NOW LIVE! -- ZEITGEIST: Death of the Author for D&D 5E on Kickstarter! Murder. Conspiracy. Secrets. A remote manor. An adventure for D&D 5E.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8303734" data-attributes="member: 30538">Roman Statia<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-b8msG6D/0/5b34b889/M/mission-impossible-6-fallout-alec-baldwin-as-alan-hunley-y38-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />One question that Roman Statia frequently finds himself wondering, as he skims through reports on the activities of the caped and costumed crowd, is whether it is more courageous to believe in something, as they seem to do, or to believe in nothing, as many of his associates -- well, former associates, really -- are inclined to do. He can understand the appeal of that sort of nihilism, as it does seem to be the rational response to the fact that the world only makes sense when you force it to do so, but he's never quite been able to embrace it.When he was a child, Roman believed that the world made sense. There was his family, related to all the other ancient families in one way or another, an invisible aristocracy that guided the world and always would; and there was everyone else, who were all basically pawns on the chessboards of the world. In 1987, when he had not yet turned 18, he found himself catapulted into the heights of that aristocracy, when his father and mother were murdered by the Pythonian Insurgency, whom the Statia family had been supporting financially up until that point. Needless to say, Roman cut all ties to the terrorists, and urged his fellow ancients to do the same. He was ... well, not really surprised but certainly revolted by how many of them refused to do so, despite the losses material and personal that they were suffering.Eventually, the Insurgency ended, and many of the leading members of the mutant families suffered further for their role in it, while the Statia clan prospered, relatively speaking. But Roman was left to wonder why his parents had died, and none of the resources he had at his disposal would answer that question. And then he heard rumors that a private security firm was forming from the remnants of those who'd fought against the Insurgency, and it occurred to him that these people might know more than the public record would reveal. So he contacted them and invested a fair amount of his personal fortune into their new business, and so helped to form Argus. For his investment, and the intelligence that he provided about his kind -- nothing that they couldn't discover from other sources, but confirmation was nice -- he was given the title Director of Mutant Family Activities. Roman accepted this, though he had no intention (then) of providing them with further insights into the secrets of his kind, only in discovering what they knew about the reasons behind his parents' deaths. And lo and behold,  in their files was information gained from interviews by JSOT personnel of the assassins themselves -- who claimed that Pythia herself had ordered the hit, claiming that the Statias were planning to betray the Insurgency.But that made no sense. His father had been pleased with the results of that alliance, and commented to Roman that he thought the Pythons would be a much more useful tool to control the world than the various mundane governments had ever been. Whatever had actually motivated Pythia's decision had died with her, but Roman had the disturbing feeling that it might have been for the simple intent that he'd be where he was at that point, or even just to amuse herself.For a bit more than a decade afterwards, he walked a delicate line between his responsibilities to Argus and those he had to the Families. He directed operations only against those of the ancients who had fallen out of favor with the rest, and steered the company away from those of his peers whom Roman still respected. But he kept finding it harder and harder to feel respect for these petty would-be godlings and their constant jockeying for influence. Through it all, he maintained his own businesses at a comfortably static level, growing only as much as was needed to stay a bit ahead of inflation.Finally, in the aftermath of Zane's coup, his role in Argus was exposed to the rest of the Families, and he found himself no longer welcome in their company. Still unwilling to use his role against these people who'd decided that he was their enemy, he stopped attending company meetings -- while still making himself available for personal discussions with other Directors of the company, if need be. Roman is starting to feel his age, and would consider retirement if he could find some way to do so safely.With regards to his personal powers, Roman has the ability to slow down time for those around him, both incapacitating living beings in his vicinity and also providing them with the same protection from injury that he himself enjoys, by slowing damaging effects down enough that they do little if any damage. His powers in this respect are not particularly versatile, as he does not seem to be able to speed his own activities up as Exelion can, but it's possible that he's reserving his full abilities for an especially dangerous situation.Roman is married to another member of the families, who has minor healing powers. The relationship was arranged when they were both children, but they saw no good reason not to wed once Roman found himself the head of his family. It's not a particularly warm or intimate relationship, and has never produced any biological offspring, but they have adopted a number of children, most notably several members of the other families who were abandoned for failing to demonstrate any powers or the wrong sorts of powers. Concern for his family's fate is a major reason that he remains with Argus, for now.Roman Statia -- PL 13Abilities:STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 4 | AWE 3 | PRE 3Powers:Force Field: Selective Burst Area 2 Affects Others and Self Sustained Impervious Protection 10, Subtle - 61 pointsStasis Field: Selective Burst Area 2 Cumulative Affliction 13 (Resisted by Will; Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobile, Paralyzed & Unaware), Extra Condition, Concentration - 91 pointsAdvantages:Attractive, Benefit 6 (billionaire, security clearance), Connected, Contacts, Improved Initiative, Speed of Thought, Well-informedSkills:Deception 10 (+13), Expertise: Business 8 (+12), Expertise: Civics 6 (+10), Expertise: History 6 (+10), Expertise: Science 5 (+9), Insight 10 (+13), Intimidation 9 (+12), Investigation 8 (+11), Perception 6 (+10), Persuasion 10 (+13).Offense:Initiative +8Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 1)Stasis Field -- (Burst Area Will 13)Defense:Dodge 3, Parry 3, Fortitude 4, Toughness 12/2, Will 8.Totals:Abilities 38 + Powers 152 + Advantages 12 + Skills 39 + Defenses 9 = 250 pointsComplications:Security--Motivation. Family (wife and children.) Reputation (traitor, to many of the ancients.)Note: If Roman possesses additional time manipulation abilities, they likely take the form of Quickness 10 and a Close Progressive form of his Affliction effect at 18 ranks as an alternate power.</blockquote>

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