Amelia

Persephone "Sure looks that way. 'Persephone' is the stage name. Pleasure to meet you. Wish it was under better circumstances." The tree branch holding the green-skinned woman above the ground dipped and rested in front of Betsy. "Hop on if you'd like a ride down. Sounds like you're the only one who'll make any sense of it all." The tree branch gently lowered Persephone down into the hole Cheval had emerged from. Her hair illuminated the chamber for a few feet around her in all directions with a soft violet glow. She gave the tree branch a quick pet and kiss before stepping down onto the sandy floor. "Thanks, Sweetheart." The branch moved backward, hugging the edge of the hole. Persephone walked around the cave, tracing her fingers along the faded remnants of the symbols that had once been etched into the walls. "All Greek to me, I'm afraid." She rubbed the gold cross hanging around her neck a couple times. "My faith's personal, not scholarly. My background's in Science. When it comes to the spooky stuff, I'm about as useful as a steering wheel on a mule. But if there are any plants, they'll talk to me." She leaned in close to the wall and whispered. "Hey there. Anyone down here?" Then she knelt down, touched her hand to the ground, and leaned down until her mouth almost touched the ground. She whispered again. "Not the best soil to grow in, I know. But Life usually finds a way. Did any of you see what happened here? Can any of you show me?"

Octoman's available for it if you want him. He doesn't have any interest in archaeology or ancient history, but he's been mutated in ways he's still extremely self-conscious about into an amphibious human/fish hybrid, so he'd be interested on a, no pun intended, deeply personal level.

Persephone will sit on her 4 Hero Points and suck up the Fatigue for now.

Persephone Persephone's skin was already covered in protective bark when the giant crocodile exploded, but she still reflexively raised her arms in front of her face and turned her head away. Without any conscious instruction from her, the trunks of two different trees in the churchyard also twisted, stretched, and dove in front of her, shielding her from the blast. While the smoke cleared, the trees slowly spooled back into place, their bark scored by the shockwave and splattered with charred reptile flesh. Persephone reached down and helped pull Betsy to her feet. The bark covering Persephone's skin quickly dried out, shriveled up, and fell off. She brushed a few stray chunks away with her hands. "Sorry, Sugar Plum, afraid that's not my department. Closest I ever came was dating a magician for a month and a half when I was nineteen, and all I learned from that is what a bad idea it was for me to date a magician. But I'm fixin' to climb down that hole and take a look at that cave our knight in shining armor here mentioned. Then I'd like to mosey on over yonder to the swamp that thing came out of. I bet the plants in both places have some real interesting things to show me. But first..." She motioned upward with two fingers, and the tree branch holding her lifted a few meters up. "...Is anyone else hurt?"

Octoman "'Subvert'? But, I mean, 'undisciplined youth' is kinda my whole personal BRAND..." "Sibling drama. Glad I never had to worry about THAT. Siblings would cramp my STYLE. Mamá and Tatay don't even have enough time for ONE kid." The tips of his tentacles "thumbed" the "PAUSE" buttons on the portable speakers they were carrying, and then dropped them into Dayv's personal space. "Here, hold these. Be right back." One of the tentacles slapped Dayv lightly on the back, while the others, including a few new ones that sprouted out of his sides and back, dropped his stack of plastic tubs onto the floor and stretched as they shot out down the hallway. Weirdly, there were already other metal-grommetted holes in his shirt to accommodate them, though Dayv could swear they weren't there before. His tentacles made a loud sucking noise as they slapped the wall near Ashley and Judy and the disks on their underside formed a vacuum seal. The stretched tentacles retracted, snapping Ben back down the hallway toward their purchase on the wall. He tumbled head over feet as he soared through the air, planting his feet on the ceiling in front of them to halt his flight. "Yo, Charlotte La Bouff, Rosa Diaz, you guys OK? 'Cause you don't LOOK OK. I mean, you look GOOD, but not like..." He held his hands up parallel to each other, pointing the pair at each girl as he spoke. "YOU look like someone just made you cry, and YOU look like you wanna put both fists through someone who just made your sister cry. So does some fool need his ass kicked, or do we need to go out on an ice cream run, or what?"

RIGHT, he did say that he was giving it Prone Fighting! Edited accordingly:

Quick combat mechanics refresher, assuming Croczilla doesn't have any traits I don't know about that would change any of this: While Croczilla is Helpless, attacking it is like attacking an immobile inanimate object. It loses its Defense bonus, except for its size modifier, and the base DC to hit drops from 10 to 5. Since it's Size Awesome, that's -12, so the base DC to hit it is 5 - 12 = -7. While Croczilla is Helpless, it suffers an additional -4 Defense from melee attacks on top of that. While Croczilla is Prone, it has +4 Defense against ranged attacks, but -4 Defense against melee attacks. While the Snare is active, Croczilla has Cover. That gives it +4 Defense against all attacks. (And if you miss by 4 or under, the GM might decide you hit the Snare instead...) So if you attack Croczilla in its current state, your DC to hit is -11 with a melee attack or 1 with a ranged attack. Either way, you succeed on anything but a natural "1". So Power Attack with impunity! Since Croczilla is Helpless, if you want to take a full action instead of a standard action, then instead of a normal attack, you can coup-de-grace. Instead of rolling to hit, you automatically hit and it's automatically a critical. You have to be adjacent to the target for a coup-de-grace, but you can do it with a melee or ranged attack.

Peresephone's still flyin'.

Octoman Ben dropped down to the floor and shook the man's hand. "Comfortable? Are you kidding? When I was little, a guy who went to this school SAVED my LIFE. Saved my whole FAMILY. Coming here, following in his footsteps, that's a DREAM COME TRUE. Yeah, of course I'll look after him." Ben shot the man his signature dual finger-guns. "Take him under my...wing?" A couple of his tentacles started flapping. "Bunkmates, that's a BOND, Man!" He threw an arm over Dayv's shoulder and pulled him in close. As Dayv named each of his relatives, Ben nodded to them and offered a handshake or a wave, and a greeting. "Mucho gusto, shalom, kumusta," and he finished with the two-handed colloquial ASL sign for "What's up?" "Yeah, first year, first time. Just got my powers a few months ago. I think most people already finished moving their stuff in. I saw a bunch of people hanging out front on my way in." He pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "You wanna go say 'Hi', then just lemme know if you got any preferences for the theme music to our slow-motion badass power-walk."

DC40 Toughness save for the Snare, as requested in Discord: 35. It fails by 5, so it takes an Injury, but it's not Disabled, so it's not broken.

Persephone Persephone flinched again when the enormous crocodile's tail struck the English woman in the dark longcoat and sent her flying. She got halfway through the mental command that would send the tree branch she rested upon swinging toward the Englishwoman when the helicopter spun around and followed her. Nevermind, good, the chopper will get there ten times as fast as I could. Persephone barely had time to form that thought before she was distracted from the Englishwoman and her plight by the mysterious and recklessly effective stranger, whose reckless effectiveness continued uninterrupted as he brought the gigantic reptilian zombie crashing down to the ground. "Goodness gracious!" she yelled. "Good thing we got those people out of the church when we did! But fry my feet and call 'em 'drumsticks' if that wasn't some darn impressive physics calculatin' you did, in your head even, bringin' down somethin' that big with a tool that small. Archimedes would be proud!" Not as proud as he would've been if you'd factored the variable into that equation that would've kept you from nearly gettin' squished like a Palmetto bug in a wood chipper, but still, proud. Sure enough, in a matter of seconds, the helicopter had retrieved the injured woman and lowered her beside Persephone, apparently having noticed her ministrations to the metal man. Persephone clenched her fists, then opened her hands as more flowers grew from her palms, up through the cracks in the protective bark coating her skin. Where only two flowers had grown for Cheval, this time Persephone created a whole rainbow bouquet, including poppies and marigolds like before, but also adding begonias, daisies, and lilac. As before, she crushed the flowers together into a paste and pressed the pulp against Betsy's skin. The pain which had overwhelmed Betsy moments ago vanished instantly, replaced by a warm tingle and a slight rush of euphoria, like she'd just tossed back the best espresso she'd ever tasted. Betsy could feel her broken bones fusing back together, the open cuts in her flesh closing, the swelling fading away from her skin. "There you go, Sweetie, you should be fine as peach fuzz now." With the Englishwoman's wounds tended to, Persephone turned her attention, at last, to the behemoth. "Now let's see if we can't build on that darn good foundation our Mystery Man laid down and keep this beast from knocking over any more buildings. Hey Albert!" she shouted at the creature. "I don't know what put the burr in your saddle, but this little hissy fit you've been pitchin' is officially over." She swung her arms up and around in front of her body again, dropped into a crouch, then surged upward while taking a step forward, pushing her upturned palms up toward the sky as if lifting an invisible box. The soil around the creature exploded as hundreds of roots and vines, stretched and bloated until even the smallest ones were thicker than telephone poles, surged up and over its body in every direction before burrowing back into the dirt, attempting to pin the prone crocodile in place under a tangled web.

Free Actions: Persephone maintains her Environment Control (Light), Flight, and Impervious Toughness effects. Standard Action: Persephone uses Healing on Betsy. @Tiffany Korta Betsy gets a recovery check with an extra +9. With her +10 Con, the minimum result of that check is 20, which is two 5-point increments over the DC10, so she's going to automatically recover from at least 3 damage conditions. I believe Staggered, Dazed, and Bruised are the only conditions she suffered from that hit she took, so I think she's fully healed no matter what. Since Persephone's Healing effect is Distracting, she's flat-footed again, at +5 Defense (DC15 to hit) until her next action. Move Action: On the off chance that the croc is intelligent, Persephone will attempt to Taunt it as a move action at -5 to her check. Bluff check: 14, or 18 if her Attractive feat applies (I can't imagine it would, but just in case). If the croc doesn't have at least 1 in Int, Wis, and Cha, then the Taunt automatically fails. If the croc doesn't speak English, then the Taunt is at a further -4. If the croc has Int 1-2, then the Taunt is at a further -8. Opposed by Bluff, Sense Motive, or Will save. If she succeeds, then the croc is Shaken for 1 round, suffering -2 to all rolls (including saving throws). Free Action: Persephone switches her Plant Control array to the Snare AP. Free Action: Persephone uses Extra Effort for a second Standard Action. Standard Action: Persephone attacks the croc with her Snare. She will use Indirect 3 to make the Snare come up from under the croc. She will Power Attack for -2 Attack / +2 Damage. Attack roll: 27. Natural 19. Reaction: If that hits, then Persephone spends a Hero Point to gain Improved Critical (Plant Control), retroactively making that a critical hit. (If that doesn't hit, then she'll spend a Hero Point for a re-roll.) With the Power Attack and the critical hit, that's a DC27 Reflex save for the croc, and a Toughness 17 Snare.

It might just be best for Betsy to chill. Persephone's array is still set to the Healing AP, so she can heal Betsy first thing now that Torque brought her back within Persephone's touch-range. If there is some way for Betsy to get a HP and buy off the Dazed condition, though, then go for it, because 1) That's one less condition Persephone has to heal, and 2) She can use her action to Ready her next attack, but wait to set it off until after Persephone heals her.

Octoman Ben was walking on the ceiling when he reached both his assigned dorm room, and the Palahniuk family. When he started babbling, it wasn't clear exactly who he was talking to. His head still bobbed and his body still swayed in time with the music while he talked. His luggage hung under him, stuck to his tentacles and waving a couple feet over the floor while he talked as much with his hands as with his mouth, not actual sign language, just frantic gesturing. "Gotta be honest, losing my hearing, that SUCKED, and I'm NOT over it, so, like, don't bring it up, I'll talk about it if I want to. I know we're supposed to be all loud-and-proud here, but I legit was gonna try to just read lips and fake it. But Mamá's doing the whole crusading lawyer thing, so she wasn't about to sign off on ANY school, even Superhero School, what am I saying, ESPECIALLY Superhero School, if they weren't ADA-compliant, know what I mean? And it's gonna be kinda hard to sit there in class with the sign language interpreter both Mamá AND Principal Summers insisted on, spending every class staring a hole in my face, and I'm just all 'Shrug, Gee, I wonder who THEY'RE here for?' But silver lining, if I hadn't gone deaf, I probably wouldn't have learned how to read lips, and then I wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on other people's conversations while still grooving to what's left of my tunes. That's called 'multi-tasking'. It's one of the many marketable skills they teach here. But here's how my parents explain it when one of THEM gets into this argument: Publicly funded and mandated secondary education isn't supposed to teach 'job skills'. 'Education' and 'Training' are two different things. 'Job Training' teaches you how to do a job, just like it says on the bottle, no false advertising there. But EDUCATION? That teaches you how to THINK. How to be a PERSON, not just a cog in a machine. He's not learning how to do A JOB here. He's learning how to LEARN. Training for doing one job, maybe that puts food on the table for a while, until that job goes away. And specific jobs, those go away ALL THE TIME. I know that 'cause I do computer programming. We get rid of other people's jobs every DAY. Freakin' ROBOTS, Man. The most 'marketable skill' any kid today can learn is how to learn OTHER skills, 'cause doing one job your whole life and it's the same job Great-Grandpa did is some horse-and-buggy crap that ain't comin' back. I do computer-stuff, and I'm really good at it. I could drop outta this place RIGHT NOW and by this time next year I'd be making fifty-K writing the code that tells everything from your phone to your car to your freakin' microwave how to do its thing. But my parents would go on a RAMPAGE if I did that, and it's not just 'cause they wanna watch me walk across a stage in a black dress with a funny hat. Think about it. You really want me doing that job when I don't know ANYTHING about history or politics that might tell me that the thing I wanna try and do already got tried and killed a bunch of people years before I was born? In a world where freakin' SOCIAL MEDIA has already LITERALLY caused genocides and civil wars? Dial it back, you want me making stuff you're gonna have to look at EVERY DAY without knowing ANYTHING about art or design? Crank it back up, you want me or your boy here VOTING and sitting on JURIES, people's LIVES in our hands, without knowing anything about the world other than the ONE THING we need to know to do whatever our job happens to be that year? C'mon, of course not, we're trying to have a SOCIETY here. It's the same reason we stopped doing free-market fire departments and garbage trucks. Y'know how Fire and Disease don't stay in one place just 'cause we drew lines on a map? Well, neither does Stupid. Also, like, if a bunch of hormonal teens can blow up buildings with our minds, maybe it's a good call to send us to a school that teaches us why blowing up buildings with our minds isn't always the best idea, before we, y'know, start blowing up buildings with our minds." He stopped for breath and shook Dayv's hand, while still standing on the ceiling. "Hey, I'm Ben. You Dayv?"

Mechanically, this character isn't going to accomplish anything. They're going to fail at every roll they're called upon to make. You're not hitting your combat caps for your Power Level. Melee attack 4 with Damage 5 averages out to PL 4.5, not PL 7. Defense 6 with Toughness 3 also averages out to PL 4.5, not PL 7. Strength 2 and Melee Attack 4 makes a Grapple bonus of +6, not +5. Knockback Resistance is half your Toughness, rounded down, so 1, not 2. Even for a PL 7, 3/3/2 for the exotic saves is really low. That's 12PP worth of Feats you have costing 11PP. Most of those skill bonuses are so low, I don't understand why you bothered taking them at all. Most of the skills have charts in the book which show the DCs for checks with them. You wouldn't hit any of them. There's no reason to take the temporary-tradeoff feats at PL 7. Like I told you, the house rules imported the 3E rule allowing anyone to do those maneuvers for up to 2 points in either direction. A PL 7 who tries to Accurate/All-Out/Defensive/Power Attack for more than 2 points is going to fail. Either their attack bonus will be so low that they'll miss, or their damage will be so low that the target will make their save. I don't see what you gain by making the array Dynamic. Independent isn't a valid extra for that Damage effect. It only applies to effects which fade over time, which is 1) Boost, 2) Drain, or 3) An effect with the Fades flaw. I'd call the flaw on the Healing effect "Source", like the Regeneration flaw, rather than "Limited". Like I told you, the house rules put the base cost of Awareness at 1-3PP, depending on the frequency of the descriptor. "Electricity" is "Common", so it costs 2PP. So that Super-Sense costs 6PP, not 5PP.

GM A couple of the obvious gangsters and even more obvious off-duty cops working the club clearly saw Sekhmet stomp up to the guy dressed like a caricature of a stage magician who'd been getting drinks thrown in his face all night. They also saw her drag him out the door. But rather than moving to intervene, they pointed and laughed to each other. They weren't the only ones laughing. Several club kids joined in. King lost both his hat and his cane during his short journey across the warehouse floor. King flailed ineptly at Sekhmet, beating her arm with all the power and fury of a newborn kitten. She couldn't remember having ever met a grown man, even a mortal one, who was such a weakling. She caught snippets of Latin that he'd managed to croak out here and there, but her grip on his throat silenced most of the words he tried to speak. When they got outside, one of those Latin snippets combined with one outstretched hand to briefly lift the lid up off of a steel trash can. The lid hovered a couple inches over the can for a few seconds, then clanged back down. He stared at Sekhmet with eyes full of terror.

Snare is an attack power which creates a physical object, which ties someone up, limiting their mobility. Additional Limbs is what you want. And you'd only need an attack roll if Betsy decides she wants to try to avoid it.

Or use extra effort to power stunt Additional Limbs off of...something? The Drain? I dunno.

Also, it's not Betsy's turn, and she hasn't had the chance to Ready an action to go off on someone else's turn, so she can't take actions.

Is he full-on Nauseated, or just Sickened? The former doesn't seem like a fair tradeoff with just a Bruise.

Persephone's Reflex save (DC15): 25.

This rebuild is extensive enough that I thought I should just submit a new sheet. This one is PL9 instead of PL8. It doesn’t abuse the Power Loss drawbacks as egregiously as the current build. Upon reflection, despite there being many ways to deprive him of his powers, I don’t think any of them come up often enough to justify 2-3 ranks. I also toned down the Regeneration a bit. To make up the difference, I downgraded base Defense to Dodge Focus, and I folded the Enhanced Strength, Super-Strength, Leaping, and Speed powers into the array. So he's not super-strong while he's using his mind control or while he's in mist form. I left the bite Insidious and Subtle, but I dropped the linked Nauseate effect. The cold aura and electromagnetic interference went back to being Complications. I also did a major formatting cleanup. Hopefully the sheet is easier to read now.

In Brief: Instead of becoming The Huntress, Helena Bertinelli becomes Spawn. Character: Mister Strix Power Level: 14 (Built as PL9) Tradeoffs: None Power Points: 218/218PP Unspent Points: 0 Alternate Identity: Gaetano “Guy” Giordano (Deceased) Identity: Secret. The public is not aware that either Gaetano Giordano or Mister Strix are undead, or that they are the same person. Legal Status: Deceased USA citizen with no criminal record. Birthplace: Bedlam City, Wisconsin, USA Base of Operations: Bedlam City Residence: The Twilight Lodge Occupation: President of The Twilight Lodge (current), E.R. Doctor (former) Affiliations: The Twilight Lodge (President), Father Cesare Messina (Retired Catholic priest, Friend) Family: Doctor Adriana Aparo (Widow), Luna Giordano née Gallo (Mother), Massimo “Mo” Giordano (Father), Matteo “Matt” Giordano (Older Brother), Flora Russo née Giordano (Older Sister), Rafael Giordano (Younger Brother, Deceased). Matt and Flora are both married, with children. Adriana has re-married, and she has a child with her new husband. DESCRIPTION Age: 38 (Date of Birth: 1981) Apparent Age: 31 (Date of Death: 2012) Gender: Male Ethnicity: (Sicilian) Italian-American Caucasian Height: 6’2” Weight: 165 lbs. Hair: Black Eyes: Black His superhero costume consists of a white skintight jumpsuit, mask, and cape. The chest of the jumpsuit is emblazoned with a white crescent moon set against a black circle. The edges of the cape and gloves are cut with notches suggestive of the feathers on a bird's wings. The gloves are fingerless. The mask covers his entire head except for his jaw and the lower half of his face. It has a shape similar to the feathers on the head of a horned owl. The bottom of the mask comes to a hook with a slight downward curve resembling a raptor's beak. Overall, it looks like a photo-negative version of the original Raven’s costume. Out of costume, a fan of old movies might compare him to a young (and underslept, and possibly ill) Lee Van Cleef or Basil Rathbone, while an enthusiast for more modern fare would compare him to a mid-1990s Nicolas Cage. His flesh is unnaturally pale, and always cold to the touch, regardless of any physical activity or environmental factors. When visible, his veins appear to be black. His build is slender. He was never bulky in life, and when he transformed, most of his fat burned away, and most of his internal organs shriveled and atrophied. His face is all sharp angles, with high, prominent cheekbones, a large nose, and a narrow, pointed chin. His hair is dark, and perpetually messy. (Since he has no reflection in mirrors, even if he had much reason to style his hair, he wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.) He has thick eyebrows, perpetually arched over eyes set deep in their sockets, eyes which always seem to be surrounded by shadows, regardless of the angle or intensity of light in the area. The irises of his eyes are completely black, indistinguishable from the pupils. The center of his eye is one solid black disk. His hands are slightly larger in proportion to the rest of his body than they should be, the fingers slightly longer. His voice is a deep baritone, surprisingly deep for someone of his size. When he feeds or uses his powers, his appearance becomes even more overtly monstrous. His veins bulge and darken. The blackness at the center of his eyes spreads to cover the entire eyeball. His mouth, canine teeth, and tongue all double in size. His voice deepens by at least a full octave, and echoes independent of the local acoustics. When he growls, he sounds like a tiger. HISTORY Guy Giordano’s life ended just as it was about to begin. Gaetano "Guy" Giordano was born the third of four children in an Italian-American family living in Stark Hill. The family all attended the local Catholic school and church. His mother was a librarian turned homemaker, and his father was a "made man" in the Scarpia crime family. Guy was closest with his younger brother, Raphael, and his mother, whom they both took after, being more gentle and scholastically inclined than their brutish father and older brother or their scheming "queen bee" older sister. When they grew up, Guy became a doctor, while Raphael became a priest. Guy went to college and medical school in Chicago and Detroit, and earned a doctorate in emergency medicine alongside Adriana Aparo, his fellow student. After they completed their residency, they got engaged, spent a year working with Doctors Without Borders in Libya and the Congo, then moved back to Bedlam, got married, and bought a house. They were just about to start trying for their first child when Guy got sick and died. Unbeknownst to his family, Guy's younger brother Raphael wasn't just a priest, but a Vatican-sponsored monster-hunter. Raphael had destroyed a powerful elder vampire, and the even older and more powerful vampire who had created that elder took his revenge and replaced the lost member of his "family" by killing Raphael's favorite brother and turning him into a vampire. Raphael was no match for the vampire, who only ever identified himself as "Johann." He ambushed Raphael at the cemetery where Guy was buried. Guy dug himself out of his own grave, emerging in a mindless feeding-frenzy, and Johann made sure that Raphael was caught helpless in Guy's path. Guy drained his little brother dry. After Guy's bloodlust faded and he cried out in anguish over what he'd done, Johann wished him a taunting "Happy Birthday" and stabbed him in the heart with a wooden stake, putting him in a coma. Then he locked Guy's unconscious body in a box and left it there for five years. When Johann finally took the stake out of his heart, Guy woke up, but he had no idea how much time had passed. He ran home, only to learn that his wife lived there with her new husband and their child. He fled the scene before anyone spotted him. Johann laughed, taunted him with another "Happy Birthday," and vanished. Guy spent the next year living in the shadows of Bedlam. He spent days sleeping in sewers, abandoned basements, and hastily dug holes in the dirt, rarely staying in the same place twice. He spent the nights spying on his family and his widow, and through a mix of research and trial and error, figuring out how much time had passed, what had happened to him and what he could do. When he drank Raphael's blood, he absorbed his memories, so he knew that he was a “vampire,” but that could mean a hundred different things. He spent many nights at local libraries, catching up on recent history and researching his “condition.” An academic at heart, he felt “at home” there, and since he could ignore alarms and surveillance equipment, hypnotize guards, and slip through locked doors as a cloud of mist, he had the run of the place. When he needed blood, he would grab sewer rats, or hypnotize the employees at the less ethical animal “shelters,” so he could drain the cats and dogs already scheduled for execution. At first, he made the mistake of trying to subsist entirely on animal blood. But he learned the hard way that the inferior quality (for his purposes) of animal blood would only satisfy his undead body for so long. After the first time he snapped and almost killed a random person on the street, he made an effort to regularly infuse his diet with human blood. He limited his human feeding to whatever criminals and corrupt cops he could find, often guys he recognized as his father’s employees and associates. At one point, he decided that he needed to be destroyed, and even if suicide was a sin, the greater sin would be continuing to live as a monster. So he fought through his instinct to sleep during the day, and he tried to walk out into the sun. He was terribly burned, but he discovered that his undead body had a powerful instinct for self-preservation, one he could not overcome. He fled the light, slept deeper and woke up thirstier than ever before, and by the time he regained the capacity for rational thought, he was standing over the half-drained body of what was now the second random person he had almost murdered. After that debacle, he stopped trying to kill himself. During a chance encounter near the end of his first year as a vampire, he saved the life of a 70-year-old retiree and "supply priest," Father Cesare Messina. Father Messina quickly became his friend and confidant, the only source of human interaction for him since his death. Father Messina felt that it was his duty to help Guy figure out God's plan for him, even if that just meant praying for him and chatting with him over coffee. Father Messina reminded him that the best way to heal one’s own pain was to help others with theirs. As they spoke, an idea formed between the two of them. Guy could do what everyone with extraordinary abilities and a secret to protect did to help make the world better: He could put on a mask, and become a superhero, “Like Raven, that guy in Freedom City.” Father Messina was an ornithology enthusiast, so when the subject of superheroes came up, Raven's was the first name that came to his mind. Of the decorations in Father Messina's home, the pictures and sculptures of owls outnumbered the Christian imagery by at least ten to one. With little prompting from Guy, Father Messina practically gushed about how owls were found all over the world, in all kinds of environments, and how they appear in the myths of almost every culture on the planet, usually as demons or psychopomps. Guy mentioned a local legend he’d heard in the Congo about how owls hunted humans to eat their souls. That reminded Father Messina that while the more popular modern vampire myths describe them transforming into bats, in older stories, they turned into owls. Just like that, Guy knew what form his disguise should take. The tailor who would later craft it was hypnotized to misremember the job, but he was well-paid. "Mister Strix" was born. At the start of this new chapter in Guy's life, Johann reappeared, attacking him without warning and beating him almost to a second death. Then Johann laughed, taunted him with yet another "Happy Birthday," and disappeared. To Guy's surprise, he laughed too. Johann’s assault had an oddly invigorating effect on him. If Johann was still trying to break him, that meant he wasn't broken yet. His conversations with Father Messina had given him a new sense of purpose, but Johann’s beating gave him a new sense of hope. His existence might be evil, but he could still do some good with it. He might not be a doctor anymore, he wasn't going to let that stop him anymore from doing the same thing in death that he used to do in life: Try to save people. PERSONALITY & MOTIVATION Like any good Catholic, the primary driving force in his life has always been guilt. When he was a child, it was guilt over the apple, and the crucifixion, and not being the son his father wanted. When adolescence opened his eyes a little wider, it was guilt over who his father was and how he made his money. He became a doctor and went to war zones so that he could try to save more lives than his father had destroyed. Now it’s guilt over what he is and what he has to do. In life, he was quiet and gentle, but determined. He always tried to put others before himself. People always told him he was “a good listener.” He loved his wife. He loved his family, even if he didn't like them. He inherited his mother’s love of books, opera, traditional French and Italian cooking, and when he got older, coffee and wine. He always seemed to have his nose in a book. He’d lived in war zones, but he’d never really been in a fight. He'd never wanted to hurt anyone. In death, everything that used to define him or bring him joy has been stolen from him, and he's become a predator who leaves ruin in his wake, a danger to everyone around him. Violence now feels as natural to him as breathing used to, and the only thing that truly brings him joy anymore is sinking his fangs into another person’s neck and sucking the blood out of their veins. He hates the thing he’s been turned into, and the things who turned him into it. He’s trying to make the best of it. POWERS & TACTICS In his mortal life, he was a fully licensed medical doctor with a specialization in emergency medicine, with field experience in multiple war zones. In combat, he is an unskilled brawler, relying entirely on the animal instinct and enhanced physical prowess he gained when he became a vampire. Everything he “knows” about fighting, he learned from movies and television. Popular culture is also his main source of “knowledge” about his own condition. He’s studying all the relevant history and mythology he can get his hands on, but it’s a slow process. The vampire who killed him didn’t tell him anything. Most of what he can do either comes from pure instinct, or is something he read about and decided to try that worked, either immediately or with practice. He is undead, preserved and animated by the life-consuming energy that is the pure darkness of the Schattenwelt, in a process fueled by blood magic. His undead body is far more resilient than his human body was. His skeleton is harder than stone, but just as light as human bone. His flesh feels human to the touch, but displays a resistance to cutting or puncturing more akin to thick leather or Kevlar. His body somehow metabolizes the blood he drinks to sustain his existence, keep him preserved, heal his wounds, and alter his body in ways he is only beginning to explore. He can increase his strength, speed, and agility to superhuman levels, grow claws that can shred metal and stone as if it were paper, or transform into a cloud of mist. His blood can also heal the wounds of others (a Healing power stunt off of his main array), though consuming his blood can bring unpredictable side-effects (a temporary Complication for the other character). He also has some psychic powers. He can broadcast a psychic command which forces the minds of others to ignore his presence. He can more directly hypnotize anyone who looks him in the eye, forcing them to obey all his commands and re-writing their memories. When he bites a living creature and sucks their blood, the combination of sharp fangs, endorphin rush, and blood loss makes it difficult for the victim to understand what is happening or to remember it clearly after the fact, even if he hasn't mesmerized them. Since his blood can heal wounds, he can use his fang to cut his tongue, then lick the puncture wounds closed with the transfer of blood. This combination allows his feeding to go mostly undetected. His senses are several orders of magnitude more acute than his "natural prey", normal humans. He can see clearly in total darkness, pick out tiny details at long range, hear frequencies beyond the the normal range of human hearing, and track by scent like a bloodhound. From a distance, he can hear a person’s heartbeat, hear the blood pulsing through their veins, and smell their breath. Like a shark, he can sniff out even tiny amounts of blood from far away. The smell and taste of blood can give him the type of information about its owner that would make a crime lab jealous. When he tastes blood, he can also tap into any psychic resonance it has absorbed, experiencing the memories of its original owner like they were his own. He’s also learned the hard way that he has just about every quirk and weakness that’s ever been attributed to vampires in folklore. He doesn't have to worry about running water or being invited into a home, but that’s about it. COMPLICATIONS Achilles Heels & Weaksauce Weaknesses: Certain plants, objects, and symbols of mystical and religious significance will repel him, interfere with his movement, and cause him pain and injury. He cannot stand them, even if they were a source of joy or comfort in his mortal life. Daylight Fire Garlic: All parts and states of the garlic plant affect him: The flower and the bulb, whether living, freshly harvested, or even ground into dry powder. Unlike most plants, garlic never withers or dies merely from being in his presence (see "Walking Wasteland", below). Holy Symbols & Blessed Items: Holy symbols and items affect him at the GM’s discretion, on a case by case basis. Generally, the holy symbol must belong to a “Good” deity, or a deity whose portfolio includes concepts such as “Healing,” “Life,” “Light, or “The Sun.” Foods and liquids which have been “blessed,” such as holy water, or which have ritual significance, such as the wine and wafers used in Communion, will also affect him. Holy symbols and items will affect him even if he, or the character wearing or wielding them, do not believe in (or even know of) the religion with which they are associated. However, if he attempts to force his way past the holy object and some sort of opposed check is required, a wielder who knows, believes in, or reveres the deity associated with the holy item will have a better chance of winning the opposed check than a wielder who is ignorant, skeptical, or blasphemous. Jade Mirrors: He has no reflection. Like machines, mirrors do not register his presence. If he can exert enough willpower to stare into a mirror, then a vague, blurry semblance of his visage may briefly appear, only to vanish as soon as he turns away. This effort may cause the mirror to crack, or even to shatter. Mirrors also sometimes break even if he briefly glances at them, or passes by them without peek. Salt: Pure salt will affect him, but saltwater will not, nor will food with a high salt content. Silver Wolf’s Bane: See “Garlic,” above. Everything described there applies to wolf’s bane as well. Wooden Stakes: He can be incapacitated if his heart is impaled with a piece of wood. It doesn't matter if the “stake” is made entirely of wood or not, so long as the part lodged in his heart is composed of pure, whole wood. An arrow or spear with a steel head and a wooden shaft would work, but a piece of compressed particle board would not. Wood and wooden implements do not cause him any of the fear, discomfort, or damage described below, and staking his heart is the only circumstance under which a wooden weapon will overcome his resilience or regeneration. Wood does not limit his movements, and touching it does not harm him. He already has drawbacks and flaws to account for how these items can suppress his powers, penetrate his defenses, and inflict wounds which are slow to heal, and since those traits already provided a power point discount, they do not count as complications. However, these items can have other effects which would count as complications: He cannot stand to look directly at these items. As soon as he sees them, the GM can force him to make a Will save against an Emotion Control (Fear) effect, which may cause him to flee the scene entirely. He cannot knowingly or willingly attempt to touch any of these items, or even to advance to within touch-range of them. He must stay at least 10 feet away, just outside of touch-range. (If the item is hidden from him, then he can unknowingly approach it or touch it.) The GM can force him to save against Damage and/or some other attack effect if he touches any of these items or their shadows, or if the ingests them, or the blood of someone else who has recently ingested them. If another character wears or wields any of these items, then he cannot attempt to physically touch them, or anyone behind them. (As reflected with his Power Loss drawbacks, he also cannot bite them or use his mind control powers on them.) He cannot attempt to directly remove or destroy the items. Another character who wields these items can advance toward him, forcing him to withdraw. If he is bound with these items, or with bonds infused or plated with these materials, then he cannot untie or break those bonds, no matter how objectively flimsy they may be. He may not even be able to lift them. (As reflected with his Power Loss drawbacks, such bonds will also suppress most of his powers.) If these items are mounted on, above, or around a door, window, or other portal, then he cannot pass through that portal, even in his mist form. If these items are placed on top of the lid to a container, or tied or wrapped around it, then he cannot open that container, or enter or exit it in his mist form. If these items are arranged in a circle, then he cannot cross that circle. He cannot step over it, and he cannot fly over it in his mist form. A circle around another character can protect that character from him, while a circle around him can trap him. He can attempt to overcome these limitations, forcing his way past these items, or even forcing himself to touch them, with a focused act of will, most likely represented by a Will save. If these items are being wielded by another character, then the GM can force him and that other character to make an opposed check, most likely Charisma. This effort may cause him harm whether it is successful or not, so he may also have to save against Damage or some other attack effect. If his act of will is successful, then he can temporarily overcome the limits to his freedom of movement, and these items may be damaged, or even destroyed. They may bend, crack, shatter, melt, or burst into flame. Addiction (Blood): He doesn't just need blood. He wants it. He loves it. It is as much his drug as it is his sustenance. The GM can decide that he's thirsty, give him a Hero Point, and then give him a circumstance penalty on a check to represent how difficult it is for him to focus on other tasks when he’d rather be drinking blood. When blood is available, the GM can give him a Hero Point, and then force him to make a Will save to resist the urge to lap it up or suck it down. He can also cause Addiction complications for other characters. They can become addicted to the euphoria of being fed upon by him, or they can become addicted to consuming his supernatural blood. Chill of Undeath: When viewed through Infra-Vision or perceived with another heat-detecting Super-Sense, he always appears to be colder than his surroundings, even if he's in Antarctica or at the bottom of the ocean. The GM can give him a Hero Point if this causes him a setback, such as allowing him to be seen when he would otherwise be concealed, or exposes him as a supernatural creature when he would otherwise go undetected as such. The area around him tends to be unnaturally cold. In his passing, condensation will often form on glass and liquids will often freeze solid. The GM can treat him as having an Uncontrolled touch-range Environment Control (Cold) effect, and they can give him or another character a Hero Point if this causes a setback. Electromagnetic Ghosts: Although machines cannot detect or perceive him directly, his immediate presence can cause electromagnetic interference. When he passes by a radio, audio recorder, or video camera, he can trigger bursts of static or image tearing. The GM can give him a Hero Point if this alerts enemies to his presence. Enemies: Archnemesis Dad: His father is a captain in the Scarpia family syndicate. His surviving brother works with him, as does his sister's husband. When he was alive, he refused to participate in his father’s criminal activities, but he didn't interfere with them either. When he died, so did his ambivalence. Now he’s determined to dismantle everything his family helped build. Burn The Witch!: The secret monster-hunting arm of the Catholic Church knows that his brother killed a vampire, and that soon after, he and his brother were both killed in circumstances which sounded suspiciously like retaliatory vampire attacks. It’s been a few years since then, but if they hear about anything that sounds like a vampire in Bedlam, they will follow up. I Hate You, Vampire Dad!: “Enemy” isn't quite the right word. His sire, "Johann" (real name unknown), is working toward a long-term goal of making him part of Johann's "family." To Johann, that means an unholy combination of child, friend, and lover. Unfortunately for him, Johann doesn't think he’ll realize his potential as a vampire until his human spirit is broken and stripped away from him by a conga line of trauma and disappointment, a process Johann expects to take at least a hundred years. Johann shows up once a year like clockwork to beat him within an inch of his life as a celebration of his "birthday" as a vampire. In addition, Johann will, seemingly at random, send various minions, pawns, or even other “children,” to torment him in some way. They might attack him directly, provide aid to his enemies, or harm something or someone he cares about (including Bedlam City itself). Enemy To All Living Things: While machines seem to simply ignore him (as represented with his Permanent Concealment from them), nature seems to actively resent him. Animals universally hate and fear him, unless they have consumed his blood, or are under the effect of some sort of mind control power. They will flee from him, attempt to scare him away, and/or attack him. He automatically fails any Handle Animal or Ride skill checks. (See, also, “Walking Wasteland,” below.) Glamour Failure: He has quirks which either explicitly reveal him to be a supernatural creature, or at least create a subconscious “Uncanny Valley” effect, making humans deeply uncomfortable in his presence. The air is unnaturally quiet around him because of all the normal sounds his body doesn't make, and he lacks several signs of life that most observers would take for granted. The GM may give him penalties to checks involving social interaction, or declare such checks to be impossible. Indifferent or even Friendly NPCs could turn Hostile, attacking or fleeing. Many of those features are already mentioned in "Description," above, and others are described in other Complication entries. He never casts a shadow, regardless of the level or angle of light in the surrounding area. His hands and fingers appear to have normal friction ridges, yet his touch never leaves prints. His footsteps never leave tracks, or make a sound. He does not breathe, cough, sneeze, or yawn. (This is particularly noticeable in winter.) His heart does not beat. He has no pulse of any kind. He does not sweat. When he is wounded, his skin does not bruise, and his cuts do not bleed. He will only bleed if decapitated or staked through the heart. His blood is so dark that it mostly appears to be black, only showing red when light hits it at just the right angle. If he cries, the tears are blood. His body does not age. Most machines seem to ignore him. He has no reflection in mirrors, or any other reflective surface. He does not show up in photographs or on video cameras, film or digital. His voice cannot be heard in auditory recordings, or through microphones, telephones (cellular or land-line), or radios. He doesn't show up as a blip on any kind of radar or sonar. He can walk freely through the laser, infra-red, and microwave beams used by motion detectors without them registering his presence. Automatic doors won’t even open for him. A gas chromatograph mass spectrometer can at least attempt to analyze samples of his tissues, and mechanical components like buttons which detect physical pressure will recognize the force his touch exerts upon them, but that seems to be the extent to which machines recognize or acknowledge him. Note: Aside from his lack of reflection, this is the result of the Permanent flaw on his Concealment against machine senses, so he should not receive any Hero Points for it. However, it may be a complication for other characters. For example, a robot or cyborg ally whose eyes are mechanical cameras and whose ears are mechanical microphones may receive a Hero Point in exchange for not being able to see or hear him. Heavy Sleeper: When the sun is in the sky, it is almost impossible for him to stay awake, and once he falls asleep, he stays asleep. Instead of suffering the usual -10 Notice penalty while asleep, he automatically fails Notice checks. Other characters can even lift or manipulate his body without waking him up. Nothing less than a direct attack on his body will disturb his daytime slumber. I Do Not Drink…Wine: His Immunity to Fortitude effects includes Immunity to Starvation and Thirst, but not only does he not need to eat or drink, he physically cannot. If he tries to consume food, or if he tries to drink any liquid other than blood, then he will quickly vomit it back up, along with some of his own stored blood, and the GM can also force him to save against an attack effect, like Nauseate, or even Damage. Involuntary Transformation (Berserk Rage): His undead body has instincts for predation and self-preservation more powerful than those of any living creature, and more powerful than his moral compass. When he attempts to resist those instincts, the GM can force him to make a Will save. Failure can result in a complication for him and/or for others. Starvation can cause him to be overcome with bloodlust, to the point of mindlessly attacking the next human he encounters, without caring if his prey survives the encounter or not. Potential causes of “starvation” include simply going too long without drinking blood, trying to subsist for too long on blood of low quality (animal blood, refrigerated blood bags, etc.), or depleting the blood stored in his body by using it to fuel his powers. When exposed to one of his weaknesses, especially fire or sunlight, he feels a powerful primal urge to flee from it. If he is unable to summon the willpower to endure its presence, then during his flight, he may brutally attack anyone who gets in his way, whether they meant to or not. Once he is out of danger, he may then be overcome with bloodlust, as if he were starving, as his scared inner animal seeks to re-assert control over its surroundings. Made of Evil: He is that which should not be, but is. He is a monster, an abomination, a dead thing preserved and animated with the life-consuming darkness of the Schattenwelt. Any powers which “Detect Evil” will show him as such, and any powers which “Protect From Evil” or “Smite Evil” will affect him as if he were applicably “Evil,” regardless of his actual conduct or inner sense of morality. Any power such as “Aura Vision” which can detect the presence or state of a “soul” will show his to be present, but shredded, hanging in tatters, and stained by shadows and blood. Mainlining The Monster: Some view him as a monster to be destroyed, but others see him as a resource to be exploited. His blood and body could be used as a component for countless magical spells, rituals, potions, or other items. When ingested or injected by a living creature, his blood can act as a powerful and potentially addictive drug. The specific effects vary depending on the person, the amount consumed, and the GM’s whims. It can act as a stimulant or a narcotic. It can cause euphoria, hallucinations, and/or uncharacteristically aggressive or deviant behavior. It can even heal wounds, cure diseases, or grant temporary powers, such as Enhanced physical abilities, or Immunities like Aging and Disease. It can also create a temporary psychic link, and a temporary stain or “taint” on the user’s “soul” or “aura” with a "negative resonance." Prejudice: If someone does learn that he is a vampire, or that his family is part of the Bedlam Mafia, it could cause them to mistrust him (and they might not be wrong). Conversely, if he learns that another character is also a vampire, or some other sort of undead creature, then this can be a complication for them, because his default reaction will be homicidal violence. Relationships: His wife remarried, and has children with her new husband. But he still cares about her, and by extension, her new family. He still cares about his family too, even the mobsters. He keeps tabs on all of them, and he will leap to their aid if they are in danger. Father Cesare Messina, the retired priest, is the only friend he's made since his death. He will drop everything to help Messina. But the priest’s secret association with him could cause problems for both of them. Responsibility: By assuming ownership of The Twilight Lodge, he has assumed responsibility for both the cursed structure, and the damned souls who staff it in their quest for redemption. Secrets: It is not public knowledge that Gaetano Giordano is Mister Strix, or that either of them is a vampire. As far as most people know, Gaetano Giordano is still buried in his grave. Unlife: Even though he has no Constitution score and Immunity to Fortitude effects, he still needs to sleep, and he still needs “food” in the form of blood. He only gets restful sleep if he has complete shelter from sunlight, and if his resting place includes soil from his homeland. He does not need to be buried; a thin layer of dirt spread out under him is sufficient.When he drinks blood, his undead body stores that blood in his heart. His body consumes a small amount of that stored blood every night to preserve his corpse, and a greater amount to heal his wounds and fuel his powers.After a day without sleep and/or three days without blood, the GM can inflict negative conditions upon him, like Fatigued or Exhausted, cumulative penalties on certain checks, and/or temporary ability damage. The GM may allow him some sort of check to delay or lessen these effects, akin to the Constitution checks and Fortitude saves mortals can make to resist the damage caused by neglecting their physical needs.He will not be destroyed by starvation or lack of sleep, but the supernatural preservation of his body will be disrupted. At first, he will start to look sick. Then, he will begin to age. Finally, he will start to decay. Eventually, his flesh will wither away and slough off completely, leaving little more than a fanged skeleton. Eventually, he won’t have eyes or a tongue, but he will still be able to see and speak. Once he finally gets the blood and restful sleep he needs, the decay will gradually reverse. If his soft tissues have rotted away, then his bones will absorb the blood he “drinks" directly. The decay will reverse at roughly the same rate at which a mortal would recover from starvation and/or sleep deprivation.His ideal sustenance is the blood of a living human (or humanoid alien with genetic similarity sufficient to produce viable offspring with a human), taken directly from that human’s veins, ideally while the human is experiencing some sort of intense emotion. The further his feeding deviates from that ideal, the less nourishment and satisfaction he derives. He can consume blood from cold storage, so long as that stored blood would be safe to transfuse back into a living human. He cannot feed on necrotic or coagulated blood, and attempting to do so will cause him to vomit as if it were human food (see “I Do Not Drink…Wine,” above). He can feed from vertebrate animals and aliens which have “blood” (the fluids of arthropods, for example, would not work), but it is not as satisfying, or as efficient; it would take multiple units of animal blood to equal the same “nutritional content” as one unit of human blood. The blood of living supernatural creatures, such as faeries, werewolves, or dragons, on the other hand, tastes better than human blood, provides more efficient nourishment, and may also have side-effects at the GM’s discretion. Potential side-effects include addiction, inebriation, temporary insanity (hallucinations, berserk rage, etc.), and temporary Boosts to his existing powers, and temporarily gaining new powers. Depending on the individual, the blood of human mutants and mutates, powerful aliens, and, depending on their descriptors, even other vampires, may have the same effects. Walking Wasteland: Since he is infused with the life-consuming dark energy of the Schattenwelt, his very presence can be hostile to life. At his touch, or even in his passing, non-animate plants (except for garlic or wolf’s bane) may wither, or even melt or crumble into ash, while food and drink such as bread, milk, cheese, or wine (but never salt) may spoil or rot. Animals which happen to be pregnant may spontaneously miscarry. ABILITIES 18PP Strength: 28/12 (+9/+1), 38/12 Lifting (Heavy Load: 4,800 lbs. [2.4 tons] / 130 lbs.) Dexterity: 28/12 (+9/+1) Constitution: - Intelligence: 18 (+4) Wisdom: 18 (+4) Charisma: 18 (+4) COMBAT 12PP Initiative: +9/+1 (+9/+1 Dex) Attack: +9/+3 Melee (+3 Base, +6 Enhanced Attack Focus), +3 Ranged (+3 Base) Grapple: +20/+4 (+9/+3 Melee Attack, +9/+1 Strength, +2 Super-Strength) Defense: +9/+3 (+3 Base, +6 Enhanced Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback Resistance: 9 (4 vs Vampire Weaknesses) SAVING THROWS 5PP Toughness: +9 (Impervious 9, except against Vampire Weaknesses) Fortitude: - Reflex: +9/+1 (+9/+1 Dex, +0PP) Will: +9 (+4 Wis, +5PP)Ultimate Save SKILLS 32R = 8PP Acrobatics 0 (+10/+1) Handle Animal 0 (-) Intimidation 0 (+18/+4) Knowledge (Life Sciences) 6 (+10) Knowledge (Streetwise) 11 (+15) Languages 4 (English [Native], French, Italian, Latin, Spanish) Medicine 11 (+15) Notice 0 (+18/+4) Ride 0 (-) Search 0 (+18/+4) Sense Motive 0 (+18/+4) Stealth 0 (+20/+1) FEATS 4PP Benefit (Legally Deceased) Interpose Jack of All Trades Ultimate Save (Will) Enhanced: Attack Focus (Melee) 6 Dodge Focus 6 Evasion 2 Hide In Plain Sight Takedown Attack 2 EQUIPMENT 7PP = 35EP The Twilight Lodge (Headquarters) [39/40EP = 8PP, 8PP from Dead Head] Power Level: 14 Size: Large Exterior (500ft, Mansion) / Huge Interior (1,000ft, Castle) [3EP] Toughness: 10 [1EP] (Descriptors: Magically Warded and Ectoplasm-Reinforced Structure) Features: [35EP] Communications (Feats: Dimensional 3 [Any/All]) (Descriptors: Interdimensional Ghost-Phone) Concealed 3 (+20 DC) (Descriptors: Magical Perception Filter, Unholy Aura) Defense System 2 (Descriptors: Ghosts, Zombies) Dimensional Portal (Hells) Dual Size (Descriptors: Interdimensional Structure) Feature: Secret Sewer Entrance Fire Prevention System Garage Gym Holding Cells 2 (Toughness 15, Nullify 10) (Descriptors: Magically Warded and Ectoplasm-Reinforced Dungeon) Library Living Space 2 (Masterwork) Personnel (Descriptors: Undead Servants) Pool Powers 7 (196PP) Power System (Descriptors: Hellfire Furnace) Security System 3 (DC30) (Descriptors: Magical Wards) Self-Repairing (Descriptors: Ectoplasm-Infused Structure, Undead Servants) Workshop (Artificer/Ritualist) Powers: [PL14 x 2 = 28PP per rank, x7 ranks = 174/196PP] Concealment 3 (ESP effects, Mental-type senses, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Limited [Observers outside the clubhouse can use ESP effects and Mental-type senses to perceive the exterior of the clubhouse, but not the interior, and vice versa], Permanent) [3PP] Features 1 (Temporal Inertia) [1PP] Immunity 1 (Mister Strix's Vampiric Aura) [1PP] Nullify 10 (All Insubstantial, Super-Movement [Dimensional Travel], and Teleport effects of any descriptor, Extras: Action 3 [Reaction], Effortless, Range [Perception], Flaws: Limited [Only counters attempts to enter or exit the clubhouse]) [62PP] Psychomancy 23 (46PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 3) [49PP] Base Power: Mind Reading 10 (Extras: Action [Standard], Mental, Flaws: Limited [Probe], Feats: Subtle) [11PP] Alternate Power: Emotion Control 10 (Extras: Area [General, Burst], Mental, Selective, Flaws: Limited [Fear], Feats: Progression [Area Size] 3 [500ft radius]) [33PP] Alternate Power: Illusion 10 (Sense Types: All, Extras: Selective, Flaws: Phantasm, Feats: Progression [Area Size] 6 [500ft radius]) [46PP] Alternate Power: Teleport 10 (Extras: Duration 2 [Continuous, no action needed to keep portals open], Portal, Flaws: Action 2 [Standard Action to open or close a portal], Limited [Short-Range Jumps, 1,000ft], Limited [To/From points inside the building], Feats: Change Direction, Insidious, Progression [Portal Size] 2 [25ft], Subtle) [25PP] Super-Senses 13 (Normal Vision, Extras: Counters Concealment, Counters Illusion, Counters Obscure [All Descriptors], Penetrates Concealment, Flaws: Limited [Inside the building]) [7PP] Transform 10 (Memory Alteration, Extras: Action 3 [Reaction], Alternate Save [Will], Duration [Continuous, Lasting], Mental, Range [Perception], Flaws: Limited [Memory alteration is limited to erasing or distorting memories of the clubhouse interior], Limited [The clubhouse will only alter a target's memory when they are leaving the building], Feats: Subtle) [51PP] POWERS 185PP Descriptors (All Powers): Black Magic, Blood Magic, Darkness, Death, Evil, Necromancy, Shadow, Undead Side Bar: Vampire Weaknesses (Limited, Power Loss) Concealment 8 (All Auditory, Radio, and Visual type senses, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Limited [Machines], Permanent) [8PP] (Descriptors: Unholy Aura) Enhanced Dexterity 16 (Drawbacks: Power Loss [Vampire Weaknesses, Frequency: Uncommon]) [15PP] (Descriptors: Superhuman Agility, Superhuman Speed) Enhanced Feats 17 (Attack Focus [Melee] 6, Dodge Focus 6, Evasion 2, Hide In Plain Sight, Takedown Attack 2, Drawbacks: Power Loss [Vampire Weaknesses, Frequency: Uncommon]) [16PP] (Descriptors: Superhuman Agility, Superhuman Speed) Enhanced Skills 68 (Acrobatics 1, Intimidation 14, Notice 14, Search 14, Sense Motive 14, Stealth 11, Drawbacks: Power Loss [Vampire Weaknesses, Frequency: Uncommon]) [16PP] (Descriptors: Super-Senses, Unholy Aura) Features 3 (Deathly Aura*; Touch does not leave prints; Wounds do not bleed) [3PP] (Descriptors: Unholy Aura) *See "Death Powers" in Power Profiles. Healing 1 (Extras: Action 4 [Reaction], Affects Objects, Total; Flaws: Limited [Objects], Personal, Source [Blood]) [5PP] (Descriptors: Regeneration) Immunity 30 (Fortitude effects) [30PP] Impervious Toughness 9 (Flaws: Limited [Vampire Weaknesses inflict Penetrating damage]) [5PP] (Descriptors: Regeneration, Superhuman Resilience) Protection 9 [9PP] (Descriptors: Superhuman Resilience) Regeneration 14 (Recovery 14 [+9, Recovers over time like a living creature], Feats: Regrowth) [15PP] Regeneration 22 (Recovery Rate: Injured 6 [no rest], Disabled 8 [no rest], Resurrection 8 [1 round], Flaws: Limited [Vampire Weaknesses inflict Incurable damage; Requires outside aid to Resurrect if decapitated, staked through the heart, incinerated, dissolved, or disintegrated]) [11PP] Super-Movement 1 (Trackless) [2PP] (Descriptors: Unholy Aura) Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling, Drawbacks: Power Loss [Vampire Weaknesses, Frequency: Uncommon]) [1PP] Super-Senses 11 (Acute Analytical Tracking Smell/Taste, Darkvision, Microscopic Vision, Postcognition [Flaws: Medium {Blood}], Ultra-Hearing, Drawbacks: Power Loss [Vampire Weaknesses, Frequency: Uncommon]) [8PP] Vampire Power 19 (38PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 4, Drawbacks: Power Loss [Vampire Weaknesses, Frequency: Uncommon]) [41PP] Base Power: [12 + 16 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 38PP] Drain Constitution 9 (Extras: Linked [Mind Reading], Flaws: Limited [1 rank per round], Requires Grapple, Feats: Insidious, Slow Fade 4 [1 hour], Subtle) [9PP] (Additional Descriptors: Blood Drain) Mind Reading 9 (Extras: Action [Standard], Linked [Drain], Flaws: Range 2 [Touch], Requires Grapple) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Blood Divination) Enhanced Strength 16 [16PP] Leaping 3 (x10, Running Long Jump: 190ft) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Strength) Speed 3 (50MPH, 500ft per Move Action) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Speed) Super-Strength 2 (Lifting Strength: 38, Heavy Load: 4,800 lbs. [2.4 tons]) [4PP] Alternate Power: [9 + 16 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 38PP] Autofire Strength 9 [9PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Speed) Enhanced Strength 16 [16PP] Incurable Strength Damage (Feats: Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Variable Descriptor [Piercing and/or Slashing damage; Claws and/or Fangs], Drawbacks: Lethal) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Claws, Fangs) Leaping 3 (x10, Running Long Jump: 190ft) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Strength) Speed 3 (50MPH, 500ft per Move Action) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Speed) Super-Strength 2 (Lifting Strength: 38, Heavy Load: 4,800 lbs. [2.4 tons]) [4PP] Alternate Power: [10 + 16 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 36PP] Concealment 10 (All Non-Mental type senses, Flaws: Phantasm, Feats: Selective, Drawbacks: Progression [Counter Rank / Save DC] 1 [-1 = Rank 9 / DC19]) [10PP] (Additional Descriptors: Hypnosis, Mind Control, Psychic Invisibility) Enhanced Strength 16 [16PP] Leaping 3 (x10, Running Long Jump: 190ft) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Strength) Speed 3 (50MPH, 500ft per Move Action) [3PP] (Additional Descriptors: Super-Speed) Super-Strength 2 (Lifting Strength: 38, Heavy Load: 4,800 lbs. [2.4 tons]) [4PP] Alternate Power: [10 + 23 = 33PP] Concealment 10 (All Non-Mental type senses, Flaws: Phantasm, Feats: Selective, Drawbacks: Progression [Counter Rank / Save DC] 1 [-1 = Rank 9 / DC19]) [10PP] (Additional Descriptors: Hypnosis, Mind Control, Psychic Invisibility) Flight 3 (50MPH, 500ft per Move Action, Extras: Linked [Immunity, Insubstantial], Feats: Subtle) [7PP] (Additional Descriptors: Mist Form) Immunity 2 (Critical Hits, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Linked [Flight, Insubstantial]) [4PP] Insubstantial 2 (Extras: Duration [Continuous], Linked [Flight, Immunity]) [12PP] Alternate Power: [37PP] (Additional Descriptors: Hypnotic Eyes) Mind Control 9 (Extras: Conscious, Duration [Sustained, Lasting], Linked [Transform], Mental, Flaws: Distracting, Sense-Dependent [Visual], Feats: Subtle) [19PP] Transform 9 (Memory Alteration, Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Duration [Continuous, Lasting], Linked [Mind Control], Mental, Range [Perception], Flaws: Distracting, Sense-Dependent [Visual], Feats: Subtle) [18PP] DRAWBACKS -14PP Vulnerability ("Blessed/Celestial/Consecrated/Holy" effects, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-1PP] Vulnerability ("Fire" effects, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-2PP] Vulnerability ("Silver" effects, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-1PP] Weakness (Daylight, Frequency: Very Common, Intensity: Moderate [Cumulative -1 Drain on Toughness, Destroyed when Toughness reaches -6], Time: 1/round) [-8PP] Weakness (Healing effects without Descriptors which identify them as being "Evil", "Unholy", or otherwise beneficial to the "Undead" do not work on him, even if they have the "Affects Objects" extra, and they also inflict Damage of equal rank; Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Moderate, Time: Instant) [-2PP] Abilities (18) + Combat (12) + Saving Throws (5) + Skills (8) + Feats (4) + Powers (185) – Drawbacks (14) = 218/218 Power Points ATTACK RANGE SAVING THROW EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC24 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) Blood Drain Touch/Grapple DC19 Fortitude* Drain Constitution* Opposed Will vs +9 Mind Reading Claws/Fangs Touch DC24 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical, Lethal, Incurable) Hypnotic Eyes Perception (Visually Sense-Dependent) Opposed Will vs +9** Mind Controlled DC19 Will Transformed (Memory Alteration) Psychic Invisibility Personal DC19 Will*** Total Concealment from all non-Mental type senses *This saving throw is not Staged, because he can only drain 1 Constitution rank per round, regardless of the margin by which the victim failed their save. **Because the two Linked effects target the same saving throw (Will), the victim makes one saving throw and compares it against the DC for both effects. The Transform effect has a static DC, but the Mind Control effect has a DC determined by a power check, so it is possible that the victim will successfully save against one of the linked effects but fail to save against the other one. ***Creatures with Intelligence 0 are unaffected. Creatures with Intelligence 1+ only get a saving throw if he does something to draw attention to himself. Machines with Intelligence 0 are also unaffected, but he has a separate, permanent Concealment effect against all Auditory, Radio, and Visual-type machine senses.

Persephone As the other superheroes whizzed by her, Persephone couldn't help but think back to the medical residency which had dominated the last several years of her life. It's my E.R. rotation all over again. Like I'm wading through molasses and every move I make gets intercepted half a second before I make it. She flinched when the great beast mauled Cheval and hurled him against the ground hard enough to punch a hole in it. He's brave, you have to give him that. It sure cost him, though. I hope he's as strong as he looks. I'll check on him after I make sure there's no one buried under that rubble. Her hands flew up and she screamed "NO!" when Woodsman's crossbow bolt reduced dozens of the zombies to a pile of flash-frozen and shattered parts. She almost lost her concentration. The plants lifting up the rubble started to sag. She quickly collected herself, and they rose back up. Oh for Heaven's sake. It wouldn't have been easy to test every one of those bodies and match it back to its proper resting place, but it would've been possible. Now there's no chance. Now the desecration of these remains can't be undone. When the bloated sycamore branch lowered her into the church ruins and her glowing hair illuminated the faces of the pastor's wife and children, she gave them a smile and started to reassure them. But the young man with fire for eyes and ash for hair zipped inside, melted the debris blocking access to the pastor, and whisked the whole family away before the words left her mouth. "Do-...Well alright then." She chuckled and gave the tree branch a pat. It pulled her up out of the ruins. She released the other plants, and they shrank and retreated, dropping the rubble back where it had lain after the monster's attack. She was just about to instruct the branch which held her aloft to plunge down into the hole after Cheval when he came leaping back up out of it and slammed into the reptilian behemoth again. Yes sir, he's absolutely as strong as he looks. And from the way the ground shakes when he runs, he must be as heavy as he looks, too. It's amazing that he can jump that high. The tree branch swung her down next to Cheval, holding her just a few inches above the ground. "Hold still, Cowboy." She held up her hands, cupping the empty air, and two large flowers instantly sprouted and bloomed from each of her palms, a yellow marigold and a red poppy. She closed her fists, crushing the flowers, then smashed her hands together, mixing them into a pulp. She reached out and pressed her palms against the dents and scrapes the creature's enormous teeth and the impact against the ground had left in his metal flesh. Cheval felt a warm tingle as she rubbed the slimy mess against his chrome skin. The pain he'd been ignoring vanished, as did the cuts and bruises. One of her hands lingered on his chest. "You're tougher than a two-dollar steak, Darlin', but you're not invincible. Be careful out there." She turned to the side to face the creature. She clenched her fists, and a layer of dark green bark sprouted from her flesh and covered her skin in overlapping layers like snake scales. "Now, you and me, Big Boy, we're gonna mix."

Persephone Free Actions: Maintain her Flight and Environment Control effects. Move Action: Move to within touch-range of Cheval. (If he's more than 100ft away, let me know and I'll have her Surge for more movement.) Free Action: Switch her Plant Control array to the Healing AP. This ends her Move Object effect, so the rubble falls back down. Standard Action: Heal Cheval. His Con bonus is +13 and her Healing rank is 9, so his minimum roll is 23. That's over the DC15 it would take on his recovery check to remove both of his Bruised conditions, so he's fully healed. Free Action: Activate her Impervious Toughness effect. Since her Healing effect is Distracting, her Defense drops to +5 (DC15) until her next action.