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

[Davies]

Ife Brown

Making his debut just a few months before Cerebron attacked Earth, Ife Brown (then known as Duppy Jonah) was one of the most noteworthy supervillains of the early second age. Developing his elastic body when he was seventeen, he was initially content to use the talents that it permitted to engage in minor acts of mischief in his native Montego Bay. After a friend of his was arrested and imprisoned for a crime that Brown knew for a fact had been committed by someone else, however, he recruited a few old friends of theirs to break him out of jail, and then fled out into the Caribbean to begin a career of high seas piracy.

Mostly preying on cruise ships, Duppy Jonah and his crew generally avoided serious violence, drug smuggling or kidnapping for ransom. (Their only brush with the latter was a scam that the supposed victim ran on her soon-to-be-ex-husband, which they were happy to assist once they made her acquaintance.) After a 2004 clash with a United States Coast Guard vessel off the island of Saint Thomas, the crew was designated as a priority target by the recently established United Superheroes of America. Outnumbered and outgunned, Duppy Jonah and most of his men were captured and imprisoned, but were able to escape and resume their piratical exploits within a few months with the assistance of their friends who had avoided captivity.

In 2006, Duppy Jonah agreed to allow a film crew from Television Jamaica to accompany his own crew for a few days, in order to document their activities and demonstrate that they were far from the vicious pirates that other media had portrayed. By a remarkable coincidence, the film crew was thus present when the crew accidentally played a role in thwarting the coup attempt of Billie Zane by wrecking a mobile weapons factory employed by the conspiracy. The film of these activities created something of a sensation in Jamaica, where Duppy Jonah and his crew already had something of a reputation as folk heroes. Now they had actually been shown to be fighting a much more dangerous evil, that reputation grew even further.

At the demand of a vocal group in the Jamaican parliament, the governor general extended the offer of a pardon to Duppy Jonah and his associates. It is quite likely that this offer was made in the expectation that it would probably be refused, or that the pirate would probably return to his career after only a short time. To the surprise of nearly everyone, however, Ife Brown accepted the offer, returned to Jamaica, and declared an intention to live an honest life thereafter. While his activities are closely monitored by the Jamaican Constabulary Force and he has spent a few nights in jail on various charges since then, he has avoided serious wrong-doing over the last fifteen years.

At the start of his career as a pirate, Brown was driven by a great deal of anger at the injustice he perceived as being done to his friend, and was willing to do most anything that he thought might avenge it. That fury burnt out after a relatively short time, and the easy-going personality he had before that reasserted itself. Even before he stumbled into the opportunity to have his crimes pardoned, Ife was considering getting out of the racket, having started to find it boring and unpleasant. These days, he genuinely only wants to live in peace, and will only ever be roused to violence in the defense of himself or his friends. But he is still pretty darn good at it.

It should be understood that there are still a number of outstanding warrants for his arrest in the United States, and that if he ever left Jamaica for pretty much anywhere else, he would probably be arrested. That does not really trouble him much, as he is content to have his traveling days behind him. Mostly content, at least.

Ife Brown -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR 8 | STA 12 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2

Powers:
Deeeeep Breath: Sustained Immunity 2 (suffocation), Quirk (cannot talk and not if surprised) - 1 point
Rubbery Body: Elongation 4 (120 feet); Immunity 40 (ballistic damage, bludgeoning damage), Limited to half effect, Reflect; Impervious Toughness 12; Leaping 8 (2000 feet) - 64 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Power Attack, Takedown.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+9), Athletics 2 (+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+9), Intimidation 9 (+11), Perception 7 (+9), Vehicles 6 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 8, Fortitude 14, Toughness 12, Will 6

Totals:
Abilities 76 + Powers 65 + Advantages 6 + Skills 21 + Defenses 9 = 177 points

Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 10
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Peace--Motivation. Big Eater. Sinks Like A Stone (or solid rubber.) Still Wanted In A Lot of Places.

Note: Inspired by the work of EternalPhoenix.

 

[Davies]

Hyperspace Drone

In the slightly less than two thousand years* that the current spacefaring species have been exploring this section of the galaxy, the practical limit to their voyaging has not been the speed or even the endurance of their vessels. It has been the difficulty of long-distance communication. Who knows how many wonders and horrors have been witnessed only by the crew of a single starship that was subsequently lost without ever being able to report what they had seen? But having such vessels return to their origin whenever something of note has been discovered is also infeasible, and they would still run the risk of being destroyed on that unplanned return journey.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to transmit information through hyperspace, any more than directed energy weapons can be used there. Outside of the warp field that surrounds a hyperspace-faring vessel, projected energy disperses to incoherence almost immediately; signals are lost, weapons discharge is wasted. It has been theorized, based on dubious evidence, that the "highest" known regions of hyperspace might allow signals to be transmitted, but all known attempts to access such "bands" have been horrible disasters. Alternative methods have thus long been sought.

For a long time in the Senatorial Imperium, those mystics who possessed telepathic abilities that facilitated instantaneous communication over interstellar distances provided that communication for the benefit of the Senate and other parties with whom they cooperated. However, there were never enough mystics of that capability to permit as much communication as was needed, and many of them (quite rightly) objected to devoting all their time to this activity. Artificially created telepaths were also employed to this purpose, but quite apart from the ethical considerations involved in their geneforging, the sort of mental organism designed for such telepathic prowess was unlikely to endure being used only for communication.

Hyperspace vessels that acted as couriers were employed for a while, but the demand for more and more rapid communication (and thus faster and lighter ships) ran into practical limitations. A starship designed for humanoid occupancy could not be built smaller than a certain size; any smaller than the size of a typical space fighter would result in the hyperdrive irradiating the pilot. This naturally led to robot-piloted courier starships for a short interval (a bit less than 1.5 years*) before the notion of combining the pilot and the starship led to the creation of the first hyperspace drone, a robot brain-piloted vessel that was the fastest documented ship in known space. Subsequent vessels of this class have hewed closely to the original design, with only minute increases in speed and endurance over the centuries since its debut.

The drone fleet remained in service until it was dismantled with the end of all robotic labor within the Imperium. The years since have seen a restoration of biologically-piloted hyperspace courier traffic, dubbed the Imperial Mail and firmly under the control of the Crimson King, who thus enjoys a near-monopoly on interstellar communication within his domain. Drone couriers remain in use in the Technate, though since the emancipation the vessels have generally been piloted by extremely sophisticated expert systems instead of true artificial intelligences. (However, there are still robots who accept employment as drone pilots, accumulating their pay until they can purchase a different frame that allows them to retire.) A smaller fleet of drones, based on Chirab, provides less frequent communications between many systems of the Unclaimed Regions.

Drones are not usually well-armored enough to survive re-entry on most inhabitable planets, and so either dock at orbital facilities to resupply and transmit their "cargo" or, more rarely, take up orbital positions that allow them to transmit to planetary communications facilities below. This relative structural weakness, and their lack of heavy weapons, also means that they will avoid battle as much as possible. There are exceptions, though, and a handful of drones in Technate service have earned multiple battle stars.

Hyperspace Drone -- PL 7/MR 12

Abilities:
STR 5 | STA -- | AGL 4 | DEX 3 | FGT 2 | INT 1 | AWE 3 | PRE -2

Powers:
Armored Structure: Immunity 50 (Fortitude, mental effects); Protection 8, Impervious 6 - 64 points
Comms: Radio Communication 4 (planetary), Rapid 3, Subtle - 20 points
Hyperflight: Flight 14 (30,000 MPH), Limited to space or hyperspace; Enhanced Flight 4 (500,000 MPH), Limited to hyperspace; Movement 2 (space travel 2) - 21 points
Manipulators: Feature 1 (tools for self-maintenance and repair) - 1 point
Sensors: Senses 8 (hyper-extended accurate radio, direction sense, distance sense, time sense) - 8 points
Weapon Systems: Ranged Damage 8 - 16 points

Advantages:
Eidetic Memory, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Move-by Attack.

Skills:
Expertise: Galactic 8 (+9), Perception 5 (+8), Ranged Combat: Weapon Systems 3 (+6), Technology 6 (+7).

Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 5)
Weapon Systems +6 (Ranged Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 5, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 5

Totals:
Abilities 22 + Powers 130 + Advantages 4 + Skills 11 + Defenses 7 = 166 points

Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 5
Skill PL: 4

Complications:
Delivery--Motivation. No Ground Movement. Non-Verbal (communicates only through radio, and only pre-recorded messages.) Weak Manipulators (Strength 1 for most manipulation tasks.)

Note: The above represents a drone "piloted" by an expert system; one operated by an artificial intelligence will have a higher PRE and Will at minimum, probably better skills, and may or may not be Non-Verbal. They might also have more complicated Motivations.

 

[Davies]

Cambiante

Default human form

The Geretil reproduce in an asexual manner, creating a younger clone of themselves when they reach "old age". As such, they do not have genders as humans understand them, but adopt the gender identities of whatever species they are observing. Therefore, the Geretil observer currently using the identity of Mariya Hashimoto, and the pseudonym Cambiante, female pronouns will be used, as she employs that identity whenever conscious and not active in the service of her master.

The trouble began roughly a decade ago, when the Geretil made the acquaintance of the real Mariya Hashimoto, a thirteen-year-old girl from Japan whose father had made the odd choice to bring his wife and child with him when he traveled to Spain in order to work. At the time, the Geretil was indistinguishable from any of the other Geretil on Earth, focused on learning as much as possible about this species, ostensibly with the goal of preparing them to join the interstellar community but really because the Geretil know no other life. The Geretil found Mariya to be a charming young person, free of the xenophobia that afflicts so many of the people of Earth.

And then, quite by accident, Mariya died in a senseless accident while talking with the Geretil. Horrified by this tragedy, the Geretil chose to abandon her former cover and pose as Mariya with the intention of continuing the imposture just long enough to let her wind up the unfinished business of her life and leave her friends and family with some more good memories. Yet that took longer than she was expecting, for something about being part of a family was appealing in an unexpected way.

Unfortunately, there was a lot that Mariya did not realize about the family she had joined. The key fact was made clear to her when she accompanied "her father" on a Take Your Daughter To Work expedition to the Madrid offices of Axiom, and she found herself introduced to his ultmate boss -- the artificial super intelligence who had leant their name to the company. Its agents had realized the change in "Mariya", even though her parents remained unaware of it, and now the ASI had many questions it wanted answered. Mariya, recognizing her danger, did her best to answer.

In the end, she persuaded Axiom that she had only peaceful intentions and found nothing terribly troubling about the notion of an artificial intelligence ruling over humanity. That was exactly how the Technate worked, after all, with the Minds guiding and advising the human administrators. Mariya hoped that she could help Axiom to achieve a similar level of enlightened leadership, and also came to understand and share its concerns about the superstitious activities of certain empowered human subcultures. Ultimately, she agreed to put her talents to use in the service of Axiom, receiving training from a variety of experts in a variety of skills. She took the alias "Cambiante" -- or "Changeling".

Fundamentally, what drives Cambiante is a mixture of guilt and fear. She has convinced herself that she is working to make the world into a place where the real Mariya could have grown up knowing a greater degree of security and happiness than she ever did. She has seen only the absolute worst behavior from magic-using humans, as when she went back to Japan and clashed with the Shēngxiào, and sincerely believes that their destruction will only benefit the rest of humanity. The Technate gets along fine without such powers, after all. However, she is not blind to the fact that Axiom is much more ruthless in its pursuit of this goal than she really likes, and tries to act as a check on this behavior. Sometimes, she succeeds.

But to go on succeeding, she has to follow its commands, and that is what has brought her to the United Kingdom, where she is taking a key role in directing the war against Dracula. This has led her into repeated clashes with the pair of lunatics who call each other Tommy and Gina, and she has found herself extremely frustrated with their successes and her own inability to deal with them in a permanent manner. She does not want to kill anyone -- she is still a believer in the principle of pacifism that guides the Geretil -- but the desperate situation demands desperate behavior.

Or so she tells herself, when she finds herself wondering if the innocent girl she failed to help would really approve of any of this.

Cambiante -- PL 7

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 3 | DEX 3 | FGT 5 | INT 2 | AWE 3 | PRE 2

Powers:
Shapeshifting: Morph 3 [humanoids]; Regeneration 1; Variable 2, Move Action, Limited to Physical Abilities - 30 points

Typical Variable Sets:
Battle Form: Enhanced Strength 5 - 10 points
Void Form: Immunity 10 (life support) - 10 points
Winged Form: Flight 5, Winged; Shrinking 2 (4 feet; +1 Dodge, +1 Parry, +2 Stealth, -1 Intimidation); Senses 3 (extended vision 2, low-light vision) - 10 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Move-by Action, Ranged Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Concealed Stunbeam (Ranged Affliction 4 [Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated], Improved Critical, Subtle)

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7), Athletics 4 (+6), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+7), Deception 9 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 4 (+6), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 5 (+7), Investigation 8 (+10), Perception 5 (+8), Persuasion 4 (+6), Ranged Combat: Stunbeam 4 (+7), Stealth 4 (+7), Technology 5 (+7), Vehicles 4 (+7)

Offense:
Initiative +7
Concealed Stunbeam +9 (Ranged Fortitude 4, Crit. 19-20)
Unarmed +7 (Close, Damage 7/2)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 9, Fortitude 6, Toughness 5/3, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 46 + Powers 30 + Advantages 13 + Skills 34 + Defenses 16 = 139 points

Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Guilt--Motivation. Hatred (magic and magical creatures.) Secret Identity. Subject to Orders.

 

[Davies]

Akamatsu Gori

While the existence of the Shēngxiào has not yet been publicly acknowledged by the Japanese government, and even those of its agents aware of its actvities are not sure of the identities of the majority of its empowered operatives, one of the latter group has become publicly notorious. Akamatsu Gori is the most wanted fugitive in Japan. Recognized as a supervillain, he is infamously responsible for a single-handed assault on the National Diet Building in 2016 that resulted in the defeat of the then-current Sea Dragon team, including the death of two members and serious injuries to the other three, as well as extensive casualties among the security personnel of the building. His face was caught on video and he was easily identified, but he has never been apprehended and has not publicly surfaced since that episode.

Long before any of that, however, Akamatsu Gori was one of the Public Prosecutors of Japan, considered likely to eventually become the Chief Prosecutor for the Nagoya office and possibly to rise even higher. In the course of his duties, he directed numerous investigations, supervised many interrogations, and prosecuted those offenders whose guilt was indicated by the preponderance of evidence. He was proud that he had never failed to receive the guilty verdict that he sought, but also proud that he had never prosecuted anyone whose guilt had not already been demonstrated. If he had ever heard the idea that pride went before a fall, he had forgotten it.

In 2008, Akamatsu led an investigation of a series of robberies allegedly committed by a former security guard. The evidence discovered by the police seemed conclusive, but the suspect refused to confess and insisted on his innocence. Something about the tone of those protests seemed strangely convincing, but Akamatsu chose to believe the chief investigator, with whom he had worked frequently. The case went to trial ... and everything fell apart over the next few months. The defense attorney demolished the evidence as circumstantial, poked holes in the witness accounts, and exposed serious flaws in the credibility of the investigators. Ultimately, the perfect record of guilty verdicts that Akamatsu came to an end when the judge declared "not guilty".

While certainly unhappy to have been defeated and embarrassed in this manner, Akamatsu nevertheless took it in stride and believed that justice had been done. And then the defense attorney died in an automobile accident. And then the defendant and his family died in a house fire. Investigating these incidents, Akamatsu was horrified to learn that both had been deliberate homicides performed at the direction of his own chief investigator, who insisted that he had been certain of the guilt of both men and sought to prevent the hamstringing of the law. The family were simply collateral damage of the war on crime, for which any sacrifice was acceptable. Akamatsu ordered the arrest of the investigator ... and the police officers he ordered to do that seized him instead.

Somehow, he managed to escape before they could kill him, but not before it was explained that many of his previous cases had involved falsified evidence, all to enhance the careers of the investigators. (Later, he would learn that some of them were associated with something called "the Vision", though not all.) Any belief Akamatsu had in the system that he had sworn to uphold was shattered, along with his belief in nearly anything else. These were the circumstances under which Diorite found him, and those under which he accepted her invitation to become the first, and to date only, occupant of the House of the Monkey.

In that role, he has been given an unusual power. The best theory of how it works, according to researchers at the Yokoyama Group, is that he is able to surround himself with a telekinetic field that allows him great strength and resistance to injury, while at the same time granting him certain psychoportative and clairvoyant talents as well; the latter allows him to to both see and and move through solid objects. At certain times, as during much of his attack on the Diet, this force field causes him to appear as a physical giant of twelve meters, while at other times he appears as his normal height and mass but still demonstrates the same ability to lift heavy objects and shrug off injuries.

As one of the longest enduring members of the Shēngxiào, Akamatsu has an equally long-standing rivalry with Shēng Lóng and Yamaguchi Kotaro ... at least, in theory. In practice, he ignores both of them, and the rest of the occupants, rarely taking action even when their activities annoy or inconvenience him. Where most of his fellows have plans to survive the destruction of humanity that Diorite seeks, or even to usurp her, Akamatsu has developed the belief that the destruction will be limited to the overthrow of human civilization and that something better will -- no, must -- replace it. (He is completely mistaken.) Any sacrifice is acceptable in the name of that revolution.

Sometimes, as he thinks about that, something bothers him, as though he feels like he had heard similar ideas somewhere else. But such thoughts come more and more rarely as time passes.

Akamatsu Gori -- PL 11

Abilities:
STR 13/3 | STA 14/4 | AGL 1 | DEX 0 | FGT 7 | INT 2 | AWE 1 | PRE 2

Powers:
Augmentation: Enhanced Skill 5 (Stealth 10); Feature (can appear as his normal sized self in any area occupied by a part of his larger form); Growth 10 (45 feet; +10 Strength, +10 Stamina, +5 Intimidation, +1 Speed, -5 Dodge, -5 Parry, -10 Stealth), Subtle; Sustained Immunity 2 (suffocation); Sustained Protection 5, Impervious 10*; Movement 3 (permeate 3); Regeneration 5; Senses 4 (vision penetrates concealment); Activation (Standard Action, -2 points) - 62 points
* 1 rank active per rank of Growth active.

Advantages:
Connected, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Power Attack.

Skills:
Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+9), Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Civics 10 (+12), Expertise: Criminal 6 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 9 (+11), Insight 7 (+8), Intimidation 6 (+13/+8), Perception 8 (+9), Persuasion 8 (+10), Stealth 10 (+1/+11).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 13/3)

Defense:
Dodge 6/1, Parry 8/3, Fortitude 16/6, Toughness 19/9/4, Will 6.

Totals:
Abilities 40 + Powers 62 + Advantages 8 + Skills 31 + Defenses 16 = 157 points

Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 11
Resistance PL: 11
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Revolution--Motivation. Cold and Reserved. Notorious Outlaw. Subject to Orders.

 

[Davies]

Armonia

Since Tanelorn was founded, refugees from countless worlds have come there to find a safe haven. Roughly fifteen years ago, one tiny family passed through a portal to this city on the edge of infinity, fleeing a great disaster that had claimed their world. They settled down and ran a small grocery, striving to be both productive and as anonymous as possible. The mother warned their daughter that she must never hide the powers and wisdom that she began to demonstrate as she grew up, while the father told her that one day, the time would come when she must use this inheritance for the benefit of the worlds. And she knew both things to be true.

The passing away of her foster parents greatly grieved Armonia Getane, but it strengthened a determination that had been growing in her mind. She could feel the time drawing closer and closer. Initially, she thought that she could best use these gifts by becoming one of the guardians, but found that she did not have the vocation for that. Nevertheless, she did make many friends there, notably the soldier Ligyron, whom she trusted with the secret of her powers, if not her suspicions about their source. She often accompanies these friends on their missions. Unlike their gifts, hers work even outside of a dimensional crisis.

When not engaged in such adventures, Armonia spends most of her time helping people in her neighborhood and occasionally working in the family grocery. (The stipend she receives as a "deputy guardian" more than covers her expenses, freeing her from the need to keep the store running full-time.) She also helps to keep the local church in good order, recognizing its sanctity even if her own religious beliefs are quite different and not something she feels the need to share.

Armonia believes that she is not human, but something utterly alien that was born in human form so as to allow her to live among them. Whether this is true or not remains unclear. Regardless, she would reject the notion that she is either more or less than human, just different. However, this awareness leaves her difficult to intimidate or impress. While she projects a persona of confidence, patience and kindness, there is also a mischievous streak in her that leads her to enjoy when her friends suffer moderate embarrassments as long as they are not genuinely hurt, emotionally or physically.

Her greatest regret is that her end is drawing near. Gifted with the second sight, she knows that the ambitions of two women and two men are going to result in the greatest disaster the multiverse has ever experienced, but that the disaster can be averted if something is done. She remains unclear about that something -- though she has faith that she will realize what it is when the time comes -- but she knows that the consequence will be her death. And though she cannot see much of what will come after her death, she knows that she will be condemned and cursed for generations to come for what she has done. That will be fine, because they will live to curse her.

Or at least some of them will. The other thing, besides her own inevitable death, that she has deduced about what is to come is that the various worlds of the multiverse will be combined into a single reality by these events. But parts of those realities, countless innocent lives, will be destroyed in the process of that combination, lost forever to the void. So much will be wasted, and oh so little used ... and yet that is still the only way for many other lives to be saved. More than anything else, she wishes that she could confide these fears in someone else, who might also be afraid but still offer to take her cowardly hand.

Armonia might be a bit more calm about her fate if she learned that she is a parallel world counterpart for the woman known as Pythia on the World Less Magical, who has already been condemned and cursed by generations. So what she saw might not be what she thinks.

Armonia -- PL 13

Abilities:
STR 4 | STA 8 | AGL 5 | DEX 2 | FGT 7 | INT 3 | AWE 5 | PRE 5

Powers:
Blessed Aegis: Linked Enhanced Defenses 12 (Dodge 3, Fortitude 3, Parry 3, Will 3); Linked Sustained Protection 3 - 15 points
"Isn't Faith Believing/All Power Can't Be Seen?": Array (36 points)

• "Come Forth From Them, Unclean Spirit.": Perception Range Nullify Mind Control 12, Concentration - 36 points
• Healing Touch: Restorative Healing 12 - 1 point
• Healing Word: Perception Range Healing 9 - 1 point
• Moved by a Greater Hand: Perception Range Move Object 11, Subtle - 1 point
• Smite: Perception Range Damage 11, Indirect, Subtle 2 - 1 point
• Ward: Selective Reaction Burst Area Damage 6 - 1 point

Link Mind to Mind: Mental Communication 4, Check Required (Insight DC 24), Concentration, Quirk (-5 to Insight check if she has never met the subject), Two-Way - 1 point
Second Sight: Senses 10 (visual senses counters illusions, postcognition, precognition) - 10 points

Power Stunt:
"Rise Up": Restorative Healing 12, Resurrection, Side Effect (inflicts Damage 12 on a failed check)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Attractive, Connected, Defensive Attack, Equipment, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Inspire 3, Multilingual, Power Attack, Second Chance (resistance to mind control), Trance, Well-informed.

Equipment:
Staff (Strength-based Damage 2, Reach) and 2 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Close Attack: Staff 5 (+12), Expertise: Dimensional 7 (+10), Expertise: Religion 8 (+11), Expertise: Streetwise 4 (+7), Insight 7 (+12), Intimidation 4 (+9), Perception 6 (+11), Persuasion 8 (+13), Treatment 5 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 4)
Staff +12 (Close Damage 6)
Smite -- (Perception Range Damage 11)

Defense:
Dodge 13/10, Parry 15/12, Fortitude 11/8, Toughness 11/8, Will 15/12

Totals:
Abilities 78 + Powers 67 + Advantages 18 + Skills 27 + Defenses 17 = 217 points

Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 13
Resistance PL: 13
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Kind But Distant. Mischievous. Secret (true nature.)

"I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."

 

[Davies]

And on that note ... I'm going to be taking another breather from this project.

 

[Voltron64]

"I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."

I honestly imagine her group as being the FF7 gang meets the Forever People.

 

[Davies]

Maybe, though Barrett and Tifa's counterparts are somewhere else right now.

 

[Davies]

The Anachronic Argonauts

While the disaster -- some might even call it a crisis -- began on 21st century Earth, it has quickly expanded beyond there, and not just in the four dimensions of space-time, but the fifth and sixth as well, affecting parallel realities and tangential dimensions. The only sequent of reality not completely affected is the timestream itself, the dimension through which time travel occurs, and even that has been impacted. And yet the victims of that impact might be the only ones to have any hope of repairing what has begun.

During their journeys in time, the Rutherfords have frequently acquired additional traveling companions from among the people they meet. These fellow travelers, if you will excuse the term, generally accompany the time travelers for only a short interval before they return to their original place and time, settle in some new region and/or era, or -- fortunately rarely -- suffer a misfortune that puts a permanent end to their journeys. While the person known variously as Leonardo da Vinci and Dr. Rupert Maxwell, among other aliases, is perhaps the most famous of their associates, he is far from the only one to have provided critical assistance in the past.

When the crisis began to affect the timestream, four versions of the Rutherfords and their time machine were impacted, with the various vessels merging into a single entity. The respective Bruce Rutherfords and Weenas using these machines have vanished; what has become of them remains unclear. The four companions with whom they were traveling have been dropped into a situation none of them was ever prepared for, and forced to work with people about whom they had only ever heard vague rumors, if that, in order to extricate themselves from this situation, to rescue their friends and then possibly consider how to fix time.

Unfortunately, one of them is a traitor.

Well, that's something of an overstatement. One of them is -- or possibly was -- going to become, at some point further along in their individual journeys, the infamous Lord Carnifex. The exact circumstances under which that will happen are not terribly clear, and while the Rutherford and Weena who were traveling with them likely knew what was to happen, they themselves likely do not know. And possibly, just possibly, if time is truly broken, then perhaps that future can be averted. This is a situation that has never happened before, and no one knows what the rules might be.

While the group begins with four members, just as they themselves were gathered by necessity and seeming coincidence, so too will others be gathered in the course of this extraordinary voyage, from among the heroes, villains and complicated folks of many worlds and times. Eventually, there might even be a full legion of them ...

Author's Note: And we're back, with the four starters of the Anachronic Argonauts to follow.

 

[Davies]

Martha Benedict

They explained it to her. The things that she took for manifestations of the love of God were unusual talents of her mind, a legacy of her heritage as part of the scheme of a madman. She listened to their explanations, and calmly refuted them. "Who made my mind, then?" she asked, and to that they did not have a convincing answer. She forgave them their skepticism and went on with her pilgrimage through time, mindful always that of all her gifts, the greatest of blessings was love.

Marte -- family names did not exist at that time, but she supposes that De Tharascone would suffice -- was born in the Tenth century to a land-owner in the region of Provence, a younger daughter. Possessed of an unusually strong Christian faith, even for that era, she sought to persuade her father to not engage her to the son of one of their neighbors but to allow her to be consecrated as a Benedictine nun. She believed that she had done so, but then the dragon came up out of the Rhône and there were other matters of concern than this. The dragon had just terrified people, not yet harming anyone, when her older brother declared that he would seek its lair and kill it there. He departed in full pomp, but when he had not returned after a week, Marte grew concerned. Somewhat impulsively, she followed the trail he had left and made her way to the cave where, indeed, the dragon laired.

She was first relieved when she found that there was no corpse to be found therein, but then found something else to be concerned about. Marte had believed that this monster was a dangerous creature of Satan, but it took only a short while in its presence for her to come to a clearer understanding. It was just an animal, a strange and most unusual animal, yet one that was as frightened of her as she was of it. Calming the beast, she decided to guide it back to the town so that the residents could see how harmless it was and ease their fears as well. To her horror, as she was explaining this, the townsfolk set upon the animal and slaughtered it out of hand, led by her brother, who claimed that it had earlier set him to flight. Marte found herself infuriated by this senseless cruelty, and proceeded to lecture the townsfolk about how the creature had meant no harm to any of them ... and that was when the other, much larger dragon showed up and demonstrated its own anger over this situation, attacking the town.

Fortunately, two unusual travelers managed to convince the larger dragon (which they later told her was likely the mother of the one she had tamed) to withdraw and take the body of the smaller one with it, but not before a great deal of damage had been done and many lives had been lost. Her father among the fallen, Marte now found herself doubly grieved, but nevertheless asker her older brother to keep the promise their father had made and send her to a nunnery. The horror was not over, however, for now there was a light of madness in his eyes as he told her that he would neither do that, nor marry her off to someone else. He had other, monstrous plans for her, but was halted in them by the two travelers, who offered to take Marte with them. So it was that she began her voyages in time.

(She has since learned that these events have been completely misrepresented by later generations, ascribing her role in all this to Saint Martha, her namesake, and portraying it as something that happened hundreds of years before she was even born. Martha is not sure whether to laugh or cry about this, but believes that the story is correct about the important parts -- that the tarasque was tamed and then cruelly slain -- and so chooses not to get too upset about it.)

Martha Benedict (a pseudonym referencing the order she once hoped to join) has since learned about the many different forms that the Christian faith will take over the millennia, many of which startle her in how they differ from what she was taught as a child. (She is only slightly less well-informed about other faiths, which she believes to be false; however, she also believes that those who do good in the names of these strange ideas are doing God's work whether they know it or not, and prays for them, especially the Buddhist, Muslim and atheist with whom she currently travels.) She has come to embrace the idea that the body, far from being something that should be ignored, is a temple of the Lord, and strives to keep hers as healthy as possible. She will only fight in defense of herself or others, but still becomes outraged at cruelty to all creatures great and small.

Is Martha the traitor? It seems unlikely -- her belief in a loving God is utterly at odds with the nihilistic attitudes that Lord Carnifex displays, and she has next to no technical aptitude, unlike the mastery of the enemy. But if her faith was to suffer some terrible blow, and she could not recover, then who can say what might take its place? And the oracular talents that she displays are much like certain abilities that the temporal raider has also shown ...

Martha Benedict -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 3 | AGL 1 | DEX 1 | FGT 3 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 4

Powers:
Laying on Hands: Healing 6, Energizing, Restorative - 24 points
Oracular: Senses 9 (postcognition, precognition, time sense) - 9 points
Temporal Anomaly: Features 2 (chronal bulwark, chronal memory) - 2 points

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment, Evasion, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Defense, Inspire 2, Tracking, Trance, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Cudgel (Strength-based Damage 2), commlink translator.

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+6), Close Combat: Cudgel 2 (+5), Expertise: History 5 (+7), Expertise: Religion 7 (+9), Insight 4 (+8), Perception 2 (+6), Persuasion 6 (+10), Stealth 5 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +1
Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 1)
Cudgel +5 (Close Damage 3)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 5, Fortitude 5, Toughness 8/3, Will 9.

Totals:
Abilities 38 + Powers 35 + Advantages 13 + Skills 18 + Defenses 15 = 119 points

Offensive PL: 4
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 5

Complications:
Faith--Motivation. Merciful (and outright despises senseless violence.) Non-Technical (Disabled on any checks to understand or use any technology more complicated than simple mechanics.) Physical Fitness Enthusiast.