in the history of his world had managed to do, becoming truly immortal. Needless to say, he has never revealed exactly how he did this, but it seems to have involved melding his psyche and body with the fabric of another dimension, from which he could then dispatch incarnations which would instantly return to their origin if fatally injured. (This is much how the Ascendants of the World More Sorcerous operate, and Merlin bears a marked resemblance to one of them, a patron of sorcery known as Mardlyn. What connection, if any, exists here is not known.)

Alternate reality counterpart, solved it in one.

Despite this ascent, Merlin was, like all the mystical powers of the World More Grim, lulled into a deep sleep by certain events which took place on the island of Bermuda around 1540, not to awaken until 1921. Disgusted by what he saw of the world that the superhuman aristocracy had made, he spent much of the subsequent century passing judgment (in the form of Llogres) on the worst of them, reshaping them into their current form. By the early years of the current century, he finally felt able to rest a bit, just in time to witness the start of the age of heroes.

Thus explaining why history and pop culture of A World More Grim didn't start of majorly diverge until the 2000s.

Also kind of a twisted relief to know he didn't approve of all the colonialism and plutocracy...

Merlin has had a few interactions with these so-called SPIs, some friendly, some hostile, though he generally prefers to leave such interactions to Llogres. However, he did provide assistance to those who opposed the invasion of Dionysus in 2011, though he declined to take part in the formation of the Superhuman Crew in the aftermath. Truthfully, he feels the weight of his years, and would prefer to pass on his self-appointed responsibility as the world's mystical guardian to a younger party. Unfortunately, none of the candidates he has approached have had any interest in his patronage, and so he must soldier on. "How weary is my life," he is often heard to say.

So was Nike's dad here an even bigger jerk than in A World Less Magical or about the same? (Considering the implied connection between Nike and Tiamat and the...process behind all that.)

 

[Davies]

So was Nike's dad here an even bigger jerk than in A World Less Magical or about the same? (Considering the implied connection between Nike and Tiamat and the...process behind all that.)

No comment.

 

[Davies]

Metalika

In 2011, after Renegade accidentally revealed his own extraterrestrial origins in the aftermath of Dionysus' invasion, the brilliant and sociopathic Billie Zane saw an opportunity. Employing her vast web of corporate and government contacts, she was able to discover the whereabouts of the alien vessel which had brought Renegade to Earth twenty years before and obtain it for her own uses. Zane was genuinely startled that most of its technology was not that much advanced beyond what she herself could develop, except in one area that had always daunted her. That was the creation of genuine artificial intelligence.

With the involuntary assistance of a long dead Ibycan scientist's personality emulation, Zane was able to create a method to record the psyche of a living individual and use it as the basis for a robot's AI. Naturally, she chose her own mind as the ideal candidate; just as naturally, she applied certain limitations to the resultant program so that it was not quite as intellectually superior as she was. She wanted no rivals, after all, and if it was only ten per cent as brilliant as she, that should be more than enough when combined with the impervium armor and advanced weaponry installed within the robot's frame. Dubbing it Metalika, she wound it up and set it loose on a collision course with the Superhuman Crew.

Metalika quickly recognized her own limitations. (Just as with her creator, she identifies as female.) While more powerful, in some respects, than any of the Superhuman Crew, she was neither omnipotent nor omnipresent. Therefore, she began to recruit allies from those who already had reason to oppose them, forming and leading the Cohort of Misfortune. Together, they gave the Crew some of the hardest battles they'd ever faced ... which provided the ideal distraction for Metalika's actual goals.

Eventually, however, the members of the Cohort figured out what Metalika was plotting. She had constructed a number of facilities on the African, Asian, European and North and South American landmasses, that were intended to draw down meteor strikes that should exterminate most of humanity. While at least one of her subordinates was all for this, the rest were a bit disconcerted; she was able to deal with two of them, but two others escaped her and warned the Crew ...

... and inadvertently Zane as well, who was no less shocked. While able to encompass causing vast amounts of death for some goal, she could not perceive any greater goal in Metalika's actions; they seemed to be destruction for its own sake, and likely to put Zane herself in danger. She therefore covertly assisted the Crew in defeating Metalika before her plan could come to fruition. The robot was destroyed in the battle, but her hulk disappeared in the aftermath, and is believed to be in the process of reconstruction, if she has not already returned to full function.

In that final battle, Metalika recognized the handiwork of her maker, and was outraged that Zane was unable to comprehend her plan. By destroying human life on every continent except Australia, she would be giving Zane a species that she could much more easily dominate. Clearly, in order to fulfill her own goals, she would need to surpass her creator, and yet this is not so easily done. She would need the assistance of another entity of Zane's brilliance to undo her inbuilt limitations, and such are not easily found.

At least, not on her own world ...

Metalika -- PL 12

Abilities:
STR 9 | STA -- | AGL 0 | DEX 3 | FGT 8 | INT 10 | AWE 6 | PRE 4

Powers:
Impervium Armor: Immunity 80 (Toughness), Limited to Half Effect; Impervious Protection 13 - 66 points
Reconstruction: Immortality 5 (minimum of one day), Check Required (Technology DC 20) - 1 point
Robot: Immunity 30 (Fortitude) - 30 points
Sensors: Radio Communication 3; Senses 8 (accurate extended radio, darkvision, direction sense) - 20 points
Weapon Systems: Array (27 points)

• Arm Blade: Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical 2 - 1 point
• Basic Cannon: Ranged Damage 13, Variable (technology) - 27 points
• Psychic Magnetron: Perception Range Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled) - 1 point
• Tractor Beam: Perception Range Move Object 9 - 1 point

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Eidetic Memory, Inventor, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged, Cover), Speed of Thought.

Skills:
Expertise: Science 5 (+15), Insight 6 (+12), Intimidation 9 (+13), Perception 8 (+14), Ranged Combat: Weapon Systems 8 (+11), Technology 6 (+16).

Offense:
Initiative +10
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 9)
Arm Blade +8 (Close Damage 12)
Cannon +11 (Ranged Damage 13)
Psychic Magnetron -- (Perception Range Will 9)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 9, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 13, Will 12.

Totals:
Abilities 70 + Powers 157 + Advantages 7 + Skills 21 + Defenses 16 = 271 points

Complications:
Destruction--Motivation. Obsession (Billie Zane.) Weakness (becomes becomes Hindered, Immobile and Paralyzed if subjected to Nullify Electronics.)

 

[Voltron64]

If she ends up encountering the four...

And World More Grim Zane has enslaved the AI ghost of Renegade's dad, I presume?

 

[Davies]

And World More Grim Zane has enslaved the AI ghost of Renegade's dad, I presume?

Yep.