OCC Beyond Freedom (M&M PbP) FULL

[Sen Udo-Mal]

ok starting new thread so people know this is full. I will post some game more info here later today. Players so far are...

Tokiwong
bkmanis
Keia
themaxx
Victim
Kajamba Lion
Thain

If you want to post your characters here AND you character ideas on the old post that would be cool.


Character Creation for Beyond Freedom
PL10 standard characters using the M&M rules and errata. The game takes place in a future, darker Freedom City (kind of a Batman Beyond, but in Freedom City, hence the name). Only house rule [right now] Skills will cost 1PP per 2 Skill Ranks. Skill Focus AND Talent I am still thinking about. I might do the extra stuff OR where you get to roll 3d20 for Skill focus with one skill and Talented lets you roll 2d20 with two skills... still thinking on this

The setting is a mix of 4-color/ with some gritty (i.e. heroes are mostly good and want to help people, villains are mostly evil; BUT the world has a slight “cyber-punkish” look and feel - huge buildings and powerful corporations, cyber and gene enhancements, gangs and high street violence. Also people get hurt and die, bad things can happen, there are bad cops and politicians, collateral damage happens and innocent people can get hurt during super battles etc). All super-type Origins are available BUT most have not been very active the last 20 years or so. So while the heroes will be some of the most resent costumed heroes to appear in Freedom City in the last 20 years, they are not the first heroes. Legacy Heroes are available and encouraged (and I am assuming all META-4 and Freedom City heroes are available. If you want to do a villain let me know before hand. This includes all the heroes listed in the basic M&M rules book and those pictures listed on SU website, etc).

I don’t want to get into the disaster that “calls all the heroes out” but the basic idea is this … character have powers and have recently decided that it is time to start helping people (or they have been doing it secretly for a while but now with a big public emergency, they are coming out into the light… at least a little bit). You can have any origin that you want and your power source(s) should be defined, but up until now you have kept a low profile and have not gotten into this whole hero thing; but that is about to change. Please make your characters somewhat well rounded AND post a basic background. Also if you could I would ask for you to post a “3x3” about your character. This is where you give me 3 allies, 3 contacts and 3 ‘enemies’ (or locations) for your character. This only have to be a couple of lines but I just want to flesh out a little about each character on who they know and who they trust and who really hates them. Note that enemies don’t have to be super-villains, they could be your neighbor or ex, something like that. Remember that most super heroes and villains have not been very public these last 20 years or so… but that is all about to change in a really big way! Characters should also have a motivation as to why they would go out and fight crime - Heroic Motivations. Each hero had to have one and I always thought they worked pretty damn well to explain why you were a "super hero" and not just a "guy with powers." They basic ones are (IIRC)...

1. Upholding the Good: believes steadfastly in traditional moral values; compassion, justice, truthfulness, and resolute faith in society's laws. (prime example - Superman)
2. Seeks Justice: will ignore anything that inheres with his quest; subverting society's laws, some of which he believe protect criminals (prime example - Batman)
3. Responsibility of Power: the character decides to change as a result of the assume powers and skills that separate him from the rest of the world. (prime example – Spiderman, Green Lantern)
4. Unwanted Power: kind of a darker "responsibility of power"; this character generally joins super teams to gain the acceptances they can't get in normal society. (prime example - Cyborg)
5. Trill of Adventure: take extreme changes in combat and enjoy every moment of it. (prime example - Changeling, Guy Gardener)

Of course these are only a few, and if you want to come up with your own, so long as it fits with the basic idea and story that would be fine with me.

 

[Sen Udo-Mal]

History of the World?!
A brief history of the world as you know it is that it¡K the year is 2043, the city is Freedom City. With a population estimated at 16 million, the city has grown very quickly and it is feeling those growing pains¡K bad traffic, gangs, huge corporations, huge skyscraper apartments and office buildings spreading everywhere, violence, greed, corruption, poor social services, high unemployment, low-paid public employees (including police), Federal enforcement and infringement into "individual privacy" etc. The current Mayor, Randall Cross, has promised "new jobs, new hope, a brighter future" for the city and promised to clean up crime. With federal backing by the DCC (Department of Civil Control), the mayor promises to control crime and gangs that all but rule the city streets here, thus jobs will return to the city (actually most jobs are in the higher-tech professional area and there is still a strong market in this area; most unemployed are low-skilled, lower-income people who moved here within the last 10 years drawn by the apparent strong economy when compared to the rest of the nation).

Most of the worlds Superheroes disappeared, died or have gone into hiding for the last 20 years. Why? 20 years ago, during the "L.A. Disaster", Atomic Brain destroyed the city with a mega-bomb after his demands to be given control of the state of California were rejected by the US government. Most of the worlds heroes (and a fair number of villains) where in or around L.A. at the time either working against or for Atomic Brain (it appears that those villains working for him did not know that he actually had a bomb!). 10 million people died and most of the heroes of the world disappeared in the fiery flash. Most people and governments turned against the heroes then, accusing them of failure and bringing the disaster onto the innocent. Repressive registration laws and agencies were created and those heroes and most villains still alive faded away (retiring or disappearing all together).

Today the US government still maintains a federally sectioned super-team known as "Section One" in Washington D.C. (top job is protection of politicians and their families, etc. as a branch of the Secret Service) but they don¡'t actively suppress or promote any other supers. Most of the laws that where enacted after the L.A. Disaster where declared unconstitutional but the damage had been done, the older heroes didn¡'t reappear, the villains hung up their costumes and pursued their master plans in some civilian ID.

The L.A. basin is an uninhibited ruin (at least that is what the news tells everyone; there are those who say that horrible monsters and mutants live there and occasionally venture out into the world to wreak havoc on the surrounding area), and much of California suffers from the environmental impact caused by the event; most people have moved away. Political bonders around the world have been redrawn as new dynasties raise and old ones fall.

Freedom City has no "Freedom Force" or any public known members of the Atomic Family; in fact no know costumed heroes have operated in the city for a long time. The only publicly know groups that seem to embrace the "costume gene" are a couple of trill-kill gangs in Freedom City, like the "Hyena Dog Soldiers" (lots of "splicers" or gene-splicers, in this group, lead by a heavily modified cyber-splicer who calls himself Hyena), the "Gepetto Fun Boys" (dress up like mimes and crazy clowns, and are into 'boost' drugs), and War Mongers (heavy into cyber-modification, this biker gang is lead by Mars, a crazy cyber freak whom is more machine then man. They tend to dress in neo Greek Centurion ballistic armor and ride around on their bikes raising hell).

In the news of late ¡V earthquakes have been hitting the lower parts of California and New Mexico. Nothing to major, but they seem to be increasing in strength and frequency. Scientists call it a natural "re-settling" of the major faults in that area. The weather has been acting funny all summer; July snow storms in Kansas, Tornados in Idaho, to much rain in Arizonian, etc. Man and women in dark costumes have been seen late at night in many cities, some righting wrongs while other commit terrible crimes. None of appeared on TV yet but main believe that the heroes of old are returning, right when the innocent need them the most. Some kid in San Francisco even has a fuzzy, black and white picture of a armored humanoid walking away from him in the rain, he swore to reporters that the armor had a green glow to it and that the guys head was "funny-looking" head.

A few things that we (well me) know about Freedom City that I am using (taken from both hints about Freedom City and META-4 info on GR site)

Corporations
ASTRO Labs
AEGIS

Evil Organizations
The Freedom City Mafia.
Majestic Industries and the Grant Conglomerate.
The Foundry.
Overthrow, a network of anti-government terrorists which is actually a front for...
SHADOW (the Secret Hierarchy of Agents for Domination Over the World)
UNITROL: a global psueo-governmental army of extortionists
ANTAG (Advanced Neural Technology Application Group)
Octopus Umbrella

Random things I have seen on the GR boards by Steve Kenson (team names, random events, schools, etc)
Liberty League
FORCE Ops
Terminus Invasion
Claremont Academy
Next-Gen

Other Groups and things to know (mostly made up by me)
XO Marshals: Federal police enforcement organization that deals with high-threat situations and crime. They were flying power armored suits (and are around PL6). An outgrowth of S.T.A.R. (the old police response to super threats but as most meta-beings have disappeared it was dissolved).

 

[Sen Udo-Mal]

OK

Current Events in Freedom City
These are the big news stories that are happening in the city…
VidiCom World, a leading Vid-Communications corporations in Freedom City, has reported raids by unknown terrorists against two of the main development sites in the city. As many as 10 people were killed in the latest raid 3 days ago, when they set off a large bomb in the compound, presumably to cover the tracks of there assault and what they might have stolen. A substantial bounty has been place on any information that can be provided to the corporation about the people behind these raids.
Tremors and minor earthquakes have hit the city the last couple of weeks. Most scientists assume that this is normal and nothing to worry about, just after-shocks of the CA quakes.
Freak hailstorms and thunderstorms have happened eight times over the last month. Meteorologists have no explanations and assume that they will not occur again.
As many as 30 people have "vanished" in the last 10 days from around town. The reason this is making the news at all is that it seems totally random, including an upper management corporate suit, half a dozen middle class wage-slaves, four homeless, a dock loader, two lawyers, a doctor, etc. from all over the city. No evidence has been found of where they have gone or who took them, no witness have come forward, no credit trace, etc. Police have no leads, except…
Strange men and/or women, clad in full-body black suits (or uniforms) have been seen around town, often in the same general area as where the recent disappearance of people took place. No vid or physical evidence of these people have shown up and so the Police have publicly dismissed them as hoaxes or delusions (although some news-groups and net conspiracy nuts, thing that they are not telling everything they know).
Gang fighting between the Hyenas and the Gepettos have been happening daily for the last week. Police are reluctant to get involved as they have been happening in the poor parts of town and as such are low priority/high risk ventures.
Vandals have been trashing shops down on the waterfront for months now. Mostly they have been breaking into different waterfront business, destorying things and painting weird occultic messages. The police have not released any pictures of the crime areas and they don't want to encourage copy-cats.

Players/Character experiences for the last couple of weeks…
Each of you has been thinking about going out and helping people for a while now. The old heroes are gone and while most people seemed to have turned their back the ideas that most heroes stand for, there are still lots of folks out there that are basically good people, catch-up in a really bad world. Someone has to help them, and every sense the police department when private (now called Freedom City Police Inc. or FCPI a subsidiary of Goliath Arms, a huge multi-national megacorp) well they are not as concerned about the poor or tarnishing their image.

For the last week, each of your characters has been experiences a strange sense of déjà vu; nothing major, but five to seven days you could have sworn you just said that or saw something, etc. Also you have been getting strange messages on your Vid-Phones, no pictures but generally they are always the same, a brief period of static, then a woman's voice calling you by your heroic "code-name" (even if you have only just now thought it up) saying "...You must help them... time is running out... do you hear me... can you hear me?... [heroic name here] you have to help them!..." then static and the line goes dead. Each of you have gotten this message 3 times so far. Two night ago you all dreamed of woman, all you could see was her shadow, but she was wearing some kind of cape and hood, she was talking to you but you could not hear what she said. She seemed scared and you felt sorry for her. All of this has been somewhat unsettling but nothing compared to the last 24 hours…


Vanished without a trace- one of your ALLIES has disappeared!!! You can choose who BUT it has to be someone that you care for a great deal and they have to be "normal" and it can't be one of the other player characters so Thain, I think there is only one of your Ally that you can choose from but that is cool...

You each talked with this person within the last 48 hours and you were going to touch base with them again but they seem to have vanished without a trace in the last 24 hours. No clues (as of yet) as to where they have gone or who took them... except that in all cases black clad men and/or women where seen in the victims building or place of business by witnesses...

You can post here about what you are going to do about it. What leads you would like to follow up one or whom you would like to contact. Also I will start up a the Playing the Game post in just a bit here. Don't post there yet, but you can read over the info as I post it there. I will be posting some info for each character AND also out-of-character-knowledge posts (OoCK), because just like in the comics, sometimes the readers know more then the characters

 

[Tokiwong]

The Greek God of Light: Apollo

Apollo
Real Name: Apollo
Occupation: God in Exile, Pop Star by the same name
Motivation: Thrill of Adventure
Weakness (-10 points)
Vulnerable: Apollo is vulnerable to darkness attacks, and feels ill at ease, in places of complete darkness

Combat Abilities (25 points)
Base Attack: +5
Base Defense: +5
Move: 30/50 Flight
Initiative: +5
Melee Attack: +7 punch (+2S)
Ranged Attack: +10 light blast (+10L/S)
Defense: 21 (+5 DEX, +5 Base, +1 Feat)
Flat-Footed Defense: 15
Damage Save: +2
Fortitude Save: +2
Reflex Save: +5
Will Save: +0

Abilities (30 points)
Strength 14/+2
Dexterity 20/+5
Constitution 14/+2
Intelligence 14/+2
Wisdom 10/+0
Charisma 18/+14

Skills (9 points)
Bluff (5) +19/+22
Diplomacy (1) +17/+20
Gather Information (1) +15
Knowledge: Music (3) +5
Perform (3) +17
Taunt (5) +21

Feats & Super Feats (22 points)
Aerial Combat
Attractive
Dodge
Leadership
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
See Invisibility
Surprise Strike (+5 Damage)
True Sight
Immunity (Aging, Critical Hits)

Powers (74 points)
Godly Powers of Apollo: Energy Control: Light +10, Extras- Energy Blast, Energy Field, Flight, Force Field, Super-Charisma, Mental Shield, Dazzle Burst; Stunts- Dual Damage, Super Flight; Flaw- Full Power (Energy Blast); 7pp; Total- 74 points; Source: Alien

Allies

Jenna Jones: This is Apollo's producer, and she is in charge of much of his publicity, and the work that he does for Freedom Records. She is hard nosed and tough, and an attractive older woman, very business savvy, and well connected in the biz.

Dionysus: The party boy of the Olympians, Dionysus, called dio by his close buddies, often descends to earth to party it up, before slipping abck to Olympus before anyone notices he is gone. On his forays he always makes a stop by Apollo, to keep him abreast of what is going on in Olympus, and well of course, party like there is no tommorow...

Danny Williams: Danny is Apollo's friend, the two met when Apollo saved Danny's life, and Danny decided to pay him back, by being his best buddy. Apollo didn't have the heart to turn th guy away, and the two have been constant friends ever since. Danny isn't aware that Apollo is the real Greek god, he just thinks he is one extraordinary fellow.

Locations

Apollo's Suite: Apollo maintains a nice suite afforded by his career as a singer, it has all the amenities of a luxury home, and is styled in a modern retro greco-roman motif. The balcony provides easy access to the air, and is a popular spot for Apollo during the day.

Olympus: The alternate dimension of Olympus is out of Apollo's reach, exiled for interfering too much in Earthly affairs, he is barred from reaching the home of the Gods. His powers have been greatly weakened, but he has survived, and hopes to one day perhaps return to his home, thoughhe knows the task may prove futile.

Enemies

Old Man Finny: The eccentric old man that lives on the floor below Apollo, he is a wealthy old coot, who beleives that the world is out to get him. He considers Apollo a menace to his peace and quiet, and constantly plots to see Apollo thrown out of the building.

Hecate: Another Olympian exile, Hecate is the Goddess of Darkness and the Moon, and is an evil witch in her more mortal form. Apollo and Hecate have encountered each other through the ages, and most encounters have been less then pleasant. Hecate is sure that she can win Apollo's heart, but his constant rebuffs have only increased her obsession, and her vile plans.

Edited to comply with Eratta, the Mental Shield is a free extra of Force Field, so I get one more Extra to add to his abilities, going to add some feats in lieu of the 8 points, and perhaps a minor power...

 

[themaxx]

Skill Focus and Talented

The way you have them now, there is no reason somebody would not take the feats over advancing in the skill. 2 PP for +6, or +5, instead of +4 using them for skills. I don't know if you intended this or no, but I would change my PP allocation to free up some points and keep the same skill modifiers.

What about a different variant? Skill Focus in a skill allows you to roll 3d20 and take the best one for your result. Talented allows you to choose two skills and roll 2d20 for each, taking the best roll of the two. This makes the feats useful, but not more or less useful than putting the PP into skills directly.

What do you all think?

 

[Sen Udo-Mal]

hmm that might work a little better. I read those a while back on the GR baords and then of course spaced them... as it does not seem that anyone has those yet maybe I should change it to this.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Ursus Maior (Real Name: Ford Sanders)
Age: 24, Male; Occupation: Adventurer (ex-Student)
Height: 5'8, Weight: 215 lbs. Eyes: Blue, Hair: Brown.

Str 20/+11 (+5 base, +6 Super Strength)
Dex 20/+5 (+5 base)
Con 20/+5 (+5 base)
Int 10
Wis 16 (+3 base)
Cha 15 (+2 base)

BAB +10, Melee +15 (+10 base, +5 Str), Ranged +15 (+10 base, +5 Dex); Defense 20 (+5 base, +5 Dex, 15 flatfooted); Dmg +5 (+5 Con), Fort +5 (+5 Con), Ref +5 (+5 Dex), Will +3 (+3 Wis); Hero Points 5

Skills: Climb +25 (10 ranks, +5 Str, +6 Super Strength, +4 Claws), Jump +21 (10 ranks, +5 Str, +6 Super Strength), Intimidate +21 (10 ranks, +11 Str)

Feats: Attack Focus (Grapple), Endurance, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Power Attack, Rapid Takedown, Takedown Attack, Track, Scent, Startle

Powers: Immovability +5 (cost: 1 pp/rank), Natural Weapon: Claws +2 [Extra: Climbing] (cost: 3 pp/rank), Super Senses +1 (cost: 2 pp/rank), Super Strength +6 [Stunt: Lifting (Lifting Capacity Doubled), Extra: Protection +6] (cost: 5 pp/rank).

Weakness: Disturbing. Ursus Maior slowly is becoming an anthropomorphic bear for better or for worse. It could be the human eyes that freak people out. His alter-ego is a moot point by now.

History: Ford Sanders generally had a normal life right up until he was 22 — that's when the hair started growing. At first he thought it was nothing — "I'll be one of those guys that has some extra body hair. If it gets out of control, I'll worry about it then." He simply continued on with his studies (undeclared major, likely pre-law) at the local college. It wasn't until the end of the next year that he noticed that his hands had become thicker, his fingers shorter, almost paw-like. Well, not quite almost. They were paws. His ears started shifting back and becoming rounder and his jaw and nose was beginning to project forward, almost like a muzzle. His teeth started to become oddly sharp, too. Now, Ford had never been known for his exceptional intelligence, and it wasn't until he noticed his teeth that he figured out why his last girlfriend had broken up with him.

By the time he was 23, he was, more or less a bear-man hybrid, slowly and continually shifting over to a more completely ursine form. He'd already gone on indefinite leave from his school, bought an apartment in Freedom City, and supported himself with a variety of jobs that he could perform via telecommuting, mostly graphic design. As he's become more ursine, he's become bitter — he's sick of staying inside to avoid the comments and stares of other folk and he wants his old life back. Unfortunately, he feels like he's going to have to accept his new life on its own terms and make it work for him.

—3x3—
Allies: (1) Audrey Murrell — Ford's ex-girlfriend. Despite the fact that she broke up with him, Audrey's kept in intermittent contact with her ursine ex. She's currently a graduate student in Russian literature at UW-FC. (2) W.N. Whalen — Ford's landlord and next door neighbor. Slightly eccentric, exceedingly kind, W.N. is more or less the only person to see much of Ford in a long time. He's a former philosophy professor at UW-FC (Ford found the apartment through an advertisement posted on campus), but was let go of by the University for a strange interest in the occult and supernatural. (3) Lt. Rick Dolphin — a friend of Whalen's since high school, Dolphin currently receives a percentage of Ford's rent money from Whalen to keep people off the young man's back and away from his apartment. Lt. Dolphin works in the Detective Bureau of the Freedom City P.D.
Enemies: (1) UW-FC Department of Zoology — since Ford's transformation became apparent, the Dept. of Zoology has been after him for all sorts of testing. They may or may not be functioning as a front for another organization (most likely the US government in Ford's mind), but Ford still doesn't want to stick around to find out. (2) Freedom City Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — almost as annoying as the zoologists, Ford wants none of their help or protection. He'd rather they just left him alone. (3) A strange group of folks have recently been lurking around Ford's apartment. He's never seen them, but they smell different than the FCSPCA and the Zoology Dept. Not a good sign by any stretch.
Locations: (1) Ford Sanders's Apartment — located downtown in Freedom City, this one bedroom apartment is neat, clean, and, best of all, inconspicuous. (2) University of Washington at Freedom City — a major research university located on the water, UW-FC is the premier public university in the area.

Heroic Motivation: Combination of Unwanted Powers and Seeks Justice.

Power Source: Unknown. Suspected mutation as a result of the Atomic Brain's actions years earlier.

Edits 4/2/03: Now using Str for Intimidate. Claws giving +4 to climbing (House Rule, per your post later in this thread, Sen). Dropped Indomitable Will (+2 pp) and Added Super Senses +1 (cost: 2 pp).

 

[themaxx]

Winter

As for heroic motivation, I see a combination of Seeking Justice, and also Responsibility of Power. He thinks he has a connection with the spirit of Earth, and that is a big responsibility, but he is embracing it and acting as best he can.

Allies/Friends:
a) His cousin, Allen Appletree, a scientist and friend. He helps out with Winter's pet project, not actually knowing that Simon Frost is involved. He's a skilled environmental engineer and ecologist.
b) Assistant manager of the EPA (or equivalent agency at this point), Harold Atkinson. Winter often feeds him info, or does favors, and Harold helps certain actions get overlooked, and sometiems provides funding or resources.
c) Carmela Ramirez, an employee of Vasta Corp, and a contact to this day, who is very disatisfied with how things are done, but also very subtle in her leaks.
d) Wendy Arturo, scientist and inventor, who concentrates on renewable energy and pollution-free living. She often receives help from Winter whenever possible, and he sees her work as vital and pivotal.
e) more later...

Enemies:
a) Vasta Corp, its executives, its operations, its lawyers.
b) Majestic Industries, for frequently violating the law on emissions, and for carelessness.
c) The Atomic Brain, or his minions if he is dead. He committed a most heinous sin, and must be punished. Mistreating the earth in such a way is vile and cruel.
d) Anybody who has acted similarly to the Atomic Brain, by carelessly exposing large areas to danger or pollution.

Locations:
a) Somewhere, some place way out in the boonies of Montana, he has a small forest where he likes to lie, sometimes for days at a time. It's on his property, and occasionally there are animals there, but no one else.
b) The largest park in Freedom City. Winter often stays there for hours, as a flock of birds or flying above in the darkness, just enjoying, watching and protecting.
c) Industrial Park. Winter often watches over areas like these, occasionally tempted to incur minor setbacks and problems to those companies he knows commit wrongs and do not pay for them.

Stats:
Simon Frost, aka Winter

Attack Bonus: 2 (6 points)
Energy Blast (radiation): +5, Dmg +10 radiation
Strike (semisolid): +2, Dmg +10 physical
Defense Bonus: 4 (8 points)
Defense: 17 [10 + 3 dex + 4 bought]

Abilities (24 points)
Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 20
Int: 12
Wis: 16
Cha: 8

Saves
Damage: 5 (Protection 10 when in Semisolid form)
Fort: 5
Reflex: 3
Will: 3

Skills (11 points)
Handle Animal 2 (total: +1)
Spot 5 (total: +8/13)
Listen 5 (total: +8/13)
Survival 8 (total: +11/16 for tracking)
Search 2 (total: +3/8)

Feats (4 points)
Track
Darkvision

Powers (97 points)
Alternate Form (Semisolid: flock of birds, swarm of bees, etc., Extra form: Radiation): Rank 10 (52 points) Source: Mutation
[includes Immunities: Disease, Poison, Pressure, Starvation, Suffocation, Energies: [Radiation, Fire, Cold, Electricity, Darkness])
[while in his Radiation form, he has an Energy Blast, and is vulnerable to unarmed attacks while Incorporeal]

Plant Control (Extras: Plant Stride, Regeneration, Plant Sense): Rank 7 (35 points), Source: Mystical

Obscure (Flaw: Uses - only 8 times per day): Rank 5 (5 points), Source: Mystical

Super Senses (Flaw: Slow (requires a free action to activate)): Rank 5 (5 points), Source: Training

Edit: added Locations, tweaked powers a bit, fixed Reflex save, clarified skills, clarified powers

 

[themaxx]

World info

So do you want to feed us some recent events, or background, or should we wait until we're all ready to start? It looks like the stuff you posted here just has a few new corporations and organizations, but otherwise is the same as what is in the other thread, right? I don't know much more than what you have here, but I'd eagerly digest anything else you want to throw out. =]

 

[Tokiwong]

Ares is now Apollo and he is now updated, on this thread... Hello rock stardom