Clearly, Cadmus should've installed a backdoor remote override into the powered armor he provided.
[Mutants & Masterminds] A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic
- Thread starter Davies
- Start date
Davies
Legend
Davies
Legend
Count Deimos
There are two major prison gangs operating among the prisoners within the Big Rock, one which had been established in the prison system prior to its establishment (a so-called "import") and another which organized itself soon after the prison began operations. The former is a branch of the Pythonian organization, notably practicing the syncretic religion created by the Flamen, and has a singular leader in the person of Raymond Bentley, aka Friar Dark. The latter is more typical of prison gangs in that it is led by a group of "shot-callers", generally chosen from among members by their seniority. Of these, Count Deimos enjoys the dubious status of having double seniority, both in the sense that he has been imprisoned within the Big Rock since it opened, and in the sense that he is nearly one hundred years old.
Born in 1923, Charles Malfoy is believed to have begun his criminal career while a student at Harvard during the Second World War, helping to run a black market and allegedly funding certain mad science experiments with the proceeds. While he has claimed that his powers were the results of such experiments, much more evidence exists to suggest that they are innate psychic abilities that activated due to stressors he encountered in his mid-thirties, such as his first arrest.
Regardless, he began styling himself Count Deimos in 1957, enjoying limited success as a supervillain on the east coast. While frequently captured, there was initially no way to prevent him from using his fear-generating powers to arrange his escape from imprisonment. In the aftermath of the Anselmo case, however, he received a long-term sentence under conditions which would have prevented him from making such an escapade. Yet within a year of his 1971 imprisonment, he had successfully vanished and proved impossible to find. It was thought that he had somehow fled the country and was lying low overseas.
In fact, matters were more complicated. Drawn into the events now known as the Anachronic Calamity, Count Deimos managed to arrange matters so that he returned to neither his temporal point of origin nor the time when the affair had "begun", instead emerging in 2006 where he planned on resuming his criminal career. However, he was startled to arrive during the events of the coup in that year, and found himself horrified by the events that he witnessed. Further, he gradually came to realize that he was quite behind the times, thinking it likely his criminal activities would be childishly easy for the authorities to detect and prevent.
Therefore, he chose to surrender to the authorities, claiming to have spent the previous three decades in hiding and developed a personalized rejuvenation treatment at some point. (The truth would have been harder for everyone to swallow.) Because of his notoriety for escapes, he was one of the first convicts to be sent to the Big Rock once it opened, and has been there ever since. The world outside the prison has continued to become one that he neither understands nor cares to learn about, and so he finds the world within those walls to be strangely comforting.
Or at least, he did, but having recently become aware of Saturn and its presence within the prison administration, he is finally beginning o develop plans for a great escape. Where he will go if and when he manages this is not something he has yet given much thought.
Count Deimos -- PL 11
Abilities:
STR -1 | STA 0 | AGL 0 | DEX 0 | FGT 0 | INT 7 | AWE 6 | PRE 4
Powers:
Master of Fear: Array (34 points)
Occasional Power Stunt:
"Do As I Say, Or Else": Perception Range Affliction 11 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, compelled, Controlled), Subtle
Advantages:
Assessment, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Set-up, Startle, Well-informed.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+10), Expertise: Crime 4 (+11), Expertise: Science 2 (+9), Insight 6 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+12), Investigation 4 (+11), Perception 4 (+10).
Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +0 (Close Damage -1)
Fear Generation -- (Perception Range Will 11)
Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 7, Fortitude 3, Toughness 5/0, Will 11.
Totals:
Abilities 32 + Powers 40 + Advantages 10 + Skills 17 + Defenses 24 = 124 points
Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 7
Skill PL: 7
Resistance PL: 7
Complications:
Dominance--Motivation. Notoriety. Secret (time traveler.)
There are two major prison gangs operating among the prisoners within the Big Rock, one which had been established in the prison system prior to its establishment (a so-called "import") and another which organized itself soon after the prison began operations. The former is a branch of the Pythonian organization, notably practicing the syncretic religion created by the Flamen, and has a singular leader in the person of Raymond Bentley, aka Friar Dark. The latter is more typical of prison gangs in that it is led by a group of "shot-callers", generally chosen from among members by their seniority. Of these, Count Deimos enjoys the dubious status of having double seniority, both in the sense that he has been imprisoned within the Big Rock since it opened, and in the sense that he is nearly one hundred years old.
Born in 1923, Charles Malfoy is believed to have begun his criminal career while a student at Harvard during the Second World War, helping to run a black market and allegedly funding certain mad science experiments with the proceeds. While he has claimed that his powers were the results of such experiments, much more evidence exists to suggest that they are innate psychic abilities that activated due to stressors he encountered in his mid-thirties, such as his first arrest.
Regardless, he began styling himself Count Deimos in 1957, enjoying limited success as a supervillain on the east coast. While frequently captured, there was initially no way to prevent him from using his fear-generating powers to arrange his escape from imprisonment. In the aftermath of the Anselmo case, however, he received a long-term sentence under conditions which would have prevented him from making such an escapade. Yet within a year of his 1971 imprisonment, he had successfully vanished and proved impossible to find. It was thought that he had somehow fled the country and was lying low overseas.
In fact, matters were more complicated. Drawn into the events now known as the Anachronic Calamity, Count Deimos managed to arrange matters so that he returned to neither his temporal point of origin nor the time when the affair had "begun", instead emerging in 2006 where he planned on resuming his criminal career. However, he was startled to arrive during the events of the coup in that year, and found himself horrified by the events that he witnessed. Further, he gradually came to realize that he was quite behind the times, thinking it likely his criminal activities would be childishly easy for the authorities to detect and prevent.
Therefore, he chose to surrender to the authorities, claiming to have spent the previous three decades in hiding and developed a personalized rejuvenation treatment at some point. (The truth would have been harder for everyone to swallow.) Because of his notoriety for escapes, he was one of the first convicts to be sent to the Big Rock once it opened, and has been there ever since. The world outside the prison has continued to become one that he neither understands nor cares to learn about, and so he finds the world within those walls to be strangely comforting.
Or at least, he did, but having recently become aware of Saturn and its presence within the prison administration, he is finally beginning o develop plans for a great escape. Where he will go if and when he manages this is not something he has yet given much thought.
Count Deimos -- PL 11
Abilities:
STR -1 | STA 0 | AGL 0 | DEX 0 | FGT 0 | INT 7 | AWE 6 | PRE 4
Powers:
Master of Fear: Array (34 points)
- Fear Generation: Perception Range Affliction 11 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Subtle - 34 points
- Images of Fear: Illusions 11 (all senses), Resisted by Will, Limited to a Single Target, Uncontrolled (illusions will always be what a target fears most) - 1 point
Occasional Power Stunt:
"Do As I Say, Or Else": Perception Range Affliction 11 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, compelled, Controlled), Subtle
Advantages:
Assessment, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Set-up, Startle, Well-informed.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+10), Expertise: Crime 4 (+11), Expertise: Science 2 (+9), Insight 6 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+12), Investigation 4 (+11), Perception 4 (+10).
Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +0 (Close Damage -1)
Fear Generation -- (Perception Range Will 11)
Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 7, Fortitude 3, Toughness 5/0, Will 11.
Totals:
Abilities 32 + Powers 40 + Advantages 10 + Skills 17 + Defenses 24 = 124 points
Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 7
Skill PL: 7
Resistance PL: 7
Complications:
Dominance--Motivation. Notoriety. Secret (time traveler.)
Davies
Legend
Dusty Devil
Unattributed; if anyone knows the artist, please contact me.
The idea of "origin chasing", actively pursuing dangerous phenomena in the hopes that it will result in the awakening of superpowers, is clearly derived from the idea of "storm chasing", actively pursuing meteorological phenomena for ... well, largely to observe and record it. The emphasis here is on the idea of the latter hobby. Storm chasers do put themselves at some risk in their pursuit, but would claim that the danger is incidental rather than deliberate. Of course, then there are cases where the two pursuits combine.
Bernadette "Bernie" Devlin (a distant relative of the founders of the Devlin & Sons Family Carnival) grew up in Springfield, Missouri, square in the middle of Tornado Alley, and had a mother who loved the work of L. Frank Baum much more than she cared about any actual human beings. From an early age, she was steeped in the idea that tornados were fascinating and potentially portals to a life less mundane and boring than the one that she was living. Inevitably, she got involved in storm chasing as a hobby in her late teens.
In 2012, shortly after her twenty-first birthday -- which she celebrated alone -- Bernie learned of an unseasonal tornado in the area near her home. A bit inebriated (and on a moonshine brewed by a friend of hers who occasionally experimented with "inspired chemistry") she whimsically decided to get as close to the storm as she possibly could, and succeeded in doing so. In the process, she went for a ride ... but unlike most people who are subjected to a tornado, she survived and became something more than human.
The "Dusty Devil" went on a brief rampage, only to be stopped by the Blue Bolt. Once she calmed down, she seemed genuinely embarrassed about her actions and received a relatively light jail sentence for her actions. Unfortunately, while serving that sentence she came into contact with metahuman supremacists who convinced her that she had done nothing wrong and should have the freedom to exercise her vital powers in a life affording them scope. Thus radicalized, she embarked on a career of supervillainy -- an unsuccessful one, as she never managed to accumulate much money or remain free.
Ultimately, her life of crime has led to her being incarcerated in Mount Graham for an extended period. She is nominally associated with the Neo-Pythonian gang, but is not much of a believer in anything except the storm. Until fairly recently, she was having a covert affair with one of the COs assigned to her unit, but she seems to have vanished, somewhat to her frustration. Well, such is life. (Were she aware that her former girlfriend was recently murdered by the Saturn-infiltrated guards, she would be a bit more upset ...)
Dusty Devil -- PL 9
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 1 | DEX 1 | FGT 4 | INT 0 | AWE 1 | PRE 0
Powers:
Dizzying Embrace: Affliction 8 (Resisted by Will; Dazed and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Stuned), Extra Condition, Grab-Based, Limited Degree - 4 points
Whirlwind Spin: Concealment 4 (visual), Partial; Enhanced Defenses 10 (Dodge 5, Parry 5); Movement 1 (safe fall); Senses 1 (radius vision); Speed 6 (125 MPH) - 23 points
Power Stunt (of Speed):
Burrowing 6 (4 MPH)
Power Stunt (of Dizzying Embrace):
Burst Area on Strength Damage
Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Effort (Toughness).
Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+7), Athletics 7 (+9), Close Combat: Grab 6 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+8), Intimidation 6 (+6), Perception 5 (+6).
Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +4 (close Damage 2)
Grab +10 (Close Grab 2 and Will 8)
Defense:
Dodge 11/6, Parry 13/8, Fortitude 5, Toughness 5/3, Will 6.
Totals:
Abilities 24 + Powers 27 + Advantages 10 + Skills 19 + Defenses 16 = 96 points
Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 4
Complications:
Greed/Thrills--Motivation. About As Subtle As A Tornado.
Unattributed; if anyone knows the artist, please contact me.
The idea of "origin chasing", actively pursuing dangerous phenomena in the hopes that it will result in the awakening of superpowers, is clearly derived from the idea of "storm chasing", actively pursuing meteorological phenomena for ... well, largely to observe and record it. The emphasis here is on the idea of the latter hobby. Storm chasers do put themselves at some risk in their pursuit, but would claim that the danger is incidental rather than deliberate. Of course, then there are cases where the two pursuits combine.
Bernadette "Bernie" Devlin (a distant relative of the founders of the Devlin & Sons Family Carnival) grew up in Springfield, Missouri, square in the middle of Tornado Alley, and had a mother who loved the work of L. Frank Baum much more than she cared about any actual human beings. From an early age, she was steeped in the idea that tornados were fascinating and potentially portals to a life less mundane and boring than the one that she was living. Inevitably, she got involved in storm chasing as a hobby in her late teens.
In 2012, shortly after her twenty-first birthday -- which she celebrated alone -- Bernie learned of an unseasonal tornado in the area near her home. A bit inebriated (and on a moonshine brewed by a friend of hers who occasionally experimented with "inspired chemistry") she whimsically decided to get as close to the storm as she possibly could, and succeeded in doing so. In the process, she went for a ride ... but unlike most people who are subjected to a tornado, she survived and became something more than human.
The "Dusty Devil" went on a brief rampage, only to be stopped by the Blue Bolt. Once she calmed down, she seemed genuinely embarrassed about her actions and received a relatively light jail sentence for her actions. Unfortunately, while serving that sentence she came into contact with metahuman supremacists who convinced her that she had done nothing wrong and should have the freedom to exercise her vital powers in a life affording them scope. Thus radicalized, she embarked on a career of supervillainy -- an unsuccessful one, as she never managed to accumulate much money or remain free.
Ultimately, her life of crime has led to her being incarcerated in Mount Graham for an extended period. She is nominally associated with the Neo-Pythonian gang, but is not much of a believer in anything except the storm. Until fairly recently, she was having a covert affair with one of the COs assigned to her unit, but she seems to have vanished, somewhat to her frustration. Well, such is life. (Were she aware that her former girlfriend was recently murdered by the Saturn-infiltrated guards, she would be a bit more upset ...)
Dusty Devil -- PL 9
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 1 | DEX 1 | FGT 4 | INT 0 | AWE 1 | PRE 0
Powers:
Dizzying Embrace: Affliction 8 (Resisted by Will; Dazed and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Stuned), Extra Condition, Grab-Based, Limited Degree - 4 points
Whirlwind Spin: Concealment 4 (visual), Partial; Enhanced Defenses 10 (Dodge 5, Parry 5); Movement 1 (safe fall); Senses 1 (radius vision); Speed 6 (125 MPH) - 23 points
Power Stunt (of Speed):
Burrowing 6 (4 MPH)
Power Stunt (of Dizzying Embrace):
Burst Area on Strength Damage
Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Effort (Toughness).
Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+7), Athletics 7 (+9), Close Combat: Grab 6 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+8), Intimidation 6 (+6), Perception 5 (+6).
Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +4 (close Damage 2)
Grab +10 (Close Grab 2 and Will 8)
Defense:
Dodge 11/6, Parry 13/8, Fortitude 5, Toughness 5/3, Will 6.
Totals:
Abilities 24 + Powers 27 + Advantages 10 + Skills 19 + Defenses 16 = 96 points
Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 4
Complications:
Greed/Thrills--Motivation. About As Subtle As A Tornado.
Last edited:
Davies
Legend
Señor Cagim
This whole thing is a ridiculous misunderstanding. Yes, yes, the prisons are full of innocent people, but see, he will happily admit that he is no blushing innocent. But come on, this place should be for the bank robbers and kidnappers and murderers and would-be world conquerors, not for a self-admitted two bit flimflam artist who happens to have the ability to make people see things! (And hear them, and smell them, and taste them, and --) His sentence here is a complete overreaction!
Well, it is and is not, really. While Raoul Gomez, aka Señor Cagim (pronounced with a soft "c", as sah-jeem) might have started his career engaged in some petty larceny, by the time he was brought to justice, he had swindled several senior citizens out of their life savings by posing as a spiritualist. On the other hand, it is fairly likely that he would never have been sent to Big Rock for these crimes if not for the fact that one of his victims was the aunt of a rather vindictive Senator, who used his clout to ensure that Raoul received an extremely harsh sentence after his trial.
Currently three years into a ten year sentence, Raoul initially just wanted to keep his head down and serve his sentence without getting caught up in the factions of the prison. Unfortunately, his habit of telling self-aggrandizing lies, especially about his supposed mystical knowledge, resulted in him coming to the attention of Friar Dark. The Pythonian "generously" gave him a role in his plans for the big breakout that he was planning, and saw to it that he received access to many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, to work out the mystical side of the operation.
Which would probably be nifty keen if he had the least idea of what he was doing with any of it! Nevertheless, the Friar is not one who takes a direct refusal well. On the other hand, he reacts even worse to being failed. So Raoul delved into the magical texts in hopes of finding something he could use to delay the inevitable, fighting off panic each time his attempts to duplicate the rituals described did nothing. Well, that only made sense, after all, given that they were in a null field, which should be suppressing any sort of weird effects.
But then, just a couple of weeks ago, after one particularly harrowing nightmare -- something about the whole universe melting into roiling nuclear chaos -- Señor Cagim found himself trying to cast a spell one more time to have something to fill the midnight hours. He had the strangest feeling as he reviewed the texts, as though he was looking at the book with a completely new set of eyes. Still, he expected this would work out like every other time. And then suddenly the cold cell became incredibly warm, and the sent of brimstone filled his nostrils, and a deep voice said, "The bargain is made."
Sweet mother of mercy! What has he gotten himself into now?
Señor Cagim -- PL 7
Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 4 | INT 3 | AWE 3 | PRE 4
Powers:
Visions: Illusion 7 (all senses), Independent, Resistible by Fortitude, Selective - 42 points
Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll 2, Improved Defense, Improvised Tools, Inspire 2, Ritualist, Taunt, Trance, Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Deception 7 (+11), Expertise: Crime 6 (+9), Expertise: Magic 5 (+9), Insight 7 (+10), Perception 5 (+9), Stealth 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 0)
Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 5, Fortitude 3, Toughness 7/2, Will 6
Totals:
Abilities 40 + Powers 42 + Advantages 10 + Skills 18 + Defenses 10 = 120 points
Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 5
Skill PL: 6
Complications:
Desperation (Formerly Greed)--Motivation. In Over His Head Beyond Imagination.
Note: Until recently, his Expertise: Magic was INT-based, and he had no Ritualist advantage.
This whole thing is a ridiculous misunderstanding. Yes, yes, the prisons are full of innocent people, but see, he will happily admit that he is no blushing innocent. But come on, this place should be for the bank robbers and kidnappers and murderers and would-be world conquerors, not for a self-admitted two bit flimflam artist who happens to have the ability to make people see things! (And hear them, and smell them, and taste them, and --) His sentence here is a complete overreaction!
Well, it is and is not, really. While Raoul Gomez, aka Señor Cagim (pronounced with a soft "c", as sah-jeem) might have started his career engaged in some petty larceny, by the time he was brought to justice, he had swindled several senior citizens out of their life savings by posing as a spiritualist. On the other hand, it is fairly likely that he would never have been sent to Big Rock for these crimes if not for the fact that one of his victims was the aunt of a rather vindictive Senator, who used his clout to ensure that Raoul received an extremely harsh sentence after his trial.
Currently three years into a ten year sentence, Raoul initially just wanted to keep his head down and serve his sentence without getting caught up in the factions of the prison. Unfortunately, his habit of telling self-aggrandizing lies, especially about his supposed mystical knowledge, resulted in him coming to the attention of Friar Dark. The Pythonian "generously" gave him a role in his plans for the big breakout that he was planning, and saw to it that he received access to many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, to work out the mystical side of the operation.
Which would probably be nifty keen if he had the least idea of what he was doing with any of it! Nevertheless, the Friar is not one who takes a direct refusal well. On the other hand, he reacts even worse to being failed. So Raoul delved into the magical texts in hopes of finding something he could use to delay the inevitable, fighting off panic each time his attempts to duplicate the rituals described did nothing. Well, that only made sense, after all, given that they were in a null field, which should be suppressing any sort of weird effects.
But then, just a couple of weeks ago, after one particularly harrowing nightmare -- something about the whole universe melting into roiling nuclear chaos -- Señor Cagim found himself trying to cast a spell one more time to have something to fill the midnight hours. He had the strangest feeling as he reviewed the texts, as though he was looking at the book with a completely new set of eyes. Still, he expected this would work out like every other time. And then suddenly the cold cell became incredibly warm, and the sent of brimstone filled his nostrils, and a deep voice said, "The bargain is made."
Sweet mother of mercy! What has he gotten himself into now?
Señor Cagim -- PL 7
Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 4 | INT 3 | AWE 3 | PRE 4
Powers:
Visions: Illusion 7 (all senses), Independent, Resistible by Fortitude, Selective - 42 points
Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll 2, Improved Defense, Improvised Tools, Inspire 2, Ritualist, Taunt, Trance, Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Deception 7 (+11), Expertise: Crime 6 (+9), Expertise: Magic 5 (+9), Insight 7 (+10), Perception 5 (+9), Stealth 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 0)
Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 5, Fortitude 3, Toughness 7/2, Will 6
Totals:
Abilities 40 + Powers 42 + Advantages 10 + Skills 18 + Defenses 10 = 120 points
Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 5
Skill PL: 6
Complications:
Desperation (Formerly Greed)--Motivation. In Over His Head Beyond Imagination.
Note: Until recently, his Expertise: Magic was INT-based, and he had no Ritualist advantage.
Davies
Legend
Patnum
The newest inmate in the Big Rock is perhaps the strangest. While the facility has played host to prisoners of extraterrestrial origin a few times in its history, it has almost invariably been the case that such "guests" are held only for a short time before being released as part of an arrangement that Argus has with Technate representatives in the solar system. Rumor has it that this guy, supposedly the sole alien captured during the invasion last year, is going to be in here for the rest of his natural life; best guess has it that he was in command of the whole fleet.
If Patnum were to learn of that "best guess", he would be unsure whether to laugh or cry -- though either response would be a mere prelude to a lengthy lecture on making assumptions. He was born a bit more than sixty years* ago on Trantia, a planet that had broken away from the Technate to pursue research and development without the restrictions imposed by the Minds. Unfortunately, when he was just starting to be recognized for his talents, Trantia was conquered by the Konan Armada. Those talents would now be put to use for their benefit.
As Patnum would put it, he adapted to his circumstances in hopes of better adapting his circumstances to himself. He worked industriously for the Konan, gradually becoming recognized by his masters as useful. Within a decade, he was serving as an advisor on one of their capital ships, providing them with technical and tactical guidance. Unlike some of his colleagues, he recognized early on that it was folly to try and guide them towards peaceful pursuits; besides, the worlds they were attacking were not ones he had any reason to care about.
As it happened, the battlegroup that he was advising was the one sent to the Sol system to begin the invasion. They were thrown back, and the cruiser he was aboard was boarded by agents of something called Argus, who proceeded to fight their way to the command deck. The group commander was on the verge of activating a self destruct mechanism to destroy the entire vessel and take its attackers with him when Patnum, seeing a unique opportunity, shot him with a concealed blaster. He then waited until the boarding party was at the doors of the command deck, started the self destruct countdown, and surrendered to Argus, claiming that he could not stop the countdown now that it had started. (Which was true, of course.)
What he expected to happen was that he would be questioned by these Earthlings who would pump him for all information about the Konan, which he would slowly dole out in exchange for certain considerations. He was neither surprised nor troubled when they contacted the Technate to see if they could provide confirmation for his claims, since it would just draw the whole thing out that much further. What did surprise him was what they were told when the Technate finally did get in touch with them, a few weeks ago: somehow, they knew that he was a willing servant of the Konan, not the reluctant one he had played himself as being. Nothing he said should be relied upon.
Patnum was bewildered by this development, and his first few weeks in the Big Rock were spent almost in a daze. But his unmatched intellect has finally put together a theory that could explain everything. The only people who were familiar with his activities, outside of the Konan, were his fellow Trantians ... so the Technate Cosmic Intelligence Agency must be running a spy ring among them! Well, now. What will he do with that insight, once he manages the simple task of escaping from this place, after recruiting a few useful pawns from the other prisoners here?
Patnum -- PL 9
Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 1 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 8 | AWE 5 | PRE 3
Powers:
Predictive Glance: Senses 4 (precognition); Feature (precognition check made with Insight rather than Perception) - 5 points
Speed of Thought: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought); Quickness 2, Limited to Mental Tasks - 3 points
Advantages:
Assessment, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Favored Environment (planned situations), Inventor, Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought.
Skills:
Deception 8 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 4 (+12), Expertise: Science 6 (+14), Insight 8 (+13), Perception 6 (+11), Technology 6 (+14).
Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 1)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 6, Fortitude 4, Toughness 4, Will 10
Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 8 + Advantages 7 + Skills 19 + Defenses 16 = 98 points
Offensive PL: 2
Defensive PL: 5
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 9
Complications:
Discovery--Motivation. Callous. Unfamiliar With Earth History or Culture.
The newest inmate in the Big Rock is perhaps the strangest. While the facility has played host to prisoners of extraterrestrial origin a few times in its history, it has almost invariably been the case that such "guests" are held only for a short time before being released as part of an arrangement that Argus has with Technate representatives in the solar system. Rumor has it that this guy, supposedly the sole alien captured during the invasion last year, is going to be in here for the rest of his natural life; best guess has it that he was in command of the whole fleet.
If Patnum were to learn of that "best guess", he would be unsure whether to laugh or cry -- though either response would be a mere prelude to a lengthy lecture on making assumptions. He was born a bit more than sixty years* ago on Trantia, a planet that had broken away from the Technate to pursue research and development without the restrictions imposed by the Minds. Unfortunately, when he was just starting to be recognized for his talents, Trantia was conquered by the Konan Armada. Those talents would now be put to use for their benefit.
As Patnum would put it, he adapted to his circumstances in hopes of better adapting his circumstances to himself. He worked industriously for the Konan, gradually becoming recognized by his masters as useful. Within a decade, he was serving as an advisor on one of their capital ships, providing them with technical and tactical guidance. Unlike some of his colleagues, he recognized early on that it was folly to try and guide them towards peaceful pursuits; besides, the worlds they were attacking were not ones he had any reason to care about.
As it happened, the battlegroup that he was advising was the one sent to the Sol system to begin the invasion. They were thrown back, and the cruiser he was aboard was boarded by agents of something called Argus, who proceeded to fight their way to the command deck. The group commander was on the verge of activating a self destruct mechanism to destroy the entire vessel and take its attackers with him when Patnum, seeing a unique opportunity, shot him with a concealed blaster. He then waited until the boarding party was at the doors of the command deck, started the self destruct countdown, and surrendered to Argus, claiming that he could not stop the countdown now that it had started. (Which was true, of course.)
What he expected to happen was that he would be questioned by these Earthlings who would pump him for all information about the Konan, which he would slowly dole out in exchange for certain considerations. He was neither surprised nor troubled when they contacted the Technate to see if they could provide confirmation for his claims, since it would just draw the whole thing out that much further. What did surprise him was what they were told when the Technate finally did get in touch with them, a few weeks ago: somehow, they knew that he was a willing servant of the Konan, not the reluctant one he had played himself as being. Nothing he said should be relied upon.
Patnum was bewildered by this development, and his first few weeks in the Big Rock were spent almost in a daze. But his unmatched intellect has finally put together a theory that could explain everything. The only people who were familiar with his activities, outside of the Konan, were his fellow Trantians ... so the Technate Cosmic Intelligence Agency must be running a spy ring among them! Well, now. What will he do with that insight, once he manages the simple task of escaping from this place, after recruiting a few useful pawns from the other prisoners here?
Patnum -- PL 9
Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 1 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 8 | AWE 5 | PRE 3
Powers:
Predictive Glance: Senses 4 (precognition); Feature (precognition check made with Insight rather than Perception) - 5 points
Speed of Thought: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought); Quickness 2, Limited to Mental Tasks - 3 points
Advantages:
Assessment, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Favored Environment (planned situations), Inventor, Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought.
Skills:
Deception 8 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 4 (+12), Expertise: Science 6 (+14), Insight 8 (+13), Perception 6 (+11), Technology 6 (+14).
Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 1)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 6, Fortitude 4, Toughness 4, Will 10
Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 8 + Advantages 7 + Skills 19 + Defenses 16 = 98 points
Offensive PL: 2
Defensive PL: 5
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 9
Complications:
Discovery--Motivation. Callous. Unfamiliar With Earth History or Culture.
Davies
Legend
Friar Dark
Hadron, of course, despised the Pythons; they had murdered his sister. (And their latter-day descendants murdered his wife and children, but that was just normal-on-normal violence and nothing to get upset about.) So he was disgusted when he learned that some among his metahuman supremacist followers had embraced the religion created by the Flamen, because it regarded superpowers as signs of divine favor, conduits to the Unseen, worthy of worship if they behaved "appropriately". Hadron believed that the metahuman should need nothing from the mundane, but most definitely not religious adoration.
He firmly stated that following this path was contrary to the goals of the movement ... but, being who and what he was, then did nothing more than that. Some of his followers took it on themselves to purge those who tried to maintain the faith regardless, but it still survived in hiding. And now Hadron is no longer in a position to do anything about it, and the other enemies have other things on their mind. The faith -- which, like the movement in which it exists, lacks a singular name -- is growing, especially among imprisoned metahumans, who perhaps need reassurance that they are still special.
Friar Dark (born Nathan Houteff, he went by Nehemiah Solomon prior to developing his powers) was one of the leaders of the faith during the hidden years, and is perhaps the most senior surviving elder now that it has emerged from the shadows. Before he was incarcerated in the Big Rock in 2016, he posed as a student of human religious belief who was attempting to create a new religion to serve the needs of metahumanity, a goal that Hadron viewed with disinterest but not hostility, however nominal.
Once he was in a place where neither Hadron nor any of the more zealous enemies of the faith could do anything, however, the mask came off and he began to preach openly, proclaiming himself as the natural successor of the Flamen. In "public", within the prison, he encourages his fellow adherents to follow the example of the Flamen and respect the authorities; in private, he assures them that the day is coming when the shackles of mundanity are cast off and they walk free once more.
Some of them wonder where he gets his confidence, especially in these dangerous times. The answer is that they come out of an unlikely coincidence, which might well be a miracle from some dark power. Shortly after he was incarcerated, the power suppression effect in his cell block suffered a brief lapse, despite redundant power supplies. The Friar was in the right position to use his powers to permanently twist the mind of a nearby guard into his willing servant, with that brainwashing remaining when the null field resumed. He ordered his slave to find a way to develop a way to compromise the null field so that it did not affect his cell. For a wonder, this worked, and has still not been discovered.
As long as the Friar remains in his cell, he, alone among the "guests" of the Big Rock (as far as he knows) retains his full powers. Therefore, he is not in any hurry to escape, as he is happy to be a big fish in this small pond. He has to leave in order to eat, but is striving to overcome this human weakness as it exposes him to the dangers of guards who follow the false prophet Zane. So far, he has not succeeded, and so keeps a backup plan for escape going at all times.
Unfortunately, he now has other problems. Just a few weeks ago, his contemplations were disturbed by a telepathic declaration from a mind he had never before contacted, but which he recognized all the same. It is impossible, of course, but his life has been devoted to the idea that impossible things can and do happen. Still, he is oddly not happy to have received a communication from what had to be Pythia, declaring "The world will hear from me again."
Friar Dark -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 0 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 6 | AWE 8 | PRE 5
Powers:
Force Field: Flight 4 (30 MPH); Sustained Impervious Protection 12, Subtle - 33 points
Psychic Awareness: Senses 4 (acute extended psychic awareness) - 4 points
Psychic Disciplines: Array (39 points)
Advantages:
Assessment, Benefit, Extraordinary Effort, Seize Initiative, Ultimate Effort (Insight), Uncanny Dodge, Well-informed.
Skills:
Deception 7 (+12), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+12), Expertise: Theology 4 (+10), Insight 5 (+13), Intimidation 7 (+12), Perception 1 (+9), Persuasion 6 (+11), Ranged Combat: Psychokinesis 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 0)
Psychokinesis +8 (Ranged Damage 12)
Domination -- (Perception Range Will 9)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 5, Toughness 12/0, Will 13
Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 85 + Advantages 7 + Skills 21 + Defenses 20 = 183 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 9
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Power--Motivation. Secret (compromised security.)
Hadron, of course, despised the Pythons; they had murdered his sister. (And their latter-day descendants murdered his wife and children, but that was just normal-on-normal violence and nothing to get upset about.) So he was disgusted when he learned that some among his metahuman supremacist followers had embraced the religion created by the Flamen, because it regarded superpowers as signs of divine favor, conduits to the Unseen, worthy of worship if they behaved "appropriately". Hadron believed that the metahuman should need nothing from the mundane, but most definitely not religious adoration.
He firmly stated that following this path was contrary to the goals of the movement ... but, being who and what he was, then did nothing more than that. Some of his followers took it on themselves to purge those who tried to maintain the faith regardless, but it still survived in hiding. And now Hadron is no longer in a position to do anything about it, and the other enemies have other things on their mind. The faith -- which, like the movement in which it exists, lacks a singular name -- is growing, especially among imprisoned metahumans, who perhaps need reassurance that they are still special.
Friar Dark (born Nathan Houteff, he went by Nehemiah Solomon prior to developing his powers) was one of the leaders of the faith during the hidden years, and is perhaps the most senior surviving elder now that it has emerged from the shadows. Before he was incarcerated in the Big Rock in 2016, he posed as a student of human religious belief who was attempting to create a new religion to serve the needs of metahumanity, a goal that Hadron viewed with disinterest but not hostility, however nominal.
Once he was in a place where neither Hadron nor any of the more zealous enemies of the faith could do anything, however, the mask came off and he began to preach openly, proclaiming himself as the natural successor of the Flamen. In "public", within the prison, he encourages his fellow adherents to follow the example of the Flamen and respect the authorities; in private, he assures them that the day is coming when the shackles of mundanity are cast off and they walk free once more.
Some of them wonder where he gets his confidence, especially in these dangerous times. The answer is that they come out of an unlikely coincidence, which might well be a miracle from some dark power. Shortly after he was incarcerated, the power suppression effect in his cell block suffered a brief lapse, despite redundant power supplies. The Friar was in the right position to use his powers to permanently twist the mind of a nearby guard into his willing servant, with that brainwashing remaining when the null field resumed. He ordered his slave to find a way to develop a way to compromise the null field so that it did not affect his cell. For a wonder, this worked, and has still not been discovered.
As long as the Friar remains in his cell, he, alone among the "guests" of the Big Rock (as far as he knows) retains his full powers. Therefore, he is not in any hurry to escape, as he is happy to be a big fish in this small pond. He has to leave in order to eat, but is striving to overcome this human weakness as it exposes him to the dangers of guards who follow the false prophet Zane. So far, he has not succeeded, and so keeps a backup plan for escape going at all times.
Unfortunately, he now has other problems. Just a few weeks ago, his contemplations were disturbed by a telepathic declaration from a mind he had never before contacted, but which he recognized all the same. It is impossible, of course, but his life has been devoted to the idea that impossible things can and do happen. Still, he is oddly not happy to have received a communication from what had to be Pythia, declaring "The world will hear from me again."
Friar Dark -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 0 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 6 | AWE 8 | PRE 5
Powers:
Force Field: Flight 4 (30 MPH); Sustained Impervious Protection 12, Subtle - 33 points
Psychic Awareness: Senses 4 (acute extended psychic awareness) - 4 points
Psychic Disciplines: Array (39 points)
- Domination: Perception Range Cumulative Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Insidious, Subtle 2 - 39 points
- Psychokinesis: Damaging Move Object 12, Precise, Subtle 2, - 1 point
- Telepathy: Selective Area Communication 2 (1 mile); Cumulative Mind Reading 8; Subtle 2 - 1 point
Advantages:
Assessment, Benefit, Extraordinary Effort, Seize Initiative, Ultimate Effort (Insight), Uncanny Dodge, Well-informed.
Skills:
Deception 7 (+12), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+12), Expertise: Theology 4 (+10), Insight 5 (+13), Intimidation 7 (+12), Perception 1 (+9), Persuasion 6 (+11), Ranged Combat: Psychokinesis 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 0)
Psychokinesis +8 (Ranged Damage 12)
Domination -- (Perception Range Will 9)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 5, Toughness 12/0, Will 13
Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 85 + Advantages 7 + Skills 21 + Defenses 20 = 183 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 9
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Power--Motivation. Secret (compromised security.)
Davies
Legend
Azazel
According to the story that she told the police when she was arrested and repeated through every one of her interviews, her name is Valeria Jimenez and she was born in Texas shortly after her parents, admittedly aliens, arrived there. Growing up in poverty, she was easy prey for a human trafficking organization that happened to be run by extraterrestrial aliens, and was subjected to mutating experiments that gave her the ability to alter her form. Having no real options, she wound up working for them in Ecuador, the Philippines, and Bhutan, before they tried to open up shop as a supposed "rejuvenation clinic" in California last year and were caught. She had no useful information about her employers, and was unable to cut a deal, resulting in her being sent to serve her sentence in the Big Rock.
The best lies have some truth in them. She really did grow up poor as the child of refugees, and was kidnapped and mutated by experiments, but all of that took place on a planet in the Technate. She acted as a honey trap and sometimes enforcer for the Vaskhane-affiliated gang, unhappy with her life but seeing no way out of it. When they fell on hard times after fleeing Bhutan in the wake of the departure of Thunder Dragon, she saw an opportunity to get out of this life. But she knew that if she revealed her extraterrestrial origins, she would be sent right back to the Technate and the whole mess would start all over again.
Medical examinations failed to impeach her story; as yet, Terran science cannot easily distinguish between the various subspecies of humanity, and her mutations could explain many anomalies. An attempt was made to probe her mind to determine if she was telling the truth, but the psychic in question was unable to get through her psychic defenses. (In fact, Helice was the psychic in question, and she did discover the truth with difficulty. But she also discovered how terrified Azazel was of being sent back to the Technate that she decided to pretend otherwise.)
Azazel was initially quite happy to serve out her five year sentence, since the lack of privacy was no different from any of her previous living situations and the cells in Mount Graham are larger than any room she has ever before had to herself. This has changed as she has grown more aware of the hostility of the guards towards her and come to realize that it is not sourced in her history of collaboration with aliens, but because of her claimed origins. She is considering joining forces with one of the local groups who seem to have some sort of escape plan going, but expects that she will probably end up "working" for them in the process. She would prefer to avoid that, but ... again ... no better options present themselves.
Azazel -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 2 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 2
Powers:
Armored Mind: Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to Half Effect - 10 points
Mimicry: Linked Morph 3 (humanoids); Linked Variable 8 (biological traits of copied form), Free Action - 79 points
Typical Variable Sets:
None, at the moment. Being inside a null field is really inconvenient.
Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Insight), Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Galactic 5 (+7), Expertise: Current Events 4 (+6), Insight 6 (+8), Investigation 5 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Stealth 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 2)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 4, Fortitude 4, Toughness 2, Will 7.
Totals:
Abilities 34 + Powers 89 + Advantages 11 + Skills 19 + Defenses 13 = 166 points
Offensive PL: 2*
Defensive PL: 4*
Resistance PL: 6*
Skill PL: 3
Complications:
Survival--Motivation. Power Loss (Mimicry, if used to copy an individual with "mystical" traits.) Secret (alien.)
According to the story that she told the police when she was arrested and repeated through every one of her interviews, her name is Valeria Jimenez and she was born in Texas shortly after her parents, admittedly aliens, arrived there. Growing up in poverty, she was easy prey for a human trafficking organization that happened to be run by extraterrestrial aliens, and was subjected to mutating experiments that gave her the ability to alter her form. Having no real options, she wound up working for them in Ecuador, the Philippines, and Bhutan, before they tried to open up shop as a supposed "rejuvenation clinic" in California last year and were caught. She had no useful information about her employers, and was unable to cut a deal, resulting in her being sent to serve her sentence in the Big Rock.
The best lies have some truth in them. She really did grow up poor as the child of refugees, and was kidnapped and mutated by experiments, but all of that took place on a planet in the Technate. She acted as a honey trap and sometimes enforcer for the Vaskhane-affiliated gang, unhappy with her life but seeing no way out of it. When they fell on hard times after fleeing Bhutan in the wake of the departure of Thunder Dragon, she saw an opportunity to get out of this life. But she knew that if she revealed her extraterrestrial origins, she would be sent right back to the Technate and the whole mess would start all over again.
Medical examinations failed to impeach her story; as yet, Terran science cannot easily distinguish between the various subspecies of humanity, and her mutations could explain many anomalies. An attempt was made to probe her mind to determine if she was telling the truth, but the psychic in question was unable to get through her psychic defenses. (In fact, Helice was the psychic in question, and she did discover the truth with difficulty. But she also discovered how terrified Azazel was of being sent back to the Technate that she decided to pretend otherwise.)
Azazel was initially quite happy to serve out her five year sentence, since the lack of privacy was no different from any of her previous living situations and the cells in Mount Graham are larger than any room she has ever before had to herself. This has changed as she has grown more aware of the hostility of the guards towards her and come to realize that it is not sourced in her history of collaboration with aliens, but because of her claimed origins. She is considering joining forces with one of the local groups who seem to have some sort of escape plan going, but expects that she will probably end up "working" for them in the process. She would prefer to avoid that, but ... again ... no better options present themselves.
Azazel -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 2 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 2
Powers:
Armored Mind: Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to Half Effect - 10 points
Mimicry: Linked Morph 3 (humanoids); Linked Variable 8 (biological traits of copied form), Free Action - 79 points
Typical Variable Sets:
None, at the moment. Being inside a null field is really inconvenient.
Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Insight), Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Galactic 5 (+7), Expertise: Current Events 4 (+6), Insight 6 (+8), Investigation 5 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Stealth 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 2)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 4, Fortitude 4, Toughness 2, Will 7.
Totals:
Abilities 34 + Powers 89 + Advantages 11 + Skills 19 + Defenses 13 = 166 points
Offensive PL: 2*
Defensive PL: 4*
Resistance PL: 6*
Skill PL: 3
Complications:
Survival--Motivation. Power Loss (Mimicry, if used to copy an individual with "mystical" traits.) Secret (alien.)
Davies
Legend
Hanzo/半蔵
When he chose his name, at the age of sixteen in the tenth year of Heisei*, there were a few chuckles among the adults present for the genpuku, for it had become unfashionable for members of the Shadow School to name themselves after legendary practitioners of their arts by then -- not insulting or forbidden, just trite. But the other students of his age, whether in the audience or on the stage behind him, did not laugh. They had all been carefully taught how unwise it was to mock, or seem to mock, this most gifted student who was also most aware of his giftedness.
Such was the pattern of the life of Morioka Hanzo -- well-regarded by his superiors for his talent and willingness to put that talent to good use, and feared by those who were nominally his peers. He attached himself to Hidenori Koike early in the rise of the latter, and enthusiastically embraced using his training and talents for criminal purposes. Where most students of the School viewed these activities as necessary evils needed to preserve their traditions, Hanzo considered them an extension of those traditions, cutting the weaknesses out of the modern world that the School rejected so that a better, purer world would emerge from its eventual collapse.
It seems likely that this view might have arisen from the effects of his wild talent on his mind. While most of the abilities that he developed through training were fairly typical, such as enhanced hand-eye coordination and reaction speed, he was also able to focus his internal energies to perform a strange psychic attack. Dubbing this "Memai Hossa", or "Vertigo Attack", he inflicted the illusion that the world had turned upside down on all those around him, confusing and even rendering them unconscious. From this arose a desire to turn the entire world upside down.
Hidenori himself, while agreeing with those ideas in principle, eventually came to see Hanzo as a potential personal threat. For that reason, in 2009, he eventually entrusted Hanzo with a mission that took him overseas, to San Francisco, with the unvoiced expectation that he would be apprehended by a superhero of some sort. Despite that, he completed the mission and could have gotten away clean, had he not had the misfortune to stumble across a certain group of actors who were giving a demonstration of what they claimed to be the true arts of the ninja. Outraged, he attacked them, inflicting serious injuries on several, before Rainbow arrived to even the odds.
As a result, Hanzo found himself identified as the perpetrator of a different felony committed on the night of his arrest, and was sentenced to a lengthy stay in prison. Unperturbed, he had every intention of using his skills to escape once the heat had died down, and every certainty that the master of the School would send agents to assist in that escape. However, his escape attempts were repeatedly thwarted, and the assistance he was expecting never materialized. He sometimes puzzles over this as he waits in his cell in the Big Rock, but believes that he is being tested. While unable to use his psychic abilities under the null field, his skills remain potent, and he believes that he is more than a match for any technological toys that the guards might use against him.
He is unaware -- and would not believe if he learned -- that Hidenori has fallen from power and that the School is trying to avoid the sort of criminality that he embraced. And that many of the fellow students that he terrorized, now risen to positions of authority, would let out sighs of relief if they knew he was imprisoned.
Hanzo -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 5 | DEX 5 | FGT 7 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 2
Powers:
Memai Hossa: Burst Area Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Will; Impaired & Hindered, Immobile & Prone, Incapacitated), Activation (Standard Action, -2 points), Concentration, Extra Condition - 48 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 2 - 1 point
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Close Attack 5, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2**, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Second Chance (disbelieving illusions).
Equipment:
Nunchaku (Strength-based Damage 2, Impressive, Improved Disarm, Reach, Split Attack), Shuriken (Ranged Multiattack Damage 1), Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical), and 3 points of equipment as needed.
Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12), Athletics 8 (+10), Close Combat: Sword 1 (+8), Deception 8 (+10), Expertise: History 7 (+8), Intimidation 7 (+9), Perception 5 (+9), Ranged Combat: Throwing 8 (+13), Sleight of Hand 6 (+11), Stealth 9 (+14), Vehicles 4 (+9).
Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 4)
Sword +13 (Close Damage 5, Crit 19-20)
Nunchaku +12 (Close Damage 4)
Shuriken +13 (Ranged, Multiattack Damage 1)
Defense:
Dodge 11, Parry 13, Fortitude 5, Toughness 5/3, Will 9
Totals:
Abilities 58 + Powers 50 + Advantages 16 + Skills 35 + Defenses 19 = 178 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 9
Complications:
Mercenary--Motivation. Delusional. Hatred ("pretenders" to ninjutsu.) Power Loss (Memai Hossa, if unable to see.) Vanity.
* 1999.
** Obviously, he does not have this while incarcerated, but will seek to change that quickly if freed.
When he chose his name, at the age of sixteen in the tenth year of Heisei*, there were a few chuckles among the adults present for the genpuku, for it had become unfashionable for members of the Shadow School to name themselves after legendary practitioners of their arts by then -- not insulting or forbidden, just trite. But the other students of his age, whether in the audience or on the stage behind him, did not laugh. They had all been carefully taught how unwise it was to mock, or seem to mock, this most gifted student who was also most aware of his giftedness.
Such was the pattern of the life of Morioka Hanzo -- well-regarded by his superiors for his talent and willingness to put that talent to good use, and feared by those who were nominally his peers. He attached himself to Hidenori Koike early in the rise of the latter, and enthusiastically embraced using his training and talents for criminal purposes. Where most students of the School viewed these activities as necessary evils needed to preserve their traditions, Hanzo considered them an extension of those traditions, cutting the weaknesses out of the modern world that the School rejected so that a better, purer world would emerge from its eventual collapse.
It seems likely that this view might have arisen from the effects of his wild talent on his mind. While most of the abilities that he developed through training were fairly typical, such as enhanced hand-eye coordination and reaction speed, he was also able to focus his internal energies to perform a strange psychic attack. Dubbing this "Memai Hossa", or "Vertigo Attack", he inflicted the illusion that the world had turned upside down on all those around him, confusing and even rendering them unconscious. From this arose a desire to turn the entire world upside down.
Hidenori himself, while agreeing with those ideas in principle, eventually came to see Hanzo as a potential personal threat. For that reason, in 2009, he eventually entrusted Hanzo with a mission that took him overseas, to San Francisco, with the unvoiced expectation that he would be apprehended by a superhero of some sort. Despite that, he completed the mission and could have gotten away clean, had he not had the misfortune to stumble across a certain group of actors who were giving a demonstration of what they claimed to be the true arts of the ninja. Outraged, he attacked them, inflicting serious injuries on several, before Rainbow arrived to even the odds.
As a result, Hanzo found himself identified as the perpetrator of a different felony committed on the night of his arrest, and was sentenced to a lengthy stay in prison. Unperturbed, he had every intention of using his skills to escape once the heat had died down, and every certainty that the master of the School would send agents to assist in that escape. However, his escape attempts were repeatedly thwarted, and the assistance he was expecting never materialized. He sometimes puzzles over this as he waits in his cell in the Big Rock, but believes that he is being tested. While unable to use his psychic abilities under the null field, his skills remain potent, and he believes that he is more than a match for any technological toys that the guards might use against him.
He is unaware -- and would not believe if he learned -- that Hidenori has fallen from power and that the School is trying to avoid the sort of criminality that he embraced. And that many of the fellow students that he terrorized, now risen to positions of authority, would let out sighs of relief if they knew he was imprisoned.
Hanzo -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 5 | DEX 5 | FGT 7 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 2
Powers:
Memai Hossa: Burst Area Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Will; Impaired & Hindered, Immobile & Prone, Incapacitated), Activation (Standard Action, -2 points), Concentration, Extra Condition - 48 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 2 - 1 point
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Close Attack 5, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2**, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Second Chance (disbelieving illusions).
Equipment:
Nunchaku (Strength-based Damage 2, Impressive, Improved Disarm, Reach, Split Attack), Shuriken (Ranged Multiattack Damage 1), Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical), and 3 points of equipment as needed.
Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12), Athletics 8 (+10), Close Combat: Sword 1 (+8), Deception 8 (+10), Expertise: History 7 (+8), Intimidation 7 (+9), Perception 5 (+9), Ranged Combat: Throwing 8 (+13), Sleight of Hand 6 (+11), Stealth 9 (+14), Vehicles 4 (+9).
Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 4)
Sword +13 (Close Damage 5, Crit 19-20)
Nunchaku +12 (Close Damage 4)
Shuriken +13 (Ranged, Multiattack Damage 1)
Defense:
Dodge 11, Parry 13, Fortitude 5, Toughness 5/3, Will 9
Totals:
Abilities 58 + Powers 50 + Advantages 16 + Skills 35 + Defenses 19 = 178 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 9
Complications:
Mercenary--Motivation. Delusional. Hatred ("pretenders" to ninjutsu.) Power Loss (Memai Hossa, if unable to see.) Vanity.
* 1999.
** Obviously, he does not have this while incarcerated, but will seek to change that quickly if freed.
Davies
Legend
Gunsmith
In their struggles against the Pythonian Insurgency, one of the greatest allies of JSOT was Dr. John Black Wolf of the Morrison Institute. The brilliant scientist who developed a method of mass producing blaster weaponry also contributed many more scientific solutions to the challenges they faced, especially those produced by the mysterious masked individual known as the Armorer, who devised a similar method that granted blaster weapons to the Pythons. Despite their long-distance rivalry, the two scientists never met. Which is understandable, since they were the same person.
At his 1999 trial, the attorney representing Dr. Black Wolf claimed that he had been the victim of a chemical accident involving the notorious Jekyll formula, shortly before the start of the Insurgency, that left him with a psyche switching between altruistic and self-serving patterns of behavior, with neither personality aware of the other. Some journals written by both personalities (but never introduced into evidence) indicate that this was specious; whatever they might have been at the start, by 1985 they knew that they shared a body and viewed the other as a competitor. Regardless, the defense was rejected by the jury and Dr. Black Wolf and the Armorer received two consecutive life sentences for their treasonous actions. He (or they) died in 2006.
As far as is definitely known, Kenny Black Wolf is the only child of Dr. John Black Wolf and his common law wife Antonia Beck, herself a Morrison Institute researcher. After the arrest of the Armorer in 1998, his mother dropped him off at the doors of a think tank and vanished. The news that the child of one of the worst offenders of the Pythonian era was now ensconced within the think tank did a number on its already dwindling enrollment, and Kenny was made a scapegoat for this by the staff as well as being bullied by fellow students. When the operation finally shut down, when he was fourteen, he was left without real prospects.
While all this had quenched whatever idealistic tendencies he might have possessed, Kenny seemed to have no real interest in villainy, either. He obtained a number of post-secondary degrees through correspondence courses while working in mundane, customer service jobs which tended to dematerialize when his history became known, such as when he was sought out for interviews after the death of his father. (He offered only a single word in response: "Good.") At one point, the Morrison Institute offered him a position, which he declined politely.
It would not be until 2011 that the stresses of his life finally became too much for him. His descent began in 2011, shortly after the public debut of Cadmus and a new spate of articles about the inventor Marc Bolton and his role in ending the think tank era. At his trial, his defense attempted to claim that he had suffered a breakdown inspired by his anger over what he perceived as the end of a comfortable existence within the system, but this defense, too, was rejected. His first sentence was relatively light, but he escaped all the same and began four years of criminal activities as Gunsmith.
He was finally imprisoned in the Big Rock in 2015, under the assumption that his talents, believed to be of mutant origin, would be suppressed by its null field. He was dully surprised to learn that they were not. After considering escape, however, he realized that revealing this development would likely result in his death, since he would be demonstrating that he could not be confined. Besides, the best gunsmith in the world can do little without access to tools. Thus, he created a niche for himself as someone who would design weapons for others, having the requests smuggled in and designs smuggled out by his attorney.
He is dimly aware that some of his work has been commissioned by Saturn, which is probably keeping him protected from the corrupted guards. Honestly, he does not care who uses his work or for what purposes it might be used. The money comes in either way, and pays for all sorts of comforts that he has never been able to enjoy.
Gunsmith -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 4 | FGT 3 | INT 7 | AWE 4 | PRE 0
Powers:
Gunsmithing: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Inventor, Ultimate Skill [Technology]), Limited to creating weapons; Quickness 3, Limited to designing and building weapons - 2 points
Modular Gun: Ranged Multiattack Damage 5, Variable 2 (technological), Removable (-3 points) - 14 points
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 6*, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Luck, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ultimate Skill (Technology).
Equipment:
30 points as needed for any mission, normally including Body Armor (Protection 3).
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Unarmed 6 (+9), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+12), Insight 6 (+10), Intimidation 10 (+10), Ranged Attack: Gun 7 (+11), Technology 6 (+13), Vehicles 8 (+12).
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 2)
Gun +11 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 5)
Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 9, Fortitude 4, Toughness 4/2, Will 6.
Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 16 + Advantages 13 + Skills 27 + Defenses 15 = 119 points
Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 7*
Resistance PL: 5
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Mercenary--Complication. Secret (not nullified.) Vulnerable (emotional effects.)
* Obviously, he does not have this while incarcerated, but will seek to change that quickly if freed.
In their struggles against the Pythonian Insurgency, one of the greatest allies of JSOT was Dr. John Black Wolf of the Morrison Institute. The brilliant scientist who developed a method of mass producing blaster weaponry also contributed many more scientific solutions to the challenges they faced, especially those produced by the mysterious masked individual known as the Armorer, who devised a similar method that granted blaster weapons to the Pythons. Despite their long-distance rivalry, the two scientists never met. Which is understandable, since they were the same person.
At his 1999 trial, the attorney representing Dr. Black Wolf claimed that he had been the victim of a chemical accident involving the notorious Jekyll formula, shortly before the start of the Insurgency, that left him with a psyche switching between altruistic and self-serving patterns of behavior, with neither personality aware of the other. Some journals written by both personalities (but never introduced into evidence) indicate that this was specious; whatever they might have been at the start, by 1985 they knew that they shared a body and viewed the other as a competitor. Regardless, the defense was rejected by the jury and Dr. Black Wolf and the Armorer received two consecutive life sentences for their treasonous actions. He (or they) died in 2006.
As far as is definitely known, Kenny Black Wolf is the only child of Dr. John Black Wolf and his common law wife Antonia Beck, herself a Morrison Institute researcher. After the arrest of the Armorer in 1998, his mother dropped him off at the doors of a think tank and vanished. The news that the child of one of the worst offenders of the Pythonian era was now ensconced within the think tank did a number on its already dwindling enrollment, and Kenny was made a scapegoat for this by the staff as well as being bullied by fellow students. When the operation finally shut down, when he was fourteen, he was left without real prospects.
While all this had quenched whatever idealistic tendencies he might have possessed, Kenny seemed to have no real interest in villainy, either. He obtained a number of post-secondary degrees through correspondence courses while working in mundane, customer service jobs which tended to dematerialize when his history became known, such as when he was sought out for interviews after the death of his father. (He offered only a single word in response: "Good.") At one point, the Morrison Institute offered him a position, which he declined politely.
It would not be until 2011 that the stresses of his life finally became too much for him. His descent began in 2011, shortly after the public debut of Cadmus and a new spate of articles about the inventor Marc Bolton and his role in ending the think tank era. At his trial, his defense attempted to claim that he had suffered a breakdown inspired by his anger over what he perceived as the end of a comfortable existence within the system, but this defense, too, was rejected. His first sentence was relatively light, but he escaped all the same and began four years of criminal activities as Gunsmith.
He was finally imprisoned in the Big Rock in 2015, under the assumption that his talents, believed to be of mutant origin, would be suppressed by its null field. He was dully surprised to learn that they were not. After considering escape, however, he realized that revealing this development would likely result in his death, since he would be demonstrating that he could not be confined. Besides, the best gunsmith in the world can do little without access to tools. Thus, he created a niche for himself as someone who would design weapons for others, having the requests smuggled in and designs smuggled out by his attorney.
He is dimly aware that some of his work has been commissioned by Saturn, which is probably keeping him protected from the corrupted guards. Honestly, he does not care who uses his work or for what purposes it might be used. The money comes in either way, and pays for all sorts of comforts that he has never been able to enjoy.
Gunsmith -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 4 | FGT 3 | INT 7 | AWE 4 | PRE 0
Powers:
Gunsmithing: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Inventor, Ultimate Skill [Technology]), Limited to creating weapons; Quickness 3, Limited to designing and building weapons - 2 points
Modular Gun: Ranged Multiattack Damage 5, Variable 2 (technological), Removable (-3 points) - 14 points
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 6*, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Luck, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ultimate Skill (Technology).
Equipment:
30 points as needed for any mission, normally including Body Armor (Protection 3).
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Unarmed 6 (+9), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+12), Insight 6 (+10), Intimidation 10 (+10), Ranged Attack: Gun 7 (+11), Technology 6 (+13), Vehicles 8 (+12).
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 2)
Gun +11 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 5)
Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 9, Fortitude 4, Toughness 4/2, Will 6.
Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 16 + Advantages 13 + Skills 27 + Defenses 15 = 119 points
Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 7*
Resistance PL: 5
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Mercenary--Complication. Secret (not nullified.) Vulnerable (emotional effects.)
* Obviously, he does not have this while incarcerated, but will seek to change that quickly if freed.
Davies
Legend
The Etherian
The Etherian
Lewis Hodgson
One of the few superpower foes encountered by Hadron during his brief career as a hero, the Etherian first appeared in College Station, Texas in February, 2000. At the time, it seemed that one of the dormitories on campus was being afflicted by a ghost. While Philip Baldwin was aware of the existence of hauntings, his research led him to the conclusion that there was no cause for the presence of such a phenomenon at this location. His suspicions were confirmed when he investigated personally and found himself in physical conflict with the supposed ghost.
After Hadron blinded the Etherian with his radiation powers, the creature fled back to its point of origin, which turned out to be a post-graduate student named Lewis Hodgson, who had undergone a psychic awakening that allowed him to project a fragment of his psyche as the Etherian. Hadron turned Hodgson over to campus security and they in turn handed him off to the police, and Baldwin imagined that this would be the end of it. He had no idea how far down the rabbit hole he had just opened up would go.
The issue of remote viewing espionage had been a major security concern since the first age of superheroics. Efforts had been made to devise methods of preventing it, with some success. When Hodgson was tried for his voyeurism, his attorneys arranged a plea bargain where he would receive a reduced sentence in exchange for his participation in studies by the Morrison Institute to determine the limits of his abilities, and how best to prevent their use. It was discovered that while it was occasionally possible to prevent him from projecting his "ghost duplicate", no known method was able to stop him from using the senses of the creature as his own once he had done so. In other words, he was a walking, talking security risk.
Out of the past twenty-two years, Lewis Hodgson has spent a grand total of two years, non-concurrent, outside of one prison cell or another. He is currently two years into his second ten year stretch in the Big Rock. The irony of his situation is that the risk that he actually poses to national security is non-existent, as he has no interest in using his powers for anything other than voyeurism ... but he is completely devoted to that goal, and cannot be dissuaded from doing so except by direct compulsion. Hodgson has no method of self-defense other than the protection of his duplicate, when available, though he has also survived serious injury through ridiculous dumb luck in the past.
The Etherian -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR -- | STA -- | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2
Powers:
"Ghost": Concealment 10 (all senses); Flight 5 (60 MPH); Immunity 30 (Fortitude); Permanent Insubstantial 4; Protection 8 - 88 points
Link to Master: Senses 1 (communication link) - 1 point
Ghost Touch: Affects Corporeal Damage 8 - 16 points
Ghost Vision: Senses 2 (vision counters invisibility) - 2 points
Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Move-by Action.
Skills:
Close Combat: Ghost Touch 4 (+8), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 4 (+6)
Offense:
Initiative +2
Ghost Touch +8 (Close Damage 8)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 8
Totals:
Abilities 18 + Powers 107 + Advantages 2 + Skills 7 + Defenses 16 = 150 points
Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 2
Complications:
Obedience. Obviously Unnatural (when visible.)
Lewis Hodgson -- PL 6
Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 2 | INT 0 | AWE 2 | PRE 0
Powers:
Spirit Projection: Linked Remote Sensing 6 (all senses, 60 miles), Medium (the Etherian), No Conduit, Innate; Linked Senses 2 (vision counters invisibility); Summon 10, Heroic, Mental Link - 72 points
Advantages:
Defensive Roll 2, Eidetic Memory, Hide in Plain Sight, Taunt.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+6), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+5), Insight 4 (+6), Perception 6 (+8), Stealth 5 (+7).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 0)
Defense:
Dodge 5, Parry 5, Fortitude 3, Toughness 7/2, Will 5
Totals:
Abilities 18 + Powers 72 + Advantages 5 + Skills 13 + Defenses 10 = 118 points
Offensive PL: 1
Defensive PL: 6
Resistance PL: 4
Skill PL: 3
Complications:
Obsession--Motivation. Cowardice.
The Etherian
Lewis Hodgson
One of the few superpower foes encountered by Hadron during his brief career as a hero, the Etherian first appeared in College Station, Texas in February, 2000. At the time, it seemed that one of the dormitories on campus was being afflicted by a ghost. While Philip Baldwin was aware of the existence of hauntings, his research led him to the conclusion that there was no cause for the presence of such a phenomenon at this location. His suspicions were confirmed when he investigated personally and found himself in physical conflict with the supposed ghost.
After Hadron blinded the Etherian with his radiation powers, the creature fled back to its point of origin, which turned out to be a post-graduate student named Lewis Hodgson, who had undergone a psychic awakening that allowed him to project a fragment of his psyche as the Etherian. Hadron turned Hodgson over to campus security and they in turn handed him off to the police, and Baldwin imagined that this would be the end of it. He had no idea how far down the rabbit hole he had just opened up would go.
The issue of remote viewing espionage had been a major security concern since the first age of superheroics. Efforts had been made to devise methods of preventing it, with some success. When Hodgson was tried for his voyeurism, his attorneys arranged a plea bargain where he would receive a reduced sentence in exchange for his participation in studies by the Morrison Institute to determine the limits of his abilities, and how best to prevent their use. It was discovered that while it was occasionally possible to prevent him from projecting his "ghost duplicate", no known method was able to stop him from using the senses of the creature as his own once he had done so. In other words, he was a walking, talking security risk.
Out of the past twenty-two years, Lewis Hodgson has spent a grand total of two years, non-concurrent, outside of one prison cell or another. He is currently two years into his second ten year stretch in the Big Rock. The irony of his situation is that the risk that he actually poses to national security is non-existent, as he has no interest in using his powers for anything other than voyeurism ... but he is completely devoted to that goal, and cannot be dissuaded from doing so except by direct compulsion. Hodgson has no method of self-defense other than the protection of his duplicate, when available, though he has also survived serious injury through ridiculous dumb luck in the past.
The Etherian -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR -- | STA -- | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2
Powers:
"Ghost": Concealment 10 (all senses); Flight 5 (60 MPH); Immunity 30 (Fortitude); Permanent Insubstantial 4; Protection 8 - 88 points
Link to Master: Senses 1 (communication link) - 1 point
Ghost Touch: Affects Corporeal Damage 8 - 16 points
Ghost Vision: Senses 2 (vision counters invisibility) - 2 points
Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Move-by Action.
Skills:
Close Combat: Ghost Touch 4 (+8), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 4 (+6)
Offense:
Initiative +2
Ghost Touch +8 (Close Damage 8)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 8
Totals:
Abilities 18 + Powers 107 + Advantages 2 + Skills 7 + Defenses 16 = 150 points
Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 2
Complications:
Obedience. Obviously Unnatural (when visible.)
Lewis Hodgson -- PL 6
Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 2 | INT 0 | AWE 2 | PRE 0
Powers:
Spirit Projection: Linked Remote Sensing 6 (all senses, 60 miles), Medium (the Etherian), No Conduit, Innate; Linked Senses 2 (vision counters invisibility); Summon 10, Heroic, Mental Link - 72 points
Advantages:
Defensive Roll 2, Eidetic Memory, Hide in Plain Sight, Taunt.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+6), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+5), Insight 4 (+6), Perception 6 (+8), Stealth 5 (+7).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 0)
Defense:
Dodge 5, Parry 5, Fortitude 3, Toughness 7/2, Will 5
Totals:
Abilities 18 + Powers 72 + Advantages 5 + Skills 13 + Defenses 10 = 118 points
Offensive PL: 1
Defensive PL: 6
Resistance PL: 4
Skill PL: 3
Complications:
Obsession--Motivation. Cowardice.
Davies
Legend
Arthur, Dux Bellorum
Were you expecting Clive Owen?
Even in his youth, when he believed that he was the illegitimate son of his foster father being kept close, he had dreams of becoming something greater, of somehow winning his way to a throne through the strength of his sword arm. When Hector and Morgan finally told him the truth of his lineage, with Morgan also revealing some of what that heritage would mean, those ambitions became greater yet. (There was no sword in a stone, no tournament to determine who had the right to draw it forth. Those were all imagined by storytellers of a later age who were, ultimately, telling stories about their own age, not his.)
Arthur (only rarely did he go by the Romanized Artorius) fought for the sake of those dreams and ambitions, not for any enlightened or romantic ideals. He intended to bring all of Britain under his rule, and rule well, but the notion of might in the service of right would have at best made him laugh. At his best, he sincerely believed in the ideals, Roman and Christian, that he had been passed down from his forefathers. At his worst, he believed in nothing but his own power. And there were far more days when he was at his worst than at his best.
Perhaps his greatest personal failing was how he reacted to the news that his youngest daughter was, remarkably, growing into a remarkable warrior. While he never seriously considered the notion that she might be a worthy successor, he was nonetheless interested enough to ride out to the estate where she lived under the guardianship of his foster brother and observe her training. Yet as soon as he laid eyes on her, something about Johanna aroused feelings of mortal terror unlike anything he had known. More than any foe, more than any battle, the sight of her filled him with an incomprehensible loathing, and he avoided her afterwards.
His sister offered him an explanation. He had been gifted with the power to draw the enchantments of others into himself, and strengthen himself thereby -- but this girlchild possessed an enchantment deeper and more subtle than he could affect, making her a potential danger that he might never be able to overcome. It sounded plausible to his ears, but he still wished that Morgan was available to confirm or deny it, for he could not help but wonder if her explanation was meant to strengthen the position of her son in his retinue. Well, Medraut had already earned his position by his own deeds, so it mattered not at all.
When it all fell apart, it happened only by accident. He was leading raids on the continent when news came that Medraut had declared himself king. There were claims that he had received a false report that Arthur had fallen in one of those stupid little battles. Once again, it mattered not at all -- the boy he had hoped might be his heir had grown up to be just as ambitious as he himself, and there was only one way that it could be answered. And so, at the great strife at Camlann, Arthur and Medraut fell, and there was great mortality in Britain and Ireland. And that was the end of the story. Claims that he would one day come again were just stories that people told because they needed hope, nothing more.
Or perhaps not, for another has lately appeared with similar gifts and a similar reaction to the sight of Prydwen, as Johanna now calls herself.
Arthur -- PL 11
Abilities:
STR 7/3 | STA 6/3 | AGL 4/1 | DEX 2 | FGT 9/5 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 5
Powers:
Magic Absorption: Array (45 points)
Sword of Promised Victory: Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical, Affects Insubstantial 2; Easily Removable (-2 points) - 4 points
Advantages:
Benefit (dux), Defensive Attack, Equipment, Evasion,, Fearless, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Leadership, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge.
Equipment:
Armor (Protection 3).
Skills:
Athletics 5 (+12/+8), Close Combat: Sword 3 (+12/+8), Expertise: Warfare 8 (+10), Insight 6 (+8), Intimidation 6 (+11), Perception 7 (+9), Persuasion 3 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +8/+5
Unarmed +9/+5 (Close Damage 7/3)
Sword +12/+8 (Close Damage 10/6)
Defense:
Dodge 10/6, Parry 12/8, Fortitude 8/5, Toughness 9/6, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 46 + Powers 70 + Advantages 4 + Skills 19 + Defenses 15 = 184 points
Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 11
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 7
Complications:
Ambition--Motivation. Fame. Fear/Hatred (Johanna.)
Note: These stats represent Arthur during the height of his powers, around the time of Badon. By Camlann, when he was in his fifties, subtract two ranks from each physical attribute and FGT, but increase INT and AWE by one rank each.
Were you expecting Clive Owen?
Even in his youth, when he believed that he was the illegitimate son of his foster father being kept close, he had dreams of becoming something greater, of somehow winning his way to a throne through the strength of his sword arm. When Hector and Morgan finally told him the truth of his lineage, with Morgan also revealing some of what that heritage would mean, those ambitions became greater yet. (There was no sword in a stone, no tournament to determine who had the right to draw it forth. Those were all imagined by storytellers of a later age who were, ultimately, telling stories about their own age, not his.)
Arthur (only rarely did he go by the Romanized Artorius) fought for the sake of those dreams and ambitions, not for any enlightened or romantic ideals. He intended to bring all of Britain under his rule, and rule well, but the notion of might in the service of right would have at best made him laugh. At his best, he sincerely believed in the ideals, Roman and Christian, that he had been passed down from his forefathers. At his worst, he believed in nothing but his own power. And there were far more days when he was at his worst than at his best.
Perhaps his greatest personal failing was how he reacted to the news that his youngest daughter was, remarkably, growing into a remarkable warrior. While he never seriously considered the notion that she might be a worthy successor, he was nonetheless interested enough to ride out to the estate where she lived under the guardianship of his foster brother and observe her training. Yet as soon as he laid eyes on her, something about Johanna aroused feelings of mortal terror unlike anything he had known. More than any foe, more than any battle, the sight of her filled him with an incomprehensible loathing, and he avoided her afterwards.
His sister offered him an explanation. He had been gifted with the power to draw the enchantments of others into himself, and strengthen himself thereby -- but this girlchild possessed an enchantment deeper and more subtle than he could affect, making her a potential danger that he might never be able to overcome. It sounded plausible to his ears, but he still wished that Morgan was available to confirm or deny it, for he could not help but wonder if her explanation was meant to strengthen the position of her son in his retinue. Well, Medraut had already earned his position by his own deeds, so it mattered not at all.
When it all fell apart, it happened only by accident. He was leading raids on the continent when news came that Medraut had declared himself king. There were claims that he had received a false report that Arthur had fallen in one of those stupid little battles. Once again, it mattered not at all -- the boy he had hoped might be his heir had grown up to be just as ambitious as he himself, and there was only one way that it could be answered. And so, at the great strife at Camlann, Arthur and Medraut fell, and there was great mortality in Britain and Ireland. And that was the end of the story. Claims that he would one day come again were just stories that people told because they needed hope, nothing more.
Or perhaps not, for another has lately appeared with similar gifts and a similar reaction to the sight of Prydwen, as Johanna now calls herself.
Arthur -- PL 11
Abilities:
STR 7/3 | STA 6/3 | AGL 4/1 | DEX 2 | FGT 9/5 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 5
Powers:
Magic Absorption: Array (45 points)
- Aura: Enhanced Advantages 7 (Defensive Attack, Evasion, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge); Enhanced Agility 3; Enhanced Fighting 4; Enhanced Stamina 3; Enhanced Strength 4; Impervious Will 7 - 1 point
- Void: Burst Area Nullify Magic 9, Broad, Close Range, Concentration, Simultaneous - 45 points
Sword of Promised Victory: Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical, Affects Insubstantial 2; Easily Removable (-2 points) - 4 points
Advantages:
Benefit (dux), Defensive Attack, Equipment, Evasion,, Fearless, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Leadership, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge.
Equipment:
Armor (Protection 3).
Skills:
Athletics 5 (+12/+8), Close Combat: Sword 3 (+12/+8), Expertise: Warfare 8 (+10), Insight 6 (+8), Intimidation 6 (+11), Perception 7 (+9), Persuasion 3 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +8/+5
Unarmed +9/+5 (Close Damage 7/3)
Sword +12/+8 (Close Damage 10/6)
Defense:
Dodge 10/6, Parry 12/8, Fortitude 8/5, Toughness 9/6, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 46 + Powers 70 + Advantages 4 + Skills 19 + Defenses 15 = 184 points
Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 11
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 7
Complications:
Ambition--Motivation. Fame. Fear/Hatred (Johanna.)
Note: These stats represent Arthur during the height of his powers, around the time of Badon. By Camlann, when he was in his fifties, subtract two ranks from each physical attribute and FGT, but increase INT and AWE by one rank each.
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Davies
Legend
Beowulf
While the business with first Grendel and then what he took for his mother was probably his greatest adventure, it was hardly his only one. By the time that Hrothgar began having his troubles, he had already gained something of a reputation for killing monsters. Most of them were just animals unfamiliar to those who witnessed them, but removing the threat eased the worries of those folk. Playing up the threat that the creatures had posed, after they were gone, did no real harm, and spread his fame, so that others would know that they could turn to him for help. And that was a good thing, right?
And Grendel was every bit as terrifying as the stories said, and his mother even worse, and he never spoke of the other strangeness he witnessed in their lair beneath the lake. Those eggs, and the spider-like things inside of them, and the way that their home looked less carved from stone than forged from ... something. Not metal, not as he knew it. Beowulf crushed all the eggs, he hoped, and left that part out of the tale. The notion that there might be more of that breed would ease no one, and there was nothing heroic about killing creatures that had yet to be born.
There were other battles against men and "monsters", and some ten years after the business at Heorot, he found himself drawn into a war greater than anything he had ever imagined, alongside men and women from places he knew nothing about, among them the future, of all things. In the process, he learned what that future held for him. While they tried to make him forget that, and everything else that he had seen, his naturally hard head (and a bit of the annoyance that their presumption made him feel) kept their tricks from working on him.
So he was supposed to die a king, fighting a dragon, eh? Well, there were worse fates. So he accepted what came his way, took the kingship when it lay open to him, and welcomed Wiglaf in the knowledge that his nephew would follow after him. Then the dragon came, and he fought it alone save for Wiglaf, and was amazed to find himself still standing at the end. Well, perhaps then the fates could be challenged after all, he thought, just before he felt the sword in his back. Wiglaf was tired of waiting to be king, it seemed.
Dying, he learned one last lesson -- legends leave out important details. But that sword cut both ways, for he lasted long enough to hear his "heir" hypocritically lambasting the Geats for their cowardice ... long enough to let out a groan to let them know he still lived ... and long enough to fix Wiglaf with one last glare. For the rest of his life, Wiglaf lived in mortal terror that somehow, Beowulf would fight his way back from the grave, and so he ruled their people with that caution in mind. So passed the king most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.
Beowulf -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 6 | STA 5 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 9 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers:
Fierce Will: Sustained Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to half effect - 10 points
Intimidating Presence: Perception Range Affliction 7 (Resisted by Will; Impaired, Disabled), Concentration, Limited Degree - 21 points
Advantages:
All-out Attack, Assessment, Chokehold, Connected, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 6, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Seize Initiative, Takedown, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge.
Equipment:
Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical), armor (protection 3), and a ship.
Skills:
Athletics 7 (+13), Close Combat: Sword 2 (+11), Expertise: Mariner 6 (+7), Expertise: Warfare 8 (+9), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 9 (+12), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+9), Stealth 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 6)
Sword +11 (Close Damage 9)
Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 12, Fortitude 6, Toughness 8/5, Will 6.
Totals:
Abilities 62 + Powers 31 + Advantages 25 + Skills 30 + Defenses 16 = 163 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Fame--Motivation. Reputation (monster hunter.) Responsibility (kin and kind.)
Note: Beowulf's tendency to break his sword is not a complication, but a consequence of running into a lot of monsters who have Improved Smash and Weapon Break.
While the business with first Grendel and then what he took for his mother was probably his greatest adventure, it was hardly his only one. By the time that Hrothgar began having his troubles, he had already gained something of a reputation for killing monsters. Most of them were just animals unfamiliar to those who witnessed them, but removing the threat eased the worries of those folk. Playing up the threat that the creatures had posed, after they were gone, did no real harm, and spread his fame, so that others would know that they could turn to him for help. And that was a good thing, right?
And Grendel was every bit as terrifying as the stories said, and his mother even worse, and he never spoke of the other strangeness he witnessed in their lair beneath the lake. Those eggs, and the spider-like things inside of them, and the way that their home looked less carved from stone than forged from ... something. Not metal, not as he knew it. Beowulf crushed all the eggs, he hoped, and left that part out of the tale. The notion that there might be more of that breed would ease no one, and there was nothing heroic about killing creatures that had yet to be born.
There were other battles against men and "monsters", and some ten years after the business at Heorot, he found himself drawn into a war greater than anything he had ever imagined, alongside men and women from places he knew nothing about, among them the future, of all things. In the process, he learned what that future held for him. While they tried to make him forget that, and everything else that he had seen, his naturally hard head (and a bit of the annoyance that their presumption made him feel) kept their tricks from working on him.
So he was supposed to die a king, fighting a dragon, eh? Well, there were worse fates. So he accepted what came his way, took the kingship when it lay open to him, and welcomed Wiglaf in the knowledge that his nephew would follow after him. Then the dragon came, and he fought it alone save for Wiglaf, and was amazed to find himself still standing at the end. Well, perhaps then the fates could be challenged after all, he thought, just before he felt the sword in his back. Wiglaf was tired of waiting to be king, it seemed.
Dying, he learned one last lesson -- legends leave out important details. But that sword cut both ways, for he lasted long enough to hear his "heir" hypocritically lambasting the Geats for their cowardice ... long enough to let out a groan to let them know he still lived ... and long enough to fix Wiglaf with one last glare. For the rest of his life, Wiglaf lived in mortal terror that somehow, Beowulf would fight his way back from the grave, and so he ruled their people with that caution in mind. So passed the king most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.
Beowulf -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 6 | STA 5 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 9 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers:
Fierce Will: Sustained Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to half effect - 10 points
Intimidating Presence: Perception Range Affliction 7 (Resisted by Will; Impaired, Disabled), Concentration, Limited Degree - 21 points
Advantages:
All-out Attack, Assessment, Chokehold, Connected, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 6, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Seize Initiative, Takedown, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge.
Equipment:
Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical), armor (protection 3), and a ship.
Skills:
Athletics 7 (+13), Close Combat: Sword 2 (+11), Expertise: Mariner 6 (+7), Expertise: Warfare 8 (+9), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 9 (+12), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+9), Stealth 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 6)
Sword +11 (Close Damage 9)
Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 12, Fortitude 6, Toughness 8/5, Will 6.
Totals:
Abilities 62 + Powers 31 + Advantages 25 + Skills 30 + Defenses 16 = 163 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Fame--Motivation. Reputation (monster hunter.) Responsibility (kin and kind.)
Note: Beowulf's tendency to break his sword is not a complication, but a consequence of running into a lot of monsters who have Improved Smash and Weapon Break.
And far too impatient for his own good. All things considered, all the damage/blows/wounds/etc. his uncle Beowulf took throughout his lifetime would have finally caught up to him in a few short years anyway.
Davies
Legend
Which was part of the reason Beowulf didn't take that last opportunity to accuse him, just glaring. (The other part was that he knew that telling the Geats the truth about their new king wouldn't have eased any of the fear they were feeling.)
Davies
Legend
Princess Kaguya
Much of the story, notably the end, has already been told. And yet there is still more to tell. There always is.
Gaigoyan -- to use the Albadine version of her name, which her adoptive parents thought similar to the Japanese word for 'shining', Kaguya -- came to Earth almost by accident. Born just as the various Albadine dominions were disintegrating, she was charged by the ruler who had ordered her quickening (but whom she never once thought of as a mother) to seek out all the remaining Albadine colonies throughout charted space and bid them travel to her home world to build the basis of an empire. She found many, and died a bit inside each time the people she had found refused that bidding, for she had other orders for what to do if that happened. Throughout her life, she dreamed of drowning in the green blood she had shed.
There were old accounts of the people visiting the Sol system, and she followed those accounts there. After conducting an orbital survey that revealed no traces of her people on the third planet, she was preparing to depart when her vessel came under attack by robotic vessels from the first planet. She barely survived that clash and the shipwreck that followed it, which brought her down in the land that she would come to know as Nihon. Part of the reason that her eventual "rescue" took so long was her reluctance to call for help, out of fear that her attackers might come again.
Another part, of course, was that she was happy there, for perhaps the first time in her life. She knew that it could never last, that she could never truly be one of these people. Yet she loved them all the same. Not romantically; she had been designed not to know such desires, since the geneforging that had created her people was still unstable, then, and the children born to them were as often Gargun as Albadine, which would never do for the children of the Empress. So her refusal of the suits paid to her by many of the noteworthy of Nihon was sincere, if not perhaps wholly honest.
In time, she took the people she loved most away from that world, and led them to a new one, which she hoped would be far enough away from the madness that the Empress was unleashing. Even after she left Yusei, she never returned to her homeworld, but continued to explore this region of the galaxy. She visited Hasham, and played a role in the formation of the mystic order, but ultimately departed when she could not accept the dualism that they insisted upon. Gaigoyan the Green knew better than most that great good and great evil could exist in the same soul.
When the Albadine came at last to the Imperium, she was waiting, and was embraced by them as a pioneer, honored and kept safe. Some few centuries later, she would become drawn into the Anachronic Calamity, which astounded her. Surely, an ancient wreck such as herself could be of no help in saving reality? Besides, if it was the fate of reality to end in this way, then should this not be accepted without fear or -- and then they told her of how the one called Billie Zane had obtained the Matter Gem.
"If you had claimed it in battle, I would weep but do nothing," she said to the Mind Eater when they met. "If you had stolen it in stealth, I would weep but do nothing. But you tricked my children to think that you were I ... and I shall not weep. Even if the Source forgives you, I will not. Greetings. My parents named me Kaguya-hime. Prepare to die." And with the mightiest blow imaginable, she cut the Matter Gem and the hand that was holding it from her foe. She might have done more, but reclaiming the treasure took priority.
The ending of her tale has already been told. Or has it? For although there was no great angel waiting in the gloom for her soul, her end did not go as unwitnessed as some accounts have claimed. And perhaps, one whose life was given to love will yet be called upon in dark hours to come.
Princess Kaguya -- PL 12
Abilities:
STR 11/6 | STA 11/6 | AGL 6 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 6 | AWE 5 | PRE 5
Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Mental Communication 2 (1 mile)- 8 points
Bonded Starsword: Damage 6, Penetrating 6, Accurate; Easily Removable (-4 points) - 9 points
Longevity: Immunity 1 (aging); Immunity 2 (disease, poison), Limited to Half-effect - 2 points
Mental Powers: Array (31 points)
Rarely Used Power Stunt:
Focused Physical Enhancement: Enhanced Damage 15, Penetrating 15.
Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Power Attack, Teamwork, Trance, Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Close Combat: Sword 4 (+12), Deception 6 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 8 (+14), Insight 10 (+15), Intimidation 8 (+13), Perception 8 (+13), Persuasion 8 (+13), Treatment 6 (+12).
Offense:
Initiative +10
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 11/6)
Starsword +14 (Close Damage 6)
Hypnosis -- (Perception Range Will 10)
Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 12, Fortitude 11/6, Toughness 11/6, Will 13.
Totals:
Abilities 92 + Powers 58 + Advantages 12 + Skills 29 + Defenses 16 = 207 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 12
Resistance PL: 12
Skill PL: 10
Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Falls In (Non-romantic) Love Easily.
"Where is it that we were together? Who were you that I lived with? The brother. The friend. Darkness, light. Strife and love. Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh, my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining."
Much of the story, notably the end, has already been told. And yet there is still more to tell. There always is.
Gaigoyan -- to use the Albadine version of her name, which her adoptive parents thought similar to the Japanese word for 'shining', Kaguya -- came to Earth almost by accident. Born just as the various Albadine dominions were disintegrating, she was charged by the ruler who had ordered her quickening (but whom she never once thought of as a mother) to seek out all the remaining Albadine colonies throughout charted space and bid them travel to her home world to build the basis of an empire. She found many, and died a bit inside each time the people she had found refused that bidding, for she had other orders for what to do if that happened. Throughout her life, she dreamed of drowning in the green blood she had shed.
There were old accounts of the people visiting the Sol system, and she followed those accounts there. After conducting an orbital survey that revealed no traces of her people on the third planet, she was preparing to depart when her vessel came under attack by robotic vessels from the first planet. She barely survived that clash and the shipwreck that followed it, which brought her down in the land that she would come to know as Nihon. Part of the reason that her eventual "rescue" took so long was her reluctance to call for help, out of fear that her attackers might come again.
Another part, of course, was that she was happy there, for perhaps the first time in her life. She knew that it could never last, that she could never truly be one of these people. Yet she loved them all the same. Not romantically; she had been designed not to know such desires, since the geneforging that had created her people was still unstable, then, and the children born to them were as often Gargun as Albadine, which would never do for the children of the Empress. So her refusal of the suits paid to her by many of the noteworthy of Nihon was sincere, if not perhaps wholly honest.
In time, she took the people she loved most away from that world, and led them to a new one, which she hoped would be far enough away from the madness that the Empress was unleashing. Even after she left Yusei, she never returned to her homeworld, but continued to explore this region of the galaxy. She visited Hasham, and played a role in the formation of the mystic order, but ultimately departed when she could not accept the dualism that they insisted upon. Gaigoyan the Green knew better than most that great good and great evil could exist in the same soul.
When the Albadine came at last to the Imperium, she was waiting, and was embraced by them as a pioneer, honored and kept safe. Some few centuries later, she would become drawn into the Anachronic Calamity, which astounded her. Surely, an ancient wreck such as herself could be of no help in saving reality? Besides, if it was the fate of reality to end in this way, then should this not be accepted without fear or -- and then they told her of how the one called Billie Zane had obtained the Matter Gem.
"If you had claimed it in battle, I would weep but do nothing," she said to the Mind Eater when they met. "If you had stolen it in stealth, I would weep but do nothing. But you tricked my children to think that you were I ... and I shall not weep. Even if the Source forgives you, I will not. Greetings. My parents named me Kaguya-hime. Prepare to die." And with the mightiest blow imaginable, she cut the Matter Gem and the hand that was holding it from her foe. She might have done more, but reclaiming the treasure took priority.
The ending of her tale has already been told. Or has it? For although there was no great angel waiting in the gloom for her soul, her end did not go as unwitnessed as some accounts have claimed. And perhaps, one whose life was given to love will yet be called upon in dark hours to come.
Princess Kaguya -- PL 12
Abilities:
STR 11/6 | STA 11/6 | AGL 6 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 6 | AWE 5 | PRE 5
Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Mental Communication 2 (1 mile)- 8 points
Bonded Starsword: Damage 6, Penetrating 6, Accurate; Easily Removable (-4 points) - 9 points
Longevity: Immunity 1 (aging); Immunity 2 (disease, poison), Limited to Half-effect - 2 points
Mental Powers: Array (31 points)
- Hypnosis: Perception Range Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Insidious, Vision Dependent - 30 points
- Physical Enhancement: Enhanced Stamina 5; Enhanced Strength 5; Sustained Impervious Toughness 6; Sustained Regeneration 5 - 1 point
- Psychic Probe: Cumulative Mind-Reading 10, Subtle - 1 point
- Psychokinesis: Perception Range Move Object 10 (200 tons), Subtle - 1 point
Rarely Used Power Stunt:
Focused Physical Enhancement: Enhanced Damage 15, Penetrating 15.
Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Power Attack, Teamwork, Trance, Uncanny Dodge.
Skills:
Close Combat: Sword 4 (+12), Deception 6 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 8 (+14), Insight 10 (+15), Intimidation 8 (+13), Perception 8 (+13), Persuasion 8 (+13), Treatment 6 (+12).
Offense:
Initiative +10
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 11/6)
Starsword +14 (Close Damage 6)
Hypnosis -- (Perception Range Will 10)
Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 12, Fortitude 11/6, Toughness 11/6, Will 13.
Totals:
Abilities 92 + Powers 58 + Advantages 12 + Skills 29 + Defenses 16 = 207 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 12
Resistance PL: 12
Skill PL: 10
Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Falls In (Non-romantic) Love Easily.
"Where is it that we were together? Who were you that I lived with? The brother. The friend. Darkness, light. Strife and love. Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh, my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining."
Davies
Legend
Johnny Wasted
Before 1977, if anyone had told twenty-one year old John Schneider that he would one day be a hero ... he would have been thrilled. However, his idea of a hero was largely shaped by his favorite movie, Easy Rider, which he had first snuck into a theatre to see when he was fifteen, and then actually paid to watch whenever he had the opportunity. Idolizing its lead character, "Captain Courage", he hoped to one day ride across America on a motorcycle. (That the journey of Captain Courage apparently ends in his violent death did not really register to him.)
Unfortunately (for him at least) that dream was still far out of reach for him, with the problem of obtaining a motorcycle and holding onto it yet unsolved, when his life went off on a completely different path. Struck down by a large dose of the mutating fallout from the final battle of Alphatron and El Imán, he lay as one dead for four days, with the coroner concluding that the mutations he had suffered had been too severe for him to survive. As he was being buried in the potter's field, however, he regained consciousness within the coffin and blasted his way out of it with the first use of the energy beam he could now project from his left eye.
In addition to that strange talent, which he had to keep his eye closed to avoid using, he found himself largely without the various weaknesses of the flesh. That had its upsides and a few downsides. The biggest downside, from his own perspective, was that he was no longer affected, at all, by recreational drugs. Without that, what was the point of his grand dreams of following in the path of Captain Courage? (He also soon found out that while he was hard to injure, he could only heal from those injuries he did suffer by eating raw meat. Fortunately, it could be any sort of raw meat, instead of ... well, you know, people.)
This might have been the birth of a supervillain, not a hero, if not for two factors. The first was that Johnny Wasted, as he soon started calling himself, lacked both the imagination and the initiative to engage in serious crimes now that his ability to enjoy the proceeds of them was greatly diminished. (He often commented that he was still kind of "brain dead", and his eventual allies often noted that he suffered from frequent memory lapses.) The other factor was the friendship he struck up with Red Rachel, a partially robotic entity who appeared in Denver after the explosion. They bonded over their mutual inhumanity, but Rachel strove to act as a protector and dragged Johnny into that scene as well.
The two of them helped to form the Mile High Marauders in 1983, and remained with the team right up until it broke up in 1991. While their personal relationship went through many ups and downs during that time, they chose to remain together as they rode away from Denver in a motorcycle and sidecar. Rumors claimed that they had been captured by the Pythons soon after their departure, but if so it seems likely that they escaped captivity some time after the fall of Delphi and went into hiding.
They were next seen in New Orleans during the attack by Cerebron, which they helped to resist. Unfortunately, Rachel suffered damage that left her inoperative, and while Johnny insisted that she would be fine, he was apparently unable to find anyone who could repair her systems. When Gideon Gold sought him out in 2005, Johnny was living outside Krotz Springs, Louisiana, not far from where the climax of Easy Rider was shot, and tending to what he referred to as her grave. He agreed to help Gold to establish a new Grim Brigade, but stated that he would not stick around for too long.
That truer than he knew, for he was, like the rest of his team, killed during the coup attempt less than a year later. After an extended period to make sure that he would not be coming back a third time, he was buried beside the grave in Krotz Springs. A small memorial was eventually established, though it has frequently been defaced by local youth who neither know nor care about those who lie here. For reasons she declines to explain, Liz Leeds of Heroic Enterprises spends a day each month cleaning the site up.
Johnny Wasted -- PL 9
Abilities:
STR 5 | STA -- | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 6 | INT -1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers:
Eyebeam: Ranged Attack 9, Accurate 4 - 22 points
Walking Corpse: Immunity 50 (Fortitude effects, mental effects); Impervious Protection 8; Regeneration 2, Source (raw meat) - 67 points
Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Takedown Attack.
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+11), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+7), Intimidation 6 (+9), Stealth 6 (+8), Vehicles 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 5)
Eyebeam +9 (Ranged Damage 9)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 10, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 6
Totals:
Abilities 28 + Powers 89 + Advantages 5 + Skills 18 + Defenses 14 = 154 points
Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 5
Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Brain Dead (difficulty retaining "new" information.) Hideous Appearance. Poor Depth Perception.
Before 1977, if anyone had told twenty-one year old John Schneider that he would one day be a hero ... he would have been thrilled. However, his idea of a hero was largely shaped by his favorite movie, Easy Rider, which he had first snuck into a theatre to see when he was fifteen, and then actually paid to watch whenever he had the opportunity. Idolizing its lead character, "Captain Courage", he hoped to one day ride across America on a motorcycle. (That the journey of Captain Courage apparently ends in his violent death did not really register to him.)
Unfortunately (for him at least) that dream was still far out of reach for him, with the problem of obtaining a motorcycle and holding onto it yet unsolved, when his life went off on a completely different path. Struck down by a large dose of the mutating fallout from the final battle of Alphatron and El Imán, he lay as one dead for four days, with the coroner concluding that the mutations he had suffered had been too severe for him to survive. As he was being buried in the potter's field, however, he regained consciousness within the coffin and blasted his way out of it with the first use of the energy beam he could now project from his left eye.
In addition to that strange talent, which he had to keep his eye closed to avoid using, he found himself largely without the various weaknesses of the flesh. That had its upsides and a few downsides. The biggest downside, from his own perspective, was that he was no longer affected, at all, by recreational drugs. Without that, what was the point of his grand dreams of following in the path of Captain Courage? (He also soon found out that while he was hard to injure, he could only heal from those injuries he did suffer by eating raw meat. Fortunately, it could be any sort of raw meat, instead of ... well, you know, people.)
This might have been the birth of a supervillain, not a hero, if not for two factors. The first was that Johnny Wasted, as he soon started calling himself, lacked both the imagination and the initiative to engage in serious crimes now that his ability to enjoy the proceeds of them was greatly diminished. (He often commented that he was still kind of "brain dead", and his eventual allies often noted that he suffered from frequent memory lapses.) The other factor was the friendship he struck up with Red Rachel, a partially robotic entity who appeared in Denver after the explosion. They bonded over their mutual inhumanity, but Rachel strove to act as a protector and dragged Johnny into that scene as well.
The two of them helped to form the Mile High Marauders in 1983, and remained with the team right up until it broke up in 1991. While their personal relationship went through many ups and downs during that time, they chose to remain together as they rode away from Denver in a motorcycle and sidecar. Rumors claimed that they had been captured by the Pythons soon after their departure, but if so it seems likely that they escaped captivity some time after the fall of Delphi and went into hiding.
They were next seen in New Orleans during the attack by Cerebron, which they helped to resist. Unfortunately, Rachel suffered damage that left her inoperative, and while Johnny insisted that she would be fine, he was apparently unable to find anyone who could repair her systems. When Gideon Gold sought him out in 2005, Johnny was living outside Krotz Springs, Louisiana, not far from where the climax of Easy Rider was shot, and tending to what he referred to as her grave. He agreed to help Gold to establish a new Grim Brigade, but stated that he would not stick around for too long.
That truer than he knew, for he was, like the rest of his team, killed during the coup attempt less than a year later. After an extended period to make sure that he would not be coming back a third time, he was buried beside the grave in Krotz Springs. A small memorial was eventually established, though it has frequently been defaced by local youth who neither know nor care about those who lie here. For reasons she declines to explain, Liz Leeds of Heroic Enterprises spends a day each month cleaning the site up.
Johnny Wasted -- PL 9
Abilities:
STR 5 | STA -- | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 6 | INT -1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers:
Eyebeam: Ranged Attack 9, Accurate 4 - 22 points
Walking Corpse: Immunity 50 (Fortitude effects, mental effects); Impervious Protection 8; Regeneration 2, Source (raw meat) - 67 points
Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Takedown Attack.
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+11), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+7), Intimidation 6 (+9), Stealth 6 (+8), Vehicles 6 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 5)
Eyebeam +9 (Ranged Damage 9)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 10, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 6
Totals:
Abilities 28 + Powers 89 + Advantages 5 + Skills 18 + Defenses 14 = 154 points
Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 5
Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Brain Dead (difficulty retaining "new" information.) Hideous Appearance. Poor Depth Perception.
Also the third factor of him being of a very non-malicious nature.
Davies
Legend
Good point. The final version will note that he was never a violent criminal to begin with.
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