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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Insight" data-source="post: 1673271" data-attributes="member: 11437">Important NPCsThe following are descriptions of the important NPCs of the Van Dyne family, and important people the PCs might see on or around the estate grounds.  For the essential NPCs, stat blocks and powers (if any) are also listed. The Shield – Geoffrey Van DyneGeoffrey Van Dyne, founder and chief executive officer of Van Dyne Ventures, LLP, was not always the straight-laced, power tie-wearing business executive he is today.  Van Dyne was once known to Freedom City as The Shield, valiant crimefighter and friend to the oppressed.  These days, however, the retired hero spends his days running his venture capital business and mentoring a special group of young people Van Dyne has taken under his wing.    While Van Dyne is retired (and for very good reason – he has lost many of his special powers), he still sees the need for a skilled and resourceful team of superheroes willing to answer the call to arms.  With the help of his daughter, Jocelyn (who may one day take on the mantle of The Shield), Van Dyne has gathered a suitable group of young heroes who will be his protégés – the Heroes of the Shield.Quote: True strength comes from within.  We all have it – harnessing it is a matter of perseverance and the will to succeed.Personality: Far from his days as a wise-cracking superhero, with little care for the consequences of his actions, the former Shield has mellowed significantly in his middle age.  Van Dyne is a philosophical free-thinker, but focuses on making something of the future, and believes in the potential of his students and the society they protect.    Van Dyne is very protective of his family, and has resisted training his daughter Jocelyn in the ways of a superheroine.  Despite this refusal, Jocelyn has trained herself and, with the aid of her boyfriend, Lucas Cooley, has started to exhibit control of her inborn abilities, as well as a willingness to take on her father’s mantle.Powers and Tactics: In his heyday, The Shield was a force to be reckoned with.  He combined flight and super dexterity with his mystical shield, and was very effective.  Upon losing some of his prized super powers, and coming to the realization that he was no longer a young man, Van Dyne retired.    Though Van Dyne spends his days behind a desk or at a myriad of meetings with fellow businessmen, the retired hero retains all of the skills and a few of the powers used in his Shield days.  If pressed into combat, Van Dyne could still give a super villain a run for his or her money, especially if his trademark shield was handy!Appearance: Geoffrey Van Dyne is a man in his early 50s, though still in fine physical condition.  He has a neat salt and pepper goatee and matching short-cropped hair cut in a businessman’s style.  He is most often seen in either a dark gray business suit or a golf shirt and slacks.  Van Dyne is almost never without an array of communications gear – cell phone, PDA, and notebook computer.    When appearing as The Shield, the hero wore a blue and yellow costume over a skin-clinging suit of fine mesh chain mail, along with a helmet and his trusty magic shield.  Van Dyne retains this costume somewhere in his lakeside estate.Geoffrey Van Dyne: PL 12; Init +1 (Dex); Defense 15 (14 flat-footed); Spd 30ft; Atk +6 melee or ranged (+8s, Shield); SV Dmg +5, Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +8; Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 18, Cha 15.  Hero Points: 7.Skills: Acrobatics +7, Balance +5, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +4, Drive +2, Hide +5, Gather Info +6, Intimidate +8, Knowledge – Freedom City +10, Knowledge – Villains +8, Listen +10, Move Silently +5, Sense Motive +8, Spot +10, Taunt +7.Feats: Aerial Combat, Attack Finesse, Attack Focus – Shield, Dodge, Evasion, Headquarters, Hero’s Luck, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Mental Link – Shield, Talented (Listen & Spot), Throwing Mastery.Powers: Amazing Save – Reflex +4 [Extras: Damage, Fort, and Will; Source: Training; Cost: 4pp/rank], Luck +5 [Extra: Fortune; Power Stunt: Bestow Luck; Source: Mutation; Cost: 6pp/rank], Mental Protection +4 [Source: Training; Cost: 2pp/rank].Equipment: Armor [Protection +6; Source: Super-Science; Cost: 1pp/rank], The Shield [Strike +8 (Power Stunts: Mighty, Ranged); Extra: Deflection; Source: Mystical; Cost: 2pp/rank].Jocelyn Van DyneGrowing up in the shadow of her famous superhero father, Jocelyn Van Dyne has always had aspirations to one day become a superheroine herself.  To that end, she has studied the world of Freedom City’s super-powered elite, and is quite well-versed in both the heroes and villains of this fair city.    A junior executive in her father’s company, Van Dyne Ventures, Jocelyn believes her true calling is yet to be realized, and has been training on her own to master her burgeoning super-powers and perhaps assume the mantle of The Shield someday.Personality: Van Dyne is just out of her teens, though she carries herself with a confidence not found in most young people.  Jocelyn has aspirations to assume her father’s title and equipment, to carry on the family tradition of fighting crime and protecting the innocent.  She trains for this responsibility, and is constantly badgering her father to let her try out the costume and the shield.    Jocelyn recently began a relationship with Lucas Cooley, who was later revealed to be Poltergeist’s clone (see below).  Despite this revelation, Jocelyn and Lucas are still together, and they have dreams of fighting crime together one day, although Jocelyn worries that Lucas’ father will interfere somehow.Appearance: Jocelyn is a girl in her early 20s, with long light brown hair and a graceful manner about her.  She is bright-eyed and inquisitive about the world, and has a keen understanding of the heroes around her.  She normally appears in business attire, though in more casual settings, she commonly wears a t-shirt and jeans, or whatever is fashionable. Jocelyn Van Dyne: PL 6; Init +7 (Dex); Defense 21 (14 flat-footed); Spd 30ft run, 30ft fly; Atk +7 melee (+1s, punch); SV Dmg +2, Fort +2, Ref +9, Will +0; Str 12, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 14.  Hero Points: 3.Skills: Computers +8, Gather Info +3, Hide +8, Knowledge – Freedom City +4, Knowledge – Heroes +4, Knowledge – Villains +4, Listen +4, Move Silently +8, Spot +4.Feats: Attack Finesse, Dodge, Evasion, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus – Computers, Talented (Listen & Spot).Powers: Flight +6 [Source: Mutation; Cost: 2pp/rank], Luck +2 [Source: Mutation; Cost: 5pp/rank], Super-Dexterity +4 [Source: Mutation; Cost: 4pp/rank].Lucas CooleyUntil recently, Lucas Cooley was just a young man who had grown up an orphan, with no knowledge of his parents or family.  It turns out that Lucas is actually a clone of the villain Poltergeist, hated rival of The Shield.  Lucas was created many years ago from Poltergeist’s genetic material, and rapidly grown in an alien cloning lab.    Poltergeist returned from a long absence and located his ‘son’, Lucas.  The villain had hoped to use Lucas as a decoy, and train the boy in the ways of the super-villain, but Lucas refused, and stayed true to the Van Dyne family instead.Personality: Before realizing his true origins, Lucas Cooley was just a young man with a passion for fast cars and the young Ms. Van Dyne.  The recent revelation of the identity of his father has had an impact on the boy, though Lucas refused to serve Poltergeist in any way.  When the villain found Lucas, he activated implants within the boy that caused hidden powers to emerge, and Lucas is now dealing with his darkness powers as well.    Cooley is a bit of a hothead, and enjoys living on the edge.  He is fond of showing off for Jocelyn and his other friends, though he reserves demonstration of his new super-powers for the Van Dyne family.  Geoffrey Van Dyne has offered Lucas a job with Van Dyne Ventures, but the boy prefers to stay with his job as an auto mechanic.Appearance: Lucas Cooley is a young man in his early 20s, and wears clothing typical to the youth of his generation.  At work, he wears a drab gray jumpsuit, and is almost always covered in grease or some other liquid.  Lucas has long black hair drawn back in a ponytail, and sports a black goatee.  He also possesses a number of tattoos of varying styles and origins.Lucas Cooley: PL 8; Init +2 (Dex); Defense 17 (15 flat-footed); Spd 30ft run, 30ft teleport; Atk +7 melee (+1s, punch), +8 ranged (+6s, darkness bolt); SV Dmg +6, Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2; Str 12, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 15.  Hero Points: 4.Skills: Craft – Vehicle +5, Drive +8, Hide +4, Knowledge – Freedom City +9, Move Silently +4, Repair +7.Feats: Darkvision, Great Fortitude, Mental Link – Poltergeist, Point Blank Shot, Psychic Awareness, Rapid Shot, See Invisibility, Toughness.Powers: Energy Control – Darkness +6 [Extras: Energy Blast, Teleportation; Source: Mutation; Cost: 4pp/rank], Force Field +6 [Source: Mutation; Cost: 1pp/rank], Mental Protection +4 [Source: Training; Cost: 2pp/rank].Benton QuillBenton is the Van Dyne family butler, and has served the estate for more than a decade in this capacity.  He is knowledgeable about just about anything happening in or around the estate grounds, and is an excellent source of information on a variety of topics.  He is not the typical snooty English butler type – Quill is actually a retired US Marine, and is honored to serve The Shield and his family and friends.Kendra CoxKendra Cox has been brought into the estate to be the heroes’ trainer and chaperone.  Cox is a former Olympic boxer, and has superior physical conditioning.  In addition, she has the ability to turn off others’ super-powers.  She has started implementing a training regimen for the heroes, and is in constant contact with Geoffrey Van Dyne in the development of his new team.</blockquote>

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